Chapter 140: Valley of Purgatory

The largest golden rat king among the pack was clearly getting anxious. It lunged directly at a nearby zombie, and the immense impact knocked the zombie to the ground, causing the golden monster rat it had been clutching to slip from its grasp.

The golden rat king immediately started gnawing, the crunching sound of bones being chewed sending sharp pains through the ears of the two people in the tree.

This fellow was truly fierce; the zombie was visibly missing several fingers.

The zombie struggled repeatedly to get up, but it was pinned down by the golden rat king and couldn't succeed.

"Squeak, squeak, squeak!" The golden rat king shrieked furiously at the zombie, though it was unclear if it was seeking justice for its companions or merely showing off.

Its response was a large wooden club!

Bang!

Another zombie arrived from the side, wielding a wooden club. It slammed the golden rat king so hard that it spun several circles in the air before finally landing on the ground.

"Squeak!"

The golden rat king was clearly enraged. It arched its back, and the golden fur on the back of its head bristled.

"Good heavens," Zu An exclaimed, clicking his tongue as he watched. This rat king was clearly much stronger than its companions. The quills on the back of its head were now over a meter long, each one gleaming with a golden luster, like javelins.

Whizz, whizz, whizz!

Several sharp quills shot out. The zombie's movements were sluggish, making it impossible to evade. It was struck by multiple quills, and the immense force pinned it directly against the mountain wall.

"Squeak, squeak!"

The golden rat king was clearly somewhat proud; its revenge for the recent clubbing had finally been exacted.

Ji Xiaoxi couldn't help but exclaim, "If those enormous quills hit us, we'd probably be severely injured, if not dead!"

Zu An nodded. In terms of individual strength, this golden rat king should be at least high-tier Grade Three, and Grade Four wasn't impossible, though he wasn't very familiar with the classification of fierce beasts in this world.

If he were to fight it one-on-one, without resorting to his special abilities, he probably wouldn't be able to defeat it.

"Wh-what is that!" Ji Xiaoxi gasped, her voice trembling as she pointed in a direction.

Zu An looked in the direction she was pointing. He saw the zombie that had been pinned to the mountain wall move. It lowered its head to look at its chest, and its half-rotted eyeballs nearly fell out, as if in shock or something else.

Then it extended its hand and pulled out the quills from its chest one by one. There was no blood splattering, only some mysterious fluid, perhaps body fluid or pus, oozing out.

Zu An's face twitched. Thankfully, he had just eaten; otherwise, he would have lost his appetite completely at the sight of this.

As for Ji Xiaoxi, she had already turned her face away.

The zombie pulled out all the quills, then brandished the club in its hand and charged toward the golden rat king.

"Squeak~"

The golden rat king's fur bristled all over, not in preparation for attack, but out of sheer fright. It had used its ultimate move, yet this creature was hit but completely unharmed. What was the point of fighting then?

So it took off running. If before it had held a shred of responsibility as a king to protect and rescue its subjects, the current situation made it clear that merely saving its own life was a good outcome.

Watching the golden rat king vividly demonstrate what it meant to run away in terror, Zu An couldn't help but frown. These zombies' defense was practically invincible. Even after enduring such attacks, they acted as if nothing had happened—or rather, nothing had happened to a corpse. So how could they be killed?

"Xiaoxi, were there ever any records of these zombies in this secret realm?" Zu An asked the girl beside him.

Ji Xiaoxi shook her head. "I've never heard of zombies in the Yaoguang Secret Realm. Not only is there no mention in the academy's records, but even my father never brought it up to me."

Zu An's heart stirred. He suddenly remembered that the secret realm had opened early this time, and Jiang Luofu had also mentioned that the realm was acting unusually. Could it be that because he was entering, the secret realm was starting to cause trouble?

Damn, this is definitely the kind of treatment only a protagonist gets!

While Zu An was complaining, he didn't forget the most pressing question. "Are there perhaps light-element magic or something similar in this world? How can these things be killed?"

"Light-element?" Ji Xiaoxi furrowed her pretty brows. "Legends do speak of cultivators who awakened such elements, but they are extremely rare. There don't seem to be any in Brightmoon City, at least. As for ways to deal with zombies, there are some records; it seems cutting off their heads and destroying them should work. Also, there are rumors that fire-element cultivators deal additional damage to them."

"Fire-element?" Zu An looked worried. Clearly, neither of them possessed this ability. He wondered if ordinary fire would work.

However, this valley was so cold and damp that starting a large fire probably wouldn't be easy.

He ran through all the skills he knew, finding none that could be used against these zombies. Even his proud "Evil-Ward Disc-Swordplay" was more suited for flesh-and-blood creatures, with every move aimed at vital points. But these zombies had incredibly high defense, which would greatly reduce the effectiveness of that swordplay against them.

After all, even if you stabbed them in the head, if you didn't completely destroy it, it wouldn't have much effect on a zombie.

Ultimately, only about a third of the golden monster rats escaped. Most were caught and devoured by the zombies. Since zombies were everywhere underground and these golden monster rats couldn't fly, they suffered heavy losses.

The fact that a third escaped was thanks to only a small number of zombies awakening initially. But as their flesh and blood spread throughout the valley, more and more ground began to stir, and one by one, zombies with decaying flesh crawled out from underground.

"Do you have any odor-masking medicine? Quickly sprinkle it around, or it'll be too late," Zu An said gravely.

Initially, the ground below was swarming with golden monster rats, but now it was full of even more formidable zombies. The two had no chance to escape; their only hope now was not to be discovered.

"Yes," Ji Xiaoxi replied, hastily taking out a medicine bottle and sprinkling its contents around them.

Zu An finally let out a sigh of relief.

"When will these zombies finally retreat?" Zu An's mood grew heavier as he watched the decaying corpses roaming below. It had been daytime when they first entered, but the valley was too gloomy, with little sunlight penetrating inside.

Judging by the sky outside, it was probably almost nightfall. Would these zombies roam around all night then?

He suddenly grew curious about how this secret realm was formed. It had both day and night, with a sun during the day. He wondered if a moon would appear when night fell.

Below, the zombies were currently indulging in a ravenous feast. Clearly, the smell of flesh and blood was a delicacy to them, though not so pleasant for living beings.

The increasingly strong scent of blood in the air made Zu An feel nauseous several times, but he forcibly suppressed it.

But Ji Xiaoxi wasn't so lucky. As a girl, she was naturally afraid of such things, and having just eaten a lot, she was overwhelmed by the stench of blood and the gruesome sight of zombies gnawing on the golden monster rats. She finally couldn't hold it in and began to vomit.

One had to admit, even the cutest little fairy didn't vomit pink, strawberry-flavored stuff.

"Damn it!" Zu An's heart sank. There was no time to worry about this now.

Sure enough, the feeding zombies all turned their heads. Their empty eye sockets stared at their hiding place, and although many lacked eyeballs, Zu An was certain they could see them.

The zombies that hadn't caught golden monster rats earlier began to converge on the large tree. Zu An's expression changed slightly; the tree had just been gnawed by the rats and probably wouldn't withstand many more attacks from these zombies before collapsing.

The thought of the golden monster rats' tragic fate when they fell into the piles of zombies made him shudder.

He quickly asked the girl beside him, "What about your poison? You shouldn't have any moral qualms about using it on zombies now, right?"

"My poison only works on living creatures. These undead beings are clearly immune to poison," Ji Xiaoxi said, her face pale. "I'm sorry, it's all my fault."

If she hadn't been so greedy earlier, she wouldn't have lost control and attracted these monsters.

"There's no use talking about that now," Zu An said quickly. "I'll go down and draw them away in a moment. You must not make a sound."

Ji Xiaoxi was startled. "No, I'm coming with you!"

Zu An shook his head. "My movement technique is quite unique, and these zombies aren't fast. I'm not without a chance. But if I take you, both of us will die. Besides, if you stay here, you might be able to alert someone to rescue me after the zombies leave."

"Brother Ah Zu~" Ji Xiaoxi's eyes immediately reddened. She knew he was telling the truth and that going down would only cause him more trouble. But knowing something rationally was one thing; feeling it emotionally was another.

If she hadn't dragged him down today, he wouldn't be in such a perilous situation.

Noticing her expression, Zu An grew anxious. "You absolutely must not act impulsively and do something foolish. If you do, my risk will be for nothing."

"Okay, but Brother Ah Zu, you have to promise me you'll stay alive!" Ji Xiaoxi said, tears welling up in her eyes as if they might spill at any moment.

"What, if I survive, will you pledge yourself to me?" Zu An teased, while observing the zombie distribution below.

Ji Xiaoxi's face flushed. "You're annoying, you already have a wife..."

"Haha, my wife doesn't mind me finding other women. I'm off!" Zu An laughed heartily. He had already spotted an opening and darted out with a whoosh.

The zombies were clearly attracted to him. A large portion turned towards him, but another part looked up at the tree canopy where Ji Xiaoxi was.

Seeing this, Zu An immediately stopped, clapped his hands, and shouted, while flailing his arms to attract their attention. "Hey, bony big shots, look over here! Come and chase me if you dare! If you catch me, I'll let you... hehehe!"

It was unclear if they understood his words or if the commotion he made was too great. All the zombies suddenly turned their heads towards his direction and lunged at him in unison.

Zu An dared not hold back in the slightest. He immediately activated "Sunflower Illusionary Shadow," dodging among the zombies and leading them away.

However, there were simply too many zombies on the ground. Once, as he took a step and landed, a dark shadow came hurtling towards his head. It was precisely when his old strength was depleted and new strength hadn't yet emerged, leaving him no time to dodge again.