Chapter 129: Ghostly Devotion

The knight’s longsword, wreathed in hellfire, slashed toward the seductive female corpse with unstoppable force. Everywhere it passed, flames surged, scorching the graveyard into a wasteland.

Common human fire could not harm a powerful flying-corpse-tier zombie, but hellfire was their nemesis; any zombie crawling from the graveyard that touched even a spark would instantly be reduced to ashes.

The female corpse dared not face the hellfire head-on. With a flick of her fair hand, an aura of sinister, bone-chilling malevolence erupted from her fingertips, freezing the hellfire like liquid nitrogen.

As the malevolent energy soared, Su Cheng’s figure vanished from the spot, reappearing hundreds of meters away in an instant.

The sinister aura gathered on the corpse was no weaker than the hellfire. Once a living person touched it, the evil would invade their body, turning them into a half-dead, half-alive zombie. Su Cheng had no desire to be frozen into a stiff, human-shaped popsicle.

*Crack!*

The sword in the Fear Knight’s hand shattered. A flash of bestial, ghostly light flickered in the flying corpse’s hollow eyes. With a leap, she pounced like a night bat, her blood-red claws driving deep into the knight’s skull.

At this moment, Su Cheng’s face darkened.

The Fear Knight summoned by the Ring of Fear was not immortal; it would suffer heavy damage from fatal blows. Moreover, maintaining the summon drained Su Cheng’s spiritual power. If his energy ran dry, he would lose his only means of suppressing this corpse. At that point, the situation would become dire.

Seizing the moment while the knight and the corpse were locked in combat, Su Cheng found a vantage point with a clear view. He pulled out a 98K sniper rifle, its dark barrel aimed at the white silhouette a hundred meters away.

*Bang!*

The gunshot rang out. A spiritual bullet erupted from the chamber, streaking through the night like a flaming meteor toward the zombie. Because the flying corpse moved with incredible speed, Su Cheng did not aim for her head, but for her torso, which was easier to hit.

With the power of this sniper rifle, a normal human body would be effortlessly obliterated at this range. But the zombie’s body was harder than steel; standard bullets could not inflict lethal damage. Su Cheng had no choice but to expend his dwindling spiritual energy to use spiritual bullets.

The spiritual bullet tore through the air and slammed into the zombie’s torso with a boom. Under the massive impact, the creature, currently mid-battle with the Fear Knight, was knocked back several meters. The bullet remained lodged in her chest, unable to pierce through.

"To hell with this."

Seeing this, Su Cheng felt his scalp tingle. Even a professional tank class specializing in defense couldn't take a sniper shot with their bare body. This flying corpse’s physical durability was likely several times that of a pro player. If Su Cheng weren't a melee-class player himself, he would have been torn to shreds the moment he encountered her.

However, the shot was not in vain; the impact had weakened her strength. Taking advantage of this, the Fear Knight gained the upper hand.

"Ito actually brought a sniper rifle!"

Hiding in the barrier like a terrified quail, Shiratori Saki looked on in astonishment. If Su Cheng weren't her colleague, she would have suspected him of being a terrorist. What puzzled her more was that Su Cheng had nowhere to conceal weapons—where had he pulled that rifle from? Was he Doraemon?

Su Cheng was unaware of Saki’s suspicions, and even if he were, he wouldn't care. Once he left this dungeon world, all traces of his actions would be erased. Even if something went wrong, that unlucky fellow Ito Makoto would take the blame.

Somewhere in the graveyard, Su Cheng steadied his breathing, channeled his spiritual power, aimed at the ghostly figure in the scope, and pulled the trigger without hesitation.

*Bang!*

The spiritual bullet cut through the night. This time, he aimed for her head.

The flying corpse, however, seemed to have anticipated the move. With a wave into the void, she blocked the bullet. Even so, the impact shattered one of her blood-red nails.

Su Cheng’s heart sank. Once this flying corpse absorbed the malevolent energy of the village and fully recovered her strength, catching bullets with her bare hands would be child's play.

Just then, Monk Yinian, having finished off the common zombies, flashed behind the flying corpse and slapped a talisman onto her. But the corpse's power was too immense; the talisman was torn to shreds by the malevolent aura covering her before it could even make contact.

Suddenly, the zombie, catching the scent of the living, flew into a frenzy. A fierce, bloodthirsty light flared in her red eyes as she pounced toward the monk like a ravenous beast.

Su Cheng cursed under his breath. Given the monk’s physique, he wouldn't even be a snack for this ferocious zombie.

But just as he worried, the monk began to chant. Lightning flickered across his body. In an instant, he became like a thunder deity descended to earth, surging with a sea of lightning as he struck the flying corpse.

The malevolent aura surrounding the corpse was blasted away, but for some reason, the monk did not seem to want to truly harm her, instead trapping her within a lightning barrier.

Suppressing such a fierce flying corpse was no easy feat. Even with the monk’s profound magic, he couldn't hold on for long. The lightning barrier shattered after only three seconds. The white-clad figure broke free, though her aura had weakened by more than half.

"Perfect chance!"

Receiving the order, the Fear Knight instantly transformed into a terrifying shadow, wrapping around the corpse like a dark shroud. Muffled thuds echoed through the graveyard as the corpse struggled violently, smashing massive craters into the ground while being dragged away.

Su Cheng pounced, pinning the corpse down. He shivered involuntarily, feeling as if the blood in his veins were freezing.

"So cold!"

Because of the intense malevolent energy within the female corpse, she was like a mobile refrigerator, radiating chill at every moment. Su Cheng couldn't help but think that if one could keep a zombie at home during the sweltering summer, they wouldn't even need air conditioning—it would save so much on electricity. He could only think this to himself, though; if he actually brought a zombie back to his apartment, his landlord would surely beat him to a pulp.

"I’ve pinned her down! Do it now!"

Su Cheng, struggling with all his might to hold down the beautiful woman, roared in desperation. It wasn't that he had any strange impulses; the aura on the corpse was simply too overbearing for a normal human to withstand. Even if he gave his all, he couldn't hold on for more than three seconds.

Shiratori Saki’s mouth twitched; she couldn't bear to watch. If she didn't know that Su Cheng had no such intentions, she would have "punished him in the name of the moon" long ago.

Monk Yinian dashed forward, held a translucent spirit bead in his palm, pried open the woman’s mouth, and shoved it inside.

As the bead slid down her throat, the malevolent aura dissipated. The woman stopped struggling and lay on the ground, quiet as if she were asleep.

"Is that it? She won't wake up again, right?"

Su Cheng’s hair was coated in a layer of frost. He exhaled a cold mist, his body temperature slowly returning to normal.

"The Spirit-Suppressing Bead can only suppress her temporarily. I must take her back to Fashan Temple to cleanse her of this malevolence." As he spoke, Su Cheng noticed the monk looking at the corpse with a hint of tenderness, which made his heart skip a beat.

Could he be planning to...

"Cough, cough. I know this woman is beautiful, but the living and the dead are two different worlds. Besides, she’s a zombie. Monk, you must maintain your composure," Su Cheng said, patting the monk on the shoulder with a serious expression.

The monk seemed not to hear him, gazing blankly at the corpse, his eyes growing increasingly gentle, as if he had a thousand tender words he longed to tell her.

What was truly chilling was that the sleeping corpse suddenly opened her eyes.

"What’s going on? Was the bead ineffective?"

Cold sweat poured down Su Cheng’s back. He kept his hand on his blade, ready to fight. But then he noticed her eyes were different—innocent and lively, just like a normal girl’s, and her facial expressions were becoming vivid.

"Master Monk, where is this?"

The woman looked around at the group with curiosity and timidity, like someone waking from a nightmare. The monk, with infinite tenderness, draped his robe over her, covering her snowy skin, and said softly, "Do not worry, you were only sleeping. Everything is fine now."

Hearing their dialogue, Su Cheng sensed something was wrong. Fragments of scattered memories flashed through his mind. He had thought it strange when the monk first appeared; now it seemed his arrival in the village was no coincidence—he had come specifically for this girl.

This meant that Su Cheng blowing up the grave and liberating the corpse had been a result of the monk’s manipulation. What was their relationship? A romance between the living and the dead?

The clues in his mind began to piece together like a puzzle. A flash of insight struck Su Cheng, and his face turned grim. With a *clang*, he drew his blade and held it to the monk’s throat.

"Stop! What are you doing?"

Shiratori Saki, who hadn't caught up yet, panicked at seeing Su Cheng act like a madman and rushed to intervene.

Su Cheng ignored her, staring into the monk’s eyes. "The one who cast the curse on this village and turned the people into zombies... it was you, wasn't it?"

What?

Saki gasped, looking over in disbelief.

This was merely Su Cheng’s deduction, lacking concrete evidence, but the monk had no intention of hiding it. After a moment of silence, he admitted it.

"What is this all about?" Su Cheng could sense no malice from the monk, yet he couldn't fathom why he would commit such a massacre.

"Because the people in this village... deserved to die."

The moment the words rang out, the scene before Su Cheng shifted. A village shrouded in plague and death appeared before him.

An illusion!?