Chapter 4

Hua felt sore from sitting folded inside the cage like an animal. She supposed she is an animal to be slaughtered later for her meat. She looks around but find many people in the other cages all she could see are listless eyes of people who have lost hope. There is a separate cage though, the guards do not go near it as if avoiding it. She thinks whatever is in there is dangerous and thinks only by letting it loose can she safely kill the cannibals in the chaos.

Sure enough during the night she uses her fire which had reached 3rd level to melt the lock on the cage. The other captives are watching her without making a movement. They are light sleepers, she thought as she looks at the cage in the distance, there is a cloth covering it so no one knows what's inside.

She decides against opening it in case there's a snake or something. She turned to leave but heard a horse voice "Open it." She did. If it is a human being she will let it out. She went into the opening of the tent where there are two guards sitting on each side of the door, she used her gold powers to create shiny daggers and plunged them inside their throats and pulled them inside. The people inside are not making any noise but their eyes have gotten brighter.

The guy in the cage hasn't gotten out yet. Hua's body has been tempered by the spring water, coupled with her gold power she is stronger than a normal human, the experience from the past live makes her more efficient in killing quietly.

She goes into the tents of these people and slice the throat of those sleeping by themselves. She avoided the ones sleeping in pairs for now the night is quiet and since there is still a boss and a dozen of these men she is not letting her guard down.

She left the cooks and the other cleaning workers but she is not sure if she should, they were handling the human meat turning it to stew. That kind of expirience will change anyone.

She decided to go take down those sleeping in pairs next but she needs to be extra fast and precise since she is working alone. She chose the first pair which had been drinking alcohol while the next was a couple, she became fast and ruthless.

The third pair made noise and she had to adjust the plan. She still didn't hesitate to kill them though. These type of people are a cancer, the world is already like this but they go and do this. Eating people is just too unacceptable especially this early into the apocalypse.

The anger made her burn with renewed vigor as she slash and stab into the flesh of her enemies. A sound of fighting came from outside the tent she finished quickly and went to check the situation. She saw a beautiful scene of a single man against more than six people. He has a military dagger which was no doubt stolen from one of them.

He moved like lightning, zapping from place to place like a ghost of electricity, and she could see sparks of lightning in his steps as he dodges and stab people. He has found a new practical way of using his powers without draining himself. Just boost the body and use a knife. Cool. Soon the cannibals have lost four but she can see the exhaustion on his body. He was not being fed and probably hadn't had a sip of water for a long time.

The boss finally came out with a gun pointing it to the man fighting on the ground. Hua without thinking threw a gold throwing blade she just fashioned with her power. "There's another. The boss is down." The small sharp blade is lodged deep in his neck.

Now that they all came out she is in the dark and they are in the light but someone wanted to pick up the gun from the dead boss. However a lightning bolt left him chard and dead. there are still more than 9 people who hadn't fought yet. Hua got out of the tent and started slicing their throats and stabbing them soon three were left and they clearly wanted to run but Hua just used her lightning and killed them. She then left for the car without even checking if the man who was fighting bravely just now was okay.

"Luke." She knocked on the door and found it locked she wanted to know what is wrong. Why didn't he save her? Is he Alright? She had a bad feeling since hearing his voice. It sounded different even though she is aware he was using his mental voice it's still left her with worry. She started pacing.

"Hua you are back!" Luke opened the car and dragged her in when the sun came out. He looked tired. There's something else though, she can feel the vigilance in him. Like he is being watched. She had been right to think something is wrong.

"Those Hidden families have come in numbers this time. I went to check last night and the entire camp is surrounded by weird men in ancient clothing. I have been busy all this time because I was looking for a way to transfer some of the space to you. I don't know if it will work but I have to try."

"No!"

"Close your eyes. I don't have time." She subconsciously close her eyes and she feels a cut on her arm. "Don't open." He says and a bright light shines inside the car but soon disappears without a trace.

"Try to go into your space. Just think about going into a space." She understood it quickly and soon she felt her butt land on something hard so she opens her eyes and they widen. She is not in the car anymore.

She sees a vast land. From where she is she cant see the end of it. She looks around in wonder. There is grass and some small plants with small red and green fruits, she finds clear water. After being locked up and not given water she is thirsty so she takes a sip.

The water enters her mouth and she can feel the cooling sensation everywhere they pass. The cut from the car and the injuries from the fight in the tent are healed quickly. This is healing water. she screamed in happiness because in the last life some girl claimed to heal zombie scratches and bites with her water system but now she has such miraculous medicine.

She quickly got back in the car Luke was waiting "Is the space enough to keep half the things we collected?" He asks anxiously because he can feel two people approaching the car.

"I have never seen you anxious before."

"I am not anxious for me. Is the space enough?"

"Yes, more than enough but you haven't told me how.."

"Look, I can't waste time on your curiosity." He clasped her hand and soon many materials appeared on the open ground of Hua's space. She didn't feel anything.

After having space in his past live he experimented with what can be done. "Alright all the things are in there, I have you all the factory equipment we got last time. You go ahead and find yourself a safe place, I may take too long to find you again, try to be happy during this time. Indulge a little. With all the resources you have, the Apocalypse is not a tough place for you, you are like a mar nuvo richie. You should check the space but we have guests now. You go into your space I'll go greet our guests."

"Luke I can help, my injuries from the fight are gone. There's this clear stream of water in the space and they heal all the injuries." She said frustrated that Luke is treating her like a weak child.

"They want to kidnap me and keep me in their clan as some sort of healer, this is personal and I want them dead under my feet by my own hands, do you understand?" He looked at her with an expression of madness she felt her scalp go numb from the blood lust. She slowly nodded.

"You don't worry I still have Yue and Christina if I end up needing help they'll come but you I need you to drive out of here don't worry I have left my spiritual power on you I'll find you if I can. Then you'll tell me all about your adventures with the cannibals." He forces a smile but Hua can't take it. She tears up.

"You promise to find me alright?" She asks anxious. She doesn't understand it but she is worried about him.

"I promise. I will. Use these to hide the scent and breath on you so they can't find you, my spiritual mark on you makes it so no one else can mark you that way you don't have to worry about them locating you this way. Paste one of these on you and the car, they won't be able to see inside the car through their spiritual energy but when you go under cover as someone else, use these ones, it's a talisman that will turn your breath so you are not suspicious for having no breath and scent."

"Drive the car and then use cover when you get somewhere hidden. Put this car in the space and take out another car and then apply the fake breath and scent talisman. These potions I had made as a practice, you take one every 12 hours they change the appearance of a person to the color of the potion. As you can see the poison has three colors in one potion." Hua looks at these potions with curiosity, she never heard of such a thing in her last life.

"The bottom color is the color of your skin, the middle is the color of your eyes pupils, and last the color of your hair. Have fun with these okay?" She smiles knowing he is trying to lighten her mood. Her lips tremble slightly in sadness. Why can't they be left alone?

"You have everything, Remeber the cultivation manual I gave you will help increase your strength so you should start using it as soon as possible. I will first go to Huong city to settle down so you can go there if you want, or we can meet later at the base of your choice but I will not be staying in a place run by others, too many politics."

"That manual is for someone with a fire and lightning spiritual root These two powers will grow exponentially if you use this chant and meditate every day. You will advance faster but don't neglect your combat skills, don't get lazy and become some mountain monk." He says and she nods in understanding.

He was also shocked to find a manual specifically tailored for someone of her spirit root but then she is the protagonist after all. The Gold power aspect of her power is only really good for defense and Fashioning weapons on the spot, not to mansion the fact those who have gold and metal control powers have sturdy bodies and strong bones.

Because of this the novel had emphasized the two fire and lightning abilities while mentioning she is not a delicate flower, she had been training in her childhood and then got the gold powers.

"This.."

"Try not to show it to anyone else in fact memorize it and burn it. These hidden families will become your pain too you need to always have this talisman to hide the qi in your body." He gives her a different talisman. She takes it.

"Can I get like a few buckets of your water?" He asks

"Sure. I'll be back." She puts 10 buckets of water They are 10 liters each so it is easy for her to move it from her space and give them to Luke so he can transfer them into his own space. He can put things into other places spaces but he can't take them out.

Luke hugs her and then says good bye. Hua is lost how can she leave him knowing he is facing danger but she had promised to go.

.....

Luke is in the path to the forest. He changed his outfit to something combat effective, he doesn't have to worry about beasts and zombies following him since he has no smell right now. The people of hidden families followed him without hesitation since he is the one they are looking for. Only Yu found it suspicious that he is just following a non existing path into the woods after staying in a car all night.

But she is very confident this time. They not only brought the elite guards raised from infants to be the shield of their immediate family members. Each child can choose a few personal guards when they graduate from training. 16 of these guards are here today in order to encircle the man who refuses the honor of being a guest at the wholly land of Mu clan. The Clan had a reputation of kidnapping and imprisoning men and women of talent to work for them by force.

Yu Knows this to be true but only because their clan leader has the gift of foresight and can identify the appearance of these talents. This is mostly how the clan had survived the purge of the territory when other medium sized clans were being taken over by the greedy old clans, their clan silently went into seclusion for a few decades and simply came back when an accord was reached to cease the killing.

Yuan followed right after Luke the moment he saw him. This guy almost killed him last time now he wants to clear the fear heart demon by killing him and prove Luke had just been lucky last time. He doesn't care that the clan wants him alive he will just say it was during the struggle.

Normally cultivators are patient especially from their clan that specializes in observing and planning according to a situation. He is feeling very petty because the incident happened in front of his goddess Mu Yue. He clenched his teeth thinking about the fact he had to be saved by her at that time. For a top graduate of the elite guards in the Mu clan to not be the shield but instead having to be saved by his charge is unbearable humiliation.

Luke completely erased his presence after entering the forest. He then used the invisibility talisman to turn invisible now he'll just have to hold his killing Intent so they don't detect him. He is only at level 7 Qi gathering stage how can he go toe to toe with a group of combat ready cultivators? He will just have to fuck them in the back. After being sure of the place he picked he started creating false traces of him so the hunters will follow it.

Not long after he finished, he climbed up a tree a watched the group rushing in the forests and studied the clues he intentionally left for them. The foot prints and broken branches as if he had been running. "Spread around if you find him the old mistress will reward you generously. Remember we need him alive." They follow this guy's instructions as he alone follows the clue, he wants to grab the price for himself it seems.

Yu followed the leader as if she saw through his deceit. They walk fast but quiet and soon they reach the trap Luke had set for them. They can't see it but the air they have been breathing since they came inside this part of the forest is laced with a hallucinogenic solution. It will show you achieve whatever you want. While immersed in your hearts most celebratory moments the enemy will kill you.

The solution is called Dreams. Luke was able to make only five alchemy ingredients till now. The insects repelling power, the construction hardening solution, the fever concoction, the disguise potion he gifted to Hua and lastly this Dreams power. Dissolves in the air, colorless and tasteless. It can work on almost any body below gold core cultivation stages.

These people are all late stage qi gathering realm experts with the exception of one on the late stage qi refining, In this realm all the gathered spiritual qi is condensed and refined into thick and powerful version of the qi gathered in the previous realm. Luke is only on the 7th stage of qi gathering realm making him slightly stronger and faster than normal humans.

He will wait and then pick them one by one later. The Dream dust can cover 30 miles after a few minutes of waiting, the people below started laughing and acting like they are living the desired life. One of them was acting bashful and coquettish on his knees bumping his face against a tree repeatedly with his mouth open and eyes starring upward in a blissful expression.

Luke is speechless, "I give you a chance to live your deepest dreams and sucking on someone is the best you can do?" He just got down from the same tree feeling like he had been molested and slit the guys throat. He died with a happy expression.

Luke left the two most powerful people for last having killed at least 8 already who were under the influence. He was unlucky and found a battle maniac whose dream is to fight the strong warrior of his clan. Luke fought him only managing to divert the sword strikes slightly, this left him with many cuts as the sword would graze him while he avoided the vital points. Luke got annoyed at this guy.

He decided to hone his skill. He took the initiative to attack. The technique of this guy is not like his personality at all. It is like a wave of water, it comes and retreats when required. His attacks seem simple but when they land they are powerful and one can only passively defend. With the initiative taken from him the warrior did not panic but moved like a fish to avoid, he did not defend but avoided lightly at the last moment and continued to attack.

"I should have studied a movement technique." Luke spat a mouthful of blood after he suffered from the shock wave of power coming from the attack he had just avoided. This is going no where so Luke used the moves he just learnt from the sword technique. He made a stance and attacked, the power of his attack suddenly doubled and his sword carried a sharpness to it. Luke doesn't know but this light is a sword Intent. He attacked slashed stabbed and parried with the sword in his hands using the teachings of the technique.

The name of this technique is called a thousand pedals of the falling blossoms. Said to require a deep understanding so there will be sword lights in the shape of pedals falling on the enemy. The movements of Luke got fluid and accurate as this battle goes on. The other person still maintains a demeanor of a battle maniac. The more the battle goes on.

Soon Luke found the sword in his hand to emit a faint light that feels sharp and lethal. He feels he can control this light but it is a little willful and wants to play about so Luke let's it go. The light traveled upward on top of their battle and then a large blossom flower formed on the sky like a blooming flower. The beauty is enchanting but then one by one the pedals fell into the ground. Anyone watching would think it a shame.

Luke is having a battle that has helped him condense the first falling blossom so he is very excited. The pedals did not just fall and wither they each found a person to fall on their head, exploding that head with sword light by the way. Light ptt sounds rang in the forest. Luke had the upper had after condensing the falling blossom so it came as no shock that he won and stabbed the warrior in the heart.

"You fought brilliantly. Rest now." Luke used earth one of his powers he hasn't used for a long time and buried the young warrior. He walked into the place where the girl and the captain were only to find him standing there like a fool. What Luke saw next made his mouth have an o shape. The last pedal fell on top of this captain's head and it burst like a water balloon spraying his brain matter all over the ground. Luke stared at this scene with a foolish expression. "Beautiful." He mummers lowly.

The girl standing on the tree branch closed her mouth with the use of her hand in surprise at this turn of events. She wanted to find a way to ambush Luke but she is out of ideas. She was just leading this expedition as the high ranking clan member. She wasn't supposed to fight. However if she doesn't fight she will be killed here anyways.

She is still shocked if she is not wrong, that is the legendary sword light and intent. How does a line cultivator gain such insight without guidance from a master? She trembled at the prospect of this person being a once in a lifetime genius self taught She felt it in the battle just now, he is at level 7 primary level. Song ge was a well known battle maniac in the clan.

He had challenged all the disciples in his class and some of the seniors. He only came here because he had been stuck on his level without advancing to the foundation establishment. He wanted the foundation establishment elixir the clan would give him if he succeeded here.

That light. She subconsciously swallowed in fear. It was at the upper level of establishment realm in power. That is why it can kill the captain with ease

Luckily it seems he can only condense one flower or he would have used it as soon as they got inside the forest. The question is what to do now?

"You called?"

"We thought you forgot us."

"Stop that. Speaking in unison it's creepy." Luke says to the new comers. They look at her and both smile and told their heads to the same side in perfect sync.

"We know."

"Alright, I called you too so you can bring down the princess on the tree." Luke points at the tree Yu is standing on.

They look up and their eyes sparkle with delight. "Smells good."

"More like strong."

"Just bring her to me, preferably intact. Use weapons." He tossed them two swords for them to use.

"If we bring her will you take use with you when you go?" They both look at him. He realizes he had neglected them all this time. They are happy when they are close to him and he just left them for many days without seeing them.

"Do you want to live with me?" He asks not sure of their feelings. He can feel them but they are just confusing to him.

"We don't want to be separated from you. At least not for so long. We can live in a same community If not in the same house." Christina explains slowly.

"Alright. We can't go to the human base, one mistake and you'll be exposed and captured for experiment." Luke said with a thoughtful expression.

"We can live just outside the base by ourselves and you can live inside." Ma Yu says hesitantly, Luke can feel this is not what she wants.

"We can build our own place. But for now. Get that little girl for me to question. Be careful she is a strong cultivator." Luke takes out a cigarette and starts smoking.

It has been hours since he walked into the forest, an entire day has gone by and soon the night will embrace the world. He is contemplating if he wants to build a city, or a safe house but then when other zombies realize where they live they will be pray if they live by themselves without a strong army to protect themselves.

Luke has decided to take over the main D city and turn it into the great city of Huang. It just so happens he also hates politicians and those entitled rich people. This place will be governed by one person. Himself but it will be run by someone he trusts. He supposes politics have their necessity but he will kill anyone trying to ruin his work. This is to build a home for himself and not isolate himself too much from humans even though he wants to.

First things first, take care of the family trying to harass him. First he must make sure he is safe from them before continuing with his ambitious plan.

Luke sat on a tree branch waiting to see what happens with the woman who is clearly trying to run. He is not worried about his companions even though the woman is in the last stage of qi refining. They are zombies, and these cultivators don't seem to gave the teachings of the cultivators from the novels. They have skills but they must have lost something in the history because they remind him of the normal martial artist only with some extra skill such as ice, fire or a mental attack.

"They don't have anything to be so proud about. They didn't even recognize a talisman. Did their ancestors also burn all the books?" Luke mummers in disdain.

In truth, the in fighting for resources and the greed of the leaders in the hidden territory had harmed many houses including other influential families who took a page from the medical Valley and destroyed everything they owned. It got so bad that there were formations beneath all the treasures that are the main reason for greed. This was finally stopped when the Ye family which was the main drive behind all the killing and looting of other families in the hidden territory decided to stop after realizing the damage.

Luke doesn't care much about them he just wants them to leave him alone. He decided to use one of the talisman to erase his and his friend's presence in this place, lucky the field of concern is not too big. The two beauties high in pursuit of lady Ma Yu of the hidden Ma family. Yue is 6'1 long brown hair and beautiful brown eyes. She was married before and her husband had died protecting their son who was later killed by the woman of boss Feng.

She is a zombie now and her son is gone. She is looking at this young cultivator with hot eyes, she smells divine. Yue had a feeling that if she tastes this young women's blood she will be promoted in strength. The possibility makes her lick her lips in anticipation.

"Don't be greedy, do you want Luke to abandon us again?" Christina asks Yue with a straight face, however it is obvious that she is also holding herself back as well.

"I think he is testing us. To see if there is a difference between us and those mindless zombies out there." Christina says with clenched teeth. Ming Yue smiles and nod stiffly.

They look each other and both lunged at Yu who used ice on the ground so they will slip and loose balance. It works for a moment but the two zombies adjust easily and as if they are communicating with their minds they both stomp hard on the ground and then sprang up sword in hand both aiming at her vital points at the same time.

Ma Yu is calm as a lake and she took out her sword and blocked both attacks with quick reflexes. She then jumped up to make a distance between her and the two women still surprised they managed to crumble her jade crystal ice with a single stomp of their feet.

She realizes this is not going to be easy so she takes out her enchanted armor and glove putting them on in an astonishing speed and then attacking the stupefied opponents in the next second. Christina brought up a thick ice shield. She and Yue had been practicing using their powers during these days of boredom.

The princess of the Ma family had used most of her strength on this attack but she crashed on the ice wall and was flung a few meters away. Christina looks at Yue with a thankful smile. She knows Yue had used her telekinesis to blast the opponent away.

Yu got up a moment after she went down she then took a stance and attacked again but this time the two could tell the cold aura on her body is dense as the turns into a blue shadow. The two sides clashed with swords exchanging multiple blows in over a minute. The air current in the area is dense with cold energies.

Luckily the two are zombies and the other uses yin essence cultivation technique and most importantly is the source of the cold energies. Christina raises her sword and shed all pretenses of weakness. She came strong and fast slashing at Yu's neck almost slicing her neck clean off but Yu is able to duck down and stab towards Christina's stomach. An ice shield appears in a form of a hard white crystal in front of Christina's stomach, successfully blocking the fatal stab of Yu's sharp sword.

The exchange is not over. Christina has little regard for safety as she remains in the same position but quickly changing the attack slashing downward aiming to cut Yu in half or to at least out a shoulder. The slash catches Yu by surprise because she expected Christina to jump backwards after seeing her stabbing posture. The sword lands heavily on the armor.

The place where the sword made contact with the armor created ripples as if invisible waves were pushing way the attack. The armor successfully prevented the sword from cutting through the shoulder but the recoil from the power of the slash made Yu cough out blood.

She doesn't get time to adjust herself Yue comes into her range and uses her mind to make her remain motionless she thrust the sword in her hand towards Yu's heart with all the zombie strength. Christina makes a thick ice wall behind her sho the blast from the armor will not be able to push her back.

The stab is still unsuccessful but Yu receives all the pressure from the attack since she couldn't jump backwards what negate some of the recoil. Several of her ribs are broken but she will not give up so easily. She uses the charm technique on the two women rendering them stunned for a moment and then she threw a small yellow paper on them using her spiritual qi to activate it. Both Christina and Ming Yue felt the danger coming from this yellow piece of paper and they both went two separate directions.

After the runes on the talisman finished glowing bright blue which is the distinct color of Yu's spiritual energy, several sword chi blades appeared out of no where cutting everything in the place where the two girls were standing a moment ago. This scene is witness by them from a distance, shaking their zombie hearts making them feel fear at this mysterious weapon. They simultaneously look at the lone figure standing amist the destruction looking like a dying lotus in a falling cliff. Beautiful to the end but tragic nonetheless.

Yu can feel her spiritual energy being emptied by activating the talisman since it is not her element nor does she has any understanding of sword Intent. The consumption of a level six talisman zapped all of her remaining qi rendering her helpless. She greets her teeth. The armor has protected her from cuts but the shock wave from attacks has made her left shoulder swollen and several of her ribs broken.

She looks to her opponents rapidly approaching her location. Their clothes are ruffled but they are not injured even the slightest. Yu doesn't know these two are in fact not humans and they do not get tired. Ma Yu is resentful because these two are obviously amateur swordsman but they have very powerful physical strength and work well together.

"Call your boss." She commands them making Christina and Ming Yue frown but they turned to Luke who has been watching the battle from the top of a tree. Luke just sends them a mental command. "Defeat her completely." The turn to Ma Yu and grin.

They attack her again. Ming Yue makes he stand still and Christina slashes at her with the sword after surrounding her with an ice wall. The blade doesn't cut Yu but the power of the attack is destabilizing her internal organs making her cough out blood. Christina is mercilessly slashing and stabbing at her as she stands there without any power to resist. The fight had taken several minutes but Ma Yu is already on the verge of death. When she finally collapse on the ground Luke comes down from the tree. He takes out a brown looking pill and shoves it inside her mouth.

Without any power to resist she swallows the pill. Soon her eyes are blank showing that she is now under control. "What is your name?"

"Ma Yu."

"What do you want with me?"

"The clan leader is seriously I'll and requires a healer. You are the prophesied healer who can bring the dead to life."

"Tell me about this prophecy."

"The Balea who heals the dead, Said to have the legendary power of healing comparable to a saint level healing magic. Said to be a fractured soul with many souls shards making you a broken man. The prophecy went on to say. Balea will either save the word or destroy it. There is potential for both." She answers with a monotone voice sounding creepy.

"What is the plan of your clan after I heal this clan leader?"

"You will never leave the hidden territory. Master said you are too precious to fall into the hands of the other families."

"Does your family have any information about me? Did you tell your master something about me?"

"We told her that we found you. Nothing else, she never asked."

"I want you to find every memory about me and erase it."

"Okay" Luke waited a while then spoke.

"Who am I?"

"I..I don't know. Who are you?"

"Now erase all memories about tonight and then go home."

"Okay." She stood up after a few moments and then left.

The two girls stood side by side to Luke watching that other girl leave. "That's it? You could erase her memories you could have done much more to her." Ming Yue says but Luke flicks her forehead painfully.

"Ouch! That hurt."

"Don't have such stupid ideas again. Let's go."

"Are you not worried about them any more?" Yue says in question.

Luke just nodded and took both girls to the camp. Upon getting there he finds many people missing including Chu hua and some of the victims of the cannibals and other small groups of survivors making for over half the number of previous campers.

Luke takes the girls and head for the Huang city so he can check what is the current situation maybe he can just take over the city and make it his own. The experience of his past lives tells him that humans will lust after his things and try to kill him. It is best if he builds a place near hostile areas such as the large forest and the Coastal area in the far east where there is an ocean.

The three did not drive a car and just ran and are planning to run a thousand miles at least but this is not a problem for Christina and Ming Yue since they are zombies now, but Luke requires sleep and some time to cultivate his energies. They spend the day running and leaping over buildings to get far. Luke does not exude any smell so zombies do not hunger for his flesh. The two zombies next to him are zombies.

Three days later Luke is in a small town on the out skirts of the main city. This area is full of food processing factories and those that put food in cans. There is a number of small and large villages in the vicinity of the area there is also a public school. The large number of villages and the rich agricultural structure including the mountains and deep forestry in this region is the main reason the country leader did not want this place to be turned into some industrial place with polluted water.

The leader did not want those people to loose their homes to the rich families so he decided to turn this place into a safe haven for the local people. This is where Luke would start to enclose the city, he will build strong high rise walls that touch the sky and enforce them with arrays when he is proficient in arrays this will be the strongest city the the world.

The group of three chose a small house in the village that seems to have been abandoned and rest there. They use the cooking place to make a fire and light a few candles in the house, Luke has already checked the house with his spiritual power and found two corpse on the master bedroom looking to have died from suicide each had a knife on the hand, the knife deeply embedded in their chests. Two women by the look of things.

Christina cleans the corpse while Yue uses her power move the items scatted on the floor and place then neatly, Luke uses cleaning talisman clean stains and dust on the entire house in a matter of seconds. He uses a blanket from space and falls on the master bedroom, the two just glance at him without much attention they have gotten used to his languish behavior, he would disappear into his space sometimes.

"Christina tell me why you came to our great Zhang country?" Luke hugs a large pillow yawning cutely.

"My home college did not specialize in the type of pharmacy products I wanted to research." Christina says while taking out a deck of cards playing a game with Ming Yue.

"What pharmacy product?" Yue asks

"Chines medicine."

"Oh? That's interesting I happen to have a book here with basic ingredients for simple solutions one of which I will be using for construction. What do you say about helping me gather the ingredients and then when you learn the method of cooking the solution help me with that too?" Luke asks her while closing his eyes in tiredness.

"Sure. That would be great." She takes the books with simple solutions for normal humans with shining eyes. They then take out the cards to play in another room. When they arrive at the sitting area they look at each other in unison and then turn to face the closed door where Luke is sleeping.

"How should we go about this?" Ming Yue asks her companion who was quickly becoming friends with her.

"I think we should tell him as soon as possible. We might end up becoming liabilities otherwise." Christina says with remorse.

"Tomorrow we'll talk about it when he wakes up." Yue looks at Christina with hesitation. "That prophecy said he heals the dead. The only dead that would require healing is zombies. This is a dangerous situation we would need to get stronger in order to protect him."

"Agreed." At the same time they both look towards the bedroom with some concerns. Every night Luke tries to sleep but he always has horrible nightmares that would eventually wake him up.

They have devised a plan whenever it looked like he was about to wake up they won't both sleep with him cuddling and rubbing his back lightly. It always work and then he would fall back to sleep but sometimes these dreams would keep him awake. Luke hasn't talked about it but he is grateful they are with him.

The history of these women and how they have suffered in the hands of men they shouldn't be so easy to get along with the opposite gender. The blood that helped them evolved came from Luke, this helped reduce their general disgust they feel for men to be less to the point they are comfortable with him. They feel safe with him, although they are strong zombies now. Their memories of how they suffered still affect them. Luke's energy is soothing for them.

While the three of them sleep on the same bed there was a change in the outside forest. A pair of large beast like eyes open staring straight in the direction of the house where Luke and the two girls are currently sleeping in. Slowly the bright green pupils got near along with a slight tremor from the earth. Every step left a large dent on the ground. The large beast is attempting to be quiet so it moved slowly.

Inside the master bedroom Luke is sleeping in the middle while the two semi zombie ladies are cuddling him on both sides. They continue to sleep, the two ladies realized during these days that they can fall asleep some nights and taste food at other occasions but they would mostly hate cooked food and would throw it up after eating it.

Luke had thought they eat people when he is sleeping and decided not to ask them about it. They are zombies after all. Luke woke up feeling a dreadful sensation as if he is in great danger. He sent out his spiritual power and found an approaching large unidentified animal coming towards their current location.

"Something is coming. Something big and possibly powerful, Do we fight or run?" Luke asks his companions who stiffens at his hoarse voice and the warning. A moment passed by and they both answered in unison. "We fight."

Luke smiles and put on sports wear remembering the person who bought these clothes for him. He wonders if she currently looks like herself or she changed her appearance? Does she look good?

Luke takes out his sword and his whole person changed from a lazy attitude just now to a warrior with a sharp aura emanating a coldness as if the enemy is in front of him. The two women silently took out their swords gifted to them by Luke and without much words they all got out through the window.

Luke using a light skill from the library he got out the window by floating to ground. The large beast they sensed is a bear with a large body but it seems to be power type so it would be a mistake to underestimate this beast. After realizing it had been surrounded it stopped trying to be quiet and stomped the ground knocking Christina off balance, it didn't waste any time but used it large claw to swipe at her while she is off balance.

The action left four deep gashes on her shoulders and half way to her stomach. The rest started attacking from a distance Luke used his level four fire to try and scotch its fur but the thing seems stronger than his current power level. Luke doesn't want to use his cultivation base because the Hidden families can track his qi to find him so he has been trying to advance using nuclei and the space water to advance.

He decided to use the sword art without releasing his qi. He used the slash and through the air the sword light reached the bear before it could react the fur on the chest had a gash wound that bled. The blood of this mutated beast is red which means it can be eaten. Luke's eyes lite up at this and added another slash around the gut area.

The bear hadn't been able to dodge both slashes and now it is loosing too much blood especially with Ming Yue who is using her telekinesis power to stab the bear with her levitating sword. Her mental strength is not enough to slice through the fur of the east but it is enough to accelerate the speed of the sword and penetrate it's skin with the pointy end.

The bear is still not going down even with multiple wounds on its body. Luke is impressed with the tenacity shown by the beast but he still allows Christina to hold it down with ice, it tries to struggle against the chill trying to freeze it but it has boo may wounds and its life force is weak. Luke doesn't waist time he paste the sword with a sharpness talisman and with a swing of the sword holding it with both hands he beheaded the beast.

He goes to check on Christina's injuries and see the terrifying recovery speed of zombies. She is fine so they bag the bear and when Luke is about to suggest they leave this place the girls seem embarrassed about something. "What is it?"

"We want to see if we can eat the meat of the bear, we haven't had anything to eat since we couldn't eat the humans and since we didn't have to eat we didn't try. Now we are starving. Ming Yue spoke for the both of them while Chistina seemed uncomfortable about the topic.

"Alright. Try to keep the fur intact as much as you can." Luke took out the bear and the sharp knife to cut it with. The girls went and skinned the bear afterwards they each cut out a single piece of meat to taste. Their eyes sparkled at the taste Luke chuckles at their expressions.

"The meat has a lot of energy that my body is greedily absorbing. It feels amazingly comfortable. This is why zombies get crazy for food it euphoric. They continue eating not realizing the bear is almost finished in a few minutes they are stunned to see only the bear skin on the ground making Luke laugh at them.

"Alright we will hunt mutant beasts from now on." Luke smiles at the embarrassed women and take out bath tubs for everyone. They all finish bathing and go to sleep. In the early morning there were hours of zombies down stairs and all around the small house. The culprit is probably the blood of the bear outside. Luke wakes up lazily and put on some clothes while the girls do the same. They then quietly slipped out and disappeared into the open road as if they were never there.

They ran towards the city, with rapid speed they soon reached the high end communities further away from the city, the people living here were mostly those working on high positions in the city. There is a number of schools further away from the city from primary to the public college. An entire society that is out of reach for the big families.

.....

Chu Hua sat inside the car when for a long time after Luke left her to confront the Hidden families. She went into her space and organized the items inside, this space doesn't have much shelter but some of the items are in the cargo ship containers about six of them. Inside the first one there is frozen food, another has fresh food, alcohol and cigarettes one has rice and flour maize meal and other heavy starch food. She can feed an entire city for over a decade if she is careful with these.

There is also her clothes and camping gear the weapons, furniture including the warm winter clothes, the water purifiers, the number of color panels. Hua wish she had a house inside here so she an rest. The water took away the wounds but these days she has been through a tiring experience she would like to sleep for one day, but she knows Luke is buying her time. She looks at the vast area full of materials feeling very secure about the future.

She looks at the green grass and the small plants with red fruits she picks one and eats it. Juicy and sweet, her eyes lite up at the rich flavor, not a lot of people know this Hua loves sweets. She looks at the many plants and is very happy inside. She is bending over to pick up another fruit but a wrenching pain assault her from inside making her tumble over the ground. She is in so much pain she can't even scream. Her skin is so sensitive she can feel each and every grass blade prickling her skin on the ground.

She just lay on the ground she can not move any part of her body. She has bead size sweat on her body, she is slightly trembling as she lays motionless on the ground. After what felt like days she was finally able to move. There is black gooey substance on her body she is familiar with it from when she drank Luke's spiritual water. She just used her clothes to remove it and then she took some of the water from the water bottles and washed herself clean.

Her body is tired and drained from the process that she just went through. She put on new set of clothes noticing she is taller by a few inches her skin is even more white and tender. The important thing is that her power level has gone from level three to late stage four on all of her abilities including gold abilities.

She hasn't even used the manual given to her by Luke. Her face got a frown thinking about Luke and whether he is fine. She took a take away container finding it warm and eating all the food inside. She took out the potion and drank one. Her black eyes and black hair changed to brown and she doesn't have bangs anymore.

Now the beautiful face is in the open, she seems like a different person. She goes and put oil into another car inside the space so when the time comes she can just take it out. The car is black and is not as heavily modified as the one she had but it is good enough.

She got out of the space and then into the car and she starts driving. She is about to step on the accelerator when a man got on the front of the car. She narrows her eyes dangerously only to see the man who was fighting the cannibals last night. He goes to her side of the window and then gently knocks on it.

Chu Hua is not sure if she should trust him. She is not going to risk being found out because of this man, even if she changes cars later she will be found out if she has him in the car. She opens the car window. With a cold voice she asks him. "What can I do for you?"

The handsome man outside the window is momentary stunned whether from the cold voice or the beautiful face of the woman. He regains his bearings and with a blank face that shows no emotions "Can you give me a ride out of this place? I won't be a bother for too long."

She wants to refuse but for some reason she can't bring herself to refuse him so she just sighs and opens the passenger door. He man got in the car and she started it and left. She looks at him for a long time. Sharp jawline, straight nose and a pair of cold black eyes. "You are a soldier?" She asks he is momentarily stunned but then he nods.

"I need you to tell me if you feel like we are being followed, they will likely run on the side of the road hiding behind the trees." She says giving him a sidelong glance, seeing him nod she continues driving.

Lu Feng studies her for a moment realizing he can not see through this woman. Last night she was like the grim reaper killing without hesitation but ow she is worried about someone following her. He realizes something "As far as I can understand even the speed type powers will not be capable of running after a car. The only group of people I can think of are the Hidden families." He looks at her to see her reaction but is disappointed to find that face unchanged.

"I need to know if it is the hidden families."

"It is them." She says lightly

"Did you do something to them?" She shakes her head.

"Did you take something from them?"

She chuckles darkly. "I didn't take anything from them, it is they who are trying to take something from me...someone." She says through clenched teeth.

"Is that the person who was being followed by a horde of people into the woods?"

"Yes."

"Then he led them away, if it is him they want they probably won't come after you but it is prudent to be careful." He says studying the outside forest as the car drives toward the city.

"My name is Lu Feng, from the Lu family in the capital. What is your name?" He asks to be polite.

"My name is Hua." No family name, it seems she is on guard against him.

"Where are we going?" He still need to get to the capital where his men are waiting.

"Huang city."

Disappointed he nods thinking of ways to convince her to borrow him her car. They have been driving for the whole day his stomach started growling just as sthe got into a passageway that is going into the small town. They get there she drives uuntill the car is hidden well into the bushes.

"Come out." She takes him out the car and then lead him into an empty house. She leaves him there and goes back to put the car into space and taken out the dry food and water packed into a travel bag.

She finds him searching the house for food but it has been emptied a long time ago. Hua takes out a bag with dry food and water she gives him and then she gets inside a bedroom and closes the door with a bang. He stands there stunned that she would share her food with him. He hadn't thanked her when she disappeared into that room. He looks at the closed door with an unreadable expression on his face.

He looks around the sitting area where she left him and find a dusty couch but all in good condition so he'll make do. He decides to keep watch.

...

Luke watched the night sky noticing the moon that has turned gloomy ever since the start of the apocalypse. The symbol of "light in the dark" has turned into an ominous substance that aids the zombies at night. Zombies will be unusually active at night especially during the full moon it is as if they get some sort of boost from the night as much as they are held back by the sun. Luke thinks back to his last life bright watery eyes and a petite body, Luke's large single arms was enough to cover it whole. That little gangster was from Huang city along with Arial. One went to the capital while the other went to city B.

Luke is really pitiable for remembering these two people who betrayed him but one was the love he had always yearned for while the other was a warmth of home. There is a chance he will meet these people and he doesn't know what will be his reaction at that time. He is currently in the municipal high rise building looking down on the entire city. His little lover had said he had stayed inside the large supper market under an overload who had a gun and several younger brothers.

That man had been the one to take his virginity according to the little lover, but now that Luke is sober of love sickness he can infer that he had probably offered himself up for a slice of bread. Luke still can not bring himself to despise him though, who can stand for hunger? He just wants to see this little demon even if it is from afar. For closure. He extinguish the cigarette and got out of the building telling the two girls he is coming back.

The supermarket is one of the large buildings in this city, six story building each floor having various types of food. The parking lot is dark and gloomy but it is at night currently so it is to be expected. The lower ground floors are the warehouses where the goods are delivered and transported down with the logistics exclusive elevators, there are stairs and Luke is taking them down to decide if the items should be taken or not. He has enough food but can anyone have enough food in the apocalypse?

Luke has covered his smell but this place still gives him the creeps. The parking lot has zombies walking around but then he got inside through and escape window as soon as his feet touched the ground that creepy feeling got worse. He looked around in the dark with vigilance and caution he has already taken out his sword and many fire ball, sword light and ice shards talismans in his pockets. He touches his pockets to get some security.

The city plans stated there are three floors under this building currently used as storage for the supermarket. He slowly moves forward but a sound behind him stops him, he turns around to find two women getting in using the same window he just used. He rolls his eyes, but is secretly glad they are here with him. He is worried according to his memory this place was buried in mutant animals and zombies and the many items were never retrieved because all those sent from the B city base died tragically until none came.

He can feel the breath of death in here perhaps they have intruded in a territory of a terrifying existence. Click click click. The sound of metal against the floors comes from the corner and all three stand stiff waiting with sword at hand. The thing seems to get faster as it gets closer son they all see what it is the two are zombies and Luke has spirit power to help him see he just doesn't send it too far because other spirit powers are able to find it.

when the thing finaly cane out they were all dumbfounded at the sight. A large black spider with shining red underbelly came out. The clicking noise is its legs that have turned metallic while the front fangs around its mouth opens and close ever so slightly as if anticipatinf something. The moment it large eyes landed on the trio infront of it, it made a large screeching noise and waved its large legs seemingly trying to cut them to pieces. It's movements are fast and sudden. The legs made a woosh n the air as it miss the targets as a results of the trio retreating in a fast pace narrowly escaping metal legs.

Luke's expression changed into one of apprehension.

"Mother fucker! An actual mutated black widow, how unlucky." Luke says with a sigh in his voice.

"Careful, spider's venom is supposed to liquify its victims so it can drink them up since it can not chew like other insects. Try not to be poisoned or caught in it's web." Christina said with a disgusted face, Clearly she doesn't like spiders.

The black widow rushed forward using its front legs, it sharply cut toward Luke and the others with its sharp metallic legs but in return Luke and the girls blocked with their swords creating sparks at three point of contact.

The three of them are pushed back by the over whelming power of the spider. "Remember not to be sprayed with anything from its mouth you could be immobile and then poisoned from inside out." Christina the doctor instructed. The three of them worked quite well together. Luke struck the legs to try and put them off Christina used her ice to slow it down so Luke could cut off it's long metallic legs while Ming Yue uses her sword to stab the soft sides or the belly using telekinesis from a safe distance.

The spider looked like it was preparing for a big move so Luke charged up a few fire balls "Yue!" as if reading the instructions from Luke's mind Ming Yue used her telekinesis to direct the fire balls straight to the spider's open mouth burning it insides up to the neck. Green blood stained the floor. The spider lay on the floor on it's last breath. However, many metals started hitting the floor in the darkness.

The sound makes the skin crawl. The three look at each other realizing these are many mutated spiders coming their way. "I hate insects." Christina says with horror in her eyes.

"Hahaha. Some zombie you are." Luke's ridiculing voice came from the side.

"I may have the zombie virus in me, I am all human in the head. Besides, these things are creepy."

"I am sure what we just killed was the mother, and knowing the black widow spider, there is no daddy Spider. All we need to do is to freeze them on the spot and cut them. Are you ready?"

"Yeah."

"Yes."

"Christina you will be first, they can't all use the floor, they'll be on the wall, on the ceiling so don't let your guard down."

"Alright."

The sound got near and soon various metallic legs came out of the dark in to the open hall. the majority are young versions of the black widow while others are green where the black widow is black but they all seem to be siblings.

Christina got to work and started freezing them where they stood, Luke started cutting and separating their large legs from the joints while they are froze. He then moves on to the next while Ming Yue separated their heads from their necks.

The spiders make a loud screech when they witness the brutal scene in front of them. The sound is disorienting Yue's concentration causing her to make mistakes. However, soon she figures it out.

Luke had to dodge those not frozen enough when they tried to cut off his body with their sharp metallic legs. The team worked like this untill they reached the middle of the group of spiders where they can clearly see the last of the spiders. A spray of something pungent came out of one of the spider's mouth directed at Luke, he didn't have time to dodge.

Christina who was behind Luke pulled him and placed herself infront of him with closed eyes. Ming Yue who was slicing some spider's head tried to redirect the substance away from them. While most of it ended up on some other spider's body, half of Christina's face from the chick and the shoulder got melted.

The inside of her mouth is showing, black blood oozes out and stains the ground, bones are showing from her insides and her side shoulder bones are all exposed to the outside. The scene is gruesome. The spiders are not all dead so Luke just used his sword light and crushed all their skulls but then in doing so he allowed his chi to show which could alert the hiddin families of his whereabout. He sighed and healed Christina all her injuries without touching her.

"Can you not feel pain?" Luke asks her because she didn't scream when she was hurt.

"The one good thing about the virus, I don't have to feel pain the way humans do. I can feel a slight tingling and that must be because of the slow heart beat my heart can manage. I can feel the temperature too but not like normal humans do."

"For instance, the cold makes me slightly stiff the heat is inconvenient but I don't mind it. The pain is also just like an inconvenience. Unpleasant but not unbearable." Christina concludes while Ming Yue nods in agreement.

"Thank you for what you did just then. I got careless and you paid for it." Luke says sincerely.

"We are a team. I'm glad I can help." Christina says in response.

"What now?" Yue asks looking at the dead spiders.

"Do you think they have the legendary mutated spider web silk?" Luke's eyes lite up. The two looked at each other and smiled, Luke is child like sometimes and they are getting used to it.

"I'll check the mother spider." Luke walks with an extra spring on his step he got to the black widow and cut open its belly and started remeging in there with a focus but only came out with a ball of something it seems to be made of a thin membrane the size is quite large. Christina looks at Ming Yue with a bewildered expression.

Of course they wouldn't know that Luke had seen the silk thread from a mutated spider. They can create strong ropes and clothes strong enough to be armor. This spider was only at level three.

"Lets go get the stored items out." After tossing the item into his space he burned the carcasses of the rest but the metallic legs remained so he store all of them into the space too. They soon made their way toward the warehouses in all the floors. This is not were the country store grain but it might as well be.

Luke did not leave a sngle grain of rice. These warehouses took an entire day to pack up and more that 20% of Luke's space has been used up. The food was plentiful, Now he felt he can retire and watch the world burn from a high altitude. He now has means for water, electricity, winter clothes and blankets all in bulk. He has animals inside his space that has multiplied to tens of each kind.

Luke has always put other people's lives in the past first because he knows this is not the real Apocalypse, the world is still relatively fine but the animals and the plants are not going to be in the growing stage forever. Soon the animals and plants will claim half of the world and humans will be pushed to the small part.

Luke had been trying to get a great army on his side so that he can fight and resist the hell that is coming. However he has been let down by the human race without fail over and over again. Now he has given up on them he will just keep what little land he can keep and maybe he can still have his army.

This time it will be made of zombies instead of humans. Luke has this thought as he remembers how much mutated blood he has. How would he still have an army if all the blood is used up before he can make a massive army? Should he get infected again? That seems too daring no? The great change will take place in less than a decade after the apocalypse so the time is of the essence.

The feed made a echo as they finally leave the warehouses of the large supermarket and into the parking lot. The cold storage in the warehouse was till operational but the above floors don't seem to be using the electricity, it could be they are afraid to lure zombies and mutant animals into themselves by shining a bright light to their location.

Luke knows these people will leave here for the capital or city B base soon enough he just needs to be patient untill then. He is still curious about his little lover though. What is it that made him so cruel to the one who loved and pampered him?

"We are going to go hunting. We will find you." Ming Yue's voice woke him up from his musings. "Thanks for today you guys did a lot of work so I have decided to trust you a little. Close your eyes." He takes out the rings with low spirit energy but they all have what he has come to know as the space stone on them.

The girls closed their eyes as if trusting him completely. He cut them and dripped their blood on the space items. "Now you have spaces as well, you can store whatever you want because only you can see what's inside. This is my thanks for being my partners I hope I won't regret putting my faith in you." The man's words do not contain threats but they are serious.

"Thank you." They both say and they go their way leaving him smoking in the underground parking lot. He was going to go to their place but he has decided to take a detour. Minutes later he has used the roof to enter the supermarket from one of the small doors leading to the roof. When he gets to the sixth floor he is met with a raw of restaurants.

He puts an invisibility talisman that deceives the eyes and he won't make a sound as he walks on the floor. The restuarant is a mess but a group of men are playing cards on one of the tables. "Brother Cheng, what in the agenda for tonight? it's already almost midnight I want to know which one will you choose today so I don't make a mistake." A man with a face that looks like a mouse asks while showing a greasy smile on his face.

"Bring me the water boy, if he refuses just take his older sister." The man who seems to be in charge says with a puff of smoke. He had a large cigar on his hand. Luke is watching from the side without making a sound. This boss Cheng is tall and has a square face but to be a boss of these hooligans he must have some skills.

"Yes." Mouse face walks out coming back with a woman who seems to be sickly, she seems to have been dragged here. The woman coughs violently before passing out in front of them.

"She seems almost dead already. Bring the kid."

Soon Luke sees a youth with deep brown hair and black eyes wearing a hood being dragged in. He's breath hitched at the site of the boy who destroyed his faith in love. He doesn't seem to be doing too good. However he eyes held no emotion, no hate or resentment it is as if none of what is happening concern him.

"Your sister is dying. You are taking her place tonight by my bed." Boss Ma says with authority but there is no reaction to the little guy's face. Boss Ma got Impatient waiting for an answer.

"Do you want to get her medicine and food? or do you want to watch her die slowly infront of you?" Boss Ma asks with a sneer.

"She can die." He said in a cold tone. The girl is up now but she is breathing labored breaths. She heard him and smiled at him reassuring. "Cough, cough, death is better. My brother is right. Cough." She passed out again

"I don't care what you tell yourself but tonight you are sleeping with me." Boss Ma pulled the cold faced Ze into the private room. Luke glanced at the girl on the floor and decide to see what happens if she survives. The girl is pulled back to the place where many people are being kept in a semi dead state. Luke follows them until the girl is harshly dragged into a corner and left there to die.

Luke takes out healing water after the man left and made her drink more than a cup. She was up long time ago when she was being handled roughly and then she felt someone making her drink the sweetest water she has ever tasted but the more she drank the better he felt.

She knows better than anyone how her body is. She has always been a weak person and was in and out of hospitals all the while she couldn't go to school so she was home schooled. She hasn't felt so healthy in a long time so the moment she got better she stood up and went to where her brother was being kept.

"Open the door. I'll take his place." She knocked on the door but no one answered but she could hear shameful noises from inside. Her baby brother has been tortured all night and she was helpless to do anything about it. In the morning her brother was thrown out of the room bruised and abused she took him into her arms and they went back to the corner.

Luke raised an eyebrow at the Ze he never saw. Battered and bruised the eyes are glazed with nothingness. If Luke never came and healed his sister she would have probably died here while he was being tossed around last night. It makes sense that he would be broken after that. However Luke never raised a single finger against him in their relationship but infact pampered him with all he had but Ze still chose to destroy him.

"We have to escape Bao the zombies outside are better than these humans." Bao? He changed his name did he? Interesting.

"Talk about it when the time comes." Bao's voice came out disgruntled. He fell asleep.

Luke watched the sleeping figure of his past love and can't help but want to kill this demon while a part of him wants to save him. Luke is not sure if saving his sister will make things better or worse for the siblings since she will be raped soon enough. Should he interfere? Why should he? They are all the same people who would eat each other when the food runs out.