The darkness of the night stretched on without end.
The mood on the tour bus was getting tenser by the moment.
The red numbers on the digital clock continued to tick forward. Finally, it was exactly half-past four.
Everyone sat up in alert. Their gaze was spirited and their bodies bristled with a battle-ready aura.
The two teams had agreed to meet at half-past four. The other team of Taoist masters had already arrived at the predetermined location. They were waiting for Tang Hao’s group to launch their frontal assault so that they could attack from the back.
An elderly Taoist master with silvery-white hair stood at the front of the bus.
Even though he was as thin as a skeleton, he had an intimidating aura around him.
He had two machine guns and a belt of hand grenades slung on his shoulders.
He turned around and looked at the rest with a steely gaze.
“I think all of you should know… the thousand-year grudge between Mao Mountain and the Wang family will come to an end today. We will remove this poisonous blister from the face of the earth, once and for all.
“Over the past few hundred years, the Wang family changed their family name to Xu and have done many evil deeds that brought pain and suffering to innocent people. As Mao Mountain cultivators, it is our duty to eliminate them for the good of humanity.
“That has been our Mao Mountain ancestral tenet: Defeat evil for the good of humanity. It has been our moral anchor over generations, and that is what all Mao Mountain disciples strive to achieve.
“The ancestral tenet has exhorted the future generations to wander the land, cleansing it of evil.
“Tonight, we shall fulfill it to our very best!
“Let me ask all of you, are you ready to make our ancestral teachers proud?” The elderly Taoist master shouted agitatedly.
“We are ready!” The other Taoist masters were also excited.
“Are you afraid of death?”
“No!”
The Taoist masters shouted, carrying determined expressions on their faces.
“Alright! Move out!” The elderly Taoist master commanded sternly.
The buses slowly drove out of the valley and onto the main road. It picked up speed as it drove toward Horsebridge Village.
The elderly Taoist master’s speech earlier had stirred Tang Hao’s feelings.
Even though the Taoist masters were eccentric and sometimes behaved like hooligans, they nonetheless possessed a strong sense of justice and fought for what they believed was right.
He sat in his seat and started meditating to prepare for the upcoming battle.
He did not have any more jade talismans on him, but at least he still had his sorcery.
He was determined to capture Wang Changsheng and eliminate his descendants this time.
The hours before dawn were the darkest.
The two buses sped on the road and into the village at full speed.
The sentries that the Wang family posted at the village entrance noticed them. Someone rushed out from one of the farmhouses and shouted at the buses, “State your business!”
The two buses stopped and the Taoist masters rushed out. The Taoist master charging in the vanguard lifted his gun and fired a bullet.
The person fell.
Another Taoist master followed up the attack with a rocket-propelled grenade to the house.
Boom!
The brilliant firelight lit up like a blooming flower, illuminating the night sky.
The explosion alerted the entire village.
“Go go go!”
The elderly Taoist masters waved their arms, signaling everyone to charge. The group rushed toward a mansion that was next to the mountain.
That was the entrance to the Wang family base.
They fired rockets at the mansion as they drew near. Explosions rocked the mansion and agonized screams could be heard.
The Taoist masters moved very swiftly. The Wang family descendants did not have time to react.
About twenty seconds later, the shrill ring of an alarm echoed throughout the cavern complex.
“Mao Mountain is here!” Someone shouted.
Wang family descendants rushed out from their rooms in the living quarters and ran toward the arsenal to retrieve their weapons.
In a cavern, a row of oil lamps lit up, illuminating an array of black coffins arranged along the walls.
The coffins were arranged tightly in rows and stacked on top of each other. There were also bronze coffins in the middle of the cave.
The coffins started shaking as the oil lamps lit up. The lids exploded open and a zombie rushed out of each coffin. Some of them were green zombies with green hair all over, and there were also hairy zombies with pitch-black fur.
There were too many of them to count.
Next, the bronze coffins in the middle of the cave opened. Hairy zombies in ancient armor and brimming with negative qi] pounced out of them. They held ancient weapons in their hands and looked incredibly savage.
Their eyes glowed red and inspired terror.
Very soon, zombies filled up the cave.
The cave door opened. A bell rang in front of them, leading them toward the exit.
Tatatat!
A firearms battle erupted at the entrance of the mansion. Both sides fired at each other from behind cover.
Bullets fell like rain, while explosive rockets and grenades exploded.
The Taoist masters were spread out, while the Wang family descendants were concentrated in the mansion. They were easy targets for any explosives. In a few minutes, they began to suffer casualties.
The zombies finally arrived. They rushed out of the mansion with the guidance of the Corpse Summoning Bell and pounced at the Taoist masters.
The Wang family descendants also rushed out of the mansion with the zombies protecting them and started fighting with the Taoist masters at close range.
The real battle had just begun.
The Taoist masters shouted and charged ahead, wielding yellow paper talismans, peach wood swords, and all types of sorcery.
Between the two, the Taoist masters were the stronger cultivators, especially the elderly Taoist masters. They waved their hands and bolts of lightning shot out from them.
Wherever they pointed their hands, the green zombies there would explode like paper dolls.
Some of the hairy zombies could not withstand their attacks as well.
With the elderly Taoist masters taking the lead, morale was running high.
However, there were also many powerful cultivators in the Wang family. They were elderly men with silvery-white hair and they brimmed with negative qi.
They rushed forward and engaged the elderly Taoist masters in battle.
The battle intensified.
Tang Hao scurried around amid the battle, moving as fast as the wind. As he waved his hands, bolts of lightning and waves of frost shot out at the green zombies.
Even the weaker hairy zombies could not withstand his attacks.
He grabbed a guandao from one of the hairy zombies. He swung it in an arc, and blood spurted from a Wang family descendant.
He whirled the guandao around, raising a whirlwind of blood and gore.
He was like a sharp sword that pierced into the heart of the Wang family.
“Hah, you little villain, where are you going? Prepare to die!”
One of the elderly Wang family descendants pursued him.
“What did you say? You’re the villain!”
Tang Hao rolled his eyes, thrust the guandao at the person, and bombarded him with sorcery. The elderly figure had to retreat, and soon, he spewed blood from his mouth.
“Dammit, he’s a little villain indeed!”
The elderly figure exclaimed fearfully.
He turned around and prepared to run away.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Tang Hao roared and immediately gave chase.
He slashed the guandao at the fleeing figure, then blasted him to bits with lightning.
