Walking over to the Black-Mane Horse, Lu Shaolin swung into the saddle, snapped 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 crisp voice came from within. "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.
"Yesterday afternoon, a whole lot of constables came to the village. They said a woman had hanged herself, and she was wearing red!"
Dong Linger said with lingering fear.
"Which woman?"
Lu Shaolin froze, then immediately asked.
"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—saved him the trouble of doing it himself.
Lu Shaolin raised a brow, greeted the two sisters, then carried his spear into the bedroom and fell straight onto the bed.
He had only slept for two hours last night. He needed to catch up on sleep.
Soft snores soon sounded, and Lu Shaolin quickly drifted into dreams.
When he woke, it was already noon.
Lu Shaolin stepped out of his room and went to the well in the courtyard to wash his face.
The cool well water instantly swept away 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 speaking, she patted Dong Linger on the head, and the two entered the kitchen to bring out the dishes.
Lu Shaolin went to sit at the wooden table in the main hall, waiting quietly for the meal.
After eating his fill, Lu Shaolin was considering taking a walk to settle his food when the sound of hoofbeats came from afar, drawing nearer until they stopped outside his courtyard gate.
Lu Shaolin seized the Black Iron Spear at once, inwardly alert, and strode into the courtyard.
A rapid knocking soon sounded at the gate.
"Who is it?"
Lu Shaolin asked blandly.
"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 walked to the courtyard gate, pulled out the bolt, and opened it.
Outside stood Ma San and his four subordinates.
"Why are you here?"
Lu Shaolin asked.
"Boss, the hall notified us to head to Rainstone Village. A Black Calamity has broken out there, and they're short-handed."
Ma San replied.
"A Black Calamity? Vengeful Souls or Zombies?"
Lu Shaolin frowned. Vengeful Souls, being incorporeal, were difficult to deal with. The main problem was that if they did not reveal themselves, you could not even see them.
"We don't know. We were only told that we must arrive this afternoon and follow the hall master's command."
Ma San continued.
"Mm, wait here."
Lu Shaolin nodded. Turning around, he saw the two sisters standing at the entrance to the main hall, watching him with worried expressions.
"I'm heading out for a while. You two stay home and watch your safety."
Lu Shaolin told them with a smile.
"Rest assured, Young Master. We know."
Dong Jia replied softly.
"Young Master, you need to be careful too."
Dong Linger said in her clear voice, blinking her large eyes.
Lu Shaolin smiled and nodded, then led the Black-Mane Horse outside the courtyard and mounted up.
"Move!"
With a sharp shout from Lu Shaolin, he clamped his legs around the horse's belly and charged out first.
The five hurriedly spurred their horses and followed.
The group of six raced toward Rainstone Village.
An hour and a half later, the six arrived at the outskirts of Rainstone Village.
They saw that the entire village had been surrounded by a large number of men in black.
Outside the village, a pile of firewood had been placed every twenty meters.
Not far behind each woodpile stood a tent.
As they quietly observed, a man around forty rode over. "Newly assigned brothers?"
"Yes."
Lu Shaolin nodded.
"Your position is Tent A-3. Light the firewood after dark to prevent the Walking Corpses inside from rushing out. Kill any that break through 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 heading toward the next group.
Lu Shaolin frowned and rode onward.
After passing several tents, they finally found Tent A-3, which belonged to them.
The tent was located on the left side of the village.
Lu Shaolin dismounted, tossed the reins to Ma San, and walked into the tent.
The furnishings inside were exceedingly simple—one could even say there were no furnishings at all. There were only several sheepskins spread over the ground for people to rest on.
Lu Shaolin's face darkened, and he turned around and walked out of the tent.
"Ma San, go find out what's going on."
Lu Shaolin ordered.
"Yes, Boss."
Ma San clasped his hands and accepted the order, then headed 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. There are Zombies inside as well. Our task now is to surround this place and wait for the Demon Suppression Bureau's officials to arrive."
Ma San replied in a low voice.
"How many days has it been? The Demon Suppression Bureau's officials still haven't come?"
"Seven or eight days. The Demon Suppression Bureau's officials seem to be eliminating demons elsewhere and can't spare attention for this place yet."
"How many people were in the village?"
"About a hundred. We'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!
Sure enough, joining the External Affairs Hall had been the right choice.
"You all get some rest immediately. You'll be standing watch 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 silent, without even the crow of a rooster, utterly devoid of human life.
Dusk soon arrived. Lu Shaolin was considering whether to catch a few fish from the nearby river for dinner when two flatbed carts entered his sight.
Each cart carried two large wooden buckets, two large steamers, and several coarse porcelain bowls.
Not bad at all—they even delivered meals.
Lu Shaolin thought to himself.
He turned and entered the tent, waking the five subordinates lying on the sheepskins.
The carts 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 the food for another six.
By the time they had finished dinner, the sky had completely darkened.
"Light the firewood!"
A mounted gang member rode past holding a torch, shouting at the top of his lungs.
Lu Shaolin glanced at Ma San. The latter understood at once, took out a fire striker, and lit the woodpile.
As one woodpile after another was lit, the entire outskirts of the village were cast in the firelight.
Holding the Black Iron Spear, Lu Shaolin quietly watched the village ahead.
The Zombies of this world differed from those in Lu Shaolin's previous world.
They did not move by hopping. Like ordinary people, they could run and jump, and sunlight inflicted only limited harm upon them, unable to cause fatal injuries.
Copperclad Corpses and those above them were even completely immune to sunlight.
After waiting for quite a while without seeing any movement, Lu Shaolin was deeply disappointed. Should he just go in and start killing?
With his current strength, Walking Corpses were nothing to fear, and he could fully attempt a battle against Zombies.
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