After Asharuiya and her attendants left, Zhou Haoyu lost any desire to stay as well. He immediately said to the villagers:
"If you're willing to leave the village, come with us. If not, I won't force you to stay."
To be honest, Zhou Haoyu didn't particularly want to deal with these villagers—but for Su Xiaoluo's (Zhang Xiaohou love interest) treasure chest, he had to escort them.
[Activation Condition: Escort thirty villagers safely to the Ancient Capital.]
At the mention of leaving, the villagers quickly broke into an argument.
Younger villagers wanted to go, while the elderly preferred to stay, believing the village was safer.
Ironically, those choosing to stay were the majority.
Zhou Haoyu didn't try to convince them. It was their own decision.
"Mo Fan, you want to guard the front or the rear?" Zhou Haoyu asked.
He remembered clearly that after three days of rain some undead could move even during daytime. If he wanted his treasure chest, he had to keep them safe.
Roughly thirty villagers were leaving—he couldn't protect them alone. Mo Fan would need to help.
Understanding the importance, Mo Fan said,"I'll take the back."
He moved to the end of the group with Zhang Xiaohou and Su Xiaoluo.
Seeing this, the short guide sidled over to Zhou Haoyu whispering, "Young Master Zhou, they're all carrying grey clove —none of the undead will notice them. There's really no need to go to such hassle…"
Zhou Haoyu gave him a cold side glance, "Are you teaching me how to do things?"
"I—I was just saying." The guide grinned awkwardly, not daring to argue.
The village chief Xie Sang walked up. "You don't look like someone from the Ancient Capital?"
Zhou Haoyu's bearing was exceptional—and the guide's bootlicking said it all.
"Imperial Capital," Zhou Haoyu said blandly.
The villagers gasped with awe—someone from the Imperial Capital!
"We'll be in your hands," Xie Sang said respectfully.
"As long as you don't cause trouble."
In truth, Zhou Haoyu had no fondness for these villagers—he was doing this solely for the treasure chest.
Led by Xie Sang, they took a shortcut to save time.
Thanks to the grey cloves, the group passed two nights without incident—any undead they met ignored them.
After two peaceful nights, they were only one day away from the Ancient Capital. Everyone expected to reach before nightfall.
Perhaps thinking they were safe now, the tense atmosphere relaxed, and laughter began to spread. Even Mo Fan lightened up.
At that moment, Zhou Haoyu suddenly sensed the earth shifting behind them. A sharp claw burst from the ground—
"Telekinesis---Void Claw!"
Silver light flashed in his eyes. An invisible hand dragged the corpse lurking underground into view.
The sight of the undead being yanked up sent the villagers into hysterics.
"Undead in broad daylight—how's that even possible!" the guide cried, panic-stricken. He had lived here for years and never heard of such a thing.
Mo Fan was equally stunned—he wouldn't have even noticed it without Zhou Haoyu.
Without Zhou detecting it in time, they'd already have casualties.
"Shut up—ALL OF YOU!" Zhou Haoyu thundered.
The roar shocked the group into silence.
"If you're so eager to die, go ahead and run around."
His icy gaze swept them like a blade. Even Mo Fan flinched.
With the crowd quieted, Zhou Haoyu began sweeping all the undead hidden in the dirt with magic.
Chief Xie Sang, Mo Fan, and Zhang Xiaohou all assisted—though their help was minimal, it restored some courage to the crowd.
After five minutes, Zhou Haoyu finished clearing all nearby undead and stored their soul fragments in the Candle Dragon Vessel.
After that battle, the villagers now looked at Zhou Haoyu with both reverence and fear.
Truly worthy of being an Imperial Capital mage!
Only one youth among them—named Hong Jun—kept a dark expression, eyes sinister as he stared at Zhou Haoyu. His fists clenched tightly, then loosened as if afraid of being noticed.
With his Psychic magic, Zhou Haoyu naturally caught the subtle movement.
"Looks like this guy has joined the Black Vatican… One rat isn't enough—let's see if we can draw out a few more."
He glanced at Hong Jun and smiled slightly. He had been worrying about not having enough Black Vatican members to kill for his next chest mission.
After handling the undead, the group continued on their way.
With everyone shaken by the earlier ambush, the rest of the journey was mostly silent—no one wanted to be dragged into the ground again.
Fortunately they encountered no further undead, and by sunset the group finally reached the city gates.
[Activation condition: fulfilled.]
[Activating.]
[Obtained a small vial of Earth Holy Spring.]
Earth Holy Spring?
Zhou Haoyu's eyes flicked toward Mo Fan subtly. The Earth Holy Spring was technically the property of the Azure Dragon.
But since he himself had drawn it from a reward chest, he certainly didn't intend to hand it over foolishly.
Even a small amount was incredibly pure—far stronger than the thinned Earth Holy Spring of Bo City.
In Bo City, it barely helped Basic mages.
But that wasn't the Earth Holy Spring's true origin—Song Feiyao had relied on Xiamen's Earth Holy Spring to cultivate all the way to Super-Tier Peak.
That showed how terrifying its effect was.
Even a small vial was a priceless resource.
He had no intention of stealing the rest though—after all, it was crucial to the Azure Dragon's resurrection.
But keeping the prize already in his hand? Of course.
While Zhou Haoyu was thinking, Chief Xie Sang had already taken the villagers into the city.
Mo Fan stepped over. "So... Zhou Haoyu, what are you going to do next?"
He originally wanted to send Zhang Xiaohou to get treatment, but Zhang Xiaohou refused to leave Su Xiaoluo's side. Since Xiaohou's problem wasn't solved yet, Mo Fan could only stay in the Ancient Capital.
He still had some questions in mind.
"Find an inn and sleep," Zhou Haoyu replied blandly.
Mo Fan's face went dark. "How did you see those undead under the ground?"
"When you awaken the Space Element and cultivate it to High-Tier—you'll understand."
Mo Fan nearly spat blood. That level of effortless flexing was deadly.
"By the way, I ran into one of your classmates earlier. You should get in touch when you can."
"…What about you?"
"Me? Sleep." Zhou Haoyu waved as he turned to leave.
..
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