Carelessness

I never expected the System to give me an advantage, to begin with, so seeing that first two pop-ups in front of me made me expect a little too much. Here I was thinking that I would get a free rabid human subordinate.

It would've been nicer if I'd have the high-leveled rabid human as my subordinate just by clicking 'yes' on a prompt or something just like the Systems in novels but it just had to be something rational like defeating it to get it to obey me.

Well, it's not like I got any other choice.

"System, do you have any information on how to use the Blood and Dark Element in combat?" I asked.

By now, the high-leveled rabid human finally caught sight of me and it locked on, chasing me down as if I were cattle. That alone wasn't enough to make me run though since I wanted to act cool.

Honestly, though, I couldn't run away because the high-leveled rabid human was bigger when it was nearer and just the mere sight of it on my face turned my legs into jellies.

"Are you kidding me?!" I screamed as I barely dodged the punch the high-leveled rabid human threw at me. As expected, it was incredibly powerful. The sheer force of the punch was enough to even agitate the wind in the area, making me fear for my life a tiny bit.

While the high-leveled rabid human's arm was extended, I crouched and charged at it with full speeds, aiming a punch to its stomach. "Taste this!" I screamed in an embarrassing manner, planting a fist on his belly with everything I got.

It was ineffective.

My feeble punch only riled up the high-leveled rabid human, making it retaliate with multiple blows to my head. Even though the high-leveled rabid human was twice as tall and twice as wide as me, it was surprisingly agile and speedy. It took all of my being to barely dodge his attacks. That wasn't enough to make me concede, however. I wouldn't want to back down since Lin Xian and the mother and daughter duo were right behind me. If I don't take a stand here, then they'll be in danger.

"Is this my current level? How unacceptable." I threw out another punch towards a high-leveled rabid human just to try if it would work this time. But it was all for naught. It didn't feel anything from my punch at all. Despite the obese look of the rabid human, it was rather sturdy. Maybe the virus is working its wonders or something to that extent.

"If only I had my cultivation from my previous life... "

"Yongrui, use your Blood Element." The System urged me.

"Then teach me!" I screamed at my System.

"But I don't know how the only thing I know is that the Blood Element helps you control your blood."

Yeah, as if that sort of tutorial would help me. It's as if I'm joining a competition with no one telling me what the rules are. I mean, what am I supposed to do?

Wait... maybe I'm overthinking things. Maybe the Blood Element is much more simple than that and I'm just making it complicated.

Think! Think! How can I control my blood in a way that would give me a power-up? Cut myself and harden my blood as a weapon like a certain anime character? Or increase my blood flow and increase my power like a certain anime character?

"Argh! I don't know anymore!" I screamed as I did another punch.

Suddenly, I felt something envelop my hands as I threw my fist at the high-leveled rabid human. It was something warm yet hard and it certainly felt uncomfortable. It's the same feeling I got when I first mastered how to distribute my qi to my fists so I could use it for combat yet it wasn't really the same feeling. The feeling was something new for me and that's the reason why I found it weird.

Splash!

Before I knew it, my fist went through the stomach of the high-leveled rabid human, spilling guts and rotten blood everywhere. The stench was exceptionally horrid that it took all my strength just to stay there and not run away from the rabid human while holding my nose.

"Ugh, what's this!" I exclaimed as more and more guts filled the floor. There were also bits and pieces of human body parts but I didn't scrutinize them since it would just make me vomit. Instead, I distracted myself by staring up at the high-leveled rabid human who was in shock when his belly was ruptured. It tried screaming but what left its mouth was a hysterical groan akin to a dying beast.

To my surprise, it wasn't even weakened. At first, I thought it was already on its maximum firepower when it lashed out its fists. Turns out, it was hiding more of its strength. The next thing I knew, a barrage of punches slap-like punches relentlessly flew at me.

"Why, why are you not dead yet?" I asked before realizing that rabid humans are basically dead. "I mean, how do I kill you twice?"

The high-leveled rabid human was slowly inching forward to my direction, probably trying to intimidate me with its ghastly presence. "I have to finish this now!" I told myself, directing a punch at its head.

For a moment, I probably panicked because the high-leveled rabid human was able to grab my fist, and just like before, the punch was as weak as a toddler's fist, or at least, for the rabid human I was fighting.

It gripped my hands with insane strength that I wasn't able to let go and then. As much as I struggled, I couldn't shake him off.

Closer and closer, it brought my hand towards its mouth. I wanted to scream louder than ever but I knew it would only cause the three ladies behind me trouble since it would attract a lot more zombies from outside and overrun the mall.

For the first time in my life, I finally felt how powerless I have become and how cocky and stubborn I've turned into although I was no stronger than a rabid human. I shouldn't have overstepped my boundaries and just took Yu Sying, Yu Yan, and Lin Xian out of the mall as soon as I detected the zombie.

I just had to play it cool and act as if I'm still the great sect master of the Tang Sect, huh.

Chomp!