Chapter Twelve: Breakthrough

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Yue Qi had been sitting in meditation, practicing his breathing techniques, without pausing even to eat. Given his level of cultivation, it was normal for him to go three or five days without food—so long as he ate his fill beforehand. The reason for his constant meditation, aside from restoring his spiritual energy, was that he sensed he had reached a threshold in his cultivation—a bottleneck. In truth, the amount of spiritual energy one possessed had little direct bearing on the difficulty of spells; theoretically, even a practitioner still at the stage of refining qi, provided he had sufficient energy and the right incantations, could perform the highest-level spells among the Five Elemental Arts. Of course, this was impossible in practice: each stage limited how much energy the meridians and the dantian could contain. To hold more, one had to shatter those constraints—a breakthrough that signified advancement to the next stage, and so success in such an attempt was, in theory, unattainable.

“My current reserves should allow me to cast ten spells of the Five Elements… But casting all ten at once would be exhausting. Best to keep within that limit, or I’ll risk collapsing,” Yue Qi mused as he continued his breathing exercises. Overusing spiritual energy, especially if one’s mental strength was insufficient, made it all too easy to lose consciousness.

At noon, for reasons unknown, a faint blood-red mist began to drift through the entire Yue Village. Perhaps it was the result of all the blood spilled on the ground, for even the sun overhead could not disperse it.

“Everyone, find some cloth and wet it with clean water. This mist is likely dangerous…” Yue Qi suddenly woke from his meditation, exhaled a mouthful of stale breath, and addressed the group. After inhaling the red mist, he’d felt a surge of restlessness, but once he’d sat quietly for a while, he regained his calm.

The others had been waiting anxiously. After the village chief finished distributing food, he’d even considered waking Yue Qi, but seeing him in meditation, he didn’t dare disturb him and so forced himself to wait.

Everyone had been given a share of clean water. In this post-apocalyptic world, food could be done without, but water was essential. For this reason, everyone poured out their share with extra care, each using a bamboo flask that held only a little.

“All right, everyone get ready to move. Listen for my commands!” Yue Qi led everyone into the courtyard, where three zombie corpses still lay. An idea suddenly flashed through his mind.

“Second Brother, come help me. Let’s toss these three out!” He’d originally thought clearing the bodies was just a matter of helping Old Liang, but now it turned out to be crucial.

The three corpses were easily lifted and hoisted onto the wall, then thrown over one by one.

“Everyone, stand back!” Yue Qi smiled at the group, his sword fingers tracing lightly through the air. A faint, yet searingly hot fireball flickered into being at his fingertips. Yue Qi had now mastered dual focus—he could cast the Fire Control Incantation with merely a silent recitation of the formula, needing no spoken words.

A gasp rose from the crowd—it was likely the first time they had seen Yue Qi wield magic. The Water Soothing spell he’d used before was actually of a higher tier, but its effect was subtle, only causing water droplets to hang in the air. This Fire Control spell, by contrast, was truly awe-inspiring.

With a flick of his sword fingers, a tongue of flame leaped forth and landed on the corpses just outside the wall. In an instant, a blazing fire roared to life.

Yue Qi’s plan had worked! Almost all the zombies were drawn to the commotion, but a few caught sight of Yue Qi standing atop the wall and lunged at him.

For these, Yue Qi dispatched each one with a single stroke, lest they attract even more.

“All right, there are almost no zombies left at the gate! Everyone, stay close to me—elders, the sick, and the weak in the center, the young and strong at the rear!” At his command, several braver youths drew their wood-cutting blades, ready to defend the group.

“Second Brother, Third Brother, look after our parents! Stay close to me!” Yue Qi reminded them before setting off.

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“Don’t worry—even if we die, we won’t let a single hair on our parents’ heads be harmed!” Second Brother gritted his teeth. Third Brother’s eyes shone with determination as well.

With a creak, Yue Qi slowly opened the main gate. The movement attracted the attention of a few more zombies, who charged toward them. Yue Qi led the group forward, his sword never resting—every swing brought another corpse to the blood-soaked ground.

“Stay with me, be careful, and keep quiet! Too much noise will attract more zombies!” Yue Qi cautioned those behind him. He wasn’t sure if they heard, but he pressed on quickly.

Though it had been years since he last walked these paths, Yue Qi remembered every detail of Yue Village. The square and the hillside were impassable—dozens of zombies still lingered there, and the fire at the chief’s house hadn’t drawn them away. Only one route remained: out through the main gate.

“Go! Don’t worry about those zombies!” someone cried.

“No, Mother! I’ll save you!” another voice rang out behind. Yue Qi’s heart tightened—things were going wrong. The zombies in the rear must have caught up. He himself could outrun them, but these were ordinary people—how could they outrun mindless, relentless zombies?

“Forget the back! Run! Run!” The chief, still calm, urged Yue Qi onward. Necessary sacrifices were unavoidable at a time like this.

Yue Qi glanced back. The man’s mother had already been seized by the zombies, her body a bloody ruin, and the man himself bore bite wounds.

“She’s beyond saving…” Yue Qi thought grimly. Bai Lian had once told him: anyone bitten or scratched by a zombie would soon become one themselves. With this in mind, he pressed forward, heart heavy with grief but powerless to act otherwise. To save the survivors, he had no choice.

The man’s cries drew even more zombies toward them. The group quickened their pace—perhaps driven by the will to survive, even those who had been running at their limit managed to speed up without lagging far behind Yue Qi.

A woman’s scream suddenly split the air from somewhere in the middle of the group.

“What happened?” Yue Qi halted, sword never pausing as he skewered two charging zombies.

“Two zombies suddenly burst out from the courtyard! Our group’s been cut in half!” someone shouted.

“Damn it, useless!” Yue Qi cursed aloud, frustration gnawing at him—he hadn’t considered the terror gripping these people. The young might be brave, but facing such savage zombies for the first time, who could truly throw their lives away so recklessly? Just like on the battlefield, rookie soldiers faint at the first sight of blood.

“Stay here and don’t move! Support each other—if any zombies come, kill them immediately!” Yue Qi ordered, ignoring the chief’s protests as he sprinted back, bolstering his speed with the Wind Control Incantation.

Sure enough, the rear of the group had been cut off by two zombies—wolves in a flock of sheep. Some of the young men swung their choppers, but none dared charge headlong into danger.

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“So many dead already?” Yue Qi glanced at the ground—he didn’t stop to count, but another three or four had perished, most of them elderly or women. And they’d barely made it this far—already the group was so diminished.

“Go!” Yue Qi first slew another zombie approaching by sound, then paused for two seconds to unleash the Thunder Control Incantation. Lightning struck one zombie’s head.

With a wet crack, like a watermelon splitting open, the zombie’s skull exploded. The other, unfazed, charged at a survivor. Yue Qi cast again, sending the Water Control Incantation straight at the zombie’s feet, freezing them in a thin layer of ice. As expected, the zombie slipped and fell face-first. Yue Qi darted forward, plunging his sword into its eye.

“Keep up! Don’t fall behind—if we don’t move now, we might never get out of here!” Yue Qi urged. The others finally snapped out of their daze and hurried after him.

But they’d only taken a few steps when another shout came from up ahead.

“A Qi! Hurry, there are so many zombies here!” It was Sixth Sister’s voice—trouble at the front, too!

“Hurry, hurry, hurry! Everyone, move!” Yue Qi shouted to those still standing around in shock.

Now fewer than twenty people remained. Aside from his own family in the lead, there were Yue Lei, the chief, and the chief’s three trusted men. Only seven others were left at the rear.

Yue Qi rushed to the front. Sure enough, the group was surrounded by five zombies. The chief’s side was faring better—he and Yue Lei were safe in the center, while three young men kept two zombies at bay.

On the other side, however, Second Brother had to look after their mother, Third Brother had to help their father, and both Fourth and Sixth Sisters were women—how could they hope to fight off three zombies?

Seeing this, Yue Qi’s heart clenched with urgency. He cursed Yue Lei for not lending a hand and doubled up on the Wind Control Incantation. His speed became a streak of lightning.

“Sixth Sister, get out of the way!” Yue Qi shouted, casting the Fire Control Incantation. The zombie burst into flames. Perhaps blinded by the fire, it staggered wildly before collapsing in a heap.

“A Qi, A Qi! I can’t hold on, hurry!” Second and Third Brothers had already set their parents down, but even the two of them together could barely manage one zombie. Meanwhile, another had slipped past them and lunged straight at their mother.

The situation had reached a critical point!