Liu Weian suddenly halted. Something was wrong.
On the outskirts of the cemetery, a horde of Rotten Corpses wandered aimlessly, letting out eerie, low-pitched wails that echoed through the night, sending chills down the spine.
Weren't these creatures usually asleep unless provoked? Liu Weian cautiously approached. There were about thirty of them, drifting without purpose. A strong stench of decay hung in the air. Though he had consumed a Corpse Pill and was now immune to the toxicity, the odor still made his stomach churn.
Disgusting.
Forty meters. Thirty meters. Liu Weian abruptly stopped. One of the Rotten Corpses turned its head and glared at him. Its half-rotted face was a grotesque blur, and it let out a sharp moan before charging straight at him. As it moved, the rest followed like a pack of wolves.
"D*mn it!" Liu Weian cursed and turned to flee. One or two he could handle, but thirty? No chance. What was worse, they seemed stronger at night. Their detection range, which was fifteen meters during the day, had now doubled.
The pounding footsteps behind him grew louder. Not only had their senses improved, but their speed had too. Liu Weian took a deep breath. The more dangerous the situation, the calmer he had to be. Panic would only get him killed faster. The terrain of the valley was flat, with no trees or ditches to provide cover. It was up to him alone.
He steadied his thoughts, gauging the distance of the approaching Rotten Corpses. His Iron Birch Bow was already in hand, an arrow nocked. The arrowhead, forged from a Rotten Corpse's claw, gleamed crimson under the blood-red moonlight.
Five meters. Three meters.
Liu Weian suddenly turned. The bow bent like a full moon, and the arrow whistled through the air—straight past the corpse's head and into the night.
Missed!
Liu Weian nearly cried in frustration. Was his hearing that bad? No time to dwell on it. He crouched like a frog and leapt to the side, narrowly dodging an attack, then nocked another arrow.
Whoosh!
This time, the arrow found its mark, sinking into the corpse's eye socket. It collapsed with a thud. Liu Weian dashed through the opening but sighed inwardly—he'd aimed for the brow. The darkness was ruining his aim.
He sprinted ten meters, then spun and fired another arrow with all his strength.
Whoosh!
The arrow struck a charging Rotten Corpse square in the brow. It burst through the skull, exiting the back of the head. The corpse collapsed without a sound. A clean kill.
A surge of elation filled Liu Weian. His first one-shot kill in months—clean, decisive, and brutally efficient. What a rush.
Then five or six corpses closed in. He ducked instinctively, but claws raked across his back, leaving five bleeding gashes. The Rotten Corpses grew more frenzied at the scent of blood, howling like demons.
Surrounded on all sides, Liu Weian had no escape. Gritting his teeth, his eyes gleamed with determination. With barely two meters of space, he began firing rapidly.
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
But shooting from a crouch weakened both his power and accuracy. Of the three arrows, one missed entirely, another glanced off a shoulder, and only one struck an eye—but it lacked the force to kill.
Blood sprayed. A claw grazed his ear and tore across his shoulder. Liu Weian froze, breath held, unmoving like a statue. Muscles taut, he waited until the next corpse lunged—then released.
The arrow flashed like lightning. At such close range, it blasted through the skull, emerging from the back in a spray of gore.
As the corpse collapsed, Liu Weian sprang into motion. He threw aside his bow and hoisted the body onto his back, then scrambled across the ground like a lizard. Behind him came the wet slap of claws tearing into rotted flesh. Blood and viscera splattered over him—sticky, cold, and full of squirming maggots. Fighting back nausea, he clamped his mouth shut and crawled free of the encirclement.
He flung the body behind him, rolled several times, and emerged five or six meters away. Grabbing his bow mid-motion, he fired while retreating.
Several arrows flew—only one struck home, and that in the eye, not the brow.
This isn't working, Liu Weian realized grimly. Darkness and the monsters' enhanced speed were factors, but the real issue was his own impatience. His scattered focus ruined his aim.
He took a deep breath. Calm returned. The wailing of the Rotten Corpses faded like receding waves. The next shot was lightning-fast, almost invisible. A corpse three meters away dropped instantly, an arrow in its brow.
The rest of the Rotten Corpses were flanking him from both sides. Liu Weian darted through an angled gap at full sprint. Several corpses leapt at him but missed by inches.
He was now at the cemetery's edge, where the corpse energy was thin. Normally, no monsters would come here—but blood had driven them mad, ignoring territory boundaries.
He reached behind him. Only four arrows left.
Panic surged. He'd been firing so freely, he forgot to count. If only I had the skill to pierce two with one shot... At that thought, envy bloomed toward the legendary marksmen of old.
A Rotten Corpse charged from the front. This one had only recently turned—its clothes were mostly intact, and rot had barely touched its body. Its one remaining eye glowed red in the moonlight. Behind him came the horde. No way to flee. He had to fight.
Liu Weian exhaled slowly. His gaze locked on the creature's brow. As the corpse's movements imprinted themselves into his mind, he released.
Whoosh!
The arrow struck dead center... but only sank an inch before bouncing off. The corpse twitched, and the arrow fell to the ground.
What?
A second corpse pounced. Liu Weian reflexively kicked it in the chest. A surge of force sent him flying—right over the horde. He crashed to the ground six meters away, pain shooting through his right leg.
As he rolled, he spotted the fallen arrow. No wonder! It lacked a corpse claw or beast bone tip—just plain Iron Birch. Tough, yes, but not enough to penetrate a monster's skull.
D*mn it... I forgot to check my arrows!
There was no time for regret. Kneeling on one leg, he drew his bow. An arrow flew—another hit to the eye, but not fatal.
Whoosh!
The second arrow downed another corpse—again, through the eye socket. It seemed this spot housed their control core. Piercing it disabled them completely.
The back line faltered. Liu Weian turned and ran. His leg throbbed in agony, but he pushed on. The cemetery's edge was twenty meters away.
Fifteen. Ten. At five meters, he could smell the corpse stench—thick and nauseating. One had closed to within a meter.
Without hesitation, Liu Weian leapt. Mid-air, he twisted so his back faced downward. His final arrow—tipped with a corpse claw—was already nocked.
Whoosh!
A flash of cold light. The leading corpse jerked, an arrow through its brow. It collapsed, slowing the others.
Liu Weian landed hard, barely staying conscious. He crawled several steps to a giant leaf, more than 1.5 meters across, filled with clear water. Splashing it over himself, he shivered in the cold night, but the blood scent was gone.
He had reached safety—beyond the cemetery's grasp. With the blood trail severed, the Rotten Corpses gradually calmed and retreated.
Liu Weian lay still for five or six minutes before slowly rising, sore all over but immensely relieved. The water had been prepared in advance. He'd spent over a week observing this area, surviving on nothing but water.
Limping to the last corpse he'd killed, he retrieved the arrow—now badly corroded by corpse toxins. Thankfully, the claw tip remained intact. He used it to carve out the white crystal in the skull and swallowed it.
A rush of energy spread through his body. The cold faded. His wounds began to close, and the pain in his leg vanished.
These crystals... are miraculous.
He'd downed nine corpses—four with fatal shots to the brow, five with hits to the eye. Silently, Liu Weian cleared the outer edge of the cemetery. Every kill was looted—brains cracked open, stomachs sliced. He consumed all the white crystals and felt his energy return, fully revitalized.
Three remaining corpses lingered too close to the main horde. He waited for over two hours until the blood moon finally set and the creatures returned to their slumber.
With his strength restored, Liu Weian dispatched the last three in under two minutes. He devoured their crystals and collected nine flesh pouches. Inside—only copper coins. A total of 121.
No gold, not even silver, he thought bitterly. Still, he harvested ninety claws—more than enough for reinforced arrows.
Two trips were needed to drag all the corpses to Stone City. Though their rotted forms were lighter than humans, they were still a burden. Luckily, the crystals had boosted his strength, or it would've taken four trips. Even so, he barely finished before dawn.
Exhausted but satisfied, Liu Weian logged off with nine silver coins in his hand.