Lu Yun and Chu Xingran could act without reservation if Haidong Lin was already dead. But since he was alive and held by the Corpse Refiners, they couldnāt very well let him die before their eyes. Sometimes, death wasnāt the most horrifying outcome. A life in which death was more preferable was even worse.
In the split second that Chu Xingran hesitated, countless zombies piled on top of him. The thirty-six golden warriors flared with power to dig him out of a mountain of snarling bodies.
āWhat do we do?ā He was at a loss and looked at the thirty-six shining figures. However, they werenāt Lu Yunās replicas at the moment, so they didnāt have any answers.
Jiang Kui stood behind the army of zombies and held Haidong Lin with his hand. The man was fully restrained; only his eyes were free to watch everything that took place in front of him.
The zombies rushing them stopped and surrounded Chu Xingran and the thirty-six warriors; they were in no hurry to proceed to Lu Yunās location. It seemed that they were suddenly in no hurry at all.
Since Corpse Refiners were present on the scene, the battle zombies were more berserk than usual. All of the ones mobilized now were the strongest specimens from the zombie farms of these countless eons. Theyād originally left the yin tomb to fight for the world of sequence in the yang tomb, but since Lu Yun had claimed it, there was nothing else left for them to do other than rage through the Land of Reincarnation.
āHello, Chu Xingran.ā Hate flashed through Jiang Kuiās eyes when he looked at the man. Heād fallen into Chu Xingranās trap last time and nearly died to Lu Yun, and his zombie king replica had just been destroyed not too long ago.
All of that was intense humiliation for Jiang Kui.
āWhat do you want?ā Chu Xingran ground his teeth to see Haidong Lin in Jiang Kuiās hands. Heād struck up a sort of friendship with Lu Yun and Haidong Lin last time they entered the land of darkness. He wasnāt a cold-blooded sort either. If he was, he wouldnāt have immediately killed Xie Tianxun when he detected the latterās arrival with the Esteemed Nebula. He wouldāve ignored the ramifications of their involvement and gone on his merry way.
āDonāt talk to him, heās just stalling for time,ā the Demonic Vine suddenly said in a small voice and tugged on his sleeve.
āMm, I know.ā Chu Xingran nodded and responded matter-of-factly, āSo am I.ā
Their volume was neither big nor small; it was the perfect loudness to travel into Jiang Kuiās ears.
āHeās waiting for the twentieth level sequence zombie to arrive and so are we waiting for Lu Yun to finish.ā A dangerous curve played at Chu Xingranās lips. āThe Azure Dragon King has taken my primary body as his foster son in the outside realm, so Iām also a crown prince of their race. If he dares hurt a single hair on Haidong Linās head, Iāll take an army and march on Jiang Kuiās home of Darklake!
āLetās see if the Corpse Refiners are willing to be enemies with the dragons just for a mere Jiang Kui!ā Chu Xingran bared his teeth. āSadly for you, the dragons are perfectly willing to declare war on the Corpse Refiners on my behalf!ā
If itād been the Chu Xingran of old, the dragons would only be grateful to him and consider him one of their crown princes. They wouldnāt go head-to-head with the Corpse Refiners for him. But things were different once he gained Qing Buyiās support and an even more frightening Chen Xiao behind the latter.
Just one of Qing Buyiās replicas alone was powerful enough for him to threaten the Moran Clanāthe dragons would never give up the opportunity to befriend him as well. However, if Jiang Kui defeated Chu Xingranās replica in proper and open combat, the dragons wouldnāt seek revenge. That would be a display of small-mindedness.
But if Chu Xingran moved on Darklake because Jiang Kui killed Haidong Lin, that would only be the ruthless scuffles of the younger generationāthe wild escapades of youth. Since Jiang Kui wouldāve acted dishonorably, Chu Xingran wouldnāt be wrong to enact revenge.
āHahaha!!ā Jiang Kui threw his head back with laughter. āChu Xingran, do you really think you can do whatever you want just because youāve attached yourself to the dragon raceās thigh?ā
āYep,ā Chu Xingran nodded earnestly. āI can indeed do whatever I want when I hug the dragon raceās thigh. What are you going to do about it, beat me?ā
Crunch!
Jiang Kuiās hand tightened around Haidong Linās throat in a series of mind-numbing crunches.
āIāll kill him right in front of you and see if you dare march on Darklake!ā Jiang Kui forced out through grit teeth. His pale fingernails had already sunk into Haidong Linās neck.
Rumbleā
The void shook violently as a colossal figure broke through the air. The very earth quaked with the impact.
Bam!
Bam!
Bam!
Enormous footsteps approached from the distance, accompanied by a pungent stench of rotting bodies. Chu Xingran and the Demonic Vine swiftly pinched their noses, but the Corpse Refiners luxuriated in the smell. It came from the twentieth level sequence zombie!
Like a moving mountain, it blotted out the gray of the Abyssal Hell from a long distance away.
Boom!
A pillar of black light erupted from another distant point before the zombie could draw near. It connected solidly with the zombieās chest.
āWhat is that?!ā Jiang Kui gasped. He could only stare as the black light blasted the zombie away, throwing it to the ground.
Roaring with anger, the zombie struggled back to its feet and ran at the source of the light. Since zombies couldnāt fly, it had to rely on its legs.
Boom!
A second pillar of light pummeled the zombieās right leg, ripping it off and throwing it to the ground again.
Rumbleā
A black battleship sailed majestically out of the void with a dull thud. Lu Yun stood at its bow with his hands behind his back, looking coldly down at Jiang Kui and his peers.
āThis was a trap!ā Jiang Kui realized when he saw Lu Yun. The young man hadnāt really wanted to destroy the tomb, itād all been an act for the soul ghost so that it would deliver a wrong message! All of this had been done to targed the twentieth level sequence zombie!
It would be very difficult for Lu Yun to eliminate it if it didnāt come to the yin tomb. He couldnāt draw from the yang tomb since it was formed out of Ruinaās power and it might even hinder his usage of the Abyssal Hellās strength. Only when the zombie came to the yin tomb could he fully deploy his strength.
Of course, he had to put on a very convincing act. And he did plan to use the method heād learned from Xie Tianxun, but not right now.
A tremendous cannon mouth poked out of the shipās bow, one larger than any hell cannon. Lu Yun had specifically prepared it for the zombie and itād taken the bait.