Chapter 41 Xu San said there was a master

A golden light flared on Zhang Chulan's body, and the footsteps of those people outside the woods faltered for a half-beat, just like when you try to catch a rabbit, only for the rabbit to whip out a knife.

The person leading them grinned, his eyes heating up. "So he really is an Outsider. Looks like we didn't make this trip for nothing, boys."

Zhang Chulan's mouth twitched. The golden light shimmered against his skin, but he kept up the charade. "Gentlemen, I think you've got the wrong person. I'm just an ordinary college student passing by to sweep a grave."

"An ordinary college student who knows Golden Light?" The man sneered, flicking his wrist. A short stick slid out from his sleeve, the tip shimmering with black, glossy Qi.

Zhang Guanchen stood to the side and chimed in leisurely, "College students these days are under a lot of pressure. It's only reasonable that they'd know a bit of Golden Light for self-defense."

Zhang Chulan almost couldn't keep it together.

He finally understood now—this guy from Mount Longhu didn't have a serious bone in his body, but the vibe he gave off was even more absurd than Feng Baobao's.

Feng Baobao carried her knife on her shoulder, staring straight at the group.

"They want to capture Zhang Chulan."

Zhang Guanchen nodded. "I can see that."

"So, should I chop them?"

"Don't kill them yet. Ask who sent them."

Feng Baobao thought about it and nodded seriously. "Got it."

The group outside the woods turned dark in the Face upon hearing this.

The leader couldn't be bothered with more talk. He kicked off the ground, rushing forward while hugging the grass, his short stick aiming straight for Zhang Chulan's knees. The two behind him flanked left and right, clearly intending to disable him first.

Zhang Chulan's gaze darkened.

He had endured for too many years, accustomed to acting cowardly and taking a step back. But tonight, his grandfather's grave had been dug up, he'd been chased here, and he'd even experienced being half-buried; the fire in his heart could no longer be suppressed.

The Golden Light surged outward.

Instead of retreating, he advanced, meeting the short stick with a punch.

With a bang, the short stick struck the Golden Light, sending a numbing vibration up his arm.

The opponent didn't have it easy either; the webbing between his thumb and index finger split open, the short stick nearly flew out of his hand, and the look of contempt on his Face vanished completely.

"The kid's got skills!"

"No kidding. I told you, college students are under a lot of pressure." Zhang Guanchen raised his hand and flicked a finger.

A speck of golden light flew through the night, striking the man on the left right in the shoulder.

The man's charging body stiffened, his entire arm went numb instantly, and losing his footing, he Face-planted into the grass.

Feng Baobao had already moved.

Her movements were devoid of any flashy flair. A sweep with the back of her blade struck the other flanking man's knee, sending him crashing to his knees. Before he could even lift his head, a hand chop to the back of his neck knocked him flat.

Zhang Chulan's eyelids twitched as he watched.

One monster was absurd enough.

Now here came another one.

The confidence he had built up from years of bitter training was being rubbed into the dirt by these two, and quite thoroughly at that.

Seeing that the situation was turning against him, the leader suddenly raised his hand and blew a short whistle.

Around the graveyard, there was another sound of things crawling out of the dirt.

One corpse after another climbed out of the soil. As the moonlight fell on their stiff backs, it was enough to make anyone's scalp crawl.

Zhang Chulan felt a numbness wash over him and quickly huddled closer to Zhang Guanchen.

"Brother, what are these ghost things? What do we do?"

Zhang Guanchen glanced at him.

"Why are you huddling so close?"

"You look reliable."

"Weren't you just an ordinary college student a moment ago?"

Zhang Chulan didn't blush or skip a beat. "Ordinary college students have survival instincts too."

Zhang Guanchen almost laughed out loud.

This guy was truly shameless.

But sometimes being shameless was a skill in itself; it was better than being obsessed with saving Face.

He looked at the corpses climbing up and flicked his sleeves.

"Just a bunch of empty shells pulled up by a Spell. They haven't been refined properly, nor raised well. They're fine for scaring people, but useless in an actual fight."

Zhang Chulan listened, his heart pounding.

"Useless? Brother, this stuff looks pretty useful to me."

"You can solve this on your own."

"Me?" Zhang Chulan's eyes widened. "Brother, stop joking. I was just pushed to the edge earlier. Under normal circumstances, I'm just a law-abiding college student."

"Then be abnormal for a moment."

"Can I request to normally run away?"

Zhang Guanchen couldn't be bothered to respond. His gaze crossed the pile of corpses, landing on a certain direction deep in the woods.

There was a thin strand of Qi, pulling these corpses from afar.

Not an expert.

But the technique was interesting.

The method of corpse-driving relies on control and pulling, treating the corpse like a puppet, supported by a breath of Yin Qi. If refined deeply, it would be troublesome, but these ones were clearly dug up in a rush.

They were very brittle.

Zhang Guanchen suddenly let out a soft, ancient sound.

"Zha."

The sound wasn't loud.

But it pierced into the night like a nail.

A wave of Qi rippled from before him; the Golden Light wasn't bright, but it pressed the sound outward.

The movements of the pile of corpses stopped simultaneously.

The next second, all the corpses collapsed back to the ground in unison, as if their bones had been pulled out.

A muffled grunt came from the woods in the distance.

Zhang Chulan was dumbfounded.

What the heck?

What just happened?

He turned his head with a stiff neck, looking at Zhang Guanchen; only one sentence remained in his mind.

What on earth is this guy's background??

Feng Baobao also looked at Zhang Guanchen, her eyes blank, as if she were seriously memorizing this move.

"This is useful."

Zhang Guanchen smiled. "You can't learn it."

"Why?"

"Because this move requires a bit of a technique."

Feng Baobao nodded. "Oh, I don't have any technique."

Zhang Chulan was almost choked to death by this statement.

She was quite self-aware.

Seeing all the corpses fall, the leader's expression finally changed, and he turned to run.

Just as Zhang Chulan wanted to chase, Zhang Guanchen had already raised his hand, and a faint golden thread skimmed along the ground, wrapping around the man's ankle.

The man fell with a thud, his Face scraping a mark into the muddy ground.

Zhang Guanchen walked over and crouched down.

"Who sent you?"

The man gritted his teeth and said nothing.

Feng Baobao walked over, carrying her knife, and stabbed the tip into the ground right next to his ear.

"I'm asking you a question."

The man's throat bobbed, and sweat instantly poured down.

Zhang Chulan felt a chill in his heart watching this.

This girl wasn't just bluffing.

She would really do it.

Just as the man was about to speak, his eyes suddenly glazed over, and a bit of black-red substance flowed from the corner of his mouth.

Zhang Guanchen's gaze turned cold, and he tapped the Golden Light onto the man's neck.

Too late.

The person was dead.

Feng Baobao tilted her head. "He's dead."

Zhang Chulan's expression was grim.

Zhang Guanchen withdrew his fingertip and clicked his tongue softly.

The method of silencing was crude, but fast enough.

It wasn't a Blood Talisman from Shen Zhao's lineage; it looked more like a temporary insurance measure cooked up by those lunatics from Quanxing.

This game was getting more and more lively.

Zhang Chulan lowered his voice. "Brother, can you tell me now what exactly is going on?"

Zhang Guanchen stood up.

"No."

"Why?"

"You haven't come clean yet."

Zhang Chulan put on that innocent Face again.

"What do I have to come clean about? I really am just—"

"An ordinary college student." Zhang Guanchen finished for him. "Change the phrase next time; this one's worn out."

Zhang Chulan choked.

Feng Baobao added from the side, "He's very good at pretending."

Zhang Chulan was on the verge of breakdown. "Big sister, don't say it like you understand it so well."

"I understand." Feng Baobao pointed at him. "You're afraid of death, and you're afraid of being exposed."

Zhang Chulan opened his mouth, but no sound came out.

Zhang Guanchen looked at the sky.

"Let's go. Leave the graveyard first."

Zhang Chulan nodded quickly.

"Yes, yes, yes. The Feng Shui here is bad; let's hurry down the mountain."

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhang Guanchen's phone rang.

He took it out, looked at it, and his expression was very subtle.

Lu Linglong.

Zhang Chulan had sharp eyes and immediately leaned in to peek, but the screen tilted, and he didn't see anything.

Zhang Guanchen answered the call and walked a few steps to the side.

"Hello."

The voice on the other end was both urgent and angry.

"Brother Guanchen, and you still say you didn't sneak down the mountain!"

Zhang Guanchen held his forehead.

"This is called acting on orders."

"Then why didn't you tell me?"

"If I told you, would you have followed me?"

There was silence on the other end.

"I could help."

"The best way you can help right now is to get some sleep."

"You're brushing me off."

Zhang Guanchen sighed.

"When I return to the mountain, I'll bring you two packs of candy."

"Three packs."

"Two and a half packs."

"Who has half a pack!"

"Then two packs, take it or leave it."

Lu Linglong ground her teeth in anger.

Zhang Guanchen coaxed her for a long time, finally managing to calm her down.

By the time he hung up and returned, Zhang Chulan was nowhere to be seen.

Only Feng Baobao remained in place, carrying her knife and looking into the distance.

Zhang Guanchen blinked.

"Where's the person?"

Feng Baobao was very calm.

"Ran away."

"Why didn't you stop him?"

"You said to leave the graveyard first, so he left."

Zhang Guanchen was silent for two seconds.

Fine.

Perfect logic.

He suddenly laughed.

"This kid is quite slippery."

Feng Baobao looked at him.

"Should I chase?"

"No need, he won't get far."

Zhang Guanchen looked toward the lights in the distance at the foot of the mountain.

"Besides, you guys at The Company should be more anxious than I am."

Meanwhile, Feng Baobao's support vehicle was parked at the entrance of the mountain road.

Xu San opened the car door and saw her return alone; his expression changed instantly.

"Where's Zhang Chulan?"

Feng Baobao got into the car and thought about it.

"Ran away."

Xu San's glasses almost fell off.

"Ran away? Baobao, didn't I tell you to bring him back?"

"Ran into someone."

"Who?"

"Don't know. Good-looking, and quite strong."

Xu San's expression darkened.

"How strong?"

Feng Baobao thought seriously.

"I can't beat him."

The car went quiet.

Xu San knew Feng Baobao's strength all too well.

She wasn't one to exaggerate; if she said she couldn't beat him, then there was truly a significant gap.

He immediately started the car and rushed toward the graveyard.

When the car reached the graveyard, there was only a pile of corpses that had collapsed again, along with a few corpses of unknown Outsiders.

Xu San crouched to examine them, his expression growing heavier.

There were no signs of violent damage on the bodies of these corpses.

Yet they had all lost their support at the same time.

They weren't beaten down one by one.

It was the Spell controlling the corpse horde that had been shattered from the root by someone.

Xu San stood up, a chill running down his back.

To be able to achieve this, either the opponent was a natural counter to corpse-driving Spells, or their cultivation and insight were absurdly high.

Regardless of which, it was trouble.

"Baobao."

"Hmm?"

"This is not good."

Feng Baobao nodded.

"I know."

Xu San looked at the corpses covering the ground and said in a low voice, "There is an expert."