Chapter 155: The Battle of the Bat Cave (3)

"Abbot Yuan, I am here to help you!" Seeing that after the elder's Qi ocean was shattered that day, his two junior martial brothers, along with Mu Yang and Mu Feng, had already secured a victory in their battle against the three elders of the Moon and Stars, Jie Chen shouted loudly to lend a hand, noticing how bitterly Yuan Tingyu and Gongyang Lingfeng were struggling against their opponents.

The bat cave was not large to begin with, and with a hundred people packed inside, it was already extremely crowded. Now, with several experts locked in fierce combat, spiritual energy slammed against the cavern walls, causing the bat cave to shake violently. If this continued, the cave would inevitably collapse sooner or later.

Not daring to delay any longer, Zhou Yi turned his gaze back and saw that the children he had just rescued had already been snatched away by the Bat King. Though it was unclear where they had been taken, with the Bat King and those thousands of bats around, those children should be safe.

"Help me!" Zhou Yi turned and shouted at the Bat King. Understanding his intent, the Bat King once again emitted a sonic wave from its mouth. For a moment, everyone in the bat cave felt a splitting headache, as the Bat King's sonic attack made no distinction between friend and foe.

"Stop!" Zhou Yi hurriedly ordered the Bat King to cease. It was not that he himself could not endure the piercing pain, but there were infants here. How fragile were these babies? If the Bat King were allowed to continue unchecked, the infants rescued from this cave would all end up mentally impaired.

As the Bat King fell silent, Zhou Yi shook his head, shouting to the beast, "Call your descendants to help rescue the children and take them all to a safe place!"

The Bat King turned and flew away, leaving it uncertain whether it had fully grasped Zhou Yi's words.

Meanwhile, the zombie was once again losing ground, evidently having depleted the pure spiritual energy from the infant's blood during the fight. Having tasted sweetness just moments before, the zombie leaped forward again, attempting to feed on infant blood once more.

How could Mingyu allow the zombie to continue harming the infants? With a flash of his figure, he directly blocked the zombie's path. Although the zombie possessed a degree of intelligence, it was extremely low—comparable to that of a one- or two-year-old child—meaning it felt compelled to do whatever it set its mind on. With Mingkong blocking its way, the zombie crashed directly into his palm.

Blown backward into the blood pool, the zombie sprang up once more and charged toward the shore.

Seeing the zombie knocked back yet again, and knowing that the creature required an infant's blood to replenish its internal energy, the nearest Miao tribesman snatched a baby and hurled it straight at the zombie.

The infant sailed through the air in an arc toward the zombie. At that moment, Mingyu was suspended in mid-air and unable to reach the child in time. If the baby fell into the zombie's clutches, another young life would undoubtedly be snuffed out.

At this critical juncture, Zhou Yi moved with lightning speed. Before the zombie could touch the infant, he grabbed the child, pushed off the cave wall with both feet, and flew backward to land beside Muchen.

He glanced down at the child; it was not Zhou Danjiang. A wave of relief was accompanied by a lingering trace of disappointment.

"Throw the child to the zombie and step forward to help!" shouted another Miao tribesman. As soon as the words left his mouth, he flung a child directly toward the zombie.

Hearing the Miao tribesman's words, Zhou Yi knew things had taken a dangerous turn. Without time for reflection, he moved like lightning once more, determined to rescue the child before it reached the zombie.

Just as Zhou Yi pushed off, a Miao tribesman blocked his path, bringing a heavy saber down in a fierce slash. Performing a swallow-like tumble in mid-air, Zhou Yi swung the Lihuo sword once again.

It had been mentioned multiple times previously that the Lihuo sword possessed a weapon spirit. In the past, Zhou Yi had always regarded it as a lifeless object and paid it little mind. Recently, however, after drinking blood multiple times, the weapon spirit within Lihuo had shown faint signs of awakening.

As Lihuo tasted blood once again, it emitted another resonant hum. At that instant, Zhou Yi felt as though he had merged entirely with the sword—he was Lihuo, and Lihuo was him.

Another Miao tribesman intercepted him, and the Lihuo sword swept out. Although the two were still some distance apart, the strike could not physically harm the man yet; nevertheless, Zhou Yi had an instinctive prention: the Miao tribesman before him was already a dead man.

Drawing a semicircle in the air with the Lihuo sword, Zhou Yi unleashed a chilling sword Qi. The Miao tribesman continued charging forward for two meters before his body split directly into two halves and tumbled into the blood pool.

With a single stroke of sword Qi, Zhou Yi had cleaved the Miao tribesman in half.

Delayed by the two obstructions, the infant thrown by the Miao tribesman was now less than a meter away from the zombie. The zombie and the baby were closing the distance rapidly, and even at his fastest, Zhou Yi could no longer reach the child in time.

A cry of anguish echoed in his heart; he had to abandon this young life because he was powerless to save it. He dared not look at the infant's face, fearing that if he did, he would never forget those tender features, and the child would become an eternal sorrow etched into his soul—a lifelong pain.

Yet, despite his reluctance, his eyes betrayed him, acting independently of his will. He glanced instinctively at the infant. That single glance caused a deafening roar in his mind as if he had been struck by lightning: this baby was none other than Zhou Danjiang, whom he had spent nearly a month searching for in anguish.

Zhou Danjiang could not die. Even if he had to sacrifice his own life, he would not let this child perish.

"Save him!" Zhou Yi shouted, but by then Zhou Danjiang was already in the zombie's grasp. The zombie parted its bloody jaws, its sharp fangs descending toward Zhou Danjiang's neck.

"Save him!" By the time Zhou Yi tried to rush forward, it was too late. He could only plead with others to rescue Zhou Danjiang.

Just then, Mingyu struck with lightning speed, thrusting his palm directly into the zombie's mouth. Expecting to bite into tender infant flesh and sweet infant blood, the zombie instead encountered Mingyu's withered, bone-like palm and its golden blood brimming with Buddhist power.

Daring not drink Mingyu's golden blood, the zombie hastily released its bite, yet its arms maintained a death grip around Zhou Danjiang. When Mingyu lunged forward to snatch the child, he failed to pry him away in a single attempt.

Taking advantage of this delay, Zhou Yi arrived and slashed the Lihuo sword directly at the zombie's neck. Although the zombie possessed a body of bronze and iron bones, Lihuo's strike left only a faint trace upon its skin.

The zombie merely paused slightly at the impact, showing neither evasion nor defense as Lihuo thrust toward it again. With a crisp *ding*, the sword struck the zombie's chest, yet failed to pierce its flesh.

Though the zombie was blind and lacked eyes, its head tracked the movement of the Lihuo sword. Looking down at the blade pressed against its chest, the creature still made no move to dodge.

Intent solely on rescuing Zhou Danjiang, Zhou Yi failed to notice anything amiss with the zombie. Sweeping his left arm around, he pulled Zhou Danjiang safely into his embrace, wheeled around, and struck down two more obstructing Miao tribesmen along the way.

"This is Zhou Danjiang! You must ensure his safety!" Zhou Yi shouted these instructions as he handed Zhou Danjiang over to Muchen. This child was of paramount importance; everything else paled in comparison.

Having entrusted the boy to Muchen, Zhou Yi turned back, ready to resume the fight. Upon turning around, however, he found the zombie standing right behind him, looking slightly dazed, making no move to attack, but simply staring at him blankly.

No, to be precise, the zombie was staring intently at the Lihuo sword held in his hand.