Chapter 74: A Do-or-Die Battle

Yu Realm stepped out from the protective shield, and the three of us leapt into the mysterious underground space. Below was a cavernous area, vast and boundless, like a stone cave. It was nighttime, and darkness engulfed everything. Water still trickled at the cave entrance; I thought it wouldn’t be long before this place was completely flooded.

I only hoped we could rescue the captives before they were discovered. Because the underground was pitch black, neither Qin Tian nor Yu Realm could see anything, but I had the Heavenly Eye and didn’t need to worry. Activating my Heavenly Eye, I told Qin Tian and Yu Realm to hold onto my clothes and follow me closely. I felt like a blind old man leading two blind children to beg on the street.

The ground was damp, and occasionally water dripped from above. The seawater that had poured in from the entrance was flowing behind us, probably because the terrain there was lower. After a few steps, I saw an entrance ahead, rectangular and door-like. Leading the other two, I approached and, seeing no danger, went inside.

Unlike the outside, this room wasn’t as damp, but it was quite low. With my height of nearly 1.8 meters, I couldn’t even stand up straight. I called it a room because there was a stone table and stone stools—clearly, someone had lived here. I found a thick stick, dipped it in oil from a barrel, and lit it with a lighter. The flame instantly illuminated the entire room. Yu Realm and Qin Tian could finally see. Yu Realm rubbed his eyes, drew the Azure Sword from his back, and inspected the surroundings.

“Look, there’s someone there,” Qin Tian said, pointing to a corner.

Following his gaze, I saw two women huddling in the darkness, curled up tightly together and trembling when they realized they’d been discovered.

“Don’t be afraid, we’re not bad people,” I said as I approached. I finally saw them clearly: both were thin, dressed identically in white robes, with bare faces and messy hair draped over their shoulders. As I drew closer, the women instinctively inched backwards, but the wall was right behind them. I smiled and said, “Don’t worry, we really aren’t bad people. We’re here to rescue you.” Perhaps my smile was too unnatural, for they continued to tremble as if they hadn’t heard me.

Qin Tian strode over and shouted, “What are you shaking for? If you keep trembling, I’ll drag you out and rape you!” I quickly raised a hand to stop him. “What are you doing? You’re scaring them!”

Qin Tian shrugged indifferently, lit a cigarette, and said, “You have to be fierce with women.”

Whether it was Qin Tian’s outburst or not, the two women finally reacted. The one beside the wall spoke in a quivering voice, “Are… are you people?”

Qin Tian squatted down, blew smoke in her direction, and replied, “Of course we are. What did you think—ghosts?” The woman coughed from the smoke but seemed relieved by his words.

According to them, they were originally villagers from a nearby settlement. Recently, a strange disease had spread—people would bite others, including their own family members. The women’s parents perished in the disaster; after their village collapsed, the sisters fled.

What kind of sickness was this? Damn it, this was the otherworldly version of Resident Evil. During their escape, the sisters encountered a horde of zombies and were surrounded, thinking death was certain, when a group arrived and saved them. Believing they had found rescuers, the sisters soon realized they had merely escaped the wolf’s den to enter the tiger’s lair—the group captured them and locked them in this small room. Every day, two soldiers would come to draw their blood. Through the window, the sisters saw this group performing terrifying rituals: those drained of blood were fed to the zombies, which were all kept in a pitch-black coffin. Every time the coffin was opened, the lid was slammed shut again quickly. The sisters feared their turn would come in a few days.

The group the women spoke of must be the same one we had encountered. But what purpose did they have in raising zombies? The woman brushed aside the hair covering most of her face, and only then did I realize the two sisters looked exactly alike—twins, as I suspected. The one further in was called Xiaolong; the one speaking, Xiaohu, was the younger sister.

Xiaolong and Xiaohu—those were boys’ names, weren’t they? It seemed parents here lacked any sense of naming. After speaking with us, the sisters appeared less afraid. I noticed Xiaohu, the younger, was lively and talkative, while Xiaolong was introverted and rarely spoke, leaving most questions to her sister.

“Someone’s coming! Hide, quickly!” Xiaohu said.

The three of us hurried under the stone table—luckily, it was large enough. From the footsteps, only two people were approaching.

“Beautiful ladies, we’re here again!” came a voice thick with male bravado. A raspy companion replied, “Enough. Let’s draw their blood quickly. If we’re late, the High Priest will get angry, and I don’t want to be thrown into the coffin to feed the zombies.”

“Fine, let’s just take their blood. If not for the High Priest’s orders, I’d have some real fun with these beauties, heh heh.”

The twin sisters clung to each other, struggling helplessly. I darted out from under the table and knocked both men unconscious before they could react. After freeing the sisters, I stripped the unconscious men of their uniforms—I planned to disguise myself to investigate further. But who should go with me? Yu Realm was out of the question. Qin Tian had just unleashed a powerful move and hadn’t fully recovered; leaving him here might not be wise. Better to have Qin Tian accompany me, and Yu Realm stay to guard the sisters—if anything happened, Yu Realm could handle it.

To impersonate the soldiers, we’d need to bring back some blood. Whose blood should we use? I set my sights on Qin Tian.

“Come on, boss! I’m sick—what if my blood mutates the zombies?” he protested.

I grinned wickedly. “Is that so? Hopefully, it’ll poison the zombies and save us some trouble.”

Qin Tian pulled a long face. “Don’t, Brother Li! I really am sick!”

I laughed. “Relax, I’m just teasing you. We have two fresh bodies right here.” I pointed to the unconscious men.

Qin Tian, relieved, rushed to undress them.

“What are you doing?” I asked, holding a bowl.

“Drawing blood,” Qin Tian replied seriously.

“You don’t need to undress them for that.” I cut open their wrists, collected a bowl of fresh blood, and left Yu Realm to watch over the sisters. Qin Tian and I, carrying a torch, headed toward the only source of light.