Chapter Seventy-Five: The Iron-Capped Zombie

Sun Licheng gazed at the deathly stillness seeping from the mine entrance, feeling a bit uneasy. But reminding himself he was a man with a home to return to, he gritted his teeth, hefted his broadsword, and stepped inside.

Within the cave, darkness reigned so absolute that one could not see a hand before one’s face. Fortunately, both Sun Licheng and Mr. Dexterous possessed night vision, rendering them untroubled by the gloom. Every so often, Mr. Dexterous would light a torch and plant it in the wall. Since the undead abhorred light by their very nature, the torches not only illuminated their path but also served to ward off weaker undead, sparing them much trouble.

With the experience they’d gained in the mountain valley, Sun Licheng and Mr. Dexterous moved in practiced harmony, cutting down any obstacles in their way. Strangely, they encountered no formidable foes and soon reached the mid-lower levels of the mine. Here, a heap of corpses lay strewn about, the aftermath of a fierce battle apparent.

Sun Licheng instructed Mr. Dexterous to stand guard while he approached, flipping over a prone corpse with his sword. The goblin was fully armored—clearly a minor leader. Turning him over, Sun Licheng saw the face was mottled blue-black, a clear sign of poisoning.

“Is this corpse poison?” Sun Licheng wondered aloud.

At first, he feared these bodies might suddenly leap up and attack, so he kept a wary watch for some time. However, nothing untoward occurred.

Seeing there was no danger, Sun Licheng and Mr. Dexterous pressed deeper into the cave. Their calm did not last long. Just as Sun Licheng began to relax, a chilling roar shattered the silence, and several dark figures lurched out from the depths of the mine.

To say they ran would be an exaggeration—their movements were sluggish at best.

As Sun Licheng took a closer look, he realized these were four zombies.

Zombies—the most formidable beings in the undead legions, ubiquitous in both movies and television. Yet what baffled Sun Licheng was that, upon seeing them, he felt not fear but a strange sense of kinship.

“How odd. Have I somehow developed an immunity to zombies? Maybe it’s from playing too many zombie games and watching too many horror films,” he mused, scratching his head in confusion.

As the zombies drew nearer, Sun Licheng noticed they were much taller than goblins or goblin-kin, those short creatures standing barely a meter and a half. These could very well have been orcs in life. At the head of the group was an armored zombie, clad in tattered leather and wearing a battered iron helmet. His body was largely intact except for the missing jaw, from which a limp tongue lolled like that of a hound. In his hands, he wielded a hefty broadsword—more like a hay cutter, judging by its size and weight.

The other three zombies trailing behind were far more shabbily equipped, each with only a battered iron helmet for armor. Their swords were short, broken, and their legs appeared damaged, causing them to lurch awkwardly and move even slower than the armored zombie.

Suddenly, there was a crack—a zombie with only a skeletal leg seemed to trip, breaking its bone, and crashed to the ground, sending its sword spinning into the air.

Sun Licheng was dumbfounded. This was nothing like the zombies on TV! Could such miserable creatures actually count as second-tier units in "Heroes of Might and Magic"?

Just then, the twang of a bowstring sounded by his ear. An arrow embedded itself in the armored zombie’s forehead with such force that it pierced clean through, leaving only the fletching visible. The zombie’s head snapped back violently, nearly toppling him.

“Nice shot!” Sun Licheng cheered at Mr. Dexterous’s marksmanship. But his eyes soon widened in disbelief.

The armored zombie, though momentarily stunned, simply straightened his head and continued to lumber forward, grunting and swinging his broadsword.

“This isn’t right. Isn’t shooting a zombie in the head supposed to kill it?” Sun Licheng was bewildered.

Two more arrows whistled through the air, striking the zombie’s body, but the creature remained unfazed.

“It seems close combat is the only solution,” Sun Licheng sighed, activating the magic array on his sword and charging forward.

As he rushed in, the armored zombie’s lips seemed to curl in a mocking sneer as he brought his massive blade down. Sun Licheng’s heart skipped a beat—the speed of that swing rivaled even that of Wall.

He twisted sharply to the right, narrowly dodging the blow, then retaliated with a swift backhand slash. The blade flashed, and the zombie’s head soared into the air—a signature move of Goblin Hero Calvin, now executed with full force by Sun Licheng.

Though beheading did not kill the zombie, the purifying magic array on Sun Licheng’s sword inflicted agony—the severed neck hissed and smoked as if corroded by acid, paralyzing the zombie’s body with convulsions.

Seizing the moment, Sun Licheng thrust his sword deep into the zombie’s chest. The blade pierced armor and flesh, impaling the heart. A burst of white light erupted as he unleashed the full power of his magic arrays, and thick white smoke poured from the zombie’s body until it was enveloped like a smoking chimney.

At last, the zombie’s body sagged. When Sun Licheng withdrew his sword, the headless corpse collapsed to the ground with a thud.

Relieved at having slain the armored zombie, Sun Licheng let out a long breath.

The death of their comrade did nothing to deter the remaining three zombies. They still staggered toward Sun Licheng, though their speed was hardly threatening.

Curious about the effectiveness of ordinary weapons, Sun Licheng deactivated his magic arrays and swung his blade at the nearest lame zombie.

With a crack, the zombie’s sword-wielding hand was severed. Sun Licheng’s sword danced again, and soon the crippled zombie was reduced to a limbless stump.

Staring at this stump, Sun Licheng nearly vomited—the torso still squirmed, grotesquely alive.

“Mr. Dexterous, he’s yours,” Sun Licheng called, before turning to dispatch the other two zombies.

By the time he’d hacked them into pieces, he looked back to see Mr. Dexterous dissecting the limbless zombie, rummaging through its innards.

The sight almost made Sun Licheng retch. He hastily turned away, suppressing his nausea with effort.

A moment later, Mr. Dexterous flew over to report: “The zombie’s brain is completely atrophied—there’s no function left, so even decapitation can’t kill them. They have a brain-like structure atop their heart; that seems to be the true control center. I checked—only piercing the heart destroys them completely. Otherwise, their limbs can reassemble, making them very troublesome.”

Only then did Sun Licheng realize the truth. Had he not been equipped with a purifying magic array, he would have had no way to deal with them—especially the armored zombie, who, despite his slow gait, was otherwise formidable.

“So, you really can’t trust everything you see in movies!” Sun Licheng sighed. The kind of zombies that died from a single headshot were weaklings compared to these, not even in the same league.

After cleaning up the zombies, Sun Licheng and Mr. Dexterous continued deeper into the mine. He was certain that at the bottom, he would uncover the secret behind the goblin tribe’s forced migration.