A Time-Traveling Zombie Romance (GL) - Chapter 35

In a haze, I saw a place that looked like an immortal’s realm. Birds sang, flowers bloomed, and by a tranquil lake stood a bamboo house. Suddenly, the scene changed—it became a sea of flowers.

In the flower field, there were a boy and a girl, both about fifteen or sixteen. They were playing hide-and-seek. The boy hid among the flowers, while the girl covered her eyes with a white cloth to search for him.

After searching for a long time without success, the girl smiled mischievously, secretly removed the cloth, and began to look for the boy with her eyes. Soon, she spotted something in a patch of flowers and crept closer—there he was, the boy, lying in the blossoms, fast asleep.

The girl giggled quietly, plucked a blade of grass, and tickled the boy’s nose. He immediately sneezed and woke up.

“Zixian, what are you doing?” the boy rubbed his sleepy eyes and asked.

“Who told you to fall asleep?” the girl pouted “angrily.”

“Oh, sorry. I just took a little nap,” the boy said quickly, sitting up.

“Hehe.” The girl laughed softly—because when the boy sat up, there were a few blades of grass sticking out of his hair.

Suddenly, the girl looked straight at me and said, “Little Stone… you should wake up… wake up… wake up…”

Her voice echoed in my mind again and again.

I slowly opened my eyes to find everything around me pitch black. Once fully awake, I thought, “Who were they? Why did I dream of them?” I tried to recall their faces, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t remember their appearances. All I could recall was that it was a beautiful place. The girl was called Zixian, but I didn’t know the boy’s name. Wait—she called him Little Stone? That must have been the boy’s name.

“Roar!” Suddenly, a loud roar jolted me completely awake. Looking around, I realized—I was inside the water centipede’s stomach!

“I’m… not dead?!”

My eyes glowed red, and immediately my surroundings became visible. I was inside the creature’s body; below me, yellow liquid bubbled and gave off a foul stench. Floating in it were countless bones.

“This must be its stomach acid… disgusting,” I muttered, feeling a chill run down my spine. Luckily, there was a fleshy platform above me; otherwise, I’d have already been digested alive.

Looking upward, I saw thick red veins and, beyond them, a dark passage that seemed endless.

“Damn it, how am I supposed to get out of here?” I cursed.

Then, turning my head, I noticed another black tunnel nearby. After a brief hesitation, I entered it.

After walking for a while, I saw a faint light ahead. My heart leaped with joy, and I rushed toward it. There, glowing blue, was a round orb about the size of a basketball.

“This… looks familiar,” I murmured. “Wait—it’s an inner core! The water centipede’s inner core!”

I jumped with excitement. According to ancient texts, every demon beast cultivates an inner core—a crystallization of its power, even more vital than its life itself. If one consumes the core, their power will greatly increase; but if a monster loses it, it will die.

“This centipede has cultivated for five hundred years… that means swallowing this core will give me five hundred years of strength!” My eyes sparkled.

I approached the core, but just as I was about to touch it, a blue light barrier flung me back. Frowning, I formed a strange hand seal, red light gathering at my fingertips.

“Break!” I shouted, releasing the energy. With a loud bang, the blue light shattered.

“Ah! Who’s there?!” the centipede roared in pain.

“Water Centipede, today’s your end!” I shouted. “Now I’ll take your inner core—let’s see how you live without it!”

“What?! Damn it, Corpse Emperor—you’re still alive?! What are you trying to do? Don’t mess around!”

“I’m not that easy to kill,” I sneered.

I grabbed the glowing core and swallowed it. Sitting cross-legged, I began to absorb its energy. A red aura grew within my abdomen, stronger and stronger by the second.

Meanwhile, the water centipede, now without its core, howled in agony. It formed a hand sign, and a white dot appeared on its brow—its soul essence—which then flew into its body’s spiritual domain.

There, it found me meditating with its inner core already gone. Horrified, it attacked. My eyes snapped open; in a flash, I appeared before it, sword at its throat.

“Any last words?” I asked coldly.

“No! My core… my five hundred years of cultivation! It’s gone! All gone! Five centuries of effort—wasted!” The centipede staggered back, wailing.

“Yours? Those five hundred years were built on the lives of countless humans.”

“C–Corpse Emperor… you can’t kill me—you mustn’t!”

“Oh? And why not?”

“If you kill me, my brother will never forgive you!”

“Your brother? Hmph. He’s nothing to me.”

The centipede’s eyes filled with terror.

“I’ve already taken your core and stolen your power. For that, I feel a little sorry. But to prevent you from ever harming anyone again—I can’t let you live. I’ll spare you one soul so you can reincarnate, but after that, your fate’s your own.”

“No! Please don’t kill me! Don’t—”

“When others begged you for mercy, did you spare them?” I drove my sword into its heart.

“Ahhh! Corpse Emperor… my… brother… won’t… forgive… you…” The centipede spat bl00d and collapsed, dead.

I drew my sword and leapt from the body, finding myself in a cave where the creature’s true form lay. Nearby was the unconscious man it had captured. I destroyed the monster’s soul, burned its remains to ash, and carried the man out of the cave.

By the time we reached the forest outside Xinghai Town, dawn had broken.

I placed the man by the riverbank, washed my hands, and splashed water onto his face. The coolness made him shiver and slowly open his eyes.

“Where… where am I? Am I… dead?” he asked weakly.

“Hehe, you’re alive. We’re just outside Xinghai Town,” I said, sitting on a rock.

“You… it’s you! You’re a monster! Don’t kill me!” he cried, backing away.

“Cough, cough—I’m not a monster, and I won’t kill you,” I said awkwardly.

“Then… what are you?” He still looked terrified.

“I’m not a thing,” I said, then caught myself and snapped, “What? Did you just call me a thing?”

The man shrank his neck in fear. Seeing this, I softened my tone. “I’m neither monster nor human. What I am isn’t important. I just saved your life—that centipede would’ve eaten you if I hadn’t arrived.”

“Oh, I see…” He relaxed a little, then grew tense again. “You’re not human, then what are you?”

“Guess,” I chuckled. “By the way, what’s your name? And how did you meet that demon?”

“My name is Ling Feng. I’m a scholar preparing for the imperial exam next year. My companion, Li Yiqin, was also a candidate. We came to travel near Xinghai Town, but night fell before we knew it. We tried to find an inn, but every house was shut tight. While wandering the streets, we encountered that monster… Li Yiqin wasn’t so lucky. I escaped, but he…” Ling Feng’s voice trembled with grief.

“So you’re a scholar,” I sighed.

“May I know my benefactor’s name?” Ling Feng knelt before me.

“No need for that. You don’t need to know who I am. Come—I’ll take you back to my inn,” I said, helping him up.

We walked out of the forest and returned to Xinghai Town.

“The mornings here are so lively,” Ling Feng said with emotion.

“Hehe, from now on, they’ll stay that way,” I replied.

When we got back to the inn, everyone looked anxious.

“Brother, you’re back! We waited all night—what happened to you?” Siqing cried.

“Sorry to worry you all. I’m fine,” I smiled. “That demon’s been dealt with.”

“You’re really okay?”

“I’m fine.”

“Then whose bl00d is that?” Meng Hui asked.

“Uh… oh, it’s Ling Feng’s. When I carried him, his bl00d got on me,” I said quickly, rolling up my sleeve. “See?”

The girls blushed and covered their eyes.

“Truly, the young master isn’t hurt at all,” the five guards said, amazed.

“As I said,” I grinned.

“Qier, who is this Ling Feng?” Yun Xi asked curiously.

“Oh, he’s the man I rescued from the monster,” I replied.

At that moment, Ling Feng stepped out shyly from behind me, face red. “Hello, everyone. My name is Ling Feng.”

The guards saluted him, and Yun Xi and the others greeted him politely. But Ling Feng just stood frozen. Following his gaze, I saw he was staring at Siqing.

I frowned slightly, annoyed, and stepped in front of him. “Ahem. Ling Gongzi, why don’t you go upstairs and rest? I’ll take you back to Lin Town later.”

“Ah… yes, thank you, benefactor,” he said bashfully.

Once upstairs, Ling Feng asked, face flushed, “Benefactor… was that young lady your sister?”

“Uh… yes.”

“She’s… really beautiful,” he murmured.

“Hehe, thank you. My sister would be happy to hear that,” I replied with a smile.

“Really? Haha.” Ling Feng scratched his head awkwardly.

After arranging everything, I washed up, changed into clean clothes, and went downstairs. Ling Feng was waiting and smiled brightly when he saw me. “So my benefactor is this handsome as well!”

“Hehe, you flatter me,” I said with a bow.

Then I whispered to Li Shaomin, “You and Xu Rui go inform the county magistrate. Tell him the monster’s been slain. If he doubts it, he can follow the creek through town to the forest cave outside—he’ll find the remains there. From now on, the townsfolk can come out freely at night.”

“Yes, sir,” Li Shaomin said, bowing.

“You all stay here and pack up. The monster’s gone—we can depart soon. I’ll take Ling Feng back to Lin Town first.”

Everyone nodded.

So I escorted a reluctant Ling Feng back to Lin Town and dropped him off at an inn.

“Ling Gongzi, farewell. Until we meet again,” I said with a bow.

“Benefactor… when will we meet again?” he asked sadly.

“There’s no feast that doesn’t end. If fate allows, we’ll meet once more,” I smiled.

“I will never forget your kindness,” Ling Feng said, eyes glistening. “If I ever pass the imperial exam, I’ll repay your grace!”

“Hehe, then study hard. I’ll await your good news,” I replied.

“Farewell, benefactor.”

“Farewell.”

With a smile, I turned and walked away, not looking back.

“Since he said he’s neither human nor demon, he must be an immortal,” Ling Feng murmured, staring after me. “So handsome, so kind… and his sister’s so beautiful too. Perhaps she’s a fairy. Ah, I wonder if I’ll ever see them again.”

When I returned to the inn, everyone was packed and ready to leave. Xinghai Town was bustling with joy—the county office had announced that a mysterious expert had slain the monster.

From that day on, people no longer feared the night. Red blessing charms adorned every door, laughter filled the streets, and peace returned at last.

Their days of suffering were over—happiness had finally begun. We left Xinghai Town that morning, smiling.

Farewell, Xinghai Town—until we meet again!