Under One Person: Rebuilding the Glory of the Beast Master

Chapter 40 Zombies

As the sun began to set, the three masters and their disciples crossed the last mountain ridge.

"We'll rest here tonight," Zuo Ruotong said to her two disciples as she sat down on a blue stone.

His expression was calm and composed, showing no signs of having traveled all day. His robes were without a single wrinkle, and even his hair was perfectly styled.

Upon hearing this, Lu Jin immediately collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath. He didn't want to say a word; even breathing felt difficult.

Fei Peng loosened his claws and landed on a nearby rock. Then Fei Peng landed as well and began to preen the feathers on his wings.

Zeng Su took out water and dry rations from his bundle and gave them to the two men.

Lu Jin took the water pouch, tilted his head back, and gulped down a large mouthful. He was truly exhausted today, and let out a long sigh after drinking. But instead of resting, he leaned against the tree trunk behind him and slowly began to circulate the Reverse Life Triple Technique.

A white light emerged from the surface of his skin, its jade-like luster glowing faintly in the twilight. Gradually, the weariness on his face faded considerably, and his breathing became steady.

"I've gained a lot from this trip." Lu Jin opened his eyes and said, "Master's method really works. In just one day, I've already grasped a bit of the knack for circulating Qi throughout the body."

"Senior brother, you are truly talented. I haven't grasped anything at all," Zeng Su said.

"Are you mocking me?" Lu Jin rolled his eyes.

After chatting for a while, Zeng Su stood up and gathered some dry firewood, which he then used to build a fire in the ravine.

As dusk fell completely, the chirping of insects rose and fell in the mountains, and occasionally a wild beast's howl could be heard in the distance.

Zuo Ruotong sat by the fire, her hands resting on her knees, her eyes slightly closed, in a state of half-sleep and half-awake. But her whole body was full of spiritual awareness, and she could react immediately to any slight movement around her.

Zeng Su lay beside him.

However, with his white and black belly as a pillow and his flying wings as a blanket, the mountain wind at night couldn't get close to him at all. As for Lu Jin, he shamelessly slept next to Zeng Su.

A crescent moon hung in the sky, its cool light spilling into the mountain valley. A mountain breeze blew from afar, and the flames in the hearth flickered a few times before settling back down.

There are naturally special beings in the deep mountains and forests, but tonight, no one dares to approach this campfire.

And so, the night passed.

The next morning, just as dawn was breaking, the three of them continued their journey.

Zuo Ruotong continued walking at the front, her pace neither hurried nor slow, each step exuding composure as if she were strolling in her own backyard. Lu Jin followed behind his master, desperately trying to catch up, gritting his teeth and persevering.

Zeng Su was still being carried by Fei Peng. He was holding a book in his hand, which he had borrowed from the Sutra Pavilion. It talked about the basic training methods of martial arts, not some martial arts manual, but the techniques of exerting force and fighting methods were still worth learning.

That day, we passed through desolate mountains and wilderness, and didn't see a single person.

This was a route specially chosen by Zuo Ruotong.

Beside a mountain stream, they encountered several wild boars foraging for food. They were all plump and strong, and although they hadn't caught any, they were still quite formidable.

And their route of travel just happened to pass through the territory of these wild boars.

But instead of chasing Zuo Ruotong, who had just run across their territory, they frantically pursued Lu Jin behind them.

If Lu Jin were in his prime, even these few pigs couldn't catch him no matter how hard they ran. But Lu Jin has been running for several hours now, and he can still run because of his perseverance.

"Why are you idiots chasing me?" Lu Jin couldn't help but curse. He was really on the verge of tears. These pigs just kept chasing him, and even if he increased his speed, he couldn't shake them off.

"Do you guys know Brother Bai? He's my good older brother. If he sees you chasing me, you bunch of idiots are doomed." Lu Jin said while running.

Zeng Su watched this scene from the sky. He was originally prepared to help immediately, but seeing how excited Senior Brother Lu was, he decided to wait a while.

"Zeng Su, you little brat, are you so happy to see your senior brother suffering? Hurry up and think of a way, or else release Brother Bai to help me." Lu Jin dodged a wild boar's charge and roared at the sky, knowing that Zeng Su was watching him.

"I know, senior brother. Be careful, junior brother will find a way to save you right away," Zeng Su shouted loudly, feigning concern.

He smacked his lips as he looked at the wild boars. Dealing with them would be simple: just go down and release the white and black boars from the wooden sign, and they would be done in an instant. But that didn't feel quite right.

"Got it!"

He came up with a plan. He raised his hand and channeled his energy, and several balls of burning Qi appeared in his palm.

He then threw the ball of energy down from the sky, hitting several wild boars squarely on the noses. "Boom!" The ball of energy exploded into a burst of flames, engulfing the boars' heads.

Several wild boars let out a "roar". The ball of fire actually didn't have much offensive power, but fire was a terrifying thing for wild animals, so they didn't dare to continue chasing and ran away.

Zeng Su responded loudly from the sky: "How is it, Senior Brother? Junior Brother's support is not timely enough."

"Thank you so much, Junior Brother!!" Lu Jin said through gritted teeth.

Zuo Ruotong shook her head when she heard her two disciples bickering behind her, but her heart was filled with satisfaction.

Zeng Su and Lu Jin had a good relationship within the Sanyi Sect, but now they were truly like brothers. This was something Zuo Ruotong was happy to see.

Another day has passed, and night has fallen once more.

By noon on the third day, signs of human habitation finally appeared ahead.

In the distance, one can see a cluster of gray rooftops scattered among the hills, with wisps of smoke rising slowly from them.

This village isn't large, but it's small yet complete, with all the necessary shops lined up along a main street paved with bluestone slabs. The street is sparsely populated, less bustling than usual.

The village is called Qingshipu, and it's a small town with about a hundred households, all lined up along a bluestone-paved road.

When Zeng Su followed Zuo Ruotong and Lu Jin into the village, he sensed that something was wrong.

There were few pedestrians on the street. Occasionally, one or two villagers would pass by, but they were all in a hurry, walking with their heads down, as if they were afraid of something.

The shops along the street were still open, but the shopkeepers sat behind the counter, yawning listlessly, and business was pitifully slow.

The three of them arrived at an inn. The inn was small, with two floors, and a faded sign hanging at the entrance that read "Yuelai Inn".

A young man of about fourteen or fifteen years old was sitting on the steps by the door, idly drawing circles on the ground with a twig.

He heard footsteps, looked up, saw Zuo Ruotong, paused for a moment, then jumped up, turned around, and rushed into the shop, shouting, "Shopkeeper, we have a customer!"

Before long, a middle-aged man wearing a gray cloth long gown came out from behind the counter. He had a square face with two mustaches and small but bright eyes. He was clearly an old hand who was used to welcoming and seeing off customers.

He sized up the three men and their disciples, then clasped his hands in a fist and smiled, "Gentlemen, would you like to have a meal or stay the night?"

"Check-in." Lu Jin stepped forward and placed two silver dollars on the counter. "Two rooms, preferably quiet ones. Also, prepare some food for us, including meat!"

"Alright!" The shopkeeper's face immediately lit up with a bright smile as soon as he saw the silver dollars. He swiped the silver dollars across the counter and put them into his pocket.

"Waiter, quickly serve tea and water to the three guests, and then prepare two superior rooms," the innkeeper called to the waiter, before leading the three of them to a table to the side.

The food arrived shortly afterward; it was just ordinary home-style cooking, and the taste was alright.

After the waiter cleared away the empty bowls and chopsticks, the innkeeper brought a pot of tea and poured a cup for each of the three. Then he said, "Gentlemen, please do not go out tonight. No matter what noise you hear, do not come out. Just stay quietly in your rooms until dawn."

Lu Jin was displeased upon hearing this.

"What, your place has some big rules? I pay for the room, and you're telling me whether I go out at night or not?"

Upon hearing Lu Jin's words, the shopkeeper quickly said apologetically, "Oh dear! Sir, it's not that our shop has strict rules, but we have some unspeakable difficulties!"

"How so? Please explain in detail, shopkeeper," Zuo Ruotong asked.

"This—" The shopkeeper glanced outside to make sure there weren't many people on the street before moving closer and lowering his voice, "Sir, you may not know this, but something strange has appeared here."

"What is it?" Lu Jin couldn't help but ask.

The shopkeeper's lips trembled slightly as he uttered two words: "Zombie."

"Huh?" Lu Jin was stunned for a moment.

Zeng Su was the same.

Zombie.

He had heard this word too many times in his previous life. He had watched Uncle Nine's movies over and over again. Those guys jumping around in funeral clothes were his childhood nightmare.

However, whether this thing actually exists or not, he didn't see any related descriptions in "Under One Person".

However, from the records of the Trinity Sect, we know that demons and monsters truly exist in this world, though they are rarely seen.

Judging from the shopkeeper's tone, it doesn't seem like he's making it up; perhaps there really are zombies in this place.

"Shopkeeper," Lu Jin stepped forward, his eyes full of curiosity, "have you seen that thing before?"

The shopkeeper shrank back, his face pale. "If I had seen it before, why would I be standing here talking to you? Zombies eat people."

Zeng Su noticed that the shopkeeper's hands were trembling slightly when he said this.

This isn't acting; I'm genuinely scared.

"Don't be afraid, shopkeeper," Lu Jin patted his chest, "To be honest, we're not ordinary people, we are—" He paused, glanced at Zuo Ruotong, and changed his words, "We're江湖 (jianghu, the martial arts world), we've seen a bit of the world and have some skills? We'd like to see that zombie you mentioned, maybe we can even take it down for you!"

The shopkeeper looked at him, then at Zeng Su, and finally his gaze fell on Zuo Ruotong.

A young man with a teenager and a child – honestly, this combination is quite rare.

However, Zuo Ruotong, dressed in flowing white robes, possessed an extraordinary bearing, clearly not an ordinary person. Lu Jin, though young, also exuded a commanding presence that surpassed that of most. As for Zeng Su, despite his young age, his eyes held a maturity beyond his years.

In any case, these three people don't seem like ordinary people.

After hesitating for a moment, the shopkeeper finally told the truth.

"Here's what happened—"

Five miles north of Qingshipu, there is a mountain called Longtoushan, and at the foot of the mountain is a village called Wangjia'ao, where dozens of households live.

Two weeks ago, Grandpa Wang from Wangjia'ao passed away at the age of 78, which was considered a long life.

The Wang family was a prominent family, so naturally they wanted a grand funeral. They hired a feng shui master to look at the site, chanted scriptures, and performed rituals. It took several days before the burial took place.

But on the third night after the burial, something strange happened.

The villagers of Wangjia'ao heard strange noises coming from the graveyard in the middle of the night, as if something was digging in the soil.

A few brave young men took lanterns to look and saw from afar that a large hole had been dug in Old Master Wang's grave, the coffin lid was overturned to the side, and the inside was empty.

Old Master Wang has disappeared.

When the news spread, Wangjia'ao was in an uproar. The Wang family thought it was the work of tomb robbers, but all the valuable burial items in the coffin were still there; only the body was missing.

This doesn't seem like grave robbing; it's more like "the corpse ran away on its own." The shopkeeper's voice trembled as he said this.

In the following days, poultry and livestock began to disappear one after another in Wangjia'ao. Several chickens, ducks, and geese disappeared overnight, leaving only a pool of blood and a few feathers in the pen.

On the fifth night, someone finally died.

A peddler walking at night in Wangjia'ao was found lying on the stone bridge at the entrance of the village, with two bloody holes in his neck and all the blood on his body sucked out.

Everyone believed it was done by a zombie, since nothing else would suck human blood except zombies.

From then on, the villagers of Wangjia'ao dared not go out at night anymore. They would lock their doors and windows as soon as it got dark, and they didn't even dare to turn on the lights.

"And now?" Lu Jin pressed, his gossip spirit already ignited, his eyes shining. All the skills he had practiced for so long were finally going to come in handy, how could he not be excited?

"Now?" The shopkeeper gave a bitter smile. "It's even worse now. Most of the people in Wangjia'ao have run away, and the rest have moved to live with their relatives. The whole village is almost empty."

Not only Wangjia'ao, but our Qingshipu area was also affected. Several people have seen that thing these past few nights; it just flashed by and disappeared.

Fortunately, no one was killed, but everyone was terrified. At night, everyone kept their doors and windows tightly shut, only daring to open them at dawn.

After the shopkeeper finished speaking, he let out a long sigh.

"Gentlemen, you should listen to me! Lock all the doors tonight, and everything will be fine by dawn. Get on your way early, leave this place, and you'll be alright!"

Lu Jin didn't reply, but turned to look at Zuo Ruotong.

Zuo Ruotong picked up the teacup, gently blew on the tea foam on the surface of the water, and took a sip.

"Stay here," he said calmly, without reacting to the zombies.

>