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

After washing up, Wu You came out of the bathroom, drying her hair, and plopped down on the bed.

The main lights in the room weren't on, only a small bedside lamp was lit, casting a dim, yellowish glow. Outside, darkness was falling, and a few lights were on in the windows of the building across the street, with the occasional shadowy figure passing by.

He was drying his hair, his mind racing.

Wu You still remembers clearly the last look that middle-aged man, that monster, gave him.

Her pure black eyes, without pupils, glanced at him as if they were looking at prey that couldn't escape.

It will definitely come back.

That thing is completely different from other zombie species. Those infected little zombie species have no brains and cannot think.

But this one is different. It is intelligent, can speak, can assess the situation, and knows when to run away if it can't win.

Most importantly, it remembered his face.

Although it's been chased away by that "black dog," who knows when it will come back?

What if it evades capture? What if it sneaks in at night...?

Wu You clenched the towel in her hand.

His home is right here.

Her parents slept in the next room, and Wu Jing slept in the opposite room.

Although he was not the original Wu You, he occupied this body and inherited those memories.

Some causes and effects are inescapable.

We must become stronger as soon as possible.

But how do I become stronger?

Experience points are required.

You need to kill monsters to gain experience points, but killing monsters involves taking risks, and taking risks can lead to death.

It's another vicious cycle.

Wu You tossed the towel aside and scratched his hair.

After thinking for a while, he took out his phone.

I scrolled through my contacts and found a number I had just saved.

dial.

The phone rang three times, then it connected.

"Feed?" a familiar voice came from the other end. "It's me, Lin Yuan."

"Uncle Lin, it's me, Wu You."

There was a pause on the other end, a hint of surprise in his voice: "What's wrong, Wu You?"

Wu You carefully considered his words: "Uncle Lin, our teacher said today that Li Wei's parents also..."

There was a two-second silence on the other end of the phone.

"……right."

Wu You tightened her grip on her phone: "Then in our neighborhood..."

He didn't finish his sentence, but Lin Yuan should have understood.

Since our own strength is insufficient for the time being, we have no choice but to ask for help.

There was a few seconds of silence on the other end of the phone.

"Wu You," Lin Yuan began, his tone slightly more formal than before, but still businesslike, "I shouldn't be revealing this information to you."

Wu You remained silent and waited.

"However, you are also a victim," Lin Yuan paused, "I can make an exception and reveal a little bit."

"The source of the corpses in your neighborhood has just been cleared out."

Wu You's heart skipped a beat: The source had been cleared?

"We'll be arranging for people to patrol there for a while," Lin Yuan said. "Don't worry."

"Okay... thank you, Uncle Lin."

"It's nothing, I'm hanging up."

The phone hangs up.

Wu You held his phone, stunned for a moment.

The source has been cleared...?

Moreover, Lin Yuan said "just now," which matches the timing.

So the black dog the monster mentioned is most likely an official? And the monster is most likely the source of the corpse species that Lin Yuan mentioned?

And now.

That middle-aged man, the monster who almost swallowed him whole—was eliminated...?

In other words, while he was at home taking a shower, the monster had already been found by the authorities, and then... that was it.

Wu You recalled the man's last words before he ran away: "You came so fast."

At that time, he didn't know what "came so fast" meant.

Now I know.

Those who came caught up with it and then cleaned it up.

Although it's unknown whether the monster is completely dead, since Lin Yuan said "the source has been cleared," it shouldn't reappear in the short term.

Wu You breathed a sigh of relief.

But at the same time, another feeling welled up inside me.

Shock!

He had experienced firsthand how powerful that monster was. The oppressive feeling, the neck that suddenly stretched out in front of him, the gaping maw that could swallow him whole—he had used all his strength and all his cold air to barely block one bite.

Then it ran away.

Then it was "cleaned up".

Just two words, a very understated description.

The officials are much stronger than he imagined!

Wu You leaned back and fell onto the bed, staring at the ceiling.

If we could join the official team...

This is a good choice. There are stable sources of information, systematic training, teammates, and logistics. Most importantly, there are monsters to kill and more experience points to gain.

But the question is, how do you explain your own power?

He didn't know what exactly constituted a martial artist, and if he rashly impersonated one, he would easily be discovered. He also didn't know what kind of existence the monster meant by "ability user."

His strength comes entirely from the mysterious sword manual in his mind. There's no way to explain it.

And the official review and inspection should be even stricter...

Wu You turned over and buried her face in the pillow.

Never mind, I'll stop thinking about this for now.

He took out his phone, opened the blue Baidu Knows app, and started searching.

Keywords: martial artist.

There are quite a few search results.

This world has martial arts schools, martial arts leagues, and professional martial artists, along with various competition videos; it seems quite legitimate.

Suddenly, Wu You had an idea.

Since the monster claimed to be a martial artist, it means that his fighting style is at least very similar to that of a martial artist!

Although Wu You knew he wasn't a martial artist, what if he did become one?

Does this explain the power from the Sword Codex?

Thinking of this, Wu You typed in the search bar: Lanhe City, martial arts school.

The app immediately displayed several results: Fengxiang Martial Arts School, Giant Elephant Martial Arts School, and White Fish Martial Arts School.

After noting down the names of these martial arts schools, he continued his search: "Ability Users".

There was nothing there.

Clean and spotless, a blank canvas.

It looked as if it had been deliberately erased.

After watching for more than ten minutes, Wu You had a general idea of ​​what was going on.

Martial artists are out in the open, and ordinary people can still come into contact with them.

Those with special abilities, or rather, those with true extraordinary powers, are hidden underwater, and only a select few can know about them.

Since I can't get in touch with people with special abilities, I'll try to become a martial artist.

After making up his mind, he searched for the locations of those martial arts schools.

Fengxiang Martial Arts School is in the east of the city, a 40-minute bus ride away; Juxiang Martial Arts School is in the west of the city, even further away; Baiyu Martial Arts School is in the north of the city, not too far from his home, about a 20-minute bus ride away.

Wu You silently noted it down, thinking he could go and take a look another day.

Then he suddenly remembered something: "Oh my god—"

He sat up and patted his forehead.

"When will you give me the four thousand jade coins?"

Lin Yuan said on the phone that day that he would compensate him with four thousand jade coins. At the time, he was lying in bed and didn't think much of it. Later, one thing after another happened, and he completely forgot about it.

Now I remember.

We need to get this money back quickly.

It wasn't that he was greedy; rather, his wooden sword was damaged in battle, and he needed a new one.

Although you could get a cheap wooden sword, it's too light and brittle and wouldn't last long.

Moreover, today's battle made him realize that in a real fight, a wooden sword is simply not enough. If it weren't for the final blow that infused all the cold air into the sword, it would have shattered long ago.

If there were a good sword—

He can't get a good sword right now, but he has to get an iron one. An iron sword is not only sturdy and heavy, but it also feels different when you practice with it.

But the problem is, he has no money.

Mr. and Mrs. Wu earn a combined monthly salary of over 6,000 yuan. After paying off the mortgage, they have a little over 3,000 yuan left, which the family of four uses.

He only has so much pocket money, he has to think twice before buying a grilled sausage.

Four thousand jade coins can accomplish a lot.

Wu You sighed, "Even a hero can be brought down by a penny."

He glanced at the time; it was past six.

The food should be ready soon.

. . . . . .

Dinner was the same as usual.

Aunt Wu made three dishes: braised pork, stir-fried greens, and tomato and egg soup. The braised pork was stewed until very tender, and Wu You ate two pieces.

Mr. Wu was drinking a little wine, saying that the factory had received another big order and he might have to work overtime. Mrs. Wu was nagging him to drink less.

Wu Jing didn't say a word from beginning to end. After finishing her meal, she pushed her bowl away and went back to her room.

"This child," sighed Wu's mother, "is studying again."

"The pressure at No. 1 Middle School is immense," said Mr. Wu.

Wu You remained silent and focused on eating.

After finishing his meal, he put down his bowl and said, "Mom, I'm going out for a walk."

"Be careful and come back soon."

"understood."

Wu You changed his shoes and went out.

He couldn't rely on four thousand jade coins for the time being, but he still wanted to see if he could get a sword.

The main problem is that Wu You can't practice swordsmanship now without a sword.

Not being able to practice swordsmanship is equivalent to not being able to become stronger, and not being able to become stronger in this world is equivalent to waiting to die. Wu You does not want to wait to die.

Coincidentally, in my memory, there was a sporting goods store near Lanxing Community that sold all kinds of sports equipment, including swords—unsharpened practice swords, the iron kind.