Good thing she had the protective robe on, so the fall didn’t cause much damage.

But her collision completely drew the attention of the Hairy Zombie.

With a “clang,” the Hairy Zombie’s longsword trembled, and it gracefully stabbed towards Lin Buyu.

Although it was a simple sword move, the speed was incredibly fast, concentrating all its power on the sword tip. Even with the protective robe, Lin Buyu was still knocked back by the force of the sword.

“Boom!” At this moment, Xu Taiping had already lifted the stone door and rushed towards the Hairy Zombie like the wind. With a swift draw of his blade, he met the long-haired Hairy Zombie head-on.

“Clang!”

The clash sent the Hairy Zombie rolling back.

Xu Taiping himself was also forced back several steps by the force transmitted from the Hairy Zombie’s sword.

He was slightly surprised. After all, he wasn’t wearing the iron weights and had released the turbid energy from one of his acupoints, so his strength should have been much higher than that of an ordinary Hairy Zombie.

“Clang!”

At this moment, the Hairy Zombie charged again with its sword.

Its swordsmanship was exquisite, leaving Xu Taiping momentarily unsure how to counter it. In the end, he resorted to brute force, using a powerful slash to meet the attack.

“Clang!” The Hairy Zombie was sent flying by Xu Taiping’s strike.

But to Xu Taiping’s surprise, his wrist and chest bore two sword wounds.

Judging by the depth of the wounds, if his body hadn’t been toughened enough, those strikes could have been fatal.

This made Xu Taiping regard the Hairy Zombie with newfound respect.

“Kid, this Hairy Zombie’s swordsmanship is ancient and profound. It was likely a disciple of the sect that once occupied these ruins. Try to immobilize it temporarily, and I’ll use my flute to control it.”

A voice sounded behind Xu Taiping.

From the tone, it was undoubtedly Lin Buyan.

Xu Taiping nodded, then suddenly exerted force with his feet, rushing to the just-risen Hairy Zombie. Before it could steady itself, he landed several punches on its joints, shattering them.

“Roar…”

The Hairy Zombie fell to the ground, but even so, it continued to roar angrily.

But even for a Hairy Zombie, it would take at least a cup of tea’s time to restore those shattered joints.

“Sister Buyan, you think this Hairy Zombie might have been a disciple of these ruins?”

Xu Taiping squatted down to examine the Hairy Zombie closely, asking without turning his head.

“The swordsmanship it used just now is very similar to some ancient sword techniques I remember. Modern cultivators rarely use such methods.”

Lin Buyan rarely spoke so seriously.

While answering Xu Taiping, she took out a bamboo flute and began to play.

Under the flute’s melody, the malevolence in the Hairy Zombie’s eyes visibly dissipated.

Seeing this, Xu Taiping let out a sigh of relief and began to scrutinize the Hairy Zombie’s appearance.

At first glance, he noticed that this Hairy Zombie was different from those he had encountered outside. Unlike the others, its body was almost intact, with no visible damage.

Upon closer inspection, he found that apart from its pale and gaunt face, it looked no different from a normal person.

Judging by its attire and the remnants of earrings, it seemed to be a woman.

“No wonder Sister Zi Yan emphasized it was a female corpse.”

Xu Taiping muttered softly.

At this moment, the flute music in the cellar ceased, and the Hairy Zombie’s eyes became vacant, staring blankly at the ceiling.

“As long as we don’t attack her, she will ignore us for the duration of a stick of incense and go about her usual activities.”

Lin Buyu walked up to Xu Taiping.

But from the tone, it was likely Lin Buyan speaking.

“What else do Corpse Ghosts do besides seeking blood?”

Xu Taiping was curious.

“That’s ordinary Corpse Ghosts. If a powerful cultivator’s body becomes a Corpse Ghost, even if their soul and memories are gone, their body will remember some of the things they did in life, especially those repetitive daily activities.”

Lin Buyan explained.

“So you want to observe what this Corpse Ghost does to find clues related to these ruins?”

Xu Taiping speculated.

“I hate smart-ass kids like you.”

Lin Buyan rolled her eyes at Xu Taiping.

But as she said this, Lin Buyu took control of the body.

“Ignore her, let’s go.”

Lin Buyu said to Xu Taiping.

Xu Taiping nodded, then clapped his hands and stood up.

“Let’s find those Dragon’s Teeth Fruits first.”

Finding the Dragon’s Teeth Fruits was their immediate priority over exploring the secrets of these ruins.

Lin Buyu nodded.

She took out a jade box from her sleeve.

As soon as the lid was opened, the dim cellar lit up like daylight.

Inside the jade box was a Night Pearl.

“Let’s split up and search.”

After silently marveling at the wealth of the Sixth Peak, Xu Taiping glanced at Lin Buyu.

“I’ll take the east, you take the west.”

Lin Buyu nodded.

…

As they had speculated earlier, the cellar was indeed a storage for herbs. However, most of the herbs had decayed, indicating their long years of storage.

But what puzzled them was that despite searching around, they couldn’t find the Dragon’s Teeth Fruits the Hairy Zombie had taken.

“Thud!”

Just as they were at a loss, the Hairy Zombie suddenly stood up and hopped past Lin Buyu and Xu Taiping.

It completely ignored them.

Xu Taiping and Lin Buyu exchanged a glance and followed it.

Soon, the Hairy Zombie stopped by a shelf on the east side of the cellar.

It reached out and moved a wooden box on the shelf, then rhythmically knocked on the wall behind the box three times.

With a rumbling sound, a mechanism activated in the cellar.

Next, Xu Taiping and Lin Buyu saw the floor in the center of the cellar slowly open up, revealing a dark entrance.

“So there’s another level.”

Xu Taiping looked at Lin Buyu with some surprise.

“All thanks to me…”

“Let’s go down and check.”

Lin Buyan was about to jump out, but Lin Buyu held her back.

Xu Taiping nodded.