Chapter 167: Too Many Zombies

Seeing Zhou Qing’s actions, a fleeting look of surprise crossed the old man’s face.

“Young man, this Northern Gate Forest is crawling with corpses. From what I know, there are countless hopping corpses and lurking corpses, even many corpse commanders, and flying corpses as well. If you don’t fear death, go ahead and enter the mountain—I won’t stop you.”

“Thank you, elder, for your kind warning. I am more or less aware of the dangers in this forest. Farewell!”

Hearing the old man’s considerate words, Zhou Qing, who had run into the woods, stopped to clasp his fists and offer his thanks. Then, with a quick step, his red silhouette vanished among the trees at the foot of the mountain.

After Zhou Qing left, the old man gazed for a moment in the direction he disappeared, then sighed softly and walked back to the thatched hut with his hands behind his back.

“Do any of you know that young cultivator just now?”

“We don’t. We only met him a few days ago, on our way here, in a deserted area. At the time, he claimed to be a villager fleeing disaster, but who would have guessed he was actually a cultivator?”

Kong Hai, following the old man, replied, then the three siblings followed the elder into the hut.

…

Entering the Northern Gate Forest, Zhou Qing sped up the mountain through tangled weeds. When he reached halfway up, he noticed the scenery had lost its color.

Up to now, the flowers, grass, and trees around him had been vibrant and colorful, but standing on the hillside and looking toward the summit, he saw only a layer of gray.

Witnessing this, Zhou Qing quickened his pace, rushing onward until he crossed into the gray zone.

Here, the trees around him were no longer lush and green but instead held an eerie gray hue. The trunks were gray, the leaves gray, and even the weeds underfoot were gray.

Stopping to examine these plants closely, Zhou Qing discovered that these gray trees were not dead; when he plucked a leaf, he saw a droplet of gray sap at its base.

“Truly unprecedented. Why does this Northern Gate Forest appear like this?” he murmured in puzzlement. He tossed the gray leaf aside and moved on toward the summit.

Once at the top, Zhou Qing swept his gaze across the Northern Gate Forest and found a world of gray—nothing but gray, with no other hue in sight.

Apart from this, as he reached the summit, a dense wave of corpse energy surged toward him.

Catching the scent, Zhou Qing instinctively drew the Phantom Peerless from his treasure pouch and, gripping it tightly, hurried toward Northern Gate Mountain.

According to the information left by Tian Yi Zi in the interleaved pages of the “Traveling Miscellany,” Zhou Qing’s purpose was to reach the mountaintop, find a cave, and retrieve something Tian Yi Zi had hidden there.

Northern Gate Mountain was easy to identify, as the entire forest was named after it; the tallest peak was naturally Northern Gate Mountain.

Zhou Qing was still some distance from the mountain. Earlier, from the summit, he had glimpsed a towering peak standing alone amid a sea of gray mist, surrounded by low hills.

On his way down, Zhou Qing gripped the Phantom Peerless and ran until he suddenly stopped—nearby, a corpse’s roar echoed through the woods.

Upon hearing the roar, he focused his mind and shaped Phantom Peerless into a spear, which he held firmly.

Soon, from the left side of the forest, a stiff figure jumped straight toward him.

By its movements, it was a minor, unrefined hopping corpse, so Zhou Qing merely glanced at it, then thrust his Phantom Peerless through the air.

A low, guttural roar sounded, and the small corpse collapsed to the ground.

Having dispatched it, Zhou Qing stepped forward, pulled Phantom Peerless from the corpse, and resumed his dash down the mountain.

This time, after only a few steps, another chorus of corpse roars came from ahead, indicating more than one corpse.

Soon, three stiff corpses leapt out from the gray woods, blocking Zhou Qing’s path.

He glanced at them, then charged headlong, wielding Phantom Peerless to slash, stab, and hack, swiftly dealing with all three.

Just as he finished, preparing to move on, two more corpses jumped out from the side.

“Will this never end?”

Zhou Qing eyed the two newcomers, ready to eliminate them, but just as he prepared to strike, three more corpses emerged from the other side.

No sooner had he dispatched the three than five more appeared, and after these five arrived, more corpse roars echoed from the distant woods.

He had only just entered the forest and already encountered so many corpses. If he stayed and dealt with them all, it would take considerable effort.

Moreover, after these five, there might be ten or fifteen more.

So, after some thought, Zhou Qing abandoned the idea of exterminating these minor corpses and quickly turned to dash down the mountain.

The hopping corpses moved quickly, but Zhou Qing was no slouch—trained in Floating Cloud Step since childhood, he believed he could soon outrun them.

Yet, when he reached the foot of the mountain, he saw that the five corpses chasing him had been left behind, but now a dozen more corpses in the nearby woods were jumping straight toward him.

Clearly, these were new encounters, while the earlier pursuers were still descending.

“So many—just one descent and already dozens of corpses.”

Zhou Qing glanced at the dozen corpses leaping at him and decided not to linger.

Dealing with them would take time, and once finished, the others would surely arrive in succession.

With this in mind, Zhou Qing took one last look at the corpses in the woods and hurried along a path overgrown with gray weeds nearly a foot deep.

The path led toward Northern Gate Mountain, and after a while, Zhou Qing arrived at the edge of a dilapidated, ruined village.

Who knows how long this village had been abandoned; now, only a few scattered walls stood upright, the rest collapsed, and gray wild grass had sprouted from the ruins, nearly covering them.

Seeing this, Zhou Qing did not stop but continued running along the edge of the village.

Because not far behind him, seven or eight corpses were still in pursuit.