Unlike the bustling streets, the place these people led to was extremely quiet.

Upon arriving at a mud-brick house, one of the men blocked the entrance, saying, "Please wait here for a moment. I'll go in and let them know, and I'll be right back."

Jiang Ruan nodded, her gaze lingering on the 1970s and 80s-style building after the man left.

"Ruan Ruan, what are you looking at?" An Xia leaned closer, following Jiang Ruan's gaze, and looked around, but couldn't make out anything.

Jiang Ruan smiled and gently brushed the dust off her sleeves, which had been stirred up by the breeze. "It's nothing. I just find it a little strange. Houses like this are quite rare these days."

Anxia pouted, "This looks just like the model my grandfather made himself. It looks very fragile; a zombie could probably crush it with a single blow."

"Yes, how can something so fragile exist so stably? This shows that we need to look beyond the surface and see the essence of things!"

After saying that, Jiang Ruan gently patted her head. It seemed like the little one had something to say:

"Mommy, I want to go out with you. Xiaoyu is angry with me lately, she's ignoring me, boohoo..."

The little one sat on the edge of the spiritual spring in the space, his tiny feet dangling on the water, looking very cute.

Xiaoyu stood behind, hands on her hips, fuming but unable to speak out.

"Oh, Xiaoyu would bully you? She has a good temper. It must be because you've been too naughty. Right now, Qinglonggang is a mixed bag and full of strange things. Mom doesn't want you to take any risks. Besides, your father is still here, so there's no need to worry."

Jiang Ruan smiled indulgently, because the reply was sent via telepathic communication, so no one else could hear it.

Apart from Gu An, who can hear the baby's thoughts and words because of their blood relationship.

However, he wasn't there at the moment, so he naturally didn't know about the conversation between the child and the mother.

"But I really want to go out. I should go out and protect Mom like a man." The little boy suddenly stood up from the edge, but slipped and fell into the spring, splashing around wildly for a few moments.

"Watch out!" Jiang Ruan couldn't help but shout, startling An Xia, who was closest to her.

"Be careful... what are you being careful about? You scared me to death."

Jiang Ruan dared not tell them what she had been saying to them. Apart from letting them know that she had a spatial ability, she kept everything else a secret, even the spiritual spring.

"It's nothing, it's just that the wind blew a lot of dust over, and I was worried it would get on you, so I told you to be careful."

Jiang Ruan made up a random excuse to cover it up.

Anxia didn't think much of it. Just then, the door opened, and an elderly man with a white beard came out to greet her.

"A rare guest indeed! I never expected to meet an expert in treating the plague, a person with healing abilities. You must be the young lady."

He was referring to Jiang Ruan, of course.

"You flatter me. We mainly have the help of doctors; all I can do is superficial." Jiang Ruan had just seen the spring water reach only up to the child's knees. Although the child had fallen into the water, he quickly got up.

Nothing's wrong, and besides, Xiaoyu is still here, so there's even less to worry about.

Reassured, he continued to scrutinize the elder before him. He wore a gray robe, and his white beard did not seem out of place on his weathered face. He was about 1.76 meters tall, leaning on a mahogany cane, and was looking at Jiang Ruan and the others with the same inquisitive gaze.

"Come, come, please come in. We invited you here for no other reason than to get to know you. Since you're new here, it's helpful for us to get to know each other better so we can fight the zombies more effectively, isn't it?"

Jiang Ruan nodded.

The elder hurriedly reached out his hand to invite the group inside. In less than a minute, they arrived at the main hall, only to find it already full of people.

The woman on the chair in the most prominent position, to the lower left, is flamboyant, beautiful, and breathtaking.

"Wow, it's so beautiful! It's sure to stun so many people!" An Xia exclaimed sincerely from behind Jiang Ruan.

These past few days have been filled with zombies and plague; it's been so long since she's seen such a beautiful woman, she's really excited.

“No one is as pretty as you. I think you are the most beautiful person in the world,” Hua Yi immediately retorted, her affectionate and focused gaze giving An Xia a great sense of security.

Anxia lowered her head shyly, just as he had hoped.

Jiang Ruan, who was standing to the side, clearly felt a gaze that had been fixed on her since she entered the room, and now it seemed to have shifted to An Xia and the other person.

She looked up and met the gaze of the woman who was praising Anxia's beauty. The woman was staring straight at Anxia, ​​and the mixture of jealousy and indifference forced Anxia to look up as well.

But the woman immediately resumed her smile, as if what had just happened was all an illusion.

"Elder Yuan, are these the capable and righteous men you brought back? There are only a few of them, can they really help us resist..."

The man next to the beautiful woman was named Du Song. He was a level two fire-type ability user and also the leader of the guards at Qinglonggang.

Seeing that the man Elder Yuan brought in was weak and listless, seemingly incapable of any great use, he began to doubt Elder Yuan's certainty.

"Chief Du, you don't believe me? Whether you believe me or not is fine. These people are my honored guests. Since they're here, I have to protect them. If any of you have any complaints, come and tell me, and I'll tell you where you're lacking!"

Elder Yuan could easily understand Du Song's meaning, especially since his words generally represented the sentiments of two-thirds of those present.

He said this to warn others not to cause trouble or do useless work.

Sure enough, the objections disappeared, and the group took their seats of honor.

"Do you know him? Or have you heard of him, or have you heard of him before?" While the others were whispering and talking nonsense, Duan Yu turned his head and asked Jiang Ruan in a low voice.

"I don't know him, and I've never heard of him before," Jiang Ruan said truthfully.

Duan Yu said "Oh" with a puzzled look, "It was really strange back then. Ordinary people outside were afraid of us, and they were more afraid of us than of ghosts when they saw that we were outsiders. Yet these people who could be considered high-ranking officials treated us so warmly. Something must be amiss. Be careful."

After saying that, Duan Yu sat down next to Jiang Yan.

"Ruan Ruan, I have something to tell you. You... I, do you think I should go out and look for them?"

Anxia also came over.

They were seated in a tiered arrangement, with An Xia to Jiang Ruan's left and Duan Yu to his right, flanked by Hua Yi and Jiang Yan respectively.

So, at this moment, An Xia moved closer and was practically pressed against Jiang Ruan.

"Tell me, what's wrong? You look so nervous."

An Xia bit her lip, looked at the empty seat where the beautiful woman was sitting, and said, "Hua Yi said he was going to the restroom, but it's been more than twenty minutes since he left, and he still hasn't come back. Could something have happened to him?"