Laughter had just begun to echo when the female Flying Zombie tearing at the petals suddenly lifted her head.

Her face, once filled with sorrow, now twisted into a sinister and cold expression, her eyes brimming with murderous intent as she glared at Xu Taiping’s clone.

“Whoosh!”

In the blink of an eye, her hair, which had been as soft as silk, suddenly shot forward like steel needles, aiming straight for Xu Taiping’s clone.

The clone shattered, dissipating into mist.

Failing to sense any blood, the female Flying Zombie grew even more frenzied, letting out a painful roar as her hair wildly danced above her head.

The five disciples of the Ancient Yue Sword Sect, who were about to descend the stairs, witnessed this scene.

“We… we’ve been duped by that kid!”

Sister Sun cried out in alarm.

“Whoosh!”

But before she could finish her sentence, countless strands of hair had already pierced through her chest, with blood slowly trickling down the strands.

“Brother…”

She reached out to Zhou Xiyu in front of her.

Upon realizing what had happened, Zhou Xiyu, without a second thought, kicked Sister Sun away and swiftly flew back upstairs.

“Boom!” Sister Sun’s body was torn to shreds by the female Flying Zombie.

Immediately after, the female Flying Zombie’s hair, as if alive, began to rapidly spread along the stairs, walls, and floors of the Listening Wind Pavilion, soon enveloping the entire building.

And with that, Xu Taiping’s view of the scene was cut off.

“With those Ancient Yue Sword Sect disciples, they should hold up for a while.”

Xu Taiping withdrew his focus and popped a Gathering Qi Pill into his mouth.

A vast surge of spiritual energy quickly filled his nearly depleted meridians.

Once again, he cast the cloning spell and handed a jug of wine to his clone.

Now his clone could last a bit longer, but its capabilities remained largely the same as before: running errands and scouting.

“Bang!”

Just then, another metallic clang echoed from the courtyard.

Turning his head, he saw the male Flying Zombie strike Lin Buyu’s robe with his cleaver.

Just like before, Lin Buyu’s robe withstood the blow.

But this time, instead of a mere tear, a large piece was ripped away.

Seeing this, Xu Taiping could no longer hesitate and immediately commanded his clone to leap down from the courtyard wall.

“Zoom!” To Xu Taiping’s surprise, almost the moment his clone touched the ground, the male Flying Zombie whirled around, his cleaver striking down on the clone like lightning.

With a “boom,” the clone shattered once again.

As the clone was controlled by his soul, having it destroyed twice in quick succession made Xu Taiping feel dizzy and nearly caused him to lose his concealed state.

The male Flying Zombie seemed to sense something and began to look around the courtyard.

But at that moment, the jug of wine in the clone’s hand dropped to the ground with a “clack.”

The male Flying Zombie’s attention was immediately drawn to the fallen jug.

When it hit the ground, the lid came off, and the wine quickly spilled out, its unique aroma of Dragon Gall Wine filling the small courtyard.

Xu Taiping himself didn’t know much about wine, but according to Fairy Lingyue, even the most ordinary wine, once infused with dragon gallstone, could rival the finest of liquors.

After smelling the aroma, the male Flying Zombie’s fierce gaze softened considerably.

However, instead of guzzling the wine as Xu Taiping had imagined, the Flying Zombie held the jug to his nose and kept sniffing it.

Xu Taiping’s heart grew anxious at the sight.

“Fairy Lingyue mentioned that dragon gallstones are rare even in their world; by all accounts, this male Flying Zombie shouldn’t have tasted Dragon Gall Wine before,” he muttered to himself.

At the same time, he was preparing for plan B—engaging the male Flying Zombie directly.

While it was risky to confront the male Flying Zombie head-on, it didn’t mean there was no chance of success.

“Gurgle…”

After sniffing the jug several times, the male Flying Zombie finally tilted his head back and poured the Dragon Gall Wine into his mouth.

Xu Taiping breathed a sigh of relief.

This jug of Dragon Gall Wine had been diluted many times by Xu Taiping; it retained the flavor of the wine, but the spiritual energy within was almost negligible.

The reason for such heavy dilution was the fear that the power of the Dragon Gall Wine might enhance the strength of the Flying Zombie—if that happened, it would indeed be a case of losing more than what was gained.

“Sss…”

After a sip, the green-faced, fanged Flying Zombie suddenly showed a look of sheer contentment, his eyes surprisingly delighted as he gazed at the jug in his hand.

His demeanor was strikingly similar to that of the female Flying Zombie who had been admiring the white crystal chrysanthemums, like an ordinary person encountering something they loved.

“Could it be that these Corpse Ghosts still retain some humanity?” Xu Taiping wondered with a hint of surprise.

But he quickly dismissed the thought.

According to the sect’s records, Corpse Ghosts were often formed from dead bodies, devoid of humanity and now existing like beasts.

“Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle…”

Seemingly savoring the taste, after taking a few sips, the green-faced, fanged male Flying Zombie suddenly picked up the jug and began to drink heartily.

Seeing this, Xu Taiping completely let go of his worries.

Clearly, the male Flying Zombie was quite pleased with his Dragon Gall Wine.

With a light leap, Xu Taiping silently landed in the courtyard.

The male Flying Zombie was completely intoxicated by the Dragon Gall Wine, oblivious to the additional presence in the courtyard, and continued to pour the wine into his mouth.

Seizing the moment, Xu Taiping no longer hesitated and quickly approached Lin Buyu.

Lin Buyu’s robe was clearly a sentient object; sensing Xu Taiping’s presence, it immediately retracted the protective runes that had been surrounding Lin Buyu.

Xu Taiping had seen spiritual treasures protect their owners many times before, so he wasn’t too surprised.

Of course, he didn’t have time to ponder.

After picking up Lin Buyu, he swiftly turned and headed towards the courtyard wall.

As he moved, he glanced at the male Flying Zombie from the corner of his eye and saw that he had put down the jug and was sitting on the ground in a daze, his expression vacant.