The commotion outside roused the soldiers in the tent. A few stumbled out, half-dressed, only to freeze at the sight before them. Shouting in arm, they scrambled back for weapons, banding together to encircle the zombie-like figures. Yet none dared get too close or strike first.

  “Lady Yan, hand over that thing, or my children will unleash a sughter!” the teal-robed elder called toward the tent, his voice shrill like a night owl. At his words, everyone fell silent, the scene stilling. After a pause, Lady Yan’s cold reply echoed from within: “You’ll have it only over my dead body.”

  “Simple enough,” the elder sneered, shaking his copper bell hard. The zombie-like men sprang forward like rabbits, lunging at the soldiers with ferocious, ruthless precision.

  The front line had no time to react—necks snapped instantly. The rest screamed, dropped their weapons, and fled, but the ghostly pursuers tore them apart without mercy.

  “Run!” By the distant campfire, Axel yanked Ji Xuanxuan and Yaoji toward the shadows, then gnced back at Xia Feng, who hadn’t budged. “Come on! This isn’t our fight—they won’t chase us!”

  Xia Feng watched the figures kill with a brutality he’d never seen. Beyond disgust, curiosity burned—he needed to know what they were. Their movements, demeanor, and cold indifference to sughter marked them as anything but alive.

  Hearing Axel’s call, he stepped back from the firelight, blending into the dark, and whispered, “What are they? Zombies?”

  “They’re undead—controlled by a necromancer!” Axel stashed the girls in thick brush, returning to pull Xia Feng. “We’ve got to go—if they spot us, we’re dead!”

  “Undead?” Xia Feng frowned, lingering reluctantly. “What’s the difference from zombies?”

  Axel hushed, “Zombies come from the dead; undead are forged from the living, their bodies ensved by a necromancer’s spells. They’re dead too—their st shred of soul is puppeted by the mage’s mind and power. A top-tier necromancer can control up to seven at once.”

  Xia Feng counted six and smirked quietly. “Six undead—this old freak’s no slouch.”

  As they spoke, the undead finished the soldiers and closed in on Lady Yan’s tent. Wails and pleas of maids and servants rose inside, useless against the mindless husks.

  They lunged at the tent but faltered, as if blocked by an invisible wall. The six cwed like ghouls, unable to breach it. Amid the cries within, a low chant faintly hummed.

  “Didn’t expect Lady Yan to be a fellow practitioner—let’s have a lesson!” the elder said, reciting his own incantation. The undead surged with newfound vigor, tearing at the tent, ripping it apart in moments.

  “We should help!” Xia Feng blurted. “She took us in, gave us clothes—we can’t let her die to those things.”

  “I don’t want them dead either!” Axel nearly sobbed. “But we’d just die too—we can’t do anything!”

  “Can undead die?” Xia Feng asked abruptly.

  Axel blinked. “I don’t know—they’re not really alive!”

  “If they’re not alive, how do they move, run, kill?” Xia Feng’s brow arched, excitement gleaming in his eyes. “If we cut off their arms, legs, necks—can they still do it?”

  Axel had no answer—never considered it. Xia Feng grinned silently, unsheathing the Cicada Wing Bde with a cng. “Let’s find out!” He strode toward the fray.

  A rare, thrilling challenge—he couldn’t resist. In reality, he’d risked life for adrenaline; in a game, it was nothing. Saving Lady Yan was just a noble excuse.

  His sudden appearance startled the elder—first time he’d seen such boldness. Curiosity piqued, he shouted, “Who are you?”

  “Xia Feng!”

  “Xia Feng? What do you do?”

  Xia Feng paused. “Folks call me a bard—guess that’s it.”

  A bard? The elder smirked, expecting a reckless warrior. His tone softened slightly. “This ain’t a pce for poetry—get lost before my children hurt you.”

  “No way,” Xia Feng cackled. “Lady Yan sheltered us—I can’t ditch her. Plus, I wanna test your kids’ killing tricks against my bde.”

  “Foolish thing!” The elder’s face darkened, cursing as he rang the bell. With a “split-mind spell,” he sent all six undead charging Xia Feng. Refined by dark arts, they moved faster and nimbler than any human, like specters.

  But the tent’s chant hampered them, and they faced Xia Feng—whose reflexes neared human limits. A fsh of steel severed an arm reaching for his throat.

  The Cicada Wing Bde’s edge thrilled him—sharp as hell!

  Yet the armless undead, unfazed by pain, jabbed its stump at him. Chopping a limb so vividly unsettled Xia Feng. Distracted, the stump smacked his face, sparking a cold sweat—thankfully, no blood sprayed to worsen his state.

  That pse let another undead seize his knife hand, pinning it. More closed in.

  Xia Feng wasn’t a bde master but a bare-knuckle ace. Leaping, he unleashed five lightning kicks, shoving them back. Still, his right arm stayed gripped, the undead’s brute strength threatening to snap it.

  “Argh!” Xia Feng yelped, his left fist pummeling the undead’s face—blurring it into a mess. It wobbled but wouldn’t fall.

  He panicked: Done for—this thing’s tougher than a champ boxer! Eye gouged, it won’t let go or drop for an eight-count. My arm’s toast!

  A chill streak fshed across the undead’s neck, snapping it clean off. The head rolled away, and the grip sckened, the body crumpling like a true corpse. Behind it stood Axel, pale, clutching his sword, dazed by his own act.

  “You proved it—undead can die again!” Xia Feng grinned, slicing another neck lunging for Axel.

  After those cshes, he’d adjusted to the bde. No fancy moves, just raw speed—his unbeatable edge.

  Side by side, they beheaded the rest in moments. The necromancer had vanished. Sheathing their bdes, they shared a triumphant grin, pride swelling over fear.

  “Undead? Meh,” Xia Feng ughed, smug.

  Axel shook his head. “We got lucky—those were weak ones. Top-tier combat undead would’ve ended us.”

  Unbeknownst to them, the tent’s low chant had curbed the undead’s power.

  “Thanks to you brave warriors—my gratitude’s boundless!” A graceful woman in her te twenties bowed deeply to them. Despite the horror, her pale face retained a poised, noble air—her refined beauty striking.

  Axel returned the courtesy hastily; Xia Feng waved it off casually. “No big deal—just helping out.”

  “I haven’t learned your names, brave ones—I’d honor them and pray for you always!” Though she’d lost all her men, she steadied herself quickly, thanking them with composure.

  “I’m Xia Feng, he’s Axel,” Xia Feng blurted, unguarded—or simply unbothered by caution.

  At Axel’s name, she paused, eyeing him closely. “I’ve heard Eastern Ling’s lord has a valiant, clever son who slew a sea serpent alone—also called Axel, I think.”

  “That’s me, unworthy as I am,” Axel admitted, nodding as she knew his tale.

  Her eyes lit up. “So it’s the famed young hero Axel! But why dress as a commoner, roaming Dayao Mountains with just one companion?”

  “Not his companion—his bodyguard,” Xia Feng cut in. She blinked, puzzled. “Bodyguard? Why no soldiers, just a guard?”

  Axel had no reply. Just then, Ji Xuanxuan and Yaoji, seeing the fight end, approached.

  From afar, Ji Xuanxuan yelled, “Ugly freak, didn’t peg you for brave—your skills are unreal!”