After the fierce battle, Su Xiang was also wounded. He endured the pain and asked, “Little master, why is this living corpse so formidable? Is there still a way to defeat it?”

Turning to look at the young monk, he saw the boy’s face pale with terror, only knowing to close his eyes and chant incantations, his body trembling violently. Su Xiang’s eyes darkened, and he shouted to the villagers who dared not approach: “Quick, I’ll hold him off. All of you go chop branches from the sacred tree, set a fire, and burn this whole place down!”

This courtyard wasn’t enclosed, so setting fire to the house wasn’t practical. If the flames forced Old Lady Lu into desperation and she truly flew or crashed into the wall, it would be difficult to control. That’s why they hadn’t chosen fire attack initially, but now, with the situation urgent, this was the only method Su Xiang could think of.

In Changning Village, only he could engage this living corpse in combat. If he couldn’t stop this zombie, his wife and children would also suffer…

Therefore, this task of restraining the living corpse could only be completed by him! Today, he feared he would perish together with Old Lady Lu.

Su Xiang’s shoulder had been clawed with a deep gash. He roared sternly: “Hurry up and go, get everyone in the village to help!”

This angry shout exploded like muffled thunder, causing even the terrified young monk to react. Su Zhuyi suddenly said, “Master once left me a magic treasure that can deal with these malevolent creatures, but without spirit stones, it’s been useless, so I nearly forgot about it.”

As soon as she spoke, Su Xiang’s eyes immediately brightened considerably. He quickly added, “Hurry, have Yun Niang and Qingxun bring the spirit stones from home!”

Most of the village men had gone to chop the sacred tree, while some remained to establish a defensive line not far from Auntie Xu’s courtyard. Some village women had also gone to chop trees, while the remaining few kept the village children restrained at a distance. They worried for their husbands’ safety but dared not approach, only watching from afar.

At this moment, Su Qingxun had long since come out. She wanted to go find her father, but was held tightly by her mother and others, crying with tears streaming down her face.

She heard Su Xiang’s angry roar and without waiting for anyone’s instructions, immediately ran back home. Her mother Yun Niang chased after her, directly grabbing Su Qingxun and holding her in her arms, racing home at full speed.

Yun Niang had no cultivation aptitude and knew where the spirit stones were hidden, but couldn’t open the container. Su Qingxun, however, knew the method to unlock it – it was a little secret between father and daughter.

Returning home, Su Qingxun carefully brought out the small box containing the spirit stones and opened it. After the box was opened, Yun Niang gripped it in her hands. “I’ll deliver it, you follow behind and don’t run around!”

To save time, Yun Niang didn’t carry Su Qingxun while running. She passed through the villagers’ defensive line and rushed to Su Zhuyi’s side, handing her the box. “Little master, is this enough?”

As she spoke, she nervously peered through the door crack into the courtyard. Seeing Su Xiang covered in blood, Yun Niang’s knees instantly went weak, and she collapsed to the ground. “Little master, please save him!”

Su Zhuyi looked at the three spirit stones in the box, directly took them out and held them in her hand, then brought out a broken iron plate she had prepared earlier. A bit of spiritual energy overflowed from her palm, making the iron plate appear to glow.

She muttered some incantations under her breath, then her entire body was enveloped in a layer of radiant light. Like an arrow released from a bow, she charged into the room and hurled the iron plate at Old Lady Lu, shouting: “Demoness, die!”

This phrase was what those righteous path cultivators shouted most often when pursuing her. Having heard it so much, she unconsciously said it, and after speaking, she was rather amused. The difference between this demoness and that demoness was more than just a little bit.

This Old Lady Lu was a corpse she had stimulated with talismans and secret techniques – the simplest corpse control art. In other words, she was Old Lady Lu’s master now. After this performance, having obtained what she wanted, this little zombie Old Lady Lu would naturally retire successfully. She didn’t plan to keep this zombie as a henchman – first, she feared leaving traces, and second, this zombie was too old and had starved to death. Not only was she frail with no cultivation aptitude, but while she looked fierce now, advancement would be difficult. She could deal with these villagers, but would be useless against cultivators in the future.

Old Lady Lu’s body froze, neither dodging nor evading. The iron plate struck her head directly, creating a large gash, but not a drop of blood was visible.

Seeing that the magic tool was effective, Su Xiang finally breathed a sigh of relief. His whole body was wounded, and he was already exhausted.

Su Zhuyi theatrically took an old tree branch and whipped Old Lady Lu a few times. “Master’s magic tool is truly useful!” Her face showed surprise as she continued: “Living corpses are best burned. Everyone, pile up the sacred tree branches you just chopped and burn Old Lady Lu!”

Outside, the firewood pile was already set up, and villagers had brought pig oil to pour directly on the branches. Seeing that Old Lady Lu was no longer moving and the village chief was covered in blood, some bolder villagers dared to approach, carried Old Lady Lu to the woodpile, then someone threw a torch in. With a whoosh, flames leaped up.

In the firelight, Old Lady Lu made gasping sounds, appearing extremely pained but unable to rush out of the fire.

Su Zhuyi had obtained the spirit stones and was now blooming with joy. As for the dead and wounded, what did that have to do with her? They’d all die in a couple years anyway – dying early meant early reincarnation.

Seeing the matter completed, Su Zhuyi planned to find a place to finish the magic treasure, then follow the spiritual energy to search and see if she could dig up Ji Wuxin’s relics.

She flicked her sleeves and turned to leave – mission accomplished, time to depart, hiding her achievements and fame.

However, at this moment, Su Zhuyi felt something was wrong with the sunlight overhead. The Yin-gathering array had long since dispersed, so why had the light suddenly dimmed considerably?

Looking up, Su Zhuyi’s face immediately filled with horror.

“Solar eclipse!”

How could a solar eclipse appear at this time?

Su Zhuyi and Old Lady Lu had a master-servant relationship, with spiritual energy as the connecting thread. She used spiritual energy suppression to drive the spiritual talisman in Old Lady Lu’s belly, making her unable to resist. Even being burned painfully and struggling, she hadn’t used full force to break out of the fire.

However, the moment the solar eclipse appeared, the spiritual energy thread snapped.

Like a bang exploding inside Su Zhuyi’s body, the next moment, she spat out a mouthful of fresh blood.

During a solar eclipse, Old Lady Lu’s inherent resentment was heavy, and with Su Zhuyi’s added inflammatory stimulation, now encountering the solar eclipse, this freshly baked living corpse would instantly increase in power, enough to backlash against her master.

Damn it, how could it be such coincidence! Fortunately, the sacred tree flames were quite powerful. Although Old Lady Lu had gone mad and turned against her master, she couldn’t get out immediately. She roared in the flames, her cries sharp and piercing, causing the villagers who had just relaxed slightly to panic again!

“Heavens, the sun is being eaten!”

“Grievances have their source and debts their owner – Old Lady Lu, just kill Auntie Xu and your unfilial son, don’t trouble us!”

“None of us harmed you!”

Though no one in the village had directly harmed her, they had minded their own business, clearly knowing Auntie Xu treated her poorly but not interfering much because Auntie Xu was a fierce shrew. But now, everyone felt they were innocent, praying for Old Lady Lu not to kill indiscriminately.

Su Zhuyi suffered backlash, her internal organs feeling displaced. She was the type to run immediately when things went wrong, and was already heading toward the old tree at the village entrance. However, with her current weak body and short legs, she hadn’t run far when she heard countless screams behind her: “Old Lady Lu has come out, she’s out…”

Without looking back, Su Zhuyi felt a strong wind attacking. She immediately dropped to the ground and rolled, nimbly getting up to see deep furrows clawed into the ground. Old Lady Lu was hanging from a nearby house eave, staring at her with a pair of blood-red eyes.

Su Zhuyi: “…”

“Unlucky! Old zombie, you could bite anyone else, why did you have to repay kindness with enmity and target me?” Logically, this type of zombie, after advancing, would hunt nearby prey, no longer caring about its masters. After losing connection, she wouldn’t remember who her original master was. Having just advanced, urgently needing blood food, all behavior was dominated by bodily instinct, only knowing to eat people.

Seeing Old Lady Lu slowly pulling the iron plate off her head, Su Zhuyi could only curse: “Damn it, this creature still holds grudges!”

The current Old Lady Lu could already fly short distances. Seeing her red eyes and agile movement as she clung to the wall, Su Zhuyi knew Old Lady Lu had become a jumping corpse.

This was truly lifting a rock to smash her foot!