The Geared Immortal

New Journey: Chapter 4

/*unedited*/

Outside the village from within the mist-covered forest, countless concourses of undead creatures sluggishly advance forward. Slowly decaying skin riddled with hundreds of wounds combined with the strong stench of death coupled with their already coagulated blood dripping on the ground making the scene into something from a horror movie. The number of the undead beast was too numerous and as many of them drew closer to the village; the ground itself seems to shake in fear.

Moaning sounds and clattering of bones permeated the air which signaled the coming of a huge disaster for the people of Xiling village. But this scene didn't deter the cultivators inside; instead, they harden their resolve to fight. They know that as long as the wall stands their chance of survival is high.

"They're here! The undead monsters are here! Everyone prepare to fight!"

Suddenly shouts of people from the wall came can be heard. But what made the people suddenly felt despair is that the shout comes from all the corners of the village. This only means one thing; they are surrounded on all sides. Escape is impossible at this time around.

"Damn it! Why are there so many of them? Doe this means that the whole forest in this area has been conquered by the undead beasts?"

"Were doomed! This… I… We… we must escape. Maybe we can go through a part of those beasts."

"Are you crazy? Look at the number of those undead beasts. Do you think you can go through that?"

"Everyone! We must hold on. We can do this! Trust in your abilities…"

As different reactions from the cultivators began to come out, it made the whole village erupt into chaos. Everyone is thinking of saving their own lives, this is due to the unexpected number of the undead beast tide.

Before the undead beast would just attack one side of the village and the cultivators were able to survive through that ordeal. Then it became tougher but at least the attacks are constantly on just one side. But now that all the sides are being sieged, many began to panic as this would thin out their ranks and strength.

"Village chief, we must divide the troops. I will take a squad to the front gate as that is where many of these creatures seem to appear. The rest of you fan out and protect the other sides." The leader of the mercenary group said to the village chief.

With a nod, the village chief goes with the plan and began to command the other cultivators to follow the mercenary leader's orders.

On the other hand, the group of people belonging to the last wagon also followed a group they wanted. Jin Fu went towards the gate, Beiwei and Chu Tang went to the east side, Bok Du and the two other men went to the west, while Old man Jugs went to the south. Shin Jiao was left in the wagon with Lin Ya and little Hao Fu.

When the cultivators saw the incoming horde of the undead beast, they began to use throwing weapons towards the horde. Using this tactics many of the undead beasts immediately fell without even reaching the walls.

But it is still not enough to stop the horde that mindlessly pushes forward. They even crushed those who stood have fallen on the ground, into meat pastes.

"I guess this is what you call mindless horde, luckily for us all we have to do is make the front lines fall and those at the back would do the rest. Even though they are undead they would still die being crushed. Hahaha…"

"I never thought that this would be so easy. But the number of these things is not to be scuff at."

"You worry too much, just throw those damn spears. All you have to care about is taking them down."

"Okay, okay…"

The cultivators above the wall's feeling of nervousness suddenly vanished after seeing the clumsy and suicidal slow advance of the horde. And so they continue to throw the wooden spear to make the undead beast fall. This tactic of theirs is already a known effective way to chip off a large amount of beast. And from the looks of it, it is very effective.

As time goes by the cultivators on top of the wall found that the sticks are almost out but still the number of the undead beasts seems to be endless. They seem to be just pouring out from out of the mist, like a flood of nauseating dead flesh crawling out from hell.

"We're almost out of wooden spears. We need to use our weapons! This is it guys!"

The people from the wall shouted as they prepare their own weapons. Every time a cultivator throws their last spear they would immediately unsheathe their weapon.

"Wait! It's not yet over. Let us take it from here." Suddenly the mercenary leader from the Roc's Eye merchant caravan shouted.

His voice was heard all over the four corners of the village.

"Everyone, take out your flying swords! Prepare to attack!" the mercenary leader shouted.

Upon hearing this, the mercenaries who are just standing behind the village cultivators who were throwing their spears walks forward. Then with a wave of their hands, two flying swords suddenly appear beside them. These flying swords are just simple and basic flying swords, but it is strong enough to make the undead beast fall.

Plus a flying sword is more accurate when it comes to attacking. As they are connected to the spiritual sense of the wielder of the swords, so it is easier to use and attack. The only problem is that, the range of its attack depends on the range of a cultivator's spiritual sense.

So at most they can only use the flying swords when the undead beast reaches 500 meters. But those in the gold core realm are different as their spiritual sense range is longer than others. And so the assault of the mercenaries began. Shining flying swords flew unhindered in the battlefield as they would fly across the undead beasts at the front cutting their legs to make them fall.

Seeing that the mercenaries are effectively lessening the number of the undead beast, everyone began to shout with excitement.

"Hurray! We can do this! We can get rid of the undead horde… Cheers to the Roc's eye mercenaries!"

Everyone began to shout out in glee.

As time went by, the villagers suddenly noticed that the mercenaries who are currently attacking began to slow down their offense. Each of them seems to have expended a large amount of their Qi. This is due to the large consumption of the flying sword. If a person is not familiar with using flying swords, one wouldn't be able to control it perfectly. And so with this, the attack on the horde began to slow down.

"Screw this, let's fight them head-on!" Suddenly someone from the west wall shouted in a loud voice.

Then the cultivators in that area saw three figures jumping down from the wall. Then they began to attack those undead beasts one by one. And they became successful in taking them down; the three men are Bok Du and his companions.

Like human walls, Bok Du and the two others were successful in stopping the advance of the undead beasts. Every swing of their sword an undead beast will surely fall. When the cultivators saw this they became excited, they suddenly feel like they can do it. They can eliminate the undead beast like what Bok Du and his companions are doing. And so with this, the rest of the cultivators standing atop the wall jumped down.

When they hit the ground they immediately rushed towards the undead beasts and began to slice the legs of the beasts. Since the undead beasts are just walking sluggishly they became target practice for the cultivator's weapons.

"This is too easy. I never would have thought that this is possible!"

"I guess our fears made us cower in fear."

Everyone became excited in making the undead beast fall.

Unknown to them from within the horde, many red eyes are currently watching them. When they left the safety of the wall, these things seem to feel happy all of them immediately rushed forward.

"Everyone you must be careful not to move forward or you'll lose your lives." Bok Du warned.

He seems to notice that everyone in this village is too lax when it comes to fighting.

Bok Du is a native cultivator of a clan in the far southern part of the kingdom of Wu. Their clan lives in a hot desert, where its environment is harsh, full of sands and many poisonous beasts that ruled the desert. Because of the danger from where he grew up his attitude when it comes to fighting is strict. Raised as a warrior, his hands are already drenched in blood since young. Battles would always make his blood boil and give him the drive to fight more, it's like drugs that would make him feel wanting more.

Suddenly something strange happened, a cultivator who is currently swinging his weapon and attacking a lizard-like undead beast, disappear without a word.

Then from the side Bok Du suddenly noticed two hands appearing, with his quick reflexes he unconsciously tilted his body to the side. Then two clawed hands appear out of nowhere from within the undead beast horde and in just a blink of an eye, it disappears just as quickly. Bok Du suddenly felt the hair on his back stand on end upon seeing those half-rotten clawed fingers.

It clearly belongs to a human, not only a normal human but a cultivator. From the speed, it attacks he can deduce that the undead is a gold core realm cultivator just like himself. Bok Du immediately gathers his wits before him and immediately ran.

"Go back! All of you go back to the walls!"

Bok Du shouted as he ran back, his two companions also followed suit as they also saw what happened.

"What! What's going on, why are they retreating?" a cultivator suddenly asked in confusion as he continuously hacks through the crowd of undead beasts.

No one answered him, when he turns his gaze to the side he found that no one is there. He tried to look for his companion but he saw no one. When his gaze return to the front what greeted him are two bloody clawed hands and a rotting face of a person.

But before he can react his whole figure became petrified in fear upon looking at the eyes of the undead being. The bloody claws closed in on his neck and he let himself get dragged towards the undead beast hordes and his figure disappears just like that.

When Bok Du reached the wall, not more than ten people were left. This means that their companions have been taken by those things.

"Damn it, what are those things? They're not beasts but humans."

"We… we… we have to go back and save them."

"Are you crazy? We barely made it out alive."

"Damn those things, we have to warn the village."

The people who were able to come back immediately ran towards the walls to warn the village.

Meanwhile, on top of the wall, Jin Fu continuously sends his own flying weapon to attack the incoming horde. With his precise and accurate control of his Qi, he is able to last as it didn't require him to expend that much effort. While attacking, he continuously scans his surroundings for any unforeseen events. His cautiousness bore fruit when he suddenly noticed something lurking from within the horde. Those things are almost invisible to one's spiritual sense as the number of the horde is far too many.

With his acute sense honed through training in his sect, he was able to detect those things easily though not accurately.

"If the horde reaches the wall, then this village might be doomed." Jin Fu muttered.

He already has an inkling of what would happen and that this attack has been orchestrated by someone or something. But he didn't turn back as he knows that if the village falls then both his son and wife would be in danger.

"Everyone, don't let them reach the village walls. Gather all your strength to stop them from their advance." He shouted as he continuously controls his sword and hacks down on the undead beasts which are now just a hundred meters away from the walls.

…

On the wagon, Shin Jiao continuously sends his spiritual sense to see what is happening in the area. With the range of his spiritual sense, he can cover the whole battlefield and beyond at almost 5 kilometers. Then he noticed multiple human figures standing atop a hill.

"Those must be the perpetrator of this undead beast tide. Hmm… what's that?" Shin Jiao muttered as he noticed something.

What Shin Jiao noticed from the borders of his spiritual sense is a figure clad in black cloak. The aura of the person emits a unique Qi which seems to belong to an essence… a dark essence.

"This might explain things… that is pure dark essence. Maybe this is one of those essences, but judging from the aura it's too weak to be one… hmmm… artificial essence?" Shin Jiao mused.

Ling Ya on the side heard Shin Jiao's muttering and showed a worried look on her face.

"What do you mean, dark essence? You can feel the dark essence coming from outside?" Ling Ya suddenly asked interrupting Shin Jiao's train of thought.

"Hmmm?" Shin Jiao unconsciously asked.

"Umm… what was your question again senior?" Shin Jiao asked as he was suddenly woken from his stupor.

"You were muttering about dark essence. Are you sure about that?" Ling Ya asked with anxiety in her voice.

"Ah… yes, I can feel that these things are being controlled by a dark essence." Shin Jiao answered.

"This is bad, we have to… No… no… I think you can help me. Help me construct an array formation; we will set it up right outside of the wagon. I think I have an idea on how to stop those things, but we have to hurry!" Ling Ya said anxiously.

"Okay tell me what to do." Shin Jiao said.

"Hao'er you need to stay inside the wagon, don't worry mommy will be right here. I won't let you be in danger, okay?" Ling Ya said to her son whose head is leaning on her lap.

"Yes mother." Hao Fu replied.

Shin Jiao followed Ling Ya outside of the wagon as she takes out many array flags. She then set up the formation which would act as a deterrent and protection to their current situation. Shin Jiao helped her putting the flags up.

"Hmm… this is a new array. I guess my knowledge in arrays is not yet complete." Shin Jiao thought as they continuously arrange each formation flags in their right order and place.

Meanwhile, the undead horde has already reached the walls as the cultivators on top, did their best to stop them from progressing so far. But the horde is truly numerous that even with the effort of each cultivator it is not enough to stop them.

Then suddenly a large amount of energy coalesces from within the horde.

"Incoming attack! Everyone! Jump out of its way!" shouted one of the cultivators.

When Jin Fu hears this, he didn't think twice and just flew up dodging the huge energy blast which destroyed the wall made of rocks.

Upon seeing this, his eyes turn into slits as he eyes the source of the attack. And from his vantage point he noticed a figure clad in black and using just one hand was able to exert such power which destroyed the main gate along with the walls of the village. This created a huge whole where hundreds of undead creatures began to pour in.

"Damn it! We've lost this fight! Everyone retreat! Retreat!" Jin Fu shouted as he continuously attacked the beast pouring into the huge hole in the wall.

He intends to buy some time for the cultivators to be able to run back. Then all of a sudden he saw that from within the pouring horde, human figures suddenly came out. Their eyes are glowing like ember and their bodies emaciated. The tattered robes they are wearing say that they are cultivators who were turned undead.

But what made Jin Fu felt cold sweat pouring down his back is the cultivation strength of the undead cultivators, all of them are in the late stages of the gold core realm.

Their numbers seem to be more than the cultivators defending the village. Then he saw that, even though they are undead and somewhat stupid. Their fighting prowess is not something to scuff at.

The retreating cultivators also saw this and different emotions can be seen on their faces.

"It seems that these undead cultivators are from this village." Jin Fu muttered.

But he has no time to think about this situation as his priority now is to save his wife and son. So he immediately turns towards the location of the wagon and flew towards it. But before he can move, several figures suddenly appear floating while surrounding him.

"You… strong… we… kill…" the voices said in unison.

This didn't only happen to Jin Fu as the others are also surrounded by the undead cultivators.

"Do you think you can stop me?" Jin Fu said with confidence.

He then quickly drew out another sword from his spatial tool as his other flying sword immediately flew back towards his hand. He now wields two swords as he prepares to face the undead cultivators surrounding him.

Though the undead cultivators look thin with their flesh falling off their bones, however, Jin Fu knows that these things are far more powerful than ordinary cultivators.

"You want to kill me? Then come!"