The zombie horde's attacks gradually slowed down and the situation came to a standstill.
Time passed minutes by minutes; occasionally, some Gu Masters heroically sacrificed themselves or zombies fell down.
Two hours later, Ding Hao followed Fang Yuan's instruction and steeply increased the attacks of the zombies, breaking the defensive line that was hanging by a thread.
There were only thirty or so people in the caravan now.
They had to break through! They were all of one mind on this as everyone of them could see that there was a chance at survival if they broke through, and if they insisted on defending their positions, their deaths were certain.
To break through would also be a desperate struggle. Layers upon layers of white-hair zombies had encircled them and there were also black-hair zombies obstructing them.
"Give up on these mortals, they will only slow down our speed!" Jia Long shouted.
Shang Xin Ci and Xiao Die became pale.
"Don't worry, I am here." Fang Yuan defended them.
All the remaining mortals were ruthlessly abandoned, only the two of them remained.
Jia Long and other Gu Masters didn't dare to say anything since they had to rely on Fang and Bai's strength.
They were progressing shakily through the siege and just when it looked like they were about to break out, two green-hair zombies appeared.
"We will go back." Fang Yuan pulled Shang Xin Ci and Xiao Die, and said in a soft voice.
Bai Ning Bing stopped, weren't they entering into the encirclement again by going back?
However, Fang Yuan was already retreating towards the back with Shang Xin Ci and Xiao Die. Bai Ning Bing gritted her teeth as she looked at the empty field in front of her, but she still turned around and followed Fang Yuan.
The other Gu Masters fell into a chaotic battle against the two green-hair zombies.
Green-hair zombies were as strong as thousand beast king, and though there were many rank three Gu Masters, they were already exhausted.
As their battle with the green-hair zombies continued, the surrounding black and white-hair zombies closed in on them.
This instead caused the pressure on Fang and Bai to decrease greatly.
Fang Yuan retreated dozens of steps before he started breaking through again.
Numerous white-hair zombies were blocking their way, but Fang Yuan just plunged and dashed; the power he displayed was extremely high, white-hair zombies died everywhere he passed.
Bai Ning Bing was dumbstruck, was this Fang Yuan's true strength?
"Eh, these white-hair zombies are too weak…" She immediately found something amiss when she attacked.
The white-hair zombies that were blocking them were many times weaker than before. They had dazed expressions and didn't even attack properly, they were more like punching targets.
"Did Fang Yuan discover this weakness and is using it now? Strange, these white-hair zombies look the same, how in the world did he discover these weakness?" Bai Ning Bing was bothered and bewildered.
Fang Yuan, however, was hurling curses inwardly right now.
Before departing, he had reminded Ding Hao to make the zombies appear strong although actually weak, and make it realistic. So what horrible performance is this?
Ding Hao was sweating profusely.
He had never exerted so much concentration to control the zombie army.
He was extremely nervous, feeling that he had destroyed eldest senior brother's secret mission. Guilt and worry made him cooperate with Fang Yuan's act with all his efforts. It was okay when he didn't know Fang Yuan's identity, but now that he knew Fang Yuan was his eldest senior brother, how could he dare to truly attack him?
"Amazing!" Xiao Die exclaimed in surprise.
Shang Xin Ci's beautiful eyes also brightened.
Fang Yuan was moving unhindered, like an unmatched general maneuvering on the battlefield, giving off a feeling of invincibility!
Who does not love heroes?
Which girl did not dream of a prince riding a white horse, a hero saving the beauty?
Xiao Die did and so did Shang Xin Ci.
Right now, as the master and servant looked at Fang Yuan's wide back, there were ripples in their hearts.
Fang Yuan was ugly, but at this moment, this ugliness gave off a beautiful radiance to them. His bravery and spirit gave an indescribable sense of security to these two girls who were in this dangerous situation; they could not help but want to rely and depend on him.
"Such terrible acting, this coward!" Fang Yuan really wanted to kick Ding Hao to death. His thoughts moved rapidly and he could make out Ding Hao's mental state.
"It seems I have no choice…" Fang Yuan narrowed his eyes, then he resolutely deactivated canopy Gu and charged towards an attacking white-hair zombie.
His flesh was torn open, Fang Yuan got injured.
"Good, this is how it should be!" Fang Yuan happily thought. This was the best chance to win Shang Xin Ci's trust, how could he let it go in vain?
"Damn it!!" Bai Ning Bing cursed and immediately rushed towards Fang Yuan, abandoning Shang Xin Ci. Fang Yuan had the Yang Gu on him, that was the key to her reverting back to a man and it could absolutely not be lost.
"Oh my heavens!!!" Ding Hao's whole body shook when he saw Fang Yuan being injured. He was blaming himself; the worry and panic was clear on his face as he mumbled: "It wasn't intentional, it really wasn't intentional, eldest senior brother!"
"Ahh…." Shang Xin Ci and Xiao Die both cried out.
Their hearts ached seeing Fang Yuan injured.
"What are you doing, go back and protect them!" Fang Yuan shouted in a soft voice when Bai Ning Bing approached him.
Bai Ning Bing's blue pupils widened, she immediately realized Fang Yuan had intentionally received the attack; this bastard!
"Don't go overboard." Bai Ning Bing's eyes twitched, she said these words and left.
With Ding Hao's control, the white-hair zombies made threatening gestures, but it was all show and little action.
Bai Ning Bing kicked a white-hair zombie flying and hurried back towards Shang Xin Ci.
"How is Hei Tu?" Shang Xin Ci grabbed Bai Ning Bing's arm and asked.
"He is okay." Bai Ning Bing's lips twitched.
"Why are you not switching with him, he is injured!" The gentle Shang Xin Ci's words carried a rarely seen grievance.
Bai Ning Bing's lips twitched, she couldn't tell that Fang Yuan intentionally received the attack, right? So, she casually made up a reason: "He has always been like this, he will never stop when he starts an assault, unless he falls."
Shang Xin Ci's beautiful eyes flickered and slightly reddened.
Xiao Die covered her mouth, her eyes were already moist.
There were ripples in the master and servant's hearts again as they looked at Fang Yuan. What kind of man was this! In this horde of zombies, he moved around without fear, constantly pressing forward. No doubt he was a hero, a sorrowful hero!
Seeing Fang Yuan injured, Ding Hao was shaking with fear and didn't dare to obstruct the path.
Fang Yuan charged ahead for some distance and led Shang Xin Ci and the group out of the zombie encirclement.
"That's it?" He smacked his lips with dissatisfaction and grudgingly looked at the only injury on his body. It was such a good opportunity to show off but he only received a single injury; the act was really lacking.
Despite only suffering a single injury, it already made Shang Xin Ci and Xiao Die extremely worried.
"Hei Tu, are you okay? You are injured, the wound is so deep, all because of me!" Shang Xin Ci's eyes were becoming moist with tears.
"So much black blood is flowing out, Lord Hei Tu you have been poisoned." Xiao Die said with deep concern.
Fang Yuan puffed out his chest and said in a deep, fearless voice: "This is just a small injury, the corpse poison is somewhat troublesome but I can detoxify it with clearing heat Gu. You don't no need to worry. Hahaha…"
He started laughing.
The camp was in ruins, flames blazed everywhere. The remaining people in the caravan had set the camp aflame before leaving; it was to burn their bridges and also to have a source of lighting.
Fang Yuan and the group charged out of the zombie encirclement and reached the outer perimeter of the light from the fire.
The light shone on Fang Yuan's face, chest and his injury.
He laughed, his appearance was ugly but it gave a different kind of heroic charm to the two girls!
They had dreamt of dreams of hero saving the beauty, dreamt of handsome and unrestrained hero; truthfully, the image of Fang Yuan and their image of heroes were as different as day and night. However, strangely, the two girls felt this was the true hero! He was unrestrained, fearless and had unmatched heroic spirit!
Many years later, Shang Xin Ci would ask herself how Fang Yuan walked deep into her heart… every time, she would involuntarily think of this night….
Layers upon layers of zombies to his back, blazing flames shining upon his face, the burn scars on his face, his smile revealing his white teeth. His deep black pupils looked at herself, the normally cold and indifferent eyes - under the orange flames - revealed a hint of warmth.
"Save us!" The caravan group were deeply encircled by the zombie horde and started shouting for help when they saw the situation in Fang Yuan's side.
Fang Yuan's gaze flashed but he didn't speak. Shang Xin Ci had already grabbed his arm: "You are injured, don't go, let's leave. Do you remember what you said to me? Do only what you are able to."
A peace of mind as long as one does what he can.
Fang Yuan laughed and patted Shang Xin Ci's hand: "Don't worry, I am not going, there is no kindness or hatred between them and me. Let's go!"
However, it wasn't so appropriate to leave like this. What if someone knew he killed Zhang Zhu and under desperation, shouted it, what would Shang Xin Ci think then? In truth, his worries were unnecessary; Chen Xin and Chen Shuang Jin who knew about the matter had already died in battle.
Fang Yuan's eyes flashed with a bright light as he shouted loudly: "Continue to persevere, wait till I bring them to a safe place, then I will come help you!"
"Brother Hei Tu is righteous!"
"We hope Brother Hei Tu returns quickly!"
"Brother Hei Tu, if you save me, I will give you a huge amount of money!"
The caravan people shouted one after another.
Fang Yuan laughed bitterly and looked at the master and servant's puzzled gaze: "I am giving them some hope so that they might create a miracle. Sigh, I can only do this much."
Fang Yuan's image immediately rose to a much greater height in the two girls' hearts.
Fang Yuan and the group ran along the mountain passage.
Under the moonlight, the mountain passage looked like it was covered with snow.
As per their previous discussion, Ding Hao arranged a batch of zombies around here to block the path.
The four rushed to the arranged area, Fang Yuan signalled Bai Ning Bing with his eyes then stood at the spot: "You guys leave first, I will stop these zombies and hurry back to you."
The master and servant's steps immediately slowed down, but under Bai Ning Bing's persuasion, they continued to run along the path and soon left Fang Yuan's sight.
Fang Yuan laughed, he acted as if he was in a struggle with the zombies and finding an opportune timing, he activated jumping grass and jumped over the zombies, arriving beside Ding Hao.
The battle with the caravan was still ongoing. There were only three remaining in the caravan side, but what amazed Fang Yuan was a green-hair zombie had actually perished!
After asking Ding Hao, he realized a Gu Master had used a rare rank three detonation Gu.
"Eldest senior brother." Ding Hao immediately bowed, his face was pale and his forehead filled with sweat.
He had never tried splitting his thoughts to control the zombies with such intensity. The main thing was he had to act according to Fang Yuan's directions, making him more exhausted.
Previously he would just command the zombies to attack or retreat. How could he have commanded them to only make threatening gestures and attack empty air? And he still had to control these zombies to keep still when attacked by Fang Yuan.
"Eldest senior brother, how is your injury? It really wasn't intentional. I have a healing Gu here." Ding Hao started to explain hurriedly.
Fang Yuan patted his shoulder: "You are good, you have put in a lot of effort. No need to worry about my injury, I suffered it intentionally. Now, you just have to use more strength and eradicate these people!"
"Yes." Ding Hao immediately let out a breath of relief.
With his spirits raised, he started maneuvering countless zombies forward.
The surviving three knew their deaths were certain - one closed his eyes and sighed; another cried out Fang Yuan's name; and another was crying loudly.
Under the threat of death, their natural instincts were fully revealed.
The zombie horde submerged the three. Fang Yuan satisfiedly nodded: "Was there anyone who escaped?"
"No, absolutely none. I did what eldest senior brother instructed and arranged a large amount of zombies in the perimeter." Ding Hao quickly answered.
"Good, well done. Clean up the battlefield, remember to not leave behind any tracks."
"Yes, eldest senior brother."
Ding Hao had never exposed himself when he attacked the caravans which showed he had certain level of accomplishment in clearing the tracks. He cleaned up the battlefield with ease and disguised the traces as ordinary zombie horde attacking the caravan; Fang Yuan secretly nodded his head in approval.
However, although he was older than Fang Yuan, his experience couldn't compare to the veteran Fang Yuan.
Fang Yuan pointed out some areas that were overlooked, causing Ding Hao to admire him. For instance, the primeval stones couldn't be entirely taken, they had to leave some behind, after all the zombies wouldn't collect them.
Another point would be not all the corpses should be changed to zombies; the corpse poison could be deep or shallow and they didn't have a hundred percent chance to turn corpses into zombies.
"Eldest senior brother, please take these primeval stones." About five minutes later, Ding Hao sensibly offered the primeval stones he collected.
Fang Yuan glanced at it, there were approximately thirteen thousand primeval stones. He didn't hesitate to take it and put them in tusita flower.
"How are your gains?" Fang Yuan patted Ding Hao's shoulder and warmly asked.
Ding Hao's pale face let out an excited light: "The gains are huge this time. I obtained five complete bodies and they are all rank three Gu Masters. There are also dozen Gu Master corpses, they are all strength Gu Masters. I will get at least black-hair zombies once they are turned into zombies."
"Hahaha, you have obtained a good harvest. Raise these black-hair zombies properly and you will definitely have new green-hair zombies."
Ding Hao repeatedly nodded his head, his face filled with admiration: "This is the first time I have devoured a whole caravan. It is all thanks to eldest senior brother for attracting beast groups along the way and constantly reducing their forces. All these gains I made is because of eldest senior brother."
"You are not too shabby either, your commanding ability is quite good. But looking at your face, you have used your brain too much, your mind is haggard and your soul is wounded. You need to recuperate for a while. Taking good care of our soul is very important to our lineage.
If our soul is not strong, our mind will be weak and commanding the zombies will be more difficult." Fang Yuan smiled, speaking gently.
"Thank you eldest senior brother for your concern!" Ding Hao had lived alone for close to ten years, this was the first time someone showed concern for him, so he couldn't help being moved.
This emotional spike immediately caused him to have an intense dizziness, his body shook and if not for Fang Yuan supporting him, he might have fallen head-first into the ground.
"I am ashamed! My cultivation is still not enough, I am feeling dizzy and my mind is not working properly." Ding Hao was able to barely stand up.
"There is no need to worry, return to the cave and rest properly. Although you will still feel headaches tomorrow, your mind will have mostly recovered and can smoothly command these zombies." Fang Yuan smiled.
"Yes. I have experienced this before when I tried to control too many zombies, I almost fainted on the spot, hahaha." Ding Hao laughed.
"Okay… I need to leave now, I give you my approval. Rest properly and wait for me to come back, I will bring you to pay respects to master. Right, where is your cave?"
"It is halfway up the mountain beside a dark pond. It is easy to find, that dark pond is very unique, it is shaped like a pentagram." Ding Hao was very happy and immediately answered, "Eldest senior brother, you really won't come visit my cave with me?"
"I can't, time is pressing, I need to hand over the secret mission to master. Not good, someone actually feigned death, there is still someone who escaped!"
"Where!" Ding Hao's mind shook and immediately turned around to look.
Pew!
Next instant, a bone spear pierced his skull.
Plop
Ding Hao collapsed on the ground, a thick spiral bone spear pierced through his skull; blood and brains slowly flowed out the spiral hole.
His eyes were wide open, a look of utter disbelief.
The smile on Fang Yuan's face disappeared, changing into an indifferent expression. He slowly bent down and grabbed Ding Hao's leg, dragging him towards the ruined camp.
The flames were still blazing. The zombies - having lost their master - started hopping aimlessly.
The corpses on the ground drew their attention, enticing them.
They hopped towards the corpses, biting and tearing them.
Fang Yuan dragged Ding Hao's corpse past the corpses strewn battlefield, sounds of zombies eating the corpses kept on reverberating in his ears.
He threw Ding Hao towards the blazing fire and quietly looked on as the corpse slowly changed to ash. The Gu worms on the corpse also mournfully wailed before gradually burning to death.
Once Shang Xin Ci was recognized by Shang clan leader, she would definitely be strictly investigated by the Shang clan. This battle was sure to be of utmost importance.
If Ding Hao was captured by them and interrogated, Fang Yuan could be in danger.
Despite Ding Hao being an honest person, easy to deceive and a very good chess piece, his worth could never match with Shang Xin Ci. And if there were risks, it was better to abandon them. This including giving up the Gu worms on his body. As long as Fang Yuan carried them on him, Second Zombie King could find him.
Moreover, it was not convenient for Fang Yuan to feed zombie heart Gu and it might only leave behind traces which could be discovered in Shang Clan's investigation.
As for these zombies, they had turned back to being common zombie horde after losing their master. Once they finished eating these corpses, a part of them would stay here and another part would leave, wandering about Mu Bei mountain and searching for food.
Once they were done with this, the whole scene would become even more natural.
Only after Ding Hao's corpse was burned to ashes did Fang Yuan slowly leave.
The zombies were eating the corpses, these mindless things were of no threat now.