Chapter Seventy-Two: The Dragon Burial Pit

Three days later...

At last, the group emerged from the dense forest and reached a clearing. Before them stretched a plain that seemed endless, wild grass and reeds growing side by side. In the distance, where sky met grassland, a faint black boundary line shimmered at the horizon.

“We’re on the plains now. The Dragon Burial Pit shouldn’t be far ahead...” Xin Zi wiped the sweat from his brow as he spoke. After days of relentless travel, even Yue Qi was feeling the strain, let alone the others.

“Let’s keep going a bit further. There are reeds here, so water can’t be too far off. Once we find a water source, we’ll rest,” Yue Qi said to the group.

“I can’t go on, I really can’t. Qi, look, we still have some water left. Why don’t we just rest here? If I walk any farther, my legs will break...” Yue Yunsheng bent over, panting heavily and waving his hands.

“I told you not to come, but you insisted. Look at Yuqi, she’s just fine! Aren’t you embarrassed?” Yue Qi glanced at Yunsheng with a hint of amusement, then recited an incantation and conjured a water spell. What puzzled him, though, was that Yang Yuqi seemed in unusually good spirits, not tired at all.

“I have no idea. Ever since Yuqi woke up, she’s had far more stamina than before. She used to complain about being exhausted just cooking a meal...” Thanks to Yue Qi’s spell, Yunsheng’s breath soon returned to normal.

“That’s strange...” Yue Qi muttered, chalking it up to some lingering effects of the virus in Yuqi’s body. After all, even ordinary zombies were usually stronger than humans.

“Let’s go, no sense in delaying. If night falls, who knows what dangers we might face in unfamiliar territory...” Yue Qi rallied the group, forcing himself to stay alert.

Soon enough, they found traces of water. The ground here was damp, but clean, drinkable water was scarce. Yue Qi decided to call what he’d found a “ditch.”

“All right, we’ll camp here for the night.” He found a relatively dry spot and announced his decision. “I’ll go gather some dry firewood. You start setting up camp.” With that, he took a few basic supplies from his Mustard Seed Bracelet. He hadn’t expected to end up in a wetland, so he hadn’t prepared any firewood and would have to find some himself.

“I’ll go! I passed a patch of grass earlier and saw some dry straw. It should burn easily,” Yunsheng volunteered, his curiosity about the new environment sweeping away his fatigue.

“You want to go?” Yue Qi looked at Yunsheng. “All right, but be careful. If there’s any danger, shout for help. If I’m too far to hear, launch a fire control spell into the sky—I’ll come immediately!” He agreed, feeling tired himself and thinking it best to let Yunsheng go. After all, the plain was vast—if any zombies appeared, they’d spot them easily.

Yunsheng agreed, settled Yuqi, and dashed off.

It was clear this area was rarely visited; not a single zombie or even a corpse was in sight. In fact, Yue Qi noticed there wasn’t so much as a small animal around. Then he remembered that the Dragon Burial Pit was near—animals, being sensitive, must be avoiding it.

“Xin, what does the Dragon Burial Pit actually look like? It’s so mysterious.” With the campfire set up, Yue Qi had nothing better to do, so he struck up a conversation with Xin Zi.

“I don’t know,” Xin Zi replied, shaking his head. “I haven’t seen it myself. The books say it’s a sinkhole from ancient times, supposedly formed by a meteorite falling from the sky. But it’s only in the past century that the Dragon Burial Pit gained its reputation—no stories about animals dying in it before then.” Xin Zi hid nothing, sharing all he knew.

“So it’s only been like this recently? Why? Maybe it’s due to some miasma or something?” Yue Qi mused.

“Maybe...” Xin Zi didn’t seem interested in continuing the conversation and lapsed into thought again. Yue Qi noticed Xin Zi often seemed lost in contemplation, though he had no idea what preoccupied him.

Having gotten nowhere with Xin Zi, Yue Qi wandered over to the two girls. He found Bai Lian chatting happily—clearly, girls always had plenty to talk about, leaving him with little to add. He sat there grinning foolishly until, growing annoyed, the two girls finally walked away.

Night crept in. Yue Qi sat in the gathering darkness—the fire unlit, for Yunsheng had not returned. For reasons he could not name, a sense of unease began to gnaw at him.

“Why isn’t he back yet?” Yue Qi muttered anxiously, glancing at the setting sun in the west.

Boom! Suddenly, a flare of fire erupted in the sky—like a beautiful firework, but to Yue Qi, it might as well have been a signal for murder.

“Damn! Something’s wrong!” His heart lurched. The others saw it too—Yuqi grew anxious and tense.

“Stay here. Lian, take care of them! I’ll be right back!” Yue Qi instructed. With a wind spell at his feet, he dashed toward the spot where Yunsheng had called for help.

“Be careful!” Bai Lian called after him, but Yang Yuqi, standing at her side, shivered uncontrollably, whether from worry for Yunsheng or something else.

“Don’t worry—they’ll be fine,” Bai Lian tried to comfort her.

Yue Qi raced across the plain, swift as a leopard breaking free of its chains. Tall reeds whipped painfully against his face as he sped by.

“These plants seem taller than before...” The thought barely flickered through his mind, for up ahead, in a large pit, he saw a glimmer of fire.

“Here?!” A surge of alertness shot through Yue Qi—he found his spiritual power sluggish, resistance in its flow that was almost tangible.

“Is this the Dragon Burial Pit?!” No time to think—he rushed down into the pit.

The slope was not steep, so even at his speed he descended safely. Near the edge at the bottom, he saw, amid a heap of white bones, Yunsheng clutching a torch in one hand and a sword in the other. Not far from him, three zombies were harassing him relentlessly.

“Yunsheng! Run toward me!” Yue Qi shouted, sprinting toward him.

Seeing Yue Qi, Yunsheng was overjoyed but almost got caught by a zombie. Panicked, he hurled his torch—fortunately, the zombie, sensing danger, dodged aside.

“Quick! Run to me!” Yue Qi shouted again. Seizing the chance, Yunsheng dashed toward him.

The three zombies chased after him, but Yue Qi would not let them succeed. With three swift incantations, he launched fire spells past Yunsheng at the zombies.

The spells were cast in haste, but Yue Qi was confident—his spiritual strength ensured at least one zombie would be struck.

But what happened next astounded him—no, astonishment wasn’t enough to describe it. As the three zombies moved, Yue Qi nearly gaped in disbelief.

The zombies did something unbelievable—they stopped dead in their tracks and abruptly ducked, letting the spells graze harmlessly over their backs.

“What’s going on? Is it something about this Dragon Burial Pit? These zombies seem different from the ones we’ve encountered before...” He had no time to ponder. Yue Qi rushed to confront the three zombies, having already ordered Yunsheng to keep running and never look back, no matter what.

Now, face-to-face with the zombies, something else strange happened—they did not charge recklessly, but watched him warily.

“No way... Have the zombies gained intelligence?” This was Yue Qi’s greatest fear, though it seemed only the zombies in the Dragon Burial Pit behaved this way.

The field of animal bones sent a chill through him, but there was no time to dwell on that. One zombie could not restrain itself and lunged at him.

Yue Qi didn’t fear their attacks—he feared only that they would not attack.

He closed his eyes, relying not on sight but on spiritual perception, for his eyes could no longer keep up with these zombies’ speed.

Sure enough, his spiritual sense immediately detected the zombie. Sword in one hand for defense, the other hand formed a sign, and a lightning orb, larger than usual, shot forth and struck the zombie’s skull.

As expected, the zombie’s head burst open, but its body, driven by momentum, still hurtled toward Yue Qi.

He dodged to the side, but the other two zombies seized the opportunity to attack. Unable to evade, Yue Qi raised his sword to shield his chest.

Bang! A tremendous force struck—the zombie’s claw hit his sword, sending Yue Qi flying.

“These zombies...” Shocked, Yue Qi had never imagined zombies could be so powerful. But as a Foundation Establishment cultivator, was this really all he was capable of?

Of course not. Yue Qi suddenly thrust his sword into the ground, raised both hands, and conjured more than a dozen lightning orbs at once. The arcs of electricity intertwined, radiating a sense of explosive power.

“Let’s see how you fare against a meteor shower!” This was a technique of his own invention. Though numerous, the orbs consumed less spiritual power than a second-tier spell, but demanded much greater mental strength.

Bang, bang, bang! With dull thuds, the two zombies’ chests and abdomens were riddled with holes, lightning exploding within them and sending them sprawling to the ground.

Yue Qi seized the opportunity, snatched up his sword, and swiftly ended the zombies’ unnatural lives.