One person: Starting with the Snow Drinking Blade

At almost the same moment, Nie Lingfeng and Xu San also sensed it.

Something is... getting closer.

a lot of.

From the deeper shadows surrounding the cemetery, from behind the overgrown slopes, from behind the leaning tombstones… stiff, slow, yet unmistakably malevolent figures emerged. Their gait was grotesque, their joints creaking and grinding, revealing, in the cold moonlight, bluish-gray skin covered in stains and signs of decay, and eyes… completely filled with a murky, dark red, pupil-less sockets.

Zombie.

A rough count revealed no fewer than twenty bodies. They exuded a strong stench of decay and a chilling aura of death, silently forming a loose encirclement, slowly but steadily approaching the grave pit—or rather, towards Zhang Chulan inside the pit and Feng Baobao beside it.

"Holy...holy crap!!" Zhang Chulan, who had just managed to sit up from the pit, looked up and saw a scene that looked like something out of a horror movie. He was so scared that he almost fell back down. His voice trembled as he said, "What the hell is going on?! Is this a movie shoot?! The props are so realistic!!"

Feng Baobao stood up and casually stuck the shovel into the soil beside her, the shovel almost halfway into the ground. Then, she did something that made Nie Lingfeng's eyes twitch again—she very naturally pulled out two... kitchen knives from the leather sheath at her waist.

Yes, these are the kind of kitchen knives commonly found in ordinary family kitchens: thick blades, handles wrapped with anti-slip cloth, and blades that are even somewhat worn from long-term use. On one of the knives, you can even vaguely see dried grease stains that haven't been washed off.

Nie Lingfeng felt that his understanding had been challenged once again.

Immediately afterwards, he witnessed a scene that he would never forget, a scene that could be described as "violent aesthetics".

Feng Baobao moved.

There was no opening stance, no charging process, not even a trace of extra expression. She was like a black lightning bolt merging into the night, charging headlong into the slowly approaching horde of zombies!

A flash of light appeared in his left hand!

A zombie head, mostly rotten and with thinning hair, shot into the sky, tumbled a few times in the air, landed on the ground, and rolled a few more times.

A flash of blade appeared in his right hand!

Another zombie was cleanly cut in two at the waist, its upper body falling forward while its lower body remained frozen in place.

She turned sideways, seemingly casually raising her leg to kick, sending a lunging zombie flying backward, its chest caved in, knocking down two more behind it. Simultaneously, with a backhand slash, she severed the clawed arm of another zombie attacking from the side at shoulder level!

Her movements were unbelievably fast; her figure weaving through the zombie horde was almost a blurry black silhouette. There were no fancy move names, no dazzling energy effects, only the most primal, direct chopping, slashing, slicing, and hacking! Every strike was terrifyingly precise, either severing a cervical vertebra, cutting through a joint, or splitting open a skull. The kitchen knife seemed to come alive in her hands, the arcs it drew were simple and efficient, possessing an almost cruel beauty.

What's even more chilling is that she maintained that empty, calm expression on her face the whole time, her eyes focused intently on each "target," as if she wasn't hacking down stinking zombies, but rather processing a bunch of potatoes that needed peeling or radishes that needed chopping in the kitchen.

Less than a minute.

It really only took less than a minute.

More than twenty slow-moving but surprisingly strong zombies had been reduced to scattered limbs and mutilated bodies. Thick, dark red fluid stained large patches of the graveyard soil, filling the air with a pungent stench of decay. Occasionally, limbs not yet completely destroyed would twitch slightly in response to nerve reflexes.

Feng Baobao stood still, shaking off the grime from the two kitchen knives, the blades gleaming coldly in the moonlight. Then she crouched down and began to examine a relatively intact zombie carcass with the tip of her knife, seemingly searching for some clue.

Nie Lingfeng stared in disbelief, and subconsciously whispered to Xu San beside him, "Third Brother... has our Bao'er always been... this fierce?"

Xu San's lips seemed to curve upwards slightly, his voice carrying a hint of barely perceptible pride and helplessness: "This? This is just standard procedure. Baby isn't even serious yet."

Before the words were even finished, a sudden change occurred!

From the depths of the dark woods at the edge of the cemetery, a sharp, short, piercing sound, like the whistle of some kind of metal, rang out without warning!

Feng Baobao, who was squatting on the ground examining the corpse, suddenly raised her head!

This time, the emptiness in her eyes was replaced by a clear "alertness"—not fear, but the vigilance and wariness of a wild animal when it detects a potential threat.

Without the slightest hesitation, and without even pulling out the shovel stuck in the ground, she suddenly retreated!

Instead of rushing towards the woods from which the whistle came, or towards the old locust tree where Nie Lingfeng and the others were hiding, they... headed towards the wasteland on the other side, completely opposite to the village. With a few leaps like rabbits and falcons, their figures blended into the thick night and disappeared without a trace.

Nie Lingfeng: "...???"

The slight smile on Xu San's face froze instantly, then turned into astonishment.

"Hey! Hey!! Don't go!!" Zhang Chulan, who had finally managed to crawl halfway out of the grave, looked in the direction where Feng Baobao had disappeared, then at the surrounding zombie remains, his face turned green, and his voice was trembling with tears, "What... what about these things?! Is there anything else?! Big sister, don't abandon me!!!"

As if in response to his shout, the scattered remains of the zombies on the ground suddenly began to tremble erratically. Even more chillingly, from the shadows at the edge of the graveyard, seven or eight more zombies, their movements even stiffer but their aura even more sinister, slowly emerged! Their target was clear: they all turned and stared at Zhang Chulan, who had just crawled out of the pit and was trembling with fear, with their empty, dark red eye sockets.

A low, guttural "ho...ho..." sound, seemingly squeezed from the depths of their chests, emanated from their throats, carrying an instinctive loathing for the living. They moved their stiff legs, step by step, heavy and slow, toward the isolated and helpless Zhang Chulan.

Zhang Chulan's face turned ashen, and he tried to climb out of the pit completely, using both his hands and feet. However, the pit walls were slippery, and he was both frightened and scared. He would slip every two steps he took, and cold sweat poured down his forehead in his anxiety.

Nie Lingfeng couldn't stand it any longer and instinctively wanted to stand up and take action. Although these zombies were slow-moving, they were definitely a deadly threat to an "ordinary college student."

"Wait." Xu San grabbed his shoulder, the force not strong, but carrying an undeniable meaning.

"Third Brother, he might really just be an ordinary person—" Nie Lingfeng said anxiously.

"Something's not right." Xu San's gaze was fixed on Zhang Chulan, his eyes sharp as an eagle's. "If Zhang Chulan were really just an ordinary person with no ability to protect himself, given Bao Bao's personality and judgment of the mission, she would never leave him here alone in a situation where there is clearly a mastermind behind the scenes and the danger is unclear."

Nie Lingfeng was taken aback, then suddenly realized.

That's right! Feng Baobao may seem "dull," but that's because her way of thinking is different from ordinary people, not because she's stupid. On the contrary, she has a beast-like intuition and extremely high efficiency in combat and mission execution. If she judges that Zhang Chulan needs protection, given her style, she would either knock him unconscious and carry him away like just now, or she would completely eliminate any threats in front of her before leaving, like clearing out zombies.

She chose to leave directly, and the only explanation is...

At this moment, the foremost zombie had closed to within three steps of Zhang Chulan. It stretched out its bluish-gray hand, its nails black and sharp, carrying a foul stench, and reached straight for Zhang Chulan's neck!

Zhang Chulan let out a short, desperate scream and instinctively raised his arm to shield his face.

Just as those jet-black fingernails were about to touch his skin—

boom--!!!!

A dazzling, intense golden light, like a miniature sun suddenly bursting forth from the bottom of the crater, exploded without warning!

That wasn't a soft, warm light, but rather a scorching, fierce, and indestructible aura of righteousness! The golden light instantly solidified, forming a semi-transparent spherical shield with mysterious runes flowing across its surface, completely enveloping Zhang Chulan!

The zombie's hand gripped the golden shield as if it were gripping a red-hot iron!

"Sizzle—!!!"

A piercing burning sound rang out, accompanied by the stench of charred flesh. Thick black smoke instantly billowed from the zombie's entire hand as the flesh melted away, revealing the bluish-black finger bones beneath! It let out a shrill, inhuman roar, abruptly retracting its hand and retreating hastily.

Immediately afterwards, to the astonishment of Nie Lingfeng and Xu San, Zhang Chulan jumped out of the pit...

Instead of struggling and tumbling, it leaped up lightly, like a feather, and landed steadily on the solid ground at the edge of the pit. It barely stirred up any dust upon landing.

He straightened up, raised his hand, and slowly adjusted the crooked black-rimmed glasses on his face. Behind the lenses, all the previous panic, cowardice, and fear receded like a tide, replaced by a cold, sharp, and scrutinizing gaze. The gentle student demeanor around him vanished completely, replaced by a subtle, sharp aura belonging to a strongman.

"Tsk..." Zhang Chulan clicked his tongue lightly, his tone carrying a hint of annoyance and helplessness at being interrupted. "I was originally planning to pretend for a little longer to see if I could catch a bigger fish... Never mind."

He raised his right hand, fingers spread, palm facing upward.

Crack!

A blinding, blue-white burst of electricity suddenly exploded in his palm! Fine arcs of electricity leaped, coiled, and converged like living things, emitting a chilling "sizzling" sound that illuminated half of his calm face.

"Thunder Magic—"

His eyes sharpened, and he aimed his palm at the horde of zombies that were once again stirring and closing in.

"—Palm Thunder!"

Boom-! ! ! !

A bolt of blue-white lightning, as thick as a child's arm and blazing intensely, roared from his palm like a silver dragon breaking free from its restraints! Wherever the lightning passed, the air was ionized, crackling and popping, and the light was violently distorted!

The lightning struck precisely into the densest center of the zombie horde!

The sudden burst of intense light caused Nie Lingfeng to instinctively squint!

A deafening explosion echoed through the graveyard! Lightning burst forth, transforming into countless tiny electric snakes that raged, thrashed, and lashed out wildly! The four or five zombies directly struck didn't even have time to scream before they were instantly carbonized and disintegrated into ashes in the blinding flashes of electricity! The surrounding zombies were also swept by the violent aftershocks of the lightning, their bodies convulsing, black smoke billowing, their stiff limbs twisting and deforming under the electric shock, collapsing to the ground, completely incapacitated!

The violent shockwave even spread to the old locust tree where Nie Lingfeng and his group were hiding, causing the thick trunk to tremble and the withered leaves to fall like raindrops.

The flashes of light and the roar of the engine gradually faded away.

Zhang Chulan stood still, slowly withdrawing his right hand. A few tiny arcs of electricity lingered in his palm, flickering a few times before disappearing. The dazzling golden light surrounding him also receded into his body like a tide. He patted the dust and grass clippings off his tracksuit, then smoothed his slightly messy hair, quickly reverting to his harmless, slightly bookish appearance as an ordinary college student—if it weren't for the charred remains around him and the acrid smell of burnt ozone in the air.

Nie Lingfeng: "…………"

Xu San: "…………"

The two exchanged a silent glance, both reading the same crystal-clear thought in each other's eyes:

This kid... he's a real movie star! The acting, the restraint, the plot twist... the nickname "Shameless" is truly well-deserved!

"The Golden Light Mantra... and his mastery of it is quite profound." Xu San said in a low voice, his tone complex, with a mixture of amazement and understanding. "And that last strike... it was authentic Yang Five Thunder, a secret thunder technique passed down from Longhu Mountain. Zhang Xilin... no, Zhang Huaiyi's grandson, is indeed a man of great hidden talent."