The ten zombies floated low beneath the trembling firelight. Their bodies cast long shadows that crawled across the stone walls of the abyss and immediately struck at the courage of the Taoist cultivators. The faces that had only recently regained color became tense again. Shoulders that had relaxed after the earlier victory turned rigid, and breaths that had grown easier became short. “Run,” someone shouted. “I do not want to die here. Find somewhere to hide.” The formation broke almost immediately. Several inner courtyard disciples collided with the stone wall and fought over narrow gaps between the rocks, as though the darkness there could protect them from creatures that no longer needed to breathe. One cultivator slipped while turning too quickly. His knee struck the ground, and although pain drained the color from his face, he continued crawling toward the side of the cl

“That sound again,” Wang Lei whispered as his hand closed tightly around the hilt of his sword. Another cultivator turned in a slow half circle, searching the darkness around them.“Who is he really?” the man hissed. “If that truly is the heir of the Black Bat King, why is he only playing with us?”“This is not a game,” Chen Yu shouted, loud enough to make several people look at him. “Do not lower your guard.”His warning came too late. The cheers that had filled the abyss died instantly, and a heavy silence fell over the burial ground.Every pair of eyes turned toward the remains of the zombies scattered across the sand. The blackened pieces began to move.At first, only one finger twitched. Then the bones of an arm slowly rotated in the sand, while a severed leg dragged itself back toward the rest of the body.No one spoke. They stared as though their eyelids had forgotten how to blink.Crack. Scrape. Crack.The sound of shifting bones echoed against the stone walls. Pieces of shoul