Chapter 79: The Fire Orb

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Yue Qi’s mind was already clear: given the current situation, he had no idea how severe his injuries truly were. With Bai Lian also rendered powerless, if the only ones left to hold the line above were Xin Zi and Yun Sheng, the odds for them all surviving looked grim.

That thought banished any lingering grief. Though his body felt almost entirely spent, some last reserve of strength welled up from deep within. He swept Bai Lian up in his arms and dashed toward the cellar’s exit.

As he reached the inn’s entrance, he saw two zombies desperately trying to break in. Yet only Xin Zi stood guard at the door, Yun Sheng assisting at his side, and not a single zombie had managed to breach their defenses.

“Amazing…” Yue Qi couldn’t help but marvel. Though gravely wounded, his extraordinary vision remained unaffected. He could see clearly that Xin Zi was holding a strand as fine as a hair—undoubtedly the very same thread that had once belonged to Xiao Ke under Wang Jian’s command.

“Don’t just stand there! I can’t hold out much longer!” Xin Zi’s voice was as calm as ever; Yue Qi could detect no trace of urgency. But judging by Xin Zi’s struggle, the danger was real. That slender thread could only control a single zombie, and the other looked ready to break through the defense at any moment.

Xin Zi’s use of terrain was masterful: the inn’s door, though not particularly sturdy, couldn’t easily be destroyed in an instant. Now, it stood half-open. Yun Sheng braced one side with all his might, while Xin Zi’s thread would occasionally carve shallow, narrow cuts into the zombies. Though not especially lethal, it was enough to hold them off for now.

“That’s Golden Serpent Silkworm Thread!” Bai Lian, clutching her chest, blood still at the corner of her mouth, watched Xin Zi’s performance with a newfound glimmer in her eyes.

“Golden Serpent Silkworm Thread?” Yue Qi was puzzled, but there was no time to dwell on it. With danger looming every second, he hurried forward to help.

“Wait, Brother Qi!” To his surprise, Bai Lian grabbed him and whispered something in his ear. Yue Qi’s brow furrowed, but he nodded.

“Brother Xin, hold on a bit more—I’ll recover my spiritual power and join you soon!” With these words, Yue Qi immediately sat cross-legged, producing a calming elixir. Though his reserves of spiritual energy were still considerable, his mind was dangerously unstable. Should it erupt, he might well lose his sanity.

Xin Zi frowned, but seeing Yue Qi already seated, said nothing. He was in a dire predicament: the zombies pressed in, and if they got through, he’d be the first torn apart. Meanwhile, Yue Yun Sheng was in a far safer position.

Whether Yue Qi’s promise was genuine or not, Xin Zi decided it was time to use his trump card. The current strategy was unsustainable, and these mutated zombies’ defenses were formidable—his uncle’s personally crafted Golden Serpent Silkworm Thread could barely pierce their skin.

This was no ordinary thread, but one forged by Xin Zi’s uncle, the master of Sword-Hidden Manor, as a gift for Xin Zi’s father. When Xin Zi left to travel the world, his father, Xin Ao You, entrusted him with it for protection.

“Yun Sheng, brace the door with your sword, then fall back—go join Brother Yue!” Xin Zi quickly instructed.

“Huh?!” Though Yun Sheng had no idea what Xin Zi was planning, he sensed a new strategy and obeyed, rolling backward to safety with a move Hong Ye had taught him.

With Yun Sheng clear, Xin Zi relaxed and slashed outward with the silken thread. Sensing danger, one zombie retreated several paces, leaving a gap of three or four body lengths.

“Now!” Xin Zi muttered, and two small black spheres appeared in his hand. Though unremarkable at first glance, these were Xin Zi’s ultimate weapons—the reason his father could let him journey alone with confidence.

These were Fire Pellets, relics passed down in Sword-Hidden Manor since its founding—much like modern grenades. Over generations, each master of the manor had refined their power; now, a single pellet rivaled a second-tier spell cast by a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator.

“Boom!!” As Xin Zi hurled the pellets, a tremendous explosion erupted outside the inn. Two fire pellets detonated together were more than the sum of their parts; the specially formulated powder amplified their destructive force under impact.

“As expected…” Bai Lian, now sitting cross-legged, held a second-tier healing scroll and a mid-grade spirit stone—gifts from Yue Qi long ago. Unable to channel spiritual energy herself, she now relied on the scroll for healing.

How did Bai Lian know about such artifacts? She had whispered to Yue Qi to trust that Xin Zi would have a way. Sure enough, the two black spheres had been more powerful than she’d imagined.

A legend circulated in the martial world: once, a foolish master of Sword-Hidden Manor angered many with his debauchery, inciting villains to covet the manor’s weapons and rally a mob to seize them. At that moment, a Xin clan ancestor—the second master of the manor—single-handedly slew all the invaders. From then on, no one dared cast greedy eyes on Sword-Hidden Manor. The disgraced master reformed and restored the manor’s glory. Or so the tale went.

Bai Lian had read the story in an obscure history tome in the Azure River Sword Sect’s library. The details might have been exaggerated, but she would never believe a Xin clan disciple was powerless. She’d gambled that Xin Zi had another card to play—and she was right.

The deafening blast stunned everyone in the inn. Even Yue Qi, who had just closed his eyes, reopened them to glance warily at Xin Zi.

“If I’d tried to seize his technique back then…” Yue Qi reflected with sudden relief. Had he lost his head and tried to rob Xin Zi of the Five Spirits Heaven-Throwing Art, and Xin Zi had tossed out those two black pellets, his fate would have been bleak indeed.

After using the fire pellets, Xin Zi looked pained—these were precious, and even his uncle had given him only five. Now, in one go, he’d used two. How could he not feel the loss?

Still, Xin Zi had no doubt the two fire pellets would kill the mutated zombies. Developed by his father and uncle together, a single pellet could dent two-inch steel in a confined space; now, he had hurled two directly at the zombies.

Seeing Yue Qi still meditating, Xin Zi refrained from disturbing him and peered through the door. The blast had blown it open, and the air was thick with smoke and gunpowder. Steeling himself, Xin Zi looked out: both zombies lay sprawled, one still twitching in agony but unable to rise.

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Xin Zi clicked his tongue in awe at the mutated zombies’ resilience—even steel would have fared worse, yet the zombies still clung to unlife.

He stepped forward and finished off the struggling zombie, unwilling to risk a repeat of whatever ordeal had left Yue Qi and Bai Lian so battered. He could not afford carelessness now.

With the two zombies slain, Xin Zi finally breathed easy. But as he turned to head back, a cluster of dark figures in the distance caught his eye.

“What is that…” Xin Zi’s body began to tremble uncontrollably. He had never been so nervous in all his years.

“One, two, three… seven. Seven mutated zombies!” He was certain—their agile movements marked them as such, and they must have been drawn by the explosion.

No matter how carefully Xin Zi had planned, he hadn’t imagined there would be so many mutated zombies near the town.

“Run! More zombies are coming! We can’t fight them all! Run!” Xin Zi sprinted back, shouting frantically.

By now, Yue Qi had awakened. The medicine had taken rapid effect; his mental strength was not fully restored, but he could at least cast spells again. In fact, not only was his spiritual energy replenished, but he felt his mental strength was on the verge of a breakthrough.

But hearing Xin Zi’s urgent warning, he had no time to contemplate the final barrier. His eyes snapped open; Bai Lian, too, had revived, her complexion still pale but much improved thanks to the second-tier water scroll.

“There’s no time! Run! We’ll take the back door!” The inn had a rear exit, which Xin Zi had noticed earlier. The first two zombies had pressed too closely for escape, but now it was their only chance.

“Go!” Yue Qi leapt up, rallying the others, and followed Xin Zi toward the back door.

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