Chapter 77: Chapter 76: Plan

Unfortunately, Qiu Tong was destined for disappointment. Wu Chen was already far ahead, leaving only his back in their view.

All she could do was quickly put on her shoes and socks, straighten her clothes, and hurry to catch up.

Past this village, a little further on, was the mountain belonging to the Lin family.

Thinking of the five villages they had passed along the way, home to nearly a hundred households, large and small, all devoured by the Demon Corpses, leaving behind only pools of blood and shredded clothes.

Lin Gaoyuan’s face was ashen.

The three young women were also silent, their brows deeply furrowed.

If they hadn’t made this trip out of the city, they would have been completely unaware that such a terrible thing had happened outside its walls.

As their minds reeled, their horses reached a spot a short distance from the foot of the mountain.

Fearing they would alert whatever lay within the mountain, they dismounted and prepared to enter on foot.

Wu Chen looked at the three young women and Wang Erhu, and said:

"It’s likely even more dangerous in the mountains. You should wait here at the base."

"Alright, alright!"

Wang Erhu nodded eagerly. Having witnessed the brutal methods of the Demon Corpses, he couldn’t have been happier to stay at the foot of the mountain.

Along the way, every house they’d seen had been empty, without a single whole corpse left behind.

Under these circumstances, his legs had long since turned to jelly. He’d nearly fallen from his horse several times.

If his older sister hadn’t been there to keep him in check, he would’ve turned his horse around and galloped all the way back to Fenglin County long ago.

Besides, after seeing what the Demon Corpses did in that village, he suspected the "fierce beasts" Lin Gaoyuan had mentioned were actually just the Demon Corpses.

’Plunging into the deep mountains and ancient forests now? Isn’t that just a death wish?!’

Wang Erhu looked at the injured Qiu Tong.

"Since you’re injured, Miss Qiu, why don’t you wait with me at the base of the mountain!"

"Get lost!"

Qiu Tong quickly declared, "I’m going into the mountains with Young Master Wu!"

"I will go with the Young Master as well."

Chen Xiaoqing and Wang Lin said in unison.

The solemn look in their eyes showed they weren’t joking, nor were they ignorant of the risks.

Perhaps it was the great drought in Qingzhou that had displaced so many. Sensing the growing turmoil, the elders of their families had, intentionally or not, begun to let the younger generation take charge. All matters, large and small, were now for them to decide.

And through the trials of this period, they too had developed keen insight.

They had seen the evidence along their journey: in such a short time, the people of so many villages had been devoured without a sound, without a trace.

And the culprits were the Demon Corpses lurking in these very mountains.

Now that the villages around Fenglin County had been wiped out, with not even bones left behind, where would the ferocious Demon Corpses strike next?

Given the current situation, the next target was obvious: Fenglin County, a town of forty to fifty thousand people, located over six miles away!

Therefore, they had to slay these fiends here in the mountains.

If they couldn’t, then they at least had to gather as much information as possible—the Demon Corpses’ numbers, their strength—and bring it back.

Then, their family elders could step in, discuss how to deal with the threat, and plan their next move.

Seeing how resolute the three young women were, Wu Chen could only shrug, no longer trying to dissuade them.

The group split into two teams.

Wang Erhu stayed at the foot of the mountain to look after the horses.

The other team consisted of the rest of the group. With Lin Gaoyuan leading the way, they advanced deep into the mountain forest.

Qiu Tong’s injury wasn’t serious. Besides, Wu Chen had handled the Demon Corpse almost single-handedly, so the others hadn’t expended much energy.

Thus, the decaying leaves, moss, and slick stones of the mountain path didn’t hinder their progress.

But because they had to search for tracks of the mountain beasts, the group moved slowly.

But for Lin Gaoyuan, this was not a difficult task.

Soon, he spotted a patch of grass that had been crushed.

No one had entered this part of the mountain for days. Yet where this grass was broken, sap was still seeping out, a clear sign it had been damaged only recently.

This was very strange.

"This way."

Lin Gaoyuan said in a hushed voice, nodding to Wu Chen.

Led by Lin Gaoyuan, the group frequently changed direction.

As they ventured deeper into the forest, Wu Chen caught a faint, intermittent whiff of rotting flesh. He knew the source: Demon Corpses.

"Put on your masks. Take an Antitoxic Pill."

He reminded the others in a low voice, then took one of the Antitoxic Pills Lin Gaoyuan had prepared. He also tied an herb-soaked cloth over his mouth and nose.

But inwardly, he was stunned:

’Such a thick stench... Just how many Demon Corpses are there?’

’It’s several times stronger than the stench back when I was fleeing the disaster in Qingzhou!’

Once their mouths and noses were covered, the group continued to follow Lin Gaoyuan.

As they moved deeper into the woods, the tracks through the trampled shrubs and weeds grew more distinct.

From the tracks, Wu Chen knew his guess had been correct: there were at least a hundred Demon Corpses, if not more.

’If the Demon Corpses are only as strong as the ones on the road from Qingzhou, they won’t be hard to deal with.’

’Lin Gaoyuan and the others should have no problem handling thirty to fifty on their own, able to fight or fall back as needed.’

’But if they’re like the one from the village... that could be a problem.’

Wu Chen remained silent, cautiously following the tracks on the ground.

Within the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, Lin Gaoyuan had led them to a mountain hollow.

The stench of decay here was overpowering. All around them, trees had been shattered by immense force and lay toppled in every direction.

The scene was incredibly conspicuous.

This was a gathering place for the Demon Corpses.

The group held their breath, wary of every stray branch, and carefully poked their heads out from the undergrowth. From their high vantage point, they gazed down toward the source of the overwhelming stench in the hollow below.

Then, their pupils contracted. Their facial muscles twitched, and they clenched their jaws to keep from crying out in alarm.

Even Wu Chen’s brow furrowed into a tight knot when he saw what was in the hollow.

The number of Demon Corpses was beyond his imagination.

A single glance revealed a dense, writhing mass in the hollow below—at least two or three hundred of them.

’It’s not just the number, these things have gotten stronger!’

After seeing the state of the Demon Corpses in the hollow, Wu Chen immediately decided to retreat.

It wasn’t just that their numbers had reached a terrifying level.

Among the Demon Corpses in the hollow were several with slender bodies, blade-like fangs, and knife-like claws.

Even more alarmingly, some of them were over ten feet long from head to tail!

The appearance of these particular Demon Corpses had changed drastically. The bone spurs jutting from their spines, tails, and joints were now jet-black, looking as if they were forged from tempered steel—unbreakable.

They rested, basking lazily in the sun, revealing bellies covered in fine, dense Scale Armor.

Their offensive and defensive capabilities were leagues beyond those of the Demon Corpses they’d seen on the roads of Qingzhou.

Wu Chen scanned the vast mountainside. ’Judging by the direction of the tracks,’ he thought, ’this is just one of their gathering places.’

’Just this one spot has nearly two hundred Demon Corpses.’

’Across this whole mountain, there are probably eight hundred to a thousand of them!’

Wu Chen felt a cold sweat break out. If they made a single sound and one of the Demon Corpses let out a howl, the consequences were unthinkable.

"We can’t win. Fall back."

Wu Chen gave the others a meaningful look, his words sharp and clear, signaling the retreat.

’Whether I could beat them or not is irrelevant. If a fight breaks out now, I definitely can’t protect everyone.’

’In an instant, they’d be torn to shreds by the Demon Corpse horde.’

As for the four people beside him, their hearts were already pounding like war drums as they stared at the Demon Corpse horde, which was far more ferocious than what they had seen in the village.

Faced with such overwhelming numbers, they didn’t need Wu Chen to tell them it was time to retreat.

This was far beyond what a few of them could handle. They had to immediately inform their family elders, who could then notify the government and have troops dispatched.

’Even then, they can’t just charge into the mountains to fight them. They’ll have to rely on the walls of Fenglin County just to withstand the assault of these terrifying Demon Corpses!’

’Then they’ll have to request aid from Cangwu City or Mountain Mist City. That’s the only way the tens of thousands of people in Fenglin County will have a chance to survive.’

At Wu Chen’s signal, they all began to back away, muffling their steps.

They made it all the way back down the mountain without making a sound or alerting the Demon Corpses.

"Sis, what’s it like in the mountains?"

Seeing the group return safely, Wang Erhu, who had been waiting anxiously at the base of the mountain, felt a wave of relief wash over him and rushed to greet them.

But when he saw the lingering gloom on his older sister’s face, his heart leaped back into his throat.

"We’re returning to Fenglin County. Don’t ask anything else," Wang Lin said, unwilling to waste her breath on him.

The group mounted up and walked their horses slowly for about half a mile, making sure they wouldn’t alert the Demon Corpses in the mountain. Only then did they break into a frantic gallop, racing toward Fenglin County.

"Young Master Wu, what are you planning to do next..."

Lin Gaoyuan rode alongside Wu Chen, shouting to be heard over the hoofbeats as he asked about Wu Chen’s plans. He trailed off mid-sentence, unable to finish.

He had gone into the mountain with Wu Chen and now understood the situation clearly.

Even if they couldn’t destroy the Demon Corpses, simply bringing back this information was a great merit. It would allow the families in the city to prepare and would save countless innocent lives.

Moreover, Wu Chen had only looked over his family’s exceedingly common Martial Arts manual once.

Even if Wu Chen could make use of the manual, he would still need guidance from the Lin family elders to truly master its intricacies.

Even a peerless genius would need a year to master it completely.

So in Lin Gaoyuan’s eyes, what Wu Chen had done was more than enough.

Whether Wu Chen chose to stay or leave, Lin Gaoyuan couldn’t possibly blame him.

Wu Chen’s expression was grave. Although Lin Gaoyuan hadn’t finished his sentence, he knew what the man wanted to ask.

He shook his head. He hadn’t decided on an answer yet.

’Given the situation, the best thing would be for us to part ways.’

’You all go back to your Fenglin County, and I’ll go to my Mountain Mist City.’

’After all, hundreds, if not thousands, of Demon Corpses are about to descend on Fenglin County.’

’After they’ve wiped out Fenglin County and evolved again, where will the Demon Corpses go next?’

’To the remote and poorly defended Black Stone City, of course.’

’As things stand, it seems only Mountain Mist City—with its population of nearly a million and its countless roaming martial artists—has the manpower to fight the Demon Corpses.’

’But if I go to Mountain Mist City, will I really be safe?’

A question arose in Wu Chen’s mind.

’Fenglin County will let the Demon Corpses evolve once. Black Stone City will let them evolve again. By the time they reach Mountain Mist City, I doubt it will be safe either.’

’Mountain Mist City is a major city. It’s true that it has elite troops and is surrounded by a few renowned righteous sects, but deeper in the mountains lies the Blood Slaughter Sect, a massive Demon Sect.’

’And Mountain Mist City itself is surely a den of vipers, with Blood Evil fiends and Demon Path cultivators lurking within.’

’The Blood Slaughter Sect would probably welcome the arrival of these Demon Corpses with open arms.’

’When that time comes, the city will be besieged by Demon Corpses from without, while the Blood Slaughter Sect causes chaos and rips people apart from within.’

’It would inevitably become another scene of carnage, with bodies strewn everywhere.’

Wu Chen glanced back at the mountain forest behind them. After pondering for a few breaths, he turned to Lin Gaoyuan and asked:

"The Demon Corpses will likely reach Fenglin County in the next few days. What’s your plan?"

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