Cao Yi stepped lightly on the scattered rubble and approached Mark's corpse, observing Mark's greenish face with sharp teeth, his slightly thick eyebrows drawing together.
Though Mark and the two followers had turned into zombies before he made his move, meaning they were technically dead, he still felt an inexplicable sensation from having never killed anyone.
He grasped the hilt of the peach wood sword, applying a slight force, and the weightless sword easily detached from Mark's body.
Seeing no blood on the blade, Cao Yi felt no surprise. It was normal for a zombie like Mark to lack blood.
"Daoist Priest,"
Yoko approached with her dagger in hand, her gaze fixed on Cao Yi, eyes full of admiration.
Cao Yi wasn't surprised by Yoko's expression; it was a Japanese tradition to admire strength.
Suddenly, Yoko's pupils constricted as she raised her glowing dagger.
What's going on? Why is she suddenly trying to kill him?
Cao Yi, astonished, lifted his peach wood sword. Having already killed zombies, he wouldn't mind killing a human if necessary. Suddenly, a faint sound came from behind.
In an instant, Cao Yi understood why Yoko had changed her demeanor.
Zombie Mark was still alive.
"Die!"
Yoko lunged at Mark like a fierce tiger descending the mountain.
Cao Yi turned just in time to see Yoko diving toward the rising zombie Mark.
Bang! The sound of metal clashing echoed.
Yoko, unable to stab the zombie Mark, agilely rolled aside.
Zombie Mark stood rigidly, resembling scenes from zombie movies, just missing the Qing Dynasty official robes.
Not dead?
Zombie Mark didn't give Cao Yi time to think; he opened his stinking mouth and lunged like a rabid dog.
Cao Yi recalled that in movies, one shouldn't come into contact with zombies, dodging while pondering the difference between killing the two followers and Mark.
Unknowingly, he found himself near a wall.
"Roar!"
Zombie Mark howled as he lunged, his long, claw-like hands sweeping across the stone wall, leaving deep scratches four to five centimeters deep.
"They evolved so quickly,"
Cao Yi was taken aback.
"How is this possible? I could stab him with the dagger just now!"
Yoko's confused voice rang out.
Stabbing the body?
Cao Yi recalled how he had turned the two follower zombies into "candied hawthorns" with his peach wood sword, stabbing them in the left chest—where the heart was located.
Stab the heart, and the zombie would die.
But wait!
He had also stabbed Mark on the left side.
Could it be?
Cao Yi considered a possibility.
As zombie Mark charged again, his red eyes filled with resentment and his face twisted with murderous intent, he had clearly lost all humanity.
"Come on!"
Cao Yi thrust the peach wood sword forward with a whoosh, piercing zombie Mark's right chest. With a squelch, it sank into the flesh.
Zombie Mark instantly halted, standing still.
Cao Yi slowly withdrew the sword and gently poked him.
Zombie Mark fell straight down.
Just as expected.
Mark's heart was different from that of a normal person; it was on the right side.
In medical terms, he was a "mirror man."
"This time, he should be dead, right?"
Yoko approached with her dagger, a bit dusty from rolling on the ground.
"His heart is different; it's on the right side,"
Cao Yi explained.
Yoko's expression changed to one of realization. No wonder the Daoist Priest aimed for the heart; the two followers turned zombies died, while zombie Mark was unharmed.
Clap, clap, clap…
A round of applause erupted.
Ying Caihong, who had been watching from the side, came over with a group of subordinates, smiling widely.
"Ying Jushi,"
Cao Yi's tense expression relaxed.
"This is the magical artifact prepared by the Daoist Priest, the peach wood sword; it's indeed impressive!"
Ying Caihong examined the peach wood sword in Cao Yi's hand, admiration clear on her face.
"Just a wooden sword,"
Cao Yi replied casually.
"With this sword, dealing with thousand-year-old zombies is a breeze."
Ying Caihong looked at Cao Yi, confidence shining in her eyes.
"We'll see when we try,"
Cao Yi gave a noncommittal answer.
Ying Caihong's face clouded for a moment.
"Hey, what's going on?"
A loud voice rang out.
Wang Kaixuan burst out of the stone cave, followed closely by Big Gold Tooth.
Seeing the corpses on the ground, both Wang Kaixuan and Big Gold Tooth looked astonished.
"How come there are more big dumplings after a little while?"
"Hey, why does this big dumpling look so much like Mark?"
"Where's Mark? Did he turn into a big dumpling? What did you all do?"
"Oh no, the exit is sealed!"
...
The two chattered incessantly, annoying Ying Caihong: "You two, shut up!"
With the boss's order, it was very effective.
Wang Kaixuan and Big Gold Tooth immediately fell silent.
"Daoist Priest, what do we do next?"
Ying Caihong turned her gaze to Cao Yi.
With the zombies eliminated, she held near-worship for Cao Yi.
"Look at what statues are in each hole,"
Cao Yi recalled the plot of the movie while speaking.
Ying Caihong glanced around each hole: "Cow, chicken, sheep, rat—are they the twelve zodiac animals?"
Cao Yi approached, examining each opening, and shook his head: "There are only eight holes; it's the Eight Trigrams."
Eight Trigrams?
Ying Caihong looked confused.
She hadn't studied traditional culture much.
"The entrance is a horse, which corresponds to the Li trigram; the rat meets the horse for the Kan-Li combination, the sheep meets the horse for the Kun-Li combination, and the dog meets the horse for the Qian-Li combination. The upper Qian and lower Li indicate the birth gate."
Having been transformed by the Golden Elixir, Cao Yi had an unusually good memory; the words spoken by Hu Bayi in the plot flowed from his mouth.
Now, not only Ying Caihong but the others looked perplexed as well.
"The dog in the Xu position is the exit,"
Cao Yi held the peach wood sword, stepping over the scattered rubble as he walked forward.
Ying Caihong was about to follow when a loud rumble erupted from the exit.
Rubble flew everywhere, and dust billowed.
Then, a group of masked followers and staff members rushed in.
"Master!"
"President!"
...
The greetings were a bit chaotic.
Seeing the exit open, Ying Caihong relaxed her tense expression.
The surrounding followers and staff also showed relieved expressions.
"Follow me,"
Ying Caihong led the way forward.
A large group followed behind her.
Cao Yi reached the cave entrance but suddenly stopped, turning to Ying Caihong: "The Other Shore Flower can cause hallucinations, leading to self-inflicted harm; the more people, the worse it gets."
At that moment, Ying Caihong was close to 100% believing in Cao Yi. She waved her hand: "I, Daoist Priest, Yoko, Big Gold Tooth, Wang Kaixuan, plus two others; everyone else withdraw."
The crowd withdrew like a tide, leaving two strong foreign men with backpacks.
Cao Yi still felt the crowd was too large and glanced at Big Gold Tooth, who was of no use.
Big Gold Tooth, seizing the opportunity, immediately stepped outside: "I'm useless anyway; I won't cause trouble for everyone."
"Stop!"
Ying Caihong's expression darkened.