Crossing the wilderness to survive, starting with a broken kitchen knife.

Suddenly, a loud thunder exploded in the quiet village. Although the people underground were not clear about the situation outside, they could feel that something was wrong.

Sure enough, the silent group of corpses began to become restless, and the low roars and the friction sounds of nails echoed in the cave, like the clarion call to war.

Zhang Shi cursed his bad luck in his heart, as if every tunnel in this copy would require a fierce battle.

Wu Qing triggered the taunt totem, activating various auras and incense simultaneously, readying herself for a fierce battle. Zhao Feng even charged into the horde first, swinging his flint axe. A shower of flames swept through the horde, slicing a group of newly awakened zombies into charred halves.

Zhao Feng's "Bravery with More Fighting" talent triggered, and he became even more excited. These past few days, fighting the Blood Moon zombie horde, he'd mostly been limited to manipulating cannons and crossbows, and his hands were itching to fight. Now, finally, he could engage in a hearty fight, and he naturally couldn't miss this opportunity.

In the heat of the killing spree, Zhao Feng leaped and slashed towards the center of the zombie horde. The powerful force of his axe shook the ground, causing the zombies around him to fall to the ground and become lambs to be slaughtered.

Seeing a rare opportunity, Ge Dalong unleashed an Ice Storm on the fallen zombies. A large number of sharp ice spikes appeared in the center of the field, piercing the zombies with holes. In a narrow and confined space like the cave, Ice Storm's large-scale group damage ability was undoubtedly a deadly weapon, quickly creating a vacuum within the skill's range.

Pipi led the charge, accompanied by the white tiger and leopard, as they raided the area. Whenever they encountered a lone zombie, they would drag it to the ground and then smash its skull with a single claw. The three beasts were powerful and fast, and their coordinated efforts were so effective that they quickly brought down over a dozen zombies. Pipi wiped his paw on the ground with a hint of disgust, as if he found the zombie blood distasteful.

Soon, hundreds of zombies were wiped out. These zombies were all of ordinary quality and were not difficult to deal with. Zhang Shi just used his bow to deal with a few zombies that wanted to launch a sneak attack from the periphery, and he didn't even personally participate in the battle.

Ge Dalong tore off the clothes of a zombie, observed it carefully and made a judgment.

"These zombies should all be villagers from Huojia Village."

Wu Qing recalled the number of graves on the low hill, which seemed to correspond to the number of zombies here.

“It turns out that all the bodies that disappeared from the cemetery are here.”

Wu Qing took another look at the zombie and found some clues.

There was a long, thin scar on the zombie's chest and abdomen, which looked like an old wound. Wu Qing, driven by her doctor's occupational hazard, used a long knife to pry open the wound and was surprised to find that the zombie's interior was hollow, all its internal organs had been removed, leaving only a shell of flesh.

Wu Qing informed everyone of her discovery. Zhang Shi then found a few more zombies to examine and discovered that they all looked the same, with their internal organs removed, leaving only a shell.

As everyone was lost in surprise and confusion, the little white tiger quietly approached the altar, staring intently at the black crystal. Then, it opened its mouth and sucked, swallowing wisps of black light into its belly. By the time Zhang Shi and the others noticed something was wrong, the little white tiger had already absorbed the black crystal into a grayish-white stone.

The little white tiger burped contentedly, then turned into a white light and rushed into Zhang Shi's white tiger space to rest.

Zhang Shi took a look at the stone that had turned from the black crystal. He wasn't sure what the connection was between it and the white tiger, but since nothing else was unusual, he ignored this little episode.

After clearing out the zombies, the altar appeared intact in everyone's sight. It was a large altar with three altars, one of which had a porcelain pot placed on it, which looked like it had been there not long ago.

Zhang Shi observed that there was still a faint soul fluctuation in the porcelain pot, so he carefully took the porcelain pot and opened it.

As the porcelain pot was opened, a black mist overflowed from the pot, and a vague figure appeared in front of everyone.

Zhang Shi took a look and silently took out Lao Duan, because this figure was an old acquaintance.

Huo Linjian looked exhausted, having endured inhuman torture and seemed ready to collapse at any moment. Seeing Zhang Shi and the others, he no longer had the arrogance and fierceness he had before, and only spoke weakly.

"I'm almost dying. Ask whatever you want. I'll tell you everything I know as a way of repaying you for this favor."

Seeing Huo Linjian's appearance, Zhao Feng temporarily suppressed the idea of ​​killing him immediately and asked directly why Huojia Village had become like this.

Huo Linjian was silent for a while, and a rare sad expression appeared on his face. He stared blankly at the ray of light at the exit of the cave, and began to tell his story.

It all started with a strange black fog that appeared from nowhere and enveloped the entire village. From then on, the village was devastated by sunlight and completely cut off from the outside world.

Lord An knows that Huo Village is doomed, so in order to protect himself, he joins forces with Black Tiger to set up a large formation to devour the souls of the villagers; Black Tiger takes out the internal organs of the corpses and eats them, turning the corpses into zombies for sacrifice, so that he can live forever in the world.

They spent a long time and got a glimpse of part of the truth about the black fog, so they waited for the appearance of outsiders and tried to plan something.

After Huo Linjian finished speaking, the task interface of Zhang Shi and others changed. The main tasks of several people were successfully completed, and the system prompted them that they could evacuate at any time.

Everyone didn't expect to complete the purpose of this exploration so easily. They looked at each other and wanted to evacuate.

Zhang Shi realized that the truth in Huo Linjian's mouth was inconsistent with his own memory. Thinking of the ruins outside his shelter, he asked again cautiously.

"When we first came here, we saw many souls in the cemetery. If it is true that Master An devoured the souls of the villagers, then where did those souls come from?"

The more Zhang Shi thought about it, the more strange it seemed to him, and he took out Mr. An's porcelain bottle.

"Also, since Master An is one of the culprits, why didn't you and Huo Xiuxiu take him down? Where did Huo Xiuxiu go? What's your situation? What's the situation with him now?"

Huo Linjian smiled mysteriously.

"It's just an illusion. You thought you had seen through it, but in reality, you're still trapped. Xiuxiu has seen your future. You're destined to be entangled with the Huo Village. While there's still time, I advise you to improve your strength as soon as possible, so that you won't be left without the strength to resist."

After saying that, Huo Linjian's body disintegrated and turned into wisps of black mist that dissipated into the air.

Zhang Shi still found it difficult to understand Huo Linjian's words and just looked at the Illusion Breaker in his backpack.

This is the biggest difference between this trip and the previous ones. Zhang Shi has already noticed some clues.

"We shouldn't stay here for long. Now that we've achieved our goal and Zhang Shi's job transfer has been successfully completed, let's evacuate as soon as possible."

After Ge Dalong finished speaking, he filed an evacuation request. Although Zhang Shi still had doubts in his heart, he did not intend to delve into it. In the end, Zhang Shi put Pipi and Huabao into the White Tiger space, and the few of them were successfully transported back to the shelter.

Inside the ancestral hall, Hei Hu looked towards the square and noticed the departure of Zhang Shi and others without any clear fluctuation.

In the dry well outside the village, a withered skeleton was lying at the bottom of the well. A worn-out watch fell beside it not far away, and at this moment it was emitting a faint light.