"As expected, they held on!"
At night, the two city gates of Chishui County were firmly guarded by two gatekeepers, a dozen fighters, and hundreds of villagers. The main reason was that there were not many zombies to deal with; only occasionally a few hundred zombies would pass by. While clearing out the zombies, the group of fighters could also encourage and teach the villagers to take the initiative in fighting head-on.
The more they overcame their fear, the more confident they became. With confidence, they placed even more trust in the " Battle God" that Chen Qing and his group spoke of. Unbeknownst to them, their strength was increasing and their bodies were becoming more agile. Although they did not yet possess superpowers like proper fighters, many villagers had gained the physical strength to directly confront the zombies in just one night.
Seeing this change, Chen Qing finally felt relieved.
A virtuous cycle must begin now!
Level 2 believers not only possess independent power, but also the ability to spread the word. As long as they can guide ordinary people to believe in them, they can gradually begin to share their power with those around them. Although they may not share much, it can still inspire faith. As more and more people join, the power of the gods will be drawn to them.
Chen Qing glanced at the city gate, where a faint wolf's head was beginning to appear.
Given Old Wolf's potential, transmitting power across two states should already be at its limit; we need to find a new gatekeeper.
As time passed, the number of zombies below dwindled, and they were cleared out in less than fifteen minutes. This efficiency boosted the confidence of many villagers even further!
This actually aligns with Chen Qing's prediction. The rule of Nine Heavens Mirror Valley is that the slower the clearing speed, the less likely they are to let too many zombies land. Yangzhou City was captured immediately, and its million residents became new zombies. According to the rules, Nine Heavens Mirror Valley would naturally judge that Yangzhou does not have the ability to exterminate the zombies, thus cutting off the new zombies from landing. Even if they do, they would send zombies from different factions to land and engage in internal strife.
This is also why the Seventh Ancient Worm's retinue was able to send in a small number of living corpses.
However, their numbers will not increase much further. The living corpses that enter Yangzhou City will immediately use the Yangzhou City to devour and refine their Gu, due to the increase in their basic followers. Only a small number of living corpses will flow out, which will give the county towns and countryside Yangzhou City a lot of space.
Using the county town as a base and scattering to the surrounding countryside for rescue operations, Chen Qing calculated that it would take at most a month to clear out the scattered zombie hordes around the county town and concentrate the population in the county town. Then, as long as they regularly patrol and clear out the zombies to prevent zombies generated by black mist from entering their territory, and set up points around the surrounding mountains and rivers to confer titles on the Mountain God and river gods, supplemented by array defenses, if they act quickly enough, they can surround Yangzhou City before the zombies within Yangzhou City fully evolve.
Once the time is right, and enough formations are set up, Yangzhou can be controlled. As long as the number of zombies does not decrease sharply, no new large numbers of zombies will come ashore, and Chen Qing will be able to secretly develop his army continuously.
If this situation can be maintained for six months, it is not impossible for them to spread the faith throughout Jiangnan without the imperial court's knowledge!
However, this is an ideal situation; several conditions must be met for it to be realized.
First: We must act quickly enough to occupy all the prefectures and cities in Jiangnan except for Nanming Prefecture and Nanyang City before the imperial court and Nine Heavens Mirror Valley can react.
Second: The passage must be stable enough. It is necessary to ensure that the warriors and gatekeepers of Liuzhou can continuously output to the Seven Continents in order to speed up the process.
Third: The Duke of Qin must be cautious enough. If he sends a large number of soldiers into Jiangnan in advance, he may be regarded as a threat on par with the living corpses, or even be considered more dangerous, once discovered.
Chen Qing doesn't have enough resources to face the First Duke of the Great Jin Dynasty. The fact that Imperial Capital is wary of him and dares not act rashly shows that this Duke of Qin's abilities are absolutely at the pinnacle of the human race today!
Finally, the unstable factor is the Shen Family!
Chen Qing looked towards the river. Judging from Wang Ye's intelligence, the Duke of Duke of Qin was a sufficiently steady person and unlikely to act rashly. Conversely, the Shen Family members were the most troublesome group right now.
Today is an extremely lively day in Liuzhou City.
Because the Tiger Guard Army announced that it will begin recruiting more members starting today!
Many people received this news two or three days ago, and many young adults are eager to seize this opportunity!
Joining the Tiger Guard Army not only offers good benefits and immediate ownership of property in Liuzhou, but most importantly, it allows one to become powerful. With demons and monsters roaming the land, fear is instilled, but so is the fervor of young men. After the initial panic and unease, the pursuit of power becomes the deepest desire in the hearts of most young men. Looking at their neighbors Ergou Gou and Daniu, who were just like them a few days ago, and how they've transformed into formidable warriors in just half a month, no ordinary person can help but feel envious.
This led to an overwhelming number of applicants, with almost everyone wanting to participate, while the number of positions available was limited. Therefore, the Tiger Guard Army decided to hold a public selection process!
The selection methods vary widely, including testing basic qualities such as strength, endurance, and speed, with the best candidates being selected.
Of course, having special skills is also a plus!
For example, those skilled in weapons, combat, and archery receive higher bonus points. Therefore, on this day, archery competitions, weapons drills and contests, as well as combat competitions can be seen in many places in Liuzhou.
This is much more interesting than watching a liberal arts exam. Even ordinary people who don't participate gather in large groups to watch the excitement, and every now and then, an outstanding performance by a candidate can elicit cheers and applause!
"Ten rings! Three arrows, all hitting the bullseye! What a hero! Excellent archery!" The fighter in charge of the archery competition gave the man who had just shot a thumbs up. "Brother, excellent archery!"
The man smiled smugly. He was a former captain of the Black Dragon Guard. As a proper archer, he had served for many years and his archery skills were far superior to those of the hunters in the countryside. He was very confident in joining the Tiger Guard Army!
Seeing even the superhuman warrior praising his archery skills, the man was even more excited. This place was indeed different from the army he used to be in. Back then, no matter how good your archery skills were, those bloodline soldiers wouldn't give you a second glance. But here, everyone was the same!
"Bravo!" A cheer erupted from the crowd, followed by thunderous applause, which made the man's face flush with excitement.
Ordinary soldiers have an awkward position. In the army, they are not as well off as those with bloodlines, and in the Jiangnan city, they are not respected by the people of Jiangnan who value literature. This is the first time in many years of military service that they have been praised by so many people.
Such scenes are playing out in many places in Liuzhou today.
A brilliant archery performance, a spectacular duel, or a strongman who can lift a heavy iron chain weighing dozens of kilograms can all elicit cheers. These cheers are not only for the excitement but also out of genuine respect. Whether young or old, women or children, everyone at this moment holds a deep admiration for the strong men, because they all know that these heroes, once they join the Tiger Guard Army, will be the first to go to the countryside to rescue more people.
A martial spirit has been ignited in Liuzhou without anyone noticing, and it's burning brightly!
At this moment, not everyone in the crowd was cheering happily; some looked worried.
That's right, it was those scholars who once wore long gowns, had achieved some academic success, or had studied for more than ten years, including, of course, those high-ranking teachers.
Their feelings are complicated right now.
On the one hand, the appearance of more Tiger Guard Army gave them a greater sense of security, since many scholars had been rescued by the Tiger Guard Army and had long developed a sense of dependence on them.
On the other hand, this prevalence of martial arts was not a good thing for them.
Many insightful people are worried: if such a trend spreads throughout Jiangnan, or even throughout the Great Jin, what will become of the status of scholars like themselves?
Will the literary tradition that has been cultivated in Jiangnan for thousands of years be lost?
This isn't just unfounded worry; it's something that's really happening around us.
"Grandpa, I want to join the army!" Beside an old scholar, a child of about ten years old, dressed in a long gown, looked enviously at the strong men competing, his fists clenched and his eyes full of envy!
Upon hearing this, the old scholar sighed slightly.
More than ten days ago, his grandson wanted to join the army, but after several days of stern reprimands, it had no effect.
He couldn't hit him, and he couldn't scold him!
Looking at his grandson's envious eyes, he felt a mix of emotions. A while back, it was the other children who envied his grandson. After all, even in Liuzhou City, not all children could afford to carry a schoolbag and go to school.
But now, his grandson can't concentrate on his studies, yet he's extremely reluctant to let him join the army.
We've painstakingly nurtured him for so many years; he has a natural talent for studying, and if he takes the imperial examination next year, he has a good chance of becoming a scholar. But now he's going to compete in strength with a bunch of brutes—how can he possibly win?
If this continues, the literary tradition of Liuzhou will be lost, and where will scholars like them find a place to stand?
And so, in a daze, a group of teachers and their children wandered aimlessly through the streets, watching the spectacle, but they were completely unable to blend into the laughter around them.
They are not ordinary people; they cannot take off these long gowns.
" Master Liu, Master Qin, what are you still doing here?"
Just as several teachers were sitting together in the teahouse, discussing how to give their children a beating to get them to behave, a familiar, plump figure ran over.
"Oh, Lord Zhou," the tutor, holding his grandson, looked up and forced a smile, "Is there something you need, Lord Zhou?"
"The academy is opening today!" Zhou Haitao exclaimed, panting heavily. "Why aren't the teachers at the academy? What are they doing wandering around the streets? Don't they want to teach anymore?"
"Teaching?" The teachers all gave a wry smile upon hearing this, pointing around. "Sir, look around, how many children in Liuzhou these days still want to study?"
"Yes, Lord Zhou," Master Liu said, slapping his grandson's head. "Don't even mention other families' children, my own child wants to sneak off to join the army."
The child lowered his head, avoiding his grandfather's gaze, clearly feeling guilty.
"Well," the fat man smiled at the group of disheartened old scholars, "I would like to invite you gentlemen to the academy. My lord, the prefect, has said that scholars in Liuzhou will not be without a place."
"How can we possibly find a place here?" Master Liu looked at the other party coldly. "Don't even mention these young children. If I were decades younger, I would want to join the army myself!"
"Master is joking," the fat man chuckled. "The lord said he's going to open a Yin-Yang Academy in Liuzhou, a school belonging to the Jiangnan!"
Upon hearing this, all the teachers were instantly shocked and stood up!