Chapter 78: Heading to the Ruins
Dozens of undead soldier corpses lay on the ground as Su Xiao walked out of the bear cave. He had been relentlessly pursued by the undead army, nearly surrounded multiple times.
While being chased, Su Xiao wasn’t just fleeing; he was also setting up escape routes. Fighting the undead army head-on offered no benefit. Although undead soldiers had a chance to drop treasure chests, picking them up on a chaotic battlefield was simply unrealistic.
Despite killing a large number of undead soldiers, Su Xiao gained nothing from it. He had no intention of continuing this meaningless slaughter.
After piling the corpses inside the bear cave, Su Xiao began cleaning up the surrounding bloodstains. For his subsequent plan to succeed, he couldn’t let the undead army pinpoint his exact location.
Having cleaned the scene, Su Xiao sprinted through the forest. Soon, he reached a small stream. Previously, over a thousand undead soldiers had been stationed around this stream. Su Xiao had used Ring Break more than a dozen times to kill them all. It was precisely this use of Ring Break that caused severe strain in his right arm, forcing him to hide in the bear cave.
The corpses by the stream were neatly stacked into several piles. The undead army had passed through here and hastily disposed of the bodies. Compared to burying these soldiers, finding Su Xiao was far more important to the undead army; otherwise, these soldiers would have died in vain.
Su Xiao sheathed Dragon-Slaying Flash and burrowed into the corpse pile, enduring the thick stench of blood. Soon, his lower body was fully inside.
Taking a remote control device from his storage space, Su Xiao pulled out its antenna and pressed the button.
He slowly shook the remote in his hand. This damn thing had no signal. After tapping it, the green light flickered, but the signal was still poor.
He tried pressing the start button. After a full minute, nothing happened. Su Xiao pressed the button again.
A few seconds later, a signal flare shot up three kilometers away. Soon after, an explosion echoed from beneath the flare.
Su Xiao tossed the remote into the stream. The plastic device was carried away by the current. He then fully submerged himself into the corpse pile, forcefully suppressing his aura and drastically reducing his vital signs.
Thump, thump… thump… thump……
Su Xiao’s heartbeat slowed more and more, eventually reaching about five to ten beats per minute—just enough to prevent his organs from failing due to oxygen deprivation.
At this point, Su Xiao was almost like a corpse. The blood on his body masked his skin tone, and he was buried deep within the pile.
About a few minutes later, the thunderous sound of footsteps approached. A rapid marching unit rushed past the corpse pile. Behind them was an undead commander, whose gaze swept over the piles of corpses.
These corpses weren’t stacked randomly; they followed a unique undead stacking method to prevent enemy soldiers from hiding among them.
After observing the piles for a moment, the undead commander ordered a dozen undead soldiers to confirm their safety.
The dozen soldiers climbed onto the piles. Though they knew these were the remains of their comrades, war was the most merciless thing.
They raised their weapons and began stabbing randomly into the piles. There was no time for a thorough check.
Inside the pile, Su Xiao compressed his perception to half a meter. A strangely shaped longsword pierced through the corpses, heading straight for his chest.
His Instinct ability immediately judged the trajectory of the thrust. Su Xiao relaxed his body, letting the sword sink into his chest, about five centimeters from his heart.
Judging that the strike wasn’t fatal, Su Xiao deliberately relaxed his muscles to reduce their defensive strength.
The undead soldier holding the sword frowned. He felt something off about the resistance on his weapon. It seemed to hit something tough, but not a living thing. To be safe, he thrust again.
This second strike passed under Su Xiao’s armpit, hitting the bone of a corpse’s arm.
The undead soldier on the pile pulled out his sword. His bloodstained face showed no grief, only numbness.
He jumped off the pile. This pile was safe. Before leaving, he cut off a lock of his hair and tossed it onto the corpses, as if to say, “Brothers, I am with you.”
There was no right or wrong between the undead army and Su Xiao. They were simply enemies due to their different circumstances. Where was the right or wrong?
The rapid marching unit moved on. Su Xiao inside the pile remained still. He had to wait longer.
A few minutes later, a large undead force arrived before the piles. Seeing the inconspicuous severed hairs nearby, they continued marching forward. Before leaving, they poured oil on the piles and set them ablaze.
Inside the pile, a layer of Counter Shield enveloped Su Xiao. He still didn’t move.
A sharp whistle from a signal flare came from afar. Su Xiao, inside the pile, opened his eyes and crawled out.
With a splash, he fell into the nearby stream. The water immediately turned red.
Standing up in the stream, pale red droplets dripped from his cheeks. He looked up at the distant sky, where several yellow signal flares hung. The undead forces had discovered the traps he had set.
Su Xiao cupped some stream water to wash the blood off his face, feeling much refreshed.
Part of the undead army had been lured away. What came next was simple: head straight for the “Shasen Mountain Range.”
The Sisk Plains separated the “Dark Moon Swamp” from the “Shasen Mountain Range.” Heading toward the mountain range meant moving away from the Law-Destroying Shadow ruins.
Su Xiao’s plan was straightforward: first leave the Sisk Plains region, reach the Shasen Mountain Range, then bypass the Sisk Plains along its edge.
The undead high command believed Su Xiao was trying to reach the Dark Moon Swamp, so they set up layers of checkpoints along the way. If Su Xiao had truly headed straight for the swamp, he would have been surrounded and killed by elite undead forces, likely ending up as a corpse.
But Su Xiao’s goal wasn’t the Dark Moon Swamp at all. Moreover, he would give the undead the illusion that he had already arrived there. How to achieve this? Bubu Wang and Amu, lying in ambush at the Dark Moon Swamp, could manage it.
The plan for the one man, one dog, and one cow was roughly as follows: First, Su Xiao would attract the undead, giving the dog and cow a chance to sneak into the Dark Moon Swamp and find the Law-Destroying Shadow ruins. Once found, Amu and Bubu Wang would draw the undead’s attention, allowing Su Xiao to enter the ruins.
There was no need to worry about Bubu Wang’s safety. That guy’s survival ability was even stronger than Su Xiao’s. As for Amu, the honest cow could just soak in the swamp until the world ended.
Su Xiao began moving toward the Shasen Mountain Range. Along the way, he encountered several rapidly marching undead units. As expected, they were advancing toward the Dark Moon Swamp.
The undead high command couldn’t figure out how Su Xiao had crossed the Sisk Plains and infiltrated their capital, the Dark Moon Swamp.
In reality, Su Xiao was still within the Sisk Plains. The illusion was created because Bubu Wang’s “You Can’t See Me: Passive: Self-Learned Skill” was somewhat unstoppable.