40 RI

Dark clouds filled the sky bringing forth a heavy atmosphere and signs of heavy rain.

The caravan moved along the mountain path with a solemn atmosphere.

All the large black skin fat beetles in the caravan were dead; two winged snakes remained but in a crippled state; instead it was the baggage toads that survived mostly, all because they were small in size and moved pretty fast, easily hiding from the wild beasts' attacks. As for the ostriches, they were similar in size to the backpack toads, but they had a habit of burying their heads in the ground once they sensed any threats, so this caused their casualty to be the highest.

Shang Xin Ci was mixed in the crowd, her gaze somewhat complex as she looked at the dozen of baggage toads beside her.

The goods these baggage toads were carrying were all Zhang Clan's.

Fang Yuan and Bai Ning Bing didn't participate in the discussion, but the caravan leaders still sent large quantities of goods to her.

"All of this because of strength..." Shang Xin Ci sighed.

Previously, when Zhang Zhu was here, these caravan leaders showed an indifferent attitude; but now, they were polite to the extent that they even seemed to currying favor with her.

Moreover, when these Gu Masters and the servants looked at her now, their gazes carried reverence and fear.

"All these changes are due to them." Shang Xin Ci gave a complex gaze towards Fang Yuan and Bai Ning Bing who were not that far away.

On one hand, she received a feeling of security from Fang and Bai; while on the other hand, the kindhearted her felt fear from how they were able to easily kill people.

"Hahaha, it seems we have really frightened that girl." Bai Ning Bing was walking side by side with Fang Yuan and feeling Shang Xin Ci's gaze, she laughed softly.

Seven to eight days had passed since they killed Ou Clan's father and son.

This had affected the whole caravan, including Shang Xin Ci and Xiao Die.

Xiao Die did not even dare to breath loudly in front of Fang and Bai, while Shang Xin Ci also didn't dare to match Fang Yuan's gaze anymore.

Such reactions were all within Fang Yuan's expectations.

This master and servant pair grew up in Zhang Clan since young, the righteous path ideology was ingrained into them. It was inevitable for them to be aware of the differences when Fang and Bai displayed their demonic nature. They would have to change their thought process to accept these two demonic path figures.

Fang Yuan wasn't worried.

They would have no choice but to accept and compromise when they face external pressure. After all, humans wanted to keep on living. After few beast group attacks, the estrangement in their hearts would gradually disappear.

"The problem now is him." Fang Yuan looked at Chen Xin.

This young Gu Master was the guy that fled together with Zhang Zhu. Fang Yuan had thought he was already smashed into meat paste by white feather flying elephant, but to think he was actually alive.

Gu Masters that possessed unusual Gu worms, even if their cultivations were not high, could not be looked down upon.

Fang Yuan had lost the earth hearing ear grass and had no other scouting methods, causing him to overlook Chen Xin. He also did not know how much the latter had found out. But regardless, he had countermeasures for everything.

He was cautious in nature and always considered failures first. At that time, he already had measures prepared if someone found out.

Thus, after he killed Zhang Zhu, he intentionally displayed formidable strength. If someone had really found out, they would thus be scared by Fang and Bai's vicious strength; and would keep themselves hidden.

Ou Clan's father and son ran themselves into the line of fire; had it not been for Ou Fei coming to find trouble, Fang Yuan would have looked for trouble himself or display his formidable methods during beast group attacks.

Naturally Fang Yuan had many methods to strike back even if he was exposed. The caravan leader Jia Long was one such chess piece.

He was Jia Fu's subordinate and Fang Yuan had received a token from Jia Fu back at Gu Yue village. As long as he showed the command token, he could obtain Jia Long's trust for several actions.

However, for every single plan, no matter how perfect it appeared, accidents could always occur when they were implemented.

Also known as: Man proposes but God disposes 1 .

Even if Fang Yuan had plentiful experience, was astute and had deep foresight, he also had the possibility to fail. But it was because of this, that life could be so brilliant and full of uncertainty.

Fang Yuan's first consideration was the worst outcome.

If his luck was extremely bad and someone saw him or he left behind ironclad evidence when he killed Zhang Zhu; and it led to Shang Xin Ci realizing the truth, she would feel deep hatred towards him; someone who bit the hands that fed him.

What to do then?

Simple, kill Shang Xin Ci.

She was only a mortal now and killing her was very simple. Shang Clan's clan leader also didn't know she was his own daughter; there would be no repercussions from Shang Clan if he killed her secretly.

Looking at the outcome now, Zhang Zhu was dead but Fang Yuan's luck wasn't the best as he left behind a trail. But it was also not the worst, at least Shang Xin Ci was still in the dark.

Fang Yuan was sure of this because Shang Xin Ci was still young and her emotions were completely exposed in his eyes.

"There is a crocodile-elephant 2 group ahead!"

"A crocodile-elephant group is charging towards us!!"

"Be on guard, be on guard!"

An investigative Gu Master hurried towards the caravan from ahead, bringing bad news.

A disturbance occurred in the caravan before quickly turning calm.

"It is just crocodile-elephants, no need to panic."

"We don't have enough manpower to defend ourselves here."

"Correct. Everyone disperse, enter the rainforests!"

Gu Masters gave forth the most sensible command; people were already in a very strained state and were able to quickly disperse in all directions.

If they had encountered such situation before Fei Hou mountain, they might be worried about their goods and keep on hesitating. Now however, they firmly gave up the goods without taking another glance at them, concentrating on fleeing.

Fang Yuan and Bai Ning Bing directly charged straight into the rainforest while protecting Shang Xin Ci and Xiao Die.

He was not surprised at the crocodile-elephant group's arrival because it was his plan. @@novelbin@@

Rumble...

The crocodile-elephant group stomped its way through, soon there were blood-curdling screams and sound of trees falling down.

Fang Yuan carefully led Shang Xin Ci and others through the rainforest, but there were too many crocodile-elephants; they still ran into one.

Crocodile-elephants were small in size, about the same size as yaks, which allowed them to be more agile. Their whole body were covered in scales like that of a crocodile with defense that far surpassed white feather flying elephants. Their tails that was similar to that of crocodiles, trailing along the ground.

"Ahh!" Xiao Die let out a scream upon the sight of this hill-like crocodile-elephant charging at them.

Shang Xin Ci was also pale.

"No need to worry." Fang Yuan indifferently said, before charging towards the crocodile-elephant.

One human and one elephant collided midway; their collision producing a loud sound.

Fang Yuan took two steps back, and the white light armor on his body flickered thrice. But that crocodile-elephant, its skull directly shattered and blood spurted out as it fell on the ground, pushed back by a dozen steps before colliding against the trunk of a large tree and stopped.

"Amazing!" Xiao Die's eyes were wide open with shock.

This was an ordinary crocodile-elephant and not a hundred beast king, while Fang Yuan possessed snow silver primeval essence along with the strength of two boars and a crocodile; handling it was naturally very easy.

However, Shang Xin Ci and Xiao Die had never seen such fierce scene.

Zhang Zhu did not have great physical strength and was also a healing Gu Master, so he relied mainly on dodging and assisting during a battle.

Fang Yuan, however, met the attack head on, fighting without restraint; this naturally left a deep impression on the master and servant pair.

About two hours later, the crocodile-elephant group gradually left and the caravan group started walking out of the rainforest.

After the casualties were counted, they had only lost a Gu Master and a dozen servants; it was not a big loss.

The caravan set on their journey again after reorganising all the goods.

Several days later, they were out of Xiang Ya mountain region, and began their journey to Mu Bei mountain.

Within the next half a month, the caravan was attacked by black rock bears, iron crown deers and other beast groups.

And because Fang and Bai acted as inseparable bodyguards, Shang Xin Ci and Xiao Die suffered no harm. This close contact all the time started to change the master and servant's attitude.

Shang Xin Ci started to get much closer to Fang Yuan, cheerfully talking with him and no longer evading his gaze. Xiao Die had completely changed into a worshipper of Fang Yuan and Bai Ning Bing.

Worshipping the strong was the character of all living beings, because strength meant higher probability of survival.

Moreover, Fang Yuan and Bai Ning Bing were people with principles even though they were of demonic path. In the two girls' perspective, those two did not ask for anything nor took advantage of them, only returning a favor. This conduct was full of heroic aura, and even among righteous path, how many people had such character?

No matter how ugly Fang Yuan looked, in the master and servant's heart, he was much more likeable than the many hypocritical and crafty righteous path people.

Several days later, the caravan entered Mu Bei mountain region.

Zombies started appearing.

Mu Bei mountain hadn't always had the same name. Over hundred years ago, there was a large clan on this mountain.

A demonic Gu Master changed everything.

He used to be a servant of this clan. At the day of his wedding, his beautiful wife had been seized by a Gu Master of the clan and humiliated to death.

He buried this hatred deep into his heart and as luck would have it, he obtained the inheritance of 'Zombie King', a demonic head.

After enduring hardships for nearly hundred years, with rank five cultivation, he commanded an army of zombies and attacked the clan, slaughtering everyone. He did not spare their corpses, turning them into zombies.

After finishing all this, he erected a huge tombstone in the ruins of the clan.

On the tombstone, he carved his wife's name.

This event shook the whole Southern Border.

This mountain has been called Mu Bei mountain ever since then. Zombies roamed free on the mountain, killing wild beasts or passerbys, absorbing blood as their food. And the ptomaine on them would infect the corpses, producing new zombies.

Like this, there were endless amount of zombies on Mu Bei mountain.

To protect the safety of the trade route, clans organized zombie hunting squadrons every year to clean up these zombies.

But no matter how much they cleaned up, they could not kill all the zombies due to their endless numbers.

After all, the zombie hunting squadrons were limited in size, with so many mountains in Southern Border and dangers in the way, they had to make considerable expenditures for this long expedition. It was a situation where they had to invest a lot but gained less, and even then it was impossible to overturn Mu Bei mountain. As long as a zombie escaped, a zombie army would appear again after a short while. After failing several times even after large scale expeditions, the enthusiasm of the people started to disappear.

The caravan decided to camp at the base of Mu Bei mountain for the night.

The stars were shining brightly in the sky. Fang Yuan looked at the dark Mo Bei mountain, a thoughtful look flashing through his eyes.

"It is time, these people are no longer valuable. It is time to settle all these troubles."

Chen Xin must die, but just disposing of him alone could make the situation even more troublesome. How much did he know, who had he revealed to, and were there anyone else who had seen the murder? Fang Yuan didn't know any of this.

However, Fang Yuan had no intention to find out. Because in his plan, Chen Xin would die and others would also die.

Only the dead are clean 3 .

-x-X-x-

Ding Hao looked down at the caravan from the base of the mountain as he hid behind some bushes, licking his lips excitedly.

"According to the information in the cave, as long as I kill a thousand people and amass a zombie army, I can leave this place and go to Zhao Ze mountain to become a formal disciple of master!"

Ding Hao was originally a villager but was recruited to be a laborer by a passing caravan.

However, the caravan was attacked by a large number of zombies when they were passing through Mu Bei mountain. He was abandoned along with dozens of other servants, as cannon fodder.

While all the other servants died one after another, he ran deep into the mountain in panic. Just when he was driven into a corner, he discovered a cave; none of the zombies dared to approach this cave.

He entered this cave and discovered a demonic inheritance.

As it turns out, this was the hidden inheritance of that demonic Gu Master who killed the whole clan and erected the tombstone in the ruins.

This inheritance was deeply hidden and only mortals were allowed to inherit it.

Ding Hao awakened his aperture in this cave and began to cultivate, passing each test one by one.

He only had C grade aptitude originally, but with the use of a rare Gu in the cave, his aptitude upgraded to B grade.

He concentrated fully on cultivating, and after spending over eight years, he reached rank three realm which was the criteria to enter the final secret chamber.

The final secret chamber contained a stone slab which had an inscription left by that demonic Gu Master: I profess myself as the Second Zombie King. If a fated individual truly arrives here, if you so wish, you can go to Zhao Ze mountain to be my official disciple and follow me to roam the Southern Border.

As the final test, the Second Zombie King required the inheritor to kill thousand people and also raise a large zombie army. There were detailed standards to the test, such as how many white-hair zombies, black-hair zombies and green-hair zombies should be in the zombie army. However, if there was a blue-hair zombie, just one would suffice to meet the condition.

Ding Hao was an honest man and honest people usually had a strong point; they were steadfast.

He cultivated on Mu Bei mountain alone for over eight years. He had to endure the silence and loneliness, having only the zombies as his companions as he cultivated bit by bit to rank three.

He had been a servant who could only be a spectator to the world of Gu Masters, thus he did not understand many things.

During the time of his bewilderment, this inscription on the stone slab no doubt gave him a whole new direction and a goal to strive.

The fact that the Second Zombie King had also been a servant and their backgrounds were similar, resonated even more with Ding Hao's heart.

After reading the inscription, Ding Hao started killing people and amassing his zombie army.

Ding Hao soon realized these two missions actually complemented each other; he could use the corpses of the people he killed to obtain new zombies and the new zombies could thereby increase his strength to kill more people.

Mu Bei mountain was located by one of the three most important trade routes of Southern Border with caravans passing through it every month.

Ding Hao spent another three years of time to reach this point where he was close to accomplishing the mission.

The caravan at the base of this mountain would be his final stepping stone to success! And it was a perfect prey!

There were caravans of all sizes, some big and some small; Ding Hao could do nothing more than hide far away every time a large scale caravan passed by. He did not dare to attack the mid-scale caravan as well. Only against these small scale caravans, could Ding Hao make his move and secretly command the zombies to attack.

When his luck was good, these caravans would abandon some livestock or servants to flee; when his luck was bad and ran into some tough nuts, the zombies would be slaughtered and inflict great losses to him. At those times, he could only slowly amass more zombies again.

However, this caravan was smaller than even small scale caravans and seemed to have already suffered huge damage. It was like an old man struggling at death's door who could fall over with a light push.

Ding Hao had confidence he could deal with this caravan.

He even felt this was a gift sent by the heavens.

It was night time, dark clouds flitted past in the sky, hiding the moon.

The light was dim around the camp.

"Kill." Ding Hao's eyes suddenly brightened as he willed. The zombie army which was already arranged properly moved stealthily towards the camp from all directions.

"What sound is this?" A very vigilant investigative Gu Master positioned outside the camp seemed to have heard something.

"What is it?!" The few Gu Masters beside him were tensed.

The five Gu Masters motionlessly stared at the darkness ahead of them.

Although the moon was covered by the dark clouds, there was a huge bonfire burning in the camp.

The bonfire produced crackling sounds as the wind brushed past.

In the midst of the flickering flames, a zombie covered with white hair hopped into the investigative Gu Master's vision.

The few Gu Masters looked at each other before laughing out loud.

"Haha, a white-hair zombie."

"Tsk, getting worried over nothing, scared the hell out of me."

"Xiao San, go take care of this unlucky zombie..." The leader of this group of Gu Masters said indifferently.

White-hair zombies were very weak, weaker than even the common wild beasts.

"Yes, boss." A young Gu Master laughed and walked towards the zombie.

"Be careful of its corpse poison, it will be troublesome if you are infected as I do not have an antidote type Gu." The healing master in the group reminded.

"Understood, understood. Do you take me as a three-year-old child?" The young Gu Master impatiently waved his hand.

If he was really infected with corpse poison, he could ask other Gu Masters to heal him but it would cost half a primeval stone at minimum.

However, white-hair zombies attacked in a set pattern and was easy to dodge. The young Gu Master had already killed many of them since entering Mu Bei mountain.

"There is no need to worry about this thing as long as I pay attention to dodging... ugh!" The young Gu Master was mumbling to himself when he suddenly stopped on the spot, his voice stuck at his throat.

His pupils shrunk rapidly and his mouth opened wide; his face revealing an extremely frightened expression.

"What is it?" The four Gu Masters at the rear felt something amiss and immediately asked.

The young Gu Master came to his senses, his whole body shook as if it was electrocuted before he immediately turned around and began running.

"Quick, sound the alarm. There are zombies!" He screamed, his face filled with extreme fear.

"It is only a white-hair zombie, why are you freaking out... wha, what the fu-!"

The four Gu Masters all screamed.

There were a few hundred white-hair zombies hopping towards the camp. There were also the stronger black-hair zombies mixed within the horde.

Under the illumination of the bonfire, one could make out the overlapping figures in the darkness but no one knew how many zombies were pressing forward.

Clang Clang Clang...

In the quiet camp, the sound of the bells suddenly rang.

"There is a zombie group moving towards the camp!"

"They have surrounded the whole camp!"

"Quick, quick, everyone prepare to defend..."

Jia Long and some vice leaders climbed up a wooden wall and observed the situation, their expressions extremely grave.

"Damn it, which deity did this caravan offend, such incredibly bad luck!"

"I have been to Mu Bei mountain dozen of times but have never seen such a large scale zombie group..."

"There is no use in complaining. Since we can't change this situation, we have to fight with our lives on the line if we want to live!"

"We should combine our strength and defeat this zombie group!"

Everyone in the camp felt their morale increasing as they growled in anger. In contrast, the zombie army was completely silent, other than the constant sound of the jumping and landing.

The troop arrangement in the two sides formed a strange and clear contrast.

The battle unfolded completely.

Gu Masters relied on the defense of wooden walls and launched all kinds of long range attacks. All kinds of color flashed around the camp; icicles, fireballs, vines, rolling boulders and so on struck collided right into the vanguard of the zombies.

Large numbers of white-hair zombies fell; cut into pieces, burnt to ashes, froze into ice cubes or stone-rolled into meat paste.

"Kill, slaughter them all. Hahaha..." Ding Hao was observing all this from up the mountain with a cold smile on his face.

He was no longer the inexperienced guy he once was. These white-hair zombies were cannon fodder meant to waste the Gu Masters' primeval essence.

Sure enough, after some time, the Gu Masters' attacks became less frequent and weak.

"I am out of steam, I don't have much primeval essence left." @@novelbin@@

"I also need to recover my primeval essence!"

"Can anyone take my place? Damn it, why are these white-hair zombies not decreasing?"

There were too few Gu Masters in the caravan while the white-hair zombies seemed to be endless; finally, they were able to resist the pressure and reach the wooden wall.

Under the attack of the zombie group, these temporarily constructed crude wooden walls immediately let out dangerous creaking sounds.

"Damn it, block them, block them!"

"Call in the reserve forces."

Both sides entered a deadlock around the wooden wall. One side charged forward while the other side guarded this barrier. The huge losses to the white-hair zombies caused Ding Hao's heart to ache.

"It is your turn, my babies." With a thought in his mind, a batch of black-hair zombies charged forward from the rear and entered the battlefield.

White haired zombies were slow and could be harmed by sunlight, so they couldn't move around in daytime. If they fed on blood for years, they could evolve into black-hair zombies. Black-hair zombies were covered with black hair, their strength and defensive ability were stronger than the white-hair zombies, and their hopping speed was much faster. Although they still received damage from sunlight, they didn't fear it like the white-hair zombies.

Black-hair zombies had the strength of a hundred beast king!

Ding Hao sent over fifty black-hair zombies in this batch; all of them charging forward in a group. They looked for a gap in the camp's defensive wall and immediately destroyed a part of it like dried twigs.

Despite the camp sending more manpower to reinforce this gap, several black-hair zombies were still able to charge into the inner camp.

A black-hair zombie swept around its arms and sent a rank one Gu Master flying.

The Gu Master fell on the ground and was unable to stand up immediately. The black-hair zombie pounced at him.

"I am finished!" The Gu Master closed his eyes in despair but suddenly he heard a loud sound.

He opened his eyes; a strong figure was blocking in front of him, while that black-hair zombie collapsed far away.

"It is Lord Hei Tu of Zhang Clan!" The Gu Master's heart shook.

Grrr!

That black-hair zombie's chest had caved in from Fang Yuan's punch but it wasn't dead, instead it hopped up and charged towards Fang Yuan.

Fang Yuan was covered with a layer of white light armor. He slightly frowned and waited for it to come near him, then he grabbed its two arms and pulled them fiercely.

The black-hair zombie was immediately torn apart into two halves.

Foul blood that carried corpse poison splattered but was completely repelled by the white light armor.

Fang Yuan casually threw the two halves of the corpse. Even a myriad beast king level blue-hair zombie would die from such injuries.

"Thank you Lord Hei Tu for saving my life!" The rescued Gu Master was completely absorbed in Fang Yuan's momentum and said with a voice filled with joy and reverence.

Fang Yuan ignored him but directed his gaze towards the chaotic battlefield.

-x-X-x-

By now, the wooden walls were already mostly collapsed, as hordes of zombies charged into the camp and fought with the Gu Masters.

Upon seeing this, Fang Yuan was already certain this zombie army was manipulated by Ding Hao.

If it was an ordinary zombie group, they would all swarm in like bees or the black-hair zombies would attack after the white-hair zombies died. Where would there be battle tactics like shown here, someone was clearly controlling them from behind!

And no doubt, the one controlling these zombies was Ding Hao.

Fang Yuan remembered the Second Zombie King left behind an inheritance after exterminating the clan on Mu Bei mountain. The inheritor of this inheritance was Ding Hao. He later went on to become Second Zombie King's eldest disciple, and although he was of demonic path, he was very loyal. Later in the battle between Righteous and Demonic on Yi Tian mountain, he took the place of Second Zombie King of his own choice and died in the battle.

"I had thought of looking for you but to think you would deliver yourself to me, that saves me a lot of time."

Fang Yuan's plan had been to use this Ding Hao to eradicate the caravan and kill everyone. Although he had methods to attract the beast groups, it wasn't easy to control the size of it.

The caravan strength had already decreased to a very low level and if large amounts of beast groups were attracted, it would instead cause his own life to be in danger. It would be even more troublesome to protect Shang Xin Ci on top of that.

Under such circumstances, Ding Hao was the perfect chess piece.

"But where is this guy hiding?" Fire blazed all around. Fang Yuan narrowed his eyes and observed his surroundings.

"He needs to be at a high ground if he wants to observe the battlefield and command the zombie army. Of course, he might have other Gu worms which could give him a bird's eye view of the camp. Regardless, the place he is hiding in should be convenient to escape..."

Fang Yuan lost the earth hearing ear grass and possessed no other investigative methods, thus he had to rely on speculations.

The battles were becoming more desperate; while hundreds of zombies were scattered all over the ground, there were also catastrophic losses to the Gu Masters. Under the endless flood of the zombies, the Gu Masters retreated bit by bit and soon reached the central area of the camp.

There, a bunker was made by piling up goods and some rank one Gu Masters were using many methods to reinforce it.

"There are too many zombies, the defense here will fall sooner or later."

"We need to break the siege!"

"Break the siege, how will we break through? There are dozens of black-hair zombies!"

"It would be better to reinforce our defense and wait for dawn. The zombies would receive a huge decrease in strength under the sunlight. We won't even need to make a move and they will retreat by themselves."

Arguments arose, and people were divided into two sides; one wanted to break through while the other wanted to defend their positions.

The two sides kept on arguing while the zombie horde was already pressing closer.

This temporarily formed caravan showed its biggest weakness right now; being unable to truly unite and lacking a strong figure to take control of the situation.

Fang Yuan had been observing the situation as a spectator; now, he suddenly stood up: "Stop shouting!"

The noisy scene quieted down almost instantly.

In everyone's eyes, he was a rank three peak stage Gu Master, one of the strongest experts in the caravan. Especially now at this critical life and death juncture, Fang Yuan had even more authority.

Fang Yuan swept his cold and sharp gaze at everyone. His ugly face, under the illumination of the fire, was menacing and ruthless.

"All those that wants to stay and defend are idiots! Why should we stay here if we can break through?" He fiercely scolded, giving off a strong impression.

The Gu Masters who were shouting about staying and defending showed indignant expressions but they didn't dare to retort; while the Gu Masters who insisted on breaking the siege were joyous. @@novelbin@@

"Lord Hei Tu is wise!"

"Lord Hei Tu, we will follow you."

"Right now, only Lord Hei Tu can save us from this desperate crisis!"

They continued to praise Fang Yuan to the high heavens, wanting to make him take charge of the dangerous assault.

However, Fang Yuan sneered and cursed: "Shut up! You bunch thinking of breaking through are even greater fools!"

"Ugh..." The Gu Masters that were praising Fang Yuan stiffened, their expressions fluctuating rapidly; while those who insisted on defending their positions showed ridicule and mocking expressions.

"Then, Sir Hei Tu, what do you suggest?" Jia Long's expression was dark as he spoke in a heavy voice with an unkind gaze.

"Hmph, be it defending the position or breaking through the siege, the situation needs to be investigated properly first. Do you know the scale of this zombie horde? What if there is a large group of them hiding in the darkness, wouldn't breaking through then be walking right into a trap? And if this is just all of them and you guys insist on defending your positions while you could clearly escape, the bloody odor would attract more zombies and you would just be sending yourselves to death." Fang Yuan spoke with such vigor that his saliva went flying out.

Nobody would show a good expression after being scolded harshly.

Chen Shuang Jin asked in a gloomy voice: "Then what good suggestion do you have?"

Fang Yuan opened his eyes wide in anger and pointed at Chen Shuang Jin: "You fools, your brain is filled with shit! I have spoken for so long and no one understands! Of course we are going to break through but first we are going to check our surroundings. Investigative Gu Masters, you need to work hard!"

Being pointed out by Fang Yuan and reprimanded, Chen Shuang Jin's expression turned ugly and a fire burned in his heart. However, he still vividly remembered that time when Fang Yuan killed Ou Clan father and son, so he could only suppress his anger.

Many became dissatisfied with Fang Yuan's aggressiveness; but at the same time, in this situation, such aggressiveness instead gave them a sense of indescribable security.

Soon, a group was organized to break through the siege under Fang Yuan's manipulation.

"Break through that direction." Fang Yuan said solemnly as he pointed towards southeast direction

"Yes, Lord Hei Tu!"

"Remember, scouting is the priority, protect yourselves and retreat if you can't continue." Fang Yuan smiled and patted the group leader's shoulder.

The group leader's heart immediately relaxed and Fang Yuan's image in his mind was no longer as repulsive as before.

The zombie horde reached the final defensive line and battles issued everywhere. Breaking the siege group charged forward three hundred steps before they were forced to retreat.

"Too terrifying, I discovered at least hundreds of zombies in the darkness at that side." The investigative Gu Master's heart was still fearful as he made the report.

Everyone turned slightly pale at these words.

"No problem, take a rest. Second group, break through that direction!" Fang Yuan commanded.

This group charged through four to five hundred steps before they had to retreat.

"There are too many zombies..." The investigative Gu Master was pale.

Fang Yuan let them rest, and said to the newly formed third group: "Go in that direction."

"But that side is a valley." The group leader was somewhat puzzled.

Slap.

Fang Yuan slapped the man: "If I say go, then go. Don't give me nonsense!"

The group leader was stunned by the slap, but he didn't dare to meet Fang Yuan's angry gaze so he turned around and led his group to the direction Fang Yuan pointed.

Fang Yuan had organized three breaking the siege groups, sending them out to probe the situation and finally rule out the possible areas.

"The only place remaining is that high slope now. If I am not wrong, Ding Hao is definitely hiding there." Fang Yuan sneered inwardly and continued to arrange breaking the siege groups.

"These people are really not giving up." Ding Hao's brows furrowed but soon relaxed, "Haha, you guys might have been able to break through if it was an ordinary zombie horde, but too bad for you, this zombie horde is being controlled by me..."

He mobilized the zombies in the darkness to constantly replenish any gaps. At the same time, he deployed massive forces towards several areas.

Several rounds later, the casualties in breaking the siege groups increased to a disastrous amount.

"This is enough, breaking through can't succeed, we can't make any more sacrifices in vain!"

"Sigh, looks like we can only defend our positions...."

"Everyone persevere, endure till the sun rises, these zombies would be weak as paper then."

"Stop your nonsense, success is in sight! I will personally lead this time. Bai Yun, you stand guard here." Fang Yuan cursed and aggressively insisted on breaking through.

Because of his aggressiveness, Gu Masters could only form another group.

Eight Gu Masters charged out with Fang Yuan in the lead; with enormous strength combined with snow silver primeval essence and Canopy Gu, he was able to easily force his way through the encirclement.

"Damn, that side is somewhat thin..." Ding Hao also couldn't prevent Fang Yuan from breaking through.

He hadn't thought Fang Yuan would choose this side to break through; this side was a dead end and he had continuously mobilized the zombies to other sides to fill up the gaps caused by the previous break through attempts, causing the zombies in this side to be the least in numbers.

"They really succeeded!"

"They broke through!"

The people in the camp were looking at this scene with wide eyes.

Although in the process, five Gu Masters died, Fang Yuan and the two other Gu Masters successfully broke through.

"We are saved, quick, let's break through that side!" Everyone was joyous in the camp.

"Don't even think about succeeding!" Ding Hao gritted his teeth and immediately mobilized zombies to fill the gap.

The camp was still in the process of organizing while white-hair zombies were already covering the area Fang Yuan broke through. There were also five black-hair zombies pouncing upon Fang Yuan's group.

The two Gu Masters were shell-shocked.

"Follow me!" Fang Yuan shouted and charged towards the direction where Ding Hao was hiding.

The two Gu Masters couldn't think properly because of their fear and subconsciously followed Fang Yuan.

"Hmph, choosing to run towards me, hahaha, it seems even heaven wants you dead..." Ding Hao's lips curled up as he looked proudly towards two zombies beside him.

These two zombies were huge, with green hair covering their body. They were green-hair zombies which was stronger than black-hair zombies and could show a power equivalent to that of a thousand beast king during night!

Ding Hao was only able to raise these two during his many years in the mountain.

"Go." He willed and these two green-hair zombies immediately charged out.

Eighty steps later, they met Fang Yuan's group.

Fang Yuan met one head-on; even though he had strength of two boars and a crocodile, they were evenly matched and both were sent back several steps from the collision.

The two remaining Gu Masters battled the other green-hair zombie, but they were being pressured and the situation already looked dangerous.

"Let me help." Fang Yuan activated jumping grass and lept towards the battle.

The two Gu Masters were exulted and were about to express their thanks, but without warning, two spiral bone spears shot towards them.

Psh Psh... two piercing sounds determined the two Gu Masters' deaths.

"Eh?" Ding Hao had been observing the battle and seeing this unexpected change raised a huge doubt in his mind.

This distraction caused the two green-hair zombies to slow down.

The next words Fang Yuan spoke caused even more shock to Ding Hao.

Only to hear him shout: "Ding Hao, get out here!"

-x-X-x-

Ding Hao started to get dizzy as if a flashbang went off in his head.

Who is this guy? He discovered me and even knows my name! Impossible, I have been so careful all these years, never giving myself away. How could he discover me?

Waves rose in Ding Hao's heart and his thoughts became a whirlpool; the two green-hair zombies along with the black-hair zombies and white-hair zombies around the camp became still.

Everyone in the camp were stunned by this unexpected scene.

However, Ding Hao immediately came to his senses and reacted. The battle in the camp resumed.

Fang Yuan knew he had already half-succeeded upon seeing these two green-hair zombies remaining still. He shouted: "Ding Hao, you will regret if you don't come out...."

Ding Hao was hiding within some bushes, he gritted his teeth and asked while controlling the green-hair zombies to surround Fang Yuan: "Who are you? How do you know my name?"

Fang Yuan snorted: "Of course it was my master Second Zombie King who told me."

"Ah?" Ding Hao could not stop but let out a cry of surprise; 'master' and 'Second Zombie King', these words were like a boulder descending and creating a huge wave in his heart.

He stood up and walked out of the bushes, his two eyes staring tightly at Fang Yuan with shock and doubt.

"Who on earth are you?" Ding Hao anxiously asked.

Fang Yuan snorted and said in an overbearing tone: "Are you deaf? Didn't you hear me? I am the Second Zombie King's eldest disciple, Hei Tu. Ding Hao, I will count to three, if you don't call back these two green-hair zombies by then, hehe...." @@novelbin@@

"You are eldest senior brother? Wait a second, how did lord benefactor know my name?" Ding Hao held suspicions towards this entire issue, but regardless, he still called back the two green-hair zombies to his side.

Fang Yuan's expression turned stiff as he scolded: "Who is your eldest senior brother? Master has yet to take you in as his disciple, how dare you pose off as one?"

Ding Hao had no way to retort back.

Fang Yuan tone softened: "Don't you talk to the stone slab all day, how could master not know your name?"

"Ahh!" Ding Hao uttered a cry of surprise.

All these years, he had lived alone with only the zombies as his companions. When he felt depressed and painful, he would go to the final cave and pour out his heart to the stone slab.

He had never expected Fang Yuan to expose his secrets with one remark.

"I... I thought... that was an ordinary stone slab..." Ding Hao stammered.

"Hmph, what level are you at, of course you cannot understand the profoundness of the stone slab. Master has vast powers, how would you be able to see through it?" Fang Yuan disdainfully sneered.

In actual fact, even if a rank nine Gu Master were to see the stone slab, they wouldn't be able to see the 'profoundness' of it. That was just a common stone slab. However, in Fang Yuan's previous life, Ding Hao himself had personally narrated it in his recollection of his struggles in life after he made a name for himself.

Ding Hao licked his dry lips, he was almost fully convinced but he still had some doubts.

He gave a deep bow towards Fang Yuan and cupped his hands: "Lord Hei Tu, since you are master's disciple, then please show me our unique characteristic, the zombie heart Gu."

Zombie heart Gu was a Gu specific to the zombie king's lineage. It resembled a heart, had seven holes and was stiff as stone. It was a rank three Gu, was cold to the touch and seemed to be made of bronze.

Zombie heart Gu could produce rank two running corpse Gu. It was similar to charred thunder potato mother Gu which could produce charred thunder potato Gu.

Rank two running corpse gu was also a consumable Gu and was used on corpses to form zombies.

However, it had an advantage over charred thunder potato Gu; the zombies it created could grow up and advance a stage. For instance, white-hair zombies could become black-hair zombies, black-hair zombies could become green-hair zombies and so on.

Fang Yuan possessed charred thunder potato mother Gu, but he had no zombie heart Gu.

However, he was not in the least nervous towards Ding Hao's request; he opened his mouth and boldly scolded: "Cut your crap, I am on a secret mission assigned by master, I had to disguise my identity to join the caravan, how could I carry zombie heart Gu with me? Zombie heart Gu feeds upon zombies, how could I get zombies in full view of everyone?"

"Ah, thi-this..." Ding Hao was stumped.

"What this, do you think I can't kill you?" Fang Yuan timely revealed his snow silver primeval essence.

Rank three peak stage cultivation was clearly 'revealed'; Ding Hao's pupils shrunk, he was only at rank three middle stage.

Fang Yuan immediately followed: "Although our lineage can control zombies and form an army of them, controlling zombies requires our concentration. If our soul is not strong, our mind will be weak, then our control over the zombie's quantity and quality will only be ordinary. Although you have two green-hair zombies, there will definitely be gaps when you defend yourself while controlling them; it will be very easy for me to kill you."

Ding Hao licked his dry lips and retreated a step back with some fear.

"However..." Fang Yuan immediately changed the topic, "Before I left, master told me about you and wanted me to check if you had the qualifications to enter his tutelage. To think you actually approached me with killing intent when I have not even starting looking for you, hmph."

"Ahh, th-this... eldest senior brother, it wasn't intentional." Ding Hao started panicking when he heard Fang Yuan was someone sent by Second Zombie King to inspect him.

"Who is your eldest senior brother? You have yet to receive master's approval. Hmph, you are still doubtful now?" Fang Yuan raised his brows.

Ding Hao quickly cupped his hands and said in a self-mocking tone: "Eldest senior brother, since you are clear on zombie heart Gu's food and our weakness, no matter how stupid I am, I recognise eldest senior brother's identity."

Fang Yuan kept a poker face and did not speak, only looking at the two green-hair zombies.

Ding Hao was stunned for a while before immediately realizing. With a shift of his mind, he sent the two green-hair zombies away.

Then he walked before Fang Yuan, bowed and said submissively: "Please forgive me eldest senior brother, I wanted to kill these people to collect enough zombies. I really hadn't expected eldest senior brother to be here. If I had known, I would have come down the mountain and welcomed you. I really yearn and am determined to follow master, heaven can testify my loyalty."

Fang Yuan relaxed his tone: "Hmph, master knows of your loyalty. Before I departed, master spoke of it and praised your loyalty when he asked me to inspect you on my journey. Even if you had not reached the standard, as long as there isn't a huge gap, it's no problem."

"So it was like that!" Ding Hao was overjoyed.

"However!" Fang Yuan's expression turned heavy and his tone cold, "You had the cheek to attack the caravan, wrecking my secret mission. Do you know how much effort I and your second senior sister had to waste to infiltrate this caravan?"

"Eldest senior brother, it really was not intentional..." Ding Hao was indignant, his excitement just before sank through the floor due to Fang Yuan's words, "Second senior sister is also in the caravan? I, I... I will call back the zombie horde!"

"What?" Fang Yuan was furious as he knocked his fingers on Ding Hao's head, "Is your brain made of glue? Can't you think? You moron, wouldn't they start doubting me if the zombies retreated for no rhyme or reason? Idiot!"

Ding Hao rubbed his aching head before quickly nodding and apologizing: "Yes, yes, eldest senior brother is right. Then eldest senior brother, I will do whatever you say!"

Fang Yuan pointed at Ding Hao: "You have already made a serious mistake, but considering it was not intentional, it can't be helped. Next, do as I say to make up for your mistakes!"

Ding Hao was like a grandson being admonished as he kept on nodding at Fang Yuan.

However, Fang Yuan didn't mention his demand immediately and instead asked: "Tell me the truth, how many white-hair, black-hair and green-hair zombies do you have? Also any blue-hair zombies?"

Ding Hao showed an ashamed expression: "I am stupid, I have been living at Mu Bei mountain for close to ten years but have yet to raise a single blue-hair zombie. As for green-hair zombies, I only have three of them; I left one inside the cave to stand guard and have brought the other two with me. I have over one hundred and twenty black-hair zombies and close to four thousand white-hair zombies."

Fang Yuan had expected him to not have any blue-hair zombies and was able to be at ease after confirming it.

He intentionally made a sound of surprise and spoke nonsense: "You are not that far from the target. Having three green-hair zombies is pretty good, and as for blue-hair zombies, even I have only two of them."

He was clear of Second Zombie King's requirement to take in disciples.

Second Zombie King had not just left behind one inheritance; he had taken in seven to eight disciples in Fang Yuan's previous life, Ding Hao was only one of them.

Later on, Second Zombie King joined Yi Tian mountain and was besieged by the righteous path. The disciples of Second Zombie King commanded great zombie armies and showed off their talents, causing the righteous path allied army to retreat at one point.

As Ding Hao listened to Fang Yuan, his heart was cleared of doubt. He looked at Fang Yuan with admiration: "Eldest senior brother, you are amazing, you have two blue-hair zombies. This junior brother is full of admiration!"

Fang Yuan patted Ding Hao's shoulder and showed an expression of 'feeling proud inwardly but intentionally suppressing it': "To raise a blue-hair zombie, if you say it is difficult, it is difficult; if you say it is easy, it is easy . I will explain it to you, you need to first find a rank four Gu Master's corpse then the rest is up to your luck. It depends on whether this corpse had used a Gu worm in his life to raise his strength. If he did, it will be at least a green-hair. If you use fresh blood to nurture it for a year or two, it will evolve into a blue-hair."

"I see." Ding Hao knew Fang Yuan spoke the truth after he combined it to his own experiences; he gratefully said, "Thank you eldest senior brother for your pointers!"

"Mm." Fang Yuan slightly nodded his head and carefully checked Ding Hao's expression, knowing the latter had complete trust in him now.

Ding Hao had originally been a servant and then secretly cultivated for close to ten years on Mu Bei mountain. His honest character made him easy to deceive.

In fact, even those who were very scheming would be moved by Fang Yuan's words and would at least believe most of it.

"No use in crying over spilled milk. Act with me and if your performance is good, I will give you a pass from my side." Fang Yuan said.

Ding Hao's eyes brightened and immediately replied: "Please speak elder senior brother, I will definitely do my best to accomplish it!"

Fang Yuan gave detailed instructions before charging back to the camp.

With Ding Hao's secret cooperation, Fang Yuan returned beside Shang Xin Ci without any mishaps.

Seeing an expert like Fang Yuan returning to their sides, everyone in the caravan was surprised, happy and in awe.

In their perspective, Fang Yuan could have already escaped but he fought his way back to them.

"I am burdening you, benefactor!" Shang Xin Ci felt ashamed and guilty.

"No matter. You are only one of the reasons, besides, Bai Yun is also here." Fang Yuan shook his hand and intentionally said this, making Shang Xin Ci and Xiao Die feel even more moved.

Bai Ning Bing glanced at Fang Yuan with doubt; Fang Yuan vaguely winked at her, she immediately realized he was up to no good.

-x-X-x-

The zombie horde's attacks gradually slowed down and the situation came to a standstill.

Time passed minutes by minutes; occasionally, some Gu Masters heroically sacrificed themselves or zombies fell down.

Two hours later, Ding Hao followed Fang Yuan's instruction and steeply increased the attacks of the zombies, breaking the defensive line that was hanging by a thread.

There were only thirty or so people in the caravan now.

They had to break through! They were all of one mind on this as everyone of them could see that there was a chance at survival if they broke through, and if they insisted on defending their positions, their deaths were certain.

To break through would also be a desperate struggle. Layers upon layers of white-hair zombies had encircled them and there were also black-hair zombies obstructing them.

"Give up on these mortals, they will only slow down our speed!" Jia Long shouted.

Shang Xin Ci and Xiao Die became pale.

"Don't worry, I am here." Fang Yuan defended them.

All the remaining mortals were ruthlessly abandoned, only the two of them remained.

Jia Long and other Gu Masters didn't dare to say anything since they had to rely on Fang and Bai's strength.

They were progressing shakily through the siege and just when it looked like they were about to break out, two green-hair zombies appeared.

"We will go back." Fang Yuan pulled Shang Xin Ci and Xiao Die, and said in a soft voice.

Bai Ning Bing stopped, weren't they entering into the encirclement again by going back?

However, Fang Yuan was already retreating towards the back with Shang Xin Ci and Xiao Die. Bai Ning Bing gritted her teeth as she looked at the empty field in front of her, but she still turned around and followed Fang Yuan.

The other Gu Masters fell into a chaotic battle against the two green-hair zombies.

Green-hair zombies were as strong as thousand beast king, and though there were many rank three Gu Masters, they were already exhausted.

As their battle with the green-hair zombies continued, the surrounding black and white-hair zombies closed in on them.

This instead caused the pressure on Fang and Bai to decrease greatly.

Fang Yuan retreated dozens of steps before he started breaking through again.

Numerous white-hair zombies were blocking their way, but Fang Yuan just plunged and dashed; the power he displayed was extremely high, white-hair zombies died everywhere he passed.

Bai Ning Bing was dumbstruck, was this Fang Yuan's true strength?

"Eh, these white-hair zombies are too weak..." She immediately found something amiss when she attacked.

The white-hair zombies that were blocking them were many times weaker than before. They had dazed expressions and didn't even attack properly, they were more like punching targets.

"Did Fang Yuan discover this weakness and is using it now? Strange, these white-hair zombies look the same, how in the world did he discover these weakness?" Bai Ning Bing was bothered and bewildered.

Fang Yuan, however, was hurling curses inwardly right now.

Before departing, he had reminded Ding Hao to make the zombies appear strong although actually weak, and make it realistic. So what horrible performance is this?

Ding Hao was sweating profusely.

He had never exerted so much concentration to control the zombie army.

He was extremely nervous, feeling that he had destroyed eldest senior brother's secret mission. Guilt and worry made him cooperate with Fang Yuan's act with all his efforts. It was okay when he didn't know Fang Yuan's identity, but now that he knew Fang Yuan was his eldest senior brother, how could he dare to truly attack him?

"Amazing!" Xiao Die exclaimed in surprise.

Shang Xin Ci's beautiful eyes also brightened.

Fang Yuan was moving unhindered, like an unmatched general maneuvering on the battlefield, giving off a feeling of invincibility!

Who does not love heroes?

Which girl did not dream of a prince riding a white horse, a hero saving the beauty?

Xiao Die did and so did Shang Xin Ci.

Right now, as the master and servant looked at Fang Yuan's wide back, there were ripples in their hearts.

Fang Yuan was ugly, but at this moment, this ugliness gave off a beautiful radiance to them. His bravery and spirit gave an indescribable sense of security to these two girls who were in this dangerous situation; they could not help but want to rely and depend on him.

"Such terrible acting, this coward!" Fang Yuan really wanted to kick Ding Hao to death. His thoughts moved rapidly and he could make out Ding Hao's mental state.

"It seems I have no choice..." Fang Yuan narrowed his eyes, then he resolutely deactivated canopy Gu and charged towards an attacking white-hair zombie.

His flesh was torn open, Fang Yuan got injured.

"Good, this is how it should be!" Fang Yuan happily thought. This was the best chance to win Shang Xin Ci's trust, how could he let it go in vain?

"Damn it!!" Bai Ning Bing cursed and immediately rushed towards Fang Yuan, abandoning Shang Xin Ci. Fang Yuan had the Yang Gu on him, that was the key to her reverting back to a man and it could absolutely not be lost.

"Oh my heavens!!!" Ding Hao's whole body shook when he saw Fang Yuan being injured. He was blaming himself; the worry and panic was clear on his face as he mumbled: "It wasn't intentional, it really wasn't intentional, eldest senior brother!"

"Ahh...." Shang Xin Ci and Xiao Die both cried out.

Their hearts ached seeing Fang Yuan injured.

"What are you doing, go back and protect them!" Fang Yuan shouted in a soft voice when Bai Ning Bing approached him.

Bai Ning Bing's blue pupils widened, she immediately realized Fang Yuan had intentionally received the attack; this bastard!

"Don't go overboard." Bai Ning Bing's eyes twitched, she said these words and left.

With Ding Hao's control, the white-hair zombies made threatening gestures, but it was all show and little action.

Bai Ning Bing kicked a white-hair zombie flying and hurried back towards Shang Xin Ci.

"How is Hei Tu?" Shang Xin Ci grabbed Bai Ning Bing's arm and asked.

"He is okay." Bai Ning Bing's lips twitched.

"Why are you not switching with him, he is injured!" The gentle Shang Xin Ci's words carried a rarely seen grievance.

Bai Ning Bing's lips twitched, she couldn't tell that Fang Yuan intentionally received the attack, right? So, she casually made up a reason: "He has always been like this, he will never stop when he starts an assault, unless he falls."

Shang Xin Ci's beautiful eyes flickered and slightly reddened.

Xiao Die covered her mouth, her eyes were already moist.

There were ripples in the master and servant's hearts again as they looked at Fang Yuan. What kind of man was this! In this horde of zombies, he moved around without fear, constantly pressing forward. No doubt he was a hero, a sorrowful hero!

Seeing Fang Yuan injured, Ding Hao was shaking with fear and didn't dare to obstruct the path.

Fang Yuan charged ahead for some distance and led Shang Xin Ci and the group out of the zombie encirclement.

"That's it?" He smacked his lips with dissatisfaction and grudgingly looked at the only injury on his body. It was such a good opportunity to show off but he only received a single injury; the act was really lacking.

Despite only suffering a single injury, it already made Shang Xin Ci and Xiao Die extremely worried.

"Hei Tu, are you okay? You are injured, the wound is so deep, all because of me!" Shang Xin Ci's eyes were becoming moist with tears.

"So much black blood is flowing out, Lord Hei Tu you have been poisoned." Xiao Die said with deep concern.

Fang Yuan puffed out his chest and said in a deep, fearless voice: "This is just a small injury, the corpse poison is somewhat troublesome but I can detoxify it with clearing heat Gu. You don't no need to worry. Hahaha..."

He started laughing.

The camp was in ruins, flames blazed everywhere. The remaining people in the caravan had set the camp aflame before leaving; it was to burn their bridges and also to have a source of lighting.

Fang Yuan and the group charged out of the zombie encirclement and reached the outer perimeter of the light from the fire.

The light shone on Fang Yuan's face, chest and his injury.

He laughed, his appearance was ugly but it gave a different kind of heroic charm to the two girls!

They had dreamt of dreams of hero saving the beauty, dreamt of handsome and unrestrained hero; truthfully, the image of Fang Yuan and their image of heroes were as different as day and night. However, strangely, the two girls felt this was the true hero! He was unrestrained, fearless and had unmatched heroic spirit!

Many years later, Shang Xin Ci would ask herself how Fang Yuan walked deep into her heart... every time, she would involuntarily think of this night....

Layers upon layers of zombies to his back, blazing flames shining upon his face, the burn scars on his face, his smile revealing his white teeth. His deep black pupils looked at herself, the normally cold and indifferent eyes - under the orange flames - revealed a hint of warmth.

"Save us!" The caravan group were deeply encircled by the zombie horde and started shouting for help when they saw the situation in Fang Yuan's side.

Fang Yuan's gaze flashed but he didn't speak. Shang Xin Ci had already grabbed his arm: "You are injured, don't go, let's leave. Do you remember what you said to me? Do only what you are able to."

A peace of mind as long as one does what he can.

Fang Yuan laughed and patted Shang Xin Ci's hand: "Don't worry, I am not going, there is no kindness or hatred between them and me. Let's go!"

However, it wasn't so appropriate to leave like this. What if someone knew he killed Zhang Zhu and under desperation, shouted it, what would Shang Xin Ci think then? In truth, his worries were unnecessary; Chen Xin and Chen Shuang Jin who knew about the matter had already died in battle.

Fang Yuan's eyes flashed with a bright light as he shouted loudly: "Continue to persevere, wait till I bring them to a safe place, then I will come help you!"

"Brother Hei Tu is righteous!"

"We hope Brother Hei Tu returns quickly!"

"Brother Hei Tu, if you save me, I will give you a huge amount of money!"

The caravan people shouted one after another.

Fang Yuan laughed bitterly and looked at the master and servant's puzzled gaze: "I am giving them some hope so that they might create a miracle. Sigh , I can only do this much."

Fang Yuan's image immediately rose to a much greater height in the two girls' hearts.

Fang Yuan and the group ran along the mountain passage.

Under the moonlight, the mountain passage looked like it was covered with snow.

As per their previous discussion, Ding Hao arranged a batch of zombies around here to block the path.

The four rushed to the arranged area, Fang Yuan signalled Bai Ning Bing with his eyes then stood at the spot: "You guys leave first, I will stop these zombies and hurry back to you."

The master and servant's steps immediately slowed down, but under Bai Ning Bing's persuasion, they continued to run along the path and soon left Fang Yuan's sight.

Fang Yuan laughed, he acted as if he was in a struggle with the zombies and finding an opportune timing, he activated jumping grass and jumped over the zombies, arriving beside Ding Hao.

The battle with the caravan was still ongoing. There were only three remaining in the caravan side, but what amazed Fang Yuan was a green-hair zombie had actually perished!

After asking Ding Hao, he realized a Gu Master had used a rare rank three detonation Gu.

"Eldest senior brother." Ding Hao immediately bowed, his face was pale and his forehead filled with sweat.

He had never tried splitting his thoughts to control the zombies with such intensity. The main thing was he had to act according to Fang Yuan's directions, making him more exhausted.

Previously he would just command the zombies to attack or retreat. How could he have commanded them to only make threatening gestures and attack empty air? And he still had to control these zombies to keep still when attacked by Fang Yuan.

"Eldest senior brother, how is your injury? It really wasn't intentional. I have a healing Gu here." Ding Hao started to explain hurriedly.

Fang Yuan patted his shoulder: "You are good, you have put in a lot of effort. No need to worry about my injury, I suffered it intentionally. Now, you just have to use more strength and eradicate these people!"

"Yes." Ding Hao immediately let out a breath of relief.

With his spirits raised, he started maneuvering countless zombies forward.

The surviving three knew their deaths were certain - one closed his eyes and sighed; another cried out Fang Yuan's name; and another was crying loudly.

Under the threat of death, their natural instincts were fully revealed.

The zombie horde submerged the three. Fang Yuan satisfiedly nodded: "Was there anyone who escaped?"

"No, absolutely none. I did what eldest senior brother instructed and arranged a large amount of zombies in the perimeter." Ding Hao quickly answered.

"Good, well done. Clean up the battlefield, remember to not leave behind any tracks."

"Yes, eldest senior brother."

Ding Hao had never exposed himself when he attacked the caravans which showed he had certain level of accomplishment in clearing the tracks. He cleaned up the battlefield with ease and disguised the traces as ordinary zombie horde attacking the caravan; Fang Yuan secretly nodded his head in approval.

However, although he was older than Fang Yuan, his experience couldn't compare to the veteran Fang Yuan. @@novelbin@@

Fang Yuan pointed out some areas that were overlooked, causing Ding Hao to admire him. For instance, the primeval stones couldn't be entirely taken, they had to leave some behind, after all the zombies wouldn't collect them. Another point would be not all the corpses should be changed to zombies; the corpse poison could be deep or shallow and they didn't have a hundred percent chance to turn corpses into zombies.

"Eldest senior brother, please take these primeval stones." About five minutes later, Ding Hao sensibly offered the primeval stones he collected.

Fang Yuan glanced at it, there were approximately thirteen thousand primeval stones. He didn't hesitate to take it and put them in tusita flower.

"How are your gains?" Fang Yuan patted Ding Hao's shoulder and warmly asked.

Ding Hao's pale face let out an excited light: "The gains are huge this time. I obtained five complete bodies and they are all rank three Gu Masters. There are also dozen Gu Master corpses, they are all strength Gu Masters. I will get at least black-hair zombies once they are turned into zombies."

"Hahaha, you have obtained a good harvest. Raise these black-hair zombies properly and you will definitely have new green-hair zombies."

Ding Hao repeatedly nodded his head, his face filled with admiration: "This is the first time I have devoured a whole caravan. It is all thanks to eldest senior brother for attracting beast groups along the way and constantly reducing their forces. All these gains I made is because of eldest senior brother."

"You are not too shabby either, your commanding ability is quite good. But looking at your face, you have used your brain too much, your mind is haggard and your soul is wounded. You need to recuperate for a while. Taking good care of our soul is very important to our lineage. If our soul is not strong, our mind will be weak and commanding the zombies will be more difficult." Fang Yuan smiled, speaking gently.

"Thank you eldest senior brother for your concern!" Ding Hao had lived alone for close to ten years, this was the first time someone showed concern for him, so he couldn't help being moved.

This emotional spike immediately caused him to have an intense dizziness, his body shook and if not for Fang Yuan supporting him, he might have fallen head-first into the ground.

"I am ashamed! My cultivation is still not enough, I am feeling dizzy and my mind is not working properly." Ding Hao was able to barely stand up.

"There is no need to worry, return to the cave and rest properly. Although you will still feel headaches tomorrow, your mind will have mostly recovered and can smoothly command these zombies." Fang Yuan smiled.

"Yes. I have experienced this before when I tried to control too many zombies, I almost fainted on the spot, hahaha." Ding Hao laughed.

"Okay... I need to leave now, I give you my approval. Rest properly and wait for me to come back, I will bring you to pay respects to master. Right, where is your cave?"

"It is halfway up the mountain beside a dark pond. It is easy to find, that dark pond is very unique, it is shaped like a pentagram." Ding Hao was very happy and immediately answered, "Eldest senior brother, you really won't come visit my cave with me?"

"I can't, time is pressing, I need to hand over the secret mission to master. Not good, someone actually feigned death, there is still someone who escaped!"

"Where!" Ding Hao's mind shook and immediately turned around to look.

Pew!

Next instant, a bone spear pierced his skull.

Plop

Ding Hao collapsed on the ground, a thick spiral bone spear pierced through his skull; blood and brains slowly flowed out the spiral hole.

His eyes were wide open, a look of utter disbelief.

The smile on Fang Yuan's face disappeared, changing into an indifferent expression. He slowly bent down and grabbed Ding Hao's leg, dragging him towards the ruined camp.

The flames were still blazing. The zombies - having lost their master - started hopping aimlessly.

The corpses on the ground drew their attention, enticing them.

They hopped towards the corpses, biting and tearing them.

Fang Yuan dragged Ding Hao's corpse past the corpses strewn battlefield, sounds of zombies eating the corpses kept on reverberating in his ears.

He threw Ding Hao towards the blazing fire and quietly looked on as the corpse slowly changed to ash. The Gu worms on the corpse also mournfully wailed before gradually burning to death.

Once Shang Xin Ci was recognized by Shang clan leader, she would definitely be strictly investigated by the Shang clan. This battle was sure to be of utmost importance.

If Ding Hao was captured by them and interrogated, Fang Yuan could be in danger.

Despite Ding Hao being an honest person, easy to deceive and a very good chess piece, his worth could never match with Shang Xin Ci. And if there were risks, it was better to abandon them. This including giving up the Gu worms on his body. As long as Fang Yuan carried them on him, Second Zombie King could find him. Moreover, it was not convenient for Fang Yuan to feed zombie heart Gu and it might only leave behind traces which could be discovered in Shang Clan's investigation.

As for these zombies, they had turned back to being common zombie horde after losing their master. Once they finished eating these corpses, a part of them would stay here and another part would leave, wandering about Mu Bei mountain and searching for food.

Once they were done with this, the whole scene would become even more natural.

Only after Ding Hao's corpse was burned to ashes did Fang Yuan slowly leave.

The zombies were eating the corpses, these mindless things were of no threat now.

-x-X-x-

The crescent moon hangs high in the night sky, as moonlight flowed down like water.

Shang Xin Ci stood on a boulder and gazed far away, her face filled with worry: "Why has Brother Hei Tu still not returned?"

"Did something happen?" Xiao Die added.

"How could anything happen to him, don't worry." Bai Ning Bing leaned on a withered tree, wondering what Fang Yuan was up to again.

Minutes and minutes passed, as Shang Xin Ci's brows furrowed while her worry kept increasing.

Bai Ning Bing also started feeling something amiss, almost eight minutes had passed, did something really happen to Fang Yuan?

She didn't care about Fang Yuan's death, what she cared about was the Yang Gu on Fang Yuan.

Anxiety grew in her heart. Half of this was because of Fang Yuan's disappearance, the other half was because of her own helplessness. As Fang Yuan's cultivation continued to advance, she found it incredibly difficult to deal with him and get the Yang Gu. This meant that if Fang Yuan reneged on his promise, she had no way to deal with him.

Bai Ning Bing knew what kind of personality Fang Yuan had after travelling with him for so long. Fang Yuan's cultivation was nearing rank three; the promised time was coming and her heart was becoming increasingly fretful.

The three discussed and just when they decided to return to assist Fang Yuan, he appeared in their sights on the mountain passage.

Shang Xin Ci let out a breath of relief, but her heart pounded again when Fang Yuan walked in front of them: "Brother Hei Tu, you are injured again!"

Fang Yuan had intentionally made some more injuries on his body. He drew in a breath of cold air: "When you guys had just left, a green-hair zombie appeared. Fortunately, I ran quickly, we should leave immediately, it might still be chasing me."

The three naturally didn't dare to stay any longer when they heard that and hastened their journey that very night.

So far, Fang Yuan's objectives were achieved and he behaved appropriately along the way.

After crossing Mu Bei mountain, they arrived at Shuang Jiang mountain.

This mountain had two peaks separated by a deep ravine, the peaks were similar to each other and gave off a majestic aura.

The four no longer had the caravan's protection now, so it seemed to take a lot more effort when they moved through the mountain.

Fortunately, after crossing Shuang Jiang mountain, it was Xue Lei mountain.

Xue Lei mountain had Zhao Clan and could not be considered to be a wild area since there were human inhabitants on it.

The most dangerous part of the trade route was already over, so the danger had greatly decreased.

Fang and Bai were wanted by Bai Clan, so they didn't go to Zhao Clan. The four moved on relentlessly; after passing through Xue Lei mountain, they continued to cross Qian Ku mountain, Ju Ren mountain, Lu Zao mountain... crossing over six great mountains.

During this time, Fang Yuan's cultivation advanced from rank two middle stage to peak stage.

On the whole journey, they only stopped by some remote hamlets to replenish their supplies.

As they neared Shang Liang mountain, the mountain path became wider and there were more people moving through the path.

And finally, on this day, Shang Liang mountain finally appeared in their sights.

"Puff, that is Shang Liang mountain?" Shang Xin Ci put her hand on her forehead to shield her from the sunlight and looked at the horizon before letting out a breath of turbid air. @@novelbin@@

"Missy, we are almost there!" Xiao Die laughed happily, and excitedly shook Shang Xin Ci's arm.

Bai Ning Bing only looked and did not speak.

"We will go our separate ways when we arrive at Shang Liang mountain. Lady Zhang, I have paid your favor." Fang Yuan suddenly said.

"What?" Xiao Die gasped, not having expected Fang Yuan to say that, she stood on the spot at a loss.

Shang Xin Ci's expression changed, her eyelashes slightly trembled as she looked at Fang Yuan.

These days, while Fang Yuan remained silent, he had already become a pillar of support for her. Now that he is leaving, Shang Xin Ci immediately felt a sense of emptiness and loss.

"All things must come to an end." Fang Yuan heaved a long sigh.

"True..." Shang Xin Ci pursed up her lips, her breathing was becoming heavy. After being in contact with Fang Yuan all the time these days, she knew his character; he was a someone acts upon his decisions, a resolute man.

"Let's go, it isn't quite safe yet, we will part our ways when we reach the city gate." Fang Yuan started walking in front.

The atmosphere of the group had decreased to a freezing point, even the incessantly chattering Xiao Die was silent.

The closer they were to Shang clan city, the nearer their parting; Shang clan city unconsciously slowed down Shang Xin Ci's steps. Shang clan city was her destination for this trip and she should have been happy as she neared her target, but right now, she didn't want to reach Shang clan city.

However, the path was after all limited; they eventually arrived at the foot of Shang Liang mountain.

Shang clan city's huge gate was right in front of their eyes.

It was time to part ways.

Fang Yuan gazed deeply at Shang Xin Ci and nodded his head, only saying two words.

"Take care."

It was simply two words, but it made Shang Xin Ci's beautiful body tremble.

Fang Yuan turned around and left.

"Wait." Shang Xin Ci summoned her courage and suddenly spoke.

It was a sea of buzz and commotions around the city gate with people moving to and fro.

Shang Xin Ci's beautiful pupils gazed at Fang Yuan as the crowds moved rapidly around them.

"We will meet again some day. Benefactor, you might have repaid my favor in your heart, but you have saved me over and over again, this favor you have given to me is as deep as the sea and as heavy as the mountain. Benefactor, you said a drop received in need will be repaid with whole river. I will definitely repay you!" The young girl's tone was firm and revealed her resolute heart.

Fang Yuan smiled towards her, then turned around and left, gradually disappearing within the crowd.

Shang Xin Ci stood on the spot for a long while.

"Miss, they are really heartless, leaving just like that." Xiao Die walked over and held her hand.

"They do not want to implicate us, their demonic path identity cannot be exposed even on Shang Liang mountain." Shang Xin Ci's nature was kind, always thinking of people positively.

"Oh, it was like that!" Xiao Die realized.

"They might be demonic Gu Masters but they are good people. I have decided, I will make it big on Shang clan city. There is definitely a place for my talent. I might just be a mortal who can't cultivate, but I can hire Gu Masters to work for me. I will definitely repay their favor in future!"

"Yes! I believe in you Missy."

...

"Strange, you have protected Shang Xin Ci all the way, why are you intentionally parting ways now that we reached Shang Liang mountain? I have to remind you that there is a huge flow of people in Shang clan city and you don't have an investigative Gu; if you are just playing hard to get, make sure you don't lose track of her. If not, you will just be shooting yourself in the foot, it would really be a great joke."

Bai Ning Bing coldly reminded Fang Yuan from the side.

Fang Yuan ignored her, his gaze followed Shang Xin Ci and Xiao Die till they walked through the city gate and only then did he retrieve his gaze.

As per his previous life's memories, Shang clan leader should detect his bloodline in Shang Xin Ci once she entered Shang clan city. However, for confirmation, the tyrannical Shang clan leader would round up all the people of the caravan, which Shang Xin Ci joined at that time, and keep them in house arrest as he interrogated and investigated them.

When the truth was cleared up and Shang Xin Ci's identity was confirmed, Shang clan leader generously compensated all the caravan members by twice the amount of their goods.

Shang Xin Ci directly jump from being a mortal girl to being Shang clan leader's beloved daughter. This event caused a sensation and became a popular conversation topic.

This is why Fang Yuan needed to part ways with Shang Xin Ci.

Fang Yuan had many Gu in his aperture which could never be exposed to others; especially the Spring Autumn Cicada. If he was investigated and his aperture searched, it would become a huge trouble.

If it was an ordinary clan, Fang Yuan would have no worries because the clan leaders who usually had the highest cultivation would only be at rank four stage in such clans. However, Shang clan leader had rank five cultivation and that wasn't even the highest cultivation here. There were supreme elders in the Shang clan possessing rank six cultivation; if they were to search Fang Yuan's aperture, the Spring Autumn Cicada would be discovered even if it hid deep within.

Saying his farewell had another advantage; he would appear to have no desire or need anything from Shang Xin Ci, this would deepen the impression of 'only repaying favor' in her heart. Later, when he meets Shang Xin Ci, he would definitely obtain her trust.

Actually, the quickest way to form an inseparable relation to Shang Xin Ci is through sexual relation.

Fang Yuan could sense Shang Xin Ci had good feelings towards him. If he took her chastity, the future Shang clan leader would fall deeply in love with him.

Fang Yuan might appear ugly, but the charisma he released already moved Shang Xin Ci's heart.

He knew Shang Xin Ci would not refuse him if he wanted it.

But this way absolutely could not be carried out!

If he did it, he would become Shang clan's son-in-law and would be bound to the chariot called Shang clan. Then Fang Yuan would no longer be able to do things his own way, his every movement would be watched by others, his hands and feet bound, even his cultivation would have to be purposely suppressed.

As his cultivation increased rapidly, it would expose bone flesh unity Gu which was sure to cause an upheaval and attract all kinds of attention. Fang Yuan understood how much bone flesh unity Gu was worth, even Shang clan could not keep it for themselves.

And if Spring Autumn Cicada was revealed on top of that, hehe, those reclusive rank six Gu Masters, even rank seven Gu Masters would jump out one after another. After reaching rank six, the Gu Master would experience a qualitative change in their strength, each of them able to contend against the strength of a whole clan.

Once he had sexual relations with Shang Xin Ci, after Shang Xin Ci confirmed his identity, even if she was Shang clan leader, they would all come looking for Fang Yuan. Fang Yuan was moreover a demonic Gu Master with unknown origins, it was unavoidable for him to be investigated and interrogated.

If he escaped, he would have to face Shang clan's pursuit and arrest warrant. This was a completely different concept from Bai Clan's arrest warrant.

Bai Clan was in dire straits and didn't have enough strength, but Shang Clan was one of the overlords of Southern Border.

Fang Yuan would only have one way out if that happened, that was to escape from the Southern Border.

...

Shang Yan Fei was sitting cross legged in the air, his whole body bathing in flames.

The flames were scarlet like blood and were burning silently in the dark void.

As the leader of Shang clan, he is occupied with clan affairs everyday and does not have much time to cultivate. Even so, with his domineering aptitude and comprehension, he was able to cultivate to rank five upper stage and was only a step away from peak stage.

Today's cultivation was about to end...

The scarlet flames slowly dispersed and shrunk, finally changing back to long crimson hair on Shang Yan Fei's head.

Without the illumination from fire, darkness spread, becoming the sole master of the area.

Suddenly! Shang Yan Fei opened his eyes, his pupils were dyed color of blood and his gaze shone like lightning as it pierced through the darkness.

"A new bloodline that originates from mine... how did this appear out of nowhere?"

-x-X-x-