The night was particularly long that day.

Wait until dawn.

Zhang Yuanyan and Yuan Wu returned to the edge of the cliff and picked up the supplies left there.

The zombie army has disappeared, and only a few scattered zombies are wandering staggeringly on the official road far below the cliff.

The guards were worried about the safety of the gentlemen.

Zhang Yuanyan was also worried about the granary situation, so he said to Yuan Wu, "Captain Yuan, go to Dongwu first. We'll go to the granary first and then come back to join you."

There is no need for both teams to go there.

If the granary has been breached, no matter how many people go there, it will be of no use. If it has not been breached, the two sides combined will not be a match for the zombie army. It is better to find out the situation first, find out the direction of the zombie tide, search this area as soon as possible, and go to meet up with Miss Wei.

Yuan Wu nodded and said, "Your Excellency is right. Then we will separate here and wait for Miss Wei to come as planned."

After resting for a while, the two men each led two hundred people down the mountain and headed in different directions.

And at this time.

Wei Xiyin and others had just stepped into the shell mound area.

The forests of Yimu burned for a whole day and night, and even today you can still see thick smoke rising from that direction.

The group cleared out zombies as they walked and arrived at a village within the jurisdiction of Beiqiu.

There are very few zombies here, and most of them have wandered off to who knows where.

Without staying too long, the guards made a mark and rushed to the vicinity of Beiqiu County.

Wei Xiyin glanced at the terrain and said, "There aren't many mountains or forests here. It would be best to search the remote villages along the way to see if there are any hiding places."

"yes!"

Chang Ying and Qin Shan quickly dispersed with their men.

Having learned from the previous experience, the crowd did not dare to go too far away and almost all moved nearby.

Wei Xiyin and her brother were also searching.

There is a fish pond in front and a dilapidated thatched house next to the pond.

From a distance, it doesn't look anything special.

But just as Wei Xiyin and his men approached, the door of the thatched hut creaked open.

He stuck his head out and met the eyes of Wei Xiyin and others.

Everyone: “…”

A broken thatched hut that can't even block the wind.

Who would have thought there was someone here?

The man, who looked to be about thirty years old, with ragged clothes and a messy hair, began to stare at them warily. When he saw Qin Shanhou in the distance, he suddenly showed surprise and waved, calling out, "Commander Qin!"

Qin Shan heard the shouting and immediately brought people over.

Wei Xiyin asked with her eyes.

Who is this?

Qin Shan looked at it for a long time and shook his head. "I don't know him."

The man had already walked out of the thatched hut.

Wow, there are more than a dozen people following behind him, both men and women, old and young.

There were so many people crammed into just one ramshackle thatched hut.

He couldn't wait to walk up to Qin Shan and said, "Commander Qin, don't you recognize me? I'm Sun Qian, the chief servant of the Sun family. We met before when I followed the family master to the fort."

Qin Shan thought for a long time, and suddenly said, "It's the Sun family." Which Sun family?

Sun Qian hurriedly said, "Yes, Commander Qin, you finally recognized the person."

Qin Shan remained silent.

"What's going on with you?" Wei Xiyin said at the right moment, pointing at everyone, "Why are you hiding in a thatched hut? This house can't hold any defense."

More than ten people heard her speak, but didn't know who she was. They stood aside and looked at each other, but no one responded.

The guard at the side introduced: "This is the girl from our eldest house."

When Sun Qian heard it was the Wei girl, he stepped forward and saluted, saying, "So it's the Wei girl. We just escaped from the shell mound and saw that there were no monsters nearby, so we hid here to rest for the night and were just about to leave."

Wei Xiyin was slightly surprised when she heard this, "So you escaped from the county town?"

Sun Qian looked at the others, seeming to want to say something but stopping himself.

"My dear, we fled the county when the disaster struck. We met another group of people and had to leave our safe hiding place. We were planning to flee to Ling County." Sun Qian's face looked grim.

The Sun family was considered a wealthy local gentry. Although they could not be compared with the aristocratic families, they had quite a few servants and attendants. In addition, their house was very close to the city gate. When they noticed something was wrong, the Sun family was the first to open the city gate and rush out.

It's just that the situation was too chaotic at night and most people ran away in the dark.

Sun Qian and the rest of the servants, along with the two ladies of the Sun family, fled south. Fortunately, some villages were not affected, and they met other people who had escaped. They traveled together and barely avoided the crisis.

"Later, after winter, a group of people arrived, claiming to be from the Ten Directions Sect. They claimed the imperial court was unkind, the aristocratic families were rebellious, and that this disaster was a divine punishment," Sun Qian said. "They said they would lead the world to eliminate the root causes of sin and restore peace and prosperity. Many people believed them..."

"They also occupied the hiding place. We who were unwilling to join them were regarded as aliens. I saw that something was wrong and quickly took the others and ran away. These were ordinary people who voluntarily followed me."

The team consisted of both young and old, and many of them had no fighting ability. It was Sun Qian and others who risked their lives to protect everyone, and they finally reached the edge of the shell mound.

They were desperate at that time.

It was a young lady who was related to the Wei family who suggested, "Let's go to Ling County. The Wei family's fort is over there."

Sun Qian thought this was a good idea. The Wei family had their own defenses and thousands of soldiers. They had nowhere to go anyway, so it was a good opportunity to go over and take a look.

But most of them were women, and they couldn't walk fast. They just got here last night, and seeing that there were no monsters here, they all stayed in the thatched hut to rest for the night.

After listening to his story, Wei Xiyin couldn't help but look thoughtful.

Ten Directions Teaching?

The imperial court is unkind, the noble families are in turmoil, and punishment from heaven...

The villagers in Changlan Village were also repeating these words last time. This is the second time I have heard the same thing.

So the one causing trouble behind the scenes is the Ten Directions Sect?

Wei Xiyin asked calmly, "Are there any relatives or friends of the Wei family among those who escaped from the county town?"

Sun Qian looked up at her expression and replied hesitantly, "My lady, the Ten Directions Sect has arrested all the relatives of the noble families and killed some who resisted fiercely, saying that they were the culprits who caused the wrath of heaven..."

Sun Qian felt something was wrong, so he took his men and fled from their hiding place.

Upon hearing this, Wei Xiyin felt the veins in her temples throbbing slightly. She suppressed her anger and asked, "So, at such a close distance, no relatives escaped. Was it because they were captured?"

No wonder, no wonder she felt strange.

The distances within Qinghe County were relatively good, and the terrain and mountain roads were suitable for escape, but no relatives or friends were able to rush back to the fort.

This is just like a modern religious organization, which specializes in brainwashing people and continues to expand.

Wei Xiyin sneered. What kind of crappy organization dares to cause trouble to the Wei family?

She asked, "Where is the hiding place? How many of them are there?"

"My dear girl, the hiding place is right next to Pingfu Village. When we left, a high wall had been built nearby. Including those who were willing to join, there were nearly a thousand people." Sun Qian replied.

Chang Ying seemed to see her intention and hurriedly asked, "Girl, do you want to gather those two teams over?"