A thunderclap suddenly erupted in the silent village. Although those underground were unaware of what was happening outside, they could sense that something was amiss.

Sure enough, the silent horde of corpses began to stir. Low growls and the scraping of fingernails echoed in the cave, like the sounding of a battle horn.

Zhang Shi cursed his bad luck inwardly, as it seemed that every tunnel in this instance would require a fierce battle.

Wu Qing triggered the taunt totem, and various auras and incense activated simultaneously, indicating she was ready for a major battle. Zhao Feng charged ahead into the horde of zombies, swinging his flint giant axe, sending a spray of flames across the horde and slicing a group of newly awakened zombies into charred pieces.

The "The more you fight, the stronger you become" talent was triggered, and Zhao Feng became even more excited. In the past few days, he had been fighting against the Blood Moon Zombie Horde, and most of the time he could only control cannons and crossbows to kill enemies. His hands were itching to fight. Now that he could finally have a good, unrestrained battle, he naturally couldn't miss this good opportunity.

Caught up in the heat of battle, Zhao Feng leaped and slashed towards the very center of the horde of zombies. The massive axe landed with such force that it shook the ground, causing the zombies around him to fall to the ground and become lambs to the slaughter.

Seeing a rare opportunity, Ge Dalong unleashed a blizzard on the fallen zombies. Numerous sharp ice spikes appeared in the center of the arena, riddling the zombies with holes. In a narrow, enclosed space like a cave, a blizzard, with its wide-area damage, was undoubtedly a deadly weapon, quickly creating a vacuum zone within its range.

Led by Pipi, the white tiger cub and the leopard roamed the area, dragging lone zombies to the ground and smashing their skulls with a single paw. The three beasts were strong, fast, and coordinated perfectly, taking down over a dozen zombies in no time. Pipi wiped its paw on the ground with a hint of disgust, seemingly repulsed by the zombie blood.

Before long, the hundreds of zombies were all cleared out. These zombies were all of ordinary grade and were not difficult to deal with. Zhang Shi only took care of a few zombies that tried to ambush him from the outside with his bow and arrow. He did not even personally join the battle.

Ge Dalong tore off a zombie's clothes, examined it carefully, and made a judgment.

"These zombies should all be villagers from Huo Family Village."

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

"So all the bodies that disappeared from the cemetery were here."

Wu Qing glanced at the zombie again and noticed something amiss.

There was a thin, long wound on the zombie's chest and abdomen, which looked like an old injury. Out of her professional instincts as a doctor, Wu Qing used a long knife to cut open the wound and was surprised to find that the zombie's inside was empty. All its internal organs had been removed, leaving only a fleshy shell.

Wu Qing told everyone what she had discovered. Zhang Shi then examined several more zombies and found that they all looked the same: their internal organs had been removed, leaving only a shell.

While everyone was still immersed in surprise and confusion, the little white tiger quietly approached the altar, its eyes fixed intently on the black crystal. Then, it opened its mouth and inhaled, swallowing wisps of dark light. By the time Zhang Shi and the others noticed something amiss, the little white tiger had already absorbed the black crystal into a grayish-white stone.

The little white tiger let out a satisfied burp, then transformed into a beam of white light and rushed into Zhang Shi's white tiger space to rest.

Zhang Shi glanced at the stone that the black crystal had turned into. He didn't know what connection it had with the White Tiger, but seeing that nothing else was happening, he ignored the little incident.

After clearing away the zombies, the altar came into complete view. It was a large altar with three altars, one of which had a porcelain pot on it, which looked like it had just been placed there.

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

As the porcelain pot was opened, a wisp of black mist wafted out, and a blurred figure appeared before everyone.

Zhang Shi glanced at it and silently took out Lao Duan, because this figure was an old acquaintance.

Huo Linjian looked utterly exhausted, as if he had endured inhuman torture and was on the verge of collapse. Upon seeing Zhang Shi and the others, he no longer possessed his former arrogance and ruthlessness, and spoke only weakly.

"I'm about to be completely destroyed. Ask me anything you want. I'll tell you everything I know as a way of repaying your favor."

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

Huo Linjian remained silent for a while, a rare expression of sorrow appearing on his face. His eyes were fixed blankly on the ray of light at the cave entrance, and he began to recount his story.

It all began with that eerie black mist, which appeared from an unknown time and place, enveloping the entire village. From then on, the village was cut off from sunlight and completely cut off from the outside world.

Knowing that Huo Family Village was doomed, the patriarch An Ye joined forces with Black Tiger to set up a grand formation to devour the souls of the villagers in order to protect himself. Black Tiger, on the other hand, took out the internal organs of the corpses to eat, turning the corpses into walking corpses for sacrifice, which is why he was able to live on for so long.

Having glimpsed part of the truth behind the black mist over the long years, they waited there for outsiders to appear, hoping to plot something.

After Huo Linjian finished speaking, the mission interface for Zhang Shi and the others changed. Their main mission was successfully completed, and the system prompted them that they could leave at any time.

The group was surprised that they had accomplished their mission so easily. They exchanged glances and then prepared to leave.

Zhang Shi noticed that the truth Huo Linjian spoke of didn't quite match his own memories. Thinking of the ruins outside his shelter, he cautiously asked again.

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

Zhang Shi felt increasingly strange, so he took out Grandpa An's porcelain bottle again.

"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? And what's his current state?"

Huo Linjian smiled mysteriously.

"It's just an illusion. You thought you saw through the illusion, but you're still trapped in it. Xiuxiu saw your future. You're destined to be entangled with Huo Family Village. While you still have time, I advise you to improve your strength as soon as possible, so you won't be powerless to resist later."

After saying that, Huo Linjian's body disintegrated, turning into wisps of black mist that vanished into the air.

Zhang Shi still couldn't understand Huo Linjian's words, and only glanced at the Illusion Breaker in his backpack.

The biggest difference between this trip and the previous ones lies in this, and Zhang Shi has already noticed some clues.

"We shouldn't stay here any longer. Now that we've achieved our objective and Zhang Shi's job change quest has been successfully completed, let's leave as soon as possible."

After Ge Dalong finished speaking, he initiated an evacuation request. Although Zhang Shi still had doubts, he didn't intend to delve any further. In the end, Zhang Shi also put Pipi and the leopard into the White Tiger Space, and the group successfully teleported back to the shelter.

Inside the ancestral hall, Black Tiger gazed towards the square, noticing the departure of Zhang Shi and the others, without any clear reaction.

In the dry well outside the village, a skeleton lay at the bottom, and a worn-out wristwatch lay nearby, now faintly glowing.