Chapter 588: Endless Struggle

Holding an infant.

It was hoarsely crying.

The child in his arms flailed wildly with its water‑rotted hands and feet, its skin deathly pale and translucent.

Just like overcooked silver ear fungus.

Inheriting the zombie's habit, even though it knows nothing, it instinctively opens its mouth, wanting to bite a chunk of the man's flesh.

Struggling violently, the little bell on its ankle rang.

It was very hungry.

The horrified onlookers nearby, thinking that the merchant actually still planned to share the well water with them, couldn't help but feel a bit nauseous.

The crowd murmured, while the soldiers following the First Ascetic Practitioner looked puzzled at their king.

King, what's wrong?

Why are you dazed?

They had never seen the king, since he gained supernatural power, show any hesitation.

But at this moment.

The stiff‑as‑a‑statue "King" standing in place trembled slightly all over.

In the center of the crowd.

The First Ascetic Practitioner gazed at the child in his arms; his once‑unyielding resolve now cracked a little.

His lips twitched, his eyes filled with disbelief.

He came here because of his ability.

As the first, and also the most powerful, Ascetic Practitioner.

He sensed that this was the last place where the zombie outbreak originated.

Kill this source of infection, and everything will end.

But the child is his and his first wife's child.

He recognized him.

He recognized the little bell, the very one he himself had hung on the child before going out prior to the first disaster.

Off‑screen.

Lin An stood almost glued to the First Ascetic Practitioner's side, staring intently at the child.

Having watched the whole historical process, he naturally guessed what the First Ascetic Practitioner was hesitating about.

He was somewhat puzzled.

If it's turned into a corpse, just kill it!

The child, as one of the final sources of infection, must be dealt with.

Is he hesitating between killing it or imprisoning it?

Watching the First Ascetic Practitioner motionless, caught in struggle, Lin An's heart gave a sudden jolt.

Sure enough, after a long hesitation, the Ascetic Practitioner silently took the child away.

It looks like he intends to imprison it.

His heart suddenly sank.

Mistaken.... The First Ascetic Practitioner made a grave error.

Lin An couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

He could guess what the First Ascetic Practitioner was thinking at this moment.

Imprisoning the infected child and killing it.

To the First Ascetic Practitioner, they are the same.

Imprison it, prevent spread, and naturally all will be well.

He, possessing great power and even precognition, was full of confidence in his ability to guard the 'source of infection'.

Actually, it's not surprising.

The First Ascetic Practitioner's approach, Lin An could find nothing to blame.

If the people present were him, and the child were changed to AnXia, he also couldn't bring himself to strike.

When the man first appeared in the first act, he clearly held deep feelings for his first wife, the woman who threw herself into the well.

A sigh.

Even though Lin An knows the disaster event was never truly resolved in 'history', seeing with his own eyes the chance to solve the disaster's origin slip away.

His heart still couldn't help but feel heavy.

If he hadn't tried many times, he would be unable to interfere with the scene; otherwise, he would have acted immediately no matter what he said.

Normally speaking, the First Ascetic Practitioner hasn't made any mistake.

But.

This infected child might very well be the true cause!

It is the first source of infection!

Although this creates a logical contradiction.

But after experiencing the wilderness‑village incident, Lin An has a deep understanding of this world's erroneous time line.

Exactly, the first zombie outbreak came from an unknown place; the child was merely unlucky enough to be infected.

The second zombie outbreak spread via the water in which it had been soaked, but the well has now been destroyed and blocked.

Logically speaking, the child could not, and cannot, spread the virus any further.

But Lin An knows that time in this world is cyclic, and it constantly produces closed loops, erroneous timelines.

The infected child would instead become the first source of infection!

Just like a timeless problem that has confused many people.

Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

In this strange secret realm world, cause and effect are chaotic.

Now there is only one problem.

According to Lin An's guess, the subsequent events should be that the infected infant, due to the first ascetic practitioner's lapse in supervision or an accident, led to the disaster spreading again.

But what has appeared now are zombies, not blood corpses.

What exactly happened among them?

In the midst of thought, the picture suddenly accelerated and changed.

Act Nine:

On the edge of the bottomless pit, the first ascetic practitioner, clothed in a white robe, sat motionless in meditation.

Three years have passed, the country is peaceful and the people are safe, and everything has returned to normal.

He chose to abdicate, passing the throne to the child born of him and his second wife.

He, meanwhile, chose to never leave the side of the corpse infant, guarding it.

Trapped a hundred meters underground, the excavated walls were plated with iron, inside and out, with many ascetic practitioners stationed to guard together.

No accident occurred, and none could occur.

Watching the scene, Lin An couldn't help but feel doubtful.

How did the scene jump to here?

It looks like the first source of infection has indeed been well controlled.

An accident, I suppose, would have happened much later.

Perhaps it happened when the first ascetic practitioner died after hundreds of years?

Did the infected child 'escape'?

However, in the very next second.

Urgent reports came in one after another, a dire emergency.

"Your Majesty! The border…"

"Monsters have appeared again!!"

"Four cities have fallen, the spread speed of that undead horde is too fast!!"

His eyes bloodshot, the minister who came to deliver the message trembled all over.

They had clearly eradicated all traces of the undead, yet the first ascetic practitioner even led a large group of ascetic practitioners to comb through the entire empire inch by inch!

And the sole existing child who still possesses infectious ability is clearly still underground at this moment.

Hearing the sound, the first ascetic practitioner's petrified body suddenly sprang to his feet.

Lin An was also shocked alongside him.

That weak, hoarse cry came from below the well, indicating the child had remained deep in the cave.

My speculation was wrong!?

The child did not become the first infection source, nor did he escape confinement!?

Unlike Lin An's shock, upon hearing the news the first ascetic practitioner flashed a hint of sorrow in his eyes.

"To battle!"

"Exterminate those monsters once again!"

Having said that, he took a deep look at the darkness of the bottomless pit, then turned and walked away.

Before departing, he issued a defense order ten times the current level, ensuring the child could not escape no matter what.

Amid the shaking, Lin An began to find it hard to comprehend what he was seeing.

What's going on...

Why has a new source of infection appeared!?

The child, clearly, has not escaped!

Jumping, accelerating.

At a thousandfold speed of time, scene after scene flashed quickly before his eyes.

Act Ten:

"We have won! Mobilize all ascetic practitioners and all troops! I will eradicate every trace!"

Act Eleven:

"Your Majesty! Traces of the undead have been found in Cold Mountain City! They seem to have appeared out of nowhere!"

"Again to battle!"

Act Sixteen:

Another "victory," yet no one cheered because of it.

They were somewhat weary.

The prolonged campaigns grew harder each time.

Gazing at the already-emerged second-level mutant, the first ascetic practitioner silently looked up at the sky.

He knew this struggle might never end.

Act Twenty-Nine:

"Your Majesty... among the monsters... flying undead have appeared!!"

His figure was stooped.

The first Ascetic Practitioner, whose fire of life seemed as if it could be extinguished at any moment, clenched his fists tightly and gave a grim smile.

After a thousand years of struggle, he had reached the end of his life.