Chapter 18: Corpse Puppet Banyan
(This novel is translated and hosted on Bcatranslation)
The night was deep, and darkness spread unchecked.
In the distance, beast-like roars occasionally echoed, sending chills down the spine.
Lin Ze sprinted through the desolate streets at full speed.
In less than ten minutes, he arrived at Panlong Bay Resort, eight kilometers away.
The resort’s entrance was wide open, the door frame stained with splattered blackened blood. Scattered around the ground were numerous darkened skeletal remains.
Scenes like this had become all too common. Lin Ze remained unfazed as he turned to the layout map beside the entrance.
The resort was an irregular polygon with a central scenic lake, around which various functional areas were arranged. The entire compound sprawled across an extensive area.
Thanks to the Vampire Clan’s extraordinary memory, Lin Ze memorized the entire map in just half a minute before stepping through the entrance.
The resort was divided into six main zones: residential, dining, leisure, entertainment, hot springs, and more. A main road extended northward from the entrance, running through the entire resort and connecting each area.
According to Zhuang Rui’s information, the Martial Dao True Stele was located in the golf course within the leisure and entertainment zone.
Relying on his memory, Lin Ze followed the main road for over four hundred meters before turning right onto a secondary road.
The asphalt and cobblestone pathway was lined with an assortment of flowers, sculptures, fountains, and pergolas—all crafted from natural stone and wood, blending seamlessly with the surrounding environment. It was evident that meticulous care had gone into the design.
Unfortunately, no one remained to appreciate the beauty.
Under the night sky, these statues, fountains, and pergolas appeared like twisted, clawing phantoms, amplifying the eerie atmosphere.
Tap! Tap!
A strange sound echoed ahead.
Lin Ze halted, narrowing his eyes.
Seven or eight figures stumbled out from the shadows.
Their movements were stiff, their bodies resembling corpses—some rotten, some with bones jutting out in unnatural angles, as if the dead had risen.
Their pale skin was overlaid with vein-like blue-gray patterns, and their faces were cracked like aged tree bark, barely retaining traces of their former features.
“These must be the monsters Zhuang Rui described.”
“Zombies? No, they don’t seem quite like that.”
A flicker of surprise crossed Lin Ze’s eyes.
Before he could analyze further, the creatures snarled and lunged at him. Their previous sluggishness vanished as they suddenly moved with the speed of tigers and leopards, even surpassing Blood-Eyed Wolves.
Lin Ze remained fearless, charging forward like a predator into a flock of sheep. The Tang Blade in his grip erupted with a storm of blade light, flashing like lightning in the air.
In just a few breaths, the dazzling slashes ceased.
Seven or eight headless corpses thudded onto the ground.
“They’re fast, with explosive power. Their bones and flesh are incredibly tough—without infusing the blade with True Qi, it’s impossible to decapitate them in one strike.”
“The only weakness is the head. Other fatal injuries have no effect.”
With that brief encounter, Lin Ze had gauged their strength.
They were stronger than Blood-Eyed Wolves, likely falling between Life Energy Level 4 and 5.
In terms of the Rock Sect’s Martial Apprentice ranking, they were equivalent to Third- or Fourth-Rank Martial Apprentices.
No wonder the survivors at Manlan Hotel dared not approach.
Even just these seven or eight creatures would be impossible for an ordinary survivor group to handle.
“I wonder how many of these things are in the resort.”
Lin Ze’s gaze flickered as he pressed onward.
Along the way, he encountered more than a dozen of the creatures and dispatched them with ease.
About four or five minutes later, Lin Ze stopped, taking a deep breath at the sight ahead.
Before him lay an expansive golf course, but instead of green grass, it was covered by a dense layer of corpses.
Bodies lay hand in hand, shoulder to shoulder, head to foot, forming a carpet of death that stretched across the entire golf course, leaving no gaps.
At a glance, there had to be thousands of them!
Since the Apocalypse, Lin Ze had seen countless horrific scenes, but none had shocked him as much as this.
The thick stench of death was suffocating, pressing down on his chest like a boulder, making it hard to breathe.
But soon, his gaze was drawn to the massive tree at the center of the course.
It was a banyan tree, towering over thirty meters tall.
Its twisted trunk was thick and covered in dense black patterns, resembling squirming veins. The outstretched branches curled like giant arms, intertwining in a grotesque manner.
Its leaves weren’t normal green foliage but scaly, violet-glowing leaves with serrated edges, which trembled slightly in the breeze, emitting a soft rustling sound.
“Corpse Puppet Banyan!”
A sudden flood of Heritage Information made Lin Ze instantly recognize the monstrous tree.
The Corpse Puppet Banyan was a plant-type monstrous beast, thriving in cold, damp, corpse-ridden environments.
As long as it had access to fresh corpses, it could grow from a seed to a towering tree in just a few days.
It lacked combat strength but was immobile once it began growing.
However, it could implant its parasitic seeds into human corpses, transforming them into Corpse Puppets under its control.
These Corpse Puppets retained fragments of their former instincts, moved with agility, and never tired—serving as its guardians and weapons against intruders.
Lin Ze quickly pieced together the situation.
This resort must have seen countless deaths during the Apocalypse. Somehow, a Corpse Puppet Banyan seed was brought here by a monstrous beast, setting off a horrific chain reaction.
Once the Corpse Puppet Banyan took root, it only needed a few Corpse Puppets to gather more bodies, exponentially expanding its army.
Gazing at the thousands of Corpse Puppets, Lin Ze felt his scalp tingle.
In terms of individual combat power, the Corpse Puppet Banyan was far weaker than a Savage Type. But once it amassed an army of Corpse Puppets, its threat level surpassed most Savage Types.
Even the Black-Armored Python or Frost Blade Leopard would be ripped apart by such overwhelming numbers.
Luckily, the Corpse Puppet Banyan’s control range was limited. If its Corpse Puppets strayed 500 to 1,000 meters away, they would revert to lifeless bodies.
Without this restriction, Weifeng City might have already fallen under its rule.
“Just my luck—such a troublesome monster.”
Lin Ze clicked his tongue.
“But where’s the Martial Dao True Stele?”
Scanning the golf course, he quickly spotted it in a corner.
With his sharp eyesight, he could make out the inscriptions:
The first line was expected—‘Martial Dao’s Foundation, True Essence Art’.
The second line read ‘Forbidden Golden Armor’.
“A defensive technique?”
Just as Lin Ze hesitated whether to proceed, a sudden violent rustling erupted from the tree’s center.
Rustle! Rustle!
The Corpse Puppet Banyan’s branches trembled wildly, shedding countless leaves.
At the same time, the corpse carpet began to writhe.
Countless corpses twisted upright, their hollow eyes locking onto Lin Ze.
Then, with deafening roars, they swarmed toward him like a tidal wave!