Chapter

"He's so handsome; he shouldn't be a bad guy who kidnapped me."

The young girl tilted her head, whispering to herself.

"My name is Lin Xuan, a student at Wushi University. Yesterday, I went out shopping, and suddenly, a strange gust of wind blew from nowhere. Before I could even react, I passed out."

"When I woke up, I was already here. I haven't seen anyone else, and just now, I thought you were the one who had brought me here..."

Li Moxuan frowned, feeling impatient as he listened to Lin Xuan prattle on.

"How talkative!"

He scanned his surroundings, paying little attention to her.

Lin Xuan pouted, her eyes welling up with crystal-clear tears. She even let out a soft whimper.

Li Moxuan felt a massive headache coming on.

He had come to investigate the disappearance of the construction workers' corpses and, incidentally, to track down the Yin-Yang Stones that had been stolen. He hadn't expected to run into such a nuisance; with this delicate, pampered girl in tow, he wouldn't be able to get anything done.

Li Moxuan looked at Lin Xuan. She was putting on a display of fragility, like a lost little lamb. Since she was about the same age as his younger sister, and he hadn't intended to look for trouble in the first place, he felt a flicker of compassion and softened his tone.

"And then?"

Lin Xuan pursed her lips obediently. "I thought I had been kidnapped. It’s so gloomy and terrifying here, I’m so scared... Mister, are you here to save me because my daddy sent you?"

Li Moxuan’s face darkened. "Am I that old?"

Lin Xuan quickly changed her tune, grinning sheepishly. "Brother, heh-heh..."

Li Moxuan suppressed his frustration. "No. I don't know who your father is; I just happened to be passing through."

"Huh? You don't know my dad?"

Li Moxuan replied testily, "Is he that famous? Why must I know him?"

Lin Xuan lowered her head, looking a bit dejected. "Not really. But can you save me? I’ll reward you!"

Li Moxuan looked her up and down, offering a faint smile. "How will you reward me?"

Lin Xuan noticed his gaze and her face flushed red. "I... I can give you money!"

If there was a reward, that was fine. "How much are you offering?"

"One thousand five hundred..."

Li Moxuan rubbed his chin, looking troubled. "One thousand five hundred? That makes things difficult for me..."

Lin Xuan quickly shook her head. "No, no, no! I hadn't finished. It's fifteen million... That’s all the pocket money I have on me. If that’s not enough, once you get me out, I’ll ask my father for more!"

Li Moxuan froze, his eyebrows arching upward.

*What the hell?*

*Pocket money?*

Fifteen million is called pocket money? Does she have a misunderstanding of what pocket money is? He couldn't tell she was that wealthy. It seemed she wasn't from an ordinary family. Perhaps the person behind this had a different motive for kidnapping her.

Regardless of what they were after, fifteen million was enough to cover Li Moxuan's fee.

Li Moxuan beckoned to her. "Follow me."

Seeing that he was going to take her with him, joy lit up Lin Xuan's face. She patted her chest, still shaken, climbed off the stone bed, and hurried to his side.

But before they could even leave the room, Lin Xuan’s watery eyes widened in terror, and she quickly ducked behind Li Moxuan.

"There are monsters..."

Li Moxuan slowly raised his gaze.

Several figures were walking slowly down the long, dark corridor. They moved with stiff, jerky motions, their faces twisted in hideous expressions, and a foul, putrid stench wafted from them. Yellowish-green corpse fluid dripped from their bodies as their pale, cloudy eyes stared unblinkingly at Li Moxuan and Lin Xuan.

Looking closely, one could see they were missing limbs; some had half their skulls crushed in, while those without legs dragged themselves along the ground, leaving long, bloody trails behind them.

The horrific sight turned Lin Xuan pale, draining the color from her face.

"Z-zombies!"

Li Moxuan shook his head. "Zombies only form after absorbing Yin energy to cultivate; they are invulnerable to blades and possess infinite strength."

"Judging by their clothes, these must be the workers who died at the construction site. Their corpses are being controlled by some secret technique; at best, they're just walking corpses."

Lin Xuan asked, still trembling, "Did they kidnap me?"

Li Moxuan shook his head. "They are being controlled, too. The one who grabbed you must be the mastermind."

Lin Xuan pouted pitifully. "Who could be so heartless as to hurt someone as cute as me?"

Li Moxuan: "???"

He looked at her, his lips twitching in silence. *'Busty and brainless'—the saying is definitely true. All her nutrients went there, and not a single bit of intelligence grew.*

"Roar!"

The dozen walking corpses suddenly lunged forward, claws extended, rushing at Li Moxuan and Lin Xuan in a frenzy.

"Ah..."

Seeing the terrifying scene, Lin Xuan covered her eyes, panicking and looking for a place to hide.

Li Moxuan simply flicked his right hand.

A golden light flashed and vanished in an instant. The dozen corpses froze in place as if they had been hit by a paralysis spell.

Just as Lin Xuan was about to curiously ask what had happened, the bodies of the walking corpses disintegrated, crumbling into a pile of fragments.

Lin Xuan gasped in shock. "Wow, that's amazing! Brother, are you a superhero?"

Li Moxuan waved his hand dismissively. "Let's go."

"Okay!" Lin Xuan followed him, skipping along excitedly.

After they left, footsteps echoed in the cave once more. An old man with gray hair walked into the stone chamber. Seeing the remains of the walking corpses, he gritted his teeth, his jaw making a crunching sound.

Veins bulged on the old man's forehead. "Good, very good. I only stepped out for a moment, and someone has broken into my territory and taken the girl. I will not let them off."

The old man sensed the lingering aura in the room and frowned. "Such powerful spiritual energy... to wipe out all my walking corpses at once. Could it be a Golden Core practitioner?"

"Perhaps it was someone from the Lin family who saved the girl. I didn't think the Lin family had anything of substance."

A cold sneer tugged at the corner of his mouth. "However, this matter won't be that simple."

...

Not long after, as the sun began to set, Li Moxuan returned to the construction site with Lin Xuan.

Lin Xuan was like a little bird released from a cage, chattering away with excitement, pulling at Li Moxuan to ask endless questions.

"Brother, are you a superhero?"

"Do you know Spider-Man?"

"Are you close with Iron Man?"

"Or are you an immortal? Was that immortal magic? Can you teach me?"

Li Moxuan began to suspect there was something wrong with the girl’s head. He even felt the urge to sew her mouth shut.

...

At the construction site, Xiang Peng and the others were still waiting anxiously.

"Director Xiang, Master Li is back!"

Everyone looked up. They saw Li Moxuan returning, accompanied by a fair-skinned, petite girl.

Xiang Peng rushed over excitedly. "Master Li, you’re finally back! Who is this... young lady?"

*How did one person go out and come back with an extra?*