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Chapter 61: Zombies

"Uncle Zhong, since he rarely gets to sleep a little longer, Sister, why not let Uncle Zhong sleep a little longer?" Yinglan persuaded Ling'er from outside.

"Hmph, big lazy pig," Ling'er muttered softly outside.

"Knock, knock..."

Zhongshan opened the door, seeing the two girls, he said, "Let's go, into the mountains."

"Yes," Ling'er's eyes lit up with excitement, nodding eagerly. But Yinglan smiled and nodded at Zhongshan.

The eastern mountains were all dangerous places, where ordinary horses were difficult to enter, and even ordinary martial artists did not dare to venture lightly, because there were demons in the mountains.

In the far east of Zhongshan, there lay a place of unparalleled peculiarity. In this area, shrouded in sand mists, amidst the dense forest, there emerged a bizarre phenomenon of sandstorms out of nowhere. It was exceedingly strange, incredibly eerie.

This place was the very destination of Zhongshan's journey: the Eight Gates Mountain.

In the north of the Eight Gates Mountain, nestled within a secluded valley, stood a group of about twenty people.

At the forefront were Princess Qianyou, who had appeared during the siege of Hao San, along with Gu Lin and Mr. Shuijing.

Princess Qianyou frowned as she gazed at the enormous sandstorm to the south, then turned to Mr. Shuijing and inquired, "Mr. Shuijing, do we have a formation spirit?"

Mr. Shuijing, rarely seen frowning, looked at the sandstorm and replied, "Seventy to eighty percent."

In the past, there had been only a ten percent chance, but now it had reached seventy to eighty percent, indicating Mr. Shuijing's high estimation of the situation.

"Princess, my understanding of formations is still insufficient; I must rely on Mr. Shuijing," Princess Qianyou remarked.

"Yes, with more and more people besieging us, you need to find a way to break this formation and obtain the formation spirit for Princess Qianyou," Gu Lin interjected, not mincing words with Mr. Shuijing.

"Shut up," Princess Qianyou shot a glare at Gu Lin, visibly annoyed.

"Mr. Shuijing, Princess Qianyou has promised to share the formation spirit with you. If there's only one, it will be gifted to you," Princess Qianyou turned to Mr. Shuijing.

"Princess, there's no need for such generosity. The Eight Gates Golden Lock Formation has rarely appeared in the land of God's Continent. There might be more than one formation spirit here. This is a battlefield, with multiple spirits. If it were held by an army, I wouldn't dare say breaking it. But here, only Tai Xu Zi is in charge. It won't be too difficult. The more people involved, the more variables. Currently, he's alone, and I am fifty percent confident of breaking it," Mr. Shuijing chuckled, waving his feather fan.

"Then do it quickly," Gu Lin urged.

Mr. Shuijing just shook his head, his brows furrowed.

"Mr. Shuijing, is there a problem?" Princess Qianyou immediately inquired.

"Just with us alone, it's far from enough. Did you notice the sign hanging in the sky earlier?" Mr. Shuijing shook his fan.

"Yes, it said 'hurt' on that sign," Gu Lin recalled after a moment of thought.

"Yes, that's the Gate of Injury. Rest, Life, Injury, Restraint, Scene, Death, Shock, and Opening. These eight gates, when used as a foundation for an army formation, can undergo endless variations, creating infinite possibilities. But now, with only Tai Xu Zi alone, if a group of people enters through the Gate of Life and exits through the Gate of Scene, during this time, the grand formation will undoubtedly tremble, weakening its power. At that moment, we can charge through the Gate of Injury and directly enter the Dragon's Eye, where Tai Xu Zi resides," Mr. Shuijing asserted confidently.

"Will there be a formation spirit where Tai Xu Zi is?" Gu Lin furrowed his brows.

"Indeed. According to the information we gathered earlier, the last time someone saw Tai Xu Zi, his clothes were filthy, indicating one of the Five Signs of Celestial Decay, signifying that his longevity is nearing its end, and he has no chance of breakthrough. Coincidentally, an explosion of spiritual stone occurred here, and he seized this opportunity to seek out a successor, setting up the Eight Gates Golden Lock Formation to find the successor of the formation spirit," Princess Qianyou asserted confidently.

"Qianyou, you are truly brilliant. How did you know?" Gu Lin immediately praised.

Glancing at Gu Lin, Princess Qianyou sighed. Did it even require guessing? It's so obvious, and only you, Gu Lin, wouldn't know.

"So, do we continue to wait?" Princess Qianyou turned to Mr. Shuijing.

"Yes, wait for more people to come," Mr. Shuijing chuckled, waving his fan.

On the third day of their journey into the mountains, Tianling'er's red silk had fully recovered. Carrying Tianling'er through the air made things much easier. Although Englan had the weakest physical stamina, her Wind Chasing Boots significantly narrowed the gap between her and Zhongshan. With Zhongshan leading the way, accompanied by the two women, they continued to navigate through the mountains.

Without a clear path, they relied on the traces left by others. Englan was skilled in this aspect, having experience leading troops in battle and surviving in the wilderness. Finding traces left by others in all directions was not difficult.

"Master, the path splits into two directions here. One heads northeast, and the other southeast. Which way should we go?" Englan asked in confusion.

Zhongshan also noticed the different directions of the broken grass and furrowed his brows. He looked up at Tianling'er in the sky and asked, "Ling'er, can you see anyone?"

"No," Tianling'er replied, standing in mid-air, surveying the area.

"What about directly east?" Zhongshan inquired.

Tianling'er flew up again on her red silk and then descended, saying, "Directly east, there are several very high mountains and a large lake blocking the way."

Hearing Tianling'er's report, Zhongshan and Englan nodded, evidently guessing the situation. In the east, there might be powerful demons or difficult mountain paths that even cultivators in the innate stage would avoid.

"We can go either way. Let's choose one," Englan suggested after some thought.

"Zhongshan, there seem to be people in that valley over there," Tianling'er suddenly exclaimed with excitement, pointing to a valley in the northeast direction.

"People?" Zhongshan furrowed his brows.

"Yes, let's go over and ask them how to continue, or else we'll be wandering aimlessly," Tianling'er urged.

"Yeah, let's go together," Zhongshan agreed.

Then, led by Tianling'er, the three hurried towards the direction she indicated.

By the time the sun had moved to the west, an hour later, Zhongshan and Englan found themselves halted at a cliff.

On the other side of the cliff, five hundred meters away, even Zhongshan, let alone someone in the early Golden Core stage, couldn't jump across.

"Hurry up, once we cross this gorge and climb over two more hills, we'll see those people," Tianling'er urged from mid-air.

Seeing Tianling'er, Zhongshan felt speechless. Tianling'er led them on the most direct route, but she hadn't considered that Zhongshan and Englan couldn't cross.

Both sides were sheer cliffs. Zhongshan and Englan had to take a detour, which took some extra time to reach the top of the opposite cliff. Surprisingly, the cliff was fifteen hundred meters deep, truly perilous.

"Zhongshan, those people over there seem to have been stationary the whole time. We've been walking for half a day, and they haven't moved," Tianling'er said with a furrowed brow.

"You come down first," Zhongshan frowned.

"What's wrong?" Tianling landed on the ground and folded her red silk, looking puzzled.

"You said they haven't moved for over an hour?" Zhongshan furrowed his brows in confusion.

"Yes, they've been standing still the whole time," Tianling replied.

Englan and Zhongshan exchanged a glance.

"Let's go see immediately. Don't speak, be careful. There might be danger," Zhongshan said solemnly.

"Okay," Tianling nodded excitedly.

Led by Tianling, they climbed over two more hills and stood in the distant woods, finally able to see the situation inside clearly. Seeing what was inside, Zhongshan's heart skipped a beat. He grabbed Tianling and Englan, crouching down and watching anxiously from afar.

People? They didn't look like people at all!

In the valley, surrounded by numerous trees, the center was cleared of trees, and twenty-five people with pale, expressionless faces stood in a circle.

Twenty-five people, with faces devoid of emotion, their greenish complexion emitting a faint black aura. Their arms were raised and stretched out in front of them, motionless.

Zhongshan had never seen them before, but he immediately knew what they were: zombies. Twenty-five zombies?

The moment Zhongshan and the others appeared, it seemed like the twenty-five zombies sensed something. Their raised arms moved slightly.

Zhongshan quickly made the fastest reaction, circling his arms around the necks of the two women, while swiftly covering their mouths and noses with his palms.

The two women widened their eyes in surprise. When they saw Zhongshan's gaze, they quickly understood.

Holding their breath might be difficult for ordinary people, but for cultivators, it was not a challenge. Englan controlled her breathing using a technique, while Tianling directly switched to internal respiration.

Although the two women understood, Zhongshan didn't let go. He continued to stare intently at the distance.

At this moment, Tianling, feeling Zhongshan's embrace, nestled in his arms without struggling, her face blushing, lost in a trance. Strangely, Englan was the same.

Zhongshan kept his eyes on the twenty-five zombies. Although he didn't know their strength, he didn't want to provoke them. Moreover, Zhongshan discovered a terrifying fact: these twenty-five zombies were being controlled.

Twenty-five zombies, arranged in a circle. In the center of the circle was a bizarre altar covered in sinister runes, seeming to writhe slowly. But upon closer inspection, they remained still, which was incredibly eerie.

At the center of the altar sat a man in black clothes with a white cloth tied around his head. His face was pale, with a small goatee on his chin. He sat cross-legged, eyes closed, seemingly chanting something, as if performing a ritual.

The man held a lotus hand gesture in his right hand, resting on his chest, while his left hand held a strange object. This object emitted a sinister red light, and even from a distance, Zhongshan could feel a powerful aura of evil emanating from it. Looking at the strange shape, Zhongshan suddenly felt a shock.

A heart? On the man's left hand, the object emitting the evil aura was a human heart?