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"Old Liu has hundreds of avatars in Nanyang City," Shen Lao San said to Wang Ye, who looked on the verge of collapse, yet he spoke calmly: "Each avatar looks identical, but their structures are extremely different. For twenty years after Old Wu left, we’ve been dealing with Old Liu’s wooden avatars. They’re switched out every day, making it impossible to track his location. "

Wang Ye: "....."

"However, once you understand the source, it becomes easy to lock down," Shen Lao San said, slightly lifting his head. At that moment, the wary expression on Shen Lao Liu froze.

His body stiffened even more dramatically than Wang Ye’s. On closer inspection, one could see a thin layer of frost at his joints, causing his entire body to seem frozen.

"Mystic Water?" Shen Lao Liu’s eyes widened, but he only managed to say those two words before black frost engulfed his entire body, rendering him completely immobile, including his core.

"When did it happen?" Wang Ye asked on behalf of Shen Liu Ye.

"When we clinked glasses," Shen Lao San said with a smile, looking at Wang Ye: "I couldn’t track Old Liu, but I knew he would make a move on you. By acting in advance on you, I could lock down all the brothers preparing to strike against you."

Wang Ye: "....."

"Surprised, aren’t you?" Shen Lao San pointed at Wang Ye’s leg, and as Wang Ye looked down, he was again taken aback. Without knowing when, he had grown several eyes on his leg, which were now frozen just like Shen Lao Liu.

Wang Ye gave a bitter smile. He had thought the Shen Family would not dare to act recklessly, yet he hadn’t expected that from the very first day, at the banquet, everyone had played their tricks on him.

"Let’s go, to Lyuzhou....." Shen Lao San turned and said, "This is your only chance to survive."

"Such a multitude of techniques activated, and you’re still daring to use Flying Star, Senior. Do you understand the risks?"

"Of course, I understand the risks," Shen Lao San replied with a smile. "But I’m not a coward like Old Liu. Start it up with confidence. If something happens, Old Ba and I will be buried with you. You won’t be at a loss!"

With a twist of his mouth, Wang Ye remembered Chen Qing’s phrase, down to granny’s house!

As horrifying auras approached from outside, Wang Ye knew that he no longer had the luxury of continuing the conversation.

He formed hand signs, and the Flying Star technique abruptly activated!

In the moment it activated, he quickly glanced at his diary, and only then did he see the half-sentence left unfinished during his conversation with Chen Qing.

Who says it can’t be done?

You have your Flying Star, after all....

Wang Ye: "....."

So, brother, can you respond faster next time, and not always leave your sentences half-finished!

----------------------------

"Tsk.....why aren’t you responding?"

In Yangzhou City, Chen Qing held the notebook, frowning at Wang Ye, who was slow in responding. In the previous internet age, he disliked those who went offline without any notice.

Of course, if it was a forced log off, Chen Qing couldn’t do anything about it.

From the moment Wang Ye entered Nanyang City, Chen Qing knew that his Flying Star would definitely be exploited by the Shen brothers, but who would ultimately benefit from Wang Ye, Chen Qing actually had a pretty good idea.

He dealt with data and was a believer in probabilities.

Based on the technique intelligence of the Shen brothers, controlling Wang Ye would likely fall to either Old Qi or Shen Lao San

But regardless of who it was, as long as they dared use Flying Star to enter Nine Heavens Mirror Valley, the deal between him and that woman would be considered complete.....

"Master, Chishui County is ahead," someone reported.

Chen Qing nodded, looking up. The county town, unlike Yangzhou City, did not have black fog rising. It was clear that it hadn’t evolved a large number of zombies capable of walking in daylight.

"Master, why don’t we go directly to Yangzhou to help?" asked one particularly large man from the Fighter Camp, unable to hold back his question.

"Firstly.....we don’t have enough people," Chen Qing shook his head: "And the cost-effectiveness is not high enough."

The others paused, obviously not understanding what cost-effectiveness meant.

"Yangzhou is different from Nanming Prefecture and Lyuzhou. It only has three thousand troops, and they’re soldiers who have not seen battle for many years. It’s impossible for them to hold Yangzhou City," he explained.

Chen Qing sighed. This kind of biohazard scenario may have been played out in many future games, but in ancient times, it was a form of overwhelming strike.

Even the most battle-hardened generals would likely face a high chance of failure when first encountering such a situation, let alone a small place like Yangzhou.

Yangzhou is one of the seven Jiangnan provinces along the river.

Its importance and commercial port prosperity could not compare to Lyuzhou or Nanming Prefecture, but due to its outstanding textile industry, it still held a certain position in the Jiangnan commerce circle.

The Imperial Court naturally had troops stationed here, but not many. ....

Because its geographical location was far back, and with the Black Dragon Navy blocking the major river paths, Yangzhou didn’t actually need to waste too much military power.

Most Commanders serving here were the no-good descendants of noble families from Capital City, who pulled strings to get a position to add luster to their resumes, then returned to assume a reasonably respectable military rank.

This had already become the norm, under such circumstances, it would have been a miracle if Yangzhou City could have held.

Those who had played Resident Evil knew that in such a crisis, if a direct defense was not possible, the more densely populated an area was, the more dangerous it became.

The defenses of the weak Yangzhou City had already turned it into a hotbed of the corpse poison.

Chen Qing estimated that it had probably fallen on the first day, and its million residents had long since turned into zombies.

By now, Yangzhou had become a site of cannibalistic infighting among the undead, and not even he, let alone bringing over the five thousand fighters under Xu Hu’s command, would dare to launch an assault on Yangzhou City.

Moreover, the significance of taking the city was minimal. Not to mention the heavy losses, it was highly unlikely there were any survivors left within Yangzhou City.

On the contrary, since a large number of zombies would hold up in Yangzhou City, the number of zombies spreading to the surrounding counties would be far fewer, and consequently, there would likely be more survivors in the countryside.

At this point, the strategy to adopt would naturally be that of the countryside encircling the cities.

"Let’s enter the city," Chen Qing led his people into Chishui County.

Chishui County is also along the river, making it one of the most likely targets of the first wave of attacks.

Indeed, upon entering, one would find a desolate scene of destruction, with dried blood and corpses scattered everywhere, and the bodies of the townsfolk who had died before turning into zombies—mainly the elderly, women, and children.

The zombie virus required strong bodies, so many of the sick and disabled were abandoned by the virus at the moment of infection, but that did not mean they survived.

Instead, they were truly treated as food and gnawed to death...

The fighters had seen such scenes many times before; to become second-level fighters, each had followed Xu Hu through several rescue operations in towns and the countryside. Yet, every time they saw it, they still couldn’t help but curse angrily.

"Damn these beasts!"

"Start cleaning up," Chen Qing ordered.

The surrounding fighters nodded and rubbed their hands, ready for action.

According to the plan, they needed to kill all the zombies still hidden within the entire county town and thoroughly clean up the area.

Chishui County had a population of no less than a hundred thousand.

Subtracting those who had escaped and the wandering zombies, there were definitely tens of thousands of zombies still lurking within the town.

It was a troublesome affair for a few dozen people to clean up tens of thousands of zombies.

But fortunately, it wasn’t a head-on confrontation.

By exploiting the zombies’ fear of sunlight and clearing one house at a time, it was a slow and steady process that could indeed be achieved given enough time.

Just as they were about to get started, several fighters suddenly spotted a few sneaky figures and immediately frowned and shouted, "Who’s there? Come out!"

After some hesitation, several able-bodied villagers timidly emerged.

"Which village are you from?"

The leading villager asked with insufficient confidence.

After all, although Chen Qing’s fighters were not armored, they were as strong as young bulls.

Twenty or so people standing there projected an aura stronger than a battalion of hundreds of soldiers, making one feel unnerved just by looking at them.

Under normal circumstances, ordinary citizens might have chosen to avoid such a force, but now, after those monster attacks, facing their own kind who were stronger, they were more inclined to approach instead.

Chen Qing looked at the villagers across from him and roughly guessed their situation, speaking loudly, "I am the Magistrate of Lyuzhou, an Imperial Official, sent here on orders from the Imperial Court to conduct a rescue. Are you residents of Chishui County?"

Upon hearing that he was from the Imperial Court, all the villagers finally eased their worries and came forward to kneel, "Sir, we are... we are people from Hong Village in Chishui County..."

"With so much danger outside, what were you doing running around in the county town?"

"We... we came out to look for food," stammered the head of the group, overcome with excitement, "All of our villages are textile villages, unlike the Nan Village with good farmland. We don’t have much grain stored usually.

We know there are many man-eating monsters in the county, but we have nothing to eat.

We had no choice but to group together in threes or fives to come to the town in the hopes of finding some food to bring back. "

Chen Qing was taken aback. Is this the so-called scavenging team of the apocalypse?

"You’ve had a hard time," Chen Qing’s voice softened, his tone turning gentle.

At his words, everyone could no longer hold back.

The leader’s eyes reddened, and he gasped, "This... these days... it’s like a nightmare.

Monsters that eat people, they bite on sight, and wives and children bitten would turn into monsters too.

My child... was only four years old... Sir, why did it take so long for you to come! "

His words instantly stirred up everyone’s sorrows. Dozens of strong men couldn’t help bursting into tears, their crying growing louder until eventually, they lain on the ground wailing.

Chen Qing didn’t speak, and the surrounding fighters stood in silence as well.

They had all experienced such despair and could understand it deeply.

Looking at these people, Chen Qing didn’t know what to say for a moment.

What had things come to?

The horror he designed had only just begun...

Having turned into an NPC, what was it to reap what one sowed?

At that moment, Chen Qing realized it all too clearly. Now, he didn’t even dare to ask Wang Ye to look for his family, for fear his family would be used against him by the Shen Family.

After all, at this point, the most dangerous place in Jiangnan was actually Nanyang City, where no zombies roamed.

"You’ve had a hard time..." Chen Qing said again, his tone filled with sincere conviction, "I’m to blame for my late arrival, but I promise, from today on, you are safe. Go back and tell your families and friends, tell them that Chishui County... is safe now!"