Chapter 88
That night, besides producing countless low to high quality paper talismans, he also discovers a lot of knowledge regarding Taoist Arts he had no idea about by reading that old book grandmother Zhang gave him. Thus, these few days on the road to X City's safe zone, Huo Zaiyuan keeps himself busy by absorbing the information within this book with keen interest.
After two days of resting, the Li Qing, who was injured by Shen Yueran, recuperates enough to return to his hyperactive self. But upon seeing Huo Zaiyuan reading the old book with such fascination and utmost concentration, he follows his friend's example and takes out the notebook given by his birth mother and flips through it. However, most of the contents are something he isn't able to make heads or tails of. Even so, he forces himself to remember them. Bit by bit, the information unexpectedly start to make some sense and soon he too, becomes utterly focused on the pages.
Tossed aside by their respective lovers in favour of books, Long Zhanye and Qin Jun can only look on helplessly. The two men end up taken turns driving the car and keeping watch at night to pass the time.
For five days, the line of vehicles didn't encounter trouble and peacefully make their way towards their destination. When the sun sets on the fifth day, the three vehicles have finally arrive in X City's outer districts. Out on the port-hole and crack-ridden streets, as far as the naked eye can see, zombies roam to and fro, lingering in low-storey houses and shuffling along the sidewalks.
"It seems once we enter the urban district tonight, we cannot make camp." Qin Jun states while eating instant noodles in the backseat of the car.
Being surrounded by zombies at night is very dangerous, but if one is blockaded and surrounded in the city, there are zero chances of survival.
"Then let's find another place to spend the night." Ensuring the open book in his lap doesn't close, Huo Zaiyuan nimbly folds a piece of yellow paper with the other.
Very quickly, a lifelike paper crane sits in the middle of his palm. Narrowing his eyes to ensure just the right amount of spiritual power enters the crane, he gently moves the two wings up and down a few times. With a 'bang', the paper crane overloads and ignites in a ball of fire.
Another failure.
"There's a shopping mall over there. How about scouting it out?" Li Qing has his face all but plastered on the window, bright eyes staring at the fairly large building not far away.
"A shopping mall, huh" Long Zhanye quirks an eyebrow. "There will be a lot of dangerous things concealed within that place. If we are to spend the night there, then we must thoroughly ensure everyone's safety. If any accidental noise is made and the zombies within are drawn to us, escaping from a siege will be difficult."
"It is not impossible to prevent such an event. The day before yesterday, I found a very interesting spell in this book." Flipping a few pages over, he studies the array drawn on the paper one more time.
"What is it? What is it?" Hearing Huo Zaiyuan's words, the always-curious Li Qing immediately tries to take a look at the book from his position in the backseat.
"Aura Concealment Charm. If this spell is integrated into the barrier as the user is setting it up, it will be able to conceal a large portion of a living being's aura." As he speaks, he waves his left hand and a yellow paper with the exact same design shown on the page appears.
"Wah! Why didn't you bring something so useful like this out earlier?!" Li Qing's eyes sparkle as he gazes at the paper in Huo Zaiyuan's hand.
By now, the zombies' sense of smell and hearing are very acute, so having this charm that is able to conceal a living being's aura is obviously something great. At minimum, it means one doesn't have to worry about attracting undead simply by walking around.
"Already told you I just learned it! Go to the corner!" Lifting a hand, he gently shoves Li Qing's head, then addresses Qin Jun as he opens the car door. "Qin Jun, go inform the village chief that Zhanye and I (after countless pressuring by LZY, HZY is forced to change the way he addresses LZY) will enter the mall first to clean up any danger, so ask them to wait for a while. Here, this is for you and little Qing, and these two are to be pasted on the other two trucks."
Receiving four Aura Concealment Charms, he immediately gives one to Li Qing, then gets down from the car. Being a smart individual, he is able to read between Huo Zaiyuan's "cleaning up any danger".