10: Chapter 10 The Charm of Men

Qi Yun took a deep breath, focused his intent, and activated the daily "Fortune-Seeking" function of the fortune compass.

"Start fortune-seeking."

As Qi Yun's words fell, the pointer changed from colorless to red and began to rotate.

However, it did not firmly point in any specific direction as Qi Yun had expected.

It just began... to rotate slowly, continuously, and at a constant speed.

One circle, two circles, three circles...

Time ticked by, and the pointer continued to draw perfect circles, unhurriedly.

Five minutes had passed, with no changes.

Qi Yun frowned. What was this?

Could it be that "opportunities" were hidden in every direction in this hellhole, leaving the pointer at a loss?

Or was this golden legendary item playing tricks on him?

Qi Yun inclined towards the latter.

A faint, delicate fragrance approached.

Bai Yu sat down beside him silently, so close that he could clearly feel the cool, soft touch of her arm.

"Qi Yun, what is this?"

Bai Yu's gaze fell upon the endlessly rotating compass, her calm, ripple-free voice tinged with curiosity.

Qi Yun briefly explained the "fortune-seeking" function, then couldn't help but complain:

"Is it telling me there are opportunities in every direction, or is it just messing with me?"

Bai Yu did not answer immediately. She took the compass from Qi Yun's hand with extreme naturalness.

She first held the compass flat, carefully observing the trajectory and speed of the pointer's rotation, lost in thought.

Then, she began to try changing the spatial angle of the compass; placed horizontally, the pointer rotated at a constant speed.

Tilted at fifteen degrees, the pointer's speed seemed... to slow down by an imperceptible fraction.

Bai Yu's eyes brightened slightly.

Finally, Bai Yu stood the compass completely upright.

This time the pointer stopped rotating; the red needle pointed squarely and precisely downwards, at the ground beneath their feet.

So, it wasn't that there was no opportunity, nor was the compass malfunctioning.

It was just that the location of the opportunity wasn't all around them, but right beneath their feet.

He felt as if his IQ had been pinned to the ground and rubbed by the compass and Bai Yu working in tandem.

He could only offer an awkward laugh, forcing a save of his dignity:

"Haha... I've been under a lot of pressure lately, my brain didn't quite click. I'm not usually like this, really."

Being around such a smart person always brought a certain kind of pressure.

Bai Yu looked at Qi Yun quietly and didn't say anything; after Qi Yun finished speaking, she leaned in and kissed him gently.

"I just came to get some dopamine."

Logic clear, purpose specific, completely unapologetic.

Looking at the innocent-faced Bai Yu, Qi Yun was stunned, feeling like a gigolo, ready to satisfy her at any moment.

He shook his head, casting these messy thoughts aside.

He immediately summoned Xia Jin and several girls with better stamina, explaining the situation about "treasure beneath their feet."

Although everyone was surprised, based on their trust in the compass's magical effects and their reliance on Qi Yun, they quickly sprang into action.

The soil was dug away bit by bit.

"Huh? Below... there seems to be something? The color is weird..."

A girl who was digging suddenly stopped, her voice filled with uncertainty.

"Did you hit the edge? Is it a rock layer?" asked someone nearby.

"Doesn't look like it... the color is a bit dark, it seems... like fabric?"

The girl carefully used a wooden stick to brush away the loose soil.

Suddenly, her movements froze, her eyes widened, and the next second.

"Ah!!!"

A short, sharp scream pierced the air!

"What's wrong?!"

"What did you dig up?!"

The busy girls around were startled and gathered around, peering into the pit.

There, in the excavated soil, a corner of gray, tattered, mud-stained clothing was exposed, and beneath the clothing, a limb could be vaguely seen—pale, tinged with dark cyan, and completely devoid of life!

"My god, is this a corpse?!"

"Dead, a dead person?! Did we dig up a grave?!"

"Ugh."

The intense visual impact, combined with the foul, rotting scent released after the soil was turned, caused several girls with weaker psychological resilience to instantly turn pale as paper, unable to help but bend over and retch.

Qi Yun's heart sank; he stepped forward quickly, pushed through the crowd, and leaned over to look into the pit.

The corpse, half-buried in the soil, was in rags, and the exposed skin displayed an unnatural, grayish decay with patches of dark cyan.

On the face half-buried in the dirt, the lips were pulled back in a strange grin.

Between the gaps in its teeth, there were traces of dark red, dried blood!

Why did this thing look so much like...

A zombie.

In less than three days, wasn't that the "Zombie Crisis" announced by the Rabbit?

Could it be that the so-called crisis didn't entirely descend from the sky, but that these ghostly things had long been buried underground, waiting for the right moment to act?!

A chill ran up his spine to the back of his head.

If they hadn't discovered this today, according to the original plan, all manpower and attention would most likely have been concentrated on the only uphill path to the camp, building a solid defense line.

These neighbors they had ignored, buried deep underground, would have become the most fatal backdoor! The consequences would have been unimaginable!

"Everyone step back!" Qi Yun barked, suppressing the chill in his heart, a sharp look flashing in his eyes.

Amidst the astonished, fearful, and bewildered gazes of the crowd, he jumped into the shallow pit without hesitation.

Immediately after, he focused his thoughts.

Hum!

Ripples, imperceptible to most, appeared in the air, and a broken sword—ancient in design, with a section of the blade missing, yet flowing with a mysterious, pale silver radiance—appeared out of thin air in his hand.

The Blade of Space, the exclusive weapon of his Space Controller class!

Gripping the hilt with both hands, Qi Yun's eyes turned icy. Aiming at the core position of the "corpse's" head in the pit, he used all his strength and slashed down fiercely!

A flash of silver light!

Pfft!

A dull thud, like striking a mixture of tough leather and rotten wood.

[Successfully killed lv.1 zombie (dormant state)!]

[Obtained 50 experience points!]

Experience points! It really was a zombie! And in a dormant state!

After the immense lingering fear came a surging wave of wild joy and excitement!

If they hadn't discovered it today, this would have been a bomb buried under their pillows.

But now that it was found, it was just a pure experience pack!

Getting a head start on leveling up not only made it possible to pass through the Zombie Crisis unscathed, but more importantly, it would allow him to better seize opportunities through strength later on.

No, I mean, to better trade with others.

Thinking of this, Qi Yun couldn't suppress a smile.

"Xia Jin, this is likely the zombie that will appear in three days, and I'm afraid there are many more beneath our feet."

She looked at the eerie, decapitated corpse in the pit.

Then she looked at Qi Yun, standing at the bottom of the pit, holding the silver blade, his eyes sharp.

A complex, indescribable emotion welled up in her heart.

As one of the few rare combat class holders in the class, from the moment she learned of the "Zombie Crisis," a heavy stone had been pressing on her heart.

She wasn't afraid of fighting people; she had long since witnessed the bloodshed between gangs.

Fear is poison, and showing weakness is equal to death—this was a creed carved into her marrow.

But this time, she was afraid.

For the first time, toward a monster that couldn't be fathomed by common sense.

Toward that pure, relentless madness, she felt a chill originating from instinct.

Her disability, in the face of such mindless zombie hordes, would almost certainly be the inevitable outcome.

But now, Qi Yun had used the crudest yet most effective method.

To tear open a gap in what seemed to be an unsolvable death trap, letting in the light.

Xia Jin took a deep look at Qi Yun at the bottom of the pit, and her fingers gripping the knife loosened slightly.

She said nothing, just turned around, her voice returning to its usual calmness and efficiency:

"Everyone, except for those in essential positions, stop what you are doing."

"Gather immediately. Bring everything that can be used for digging."

Soon, except for a few girls, everyone else in the camp gathered.

Qi Yun had already jumped out of the pit; he closed his eyes and focused, although the "fortune-seeking" function could no longer be used today.

But after killing a zombie with his own hands, he had developed a faint, vague sense for the cold, dead, spatial fluctuations emitted by such "dead things," which were vastly different from those of the living.

His Space Perception ability began to slowly infiltrate and scan the ground beneath his feet, like invisible radar waves, with him at the center.

A moment later, he opened his eyes and pointed to several other directions within the camp:

"There, there, and behind the house... there are similar things underground."

"The quantity... might be more than we imagine."

Upon hearing this, the girls' faces turned pale again.

"Dig them out, then pile them together; I have a great use for them," Qi Yun said succinctly, issuing the order.

"Yes!"

"Understood!"

Several brave girls, led by Xia Jin, began to divide into groups and cautiously started new excavations in the directions Qi Yun indicated.

Qi Yun stood in place, his gaze sweeping over the jungle on the outskirts of the camp, his eyes slightly cold.

He sensed two strange auras.