Chapter 314: The Tragedy of Zunyang City

"Clatter, clatter, clatter!"

The sound of horse hooves faded into the distance.

The carriage carrying Song Fugui's family was swallowed by sand and dust, gradually disappearing from sight.

Until it was so far away that only a black speck remained, Song Fugui still stood behind the carriage, waving toward the direction of the city wall.

Before leaving, he had patted his chest and promised that after sending his family away, he would return to Gongliang City immediately to live and die with Zhou You.

Zhou You greatly appreciated his loyalty, telling him to stay in Fucheng for a few more days to see how things developed and to absolutely not return to Gongliang City.

He had long since prepared a backup plan in Fucheng; that residence was being managed by Zhuang Tie, and when the time was right, he would bring his father, mother, and relatives to move to Fucheng together.

A moment later, the carriage vanished completely over the horizon.

Zhou You turned around to walk down the city wall when he suddenly heard shouting and killing nearby, accompanied by earth-shaking thuds.

Martial artists were fighting; the number and scale were quite large, possessing even the power to crack the earth and split stones.

"It's the neighboring city gate, the section of the wall overseen by the Jiba Martial Arts Hall."

Qian Shimeng whispered a reminder, "The one guarding the gate today is the Mad Beast Mao Lang."

The Jiba Martial Arts Hall had also received a War Order; Mao Laoliu had many students and disciples, and the section of the wall they were responsible for happened to be right next to Zhou You's.

This group used a unified style of boxing, shared a bond of brotherhood, and possessed strong cohesion, making their combat effectiveness extraordinary.

The Mad Beast Mao Lang acted in a crazy and extreme manner, but precisely because of this, he was a master of slaughter.

Zhou You had a grudge against him, and the Mad Beast had been hovering nearby frequently lately, claiming he wanted to challenge Zhou You.

The wild child had good talent and was now already at the Qi and Blood 5th Stage, worthy of being called a boxing genius, but compared to Zhou You, he was not worth looking at.

Mao Laoliu doted on his disciple and was terrified that he would act rashly and suffer a mishap, so he sent several disciples to accompany him to restrain Mao Lang's behavior and forbid him from provoking Zhou You.

Therefore, the boundary between the two sections of the wall was clearly defined, and the two groups of people went about their own business with little interaction.

Zhou You's subordinates also kept a constant lookout for any trouble from Mao Lang's side.

And sure enough, the moment the conflict broke out, Qian Shimeng received the news.

"Rebel soldiers disguised themselves as refugees, attempting to sneak in through the city gate, but were discovered by Mao Lang."

The number of disaster victims and refugees entering the city was massive, with hundreds or thousands arriving daily, so it was common for spies with ulterior motives to mix in.

But this time was different; a group of over a hundred martial artists had mingled among the crowd, attempting to enter the city.

Mao Lang not only had a unique physique but also possessed the keen intuition of a wild beast, discovering the anomaly on the spot.

Once exposed, the infiltration turned into a forced entry, and they began fighting right there.

"..."

As everyone was chatting, they suddenly saw some spies actually fleeing in their direction.

Although the two city gates were adjacent, the distance was not exactly close—it was a thousand meters away—so why were they panicking and rushing into Zhou You's territory? "I'll go take a look!"

Qian Shimeng leaped down the steps and passed through the gate tunnel like a gale, "Close the gate! Everyone crowd into the corner of the wall and don't move."

He channeled his strength into his feet, moving with great speed, and arrived at the front in the blink of an eye.

A few spies—one at the Qi and Blood stage with five or six at the Force stage—were running wildly, sweating profusely, when they discovered someone blocking their path.

"Fight to the death!" The leading Qi and Blood martial artist tore through the wind, shoveled his foot into the ground, and sent a meter-high chunk of earth flying, smashing it toward Qian Shimeng.

Qian Shimeng pressed his hands against the earth chunk and lunged downward, actually sliding right past it along the ground.

The earth chunk whistled past, slammed into the city wall behind him, and was instantly smashed to pieces.

"Qian Shimeng, don't block the way! We're just trying to save our lives; we aren't breaking into your gate!"

The Qi and Blood martial artist actually recognized Qian Shimeng; his words sounded like a threat, but in reality, he was begging for mercy. "It's you!"

Qian Shimeng recognized the man's face and asked in surprise, "How did you become a rebel soldier?"

Before the other could answer, a gust of fishy-smelling golden wind swept over; the few at the Force stage screamed in chaos, were swept into mid-air, and were torn into severed limbs and broken arms, with internal organs spilling all over the ground.

The Mad Beast Mao Lang had killed his way over.

The opposing Qi and Blood martial artist turned to resist, but was kicked down by Mao Lang, who raised his arm and swung it down; blood splattered everywhere, and after a few twitches of his limbs, the man was dead.

Mao Lang killed a few spies but did not leave; instead, he gestured toward Zhou You from afar.

"..."

Zhou You was somewhat speechless.

A moment later, Qian Shimeng returned after his trip and described the scene he had witnessed.

This batch of infiltrating spies had all been beaten to death by Mao Lang and his men; not a single living soul was left.

Their corpses had their hearts gouged out and bellies slit open, were stuffed with stones and straw, and were hung on the gate wall to dry in the wind as a warning to the public.

"Too ruthless. Commander Zhou, the Mad Beast is so vicious; he hasn't left himself any way out."

Qian Shimeng sighed; the spy from earlier, the Qi and Blood martial artist, had met him once before.

It was said that the man was also a Qi and Blood martial artist from Su Cheng with a small amount of family wealth; after Su Cheng fell, his whereabouts were unknown. Why had he fallen into becoming a rebel soldier? "Also, those spies came from different sources; some were from Su Cheng, some were boxers from towns outside the city, and there were one or two who, according to traveling merchants, spoke with the accent of Zunyang City."

Zunyang City—that was quite far! The shape of the border of Beixuan Zhou seemed to lie somewhere between a lemon and a navel orange; the three cities of Fucheng, Su Cheng, and Gongliang City belonged to the tip of the lemon and the navel of the orange, protruding outward.

Although Zunyang City also belonged to Beixuan Zhou, it was in a relatively smoother area.

There were actually martial artists from Zunyang City among the spies; could it be that something had happened to Zunyang City too? At the same moment, the avatar 'Lu Zhigang' encountered trouble.

The spectacular scene before his eyes made this avatar of Zhou You feel as if he were inside a 3D epic blockbuster.

Countless dense heads, like a large carpet, covered every corner of this city.

The wriggling carpet occasionally splashed with blood and shook off scattered corpses, but overall, the losses were not great, and it began to occupy the city in a posture of covering and devouring.

This crumbling city was named Zunyang City.

"Big trouble!"

'Lu Zhigang' shook his head; he had bypassed Gongliang City and traveled all the way to the ruins of Su Cheng, discovering along the way that the seemingly barren land actually concealed a massive number of rebel soldiers.

These rebel forces broke into smaller units, destroying settlements everywhere and looting wealth and grain.

He had intended to keep a low profile to avoid the small fry and find the leaders and high-ranking members of these rebels...

As it turned out, he tracked them all the way to Zunyang City and witnessed the grand scene of the Witch Tribe army launching a fierce assault on Zunyang City.

It cannot be held; this city cannot be held.

The Witch Tribe, having poured out from Beijing in full force, still had reinforcements joining them in a steady stream, as endless as a swarm of locusts.

A sea of people, a herd of beasts, and a sea of insects—a triple death trap—surrounded Zunyang City, turning it into an isolated island.

Lu Zhigang saw with his own eyes that dozens of groups in the city attempted to break out, but all ended in annihilation.

The Witch Tribe was determined to succeed, resolved to capture this city and declare to the world their determination to break free from their cage.

When the lips are gone, the teeth are cold; once Zunyang City falls, the neighboring Gongliang City and Fucheng will also find it hard to escape the same fate and will follow in its footsteps.

Zhou You had originally planned to flee to Fucheng, but now it seemed that Fucheng was not safe either.

Just how far would he have to flee to avoid the approaching Witch Tribe army?

(End of this chapter)