The undead have descended upon the world? I possess a sword that can cleave the heavens once more!

Wu You carried the wooden sword all the way home.

The sword was beyond repair; its blade was covered in teeth marks, and in several places it had been pierced straight through.

If it weren't for the cool air, this wooden sword would probably have shattered into a pile of wood chips long ago.

Wu You stopped walking next to the community's trash cans.

He looked down at the sword in his hand and shook his head.

He was about to throw the broken wooden sword into the trash can.

But then, as if remembering something, he stopped what he was doing.

Then, carrying his broken wooden sword, he turned and went upstairs.

. . .

I returned to my room and closed the door.

Wu You put the completely unusable wooden sword under the bed and then began to reflect.

In his past life, he was clearly a cautious person. He would think carefully about the consequences before doing anything and wouldn't act impulsively.

But what about this time? Even though she had guessed beforehand that there might be more than one zombie, and even though she knew that the man jogging at night was suspicious, she still went to Li Wei's house.

If it weren't for good luck, if that monster hadn't wanted to play around for a while, or if other powerful beings hadn't come along...

He's already inside that mouth.

That was too reckless.

Wu You rubbed his temples.

Is it influenced by memories from a previous life?

The introverted, sensitive, and sentimental boy in the original body grew up with Li Wei and treated Li Wei like a brother.

Those memories are still in his mind, and sometimes they suddenly pop up, making him feel that it is right to go to Li Wei's house to visit.

But he was not the predecessor.

He came from another time, and it's been less than two days at most.

But when he went, he really didn't think too much about it.

Wu You shook his head.

It's not entirely due to the influence of its predecessor.

More importantly, it's his own mental hurdle that he can't overcome.

He remembered Li Wei's father's dark, thin, smiling face, and his mother's hand as she stuffed snacks into his hand.

He recalled that they had nodded and greeted him at the entrance of the residential area yesterday morning.

and then?

Then they turned into that kind of thing.

They turned into those grotesque, man-eating monsters with distorted features and triangular teeth.

Then he killed them with his own hands.

Living, breathing people shouldn't be turned into monsters like that.

Living people should not simply disappear silently from this world, unable to even remain human.

Wu You clenched his fist; he knew his idea was naive.

This is a world filled with monsters, black mist, and all sorts of extraordinary powers, where people die every day, and he is powerless to do anything about it.

Forget it.

He let out a breath and began to tally up his gains.

70 experience points can be allocated.

Adding the 1 point left over, I had a total of 71 experience points, which I poured into basic swordsmanship.

The basic swordsmanship is upgraded directly from beginner to intermediate level, and also includes three sword moves.

His level also increased from zero to one, and his physical fitness was enhanced once again.

He also gained something else—he learned what the extraordinary power in this world was called.

Martial artists, and those with special abilities.

The monster claimed to be a "martial artist" and said, "An ordinary martial artist can't withstand this bite."

This shows that there are people in this world who specialize in martial arts and can fight monsters just like him.

Those with special abilities should follow a different path; the "black-skinned dog" that the monster was cursing might be an ability user.

You can then investigate along these two directions.

Another point is that it proved their abilities.

He can now kill those infected zombies with a single sword strike; all seven took less than twenty seconds, clean and efficient.

If another batch of the same kind comes, he's confident he can take them all out in seconds.

But that middle-aged man...

Wu You recalled those pure black eyes, that suddenly elongated neck, and that gaping maw that stretched over 180 degrees.

He can't beat that kind of opponent.

We can't beat them, at least not right now.

If it weren't for that final sword strike, he would be inside its belly by now.

We still need to practice.

Wu You rubbed his shoulders and turned to go into the bathroom.

My body felt sticky, soaked with sweat twice. Now that it's dry, my clothes are stiff and clinging to my body. I didn't feel anything while I was tense, but now that I've relaxed, my whole body is slightly sore.

He took off his clothes and turned on the shower.

As the hot water poured down, he closed his eyes and let the water drench him from head to toe.

Those images flashed through my mind again.

Li Wei's father's face.

Li Wei's mother's face.

When the wooden sword pierced through, those faces turned into black mist and dissipated.

And those pure black eyes.

Glug glug—

The sound of water drowned out everything.

. . . . . .

At the same time.

In a space shrouded in thick black fog.

A man was standing there, stepping on something.

He wore a black trench coat, black trousers, and shiny leather shoes. He held a freshly lit cigarette between his fingers, the nicotine smoke rising only to be swallowed up by the surrounding black fog.

He was standing on a head.

The head was burned beyond recognition; the charred flesh was rolled back, revealing the stark white bone beneath. But some features could still be vaguely discerned:

Pure black eyes, without pupils.

Triangular, sharp white teeth protruded from the burned lips.

It was that middle-aged man.

The monster that almost killed Wu You in one move is now just a charred head being trampled under someone's foot.

The man in the black trench coat took a drag of his cigarette and exhaled a smoke ring. The smoke ring drifted into the black mist, spun twice, and then dissipated.

He looked down at the heads at his feet, his tone unhurried.

"The Faceless Cult?" he asked. "What's their purpose in coming to Lan River?"

The head beneath his feet moved, its charred mouth opening to emit a hoarse sound:

"The great God of a Thousand Faces will eventually descend... The black mist will devour everything..."

The man in the black trench coat stomped his foot hard, and the head rolled half a circle on the ground, its charred face turned to one side.

"Can't you understand human language?" he asked impatiently. "Oh, sorry, I almost forgot you're not human."

He bent down, bringing his voice closer to the head, and lowered it:

"Then I'll ask one more time. What's your purpose in coming to Lanhe, you faceless rats?"

The head's mouth opened again:

"Our Lord is coming...you torchbearers...you will be the first to be devoured by us..."

The man in the black trench coat straightened up and took a drag of his cigarette.

"Oh," he said, "I'm so scared!"

His tone was so perfunctory, like he was coaxing a child.

He held the cigarette between his fingers, looked down at the still-moving mouth, and shook his head.

"Different species really can't communicate."

After saying that, he no longer held back.

Blue flames rose from the soles of his feet, instantly engulfing the head.

The flames were a deep, almost white blue, with an astonishingly high temperature. The air itself was distorted by the heat. The head writhed violently in the flames, its mouth agape, letting out a piercing scream.

Then the sound stopped abruptly.

The flame burned for three seconds.

Just as the head was about to turn to ashes, a thin wisp of black smoke emerged from it.

The black smoke was very thin, as thin as a strand of hair. It moved very fast, as fast as a shadow, instantly disappearing into the thick black fog around it.

The man in the black trench coat saw it.

He didn't chase after them, he just clicked his tongue.

"Tsk, they even left behind a fertilized egg." He took one last drag of his cigarette. "What a bunch of cowardly rats."

He waved.

The surrounding black mist began to dissipate, spreading outwards like the receding tide.

A few seconds later, the black fog completely disappeared, revealing the buildings in the real world.

An ordinary street, a few streetlights that are not yet lit, and a few cars parked on the side of the road.

He stubbed out his cigarette and flicked his finger.

The cigarette butt traced a graceful parabola before landing precisely in the roadside trash can.

Then he raised his hand and pressed the earpiece on his ear.

"That's it for today," he said. "The source of the pseudo-humanoid zombies in Sector D was a Level 3 pseudo-humanoid zombie from the Faceless Cult. It's been destroyed, but a subsidiary escaped. Keep an eye out for it."

They said something over there.

He nodded, said nothing more, hung up the phone, and turned to leave.

The clattering sound of leather shoes on the ground grew fainter and fainter.

Finally, it disappeared around the street corner.