Mr. 010

"Grab them! Don't let them get away!" a hot-headed youth suddenly shouted.

"Charge! Catch the zombies and split the reward!"

The old mayor chimed in, "Those who put in the work... will get an extra share of the profits later."

Fang Zhiyi added at just the right moment, "I've prepared paper talismans and glutinous rice over there. Everyone grab a handful, and be careful not to get bitten..."

Before he could even finish his sentence, a dozen men had already charged out. They were immediately followed by a swarm of townsfolk, terrified of falling behind and missing out.

The zombies were stunned. First, they had been hit by something unknown, and now their food was actually charging at them?

"Is this safe?" Yan Wushuang asked, looking worried.

Fang Zhiyi shook his head. "Maybe, but who would turn down money?" He patted Yan Wushuang on the shoulder. "Besides, I can cure corpse poison. Scratches, bites—I can fix them all. My fees are just a little high, that's all."

"You..." Yan Wushuang was speechless for a moment. He suddenly suspected that the people who had led the charge and incited the crowd might have been plants arranged by this unscrupulous master...

Wearing a smile, Fang Zhiyi picked up the megaphone again and continued directing the townsfolk on how to pin down the zombies' limbs.

"Quantity leads to quality," Fang Zhiyi mused as he watched the remaining zombies get tackled one by one. Their arms, legs, and necks were pinned down; some people had even brought out lassos used for catching wild boars. Even with their immense strength, the zombies couldn't struggle free. More and more people swarmed them—dozens pinning down a single zombie—leaving the creatures unable to fight back. "Generally speaking, it is fear that defeats humanity, while courage and unity lead us to victory."

Yan Wushuang looked at Fang Zhiyi skeptically. He was just about to speak when a terrifying roar pierced the air.

A tall, looming figure emerged from the darkness.

Fang Zhiyi narrowed his eyes. "The appetizers are finished; here comes the main course." He suddenly dashed forward, moving so fast that Yan Wushuang didn't even have time to react.

"This big one is mine!" Fang Zhiyi shouted. He knew that if the townsfolk showed even the slightest hesitation now, the tide would turn instantly, and the situation would descend into a massacre.

His words made the fearful townsfolk pause. Seeing Fang Zhiyi rubbing his hands in excitement, they were suddenly reminded of the economic value of the zombies. "Master Fang! You can't handle it alone, can you? I'll come with you!"

But they had all underestimated Fang Zhiyi's speed. The burly zombie could cover a great distance in a single hop, closing the gap in just two breaths, but almost simultaneously, Fang Zhiyi was already standing in its path.

"A zombie." Fang Zhiyi's eyes lit up; he hadn't seen something this interesting in a long time. "And a Hairy Corpse, at that."

The towering zombie seemed a bit bewildered by the way Fang Zhiyi was sizing it up.

Realizing that the human before it clearly didn't take it seriously, the Hairy Corpse let out a roar and lunged ferociously at Fang Zhiyi. Fang Zhiyi dodged nimbly. With a flick of his wrist, a peach wood sword appeared in his hand, and he instantly thrust it at the creature.

The Hairy Corpse reacted with incredible speed, twisting sideways to avoid the blow and swinging its arm back, generating a powerful gust of wind. Fang Zhiyi stumbled, nearly losing his footing. He quickly steadied himself, chanting an incantation under his breath. A yellow paper talisman appeared in his left hand, and he slapped it toward the zombie.

The Hairy Corpse opened its mouth and inhaled, actually swallowing the talisman whole. Fang Zhiyi was startled—you really aren't a picky eater, are you? As expected, a zombie at the Hairy Corpse level had no fear of such things.

After swallowing the talisman, the Hairy Corpse attacked again. Fang Zhiyi dodged left and right, but still sustained a few bloody scratches.

Just as the creature closed in again, Fang Zhiyi suddenly pulled a handful of glutinous rice from his robe and scattered it over the zombie. Struck by the rice, the Hairy Corpse shrieked in pain, its movements slowing slightly. Seizing the opportunity, Fang Zhiyi charged forward and drove his peach wood sword hard into the zombie's chest. The creature roared in pain and grabbed Fang Zhiyi's arm.

Fang Zhiyi struggled free, simultaneously delivering a kick to the zombie's stomach. He used his full strength, yet it felt like kicking an iron plate. The Hairy Corpse stumbled back a few steps, and the two sides fell into a standoff once more.

"What a rush." Fang Zhiyi suddenly laughed. He hadn't had a proper fight in many worlds; to think he'd find something here that let him stretch his legs. It was a pity this world didn't have cultivation; otherwise, he would have loved to test if cultivation techniques would work. But come to think of it, if cultivation existed here, the thing in front of him would probably be a Hou.

"Roar!" The Hairy Corpse lunged again. Fang Zhiyi sidestepped, extending one hand while placing the other behind his back, striking a classic, showy pose straight out of a martial arts movie.

This pose drew a cheer from the townsfolk behind him. As expected of Master Fang! Even against such a powerful zombie, he remains so elegant!

The Hairy Corpse turned and pounced. Fang Zhiyi brought his hand out from behind his back, and a gunshot rang out.

The bullet embedded itself right between the zombie's eyebrows.

Before the creature could react, several more shots rang out in rapid succession. Yan Wushuang had sharp eyes; at first, he was confused as to how his service pistol had ended up in Fang Zhiyi's hand, but confusion quickly turned to awe—Fang Zhiyi was hitting the exact same spot with every single shot!

By the fifth shot, the impact forced the previous bullets deep into the Hairy Corpse's skull!

Its defense was broken.

The zombie's agonized howl instantly echoed through the area.

Fang Zhiyi didn't let his guard down for a second. Are you kidding? This wasn't a movie. Celebrating too early would be a fatal mistake!

The bullets had been coated in rooster blood beforehand—a trick he had prepared behind Yan Wushuang's back.

So, the crowd watched as Fang Zhiyi chased the fleeing Hairy Corpse, firing continuously. At one point, he even ran back to grab a machine gun before resuming the chase, spraying bullets at the towering zombie.

The zombie, which had looked so terrifying moments ago, now looked frankly... pitiful.

Everyone gulped as they watched. They had never realized Master Fang could be this brutal.

Even the other zombies that had been struggling seemed to stop moving.

They sensed a far greater terror.

Finally, looking at the Hairy Corpse whose head was completely gone, Fang Zhiyi spat. "Times have changed! Try being invulnerable to blades and guns now! Don't you know that brute force works miracles?" After his rant, he turned around to find a sea of shocked and adoring gazes.

"Gunmanship is a form of Dharma; ballistics is a form of the Tao. Excellent, excellent..." Fang Zhiyi quipped. He had won this vicious battle. Qingxi Town had won, and they had won through courage.

The scenes from the original timeline, where everyone was scared witless and hunted down by these zombies, would not happen.

This night was recorded on the stone tablet of Qingxi Town: Fang Zhiyi, along with Captain Yan Wushuang, led the townsfolk to capture several zombies. The Zombie King resisted arrest and was executed on the spot by Mr. Fang using "Taoist Arts."

The next day, the townsfolk were still talking excitedly about the events of the night. Immediately following was the public trial. Seeing the cat burglar Nightingale and Lin Adai bound tightly, the townsfolk's sense of justice was reawakened.

"Hang them!"

"String them up!"

"Shoot them!"

"Feed them to the zombies!"

"Huh?" Everyone turned to look at the person who had shouted that. You know... that actually wasn't a bad idea!

Nightingale looked at the townspeople before her—who were currently clamoring for her blood—with an expression of utter grievance. "I stole for your sakes! How can you repay my kindness with such ingratitude?"

"Bullshit! Who wants your filthy money?"

"You got me thrown in jail for a day, and I'm a completely innocent man! If it weren't for Master Fang, I'd still be locked up!"

"Doing 'good deeds' with stolen loot... You truly are a saint."

"You... you bunch of ingrates!" Nightingale was fuming. She turned to look at Lin Adai beside her. "Your master is cold-blooded; he won't even save you!"

Lin Adai remained silent, merely scanning the crowd relentlessly, hoping to catch a glimpse of his master.

"What 'good deeds'? You simply use 'robbing the rich to feed the poor' as an excuse to soothe your guilty conscience after stealing," Yan Wushuang concluded.

Nightingale refused to accept this. She was a savior! A paragon of virtue!

Fang Zhiyi finally made his appearance. He began by sighing and lamenting his poor judgment in taking on two disciples who had gone astray. Then, right there and then, he announced that he was severing the master-disciple bond with them.