It had to be said that the phrase "The outside world is fraught with danger, the ground littered with corpses" was rather apt. Chu Xun had only just left Chu City, traveling along the mountain road less than five hundred meters, when he discovered several blood-soaked corpses by the roadside.
To be more precise, they were skeletons!
From the broken herb baskets scattered beside these bones, it was clear that they had once been herb gatherers from Chu Town.
The risk of gathering herbs was far lower than hunting zombies or mutant beasts, but that was only relative. For ordinary people without strength, and without even a proper weapon, the wilderness was nothing short of hell.
Out here, they were at the very bottom of the food chain, and far too many creatures lurked in the shadows, ready to tear them to pieces the moment they made a mistake, turning them into nothing more than a meal.
Among these hunters, the most terrifying were not the zombies or mutant beasts. Though these creatures were powerful, they lacked intelligence. With caution, even an ordinary person could escape from a group of zombies.
Outside the city, the true terror came from humans themselves.
Or rather, those who could no longer be considered human. They had completely lost their humanity and were worse than beasts.
At least beasts would not eat their own kind, let alone take pleasure in it!
These people were known as the "Wild Ones."
The herb gatherers, it seemed, had fallen victim to the Wild Ones. Only the Wild Ones would strip their prey of every last ounce of flesh, wasting nothing. And only the Wild Ones would leave behind the intact bones of their victims as a form of mockery to the people of Chu City.
"F*ck*ng scum..." Chu Xun's grip tightened around his battle blade as a cold killing intent surfaced in his eyes.
Though he had killed people before—and more than one—it was something he could never accept: Wild Ones who fed on humans. If possible, he would wipe them all out.
It was only at that moment that Chu Xun truly understood his mission. Perhaps it was time for someone to rise and end this damned apocalypse, to put an end to all this filth.
With that thought, his gaze grew even firmer. He took a deep breath, tightened his grip on his weapon, and pressed on.
He had no intention of burying the bones. After all, once a person was dead, it was all meaningless. Rather than wasting time here, he might as well find suitable insect genes to consume. Besides, the outside world was fraught with danger, and every second he lingered was another second of peril.
But Chu Xun was still too green. If there had been an experienced hunter nearby, they would have advised him: never linger in a place soaked with the smell of blood.
Because the stench of blood often attracted terrifying creatures that fed on flesh!
"Hungry…"
Just as Chu Xun turned to leave, a hoarse growl suddenly echoed from the bushes by the road. Moments later, a ragged figure staggered out of the trees, blocking his path.
A zombie!
It was a female zombie, about 1.6 meters tall, with a lean frame. Her face had been torn to pieces by bites, making it impossible to discern her age. Her clothes were in tatters, exposing her decaying body. One of her breasts had been bitten off, the other mangled, with large maggots crawling across the exposed flesh. It was revolting.
"D*mn, this zombie stinks far worse than the one that turned Qingyi!" The stench of decay hit Chu Xun like a tidal wave. It smelled as if a dozen dead rats had been rotting together, fermenting in the heat. Even Chu Xun, usually calm, found his stomach lurching and almost retched.
"Hungry…" The zombie, clearly attracted by the scent of blood, let out an excited growl upon spotting Chu Xun and limped toward him, quickening its pace.
"Die!" Chu Xun's gaze turned cold, and without hesitation, he shouted and swung his battle blade at the zombie.
After what happened with Qingyi, he was determined to not hesitate in combat anymore!
Whoosh!
However, in his first fight against a zombie, Chu Xun's lack of experience soon became evident. He failed to predict the zombie's movements. The creature, limping and stumbling, caused Chu Xun's originally aimed strike at the head to miss, and instead, the blade scraped its face and cut into its shoulder.
Fortunately, his strength was enough, and the zombie's decayed body—already weakened by the virus—couldn't withstand the sharp blade. With a dull thud, the blade cleaved through the zombie's left shoulder and part of its torso as if it were butter.
Along with the severed flesh, the zombie's left ear and part of its face fell to the ground. The black, foul-smelling blood spurted from the zombie's body, splattering over Chu Xun's white shirt, staining it with a gruesome red.
Such a fatal injury would have killed any human, but for a zombie, it was not enough to stop it. The zombie, undeterred, continued to charge at Chu Xun with a fury, seemingly intent on tearing him apart.
Bang!
However, Chu Xun wasn't foolish. The moment the zombie closed in, he raised his right foot and kicked it square in the abdomen. The impact was so strong that the zombie flew back like a sandbag struck by a car, slamming into a tree and knocking several leaves from its branches.
Perhaps the violent collision shattered its spine, or perhaps it was the earlier wound that disrupted the zombie's balance, but when the zombie slid down the tree and hit the ground, it struggled like a worm, unable to get back up.
Chu Xun's strength, ten to fifteen times that of an ordinary human, was no joke!
"Killing a low-level zombie and still making it this messy… I really look pathetic," Chu Xun muttered to himself as he watched the zombie struggle helplessly in the distance.
He had thought that with his extraordinary strength, killing a zombie would be as easy as crushing an ant. Now he realized how naive he had been. As a rookie, he still had much to learn. No matter how strong he was, without experience, he couldn't fully utilize his power.
Shaking his head slightly, Chu Xun tightened his grip on the battle blade and walked toward the zombie.
"Help someone to the end, send Buddha to the West." Since he had already made a move, he might as well finish the job and put this zombie out of its misery.
As Chu Xun approached, the zombie once again grew more agitated, drawn to his scent. It let out another series of hoarse roars, but those sounds suddenly stopped.
In a swift motion, Chu Xun's battle blade pierced the zombie's skull.
"Really disgusting..." As Chu Xun pulled his blade from the zombie's head, a thick, foul-smelling, blackish fluid—almost like spoiled tofu—poured out, mingling with the dark blood. Chu Xun almost gagged at the sight.
Fortunately, the smell wasn't as unbearable after a while. Still, Chu Xun felt that unless necessary, he would avoid fighting zombies in the future.
He wasn't a killer, and slaughtering zombies, which resembled humans in some ways, didn't give him any twisted sense of pleasure.
However, just as he finished off the zombie, a cold voice rang in his mind.
"Host has triggered a Title Quest—Zombie Slayer!"
"Quest Background: Zombies are one of the main culprits that caused Earth's apocalypse. Only by eliminating all zombies can humanity finally reclaim its position as the dominant force on Earth."
"Quest Objective: Slay ten ordinary zombies!"
"Quest Reward: One random summoning card."
"Quest Time Limit: 24 hours. If the quest is not completed within the time frame, it will be voided."
Title quest? Random summoning card?
The system notification that rang in Chu Xun's mind made his spirits lift.
He hadn't expected that the Super Savior System had more than just mainline quests—it also had these "Title Quests." While the rewards seemed a bit vague, with a random summoning card, the difficulty was also far lower than the mainline quests.
What was more important was that this quest had no penalties!
"It seems the system isn't too bad…" Chu Xun thought to himself. Though he wasn't sure what a random summoning card was, he wasn't about to pass up any chance to grow stronger. Besides, killing ten ordinary zombies was no challenge for him now.
However, it seemed that this disgusting business would continue for a while…
Looking at the now motionless zombie on the ground, Chu Xun shrugged, tightened his grip on the battle blade, and continued forward.
Unbeknownst to him, however, not far behind, in the grass, a pair of cold eyes was watching him.
The gaze was filled with greed and desire!