[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-vegetable-growing-skeleton-s-foreign-land-re":3,"chapter-the-vegetable-growing-skeleton-s-foreign-land-re-the-vegetable-growing-skeleton-s-foreign-land-re-chapter-11":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","The Vegetable-Growing Skeleton's Foreign Land Reclamation",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2351492,4600,"Chapter 11: The Strange Connection","the-vegetable-growing-skeleton-s-foreign-land-re-chapter-11",11,"\u003Cp>Ang couldn’t fight; he was a gardening skeleton, but he had wielded a scythe for over a thousand years, and when harvesting crops, he could cut them clean and lay them flat in one stroke—so long as he saw his opponent as a crop, Ang could slash wherever he pleased.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The sharp scythe severed the zombie’s neck in one blow; its head rolled free, clattering to a stop at the little zombie’s feet. The little zombie flinched in terror, instinctively clutching its own neck and staring in dread at the scythe in Ang’s hand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Equally terrified was the person controlling the zombie from behind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In a dark corner of the underground city, a necromancer in a black robe suddenly leapt from his chair, instinctively clutching his own neck.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The necromancer’s consciousness had been projected onto the zombie, so all sensations were shared—Ang’s scythe had slashed directly at his own neck.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Similar things had happened before, but this time it was sudden; the necromancer had no mental preparation, so he was thoroughly startled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When he came to his senses, he wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and tried to reestablish contact with the zombie—but found the link gone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Lost big time—that zombie had the highest affinity with me. What kind of rotten skeleton? How is its weapon so sharp? And why is its movement so fast?” the necromancer muttered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No good. I need to go see for myself. Best to capture those two skeleton-zombies.” The necromancer stood, walked to the wall, and pressed lightly. A pulse of magic from his fingertip aligned with a hidden structure in the wall, and a concealed door swung open.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Inside the concealed door was a long, narrow corridor. Along both sides, recessed alcoves lined the walls, resembling a coat closet—but when he approached the alcoves, he saw no clothing. Instead, each held a zombie or a skeleton.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The necromancer scanned left and right, then selected a skeleton with slender, yet pristine and smooth bones. He muttered: “You’ll do. Though your bones have some gaps and your shoulder blades are slightly deformed, your bone density is the highest—your nutrition must’ve been excellent in life.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With one hand pressing the skeleton’s skull, the necromancer murmured a spell, controlling the white skeleton as it stepped out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Eske always said the underground city was safe—as long as you didn’t attack others, no one would harm skeletons or zombies.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Eske had only seen the skeletons and zombies controlled by Philin. These could be considered official undead, and under Philin’s control, they were safe—no one dared harm them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet Eske overlooked one question: outside, the Wind of Rest howled relentlessly. Over the years, countless residents of the underground city had died of old age or accident—wouldn’t their corpses and bones have been animated by the Wind of Rest into undead? And where had these wild undead gone?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As a human, Eske had never noticed the difference between wild and official undead. Seeing skeletons and zombies everywhere, he assumed undead were safe—but evil often lurked in corners even Philin failed to notice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As soon as Ang and the little zombie entered, they were watched. Ang was a masterless gray-bone skeleton, wandering the streets with no fixed job—that was the clear sign of being “masterless.” The little zombie, however, was unusually active—unlike the dull, sluggish zombie, it resembled a juvenile lich.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A lich is a sentient undead sorcerer; without sentience, it’s just a zombie. In terms of growth potential and utility, a sentient lich surpasses a zombie by hundreds of times—and liches are easily trained into powerful spellcasters.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Imagine possessing a powerful spellcaster who obeys you utterly and lives long enough to serve your descendants—what an invaluable treasure it would be for you and your lineage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With the little zombie present, a gray-bone skeleton like Ang became relatively worthless. The necromancer attacked Ang first, intending to subdue him and then kidnap the little zombie—but he hadn’t expected Ang’s speed; one strike severed his control.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Logically, a broken scythe should never be able to sever a tough-skinned zombie’s head in one blow. What caused this outcome?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The necromancer, baffled, could no longer suppress his curiosity. He sent out another skeleton—but this time, he no longer hoped to subdue Ang or kidnap the little zombie. He was satisfied just to understand the cause.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When he controlled the skeleton to reach Ang’s location, he saw only a headless zombie trailing behind Ang and the little zombie, laboriously hauling broken stones.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A zombie’s soul resides in its chest; losing its head doesn’t kill it, so headless zombies and headless knights are common—but no one has ever heard of a headless skeleton.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet without a head, perception weakens drastically. The soul must observe through flesh and skin from the chest cavity, creating a sensation like cataracts—unless the soul is strong enough to ignore the obstruction.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Besides the three skeletons diligently tilling the fields, he also saw Philin suddenly blocking his path, face twisted in furious amusement: “You vermin of the underground sewers—I usually ignore you, but now you dare target my esteemed guests? Then go to the world of death and repent.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The necromancer felt Philin’s face sink inward and twist, instantly spinning his vision, as if a powerful force was dragging him forward, plunging him endlessly into an abyss.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This transformation filled the necromancer with utter horror—he realized the terrifying spell: Soul Absorption Abyss.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was a mental spell targeting consciousnesses bound to other objects—such as mind projection or undead possession—but success rates were low; one’s mental strength had to be many times greater than the target’s.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fortunately, Philin’s mental strength was over ten times stronger than this human necromancer’s—he ripped out the necromancer’s consciousness and crushed it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In a dark corner, the necromancer seated in his chair shuddered violently, then went limp, slumping helplessly to the floor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With his consciousness stolen, the necromancer was effectively a living corpse—he would never awaken again. Though his body still breathed and remained technically alive, if no one found him, he would lie there until he starved to death.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Having destroyed the consciousness clinging to the skeleton, Philin exhaled a shaky breath, muttering: “Good thing I kept my guard up. After all this time, I finally found a new Watcher who buys grain from me—if these vermin scared him off and he moved his post, the underground city would be finished. No—this area is now a restricted zone. Nothing else is allowed in.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Without bothering with the fallen skeleton, he slipped away quietly. He wouldn’t let others disturb the Watcher—and he wouldn’t dare disturb him himself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not long after, the restless little zombie began wandering and soon spotted the white skeleton. Excited, it dragged it back and howled at Ang.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ang ignored the skeleton, instead frowning at the little zombie—from its body, a tendril of soul energy was drifting into Ang’s own soul.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was the second time. Earlier, when Ang had felled the zombie, the little zombie had clutched its neck in terror—and a tendril of soul energy had flowed into Ang’s soul.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Since that first tendril, Ang had faintly sensed an odd connection forming between himself and the little zombie.\u003C\u002Fp>",1194,"2026-06-21T03:18:43.177Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","b3109097e57fefea77af8229fc680aca751308c7b2cb55f5ae410dca63fe5579","the-vegetable-growing-skeleton-s-foreign-land-re-chapter-12","the-vegetable-growing-skeleton-s-foreign-land-re-chapter-10",1000,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-vegetable-growing-skeleton-s-foreign-land-re-cover.jpg"]