Mu Hongqing had always been a clever man. Judging from the other party's complete lack of knowledge about Ziyue's existence, he instantly guessed that Wang Ye had been bluffing him. His Majesty had never mentioned the Thousand-Faced Fox bloodline to him at all!
Come to think of it, Liu Yu was vehemently opposed to this matter and even died because of it, so why would he so easily tell the other party's direct disciple?
Faced with Mu Hongqing's angry question, Wang Ye was not particularly flustered. Instead, he said to himself, "I see. Master Ziyue is indeed a safe choice."
Mu Hongqing frowned as he looked at the confident Wang Ye: "The matter of the fox demon bloodline, was it Duke of Song who told you? I guess the Duke told you before he died so that you would avoid this matter. You're just asking for trouble!"
"I wish I could avoid it, but I can't," Wang Ye said with a chuckle. "This fog over Jiangnan wasn't created by me. Who could have foreseen such a natural disaster?"
Mu Hongqing paused for a moment, then spoke again, "Since His Majesty has summoned you, he is giving you a choice. Lord Wang, please show some self-respect!"
"How can you show self-respect?" Wang Ye asked with a squinty smile.
Looking at the stubbornness in the other person's eyes, Mu Hongqing suddenly realized something. He had received favors from the Duke of Song and always regarded him as an elder. However, he sometimes sighed that some of the Duke's actions were too inconsistent with his experience and age. Most of the time, he was a wise elder, but at other times, he was like a stubborn young man who did not know how to adapt.
The child's eyes are so similar to those of the Duke of Song.
"Back then, Your Majesty rallied the noble families to fight against the King of Qin, claiming he was a demon. Now, no one knows whether the child in that fox demon's womb is human or demonic, yet Your Majesty has decided to protect it. Isn't this undermining your own righteousness?"
"Shut up!!" Mu Hongqing shouted sharply, but looking at the still stubborn Wang Ye, his tone softened in the end. The kindness of that senior had softened his tone, adding a touch of gentleness and admonition, "You don't understand. The power His Majesty wields is far beyond your imagination. Killing the King of Qin was not solely based on righteousness. Don't act rashly!"
"Really?" Wang Ye laughed. "I didn't say what I would do; I was just curious."
Mu Hongqing: "."
"His Majesty's secret decree prioritizes my trip to Liuzhou. It seems he intends for me to meet up with Master Ziyue. As for that top court sorcerer, Senior Brother Mu, how much do you know about him?"
The word "Senior Brother Mu" made Mu Hongqing tremble. After a long silence, Mu Hongqing avoided Wang Ye's gaze and said, "I don't know."
But in the end, he said, " Master Ziyue's origins have always been a mystery. Many people speculate that the Heavenly Moon Illusion Technique activated by the King of Qin was done through Master Ziyue. But if that's the case, it means that Master Ziyue was likely one of the King of King of Qin back then. Be careful. That person's technique is extremely mysterious, and no information has been revealed to this day. No one knows what special abilities his Heavenly Moon Technique has. His Majesty sent you there; there must be some arrangements you can't imagine!"
"Nobody knows?" Wang Ye smiled upon hearing this, "That's not necessarily true!"
What do you mean by that?
"No." Wang Ye's smile widened. "I was just thinking of a friend, a friend who seems to know everything."
--
Achoo!
On a street in the south of the city, Chen Qing touched his nose, looking around in confusion, feeling that his sneeze had come out of nowhere.
"My lord," Zhou Haitao quickly covered his nose and took two steps back, "It's damp and cold in early spring, please take care of yourself. Liuzhou can't do without you now."
Of course, this was clearly just polite talk. Zhou Haitao felt that it didn't matter whether Chen Qing, the hands-off manager, was in Liuzhou or not.
Half a month later, Liuzhou is now much more lively than before, especially as dusk approaches, when large numbers of soldiers returning from the front lines can be seen, as well as many young and strong men who have been farming elsewhere carrying hoes back home.
Ma Erniang would then lead a group of women and children to prepare fragrant meat porridge and golden-fried meat worms for these men who were working hard away from home.
"Another considerable haul," the fat man sighed, looking at the vast crowd at the city gate.
Since the Tiger Guard Army was established, Liuzhou City has had the ability to provide long-range rescue. In the beginning, although troops would be sent out to provide rescue, they only dared to send the able-bodied men in the city to the location on the north slope. They dared not go any further.
The reason is simple: if they went any further, they wouldn't be able to get back before dusk, and now that zombies are everywhere, nighttime is extremely dangerous for ordinary soldiers.
But things changed after the Tiger Guard Army was formed. Fatty heard that every man who joined the Tiger Guard Army became an incredibly strongman, capable of lifting the giant shields from the armory. A shield formation of a hundred men could defend against thousands of zombies in open areas, and in some special terrain, a dozen Tiger Guard Army could keep hundreds of zombies at bay.
These past few days, Fatty's favorite thing to do is, after finishing his work, take some melon seeds to the nearby teahouses and listen to the returning Tiger Guard Army brag.
Thanks to the Tiger Guard Army's increasingly efficient rescue efforts, more and more people are being rescued, with some reportedly reaching as far as Whitewater County.
Whitewater County is close to Liuzhou by waterway, but the land route is very long. Even on horseback, it would take an ordinary person a whole day. If you walk and take in the delays along the way, Heavenly Capital to get there. The route passes through four or five counties.
The gains were enormous. In just half a month, the population of Liuzhou City doubled, and the two thousand Tiger Guard Army who went out of the city rescued nearly thirty thousand people.
Seeing Liuzhou becoming increasingly popular, Zhou Haitao felt more and more at ease. Fortunately, he had listened to his elders and brought his father and younger brother to Liuzhou early on. As for his father and the two half-brothers born to his favored concubine... well, they could only pray for their own good fortune.
"Sir, more and more people want to join the Tiger Guard Army these days. Should we accept them or not?" Fatty Zhou Pangzi asked shamelessly, remembering the tea that the men had offered him.
"Didn't you say you couldn't support too many people?" Chen Qing looked at the fat man with amusement.
"How could that be?" Zhou Haitao rubbed his hands together and laughed, "Even if we had another ten thousand of those insects from the Mountain God's place, we could still keep them."
Chen Qing chuckled and shook his head, "Not at all."
Fat worms can provide decent quality protein, which is enough for ordinary people, but it's still a bit lacking for the Tiger Guard Army of the Battle God System. We need to catch up with logistics as soon as possible. Only with enough spiritual soil to grow spiritual rice can we nourish the Tiger Guard Army ' blood and energy. With the merit bonus from killing zombies, the efficiency of advancing to the second level of Tiger Guard will be faster.
Now, half a month has passed, and less than fifty out of the three thousand Tiger Guard Army have been promoted. Obviously, apart from the reasons for the lack of individual talent, inadequate nutrition is also a major reason.
If the Tiger Guard Army fails to advance as a whole, Xu Hu's rank will stagnate, and he will be unable to recruit more fighters.
How is the recruitment of farm workers going?
Mentioning this, Zhou Haitao scratched his head, somewhat embarrassed. "Sir, the Tiger Guard Army is currently enjoying too much prestige. All the young men with strength want to join the army, and they're not very interested in the land redistribution. However, the newly arrived refugees are slightly better off. Most of them haven't personally witnessed General Xu Hu's prowess, so they still have expectations for the land redistribution. But when they hear that they'll be farming in Great Azure Mountain, they're still somewhat afraid, which makes recruitment difficult."
Yes, no one expected that the large logistics base Chen Qing mentioned would actually be located in Great Azure Mountain!
That place, once a desolate wasteland that even lumberjacks avoided, became the most important logistical hub in the adults' plans.
When the land was first being cultivated, many people were skeptical. After all, although the Great Azure Mountain were lush with vegetation, the fertility of the soil was unknown, and the terrain was uneven with no decent flat land. How could it become a place for logistics and grain production?
As a result, ever since a big tree became the mountain Mountain God of Great Azure Mountain, land reclamation has become extremely easy. As long as one believes in the Mountain God, the vines that cover Great Azure Mountain will help to cultivate the land. As for the problem of flat land, the terraced field method invented by the adults has miraculously solved the problem that the mountain land could not be cultivated on a large scale for many years!
This has amazed many people who have seen what Great Azure Mountain looks like now, but the reason why it is still not very popular is still due to safety issues.
Although the government once claimed that Great Azure Mountain was protected by Mountain God and was as safe as Liuzhou City, few people were still willing to take the risk.
Chen Qing nodded upon hearing this. "Continue to organize new refugees to visit Great Azure Mountain, and promote it with the new welfare benefits."
"New benefits?" Zhou Haitao asked curiously, "What benefits?"
"You're advertising it like this," Chen Qing said with a smile, "That farmers who contract land in Great Azure Mountain will have priority in receiving a house in the newly planned residential area of Liuzhou."
"Real estate?" Zhou Haitao was stunned. "Sir, are you serious?"
Most refugees now have three meals a day, and with the daily preaching of Underworld Fu De, many people's panic has subsided, but worries still linger. After all, they are all refugees from other places. Liuzhou now looks incredibly wonderful, providing food, having door gods and Mountain God for protection, and even a powerful Battle God general like Xu Hu. Not to mention ordinary civilians, even those who were once wealthy or those highly respected scholars, none of them would not want to stay in Liuzhou.
But how can we keep them?
Although everyone is temporarily occupying some houses, they all know that they don't belong to them. Right now, they are nothing more than rootless duckweed.
Once you own property, it means you'll be a true resident of Liuzhou.
This benefit is certainly tempting, but Zhou Haitao asked with doubt, "Sir, is the property enough?"
Although the government had previously acquired a large amount of real estate in Liuzhou, most of it consisted of street-front shops. Now, with the number of refugees in Liuzhou continuing to increase, the real estate held by the government might not be enough. There are quite a few vacant houses, but they don't belong to the government after all. If they are occupied privately, and disputes arise when the people return, it will be difficult to resolve.
"You don't need to worry about that, just handle the publicity." Chen Qing waved his hand. "You go ahead and get busy with the registration, I'm going to Great Azure Mountain."
The fat man nodded, about to say something, but when he turned around, Chen Qing was nowhere to be seen. He was immediately annoyed; this guy was becoming increasingly elusive. How come he hadn't noticed before that this kid had such a special ability?
Now Elder Liu has become the ruler of the City God, a City Underworld worshipped by all. The man he picked up has become the Tiger Might General, able to grant his soldiers immense supernatural power with a flick of his wrist. Even the saplings in the backyard have Great Azure Mountain the Mountain God of Daqingshan. They're all very powerful now. And what about me?
The fat man grimaced, "Will I always be stuck in logistics?"
--
Inside the Great Azure Mountain, Chen Qing used his Divine Movement technique to travel for nearly a quarter of an hour, appearing quite leisurely along the way. However, as he approached the Great Azure Mountain, the ease on his face vanished, and he disappeared from the spot in an instant.
After disappearing, a dark figure appeared in the same spot. The figure looked at the location of Great Azure Mountain, clearly hesitant, but ultimately did not follow.
Instead, they turned and quickly returned to Liuzhou City.
"You guessed right, someone was indeed following you."
After entering Great Azure Mountain, Chen Qing found himself with another person behind him, none other than Murong Yunji.
"Isn't that obvious?" Chen Qing rolled his eyes. "Since the emperor is worried about that fox, he will naturally send people to follow him. And right now, besides that fox, the person they are most worried about in Liuzhou is me, so of course they will also send people to follow me."
"You Central Plains people are so complicated," Murong Yunji pouted, then looked around. "Are you sure it's safe here?"
To be honest, this place doesn't look safe at all. Although this guy has appointed some kind of mountain Mountain God for Great Azure Mountain, judging from her senses, this mountain Mountain God for Great Azure Mountain is not much stronger than the one for South Mountain.
Comparatively speaking, Liuzhou City has a thousand Tiger Guard Army, Xu Hu, and the door gods; it seems much safer than this godforsaken place, right?
Wei Gongcheng, who came along, was also puzzled. He hadn't expected that the so-called logistics base Chen Qing mentioned would be Great Azure Mountain. How could security be guaranteed in such a place?
If the zombies attack, how can we defend? Are we supposed to rely on the Tiger Guard Army to withstand the onslaught?
He had witnessed the Tiger Guard Army's combat power grow stronger every day. Once they were familiar with the strength, the Tiger Guards were five or six times stronger than ordinary people, and they also had the ability to harden their skin. Now, even in the wild, one of them could kill more than a dozen zombies, which was quite brave. However, in his opinion, it would be a waste of manpower to use them to fight the zombies head-on in Great Azure Mountain. Great Azure Mountain had several entrances, and to completely defend it, at least two thousand Tiger Guard Army would be needed.
Now, with three thousand Tiger Guard Army insufficient to aid a distant land, where can more troops be dispatched here?
Not to mention that his next move might provoke a direct attack from something even more terrifying.
"I also think it might be a bit too risky," Wei Gongcheng offered a fair opinion.
"This place is now arguably the safest place in Liuzhou," Chen Qing said, looking at Murong Yunji. "If we use our full power of the Divine Wind to snatch that fox here, what are your chances of success?"
Murong Yunji snorted coldly upon hearing this, "Of course it's perfect!"
But after a pause, he added, "But as you saw, those people who could kill the Lao'er are definitely top-tier experts. Even if I could snatch the fox you mentioned here in a short time, how can I avoid being chased?"
"Just focus on getting it, don't worry about anything else." Chen Qing said, glancing at Chen Ying was rushing over from a distance, pale-faced and sweating profusely.
How's your learning going?
Chen Ying swallowed hard, then shook her head, saying, "It's too complicated. If we make a move tonight, I'm not entirely confident I can succeed!"
"That's incredibly stupid." Chen Qing frowned. "What percentage is it?"
Chen Ying gritted her teeth in anger. Since entering the Yin-Yang Academy, no one had ever called her stupid!
"Seventy percent!" Chen Ying said with some difficulty, uttering a number that even she herself felt a little guilty about.
Chen Qing, however, frowned deeply. As a programming student, he was very sensitive to probability; in his view, there wasn't much difference between 70% and 50% unless he was absolutely certain.
"Sir, could you allow me to practice for another two days?" Chen Ying quickly replied, "You'll be more confident then."
"We can't wait," Chen Qing shook his head. "The fox's belly can't wait, and Wang Ye will be arriving soon!"
A lengthy 4,000-word article—this time, no one said the Mofang's Cube was too short or weak.
It's almost the end of the month, Mofang is begging everyone to save some of their monthly passes for Mofang!
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