Cultivator in a Zombie Apocalypse

Chapter Ninety Seven - Protecting the man you love

Author's note/request; I received a comment in the last week or two about a mistake regarding zombies and rotten meat... I forget the specific... I contradicted myself between two chapters anyway.  I couldn't find the comment when I finally got off my derrière to fix the problem, so I am requesting that the sharped eyed person remind me please!  I would be ever grateful to you!  Thank you and please enjoy the chapter x

The hot sun shone brightly in the cloudless sky, pouring its heat upon the world below. It was oppressive and intimidating, but pure of vital energy. Those that had the ability risked their fragile skin to absorb the energy into their bodies and circulate it about their meridians. Those who did not took to hiding in rooms and beneath the shade of trees, savouring what little breeze brushed past their sweaty bodies.

As two who no longer needed to rely on this thick yang energy to balance the yin within their bodies, Ren Zexian and Chang Min took to the walls to keep watch. The walls encompassing the three properties did not form a square and were thick enough for one person to walk along in some places, two in areas that Chang Min had thickened in his spare time. A stroll around the high pathway would take a man just over an hour, more if their vigilance was high and their pace guarded. For the two Cultivators, speeding around the winding length even giving attention to specific details was a ten minute sprint, if that.

During this time of day, in these temperatures, not even a zombie mouse could be seen rustling in the patches of long, dry grasses lining the fallow fields outside the wall. Humanoid zombies no longer lurched passed in the night; no one had witnessed one in almost a week. Animal zombies still attempted to breech the walls during the cooler hours between sun set and sunrise before scurrying or rushing away to find shelter from the oppressive day, leaving this time for ordinary and mutant beasts to traverse the land and sky.

And at a few random times, packs or flocks of the mutant beasts would attack the walls or fly over them directly seeking the men and women within. If all were skinny, with bones obvious beneath fur or feathers, it could be said that these beasts were just desperate for food, but such was not always the case. For the pack of dogs, with both ordinary and mutated animals in their midst, hunger was the driving force, their desperation having brought them to this point; most of these dogs had once been domesticated and had only so much hunting instinct left. Plus, the prey were not always as defenceless as they once were. One had to be heartless (or from a much crueller realm) to not feel ill at ease when they fought against the hungry canines, feeling every pained yelp as if it were stabbing them in the gut. Fortunately, the Alpha of this pack was intelligent enough to understand that they could not grasp food here, only death and they fled in the end.

The flock of ravens that flew easily over the walls were an entirely different case. Beaks sharpened, clawed toes like miniature knives, if not for the quick responses of several, they would likely have had lost chunks of living flesh to these vicious mutants. They were not any larger than they'd been prior to the End, but now resembled much more the ominous omens created in historic man's imaginations and were definitely a cause of fear. They also were less easily subdued than the hungry dog pack; diving down relentlessly despite the sharp, flaming winds stirred by one man, which a few failed to agilely avoid, learning to keep a distance from the vines or cut them with their claws before they could be entangled. One managed to clench the seemingly plush flesh of one prey's arm, only for its claws to shatter in the next second. Despite the bird's improved intelligence, it was unable to figure out what had occurred before its neck was snapped by a hound that burst through a sudden fog.

Once the last raven flew away, they left a few injuries, but none too serious, but...

"Why did he feel the need to throw himself before me as a shield?" Chang Min ranted as he vented his energies while circling the wall with his Master. Ren Zexian shrugged. If it had been the ancient man's distant path, such sacrifices would not be too uncommon, but as they breeched the final era when their realm was upon its final breaths, such instances were too far and few between.  From Chang Min's description of his parents, they were two such folk with self-less hearts, but if other village folk were in their shoes, it would not be so unlikely to find that the children were sold or simply given up in order that there be less mouths to feed.  Ren Zexian was not so unkind to shatter his apprentice's last impression of his parents with his own cynical views, though or even the impression he suspected the younger man had of himself.  Ren Zexian had not shielded or protected the youth who had wanted to follow him, just given him the tools to become stronger and able to rely on himself.  Chang Min had always considered this matter more generously and saw the other as his saviour as well as his master.