CHAPTER 52: CHAPTER 52 LOOSEN UP A BIT

Wen Yan didn’t even dare to turn his head for a glance. According to what he’d learned, under normal circumstances, the lowest level of Walking Dead, those just risen, moved slowly and their bodies weren’t much different from ordinary people—at most they just weren’t afraid of pain.

Once they evolved into Hopping Corpses, their bodies became stiff but extremely resilient, also incredibly strong, able to jump quickly, though their agility wasn’t particularly impressive.

But this Little Zombie on his back—the body clearly wasn’t that stiff, and the speed was fast, but the sense of pressure it gave him was nowhere near as intense as the Hopping Corpse he’d seen before.

Wen Yan couldn’t quite figure out just what kind of zombie this was.

The materials he’d read were all from Scorching Sun Department’s standard records, textbook-style, but it was obvious now that reality didn’t always match the textbook descriptions.

"Hiss..." Sparrow Cat bared its teeth and hissed, but the Little Zombie didn’t even give it a glance.

Wen Yan remained absolutely still. After a long while, the Little Zombie didn’t make any other moves, just wrapped her arms around his neck, lay on his back, and grinned wide.

She seemed genuinely happy, her eyebrows and the corners of her eyes were both smiling.

Seeing as the Little Zombie didn’t seem interested in taking a bite out of his neck, and her spirituality was clearly a lot higher than the Hopping Corpse he’d seen before, Wen Yan tried asking softly.

"Whose kid are you? What’s your name? Or—how about you get down for now?"

The Little Zombie didn’t answer. This time she only hugged him even tighter, her two stubby legs locked tightly around Wen Yan’s waist.

Wen Yan thought for a moment, turned his head a little, and slowly reached out a finger, tentatively poking the Little Zombie’s head.

Instead of dodging, the Little Zombie’s grin only got brighter.

When Wen Yan cautiously injected a strand of Yang Energy—

The Little Zombie instantly squinted her eyes, her body slowly relaxed, and she whimpered softly with her lips pursed.

"Can you get down now?" Wen Yan tried again—but by then, the Little Zombie had already closed her eyes, lying sound asleep on his back. Yet her hands still locked tightly around him, refusing to let go.

Wen Yan was a bit dumbfounded; Sparrow Cat was also stupefied.

One man and one cat, wide-eyed, staring at each other.

"You ever seen anything like this?" Wen Yan muttered to Sparrow Cat.

"I’m just a cat. Is it really appropriate to ask a cat this sort of thing?"

...

Zhang Laoxi was beside himself with worry as he led the Hopping Corpse back to Wen Yan’s villa.

Clenching his teeth, he tore away the yellow talisman cloth wrapped around the Hopping Corpse and yanked out the coffin nail lodged through its throat.

He really was in a bit of a panic. Earlier, Feng Yao had called him back, saying he’d consulted the Minister. Cai Qidong claimed that, in this situation, what they’d likely encountered was one of those extremely rare Domains with a "No Humans Allowed" rule built in.

Zhang Laoxi’s face turned completely green at that.

Wen Yan was just a regular guy—and a soft-hearted, genuinely kind guy at that. If he entered that sort of supernatural Domain, who knew what might happen? Zhang Laoxi didn’t even want to imagine it.

And besides, the Little Zombie he’d brought back from Fuyu Mountain had gone in too.

If that Little Zombie got into trouble right after leaving the mountain, he’d face consequences he couldn’t even begin to handle.

Normally, any zombies subdued and brought down the mountain by exorcists—well, their fate was sealed, life and death up to destiny and the will of heaven.

The thing was, the way Zhang Laoxi "subdued" this particular Little Zombie wasn’t exactly by the book. He hadn’t relied solely on his own ability.

At first, he just wanted a regular Hopping Corpse; if he could land a rarer one, say, a Copper Armored Corpse, so much the better.

Sure enough, luck was on his side—a real Copper Armored Corpse awoke and fought him hand-to-hand.

Unfortunately, that Copper Armored Corpse was on the verge of leveling up, far too strong. The fight wasn’t going his way, so he started bluffing, saying he’d faced off against the Big Executor Corpse and even managed to subdue it later.

He’d spun a tale of a life-and-death friend who’d teamed up with him for all this, and by the end, he claimed that even the Big Executor Corpse had a golden glimmer in its eyes.

Long story short, all his stories hinted at a single thing: I have a friend who knows Scorching Sun God Power.

That Copper Armored Corpse wasn’t stupid; sure enough, it bought into the story.

But that was also where the problem started—the bluff worked almost too well.

Scorching Sun God Power—for the big zombies in Fuyu Mountain—was pure gold, a badge of credibility.

The Copper Armored Corpse didn’t leave the mountain with him. Instead, it disappeared deep underground for a long while before emerging with a supremely spiritual Little Zombie and handed her over to him to take away.

Right then and there, Zhang Laoxi regretted his actions.

Because, lurking behind the Little Zombie in the darkness, eight Haired Zombies stood. Even deeper inside, he sensed another terrifyingly oppressive presence.

At that point, it was too late for regrets. He didn’t even dare refuse. All he could do was grit his teeth and escort the Little Zombie down the mountain.

Only then did he realize—mediocre as his talent was—he had finally, truly brushed against the real depths of Fuyu Mountain’s legacy.

And all of this all started when he met Wen Yan. No matter how he looked at it, he had to give it absolutely everything now.

He looked at the wound on the Hopping Corpse’s throat, healing rapidly. He didn’t bother removing any of the other coffin nails—no need.

Holding three sticks of incense, he lifted them above his head and kowtowed, short and sharp.

"Uncle, I have to count on you now—so long as Wen Yan and the Little Zombie come back safe, I swear to knock my head on the ground eighteen times in your honor!"

He grabbed the phone, still lying face down. Inside, the looped short video played endlessly. As it played, the Hopping Corpse standing before him vanished, noiselessly, into thin air.

...

Wen Yan carried the snoring Little Zombie on his back, while Sparrow Cat scouted ahead.

The nighttime forest was damp and cold, but he wasn’t planning to head to the only bed and breakfast nearby. Who knew what danger might be lurking there?

He decided to scout out other places first, to figure out just what was going on here.

Not far along, the sound of running water got louder and louder as they moved further from the inn. Sparrow Cat flicked its ears alertly.

"There’s something ahead..."

"All monsters? How many?"

"Pretty much, yeah. At least seven or eight, and they’re not all the same kind."

"That many monsters all gathered together—won’t they start fighting?"

"No need—out in the wild, most Demons avoid getting hurt unless absolutely necessary... Someone’s already noticed us."

Wen Yan frowned, thinking it over briefly. Checking their crew—a Sparrow Cat, a guy carrying a Little Zombie—it was obvious as hell they weren’t normal people.

Plus, this Domain wasn’t supposed to let any humans in at all. Anyone who made it in must have only looked somewhat human.

At that, Wen Yan relaxed a little.

"Guess we’ll just go over. Time to cut loose a bit."

He took a deep breath, loosened up, and strode purposefully in the direction Sparrow Cat pointed.

Sparrow Cat hesitated for half a second, then thought—yeah, we’re not human either, what’s there to be scared of?

It flapped its wings, flying ahead, tail in the air and strutting forward with total confidence.

Past the woods, an open grassy field spread out before them. Not far away, the river widened and slowed, the surface glittering with angular reflections while the gentle, rhythmic sound of water unnervingly soothed the mind.

Except on that grass, all sorts of weird Demons and Devils clustered together, completely at odds with the peaceful scenery.

At a glance, Wen Yan spotted a black bear sitting so tall, even sitting it dwarfed most standing humans.

Beside it: a red-haired fox with slender eyes and two tails; a one-eyed gray wolf with a long scar across its forehead; a water buffalo, single-horned and sitting posture just like the bear. Most of the others lacked any obvious supernatural features and looked not much different from normal animals—just Demons.

But there was one particularly odd one—like a human woman: dark-skinned, double topknots, gold hoop earrings, bright red clothes. One look and you’d think she was a foreigner, but look closer—her features were standard Central Plains.

This secretly reassured Wen Yan—not all Demons and Devils looked non-human, after all.

As Wen Yan and company approached, the fierce-looking gray wolf sniffed the air and locked a death glare on Wen Yan.

"A living human?!"

Wen Yan hadn’t even spoken yet when Sparrow Cat, remembering Wen Yan’s earlier tip to cut loose, puffed up, flapped into the air, glowered at the wolf, and shot straight back:

"Hey, dumb mutt—did you eat too much shit today? Mouth stinks the moment you open it! Who the hell are you running your mouth at!"