Liu Sishan contacted Situ Shibai once again. This was her third attempt to reach him tonight. → Read
However, Situ Shibai's attitude remained unchanged. He said that tonight's priority was observing the situation, and that they could discuss specific actions after dawn.
Zhang Ping guessed that Situ Shibai probably knew something and might be waiting for the right moment.
He yawned.
Although he was exhausted and sleepy, he was still worried about Qiu Qiang's safety. Gritting his teeth, he closed his eyes and tried once again to contact the Blood Serpent.
When his attention shifted to the Blood Serpent's side, the Corrosive Water Bullet Rabbit was hiding in a depression. Its condition was terrible. Several of its ribs were broken, and it was sprawled on the ground, barely clinging to life.
He hurriedly treated the Corrosive Water Bullet Rabbit while observing the surrounding environment.
The city wall was not far from the depression. Several psychokinetic Awakened were using their abilities to haul the corpses of other Corrosive Water Bullet Rabbits onto the wall, where many Awakened were eating late-night snacks.
This might be a good opportunity to enter Mingzhu City.
In fact, whether it was the wild wolves or the Corrosive Water Bullet Rabbits, it was obvious that they had been driven here by the horde of Living Corpses behind them. They had no intention of entering the city, but by the time they reached the city wall, it was already too late.
Zhang Ping signaled for the Corrosive Water Bullet Rabbit to run forward. Perhaps because Zhang Ping had been helping it all along, the rabbit was very obedient. Once its injuries had improved, it cautiously ran ahead. When it reached the city wall, it followed the wall, searching for an entrance.
Mingzhu City actually had quite a few canals leading outside. The canals beneath the city wall were blocked by iron grilles, but those clearly posed no challenge to the Corrosive Water Bullet Rabbit.
When the Corrosive Water Bullet Rabbit reached a canal, it sprayed corrosive water at the iron grille with its ears. The grille was quickly corroded, after which it entered Mingzhu City through the canal.
It quietly emerged from the water and crawled onto the ground beside the canal.
The Corrosive Water Bullet Rabbit first shook the water from its body. Only then did it cautiously move forward at Zhang Ping's signal.
Inside a civilian residence not far from Iron Soul, Qiu Qiang clenched his fists and stared fixedly at the ruins of Iron Soul.
From the way Iron Soul had collapsed, he could imagine how terrifying the attack had been in that instant.
He could smell blood, but he saw no bodies.
What had happened here?
Qiu Qiang was furious, but he was also deeply worried about Liu Tiefeng and Zhang Ping's safety.
Suddenly, he saw a rabbit. The rabbit was actually circling near Iron Soul, as if searching for something.
When the rabbit approached the residence where he was staying, his pupils suddenly contracted. A line of bloody text appeared beside the rabbit: Uncle Qiang, Grandpa Liu and I are both somewhere safe.
The line of text then changed: It's very unsafe in the city tonight.
Qiu Qiang glanced around, immediately went downstairs, picked up the rabbit, and quickly returned upstairs. Only after confirming that no one could see them did he ask, "Are you Zhang Ping?"
"Yes!"
The bloody characters on the rabbit's snow-white fur rapidly changed.
Qiu Qiang widened his eyes and asked in a shocked whisper, "How did you turn into a rabbit?"
"No, I'm temporarily inhabiting this rabbit with my ability. My real body and Grandpa Liu are somewhere safe. Mingzhu City is extremely dangerous right now. A large number of Living Corpses are approaching." Zhang Ping displayed the message one segment at a time.
Because there were too many words, the sentence appeared in several installments.
Qiu Qiang frowned after reading it, then asked, "What happened to Iron Soul? Who did it?"
"Uncle Qiang, I don't know if I can tell you. It isn't safe in Mingzhu City." Zhang Ping displayed the message. He was mainly afraid that Prince Yue might see the words he was displaying.
Qiu Qiang took a deep breath and said decisively, "Then I'll go find you now."
"Don't come. The Living Corpses are advancing toward Mingzhu City from our side. Uncle Qiang, go to the southern wall and see what's happening. I need to learn the exact situation regarding the Living Corpses." Zhang Ping rejected him firmly.
Qiu Qiang thought for a moment, then nodded. "All right."
He decisively carried the Corrosive Water Bullet Rabbit toward the southern city wall. He soon saw lights in the distance atop the wall, indicating that many people were there.
As he drew closer, he began to smell blood. His trust in the information provided by the bloody text increased slightly.
Ten minutes later, he proved his identity through several familiar adventurers and then climbed onto the wall. Looking outward, he saw corpses everywhere beyond the wall.
The corpses of wild wolves, the corpses of Corrosive Water Bullet Rabbits, and the corpses of countless other creatures.
"Uncle Qiang, tell everyone that Living Corpses will be approaching soon. Some of those Living Corpses are the corpses of Awakened, and they can still use the abilities they possessed while alive. They also carry Corpse Poison. Don't let them scratch you, or you'll become infected with Corpse Poison and eventually turn into a new Living Corpse." Zhang Ping rapidly displayed one line after another.
Qiu Qiang frowned. "How many Living Corpses are there?"
"It's difficult to calculate. A conservative estimate is more than fifty thousand." Zhang Ping thought for a moment before giving a rough number.
He had used the Appraisal Technique the moment he saw the Living Corpses, but the information it provided was extremely limited. He had already told Qiu Qiang everything he knew.
Qiu Qiang realized how serious the problem was. With fifty thousand Living Corpses attacking the city, the few hundred adventurers they had would never be able to hold them back.
They had to gather more adventurers!
"Everyone, hear me out."
Qiu Qiang thought for a moment, then stepped onto a high point of the city wall and shouted.
The adventurers who had been eating roasted Corrosive Water Bullet Rabbit meat all turned toward Qiu Qiang. Someone recognized him and joked, "Stinky Qiang, don't tell me you're going to say, 'Rabbits are so cute, how can you eat them?'"
"Hahahaha!"
The other adventurers burst into laughter.
Qiu Qiang said seriously, "All right, enough joking. This rabbit is the means of communication between me and a younger brother of mine. He's currently outside the city investigating why these animals are approaching."
"Isn't it because the Patrol Team has been slacking off lately and neglecting its duties?" a female adventurer asked doubtfully.
Qiu Qiang shook his head. "It's hard to say what the exact situation is, but my younger brother has confirmed that more than fifty thousand Living Corpses are currently approaching Mingzhu City. Barring any unexpected developments, they'll arrive soon."
"Is that for real?" an adventurer asked in shock.
Qiu Qiang simply raised the rabbit and said, "Little Zhang, tell them yourself."
Lines of text immediately appeared on the rabbit's snow-white fur, describing the exact situation regarding the Living Corpses once again. This time, none of the adventurers doubted him.
There was no need to doubt him. The Living Corpses would appear soon. If this was a lie, it would be exposed at once.
"Fifty thousand Living Corpses? That isn't normal. Let's hurry to the City Lord's Manor. There's no way we adventurers can resolve this alone," an adventurer said in panic.
Now, everyone had lost their appetite for rabbit meat. Their faces were filled with worry, panic, and fear.
"Everyone, listen to me. The people at the City Lord's Manor may already be unreliable. We should find a way to gather more Awakened. This is a matter of life and death for Mingzhu City. If you don't want to become stray dogs, then come defend our city." The bearded man who had earlier shot the Corrosive Water Bullet Rabbit with arrows stepped forward and spoke in a booming voice.
Qiu Qiang nodded. "That's right. Besides us adventurers, there are many Awakened working in various fields. They're fighting strength too."
"I know the master of Wolf Fang Martial Arts Hall, Zhou Shoucheng. I'll go invite him," an adventurer immediately shouted.
"Right, I'll go invite the master of Dragon-Slaying Saber Hall."
"I'll go invite the master of Beast King Fist Hall!"
"I'll go invite the master of Flower-Plucking Martial Arts Hall!"
The adventurers spoke up one after another, then quickly dispersed.
Mingzhu City was enormous, but the adventurers moved extremely quickly. In just a few minutes, many Awakened from other professions arrived.
Through the Corrosive Water Bullet Rabbit's eyes, Zhang Ping saw Instructor Bai De rushing over at incredible speed. Rather than taking the stairs to the wall, he leaped directly from the roof of a building onto the wall. His jumping ability was astonishing.
"They're here!" an adventurer called out.
Because they had not considered the matter particularly serious before, the adventurers had not bothered to investigate their surroundings.
But after learning that more than fifty thousand Living Corpses were approaching, the adventurers brought out all their strength. Several beast-taming ability users sent the Mutated Beasts under their control outside the city to monitor the area.
At that moment, they saw through the Mutated Beasts under their control that densely packed Living Corpses were swaying toward them.
An adventurer with Eagle Eye broke into a sweat and gritted his teeth. "I'm afraid there are more than fifty thousand. Even seventy or eighty thousand might be an underestimate. Are there really that many corpses around Mingzhu City?"
"All right, don't be so nervous. Most of the Living Corpses aren't very strong. This may merely be a probe."
At that moment, a burly man in white stepped out of the crowd. His hair was extremely thick, making him look like the Lion King.
Since Bai De was following behind him, Zhang Ping guessed that the white-clad man was probably the master of Beast King Fist Hall.
"Master Feng, do you mean someone is directing them from behind the scenes?" asked a man holding a saber.
The white-clad man smiled. "Whether it's a person is hard to say. But lately, the Patrol Team has inexplicably holed up in the City Lord's Manor, and only three Investigation Team squads have remained in the city. Now so many Living Corpses have suddenly appeared to attack the city. Do you think that's normal?"
"A conspiracy?"
Many of the Awakened could not help but fall into thought.
"Look! Something's coming from the east too!" an adventurer suddenly shouted.
Qiu Qiang and Zhang Ping both looked toward the eastern side of the city. A large flock of black crows was rapidly flying over. They exuded black energy, and their bodies appeared somewhat decayed.
"Not good! Those crows are Living Corpses too!" the same adventurer with Eagle Eye cried out.
The white-clad man immediately said, "We can't keep making a mess of things. My Beast King Fist Hall will take responsibility for the southern side. Any Awakened willing to stay, sign up. We only need five thousand people. If the southern wall falls, you may take my head, Feng Laixian!"
"Now that's guts. Then the eastern side goes to my Dragon-Slaying Saber Hall. I only need five thousand people as well. If the eastern wall falls, you may take my head too, Ao Donghai!" a saber wielder said with a hearty laugh.
The masters of the other two martial arts halls then spoke up as well, taking responsibility for defending the remaining two sides of the city wall.