"Young Master, wake up! It looks like we're approaching Liuzhou Port."
Wei Gongyan carefully called to the unconscious Yuchi Feihu, and seeing him groggily awaken, he immediately breathed a sigh of relief and said, "That brat Wei Gongzhan really doesn't know his own strength! That's anesthesia made by the Wei Household from Wind Serpent! How could he give the young master such a large dose? If he had hurt the young master, I'd skin him alive!"
In the distance, seeing Wei Gongyan, Wei Gongzhan didn't care at all. Instead, he carefully observed the port of Liuzhou. He had given up any hope of staying by the young master's side. Whether the other party tried to sow discord or not, he would not have a good ending if he went back. So he had no intention of explaining that the young master's physical condition was too strong and that if he didn't use more medicine, he wouldn't be able to reach the young master.
Instead, he preferred to focus on the environment before him. The intelligence on the river was exactly the same as what Vice Minister Wang had brought to the military camp. Inside the magic array, the sun was shining brightly at any time, and the zombie horde only dared to swim in the deep riverbed. On the contrary, it was already close to dusk at the location of Liuzhou Port. This short journey had two different worlds. This incident was indeed extraordinary.
"What are you all standing there for?" Wei Gongyan roared, "Quickly contact the Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review and have him come to meet the young master!"
Upon hearing this, Wei Gongzhan shook his head. "I think we should observe the situation in Liuzhou before deciding whether to contact Lord Wang."
"Why?" Wei Gongyan was taken aback.
"Because Lord Wang cannot necessarily be trusted."
"What did you say?" Wei Gongyan laughed in anger upon hearing this, "You're telling me now that Lord Wang might not be trustworthy?"
Wei Gongzhan didn't even bother to go back and glance at the other party, saying indifferently, "Compared to going to the West Sea, Lord Wang has a higher chance of protecting the young master, but that doesn't mean he's necessarily trustworthy. Nowadays, even the imperial army can turn into living corpses; if we're being honest, there's no one left who can be trusted."
"You!" Wei Gongyan in anger, and Yuchi Feihu's face also turned ugly.
Before the two could speak, Wei Gongzhan had already jumped to the bow of the boat. "Let's assess the situation first; it's never a bad thing to be cautious."
"Hmph, you're the one who says east, and you're the one who says west!" Wei Gongyan in dissatisfaction, but didn't say much. In fact, he felt the same way. If the imperial soldiers could turn into zombies and launch surprise attacks, then there was probably no one in this area who could be trusted.
"Young Master." Just as Wei Gongyan was helping Yuchi Feihu to his feet, Wei Gongzhan suddenly spoke up, "Young Master, that punch you threw yesterday was meant to kill me, wasn't it?"
Yuchi Feihu was taken aback, then frowned immediately. "I didn't know it was you."
"Yes," Wei Gongzhan nodded with a smile, "So the young master immediately withdrew his strength when he saw it was me. Even though I had already attacked you, the young master still believed that I wouldn't really hurt you when he saw it was me, otherwise he wouldn't have held back his strength."
"Hmph," Yuchi Feihu snorted coldly upon hearing this, turning his head away without saying a word. He clearly didn't want to see the other person's sunken face, which looked truly ugly when he smiled.
If I hit it too hard, it should be able to recover, right?
"You're only spared because the young master is merciful!" Wei Gongyan glared at the other man. "Still grinning like that? Even if the young master spares you, the Wei Household family won't let you off the hook. Go back to your family and receive your punishment!"
Yuchi Feihu frowned. "He did it to save me too."
"Rules are rules, and insubordination is a grave taboo!" Wei Gongyan hurriedly said, "Young Master, you mustn't be so soft-hearted. Otherwise, if everyone below follows suit, what will become of us?"
Upon hearing this, Yuchi Feihu felt that what he said made sense, but he still said, "No matter what, punishing someone with family discipline is a bit too much. You mustn't say another word when we get back!"
"Young Master, this..."
"Alright!" Yuchi Feihu waved his hand. "That's it." He then Wei Gongzhan, who was still somewhat dazed. "If you dare to do this again, I won't wait for any family discipline; I'll personally beat you to death!"
Looking at the other party's fierce appearance, Wei Gongzhan felt a surge of pungent sourness in his heart, and grinned, "Good!"
"What a load of rubbish!" Yuchi Feihu rolled his eyes at him. "That smile is really ugly, hurry up and follow me!"
As he spoke, he was the first to jump off the bow of the ship, landing directly on the dock in Liuzhou. Wei Gongzhan quickly followed, while Wei Gongyan, looked at Wei Gongzhan's back and his face immediately darkened.
This Yuchi Feihu looks domineering and fierce, but he's actually such a soft-hearted character. No wonder everyone says he'll never amount to anything!
It seems I need to correct myself in the future.
What's going on?
Upon arriving at the gates of Liuzhou City, looking at the scene before them, Yuchi Feihu and his companions felt as if they were seeing things.
There were many zombies at the dock. They fought their way through, but as they got closer to Liuzhou City, they found that the number of zombies was decreasing. When they reached the Liuzhou City, there was a large flow of people!
On the wide road at the city gate, a group of at least tens of thousands of refugees were escorted into the city by a group of burly men who seemed to be soldiers. The horde of undead in the distance only dared to watch from afar and did not dare to approach at all, which was completely different from the situation at the dock where the few living people they saw rushed at them like mad dogs!
And the key point is, these soldiers are incredibly strong!
Even from a distance, Yuchi Feihu and his two companions could sense the powerful aura emanating from the escorting soldiers!
In terms of physical strength alone, these soldiers are almost on par with the Wei Household's personal guards and junior officers, but isn't this number a bit exaggerated?
There are almost a thousand people just by looking at them!
Thousands of bloodline descendants, with such high purity—whose soldiers are these?
Who are you?
The three were standing in a relatively open area, so they were quickly spotted.
The leading warrior roared towards them, his voice booming like a bell, his imposing presence astonishing. Yuchi Feihu swallowed hard, feeling that the soldiers' aura was no different from that of the personal guards trained by his own father!
Just as he was about to introduce himself, Wei Gongzhan stepped forward and said, "Sir, my two servants and I are refugees from Whitewater County. Our family had over seventy members, but now only the three of us are left."
"Oh?" The strong man frowned and looked at the three of them. Yuchi Feihu and the other two had removed their armor, and their inner clothes were tattered, making them look somewhat like refugees.
He nodded and said, "It's quite rare for the two of you to escort your master here on your own." Then, looking at their builds, he chuckled, "Not bad, were you soldiers?"
"Yes," Wei Gongzhan nodded quickly, "I served in the north, and after my discharge, I was noticed by the old master and hired as a bodyguard."
"So that's how it is, they're men who served in the north!" The burly man's eyes became even more friendly upon hearing this. Nowadays, Liuzhou is known for its martial spirit, and the guards tend to recruit men who have served in the military. These two men look good and should be good candidates for warriors.
"Get into the line, follow the queue, and don't wander off. Don't worry, you'll be safe once you're in Liuzhou City!"
Upon hearing this, all three of them were taken aback.
The burly man spoke with utter confidence. In the current situation, even heavily fortified cities like Nanming Prefecture and West Sea City had to seek outside help. What merit did Liuzhou possess that its soldiers dare to make such a boast?
This place is probably not quite what I imagined!
"Young Master, Liuzhou City is strange, but it seems safe for now. It's best if we don't reveal our identities until we figure out the situation."
After entering the city, Wei Gongzhan, mingling among the refugees, seriously observed his surroundings and offered his advice with extreme caution.
The enormous wolf head that inspected the entrance, and the soldiers who were poorly equipped but whose bodies and blood were as strong as those of top-tier noble families, were completely different from what I had imagined Liuzhou City to be.
"You're letting the young master drink thin porridge with these refugees?" Wei Gongyan frowned.
"Then how about we call the prefect of Liuzhou to come and greet us?" Wei Gongzhan asked bluntly.
Wei Gongyan silent. He couldn't bring himself to say it. He understood that there were problems in Liuzhou City and that it shouldn't be exposed easily. He just didn't like the young master being so obedient to a mere brat.
"It smells so good!" Suddenly, Yuchi Feihu, who was walking at the front, sniffed and said, "It smells like meat. Look ahead."
Upon hearing this, the two looked over and immediately saw that the refugees at the front had each received a large bowl of thick rice porridge, along with a strangely shaped strip of meat. The juices burst out with each bite, and the strong aroma of the meat made the three of them, who were already starving, unable to help but swallow their saliva.
As people of that bloodline, they could almost immediately tell the value of the meat; it had a strong nourishing effect and was probably comparable to some specially prepared demon beast meat.
"This..." Wei Gongyan said blankly, "This Liuzhou City, they're distributing meat to refugees?"
The key is still fresh meat!
Their imperial army, with the full support of surrounding prefectures and counties in providing provisions, could only afford to eat their own families' secret-recipe dried meat every day. Yet, Liuzhou, which had been under blockade for more than half a year, was still able to afford fresh meat?
"Line up neatly, everyone's welcome, no crowding! Anyone who cuts in line will be expelled from the food line and will not be allowed a meal for one day. If they repeat the offense, they will be banned from receiving meals for three days!"
Several burly men were watching them intently, which made the newly arrived refugees, especially some of the feisty women, dare not act recklessly. Wei Gongzhan saw this and nodded inwardly. With ample supplies and strict order, Liuzhou City was no ordinary place.
"General, shall we go and line up?" Wei Gongyan couldn't help but say.
"Alright, alright!" Yuchi Feihu couldn't hold back any longer. He was so hungry he was dizzy. He didn't care about saving face anymore. So what if he was a refugee?
Just as they were about to set off, Wei Gongzhan suddenly stopped and looked at something ten meters away. Yuchi Feihu frowned upon seeing this and asked, "What are you looking at?"
"What are you being so suspicious about?" Wei Gongyan said with displeasure. "Can't you see that the young master is starving?"
"Someone is following us," Wei Gongzhan, frowning as he looked into the distance.
"Oh?" Upon hearing this, Yuchi Feihu looked over and immediately saw that there was indeed a scholar-looking fellow who seemed to be secretly watching them from a distance.
The three men frowned. Had they been exposed as soon as they arrived?
Seeing the three men looking at him unfriendly, the scholar hesitated for a moment, but finally took the initiative to approach them, walked up to them, and bowed.
"But... General Yuchi?"
"Who are you?" Yuchi Feihu frowned as he was recognized.
"Your humble servant, Shen Yuan, was originally the magistrate of Whitewater County. I greet General Yuchi!"