Chapter 170 – The Zombie Cave (2/2)
Jin Bao was stunned. Only then did he understand why Hao Pingyang did not immediately assist him.
Li Qingshan continued, “But earlier, when you fell into danger, your senior brother Hao wanted to save you even if it meant risking his life.”
“Senior brother…” Only now did Jin Bao understand that he had almost been used by the Zombie Daoist as a trap to kill Hao Pingyang.
Zhang Lanqing, He Yishi, and Jin Yuan all looked at Hao Pingyang. None of them could think much about it during the chaos earlier, but now that they thought about it, not only had they failed to offer any assistance at all, but they had even almost dragged Hao Pingyang down with them.
“Bullshit. Why would I save him? If an idiot like him dies, it’ll save the school of Mohism from feeding him instead.” Hao Pingyang’s bushy face reddened slightly.
He Yishi said in thought, “The Zombie Daoist was unable to find any openings with senior brother Hao, which was why he then tried to kill senior brother Zhang.” They all thanked Li Qingshan once again.
At that moment of danger, Li Qingshan had used the flash from the Lightning Summoning talisman to immediately locate the Submerged Shadow sword, which was why he was able to deal that attack. Not only had he saved Zhang Lanqing’s life, but he had also given Hao Pingyang the opportunity to fire his cannon. He had basically turned the tables around. He had been far more useful than the four of them.
Li Qingshan said, “We’re all in one boat. Though, you don’t seem like you’ve practised any martial arts before, have you?” When they engaged the zombies in close combat earlier, they basically fought based on their instincts, reactions, and true qi alone. Their moves could not even match a third-rate master of the jianghu, which was why they suffered so much.
Zhang Lanqing smiled bitterly. “We’re disciples of the school of Mohism. Over all these years, all we’ve learnt is engineering, creating puppets, and building cities and structures. Although we did attend a few classes in the school of the Military’s exhibition hall, how can we actually match disciples of the school of the Military? If I go back, I’ll definitely make up for my lack of martial arts.” The others all expressed their agreement.
Only then did Li Qingshan learn that they were engineers and fighting did not fall into their studies. Not all Qi Practitioners had the ability to kill and plunder. There were Qi Practitioners who specialised in professions as well.
“What do you plan on doing next?”
Hao Pingyang said, “Obviously to press forward into the enemy’s lair!”
Li Qingshan said, “The Zombie Cave is not a place you can simply barge into. The morgue is only one of his places for nurturing corpses. After he’s done nurturing them, he’ll take them into the Zombie Cave. Who knows how many zombies have accumulated in the cave over all these years. It’ll be extremely dangerous.”
The reason why the Zombie Daoist was able to remain alive while being hunted down by the Hawkwolf Guard was closely related to his cave. He usually hid himself underground, staying in the complicated caverns that were as confusing as a maze. No one knew where his dwelling actually was, and if they tried searching for it, they would face an endless attack of zombies. If anything happened to them, they would die in there and become part of the zombies.
When Zhang Lanqing and the other three heard that they would be entering a pitch-black cavern after the danger earlier, they all began considering retreat. “Senior brother, why don’t we return to the academy first and get a few powerful helpers before we go looking for the Zombie Daoist?”
Hao Pingyang glared at all of them. “Return to the academy? What about the mission? We’ve managed to get out after so much difficulty. You all know how long it takes to travel to and from here. By then, who knows whether the Zombie Daoist would have moved his hiding location. You might not mind embarrassing yourselves, but I do!”
The four of them looked at one another. Before they left, their master had said that they were to listen to all of Hao Pingyang’s orders during the mission.
“His flying sword has been destroyed, and his mind was shaken up. He won’t be able to refine another flying sword in time. Killing him now is the best opportunity we will ever have.” That was how Hao Pingyang put it, but he looked at Li Qingshan. He was not confident that the five of them could kill the Zombie Daoist. However, he had developed a very high opinion of Li Qingshan with his performance in the battle earlier. If Li Qingshan were willing to join them, their chances at success would increase significantly.
Li Qingshan began to hesitate. He wanted to wait for Zhuo Zhibo, but he had no idea whether Zhuo Zhibo would actually come. If Zhuo Zhibo were not coming, he would definitely treat the Zombie Daoist as his target. A sixth layer Qi Practitioner must have many pills. It could resolve his current shortage. However, the issue right now was whether to work with these disciples of mohism or not. Together with Xiao An, the two of them alone should be enough to kill the Zombie Daoist.
“If you join us, Qingshan, I’ll give you my share of the rewards.” Seeing how he was unable to change Hao Pingyang’s mind, Zhang Lanqing wanted to make this journey into the cave safer by recruiting Li Qingshan. He also wanted to pay back Li Qingshan for saving his life.
Jin Yuan and Jin Bao added, “We’ll do the same.”
He Yishi hesitated, “Me too.” As long as they could complete this mission, not only would they still have their pride in tact, but the Academy of the Hundred Schools would give them a reward as well, so it was not like he would get nothing out of this.
Hao Pingyang said, “Kid, you’re a second layer Qi Practitioner, yet you have a share that is even greater than mine, so let’s not talk about any compensation for earlier anymore. We’ll split the things on the Zombie Daoist seventy-thirty, alright?”