What's going on?
Chen Qing frowned. Why didn't anyone think things were going well? It's not a good thing that a living corpse like Shen Laojiu has suddenly appeared in this city!
Without hesitation, Murong Yunji darted out, her speed incredibly fast thanks to the Divine Wind, and she reached the sky outside the courtyard in an instant.
Looking down, however, there was no trace of Shen Laojiu.
Chen Qing frowned as he walked out and immediately ordered Zhou Haitao, "Take the garrison soldiers and begin patrolling immediately. Gather all living people in the city together and don't leave them alone."
"Yes, Laoda!" Zhou Haitao hurriedly ran out of the mansion, clearly anxious. His father was still in the courtyard embracing his concubine, and he needed to call him over quickly so he could stay here for safety.
But Shen Yiyun shook his head. " Laojiu won't easily reveal his whereabouts. If I'm not mistaken, he'd rather leave Liuzhou City and return to the fog formation you mentioned!"
"Probably not?" Chen Qing frowned. "Your Laojiu hasn't fully transformed yet. He's still more driven by a desire for flesh and blood. He won't easily want to go back. Generally, he needs to evolve at least five times before he shows any signs of being summoned by insects."
"Are there no exceptions?" Shen Yiyun asked quietly.
"No, usually not." Chen Qing shook his head.
Are there any special circumstances?
"Is there anything special about your Laojiu?" Chen Qing frowned.
Upon hearing this, Shen Yiyun hesitated for a moment before finally speaking, "What the Laojiu inherited is publicly known as a poison technique, but in reality, it is the most difficult Gu Insect Art for my Shen Family to inherit!"
" Gu Insect Art?" Chen Qing was taken aback, but instantly understood what the other party wanted to say, and his expression became serious.
The creature within the cloud formation is an ancient insect, but no matter how ancient, it is still an insect.
In theory, those who Insect Spell have the opportunity to control their opponents.
I remember in my previous life, one of the three surviving zones relied on an insect sorcerer to control several high-level undead and turn the tide of the battle.
But what if the insect warlock gets bitten?
Chen Qing gasped in shock!
The mist formation, named Nine Heavens Mirror Valley, is the culmination of ancient formation masters. With the opening of this dungeon, the power inherited is also from one of the lost ancient professions of the human race: formation master.
This formation is the crystallization of ancient formation masters, containing the Dragon Palace Key, which can unlock a new inheritance for the human race. Back then, those formation masters used the insect's desire to find the Dragon Palace to lure it into the formation and seal it. After sealing it, they used the formation's characteristics to suppress and decompose the insect into thousands of pieces, which is why it has been able to maintain itself for so many years.
Once broken down into thousands of Ancient Insect, any one of them, upon finding a suitable host, will evolve rapidly, potentially surpassing First Rank martial artist within three months and reaching the limits of a creature before the Earth Spirit Revival.
If the thousand insects were to merge into one, the Ancient Insect would be resurrected. In a world where the Earth Spirit has not yet been revived, this Ancient Insect would be a being beyond dimensions. Chen Qing dared to guarantee that even if ten Golden Crow Emperors came, they would all be destined to be food!
"Why didn't you say so earlier that your Laojiu is an insect sorcerer?" Chen Qing's face turned ashen with anger.
"If Lord Chen had shared the intelligence earlier, none of this would have happened!" Shen Yiyun's face was also ashen. "And wasn't it all your doing that Laojiu is now in that ghastly state?"
Chen Qing: "."
He was speechless for a moment. After all, what the other party said was true. Although he hadn't instigated Shen Laojiu's incident, it was ultimately because of him. No, wait!
When Chen Qing thought about this, he suddenly felt that something was wrong!
When Yuchi Feihong bit Laojiu, was it really just to help him keep the Shen Family around?
What a coincidence!
It just so happens that it bit a bug warlock?
Could it be...?
Amidst the white fog, Yuchi Feihong, who was controlling the warship, continued to sail deeper into the fog. When the ship reached a body of water, Yuchi Feihong did not hesitate to take off his armor, revealing his now-blackened upper body, and jumped directly into the water.
With his exceptional physical abilities, he swam much faster in the water than the zombies, like a ferocious shark.
The riverbed was teeming with living corpses, tearing at and devouring each other. The river was filled with rotting, red and black flesh, a horrifying sight.
Yuchi, however, seemed to be used to all of this, swimming deeper and deeper into the water, diving as he went, ten zhang, twenty zhang, fifty zhang!
The water pressure made their bodies tense up, and anyone present at that moment would find it incredibly eerie, because how could the river be that deep?
Yuchi swam, everything around him turned Hei Wu, and the dense hordes of living corpses vanished without a trace, replaced by a spectacular underwater scene!
Countless glowing corals and seaweeds, incomparably beautiful, Yuchi to a complex seaweed thicket where a giant seashell lay.
The seashell opened, revealing a stunningly beautiful woman, lying naked in its center, buried beneath strange jewels.
A look of utter infatuation flashed in Yuchi's eyes as he slowly stepped forward. "My lord!"
"Well done!" The beauty inside the seashell smiled alluringly. "But why didn't you take action and bring back that insect sorcerer while we were on the ship?"
"I'm not confident!" Yuchi Feihong shook his head. "That Chen Qing's methods are unpredictable; he can even control the internal magic array. If we were exposed then, I'm afraid it would ruin our master's grand plan!"
"Indeed strange." The beauty smiled and said, "Array masters are all dead. I didn't expect there to still be someone in the world who can use the Nine Heavens Mirror Valley. This person's background is probably not simple. We should avoid them if possible."
"Yes."
"They're about to find me. Before the next Mirror Valley opens, you must bring the Insect Sorcerer to me, otherwise, once those few find him, there will be no hope for you humans!"
"Rest assured, my lord, Yuchi will not let you down!"
--
" Laoda, everyone's been called!"
Before dawn, Zhou Haitao, drenched in sweat and panting, reported back, clearly exhausted from searching for someone all night.
"You've worked hard." Chen Qing nodded and looked at all the confused and apprehensive villagers. Most of those who had returned to Liuzhou were young and strong, and half of them had just been on the city wall and seen those terrifying zombies.
Therefore, he was quite nervous when summoned by the prefect.
Are the zombies coming again?
"Are there any missing persons?" Chen Qing asked, frowning.
"No!" Zhou Haitao pulled out the booklet and said, "I checked them one by one, 2,753 people, not a single one missed!"
"Okay!" Chen Qing nodded, stepped forward, and looked at everyone.
It seems that Shen Laojiu is indeed cautious enough not to harm anyone, which is good. If the infection spreads within the city, it would be quite troublesome.
As for Shen Laojiu escaping?
Chen Qing didn't believe it. With the gatekeepers around, unless Shen Laojiu evolved to the level of Yuchi, it would be impossible for him to escape the city silently.
"Everyone," Chen Qing cleared his throat, "You've all seen the situation. Those zombies bite anyone they see and eat human flesh. If you get bitten, you'll become like them, turning into a man-eating monster!"
"Please, Your Excellency, save us!" The group of people immediately became anxious. Gu Bei and his group cleverly took the lead, and the crowd immediately followed suit, kneeling down in prayer.
"As the Prefect of Liuzhou, I will naturally not abandon the people of Liuzhou. I will live and die with you." Chen Qing's voice was full of vigor. Having already possessed a small amount of divinity, his words were exceptionally dignified and convincing!
"Your Excellency has mercy!" Gu Bei and the others kowtowed again, and a group of people quickly followed suit.
"Now that I and the door gods are here, and the Mountain God god protects Liuzhou City, you need not worry. We will certainly not allow those evil spirits outside the city to invade, but..."
Hearing the first half, the group felt slightly relieved, but when they heard the "but," everyone's hearts skipped a beat.
"What about the people outside the city?" Chen Qing said quietly, "You are all safe now, but most of you who came here are migrant workers, right? What about your wives, children, and elderly parents?"
Upon hearing this, the group of people suddenly realized, "Yes, our wives and children are still in the countryside!"
These monsters can't get into the city, could it be...?
Upon realizing this, everyone immediately became anxious!
"My lord, what should we do?"
"Yes, sir, what should we do?"
"What should we do?" Seeing that his emotions had been stirred up, Chen Qing said sternly, "Of course we should save them! Are you going to hide in this city and just watch your elderly parents, wives, and children be devoured alive by those zombies?"
"If they dare, I'll fight them to the death!" Some of the more spirited individuals stood up!
Maozi and his companions, however, felt incredibly fortunate, as they had already brought their parents, wives, and children to the city a few days prior.
"Good, you're all good men!" Chen Qing nodded in satisfaction. "I know you're all afraid, but your wives and children will be even more afraid if you hide in the countryside. We are men, what kind of men would we be if we just stood by and watched our families be persecuted by demons outside the city?"
"The sir is right, let's fight them!" Gu Bei was the first to take the lead, and instantly a large number of people followed suit. After all, those who came to work were mostly young and strong, and few of them were unmarried. Even if they were, they were worried about their parents at home.
Seeing this scene, Chen Qing felt complicated. Although the current situation was unfortunate for these people, it did not seem to be a bad thing for him, because he could gather the population and win the hearts of the people more quickly.
Once you provide shelter, gaining faith will become much easier than before!
The few thousand people in the city are definitely not enough; he must force them out of the city to search for and rescue more people.
It's a bit cruel, especially for the people of Liuzhou, who are actually his fellow villagers from childhood. But there's no other way; if we don't do this, none of us can survive!