Zombie Bodyguard

Chapter 2046: Chapter 2043: The Scent of Blood

A desolate expanse, strewn with bones, some thick ones even snapped into segments, their severance a mystery.

The usually fearless war horses were now snorting furiously, their front hooves nervously scraping the ground, whether in the Mist Forest or the fortress battlefield, they had never been so restless.

"Lin Tian, the war horses are scared." Xiao Manxuan patted the horse’s neck, trying to soothe it, but to no avail; the little girl had been around horses since young, practiced equestrianism, and understood their emotions better than most.

Lin Tian noticed too, and he turned to look at Shangguan Ao Yue’s team; their war horses were without exception all uneasily pawing the ground, snorting.

"That’s probably where the Soul Hunter got into trouble." Mu Yun’s expression was extremely solemn, the hunter who lost his legs died in such a tragic, bizarre state that it drew attention.

"Which means we’re not far from the Blood Sea." Lin Tian perceived another layer of meaning.

"Probably, I haven’t been here, not sure." Mu Yun said uncertainly.

"Let’s go." Lin Tian patted the war horse; the horse hesitated before moving its hooves forward.

Normally, an open area like this would be where the horses could gallop like the wind, but now they were only trotting.

Shangguan Ao Yue’s team set off almost at the same time, the two teams separated by a distance of two or three miles, heading into the wilderness. Entering the wasteland, a chilly breeze blew through, Lin Tian sniffed the air and detected a faint smell of blood, blowing in from the depths of the wasteland.

However, Mu Yun and Zhang Lingyu didn’t notice anything unusual, Lin Tian lightly furrowed his brow, perhaps only zombies were most sensitive to blood.

"Be careful, there’s a smell of blood." Lin Tian glanced back, giving a sound reminder.

Knowing Lin Tian’s zombie nature best, Zhang Lingyu, the Beautiful Sky Master, took down the purple whip from her waist, one of her Magic Artifacts, the Demon-suppressing Whip.

Though Mu Yun didn’t draw a weapon, his right hand was subtly resting on his waist, ready to act at any time.

Shangguan Ao Yue’s team also noticed Lin Tian and the others’ change; archer Ziyue glanced over and softly said, "Big sister, they seem to have discovered something."

"That Mu Yun is a First-class Impermanence, of the Yaksha Clan, has some skills, maybe she found something." Shangguan Hongyue’s expression remained unchanged, speaking coldly.

"No matter how great her skill, with three burdens, she’ll fail here, three inexperienced youngsters thinking they can venture anywhere with a great bodyguard, they’ll learn their own naivety when it comes to dying." Shangguan Ao Yue sneered, commenting without reservation.

"What a pity, such handsome men and beautiful women dying here is so unfortunate." said a male Soul Hunter with a grin.

"What beauty, isn’t our big sister beautiful?" Shangguan Ziyue protested vehemently.

Shangguan Ao Yue cast a sidelong glance at her, helplessly said, "Don’t mind others, you’re an archer, stay vigilant."

"Yes, big sister." Shangguan Ziyue stuck out her little tongue.

The two teams continued for half an hour, arriving at the edge of the bone-dry wasteland; the war horses stopped on their own, refusing to go forward despite urging.

"Dismount." Lin Tian decided swiftly, the horses would only become a burden in their current state. The four got off their horses decisively but didn’t rush off and instead observed from the edge.

The bone field looked no different to the outside wasteland, similarly strewn with rubble, but as soon as one arrived at this boundary, bones appeared—a clear sign that any living entity stepping into this line would die.

Lin Tian bent over to pick up a large stone, forcefully flinging it inside; with a thud, it hit a distant boulder, causing it to tumble and make quite a bit of noise.

In the silent wilderness, such a din could carry far, the four scanned the wasteland but saw no changes, not even a bird startled.

"Huh? What are they doing?" Xiao Manxuan pointed to the other team, puzzled.

At this moment, archer Ziyue was pulling back on her bowstring, an arrow of deep red ready to launch, with a soft whoosh the arrow flew. Lin Tian squinted slightly, noticing the arrowhead faintly glowing red in flight.

With a thunk, the arrow struck a distant giant skeleton, erupting in flames, spreading swiftly until the skeleton burned.

The skeleton consumed by fire, seen from afar, resembled a huge bonfire, occasionally crackling and popping, making more of a commotion than Lin Tian’s stone.

"They’re probing too." Mu Yun said blandly.

The flames surged higher, both teams attentive to any movement around them, when suddenly the gravel under the skeleton rolled over, a shadow darting out from underground.

With a swoosh, the bowstring twanged, an arrow shot from Shangguan Ziyue’s hand, like a meteor chasing the moon, striking and pinning the shadow to the ground.

Such skill, Lin Tian silently praised; the creature moved swiftly, but Shangguan Ziyue hit it with ease.

Everyone looked towards the creature, yet Lin Tian couldn’t tell what kind of animal it was; resembling a rat, but with long and sharp claws and teeth, its fur needle-like, pointed and hard. The creature struggled briefly before falling silent.

"Earth Burrowing Beast." Mu Yun exhaled with relief, explaining, "These creatures reside in the Mist Forest, more adept at burrowing than an Earth Armor Dragon, hiding deep underground, somewhat aggressive but weaker than Earth Armor Dragons, fond of carrion, no idea how it got to the wasteland here."

"Here for corpses, I suppose, a digging expert, though not very aggressive, it’s very resilient; if it hadn’t encountered an archer like Shangguan Ziyue, it would have escaped." Lin Tian commented.

"Seems it’s not a death zone here, with skill you can survive." A male Soul Hunter from the opposite team said, seeing a glimmer of hope; if it was certain death, they’d reconsider the journey.

Shangguan Ao Yue waved, the Soul Hunters quickly gathered, forming a formation, heading toward the bone-dry wasteland. Lin Tian and the three women exchanged glances and crossed the boundary too, leaving the war horses to go back to the forest edge.

Entering the wasteland, the blood smell Lin Tian sensed grew stronger, he activated his super vision to its limit; half an hour passed with no activity, but Lin Tian suddenly turned his head, looking diagonally forward.

"What is it?" The three women instinctively lowered their voices.

"Remember I mentioned the blood smell? It’s coming from that direction..." Lin Tian pointed ahead, about to say more but refrained.

He hastened his pace with the three women, soon catching sight of a giant stone several meters high; Lin Tian slowed his steps, saying, "Xuanxuan, prepare yourself mentally."

"Don’t worry, I’ll just scream once at most." Xiao Manxuan imitated Lin Tian’s tone.

Lin Tian smiled wryly, though the three women could sense something was amiss now too, as even they could smell the blood. The four went around the stone, finding at its base, leaning against it, a Soul Hunter, only half of him remaining!

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