"How… how are you here?" Liu Ru was the first to exclaim.
They were definitely familiar with the face—it belonged to Fang Gu, the one who had chosen to pick a bridge on his own!
Mo Fan was stunned as well.
He could not tell whether the person before them was the Ancient King, Ying Zheng, or Fang Gu who had chosen the correct bridge, as his aura was completely different from before!
"What's happening? Why are you sitting there?" Zhang Xiaohou asked in disbelief.
"Why can't I be sitting here?" Fang Gu laughed.
"Where's the Ancient King?" Su Xiaoluo blurted out.
"I am the one you're looking for."
"You're Fang Gu."
"Not anymore. Everything is exactly as I speculated. The real Ancient King has already passed away with the passage of time. All that remained was a battle robe attached to his corpse, and the Blood Emperor Throne capable of commanding the kingdom of undead." Fang Gu rose to his feet, the armored robe clanking loudly with each movement.
"What do you mean?" Mo Fan asked.
"The first person to reach this place inherits everything from the Ancient King—his White Palace, and the kingdom of undead raised by his own hands. He possessed an endless supply of energy and unmatched wisdom…" Fang Gu's voice echoed across the altar, carrying a strange metallic undertone.
"Then what are you doing sitting there? Hurry up and drive the undead army and the Mountain Zombie away! Stop the Dark Abyss from drifting into the city!" Su Xiaoluo said urgently.
Fang Gu burst into laughter upon hearing her words.
His laughter was extremely unsettling. Although the sound came from his throat, it felt as if something beneath his skin was producing it.
"What are you laughing at?" Su Xiaoluo snapped.
Zhang Xiaohou quickly pulled her back, signaling her to stand behind him.
Seeing his stern expression, Su Xiaoluo immediately realized something was wrong and retreated a few steps. Damon stepped forward, taking the lead of the formation.
"How amusing! My soldiers, my generals, and my officials are reclaiming the city that belongs to me. Why would I stop them?" Fang Gu's laughter grew even more eerie.
The group could no longer tell whether this was Fang Gu wearing the battle robe, or the Ancient King, Ying Zheng, resurrected through Fang Gu's body. Either way, his ghastly appearance and warped voice made one thing clear—he was not friendly.
"Is he Fang Gu or not?" Su Xiaoluo whispered.
"I'm afraid not," Liu Ru replied.
Liu Ru could easily sense the presence of living humans. The truth was, she felt no living aura coming from Fang Gu at all.
Fang Gu might have believed the Ancient King was truly dead, that by wearing the battle robe he would inherit everything. However, judging from his twisted expression, it seemed Fang Gu was the one who had been inherited instead…
"What do we do now?" Su Xiaoluo whispered.
They had gone through immense hardship to reach this place, only to find that Fang Gu had turned into something like this. He had never intended to stop the calamity—or perhaps he had been wicked from the very beginning. He had always been evil!
"Blood… I need more blood." Fang Gu's eyes suddenly turned hollow, as if his pupils had been gouged out. It felt as though something ghastly could crawl out of his eye sockets at any moment!
He rose to his feet. His movements were stiff and sluggish, yet a violent stench of blood poured out from his body. His open mouth made it clear—he intended to devour them alive.
"He's turning into a zombie!" Liu Ru retreated swiftly, dragging the other two with her.
At first, Fang Gu still carried a faint trace of humanity. His words suggested he retained fragments of his memory, but now his scent had completely transformed into that of a zombie.
He was no longer a living human, but a monster that had rotted away after lingering in the tomb for countless years. Even his soul had degenerated into a greedy phantom!
Fang Gu was dead—his soul replaced. What remained was nothing more than an empty shell, no different from the zombies outside the tomb.
Fang Gu, clad in the battle robe, lunged forward, his hands transforming into long claws tipped with blue nails. Su Xiaoluo was his first target.
Fresh blood—more fresh blood was needed! To resurrect the Ancient King, the blood of his descendants was required. Su Xiaoluo, a pure-blooded descendant carrying the Ancient King's lineage, was exactly what he needed!
"He hasn't acquired the Ancient King's true power yet—kill him!" Liu Ru shouted.
Fang Gu's aura was extremely sinister, but it was not as overwhelming as expected. Perhaps his body and soul were unsuitable vessels for the Ancient King, turning him into nothing more than a zombie-like puppet.
Turning a living human into a zombie was an extremely terrifying form of Black Magic.
Damon, who stood at the front, did not hesitate when he saw Fang Gu charging forward. He threw a punch straight into the dead mage's face, then grabbed his body and slammed Fang Gu's head into the ground, crushing it completely.
Damon's hand was bathed in blood. He did not release Fang Gu's shattered head—instead, his fingers dug in deeper.
Memories from the novel resurfaced in Damon's mind. The first individual to wear the robe became a sacrifice, corrupted by the Ancient Emperor. The second individual—another descendant of the King—would inherit the Emperor's complete power and command the empire of undead.
In the original timeline, it was Zhang Kong who stopped Zhang Xiaohou from being sacrificed. He wore the robe instead, seized control of the undead empire, saved Xi'an, and was ultimately corrupted by the Emperor's soul.
The battle robe writhed violently on the ground as Damon pinned Fang Gu's body down. His senses detected the terrifying power hidden within the robe, and he finally made his decision.
"Devour…"