Seeing those people holding wooden swords in their hands, crossing paths with those zombies, and sprinkling out gray-white powder from their palms, which unexpectedly made the movements of those zombies instantly stiffen! After a while, the black smoke on the zombies’ bodies was forcibly expelled from the bodies they possessed.
Then, those strange people raised their swords, each striking a pose with slight variations but generally similar, and shouted, “Collect!”
Suddenly, those black mists, at a speed visible to the naked eye, were collected by about ten people into small objects that were not clear due to the distance!
“…Heavens, are they… exorcising spirits?!”
“What exorcism? Clearly, they are Taoists!!”
“No way! Taoists?! Taoists can subdue ghosts?! Wait, could those zombies be possessed by ghosts?!” The many soldiers guarding the front line became excited.
Although the arrival of the apocalypse itself was fantastical, no one could have imagined that the things they once considered feudal superstition actually existed in this world, and these people were now helping the base clear away these headache-inducing things!
“What are you all staring at! Stop those mutant creatures!!” Colonel Lu shouted, finally bringing these people back to their senses. Seeing them reorganize their firepower network and intercept the mutant beasts outside the activity range of the fourth squad, he breathed a sigh of relief.
To be honest, this was also the second time he had witnessed the majesty of these people. Initially, when he was informed about these Taoist hermits who had been living in seclusion in various famous mountains and rivers throughout the country, he thought the higher-ups were resorting to desperate measures and must have lost their minds to believe in such things.
Sprinkles of strange gray-white powder, patches of black mist being collected by them with strange objects, three or four hundred zombies, in less than half an hour, were almost completely divided up by these ten or so Taoists.
When they returned triumphantly, a sharp cry suddenly came from the rear of the peripheral forces of the army, and those mutant creatures besieging the base unexpectedly retreated by another two hundred meters!
Excitement surged again in everyone’s hearts. This should be because their allies—the zombies—were almost completely eliminated, forcing these mutant creatures to temporarily retreat.
Colonel Lu nodded to the fourth squad, who were smiling with joy, “The commander is waiting for you.”
“I knew I wasn’t feeling anything strange.” Tianyou wrinkled his nose and stared angrily at the eerie “people” blocking the road ahead.
“Zombies…” Wang An’s gaze was tense. “There are over twenty of them.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“Qtja rtbeiv kf vb? Vtjii kf fcujuf?” Gfjilcu klat atfrf atlcur kjr agbeyifrbwf; atfs cffvfv ab gfwbnf atflg ilwyr, tfjvr, jcv frrfcaljiis tfjns olgfqbkfg beaqea ab yfja atfw ab j qeiq.
“We Vbcu.”
We Vbcu cbvvfv ja atf rbecv, gbiifv eq tlr riffnfr, jcv gfjmtfv bea ogbw atf mb-vglnfg’r rlvf klcvbk. C ktlaf olgf cfa rqgfjv bea, lcrajcais fcnfibqlcu atf ugbeq bo hbwylfr atja tjvc’a vlrqfgrfv sfa. Cr lo atfgf kjr jc lcjevlyif rmgfjw lc atf jlg, joafg rfnfgji vlrabgalbcr, atbrf hbwylfr, jibcu klat atf yijmx wlra milculcu ab atfw, mbwqifafis vlrrlqjafv.
“They only arranged these things to guard the road here; there shouldn’t be much danger ahead for now.” Xu Song withdrew his hand, and clapped his hands together, looking extremely relaxed and comfortable.
Yue Zheng nodded, started the car, and smoothly drove past the road that was just occupied by zombies.
“Wait, wait, something doesn’t seem right?!” Luo Wen’an suddenly raised his hand, with Wang An and Su Daji beside him also looking shocked. This couldn’t be blamed on them; they hadn’t fought zombies on the way before, nor had they seen Xu Song’s brutal methods of clearing these things?
“It seems like Xu Song’s ability is just right against these things.” Yue Zheng explained briefly.
“But the fire elemental abilities we’ve seen before couldn’t burn off those black mists at all!”
“I don’t know why, but from the beginning, it seems like I could burn them.”
Xu Song wasn’t too sure about the specific reason, but he felt that his ability should have mutated because he was too close to the explosion of the energy sphere initially. Coupled with the effect of the crystal, not only did it trigger dual elemental abilities, they were both mutated varieties.
After Luo Wen’an and the others activated the crystals they wore, there were no signs of dual elemental abilities. Perhaps they activated the crystals too late, so they couldn’t trigger dual abilities? Perhaps it wasn’t the right time? But regardless, Wang An, Luo Wen’an, and Zhao Xin’s abilities had all advanced to the third level now, and their cultivation speed was much faster than before.
“This is too… abnormal.” Luo Wen’an rubbed his head. “No, I have to go back and rest. The blow was too heavy; I need to recuperate for a couple of hours.”
Wang An and the others nodded quickly and followed, running back to the car to sit on the sofa and recuperate.
“Good harvest today?” Elder Wu asked with a smile, addressing the members of the special operations Fourth Squad who had just completed their mission.
The eldest among them smiled and nodded, twirling his goatee. “Not bad, but we couldn’t find any suitable vessels for possession. Those grudges are still lurking in the underground where no light reaches. You need to be careful in disposing of the bodies of the deceased, lest they get possessed.”
Elder Wu nodded. “Fortunately, our country has always adhered to cremation, so there are few things they can possess now.”
The Taoist squinted and sighed. “Before the apocalypse, there were already such grudges in the world. It’s just that their power was too weak, and only a few would cause harm. If it weren’t for this mutation, with the sufficient energy between natural enemies…”
“Elder, what caused this incident?” Elder Wu had asked these Taoists before, but although they knew some details, they were always unwilling to elaborate.
As expected, the Taoist shook his head, his face filled with difficulty. “It’s not that we don’t want to tell, it’s just… even before the apocalypse, there were very few scriptures in our various sects and schools that recorded such information. We can only say that now the energy between heaven and earth is abundant, and it’s probably impossible to go back to the past. People can only adapt to nature.”
Elder Wu sighed. He knew this truth well. It was just human greed…
Several Taoists bid farewell and left. After this withdrawal, they wouldn’t come out for a short period of time because it was said they were going to use the collected grudges, which had already “come alive,” to refine something. Whether it would take a year or more… who knew if they would ever see them again in this lifetime?
After these people left, Colonel Lu asked, “Commander, why not let them help guard the base?”
Elder Wu smiled bitterly and shook his head. “First, those outsiders are unwilling, and second…” He suddenly lowered his voice, winked at Colonel Lu, “Do you think they really have the means to deal with those mutant creatures?”
“But they… aren’t they quite powerful?”
“That’s because they happen to have methods to deal with those zombies!” Elder Wu shook his head with a smile.
“Even if they have some skills, at most they are slightly stronger than the special forces we’ve recruited. And their numbers are small…” Elder Wu had interacted with Taoists and monks with real skills before the apocalypse. In fact, most of these practitioners were focused on self-cultivation. Besides, even if they could deal with mutant creatures, they might not be willing.
“The base still relies on us, and it still needs the cooperation of both ability users and ordinary people…” Elder Wu sighed again. Since the apocalypse was a fact, humanity could only adapt. Only by putting in effort could they find a way out for themselves, rather than doing nothing and just blaming others, or simply praying to the heavens without lifting a finger.
They detoured around F City from a distance, and along the way, Xu Song and his group encountered two groups of zombies blocking the road, both of which were easily dealt with by Xu Song’s wave of hand.
As for those marine creatures? It seemed that because, no matter what, they were aquatic creatures, they couldn’t venture too far inland. Even if they did, they would still need to stay close to water sources. So, as long as Xu Song and his group were careful, they could completely avoid these things.
Once again, they praised Xiao Shu’s ability to extract water from the soil. Even if they didn’t walk along the riverside, they wouldn’t suffer from thirst at all. Eating, drinking, and even bathing, none of it was delayed!
Dark clouds piled up in the sky that was just blue moments ago. Xu Song frowned as he looked at the sky outside, which was gradually being covered by the canopy woven by Wang An and Tiancheng using earth elemental abilities and vines.
“I remember when we left Y City, we encountered a hailstorm. Now, as soon as we come back, the weather changes again.”
Yue Zheng seemed to recall something as well, looking outside. “The timing is about right.”
Although it was just entering July, it was almost the same time as when they left Y City. Was this another kind of fate?
Mother Xu was also sitting by the window at this time, somewhat absent-mindedly looking outside. This was her former home, her homeland, but after the mutation and the great fire, there was no familiarity left here.
Her husband’s ashes were still quietly placed in a corner of the car. Initially, Mother Xu didn’t let her children help bury her husband, not because she didn’t want her husband to rest in peace, but because she hoped to be buried with her husband after her death.
In the current world, who knew if they could find the original gravesite a few days after burying the ashes of their loved ones? By the time she died, perhaps they would no longer be able to find the place where her husband slept. So, she and Xu Song would rather carry the urn of ashes first, hoping that one day in the future, they could reunite with her husband.
The cemetery outside Base B was now almost flat under the disturbance of the great fire and mutant plants and animals, and almost no trace of the original appearance could be seen. The stone tablets and tombstones that were originally erected were also mostly unrecognizable. Now, when someone died in the base, everyone just cremated the body and hastily buried it. No one would bother to erect another tombstone.
It seemed that Mother Xu hadn’t been feeling well since they arrived near Y City. In a hurry, Tiancheng and Tianyou ran to her side, putting their little heads on Mother Xu’s lap. “Grandma, grandma, we want to eat red fruit jelly!”
Mother Xu came back to her senses and restored her previous mood. “Okay, Grandma will get it for you!” No matter what the future holds, as a mother, she is now a hundred times happier than almost all the mothers in the base!
Author’s Note –
There is absolutely no intention of writing about cultivation! The appearance of Taoists is just a setting, a setting!
They don’t have the ability to communicate with the heavens, let alone the ability to control the clouds and rain.
Their abilities are only aimed at the black energy on the zombies, specifically to restrain these weird things!
By the way, this plot is something I wanted to write a long, long time ago, but why did I delay it until now to release it? (=.=)
Yay thanks for another great chapter
Thanks for the awesome translation 🤣❤️🤣❤️🌳