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"Wang Ye?" Murong Yunji frowned, "The Judicial Court’s Junior Minister? I have heard of him, but how could he possibly enter?"

"Nowadays, I’m afraid he is the only one who could enter normally.

.." Chen Qing shook his head and sighed. He hadn’t received any news about Wang Ye’s arrival, but since the dead things could freely enter and exit, the use of Wang Ye’s special existence was a foregone conclusion in Chen Qing’s eyes.

"What does it matter if he enters?" Murong Yunji was curious, "I’ve heard of this man, a young talent, the prized disciple of Liu Yu, but so what? He’s just a novice who hasn’t been in the way of magic for ten years. What could he possibly do?"

"He’s faster than you..." said Chen Qing hauntingly, "The current Wang Ye... might be the world’s fastest magician. If he’s here, our plan might not succeed..."

"Oh?" Murong Yunji burst into amused laughter, "Is Milord trying to provoke me?"

Chen Qing shook his head, "I don’t have the leisure for that. I’m simply stating facts..."

Combining the techniques of Evening Elephant and Flying Shadow, Wang Ye was undoubtedly the swiftest at present. And in the Nine Heavens Mirror, which imposed no restrictions on the dead, it was simply the perfect battleground for Wang Ye to exert his strengths.

Chen Qing looked up at the sky, then turned to Chen Ying, "Let’s rest for half an hour more before we begin."

What Chen Qing hadn’t expected was that Wang Ye would arrive faster than anticipated...

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"Stay close together, don’t stray too far. If you need to piss or shit, hold it in. The densest number of wandering zombies is outside the city. If we can’t enter by dusk, we’ll all die here!"

The leading soldier bellowed with such a powerful voice that the ears of the hundreds following him buzzed. Wang Ye, who was with the group, couldn’t help but frown at this.

Seeing Wang Ye’s expression, the burly man quickly approached with a gentler tone, "Did I startle you, sir? Please be assured, we’re certain to get in the city before dusk. We’ve escorted several groups already and know the ropes well. There won’t be any trouble."

Although dressed in black, the man had a refined presence and introduced himself as the Official School Master from Sibei County.

A man of such standing was worth dozens of regular civilians.

He could trade such favor for many fine things from the Prefectural Governor, so of course, he treated him very kindly.

Wang Ye smiled slightly, returning the courtesy, "You flatter me, General."

"Eh..." The word ’General’ brought a broad smile to the man’s face, though he still couldn’t help but wave his hand dismissively, "Please, please, we’re just foot soldiers, nowhere near worthy of the title ’General.’"

Foot soldiers?

Wang Ye’s smile held a hint of irony. These men escorting civilians, although not donned in the Regular Army’s uniform, carried an air of top-tier elite soldiers about them.

Moreover, with tremendous vitality, Wang Ye had seen them wield simple wooden shields and fight through hundreds of zombies within the shrouding mist, exhibiting not only powerful individual combat prowess but also flawless teamwork.

Such elite forces were rare, even under the command of the northern noble lords. ..

Could the Black Dragon Naval Force be considered elite?

The best soldiers of Jiangnan were in that group.

However, when Wang Ye visited Nanming Prefecture, he had seen clearly that even now, Governor Zhou Hanyang dared not venture his troops too far outside the city.

Yet here, these soldiers, daring to set out for two or three days at a time, rescuing people from hundreds of miles away.

Moreover, he had closely observed along the way that these men, who called themselves the Tiger Guard Army of Lyuzhou, suffered practically no losses, something that the soldiers from Nanming Prefecture couldn’t achieve without Imperial Court support.

"We’re about to reach Lyuzhou, everyone, pay attention and don’t fall behind. Don’t panic in the face of any trouble; we’ll handle it!" The big man continued to shout with his booming voice.

From his vantage point, Wang Ye saw black miasma rising near Lyuzhou City’s gates, clearly indicating the presence of zombies capable of generating the mist even during the day.

Wang Ye had recently come to understand these mists. Being a puppet himself, he could enter the mist without drawing much interest from the zombies, allowing him to observe them closely.

After a certain level of mutual devouring among the zombies, some would evolve the ability to create black mist. Once such zombies appeared, they could lead a significant portion of the others, forming a cohesive group that became increasingly intelligent.

In essence, after some more time, a large number of zombies would be able to wander freely even during the day. From a tactical standpoint, the longer the situation dragged on, the worse it was for Jiangnan. The proactive attack from Lyuzhou was indeed commendable.

Chen Qing, that fellow, always had surprises up his sleeve.

Wang Ye watched with an amused look, curious to see just how capable Chen Qing’s control over Lyuzhou had become.

Arriving at the city outskirts, Wang Ye watched several groups converge from different directions.

Upon enquiring, he ascertained that the scale of the Tiger Guard Army was not insignificant; it couldn’t just be a few hundred men.

Otherwise, it wouldn’t be possible to keep sending people back in an unbroken stream.

It had to be in the thousands.

Thousands, he remembered Chen Qing had only been in Lyuzhou for two months, right? And he already had thousands of such elites?

As he pondered, a wolf’s howl sounded from the city gates, which bore a wolf’s head emblem, and they swung open. Hundreds of Gatekeeper Soldiers in silver armor leaped down from the walls, bearing fine swords and shields, wary of their surroundings, forming a line of defense as they advanced.

"Folks, don’t panic, line up, do not scramble or stampede, and especially do not shove nor crowd the women and children. If anyone does so, be careful, or we’ll throw you out to the zombies!"

Faced with the commanding presence of several soldiers, most of the rural men adhered to a thoughtful respect.

After all, they had witnessed the Tiger Guard Army’s fearsome ability to slaughter the horrifying zombies as easily as chickens and dogs during the two days of escort, proving their formidable strength!

Even with the surrounding mists drawing closer, everyone mustered the will to refrain from breaking into a panicked run.

The soldiers nodded satisfactorily, smiling broadly as they began to slash and slaughter in coordination with the Gate Generals, forming an impenetrable defensive line that prevented any of the approaching zombies from breaking through. Wang Ye watched on in admiration.

Those in the silver armor were exceptionally well-equipped, armed to the teeth, yet their movements were surprisingly agile, resembling light infantry.

.. no, they were more akin to assassins, delivering fatal blows with ease and slipping through enemies like fish in water.

In the face of thousands of zombies, it was nearly impossible to even touch them.

Contrary to them, these lightly-armored Tiger Guard soldiers were different; each one was as solid as a mountain, wielding short blades with the momentum of bludgeons.

Every soldier’s strength was immense, and with a single swing, they often cleaved the undead in two.

When tired of using their blades, they would even fight with bare hands.

The leaders of the group could crush the skulls of the undead with just their grip, their brutish combat style was shocking to behold!

What was strange, however, was that these Tiger Guard soldiers seemed not to be afraid of being bitten at all.

To others, it might not be apparent, but as a magician, Wang Ye quickly noticed something unusual.

All these soldiers possessed the power of bloodlines.

The armored soldiers at the city gates had the strength of the Wind Element, which made their movements extremely agile and forceful, whereas the power of these Tiger Guard soldiers seemed to come from the earth.

With his Spirit Eye activated, he could clearly see the ceaseless energy from the earth flowing into their bodies, making their skin as hard as rock.

Even if their flesh was occasionally breached, upon closer inspection, it appeared to be made of soil and stones, without a trace of blood.

These Tiger Guard soldiers felt like they were statues made of earth and stone!

But Wang Ye knew that it was a layer of rock adhered closely to their flesh, forming armor. This special ability of the soldiers was indeed the bane of the undead!

Truly fascinating...

With the concerted efforts of the soldiers, the several thousand civilians being escorted orderly entered the city without any mishaps. After Wang Ye entered the city, he heard the defending troops shouting.

"Brothers, go drink some sugar water to replenish your energy. We’ve already received signals that several more groups are returning from Baishui County, and there’s another one happening before dusk."

"Ah, Boss, do we need to increase our numbers? It’s already the fifth round today, if this keeps up my back will break."

"Tired, are you? The guy living next to you, Sigou, has been eyeing your spot for a while now, want me to apply on your behalf to go farm on Daqing Mountain?"

"No, no, no... Boss, just kidding, just kidding!" The man shook his head repeatedly.

A joke indeed, currently the most popular positions were those of the Tiger Guard Army and the Gatekeeper Soldiers, with good benefits and a prestigious presence.

Even Sancui from his old village, who used to look down on him, came by frequently to pay her respects, and his family was even considering marrying her to him.

Wasn’t she the village beauty that even the son of the village chief fancied? When was it his turn before?

Wasn’t it because he was now a respected Gatekeeper Soldier? Marrying him would mean that Sancui could directly settle in Lyuzhou, and have a house allocated to her?

Listening to the soldiers’ conversation, Wang Ye became even more surprised at the efficiency, which exceeded what he had imagined; five or six waves like this in a single day? Wouldn’t that mean saving tens of thousands of people in a day?

If only Nanming Prefecture had such efficiency in rescue operations, why would there be such anxiety now?

"Interesting, so this is the Gate Deity, huh?"

From a distance, Wang Ye observed the illusion of the White Wolf on the city wall. Rumors of the Gate Deity had reached the Capital City a month prior, and because no one could identify whether it was Heiyun or Zi Yue, many saw it as a stunt orchestrated by Chen Qing.

Now that he was witnessing it, it did not seem as straightforward as the reports from Heiyun had suggested.

"Mister..." The blood-stained leader of the Tiger Guard Army stepped forward and said, "Please rest inside the city. More rescue teams will be arriving soon, and it’s crowded by the city gate; we’re afraid you might get injured."

Wang Ye smiled and nodded in response. These men each had unusual bloodline powers, yet they did not have the arrogance typical of soldiers from bloodline families; they seemed to show great respect for scholars. Where did Chen Qing get them from, or had he cultivated them long ago?

Truly fascinating...

Just as he nodded in agreement and prepared to see the city, Wang Ye caught sight of a face that made his eyelids twitch.

That face was now very familiar to him; it was the same dangerous face that almost caused chaos throughout the entire Capital City.

What was she doing here? Did she know he was coming?

From afar, Ali also noticed Wang Ye. From a distance, she smiled and bowed gracefully, one hand resting on her belly, which had lost much of its former coquettishness but now carried a hint of maternity.

Why is her belly so big?

Wang Ye’s brow furrowed tightly. Counting from when the Crown Prince’s essence was taken, it had only been three months, right? How could the pregnancy look as if she’d been pregnant for ten months?

Could it be that the Crown Prince was deceived?

As he pondered, the Fox Demon suddenly frowned, clutching her belly and crouching down, sweat breaking out profusely.

Wang Ye’s eyes widened. What was happening? Was it the baby moving? She couldn’t be about to give birth, could she?

"There’s no more time to wait!"

Ali crouched on the ground, looking towards a specific spot. Her lips moved silently, but Wang Ye, who had been watching her closely, could see it clearly.

That Fox Demon was mouthing the words: Take action!!