“Drunk?”

Regardless of whether the male Flying Zombie was actually drunk or not, Xu Taiping didn’t slow down his pace and continued to rush towards the courtyard wall.

“Boom!”

Just as he was about to reach the wall, a violent explosion sounded from the Listening Wind Pavilion ahead.

A sharp and miserable scream followed immediately.

The sound was piercing, as if it could penetrate one’s eardrums.

“The female Flying Zombie is injured?!”

Xu Taiping was shocked to his core.

If he wasn’t mistaken, the scream must have come from the female Flying Zombie.

But he didn’t believe that the disciples of the Ancient Yue Sword Sect had the ability to injure her.

“Boom!”

Before he could recover from his surprise, a mass of black clouds, like rolling waves, enveloped the entire Listening Wind Pavilion, including the backyard.

Xu Taiping, who had been thinking of scaling the wall to escape, stopped in his tracks upon seeing this.

The black cloud overhead was identical to the one he had seen on the teleportation platform!

“Danger.”

His instincts told him that stepping out now could lead to an encounter with something even more dangerous than the Flying Zombie.

At the same time, the Ghost-Sealing Talisman in his palm began to throb painfully.

Although he still wasn’t clear on why the talisman was hurting, one thing was certain—every time it throbbed, danger was imminent.

“Xu Taiping, don’t act rashly. I sense a terrifying presence searching this area. Don’t go out; find somewhere to hide!” Baiyu’s voice suddenly echoed in his mind.

Indeed, the ability of beasts to sense danger was far superior to that of humans.

With this, Xu Taiping was certain.

His feelings were correct!

Just as Xu Taiping was looking for something to hide behind, the male Flying Zombie, as if sobering up from drunkenness, suddenly stood up.

Xu Taiping tensed up.

But the next action of the male Flying Zombie took him by surprise.

The male Flying Zombie grabbed a large water jar and hurled it towards him, using a very stiff voice to shout, “Hide!”

After speaking, the male Flying Zombie no longer paid attention to Xu Taiping and, holding his chopping knife, charged towards the courtyard gate.

Xu Taiping was astounded, thinking, “Has the male Flying Zombie regained consciousness?”

He glanced at the large water jar beside him and then at the male Flying Zombie rushing towards the gate, ultimately deciding to hide.

He kicked the water jar high into the air and then sat down in the corner of the wall, holding Lin Buyu.

The water jar landed with a “bang,” perfectly covering both him and Lin Buyu.

Once seated inside the jar, Xu Taiping immediately began to conceal his aura.

Merely using the jar for cover was not enough.

But at that moment, the sleeves of Lin Buyu’s robe began to expand, enveloping both of them.

Once covered, he could clearly feel his aura being isolated.

“This robe of Buyu’s is actually a spiritual treasure; that’s a huge help,” Xu Taiping thought with some surprise.

With the robe isolating their auras, he didn’t need to use his own technique to conceal it and could focus on condensing the Red Crow Golden Flame.

Before understanding the goodwill of the male Flying Zombie, he had to find a way to protect himself.

And his strongest means of self-protection was, without a doubt, the Red Crow Golden Flame.

He quickly stuffed two Gathering Qi Pills into his mouth and began to condense the Red Crow Golden Flame in his palm, ready for any emergency.

Although the Red Crow Golden Flame was powerful, Xu Taiping needed at least the time it takes to drink a cup of tea to fully condense it, especially in the Ruins of the Cloud Dream Marsh, where magic was restricted.

“Bang!”

Just as Xu Taiping began to condense the Red Crow Golden Flame, the door to the backyard was suddenly kicked open.

Through a small crack in the water jar, Xu Taiping could see the female Flying Zombie, with her hair flying wildly, being blown back into the courtyard.

The courtyard’s flower racks and water jars were knocked over.

The male Flying Zombie, who had reached the gate, steadied the female Flying Zombie.

“Boom!” At that moment, a mass of black mist rushed in.

“Whoosh!”

Within the mist, a long knife slashed towards the female and male Flying Zombies.

The male Flying Zombie, without hesitation, met the blade with his chopping knife.

“Bang!”

With the collision, the black mist was dispersed by the male Flying Zombie’s strike.

A figure in a black robe appeared within the mist.

“Isn’t this one of the black shadows from the teleportation platform?”

Xu Taiping recognized the figure in the black robe in an instant.

He suddenly felt that his decision to hide for the time being was the right one.

“Clang!”

As the metallic resonance sounded, the black-robed man raised his long knife and slashed at the male Flying Zombie again.

In the instant the blade was swung, its shadow seemed to scatter like a startled flock of birds, relentlessly striking at the male Flying Zombie.

The male Flying Zombie, undaunted, met each strike with his chopping knife.

The shockwaves from their clashing blades sent everything around them flying, and even the ground trembled rhythmically.

Xu Taiping’s expression grew solemn.

From the power and speed of the strikes between the black-robed figure and the male Flying Zombie, it was clear that both had reached the pinnacle of martial mastery.

If it were just one of them, it might be manageable, but against both, he admitted he stood no chance.

“Crack!”

Suddenly, after clashing with the male Flying Zombie for six strikes, the black-robed figure’s long knife shattered.

“So you’ve actually found that Severing Water blade.”

After his own knife was broken, the black-robed man showed no anger or surprise, but rather delight.

“Whoosh!”

The male Flying Zombie, now completely frenzied, swung his chopping knife wildly at the black-robed man.

A seemingly ordinary chop, yet it carried a destructive force.

Even Xu Taiping frowned at the sight.

“Bang!”

Just as Xu Taiping thought the male Flying Zombie’s strike would severely injure the black-robed figure, the latter caught the blade, brimming with murderous intent, with just one hand.

However, when Xu Taiping looked closely at the black-robed man’s arm, his heart skipped a beat.

The skin on the man’s arm appeared charred, pitch-black as coal, and from the cracks in the skin flowed a magma-like scorching liquid.

Suddenly, a term that most cultivators on the mountain were reluctant to mention came to Xu Taiping’s mind—demonic cultivator.

Only a demonic cultivator would possess such a terrifying physique.