Chapter 50
【You, why are you crying? 】
【Do you remember something? 】
"No." Shi Buyi wiped the tears from his cheeks. He clearly didn't remember anything, but his heart was extremely sad and painful. He took a deep breath, calmed down his emotions, and asked in a hoarse voice, "Where is this?"
[I don't know. We guessed it was the Corpse King's Palace, but it's too modern.]
The Corpse King Palace, is that the Taiyuan Temple?
Shi Buxi looked around and found that his bag was placed on the seat under the floor-to-ceiling window. He walked to the window and looked down. There were layers of mountains. The mountain shapes were very familiar, but the environment was different from what he remembered.
In my memory, the Kunlun Mountains are towering and majestic, their peaks overlapping. In winter, they are covered in snow, in summer, they are covered in lush green forests, and year-round, they are shrouded in mist, like a paradise on earth. But now, the Kunlun Mountains seem to have fallen into an abyss of hell, the gray mist exuding an ominous and terrifying atmosphere.
Shi Buxi withdrew his gaze, shouldered his bag, and left the room. Outside was the hall. To the right of the room were two more rooms, their doors tightly shut. A portrait of "Emperor Gao Ming" hung on the wall in the center of the hall, and below it sat a candle and incense burner on a table. The candle was lit, but the incense burner was perfectly clean.
Shi Buxi put the bag on a chair beside him, walked to the table, picked up three incense sticks, lit them, inserted them into the incense burner, and performed the ritual of three kowtows and nine bows.
Who, who is it?
"He's my ancestor." Shi Buyi replied, turned around, picked up his bag and walked out of the hall.
No one noticed that the moment he stepped out of the hall, the dusty portrait seemed to be washed and became much brighter.
When they went out, they found that although the room looked high up, it actually had only one floor. Outside the door was a large open space with a tripod in the middle. It was also clean and there was not a single incense stick.
The square in front of the door was quiet, with no one in sight.
So quiet.
[It doesn't look like the Corpse King's Palace. Isn't it said that the Corpse King's Palace is full of zombies?]
"This is Taiyuan Temple," Shi Buyi replied. This was the top of the mountain, with only one house, where he and his master had lived before. Halfway up the mountain, there was a larger Taoist temple with more buildings. Due to the lack of pilgrims, the house itself was in a state of disrepair. He and his master had previously taken turns cleaning the main area, ignoring the rest.
Shi Buxi, carrying his bag, walked across the square and reached the edge of the stairs.
Taiyuan Temple is located on the highest peak of Kunlun Mountain. Looking down from the top, you can see endless steps, one after another, and dense bushes and trees on both sides.
[Will some monster vines suddenly appear? ]
"Probably not." Shi Buyi replied. Although the area was also surrounded by trees and bushes, he didn't sense any particular malice.
So, should we go find Academician Liang and his team now?
"Let's go down and take a look first." Shi Buxi guessed that if the main group of zombies was at Taiyuan Temple, then they should be gathering halfway up the mountain. However, he didn't know where Zong Zhengqing had gone.
But no matter where you go, don't cause trouble for Academician Liang.
"He, he's here again." Feng Shen stared at the zombie in a white suit that walked out from the depths of the dark forest as if he had seen a ghost. He was almost crying. Why was he here again?
Lu Feng, Academician Liang and others' faces also turned green. Since they entered the miasma forest, they had to fight with monsters and zombies that came out from nowhere every half an hour. Even if they had hot weapons, they couldn't withstand it!
"You, what do you want from us?" Zong Ziyu asked, gritting his teeth as he tried to control his weakness. Now, neither they nor the bodyguards could withstand another fight.
"Witness the wedding." Yaya Zombie uttered two words and walked towards Zong Ziyu step by step.
———
[Ahhh, look in that gap between the trees.]
[Oh shit, it really is there, ahhhh, what is he peeking at?]
[It feels like watching a horror movie, so scary! ]
As Shi Buxi walked down, the sharp-eyed audience soon discovered that there were many figures hiding in the woods on both sides of the stairs. Even in the hazy smoke, they could be seen as zombies.
Upon hearing this, Shi Buxi stopped and looked into the woods. The zombies inside seemed to have not expected to be discovered and quickly turned around and ran away.
Ran away?
[Why did you run away? Aren't you going to attack Xiaoxi?]
[Seems very timid.]
Shi Buxi didn't chase after him and continued walking down. From time to time, he would find zombies hiding in the woods, watching him. Most of the zombies were healthy, except for their gray faces. However, a small number of them had rotting skin. Some ran so fast that they even lost their legs, then turned back to pick them up and continued hopping on one foot.
What saddened everyone the most was that a child who looked to be in his teens even lost his hand while running away.
[…Shake it off…shake it off? ]
[Ahhh, little friend, your hand fell off, pick it up quickly! ]
[Oh my god, don't shake your hands if you want to run. If you shake them again, the next one will fall too. Ahhhh, what am I saying?]
[Woo woo, we are not bad people, don't run! ]
[It's clearly a terrifying scene, but why do I feel so sad?]
They seem different from the zombies outside. They seem to have thoughts.
Shi Buxi ran forward quickly and reached the arm that had fallen to the ground. The arm was broken at the joint, the skin on the outside was gray, the flesh inside was rotting rapidly, and the bright red wound was being corroded by the rotten flesh.
[Fuck, she's back.]
"Hand." The little girl stood timidly three meters away, covering her broken arm with her hand, from which dark red liquid flowed.
Shi Buyi didn't look at her. He pulled out a talisman from his bag, chanted a spell, and quickly slapped it on the broken arm, stopping the decay. Looking up, the little girl seemed to be afraid of the talisman in Shi Buyi's hand. She stepped back and was about to run, but the boy behind her was even faster and slapped a yellow talisman on the little girl's back.
The little girl felt a comfortable coolness surging through her body, and then lost consciousness.
Now the brave zombies didn't dare to peek anymore, and they all ran away in a "whoosh".
Shi Buyi picked up the little girl with one hand, held her arm with the other, and continued walking down the mountain with a slightly cold expression.
【Xiao Xi, are you angry? 】
"No." Shi Buyi said firmly, but his eyes were slightly red.
[Child, this little girl, can her hand be saved? ]
[Wow, why is this happening? Why are there such small zombies here?]
[There have been rumors that zombies can give birth to children. Is it true? ]
[Children, you are very capable, can you save them? ]
If they still have thoughts, even if they occasionally have seizures, they are just like us, right?
[This place is not suitable for recuperation at all. Let them return to the Imperial Star!]
Shi Buxi did not respond to the audience's words, but focused on going down the stairs, moving very lightly, as if he was afraid of scaring the child in his arms.
The Star Network was about to explode. Terms like "Your Majesty," "The Late Emperor's General," "Red Water Army," and "Zombies" dominated the screen. It was now completely confirmed that the Late Empress, Zong Zhengqing, and the Red Water Army soldiers were zombies. So, had the royal family deceived them?
No, the truth was so bluntly revealed that it was easily accepted. Everyone was more concerned about what Academician Liang had said. Could the Chishui Army's eight-year absence be related to his claim of a rapid zombie extinction?
Empire, can you still save them?
[Wow, I didn't expect that by the time I truly get to know them, they'll be extinct?]
[Is my female general, who once swept across the battlefield with unparalleled grace and slaughtered the aliens so fiercely that they fled in panic, really dead?]
[The late queen died shortly after Your Majesty was born. If the female general was truly the late queen, she would have passed away long ago.]
[Wait, if what Academician Liang said is true, does this mean that not only the Chishui Army, but also His Majesty will die?]
[Are you kidding? Who in the empire can take over your majesty's position now? Impossible.]
"If something happens to His Majesty, we should quickly die as well. We don't want to be on the aliens' menu."
[You are all just thinking about yourselves. Have you ever thought about why His Majesty would release this information at this time?]
[Was it really announced by His Majesty? I'm more inclined to believe it was a political enemy, a spy.]
If what Academician Liang said is true, then both His Majesty and the Chishui Army will soon be dead. Isn't this a message to the aliens: Come and invade humanity! The Emperor and the Chishui Army, their only capable enemies, are about to die.
[The royal family, stop playing dead. Come out and explain what's going on.]
【Go watch the live broadcast room, I believe the answer is there. 】
On that day, the human empire's population of over one hundred billion people simultaneously flooded into ZS TV's livestream, instantly paralyzing it. Those unable to access the platform, those stuck exiting, and a chorus of curses erupted. Just when everyone thought there was nothing they could do, the page flashed, and they were inside.
Got in?
Ah, it's Empire TV.
The live broadcast has been switched to Imperial TV. It's over. Just now they were all talking about conspiracy theories, and now the national TV station is taking action. This was really done by His Majesty.
Is this the default?
[Ahhh, this is terrifying. Holy shit, did this guy kill someone? And he's still holding onto the person after he killed them?]
[Shut up. If you haven't watched the live broadcast, go check it out first. This is the little queen Shi Buxi, and he's saving people.]
[Wait, this little girl is a zombie? Where is this?]
Even with the popularity of "Survivor," many people still haven't seen it. The previous rumors about His Majesty being a zombie and Shi Buxi being the young queen were just that: rumors. If it weren't for the photos of the Chishui Army being uploaded, many people would have just treated it as a show effect.
When Shi Buxi heard the words broadcast by the camera, he turned around to take a look, roughly knew what happened, turned around and continued on his way.
Kunlun's main peak was incredibly high, and even with Shi Bushi's swift movements, it took him nearly an hour to reach the halfway point. The architecture here was different from what he remembered, but it was also different from the imperial planets of the interstellar era. Almost all of it was made of wood, the tallest being only three stories high. It was a typical Taoist building, with a gable roof, green tiles, and eaves carved with coiled dragon patterns. A plaque bore the inscription "Taiyuan Temple."
Compared to the quietness at the summit, there were people in front of the Taoist temple halfway up the mountain. No, there were zombies.
An old man was sitting under a big tree weaving frames, and seemed unaware of Shi Buxi's arrival.
Shi Buxi walked towards the old man with the child in his arms. When they were about three meters away from him, the old man finally raised his head. His face was pale and his eyes were empty. When he saw the young man, he was stunned for a moment, and then stood up happily in disbelief.
"The little empress," the old man said slowly, each word spitting out slowly, his eyes stained with a dazzling light, "The little empress has returned."
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