Just as the first forest wolf's hind legs powered up, Zhang Yang, using his keen senses, easily deduced which wolf would attack first, which would follow, and the angles of their strikes, preparing himself in advance.
In fact, at that very instant, when the forest wolf's movements were already in motion and irreversible, but its four hooves hadn't yet left the ground, Zhang Yang had already entered a defensive stance.
If it were played in slow motion, the process of Zhang Yang grabbing the first forest wolf by its throat would appear not as if Zhang Yang grabbed it, but as if the wolf's throat had collided directly with Zhang Yang's claws.
This was all thanks to the presence of his spiritual sense and the enhancement of the Great Strength Talisman, which allowed Zhang Yang, whose movements were somewhat stiff, to execute such a decisive victory.
However, the danger was far from over. The third and fourth wolves had already pounced toward him.
Zhang Yang swung his arm, using the dying forest wolf in his grasp as an improvised weapon and threw it.
Bang!
Howl!
The wolf collided squarely with another, and the two tumbled into a heap, rolling on the ground.
But at that moment, Zhang Yang had overextended himself, and had entered a position where he was vulnerable. His spiritual sense clearly detected another forest wolf charging toward him. Its vicious claws and fangs were clearly visible, and there was no way to dodge.
He could only slightly shift his body, avoiding the attack to his neck but leaving his back exposed.
Bang!
The massive body of the forest wolf, as strong as a young bull, slammed into Zhang Yang. Despite the power boost from the Great Strength Talisman, Zhang Yang could not withstand the impact and was sent crashing to the ground.
Roar!
The wolf, having successfully struck, opened its massive jaws to bite down on Zhang Yang's neck.
Zhang Yang swung his right arm with all his might, landing a heavy blow to the forest wolf's head, sending it tumbling to the ground.
Howl, howl!
Seeing Zhang Yang fall, the remaining dozen or so wolves let out excited howls and lunged at him. It looked like he was about to be torn apart by the pack.
Zhang Yang's pupils dilated, and he gripped the last remaining Earth Escape Talisman, preparing to take a gamble with the unknown effects of the talisman…
At that moment, two urgent howls suddenly rang out from the distance.
Howl! Howl!
Upon hearing the calls, the leading wolves immediately ceased their attacks. Without hesitation, they retreated rapidly, abandoning their nearly captured prey, even leaving behind the bodies of three of their fallen comrades. Within moments, they vanished into the depths of the forest.
Zhang Yang felt as if he were dreaming.
Whew!
He let out a deep breath, his body stiff as a wooden board, standing up straight without bending.
Looking down at the three wolf corpses on the ground and recalling the battle that had just transpired, he realized that the reason he had managed to kill several forest wolves was not only due to the talisman's assistance but also because his spiritual sense had allowed him to anticipate and control the surrounding environment.
However, his weakness was also clear: his movements were too stiff. For example, although his spiritual sense had detected the wolf's last attack and he knew exactly how to dodge, his rigid body couldn't execute the maneuver in time, and he was forced to endure the impact.
If it weren't for the sudden and inexplicable retreat of the wolf pack, Zhang Yang would have had no choice but to risk using the Earth Escape Talisman—his last resort. But the effectiveness of the talisman was still unknown.
"But why did the wolf pack suddenly retreat at the most critical moment?" Zhang Yang thought, confused. He didn't believe that the wolves had suddenly developed a sense of compassion. After all, when he had used a Swift Movement Talisman to escape before, they had relentlessly pursued him, showing no mercy. Something must have happened to cause their retreat.
Boom!
In the distance, from the direction the wolves had retreated, a series of intense flashes of light erupted, accompanied by thunderous booms and the howls of wolves.
Such a commotion was especially noticeable in the darkness of night.
"Hmm? That sounds like an Electromagnetic Thunder Talisman! Looks like someone accidentally triggered it and attracted the attention of the wolves," Zhang Yang thought.
Zhang Yang speculated.
"This person has indirectly saved my life. But, he's surrounded by a pack of wolves. If he doesn't have great abilities, he'll probably meet a tragic end. Should I go back and save him?"
Zhang Yang hesitated for a moment before immediately dismissing the idea.
"Forget it. He didn't intentionally come to save me. Besides, he has thunder-drawing talismans, so he must be a Taoist. If I, this zombie, go over there on my own accord, I'll be asking for death. Not only would the wolves attack me, but that Taoist might also end up attacking me."
"Moreover, the wolf pack is powerful, and I'm no match for them."
"Better to let the good-hearted person be. I'm sorry!"
Zhang Yang apologized to himself in his heart and didn't dare waste any more time. He didn't even have the chance to handle the dead wolves on the ground. He quickly took out a movement talisman, and his figure rapidly sped forward.
Though it pained him to waste a talisman, if that "good-hearted person" couldn't hold out much longer, and the wolf pack killed him before coming after Zhang Yang, it would truly be the end.
After using the movement talisman to cover more than twenty miles, Zhang Yang didn't hesitate to use another one, and sped ahead another twenty miles.
After about fifty miles of mountain roads, with a few deliberate changes in direction, Zhang Yang believed he had probably shaken off the wolf pack.
Besides, he only had two movement talismans left, so he needed to save them for emergencies.
Without the help of the talismans, Zhang Yang's speed greatly decreased, but he didn't dare stop. Relying on the zombie's unwearied body, he continued on, traveling another hundred miles.
When the dawn was about to break, he finally found a secluded cave, killed an old tiger, drank its blood, and claimed the cave as his own.
For ordinary zombies, finding a cave might be difficult, but for Zhang Yang, his divine sense spread out, and everything within a twenty-meter radius entered his mind. So, finding the cave was naturally quick.
Zhang Yang entered the tiger's den, looked at the dark surroundings, and felt quite satisfied.
After recalling the events from the collapsed corpse pit to the present, he felt that he hadn't missed anything and finally relaxed, closing his eyes to rest.
The zombie body didn't experience fatigue, but Zhang Yang's soul still required rest.
...
On a winding, deep mountain path, two Taoists were hurriedly traveling.
"Senior Brother, are you sure about the direction? We've already chased over two hundred miles, yet we still haven't found any trace of the person? With such speed, it's almost as if we're chasing a high-level wandering corpse!" one of the Taoists said, looking somewhat impatient.
These two were the Taoists from Laoshan who had used tracking talismans to follow Zhang Yang's footprints from the corpse pit.
However, now, looking at them, their originally clean and neat yellow robes were torn in several places and stained with blood that had dried into a dark color. They looked quite disheveled but still had sharp eyes, showing their competence. Despite having traveled over two hundred miles, they were still agile and didn't seem fatigued at all.
This all indicated that their strength was not weak.
"Cloud and, are you starting to doubt my abilities?" The older Taoist's face showed a hint of displeasure.
The younger Taoist, Cloud and, realized he had spoken out of turn and quickly smiled.
"Senior Brother is joking. Who among the disciples of Laoshan doesn't know that Senior Brother's talismans are unmatched, even surpassing those of the elders? Even our uncles and aunts often ask Senior Brother to make talismans for them. Outside, they are worth a small fortune. There's no way the tracking talisman would be wrong. I was just wondering why we haven't found any trace of the zombie."
Flattering words were always effective.
Upon hearing this, the older Taoist's expression improved.
"Not catching up last night is actually better. Now, with the daybreak, the zombie will definitely hide somewhere dark. We'll have an easier time dealing with it during the day."
Cloud and nodded in agreement but couldn't help feeling some disdain.
The two of them were both inner disciples of Laoshan, at the third and fourth levels of Qi Refining, and had plenty of talismans. Together, they didn't need to wait until daybreak to deal with a wandering corpse.
After a brief silence, Cloud and spoke again.
"Senior Brother, last night when we encountered the wolf pack, we saw the activation of a lightning-drawing talisman. The aura looked just like our school's first-grade lightning-drawing talisman. Could it be that the person we encountered before the wolves was Ming He?"
The older Taoist showed a confused expression.
"That's right, the aura from the lightning-drawing talisman was definitely from our school. If it was used here, the only person who could have done so was Ming He. But why is there no trace of Ming He on the tracking talisman? Could a mere second-level Qi Refining disciple avoid the tracking talisman?"
Little did they know, the one who had used the lightning-drawing talisman was not a person, but a second-level wandering corpse.
"Let's keep chasing. We'll figure everything out when we catch up. After all, this trip won't be in vain. We ran into a lone forest wolf king last night, which really was an unexpected stroke of luck. With the wolf hair from the wolf king, we can make talisman brushes that will increase the power of our talismans!" The older Taoist shook his head, unable to hide the smug look on his face.
It turned out that the "good-hearted person" who had drawn the wolves away to save Zhang Yang was these two Taoists.
They had been using the tracking talisman to follow Zhang Yang's movements and had coincidentally encountered the wolf king hiding in the back of the pack. Naturally, they weren't going to miss the opportunity to kill it.
Normally, the wolf king would rely on the wolf pack and stay hidden in the shadows, only appearing when it was a guaranteed kill. Thus, it was difficult to kill.
However, the two Taoists had accidentally run into it and, after a fight, managed to kill the wolf king. After that, they used their talismans to kill a few of the ordinary forest wolves, dispersing the wolf pack.
For the two disciples at the third and fourth levels of Qi Refining, this was a decent harvest. Therefore, they were in a good mood.
Thinking of this, they seemed a bit lighter on their feet as they continued to follow the tracking talisman's guidance.