After dawn, Wangnan, which had once been a place of peace and prosperity, was now in areas of houses were burned down in the turmoil last night, and even the government office, which symbolized order and rules, was reduced to ashes and no longer existed. The old soldier was not on duty at night, and the soldiers sent from the government office last night also took over the city wall, so this "old guard dog" who could only bark twice escaped disaster. Speaking of which, last night was really thrilling. The old soldier hid under the bed with his two grandchildren, and next to them was his rusty knife. The zombie banged on the door several times but failed to break it open and left before dawn. Although the sunlight was coming in through the window at this time, the old soldier still hid under the bed holding his two grandsons, not daring to move. Although the grandchildren were afraid, they could not resist the sleepiness and were now fast asleep. The old soldier's eyes were as blazing as torches, ready to fight to the death at any time. boom! boom! boom! There was a knock on the door outside. "Who?" The old soldier could only see shadows coming in from the crack in the door and the storage room, but could not see the specific appearance, so he didn't know whether the person was a human or a ghost. "It's me."
A somewhat tired voice came from outside, "Lao He." "Lao He? Didn't you run away the day before yesterday?" the old soldier asked doubtfully. "Why are you running? Aren't you afraid of being beheaded?" Lao He sighed outside, "Besides, where are there no zombies now? I heard that the ones outside are even more ferocious. At least there is a Maoshan Taoist priest guarding here, which is better than outside." "So you came to call me?" "Of course I'm asking you to go on duty, otherwise I'd like to have tea with you?" Lao He muttered. Yes, it's time for the watch. Even in storms, New Year holidays, the veterans have never missed a day in the past years - in order to receive the full attendance allowance. "coming." The old soldier put his two grandsons on the bed, covered them with a thick quilt, and went out with his knife. Although he responded promptly and decisively, he still kept a vigilant distance from Lao He as soon as he went out. Lao He laughed bitterly, "No way, you're even on guard against me?" "It's not that I don't believe you." The old soldier said, "You know I have always regarded you as my brother. Even though you ran away without informing me and asked me to take the blame two years ago, I still regard you as my brother. But zombies are really strange and weird things. A person may be fine at first, but when he gets up, he becomes extremely strong and wants to bite people, even his closest relatives. The old lady next door to me has been chanting sutras and eating vegetarian food all her life, and she would never step on an ant to death. But last night she suddenly turned into a monster. I saw through the window that her face was covered with blood and flesh of someone unknown, and it really scared me to death. " The old soldier was still frightened, and his clothes became wet again when he recalled that scene. Old He laughed twice embarrassedly and held his big belly.
"Which zombie is as fat as me?" "That too." The old soldier patted his belly and said as usual, "Let's go. I heard the sound of banging on the city gate last night. I wonder what happened to the tower?" “Hey, it’s half collapsed.” Lao He couldn't help but sigh, "Even when there was an earthquake, a flood, and the French bombarded it with cannons, the stone wall remained motionless. But now it has been destroyed by zombies." When the old soldier heard this, he remained silent. Somehow, he felt like something was missing in his heart. When he saw the tragic condition of the city wall, he became even more silent. The place where he used to stand guard had been blackened by the flames, and there was a gap on the city wall, as if someone had broken a front tooth. The old soldier regarded this tower as his home and his final destination. He always felt that after his death he would be buried under the city wall and become a part of this silent stone wall. In countless dreams, he dreamed that he became a part of the stone wall, but he was not afraid or nervous, just silent and at peace. Now, the stone wall collapsed in front of him, and the old soldier's spirit and energy also collapsed by half. He suddenly felt that he was old. "It will be built eventually." Lao He comforted him. "Will we still need to guard this gate tower at that time?" the old soldier suddenly asked. Lao He paused for a moment, then seemed to have heard something funny, and couldn't help laughing: "Since ancient times, only the towers were taken down by ladders, and there was no collapsed city wall, even the French cannons couldn't penetrate it. Foreign guns and cannons are advanced enough, right? They still can't do anything to it. Believe me, this wall will be rebuilt in just a year or so. By then, you and I will have to stand on it, one on each side, pulling the heavy iron chain to open the door. We can defend this wall till we die." He was full of hope, even though this was a job with a foreseeable end and no changes. But for Yu Laohe, no change is the best thing. "is it?" The veteran could not agree with his optimism, but he did not want to discuss or argue with him. Now they walked to the edge of the city wall, and the Taoist Jieyushi was directing everyone to use chevaux de frise and other things to block the gap in the city wall. Among those who were busy were surviving soldiers and local residents, and everyone's face was filled with tension. However, seeing Master Jieyu wearing a Taoist robe and carrying a sword on his back really made people feel at ease, especially last night, after hearing that he had killed all the zombies, people became more convinced of him. The old soldier saw that next to the interpreter stood the young "couple" who had entered the city yesterday. He was certainly deceived by the two men and failed to stop them from entering the city. However, the veteran did not think that these two people could summon the disaster that destroyed half of the town. After all, that was not something that humans could do. This was not the original intention of those two people, or perhaps, these two people were actually some kind of huge typhoon. Even if they didn't want to do anything, as long as they passed by, they would inevitably destroy everything? These two people are not the ones who summon disaster, but they are the ones who bring disaster. But it doesn't matter what the old soldier thinks, because he is just an old soldier who relies on his salary to support himself and his two grandchildren. Others can call him if they like, and they can just ignore him if they are unhappy.
Because he is an insignificant person. So much so that Ma Xiaoyu and Yin Xiu didn't notice him at this time. Master Jie Yu had a guilty look on his face, "It was you two who killed the Zombie King and those zombies, but you pushed all the blame on me. Isn't this just deceiving the world and stealing the reputation?" "You are the only one who looks like a Taoist priest. If the two of us came out to identify ourselves, no one would believe us." Yin Xiu smiled, not caring at all who got the credit. Because the interpreter is different from both of them. The two of them were going to continue heading deeper into Jiaozhi, to the Thousand Buddha Temple. And Master Jieyu will stay here to protect the people of Wangnan and at the same time take in refugees from other places. With almost all local officials dead, and current local officials in low positions with limited ability and courage, they can only place all their hopes on this Maoshan Taoist priest. In this case, the higher the reputation of the interpreter, the more the locals will trust and rely on him, which is definitely beneficial at the moment. Compared with finding Liu Banxian and Ren Qi, the gratitude and admiration of the locals are just empty names. Moreover, as long as they have their friend the interpreter around, they will have access to all the local resources. In this case, these empty reputations will become even more empty. The so-called fame will only be materialized and effective when it appears on specific people. Yin Xiu handed a Five Emperors coin to Master Jie Yu, "This is a token of the Maoshan Sect in Hong Kong Island. If you come to Jiuzhou someday in the future, remember to come find us." "must." Master Jie Yu put the Five Emperors Coin close to his body and paused. He still hesitated and said, "So, you still want to chase after the drought demon?" He believed that he did not have that ability. From the beginning to the end, Master Jieyu was just an ordinary Taoist priest, who would never be able to achieve immortality and would never be able to leave his name in the Taoist mountain. He knew his own limitations, so he only did his best within a limited scope, and because of this, he admired Yin Xiu and Ma Xiaoyu even more. "Not really." Yin Xiu touched his face and said, "Maybe it's the drought demon that's chasing us. If we continue to go deeper into the southern part of Jiaozhi, we will definitely encounter it somewhere." "That's a dangerous guy." The interpreter frowned, "Although I have never seen it, and have not even received a single word of news from it, I still have this feeling. It seems that it is not just for sucking blood and venting endless hatred, perhaps there are other purposes. " "Ah." Ma Xiaoyu nodded. "I read a sentence in my notes, saying that Hanba didn't become Hanba because he was powerful." "What's that?" Yin Xiu suddenly asked. "How do I know this?" Ma Xiaoyu spread her hands, "You know this kind of notes are always vague. Maybe Hanba is a demon baby that appeared on a yin day or yin time, or maybe it was cultivated by a powerful being from the beginning?"
"How terrifying is that existence?" Master Jieyu felt terrified. "This has nothing to do with you anymore." Although what Yin Xiu said was a bit harsh, it was also to discourage the interpreter from doing his best to help. After all, in this battle, the gap between the interpreter's power and that of the two of them was indeed too big. Everyone has things they can't do. "We have to go." Ma Xiaoyu reminded softly. The Master Jie Yu did not shy away and said goodbye to the two of them with a sword gesture: "The green mountains will always be there, and the green waters will always flow. I wish you two a smooth journey, success in exorcising the demon, and may your names be remembered in the Taoist mountain!" "See you later." Yin Xiu just smiled. "See you later." Ma Xiaoyu and Yin Xiu got on the horses together, kicked the horses in the belly, and the two camels and horses quickly left. After watching the two leave, the interpreter rubbed his red eyes and continued to direct: "Block that place as well." At this time, the peddler who used to sell duck eggs and malt sugar on the street came up cautiously and bowed to the Master when he saw him. The interpreter had no good feelings towards him and just said coldly: "What are you doing here?" "I just want to do my bit to donate those maltose and duck eggs to fight against the zombies." "Deal with zombies?" The interpreter touched his chin and said, "That's fine. You can cook the eggs and share them with everyone." …… At night, there was no wind facing south, and the heat overwhelmed everything. Behind the city wall, countless fire tornadoes ignited the night sky, scorched the earth, and knocked down and burned houses one after another. Two days after Yin Xiu and his men left Wangnan, the heavily guarded military town of Wangnan, which had taken in many refugees, was engulfed in flames. The general, fully armored, stood on the half-collapsed city wall. The shape of the flames reflected on his armor, which, combined with the gray color, looked like pieces of fire clouds. He is Emperor Chongluo, the drought demon that caused the drought in Jiaozhi and southern Xinjiang. He stood there and watched the zombies turn Wangnan into a dead city. Originally, there were wailing, crying, and the tense shouts of the army everywhere, but later there were only the low groans of zombies and the mournful cries of houses being roasted by flames. In less than an hour, almost no one was left alive in Wangnan. The old soldier and the interpreter were guarding the door of the ancestral hall. Inside the hall were the only one hundred or so residents left, all of them women and children. In front of them was a group of zombies that stretched as far as the eye could see. It seemed that for some reason, they stayed here and did not move forward. "Uncle, I didn't expect you to be good at dealing with zombies." The interpreter said with a smile.
The old soldier wiped the blood off the knife, some of which was from the zombies and some from himself. The blood spots near the handle belonged to Lao He. "It's just a little murder technique. It can't help much." The old soldier used a piece of cloth to tie the knife handle and his hand together, "What a pity." "What's a pity?" The old soldier lamented, "I originally wanted to see my grandson grow up and get married. One of them is smart and may be able to take the imperial examination in the future. The other is in good health and may become the top military scholar." The interpreter just smiled and did not tell the old soldier that there was no imperial examination nowadays. However, the old soldier changed the subject and said, "But just last night, I thought it would be nice for them to become Taoist priests. By the way, can Taoist priests marry wives?" "of course can." The interpreter laughed loudly, "We are not monks. Even monks would have a few lovers outside." "Then I feel relieved." The old soldier finally laughed heartily. Emperor Zhongluo walked out from the zombie group and glanced at the old soldier and the confidant, making them feel cold. "I'm looking for a Taoist priest, but it doesn't seem to be you." Emperor Zhongluo's voice was low and intimidating, "You don't have that ability." "Of course I know I don't have that ability." The Jieyu Master said calmly, "Otherwise, I wouldn't have let you bring such harm to Wangnan." "These good things were done by this bastard?" the old soldier suddenly asked. The interpreter glanced at him and nodded heavily. "Then I understand." The old soldier gave him a look in return, "I'll leave first." The cold blade flashed, and the old soldier raised his knife and rushed towards the emperor Chongluo. Emperor Chongluo glanced at him, and from a few dozen steps away, the old soldier's body exploded and turned into a pool of blood. Master Jie Yu then stepped forward, opened his sleeves, and threw a dozen talismans at Emperor Zhong Luo, while stabbing out with the sword in his hand. Dozens of talisman papers burned in the air and turned into ashes before they reached Emperor Zhongluo. In the firelight, Master Jie Yu stabbed Emperor Zhongluo's throat with a sword. Before it reached him, the sword broke. Master Jieyu spat out a mouthful of blood and knelt heavily. "Tell me where that Taoist priest went, and I will spare your life." The interpreter had beads of sweat on his forehead and did not respond. "I'm in a good mood today. Tell me the whereabouts of that Taoist priest. I will also spare the lives of those people in the ancestral hall. You risked your life like this just to save those people, didn't you? Now you have saved them." Emperor Chongluo said.
Master Jie Yu looked back at the panic-stricken faces in the ancestral hall who were desperately covering their mouths. He felt as if a knife was cutting his heart and hot tears fell from his eyes. He slowly stood up and said in a trembling voice: "We Taoists never negotiate with demons and monsters." Emperor Chongluo said nothing. He flipped his hand and the Master Jieyu's head fell to the ground. Then he didn't look at the ancestral hall again. He slowly flew up and disappeared into the night. Behind him, countless zombies rushed towards the ancestral hall, scrambling to be the first, like a black wave. (End of this chapter)