After climbing up a small hill, the group found no trace of a village, only a pile of abandoned, scattered wooden debris. There was no village in sight. Looking in another direction, all they saw was a stretch of black soil, with only a few crater-like pits scattered around—nothing else.
Mo Fan had been here before and knew for sure that a village once stood in this place.
But the scene before them could only mean one thing—the Church had already taken action!
"Are you messing with us?" The bearded man snapped angrily.
"I... I don't know what's going on either," the short man said, his face turning pale as he glanced toward the brawny man.
The strong man was equally shocked, his expression showing complete disbelief.
Without hesitation, he began running down the slope, madly rushing toward the pile of broken wood. There wasn't even a corner of a thatched hut in sight, let alone an entire village. But the strong man acted as if he'd gone insane, paying no attention to the few wandering undead nearby.
"This is definitely Yangyang Village, but why it looks like this is quite mysterious," Mo Fan commented.
"How do you know that?" one of Asharuiya's bodyguards asked.
"I'm a local. You think I'd know less than a foreigner like you?" Mo Fan shot back.
The man wanted to argue further, but Asharuiya stopped him.
At her signal, the bodyguard immediately fell silent.
In Greece, the hierarchy was evidently much stricter. If you didn't have status, you had no right to bark.
Judging by the strong man's devastated demeanor, it was clear that this was indeed Yangyang Village.
Mo Fan's previous visit confirmed that this was where they had planned to stay. However, the entire village had vanished. If there had been remnants like fence posts, ruins of homes, or scattered belongings, they could at least prove that a village once existed. But all that remained were scattered pieces of wood and a sea of black soil—nothing more.
"Could it be that Weiju Village couldn't escape the undead uprising either?" Liu Ru wondered aloud.
"Maybe. It's possible the new ruler of the undead doesn't care about the local villagers," someone else speculated.
"Let's go down and take a look," Mo Fan said, signaling to the group.
Together, they headed down toward the remains of what had once been a village.
Upon closer inspection, they noticed signs of something having been burned. The ground was littered with piles of charcoal, which blew into a dirty mist with each gust of wind.
"There aren't many bodies, but it looks like there was a fire. Who knows what happened," the bearded man remarked to Asharuiya.
In truth, if something had happened, there would be no way to tell.
If the villagers had died, they likely would have turned into undead themselves. The ground was covered with ashes, and any traces of blood had long since disappeared.
"So what do we do now?" one of Asharuiya's other bodyguards asked suddenly.
"We'll have to move on to the next village. If the next village looks like this as well..." Asharuiya's voice trailed off.
One village might be a coincidence, but if the next one was the same, then it wouldn't be just chance.
The short man was reluctant to continue the journey.
He looked at the group and said, "It's two days to Hua Village from here. I had planned for us to rest in Yangyang Village for the night, so we could save some gray garlic. But now, we'll run out halfway to Hua Village."
The shortage of gray garlic was clearly the most pressing issue.
The short man suggested they return to the ancient city and wait for the brawny man to get more gray garlic from his kin, but the strong man said it would take him months to gather enough.
"Let's just push through. Going back would waste too much time. You guys just need to lead the way," the bearded bodyguard said.
Mo Fan agreed with this plan.
At this moment, Asharuiya spoke up, her voice gentle. "Along the way, I've noticed that not all areas are infested with undead. Let's refrain from using the gray garlic for the rest of the night unless we run into an overwhelming number of undead."
The short man, who was already being dragged along, agreed to the plan since it seemed feasible.
On the road, they encountered a few undead, but Asharuiya's two bodyguards dealt with them easily.
Occasionally, the short man helped out as well.
Meanwhile, Mo Fan, Liu Xian, Liu Ru, and Asharuiya, all of whom were strong enough to hold their own, became mere spectators.
Their luck wasn't too bad. They managed to avoid any tombs along the way, and by the time they approached dawn, they had saved quite a bit of gray garlic.
"There's about an hour left until sunrise," the short man said, checking his watch.
"And here I was thinking the undead in the ancient city were supposed to be terrifying. They're just a bunch of brainless corpses," the bearded bodyguard, Ali, laughed.
"Brother, please don't say things like that. The land of the undead is very eerie, and words like that can bring trouble," the strong man warned.
Ali shrugged it off, grinning.
Ahead of them was a patch of loose black soil, and the clouds overhead were so thick and low that they felt oppressive.
"Zzzzraaack!"
Suddenly, a flash of pale lightning tore through the narrow sky, illuminating the oppressive black clouds and the dark, rolling earth below. It felt like they were walking inside an endless black box.
The air grew stifling without anyone realizing it. Thunder boomed from the clouds above, and large, heavy raindrops began to fall, hitting the ground with enough force to kick up small bursts of mud.
Mo Fan glanced at the foreigner who had been boasting earlier. To be honest, if he hadn't been witnessing it himself, he would've found it hard to believe how absurd things had become.
"Damn it, it's raining! We're done for!" The short man panicked as soon as the rain started.
No sooner had he spoken than the downpour began. Flashes of white lightning streaked through the sky, reflecting off the heavy rainfall and creating a dense, shimmering curtain of water.
The rain fell so heavily that it loosened the soil, turning the ground into a muddy mess with every step.
Another flash of lightning lit up the scene ahead. A stream of blood-red water surged toward them, its crimson hue standing out starkly against the relentless rain.
The bloody water flowed past their feet, filling them with dread. The rain was so thick it was hard to see ahead, leaving the group unsure whether they should consume their gray garlic.
"Move! The rain will wash away the protective scent of the gray garlic!" the strong man shouted, urging everyone forward.
Gray garlic lost its effectiveness when exposed to rain.
Without its protection, they would become prime targets for the undead.
"Damn it! The blood is getting worse—there's probably a powerful corpse nearby!" the short man deduced from experience.
As soon as he finished speaking, a chilling cry rang out. A hulking corpse general, with limbs like blades, appeared before them.
The sight of the corpse general shocked the short man, but before he could react, Liu Xian swiftly dispatched it, leaving him completely stunned.
(End of Chapter)