"Ding Hao, come out."
Fang Yuan's voice was not loud, but in the dark mountain forest, it was very clear.
Ding Hao froze.
His mind went blank for a breath. He had hidden on Mu Bei Mountain for years and had never exposed himself. The caravans he attacked either died or fled. No one should have known him. But this ugly man had called his name directly.
The green-hair zombies stopped. The black-hair zombies slowed. Even the white-hair zombies around the camp became stiff for a short moment. Then Ding Hao reacted, and the zombie army moved again. He hid behind the bushes and stared at Fang Yuan with fear and doubt.
"Who are you? How do you know my name?"
Fang Yuan snorted. "Of course my master told me."
"Master?"
"Second Zombie King."
Ding Hao's body shook. Those three words struck his heart heavily.
Fang Yuan looked at him coldly. "Ding Hao, I am on a secret mission from master. I entered this caravan after wasting great effort, yet you dared to attack it and ruin my arrangement."
Ding Hao's face changed again. He slowly walked out from behind the bushes. His eyes were full of shock, but also hope.
"You are… master's disciple?"
Fang Yuan's tone turned harsh. "Who allowed you to call him master? Has he accepted you yet?"
Ding Hao lowered his head at once.
He had waited too long. For years, he had stayed alone on this mountain, talking to zombies and a stone slab. The inheritance was his only path, and the Second Zombie King was the only person he could look up to. Now someone had appeared and mentioned that name. Ding Hao wanted to doubt him, but he also wanted to believe.
Fang Yuan saw this and continued: "You talk to that stone slab every day. Did you think master did not know?"
Ding Hao's eyes widened.
This was something no outsider should know.
His last doubt weakened greatly. Still, he forced himself to ask: "If you are from master's lineage, then please show the Zombie Heart Gu."
Fang Yuan's eyes turned cold. "Idiot."
Ding Hao stiffened.
"I am hiding inside the caravan for a secret mission. Zombie Heart Gu feeds on zombies. How could I carry it openly among them?" Fang Yuan stepped forward. "Do you think I came here to play with you?"
Ding Hao swallowed.
Fang Yuan released his Rank three peak stage aura. "You are only Rank three middle stage. You control many zombies, but controlling zombies requires concentration. Your mind is split. If I want to kill you now, how many breaths can you last?"
Ding Hao's face paled.
Fang Yuan's voice slowed. "I came to inspect you. If you perform well, I can give you approval. If you continue acting stupidly, then there is no need for you to meet master."
Ding Hao panicked. "Eldest senior brother, I was wrong!"
Fang Yuan frowned. "Who is your eldest senior brother?"
Ding Hao quickly lowered his head. "I misspoke. Please give me a chance."
"Call back those green-hair zombies first." Fang Yuan said coldly. "Do you want them to damage master's arrangement further?"
Ding Hao immediately moved his thoughts. The two green-hair zombies that had been guarding nearby began to move back.
At that moment, the smoke in the forest shifted.
Fang Yuan's pupils shrank.
Danger.
He jumped back without hesitation.
A faint, almost invisible moonlight flashed through the darkness.
Rank four Eclipse Moonlight Gu.
The attack passed where Fang Yuan had been standing and struck Ding Hao. Ding Hao had no close-combat experience. His zombies were his strength. His own body was not. By the time he sensed danger, the moonlight had already cut through his chest and shoulder.
Blood burst out.
Ding Hao screamed and fell back. The green-hair zombies turned at once.
Fang Ming stepped out from the smoke, his eyes cold.
Fang Yuan's gaze became sharp. "Fang Ming."
Fang Ming did not answer. He moved straight toward Ding Hao.
Fang Yuan raised his hand.
Bone spear.
A white spiral bone spear shot towards Fang Ming's back.
Rank four Mountain Shell Gu.
A heavy shell-like defense appeared around Fang Ming's body. The bone spear struck it with a sharp sound and shattered, but the force still pushed Fang Ming forward. Blood rose in his throat. He swallowed most of it, but a thin line still flowed from the corner of his mouth.
Even a Rank four defensive Gu could not be used so recklessly. But Fang Ming did not care.
He was already close enough.
Ding Hao tried to crawl backward, one hand clutching his wound. His face was twisted with fear. The green-hair zombies were almost back.
Fang Yuan attacked again.
Another bone spear flew.
Fang Ming ignored it. The Mountain Shell defense shook as the attack landed. His chest felt heavy, but his hand had already risen.
Eclipse Moonlight Gu.
At this distance, Ding Hao had no chance.
A nearly invisible arc flashed.
Ding Hao's head flew up.
His headless body collapsed to the ground.
The two green-hair zombies stopped for a breath.
Their master was dead.
That one breath was enough. Fang Ming grabbed Ding Hao's head with one hand and the headless corpse with the other. Thunderwings Gu activated, and his body shot upward with a crackle of thunder.
Fang Yuan's expression darkened.
Bone spears flew after him. One tore through Fang Ming's sleeve. Another scraped his shoulder and drew blood. But Fang Ming was already in the air, moving through the trees.
The green-hair zombies regained their movement.
Without Ding Hao's control, their attention turned to the nearest living target.
Fang Yuan.
The two green-hair zombies leapt at him.
Fang Yuan could not chase. He stepped back and raised his arms, his eyes cold.
In the distance, smoke wrapped around Fang Ming's body.
Rank four Thousand Mile Smoke Gu.
His figure vanished into the night.
A few minutes later, the caravan camp was close to collapse.
After Ding Hao died, the zombies had lost their order. They no longer attacked in clean waves. Some threw themselves at the barricades, some rushed into the camp, and some stopped to bite corpses on the ground. They were less organized, but still deadly. In some places, this made them easier to avoid. In other places, it made them more dangerous.
A white-hair zombie chewed on a dead servant's arm. A black-hair zombie smashed through a cart and attacked the nearest Gu Master. The camp was filled with firelight, blood, and screaming. Chen Shou was still trying to hold the center, but the caravan could not last much longer.
Then grey smoke appeared at the edge of the camp.
Fang Ming walked out.
His clothes were torn. Blood stained his face and chest. In one hand, he carried Ding Hao's head. In the other, he dragged the headless corpse.
The camp fell into stunned silence for a moment.
Even the Gu Masters fighting nearby looked over.
Zhang Xin Ci's face went pale. "Young Master Fang Ming…"
Zhang Zhu's eyes narrowed.
Bai Ning Bing leaned against a broken cart, heavily injured, her face cold and pale. When she saw Fang Ming return, killing intent flashed in her eyes, but she could barely stand.
Fang Ming threw Ding Hao's corpse onto the ground.
"This was the controller."
His Rank four aura spread out.
No one spoke.
Fang Ming's voice was cold. "The zombies have lost command. They are rampaging now. If we stay, we die."
Chen Shou looked at the corpse, then at Fang Ming. For a breath, he seemed to want to speak.
Fang Ming did not give him the chance.
"Break through immediately."
His gaze swept across the camp. "Burn the camp. Burn the carts that cannot move. Use the fire to block the rear. Everyone moves in one direction. Anyone who hides or splits off can stay here and feed the zombies."
The words were ruthless.
But no one dared argue.
His Rank four aura, his bloody appearance, and the corpse at his feet were more convincing than any explanation.
Chen Shou gritted his teeth. "Do as he says!"
The order spread quickly.
"Burn the broken carts!"
"Light the tents!"
"Move! Move!"
Fire rose through the camp. Goods that merchants had once protected with their lives were thrown into flames. Broken carts burned. Cloth, wood, oil, and dry supplies fed the fire. Soon, a wall of flame spread behind the forming group.
The fire forced the living to move.
It also blocked the zombies at the rear.
Some white-hair zombies walked into the flames without thought and burned. Others turned towards corpses instead. Black-hair zombies still rushed through, but their numbers were no longer coordinated.
The breakout began.
It was not clean.
It was not heroic.
It was a desperate push through corpses, mud, fire, and zombies.
Mortals who could not keep up were left behind. Some cried for help, some cursed, and some tried to grab the carts before being kicked away by frightened Gu Masters. No one had time to pity them.
Fang Ming moved near Zhang Xin Ci.
"Stay close."
Zhang Xin Ci looked at the burning camp, then at the abandoned servants. Her lips trembled, but she said nothing.
Xiao Die clung to her sleeve, face full of fear. Zhang Zhu guarded one side, his expression heavy.
Fang Ming glanced towards Bai Ning Bing.
She was wounded badly, but still alive.
He stepped forward and grabbed her arm.
Bai Ning Bing's eyes were icy. "You…"
"Move." Fang Ming said.
The people nearby saw this and their expressions turned strange. Fang Ming had nearly killed Bai Yun earlier. Now he was saving her. No one understood.
But now was not the time to ask.
A black-hair zombie jumped from the side. Fang Ming raised his hand.
Moon Edge Gu.
The moon blade cut into its shoulder, slowing it down. Zhang Zhu followed with an attack and forced it back. Fang Ming pulled Zhang Xin Ci forward with one hand and dragged Bai Ning Bing along with the other.
He protected only three people.
Zhang Xin Ci.
Xiao Die.
Bai Ning Bing.
Everyone else could live or die by their own ability.
Behind them, the fire grew brighter. The camp was being swallowed. The caravan was no longer a caravan. It was a broken group of survivors forcing their way through the dead.