127: Chapter 120: The Vibrant Lyuzhou City.

127: Chapter 120: The Vibrant Lyuzhou City.

The support from Lyuzhou arrived quickly.

Wang Ye had provided cover, and the Duke of Qin had agreed to let Hong Lie lead the troops.

At the same time, he also dispatched another general from a different faction.

Together, they brought five thousand elite Xuanjia troops and arrived at the South Gate of Lyuzhou on two military ships.

The time of their arrival was almost noon.

Based on intelligence, during this time, even those undead hidden by black mists would seek shade to avoid the sun and rarely attack people directly under the bright noon sun.

But even so…

was the entrance to Lyuzhou City…

too lively?

Hong Lie and another general named Wu You stared blankly at the bustling scene before them, feeling that something was amiss.

At this moment, the entrance to the city almost looked like a sea of people.

Countless bare-chested young men carrying hoes and wooden baskets on their backs were queuing up at the city gate in the scorching sun.

Soldiers stationed on both sides of the gate were vigilantly watching the distant black mists where the undead hid, yet these bare-chested civilians seemed very relaxed, not at all worried that the undead might pounce on them from afar.

“Governor Zhou…” Wu You looked politely at the chubby man who came to greet them.

“Who are these men?”

“Oh, they are farmers who have just returned from working in the fields outside,” Zhou Haitao said, wiping sweat from his brow.

“As you know, the outside is full of undead, very unsafe.

Now it’s been decreed that the young men working the fields can only go up the mountains to farm at dawn and must return to Lyuzhou City by noon.”

“Um…” Wu You and Hong Lie were both startled.

It sounded rather forced, but the more they heard, the more it didn’t seem right…

“Wait, with the current situation…

they can still leave the city to farm?”

According to the description in Mu Hongqing’s letter, these undead were not weak, with agile movements.

Most importantly, their teeth and claws carried strong poison.

Although individual undead weren’t powerful, they were dangerous demons.

Even the elite Black Dragon troops didn’t dare to engage them in field battles.

And now…

the Magistrate of Lyuzhou dared to let people go out of the city to farm?

“That’s a weird thing to say, General,” Zhou Haitao chuckled.

“If we don’t farm, then what will we eat afterward?”

Wu You: “…..”

Is that…

how it works?

“Line up, enter the city!”

There was something strange about Lyuzhou City!

Wu You observed everything closely.

The Duke of Qin didn’t send him here just to let Hong Lie, the simpleton, come alone.

It wasn’t to involve himself in the muddled affairs that Emperor Siao had planned.

According to what the Duke of Qin said, he always felt that Lyuzhou was not as simple as Wang Ye had described it.

And it seemed that was indeed the case; Lyuzhou…

was not quite right!

The soldiers at the gate in their silver armors were too professional.

Zhou Haitao claimed they were temporarily recruited to deal with the situation with the undead.

Given the urgency of the situation and the Magistrate’s duty to defend the land, temporary conscription was plausible.

But these soldiers…

were they really conscripted on short notice?

Wu You looked at the soldiers standing straight as rods, their gazes sharp as eagles under the midday sun.

Though they were not particularly tall, their aura was that of battle-hardened veterans!

This much he was certain; these soldiers all exuded the scent of blood only old soldiers had, indicating they were experienced in combat, and were elites.

In the face of his five thousand Xuanjia guards, these mere hundreds of soldiers didn’t show any sign of weakness.

He even had the feeling that if the two armies were to face off, the other side…

might not necessarily lose…

These soldiers…

were definitely not temporarily recruited!

After entering the city, the feeling that something was off grew stronger.

First was the atmosphere…

Having fought in the north for many years, he had seen how civilians harassed by demons behaved.

The horror that these undead described in Mu Hongqing’s letter inflicted upon ordinary people was greater than any demon he had previously encountered.

After all, having your spouse and children devoured alive and then seeing them stand up and become those monsters too, would terrorize anyone beyond bearing.

Yet in Lyuzhou…

Most people he saw wore smiles on their faces, their eyes filled with hope…

To be honest, such vitality was rare to see even among the civilians in the safe confines of the Capital City where the burden of life often led to furrowed brows.

Then there was the issue of food.

The burly farmers who had come from working outside the city headed towards South Street upon entering, taking the same route to the Government Office as Wu You and others.

They only found out upon arrival that it was the place for their meal.

Wu You was satisfied with this arrangement, as they had come a long way to offer support, and naturally, the basic needs of food and shelter for the soldiers had to be addressed first.

But the food supply…

seemed too good.

Thick rice porridge, snowy white buns, golden-brown fried meat that was aromatic, followed by a refreshing serving of pickles, all of which made his troops gobble down the food with grease dripping from their lips.

The key point was that this food wasn’t prepared just for the soldiers.

Wu You and Hong Lie could clearly see that those farmers were also arranged to eat here after returning to the city.

The standard was exactly the same as the soldiers’, with both meat and porridge!

“Is Lyuzhou’s food really this plentiful?”

Wu You felt increasingly uneasy.

According to the reports from the Nanming Prefecture, on the third day of the disaster, Governor Zhou Hanyang had forcibly confiscated all the food in the city and distributed it wartime style according to the military laws of Great Jin, which meant that the ordinary citizens could barely maintain their lives with a bowl of thin porridge each day.

In Wu You’s view, this was perfectly reasonable, as food must be strictly rationed to those fighting on the front lines to keep the army’s spirits up.

The key point was that even with such economization, the request for assistance specifically asked for more food to be brought into the city to provide support.

How could Lyuzhou afford such extravagant waste?

And the citizens even got meat?

“It’s not too bad…” Zhou Pangzi replied while drinking his porridge: “Last year, Jiangnan had a good harvest, and most rural families have grain reserves.

Now, faced with this calamity, those zombies won’t ruin the grain, so as long as we organize teams to search the countryside, we won’t worry about this year’s food supply.”

Upon hearing this, Wu You frowned.

It made sense—zombies kill people but don’t spoil the food.

With many people dead, the remaining grain became more abundant.

Initially, this was exactly what Governor Zhou Hanyang of Nanming Prefecture was counting on.

The problem was that although the countryside had food, the zombies that could move during daylight were increasing in number.

Sending troops to the countryside to gather grain was very risky.

Governor Zhou Hanyang’s letter mentioned that after scavenging the neighboring dozen towns, they didn’t dare to search further.

After all, the defense force was precious and could not afford further losses.

But looking at the situation in Lyuzhou, could it be that they continuously brought in food from outside?

“What kind of meat is this?

It’s really delicious!” said Hong Lie, who was enjoying his meal on the side.

As a military general who trained physically, he particularly favored this chewy red meat.

“Worm meat…” Pangzi replied while eating.

“What’s that?” Hong Lie and the surrounding soldiers were taken aback and then looked closely at the meat in their hands, which indeed resembled…

worms.

“It’s a specialty of Lyuzhou,” Pangzi chuckled.

“Don’t worry, Sir, it’s very safe to eat.

We’ve been eating it for a month now, and it’s very nourishing.”

“Really?” Hong Lie and the others paused, having never heard of such a specialty in Jiangnan before.

Moreover…

are there many such large worms in Jiangnan?

Wu You also looked at the worms with knitted brows.

The meat was fragrant, and the texture was firm.

When did Jiangnan have such a thing?

Seeing that each citizen had one, there seemed to be plenty of them.

If this kind of thing could be mass-produced, it would be great military rations.

Great Jin was rich in products, but still lacked meat.

The military needed meat to strengthen its warriors.

If such a thing was safe for consumption and could be mass-produced, it would have already been promoted…

This definitely wasn’t an old native species of Jiangnan…

Too many doubts made Wu You unable to sort through his thoughts at the moment.

He felt that he should urgently write back to the Duke of Qin.

After almost half an hour, all of the soldiers had eaten their fill and were resting contentedly under the shade of the trees.

They had all assumed that they would be facing a much harsher environment, but it turned out to be better than expected.

“Has the general eaten enough?” Zhou Haitao chuckled.

“If you’re done eating, I’ll arrange for your soldiers to rest.

If you’re tired, General, you can also rest at the Government Office.”

“Thank you for your hospitality,” Wu You replied cheerfully, drinking another full bowl of porridge before heaving a sigh of relief, “I wonder where the Prefectural Governor went?”

“Oh,” Zhou Haitao promptly said, “The Prefectural Governor is currently distributing farmland outside.

After all, we don’t know how long this situation will persist.

He said we must take precautions and not just rely on scavenging grain from the countryside, so he’s actively organizing the people to cultivate the nearby fertile land.”

“The Prefectural Governor is far-sighted.

I admire his wisdom,” Wu You nodded, thinking that no matter what means were used to achieve such a comfortable situation in Lyuzhou, and still being vigilant within such comfort, was indeed remarkable.

But the more it was so, the more he needed to be cautious.

“May I meet with the Prefectural Governor today?

I have important matters to discuss with him.”

“Oh?” Zhou Haitao’s eyes twinkled, and he immediately smiled, “The Prefectural Governor is very busy, and it may be very late by the time he returns.

General, you’ve been on a long and tiring journey.

It’s best to rest early tonight.

If there’s anything important, you can entrust it to me to convey.”

“Oh…

Conveying it would work too,” Wu You wiped the corner of his mouth, smilingly said, “I have come to assist Lyuzhou, and according to the instructions from the Duke of Qin, I should take over the defense duties of Lyuzhou.

Please ask the Prefectural Governor to come back as soon as possible to transfer the defense responsibilities!”

With those words, the atmosphere suddenly cooled.

Hong Lie frowned at Wu You, thinking the old man was planning to stir up trouble.

The current military preparedness of Lyuzhou was obviously arranged by that youngster Chen Qing.

Was he trying to claim the fruits of someone else’s labor right off the bat?

However, he didn’t stop him.

After all, he was also curious about how Chen Qing obtained these military defense forces…

———————————————

Meanwhile, Chen Qing was constantly testing the barrier problems of Daqing Mountain with Chen Ying.

After the Azure Dragon Barrier was activated, it proved to be more stable than expected, which somewhat relieved Chen Qing.

Since the barrier had suppressed Ghost Doll for a thousand years, its stability should be quite reliable, but to handle the upcoming events, it was not enough.

Although the situation in Lyuzhou was getting better, and the Tiger Guard Army was becoming more confident against the zombies, that was because the higher-level zombies had not been released yet.

Those species trapped in the formations for hundreds of years wouldn’t just stay there forever, and with the zombies now evolving rapidly by devouring each other, the future would only become more difficult.

The current Azure Dragon Barrier could defend against ordinary zombies, but to cover the entire Azure Dragon Mountain, defend against all zombies on a large scale, and ensure the safety of the logistics base, the current barrier wasn’t sufficient.

Chen Qing knew it was time to bring out the advanced professions of the magicians.

If that were the case, he would have to make a trip to the Nine Heavens Mirror Valley!