Surrounding the Zombies

Walking over to the Black-Mane Horse, Lu Shaolin swung into the saddle, flicked the reins, and headed for the city gate.

After passing through the gate, Lu Shaolin kicked the horse's belly. The Black-Mane Horse let out a long neigh and broke into a run.

In less than half an hour, Lu Shaolin had returned to Panshan Village.

After dismounting, he knocked on the courtyard gate. Dong Linger's clear voice called out, "Who is it?"

"It's me."

Lu Shaolin replied with a smile.

A burst of hurried footsteps followed, and the courtyard gate opened.

"Young Master, you're finally back!"

Dong Linger beamed.

"Mm, what is it?"

Lu Shaolin led the Black-Mane Horse into the courtyard.

"A lot of constables came to the village yesterday afternoon. They said a woman had hanged herself, and she was wearing red!"

Dong Linger said with lingering fear.

"Which woman?"

Lu Shaolin froze for a moment before immediately asking.

"From what the villagers were saying, it seemed to be the former village chief's wife!"

Dong Jia said as she took the reins.

Li Ping's wife? Good that she was dead. It saved him the trouble of doing it himself.

Lu Shaolin raised his brows, greeted the two sisters, then carried his spear into the bedroom and dropped straight onto the bed.

He had only slept for two hours last night. He needed to catch up on rest.

Soft snores soon sounded, and Lu Shaolin quickly drifted into sleep.

When he woke, it was already noon.

Lu Shaolin walked out of his room and washed his face beside the well in the courtyard.

The cool well water instantly dispelled his drowsiness.

After stretching lightly, he saw Dong Jia and Dong Linger emerge from the kitchen. "Young Master, you're awake?"

"Mm, I'm awake."

Lu Shaolin nodded.

"Perfect. Lunch has just been prepared."

Dong Jia said with a smile.

After saying that, she patted Dong Linger on the head, and the two entered the kitchen to bring out the dishes.

Lu Shaolin walked over to the wooden table in the main hall and sat down, waiting for the meal.

After eating his fill, Lu Shaolin was considering taking a walk to digest his food when the sound of hoofbeats approached from afar and stopped outside his courtyard gate.

Lu Shaolin grabbed the Black Iron Spear, quietly went on guard, and stepped into the courtyard.

A rapid knock soon sounded at the gate.

"Who is it?"

Lu Shaolin asked coolly.

"Boss, it's me, Ma San!"

Ma San's voice rang out.

Lu Shaolin was somewhat surprised. Why had Ma San come at this time?

He strode to the courtyard gate, pulled out the bolt, and opened it.

Ma San and his four subordinates stood outside.

"Why are you here?"

Lu Shaolin asked.

"Boss, the hall has ordered us to head to Rainstone Village. A Black Calamity has broken out there, and they're short on manpower."

Ma San replied.

"A Black Calamity? Vengeful spirits or a Zombie?"

Lu Shaolin frowned. Ethereal vengeful spirits were difficult to handle, mainly because if they did not reveal themselves, you could not even see them.

"I don't know. We were only told that we must arrive by this afternoon and await the hall master's orders."

Ma San continued.

"Mm, wait here."

Lu Shaolin nodded. When he turned around, he saw the two sisters standing at the entrance to the main hall, looking at him with worry.

"I'm heading out. You two stay home and be careful."

Lu Shaolin said to them with a smile.

"Rest assured, Young Master. We understand."

Dong Jia replied softly.

"Young Master, you need to be careful too."

Dong Linger said brightly, blinking her large eyes.

Lu Shaolin smiled and nodded. He led the Black-Mane Horse outside, then swung into the saddle.

"Move!"

Lu Shaolin shouted, clamped his legs around the horse's belly, and charged ahead first.

The other five hurriedly urged their horses after him.

The group of six raced toward Rainstone Village.

An hour and a half later, the six arrived outside Rainstone Village.

They saw that the entire village had been surrounded by a large number of men dressed in black.

Outside the village, a pile of firewood had been placed every twenty meters.

Not far behind each firewood pile stood a tent.

As they were quietly observing the scene, a man around forty rode over on horseback. "Newly assigned brothers?"

"Yes."

Lu Shaolin said.

"Your position is Tent A-3. Light the fire pile after dark to stop the Walking Corpses inside from breaking out. Kill any that escape on the spot. If you can't handle them, shout for help."

The middle-aged man left as soon as he finished speaking, not even waiting for Lu Shaolin and the others to respond before riding toward the next group of gang members.

Lu Shaolin frowned and rode onward.

After passing several tents, they finally found Tent A-3.

The tent was located on the left side of the village.

Lu Shaolin dismounted, tossed the reins to Ma San, and entered the tent.

The tent's furnishings were extremely simple—one could even say there were none. Only several sheepskins lay spread across the ground for people to rest on.

Lu Shaolin was speechless. He turned and walked right out of the tent.

"Ma San, go gather information."

Lu Shaolin ordered.

"Yes, Boss."

Ma San cupped his hands and accepted the order, heading toward the other tents.

After the time it took to drink a cup of tea, Ma San returned with a grave expression.

"What's the situation?"

Lu Shaolin asked.

"Boss, they say everyone in the village has turned into Walking Corpses, and there are Zombies inside as well. Our current task is to surround the place and wait for the Demon Suppression Bureau's experts to arrive."

Ma San replied in a low voice.

"How many days has it been? The Demon Suppression Bureau's experts still haven't arrived?"

"Seven or eight days. The Demon Suppression Bureau's experts seem to be exterminating demons elsewhere and cannot spare attention for this place for now."

"How many people were in the village?"

"Around a hundred. They've killed some Walking Corpses over the past few days, so there should be around sixty or seventy left."

Ma San thought for a moment before answering.

Sixty or seventy? Lu Shaolin's eyes gleamed. Wouldn't that mean sixty or seventy Source Points? What a haul!

Joining the External Affairs Hall really had been the right choice.

"You all get some rest. We'll be standing guard all night."

Lu Shaolin ordered.

Ma San and the others nodded, entering the tent one after another.

Lu Shaolin looked toward the village. The entire place was deathly quiet. Not even a chicken could be heard, and there was not the slightest trace of human life.

Dusk soon arrived. Lu Shaolin was considering whether to catch a few fish from the nearby river for dinner when two handcarts entered his view.

Each handcart carried two large wooden barrels, two large bamboo steamers, and several coarse porcelain bowls.

Not bad. They even deliver food.

Lu Shaolin thought to himself.

He turned and entered the tent, waking the five subordinates lying on the sheepskins.

The handcarts soon arrived in front of Lu Shaolin's tent.

Each of the six received a bowl of meat soup and three meat flatbreads.

Lu Shaolin looked at the flatbreads in his hand and asked the round-faced man distributing food for six more.

By the time they had finished dinner, the sky had gone completely dark.

"Light the fire piles!"

A gang member on horseback rode past with a torch raised high, shouting as he went.

Lu Shaolin looked at Ma San. The latter understood at once and took out a fire striker to light the firewood pile.

As one fire pile after another was lit, the entire outskirts of the village were illuminated by firelight.

Holding the Black Iron Spear, Lu Shaolin silently watched the village ahead.

The Zombies in this world differed from those of Lu Shaolin's previous world.

They did not move by hopping. Instead, they were like ordinary people—they could run and jump, and sunlight did them limited harm, unable to inflict fatal injuries.

Copperclad Corpses and stronger ones were even completely immune to sunlight.

After waiting for quite some time without seeing any movement, Lu Shaolin became deeply disappointed. Should I just go in and start killing?

With his current strength, Walking Corpses posed no threat, and he could absolutely try fighting a Zombie.