CH 151

Chapter 151: Head of the demons

[Taoist's skill of spiritual awareness, haha…]

One can't quite distinguish if the voice belongs to a male or female, but the contempt and disdain coating the low tone is undeniable.

"Who are you? Or should I say…what are you?" Huo Zaiyuan's heart skips a beat due to being unpleasantly startled. His awareness broadens a little and morphs from a sphere of light into a translucent human shape, caution in every line of his face.

[Tsk, tsk. Don't even know who this leader is. The utter stupidity of mankind ah. Hahaha…]

Savage laughter fills the air and the darkness recedes slowly until Huo Zaiyuan can see a wall of flesh dripping with blood. Numerous blue veins and red arteries run vertically across the wall, packing close together and in some cases, intertwining occasionally. From time to time, the thin, puckered lines wriggle as though something is being transported through the tube, creating a grotesque sight.

Suddenly, purplish-red mist saturated in demonic energy seeps out from the flesh wall, steadily coalescing together. Purplish-green cracked skin covered in bulging veins forms, followed by opaque milky white eyes and a mouthful of razor-sharp, shark-like teeth. The enormous, floating zombie head is extremely bone-chilling.

Having faced down and slain numerous zombies during the apocalypse, Huo Zaiyuan doesn't exactly feel frightened by the sight of this giant undead head.

Besides being very large, another aspect of this bodiless head draws Huo Zaiyuan's attention. That is, the chains of glowing runes encircling around it, indicating that this creature has already been sealed by a Taoist.

"You are the main reason humans are turning into zombies!"

[Wahahaha…correct. Very quick, very quick indeed. Once this leader is strong enough to break this damn seal, you humans will finally get a taste of the real apocalypse!!] Saying thus, the malicious expression twists as the giant mouth opens wide, pouncing towards Huo Zaiyuan.

Although the enemy has been bound by a rather strong seal, Huo Zaiyuan hasn't let down his guard for even a split-second throughout this exchange. As soon as the head moves, his spiritual projection dodges out of reach. In that time it takes to form a thought, silver light lashes out at the demonic being's forehead.

With a swipe of its head, purplish-red mist gathers before it, creating a shield to block the silver light's piercing strike. Bouncing off the shield, the silver streak shoots high into the air before spiralling downwards. Like a silver dragon, the rays of light encircles Huo Zaiyuan, protecting him from further attacks. Besides the silver jian Liu Ying, what else could this silver streak of light be?

Staring at the silver jian wrapping around Huo Zaiyuan, the demonic head's expression becomes livid.

[It's you…I didn't think it would be you! I will kill you…!] The voice roars, mad with fury and steeped in deep loathing. The evil energy within the volcano becomes denser and the head surges forth again with more aggression than before.

"Urgh…" A low moan escapes the lips of the person currently sitting cross-legged on the passenger seat. Slender eyebrows draw together abruptly and he coughs out a mouthful of scarlet blood. His figure sways, then tips forward.

Long Zhanye is already moving as soon as he sees blood spurting out, gently pulling the slim body towards him, concern and fretfulness clear on his face.

"Little Yuan, what happened to you? Why are you coughing out blood?!" Handkerchief in hand, Long Zhanye wipes away the blood dribbling from the corner of Huo Zaiyuan's mouth and on his lips. The faintest tremor can be heard in his voice as he questions anxiously.

Leaning against Long Zhanye's chest, Huo Zaiyuan inhales a few gasping breaths until he is certain the crippling tension in his body has ceased. Looking up at the anxious face of the other man, he offers a strained smile.

"No - I'm fine. My spiritual awareness was attacked and the bite-back caused me to cough out a bit of blood. Start the car and let's go," Huo Zaiyuan replies as he glances back at G City's perimeter walls.

After confirming Huo Zaiyuan did not sustain any major injuries, Long Zhanye's unease is laid to rest and starts the engine.

As the Hummer resumes its speedy trek forward, G City is quickly left behind. Keeping an eye on Huo Zaiyuan as the youth retrieves a bamboo tube from his space and drinks the fragrant juice, Long Zhanye heaves a sigh of relief when those pale cheeks recover its previous rosiness.

"What exactly happened back there? Seeing you suddenly cough out blood almost scared me to death."

"I willed my projection to head into G City and enter the dead volcano…it allowed me to witness something extremely disastrous," Huo Zaiyuan answers with a solemn expression, eyes narrowing slightly as he recalls what he saw.

"Disastrous? Don't tell me it has something to do with the apocalypse and the undead?" An eyebrow raises as Long Zhanye hears those words.

Regarding the matter of G City's eruption leading to devil ants coming up onto the surface of the Earth, entering the bodies of humans and thus transforming them into zombies, Long Zhanye is well aware of it all within a few days of knowing Huo Zaiyuan. The little he is able to garner from the youth's words allows him to draw his own conclusions.

"Can you be a little dumber? I really don't have the chance to feel accomplished if you're like this."

"All right, let me rephrase my question." Long Zhanye sighs, then asks in earnestness. "Little Yuan, what was the disastrous thing you found?"

Seeing the earnest expression on the older man's face, Huo Zaiyuan purses his lips, staying silent for a while.

"Hmm…don't interrupt. When my spiritual awareness entered the volcano, I saw a massive amount of devil ants, as well as an enormous zombie. Well, it's more a monstrous head without the rest of the body. Anyway, that head more or less confirmed it was the cause of turning humans into zombies after being infected by its demonic energy…" Huo Zaiyuan explains, face hardening. "The reason it cannot escape the volcano is because it was sealed away by Taoist Arts. If it wasn't for that formidable seal, this world would have long been…"

"If it is sealed away, then how is it able to transform humans into zombies?" A light frown creases his brows as Long Zhanye inquires.

"Before, I felt there was a possibility the ants are a type of demonic being. However, after seeing that demon head sealed away, I had another thought…perhaps the devil ants were originally common insects that coincidently built their nests in the dead volcano with the core of their home established in the vicinity of the seal. After who knows how long, the seal gradually weakens, allowing demonic energy to seep out. Thus, these ants absorbed the energy and eventually transformed into devil ants. Afterwards, when the volcano first erupted, these insects infected by the evil energy were spewed out into the air along with the volcanic ash. When they fell back to the earth, they burrowed into the bodies of humans. Finally, the breakout of virus from these ants cause the infected humans to turn into zombies. From here, the disaster began and spread…" Huo Zaiyuan offers his analyses.

"Makes sense." Long Zhanye nods. "In other words, that giant head is the mastermind. However, I thought of something else after hearing all that."

"What is it?"

"Although that head is bound by a seal and said seal is gradually weakening, this demon leader is still unable to break free no matter how hard it is struggling. As for the ants that became devil ants due to absorbing the evil energy seeping out and turning humans into zombies, this event happened first because it will benefit the demon leader." Long Zhanye muses, eyes narrowing slightly.

"What do you mean?"

"The evolution of these undead. The creation of 'Gu´ that you and your master talked about."

Upon hearing this, Huo Zaiyuan stiffens. "You mean…sending the infected ants out bit by bit to turn humans into zombies, allowing the undead to mutually devour each other and evolve. When there is only one remaining…"

"There are two possibilities when that time comes. One, that strongest undead will break the seal. Two, it will become the next vessel for the demon leader."

A thoughtful silence settles in the Hummer. No one utters another word, for Long Zhanye's analysis is spot on.

After a long while, the first one to break the heavy silence is Long Zhanye. Glancing at Huo Zaiyuan, he opens his mouth slowly. "Little Yuan, with your current ability, can you stand against the demon leader?"

"Absolutely impossible." Huo Zaiyuan shakes his head without hesitation, speaking the truth from his heart.

Although his spiritual self can wield only one-tenth of his full power, when he confronted that gigantic head, he can sense the immense demonic energy emitting from it very clearly. To still possess this much strength even under a seal…should the binds break and this monster set free…the mere thought of it is so horrifying he dares not imagine it. Also…if he stood against that demon in his real body, that sudden aggressive strike would have resulted in a more grievous injury than a mere mouthful of blood.

"The world has already been thrown into such chaos with a small sample of evil energy. If that seal breaks, this Earth would definitely split apart. We must act quickly from here on." Hands tightening around the steering wheel, a sliver of chagrin surfaces in Long Zhanye's heart.

He has never dabbed in the Taoist Arts. All the militaristic skills he has been trained in since childhood are utterly useless in the face of demonic beings and the spiritual world. He is also not so foolish as to think the massive cannon back at the safe zone would be able to solve all problems with a blast.

"Un, we must report this matter to the Head priest." Seeing the deep frown on Long Zhanye's face, a trace of sorrow surfaces in Huo Zaiyuan's eyes.

This man has always been so strong both physically and mentally, but now…how uncomfortable must he be feeling now?

"Un."

"Besides escorting the survivors back to A City, there is another matter that needs to be done. That is to eliminate as many zombies as quickly as possible. At minimum, we can weaken that creature's power and stall for a little more time," Huo Zaiyuan murmurs, shifting his body to lean against Long Zhanye's shoulder.

"I know." He understands his little Yuan enough to know that this simple gesture is to both comfort him and allow Huo Zaiyuan to recover some confidence. Slowly, Long Zhanye's frown smooths out, replaced by a soft smile.

How good it is to have his beloved by his side.