Chapter 188

Chapter 188

Just as they were about to head down the mountain, the sound of flapping wings came from above. Feng Chen looked up, his forehead light illuminating a flying bird's silhouette.

The bird, a black avian, was also a zombie quantum beast, circling overhead. Its feathers nearly gone, emitting black miasma, it was hard to identify its species, except for its ferocious red eyes.

Binunu, without waiting for it to dive, leaped onto the black lion's back and then sprung into the air. The quantum beast was quick to react, flapping its wings to dodge to the left, then soaring high into the dark sky, disappearing from view.

"This is bad, it's seen us, which means other zombies will know too," Yan Bubu murmured, looking up at the sky.

Feng Chen spoke gravely, "We were bound to be discovered by zombies on that mountain; it was just a matter of time. Let's go, we'll try to move as quickly as possible."

Ten minutes later, they arrived at the canyon at the foot of the mountain.

Yan Bubu hid behind a large rock, observing a motionless zombie ahead, and whispered to Feng Chen, "They don’t seem to know we’re here, they're not on alert at all."

Feng Chen was also puzzled, "Could it be that the zombie quantum beasts don’t have a psychic link with their masters?"

"Well, they are zombies, after all. Maybe they can't have a psychic connection with their masters," Yan Bubu speculated, then instinctively turned to look at Binunu, meeting its cold gaze, and quickly added, "Those zombie quantum beasts are so ugly, not as good-looking as our normal quantum beasts. Look how pretty Binunu and Sasa Ka are."

Binunu's gaze softened at this.

Since the zombies were not on high alert, Feng Chen once again extended his psychic power towards the opposite peak, stopping halfway up the mountain and surveying the area around it.

Indeed, just above the circle of electric nets on the mountain wall, there was a layer of transparent membrane, akin to a rain shelter installed above a window, tightly enclosing the mountain without leaving any gaps.

In this way, not only zombies and people, but even psychic power were completely blocked.

Yan Bubu was also observing the opposite mountain, whispering to Feng Chen, "Above the mid-mountain is covered with vegetation, and the plants at the top are even denser..."

Feng Chen withdrew his psychic power, frowning, "If we want to go up the mountain to investigate, it’s not just a matter of dealing with zombies; we can't even ascend this mountain."

"So, what do we do now?" Yan Bubu asked.

Feng Chen glanced at the zombies ahead, "We can figure out a way to climb the mountain later, but first, we need to deal with this group of zombies. Otherwise, everything else is meaningless."

"Should we take out that one in front first? But it might scream and attract all the other zombies."

A zombie stood beside a large rock at the base of the mountain wall, occasionally moving half a step but otherwise remaining motionless. Its quantum beast companion, however, was growling ferociously and pacing in circles.

Snap!

A light sound came from behind.

Upon hearing the noise, both the zombie and its quantum beast charged towards it, but finding nothing there, they stood bewildered.

Snap! Snap! Snap!

Just as they were about to turn back, several more light sounds came from the front, prompting them to rush towards the source of the noise again.

Yan Bubu kept throwing stones ahead, gradually retreating and dodging the light from the zombies' forehead lamps, concealing himself in the darkness.

The zombie, lured by the sound of the stones, had gradually left the canyon. When it and its quantum beast entered a forest, they suddenly stopped and looked up, quickly dodging to the right.

Feng Chen leaped down from a large tree. Mid-air, he raised his dagger. As the zombie dodged to the right, Feng Chen's feet touched the tree trunk, changing direction in the air to pounce towards the right.

His reaction was only less than half a second slower than the zombie, making it appear almost like a synchronized movement.

Seeing the dagger close in, the zombie stopped dodging and reached up to grab Feng Chen, opening its mouth to roar.

But as it opened its mouth, the blade flashed, and the roar turned into a hissing sound. A deep cut appeared on its neck, severing the throat in two.

Its quantum beast opened its mouth as well, but Binunu quickly charged forward, grasping its protruding snout with both paws and forcibly clamping the mouth shut. Sasa Ka simultaneously pressed down on the quantum beast's back, biting its head.

The zombie, with its throat slit, still reached for Feng Chen, but its movement suddenly froze for half a second, as if bound by something invisible. Meanwhile, Feng Chen had already moved behind it, thrusting his dagger into its skull.

The zombie silently fell, and Feng Chen and Yan Bubu, who had run over, gave each other a high-five.

After the first zombie was taken down, the sound of rolling stones echoed in the dark. One by one, zombies lured by Yan Bubu to the opposite side of the canyon were killed in the forest. Following this method, they managed to eliminate five zombies in less than half an hour.

"Can we clear out all these zombies by half a day?" Yan Bubu asked Feng Chen.

"Most likely."

They quietly moved along the canyon for a while. When another zombie appeared ahead, Yan Bubu asked Feng Chen to hide in the forest while he began to pick up small stones from the ground.

"Wait!" Feng Chen suddenly called out to him.

"What's wrong?"

"It seems like there are zombies on the hillside opposite Lone Peak."

Feng Chen extended his mental power and saw a small group of zombies indeed gathered on that hillside, quietly standing in the bushes, like a small squad. He had previously scanned the area hastily with his mental power and failed to detect them.

He continued forward, rechecking the entire ring-shaped canyon and discovered not just one, but six or seven small groups of zombies.

"There are more than twenty zombies here, probably around forty or fifty," Feng Chen said.

"Why is that?" Yan Bubu asked.

Feng Chen replied, "These might be zombies patrolling along a fixed route, hence the formation of small squads."

Yan Bubu, both shocked and angry, said, "Forty or fifty zombies, that’s forty or fifty sentinel guides. The Anbuja Sect has harmed so many sentinel guides!"

Feng Chen's expression turned stern, "That’s why the Anbuja Sect must be completely eradicated."

"Should we lure them away and kill them like we did just now?" Yan Bubu hesitated, "If we can't kill the entire group at once, their cries will attract other zombies."

Feng Chen shook his head, "We can handle a few zombies, but we can’t ensure they won't make any noise. Let's go back to the forest first and think of a good plan—"

Suddenly, a bright beam of light shone from behind, enveloping them and the quantum beasts in its glow. Feng Chen’s words halted, and Yan Bubu and the quantum beasts fell silent.

They slowly turned around and saw three zombies standing in the distance, their pitch-black pupils fixated on them, utterly devoid of light.

Feng Chen had just cleared the zombies behind them and, focusing ahead, hadn’t noticed these three approaching from further back.

Time seemed to freeze for two seconds as Yan Bubu and the zombies stared at each other, and he watched in horror as the central zombie opened its mouth, widening it to an extreme, disproportionate to its face.

"Aargh—"

"Run!"

As the zombies' roars and Feng Chen's command sounded simultaneously, Yan Bubu immediately leapt up and dashed towards the mountains. However, several figures were also moving in the forest, likely the zombies returning from patrol.

Yan Bubu stopped abruptly, noticing zombies rushing towards them from three directions, and called out in panic to his brother.

Feng Chen looked around and shouted, "Hide behind the rocks!" while erecting a psychic barrier.

Bang, bang, bang, three muffled sounds in succession as psychic forces collided with the barrier.

In the past, this barrier would have shattered at the first impact, but now, despite being hit by three forceful psychic attacks, it only showed a few cracks.

Feng Chen quickly repaired the barrier, bracing for several more psychic attacks. The barrier kept cracking and being fixed.

The three nearest zombies had already charged close, opening their jaws wide and lunging at Yan Bubu and Feng Chen.

"Stay behind me!" Feng Chen yelled, as a map of consciousness suddenly illuminated in his mind.

Yan Bubu, while rapidly manipulating the screen with his psychic tendrils, replied, "Don't worry about me, just follow the image."

"Okay," Feng Chen responded succinctly.

In Yan Bubu's psychic realm, two large screens appeared, each displaying him and Feng Chen. It was his first time operating two screens simultaneously, and without time to think, he divided his psychic tendrils into two and began manipulating each screen.

His eyes darted between the two screens, his brain seemingly divided in two, recording the separate developments. Then, from the flood of information, he selected the most suitable consciousness image to project into Feng Chen's mind.

Guided by Yan Bubu's mental imagery, the two deftly dodged to either side in unison, their daggers striking simultaneously.

The two daggers were thrust at different angles.

Yan Bubu struck first, hitting a zombie's shoulder. The zombie, initially lunging at Feng Chen, instantly turned towards him. In less than half a second, Feng Chen's blade pierced its neck from below, thrusting upwards into its skull.

This collaboration was flawless, accounting for every reaction of the zombie. Yan Bubu's strike drew its attention, allowing Feng Chen's simultaneous thrust to hit its vital spot.

"Beautiful!" Feng Chen praised sincerely.

Bunu and Sasaki were intercepting the quantum beasts.

Sasaki, though surrounded by three zombie quantum beasts, was not at a disadvantage. It quickly dispatched the one it was fighting and then turned to assist Bunu with the others.

But as about ten more zombies charged in, the situation became more challenging.

Though Yan Bubu and his companion had the aid of mental imagery, Feng Chen's psychic attacks were ineffective against them, relying solely on their daggers. Thus, handling so many zombies was strenuous, with several close calls while dodging their bites.

Feng Chen, while repairing cracks in his mental barrier, reached out to pull Yan Bubu, casually tossing him to the right.

In mid-air, Yan Bubu plunged his dagger straight down, impaling a zombie's neck. Feng Chen, after kicking away another zombie, rushed over to catch Yan Bubu as he fell.

Despite the death of two or three zombies, their assault did not slow down; instead, they became more ferocious, attacking wildly.

Yan Bubu felt that not only his hands, which were fending off attacks from all directions, but even his ears were almost deafened by their relentless screeching.

Feng Chen narrowly dodged a zombie's fist, pulling Yan Bubu back two steps to avoid the snapping jaws nearby.

His peripheral vision caught sight of several light beams moving in the depths of the canyon, signaling the arrival of more zombies rushing to reinforce.

His heart grew heavier, realizing their current strategy was unsustainable. Even with their significantly enhanced abilities, he and Yan Bubu couldn't handle a horde of zombies.

Bunu and Sasaki seemed to have the upper hand, but they too would be overwhelmed if the number of quantum beasts surged.

Feng Chen, eyeing the approaching zombie horde, was rapidly formulating a plan when he suddenly heard a sharp cry of a bird from the sky.

The sound, like that of a large bird of prey, was definitely not from a zombie quantum beast, prompting him to quickly look up.

In the low sky, two avian zombie quantum beasts circled, their feathers gone, leaving only bare wings. Above them, a normal avian quantum beast dived sharply, pecking fiercely at one of the zombie quantum beasts, leaving behind a trail of black smoke before swiftly flying away.

Upon recognizing the normal quantum beast, Feng Chen stood frozen, momentarily ceasing his actions, and stared blankly into the sky.

It was a vulture!

Its body was deep black, with a solitary white mark on its forehead.

It was Lin Fen's quantum beast! And Lin Fen, whom they had been searching for so long, was nearby!

Just as Yan Bubu pulled his dagger from a zombie's neck, he noticed the screen representing Feng Chen's mental image flickering out, prompting him to shout out in alarm.

Feng Chen snapped back to reality, quickly moved aside, and crouched following Yan Bubu's mental imagery to avoid an attacking zombie.

"Don't just stand there in a daze!" Yan Bubu, crawling out from under a zombie's armpit, had turned pale from the recent scare.

"Understood."

Feng Chen didn’t share the discovery of the vulture with Yan Bubu, fearing it would distract him as well. During their fight with the zombies, he kept stealing glances at the sky.

He was worried the vulture might fly away, but fortunately, it not only stayed but also continuously attacked the two avian zombie quantum beasts.

The vulture adeptly engaged the two zombie quantum beasts, repeating its attack pattern: a swift peck followed by a quick retreat, never straying too far before turning back for another fierce strike, causing black smoke to billow from the beasts.

Feng Chen coordinated with Yan Bubu in combat while also surveying their surroundings.

If Lin Fen was nearby, the only place safe from zombies would be the solitary peak next to them!

The zombies guarding this peak were actually protecting him!

As the horde from the canyon drew closer, an idea flashed through Feng Chen’s mind. He kicked a zombie lunging at Yan Bubu and shouted towards the vulture in the sky: "Lin Fen!"

He shouted with all his might, his voice echoing through the canyon. The vulture, fiercely pecking at the quantum beasts, suddenly turned, its piercing eyes focusing on Feng Chen.

Yan Bubu, hearing the shout, paused briefly, then twisted around to stab a zombie in the back.

Seeing the vulture acknowledge him, Feng Chen wasted no words. He kicked another zombie away, grabbed Yan Bubu, and sprinted in the opposite direction, bellowing, "Run!"

Yan Bubu, ever obedient to his commands, immediately took off. He turned, using the posture suggested by his mental imagery to shoulder through a zombie blocking their path.

Feng Chen swung his dagger, severing the hand of a zombie reaching towards them. The hand, now bare, fell to the ground, leaving four blackened fingers.

The two dashed forward desperately, with Sasaki and Bunu holding the rear, toppling the leading quantum beasts in pursuit.

As he ran, Feng Chen looked up to see the vulture following them, finally breathing a sigh of relief.

The vulture flew ahead to the side of the two, flapping its wings to keep pace while casting a sidelong glance at them, a flicker of confusion in its sharp eyes.

But then it looked back at the pursuing zombie horde.

The black lion, too, was sprinting at full speed, clamping its jaws on a quantum beast that darted out and tossing it far away with a shake of its head.

Upon spotting the black lion, the vulture’s eyes lit up with a fiery intensity.

It let out a sharp, prolonged cry that pierced the night sky, echoing throughout the canyon and reaching the distant mountaintop.