A zombie?
What is that?
Zhan Xinjia, who was squatting on the roof, touched his chin and tilted his head in confusion. The next moment, several people with strange movements walked out of the courtyard gate.
Their limbs were twisted into deformed, fractured angles, their eyes were blue, and murky saliva dripped from their bared teeth like mad dogs. They exuded a strong, pungent stench that assaulted the very top of one's head, like the accumulated stench of a corpse rotting for days.
They said they were walking, but their limping movements were more like "shuffling".
These strange, fake figures appeared in the pitch-black night, casting a terrifying atmosphere over the silent night.
One of the slower officers, in his panic, tripped over the threshold. Before he could even scream, several twisted beings who had caught up with him pounced on him and devoured him on the spot.
"ah!!"
When the twisted figures dispersed again, only a piece of bone and a thin layer of skin remained connecting the officer's head and body; the flesh had been completely gnawed away.
The official, who died with his eyes wide open, maintained the terrified expression of his dying moments. His eyes bulged out, almost popping out of their sockets, and his whole body was still convulsing uncontrollably, with blood gushing onto the ground.
Theoretically, he was dead, but not long after, he slumped up from the ground, his eyes turning the same green as those of the twisted people.
Then, baring his teeth, he followed the twisted figures out.
Zhan Xinjia: "..."
ah? ? ? ? ?
Is she still asleep, or has the world gone mad?
She rubbed her eyes repeatedly in disbelief.
No, there really are medical miracles!
Not daring to waste a moment, she hurriedly followed the direction the distorted figure had gone and rushed towards the side room of the prefectural governor's mansion.
Holy crap! Holy crap!!
Oh no! Fu Shou'an, the only capable fighter in their group, is still slacking off at the city gate, while Lord Shen is currently in the prefectural governor's mansion. If she's relying on those useless bastards like Zhao Jiu to protect him, she'll probably be collecting Lord Shen's corpse if she's even a fraction of a second slower—
Or by the time she arrives, Little Shen will already be busy eating someone else's food.
She crouched low, her footsteps echoing across the roof tiles as she followed the path to the courtyard in front of the wing room. Under the moonlight, in the pavilion by the pond, Lord Shen was playing chess with another elderly man in a crimson official robe with a long beard.
"Such a big incident has occurred in Yaozhou City as soon as Lord Shen arrived. Although you and Lord Fu were also acting on imperial orders, this matter was ultimately caused by Lord Shen. Lord Shen doesn't intend to hide in this old prefectural governor's mansion and remain uninvolved, does he?"
The old man placed a black piece, a cryptic smile appearing on his face.
Shen Suqing remained calm and composed, without even frowning.
He wore a white robe with wide sleeves, his back straight, his eyes fixed straight ahead, seriously contemplating the game of chess. Just sitting there, he exuded a refined and elegant demeanor, unwavering and steadfast, as if he could remain calm even if the sky were to collapse before him.
"Why is Prefect Wang in such a hurry?"
"Hehe, it was innocent people of my Yaozhou City who died. As the local official, how could I not be anxious?"
The other party said they would hand over the antidote for this strange illness if you were willing to commit suicide in front of the city gate. Of course, I have no intention of forcing Lord Shen to make a decision, but since you are in this position and enjoy power, shouldn't you do something for the people?"
Zhan Xinjia was increasingly shocked as she listened.
Huh? My little Shen is going to commit suicide?
Good heavens, it seems they really came here to take Lord Shen's life this time.
On one side were the people of the entire city, and on the other was a mere civil official. It was likely that Lan Jiang, having failed in his numerous previous assassination attempts, was now enraged and determined to force Lord Shen to commit suicide.
This is terrible!
After all, based on her understanding of Lord Shen, with his saintly personality, he really could sacrifice himself for others.
While she was scratching her head in frustration, several urgent and frightened screams suddenly came from the courtyard gate. After a moment of chaos, a sound like a wild beast's roar came from the throat.
Immediately following was a series of tearing and gnawing sounds.
Prefect Wang stopped placing his piece, frowned, and spoke sternly.
"Who's making a racket at the door? Can't you see that Lord Shen and I are playing chess?"
Instead of a respectful report from a guard, he was met with a large group of twisted people who forced their way through the archway. Compared to the few Zhan Xinjia had seen before, this time they numbered more than twenty, and it seemed they had caused quite a bit of trouble along the way.
As soon as they stepped into the courtyard, their faces turned fierce, and they pounced straight towards the pavilion.
Upon closer inspection, several of them were dressed in the uniforms of the prefectural governor's guards, but at this moment they had also become mindless zombies.
Magistrate Wang's expression changed drastically. Gone was his previous calm and calculating demeanor as he stroked his beard. He immediately bent down and crawled under the stone table, his face filled with astonishment and panic.
Who are these people?! What do you want?!
As soon as he finished speaking, Prefect Wang noticed with his sharp eyes that these "people" were covered in blood and grime, mixed with some indescribable fragments of heroes, especially one whose neck was reduced to a bone.
He was immediately terrified.
"Ah!!! Monster, there's a monster!! Help!"
Zhan Xinjia, who was on the rooftop, sighed.
The moment the first twisted creature stepped into the pavilion, she flipped and leaped lightly off the eaves, wielding two swords, and with a swift slash, repelled the leader.
The girl stood firmly in front of the young man in white, extending an arm to protect him behind her.
"Young Master Shen, step back!"
"Ah Zhi?"
The young man was clearly surprised by her appearance.
But if you listen carefully, there seems to be a sense of knowing that he expected this.
Shen Suqing's eyes flickered, his thin lips parted slightly, but he said nothing more, and finally just sighed softly as he watched her back.
He couldn't possibly be unaware that his rebellious daughter, Azhi, was never the kind of obedient child who would stay put and listen to her parents. He just hadn't expected her to follow him all the way to the prefect's mansion.
Now is not the time for idle chatter.
Zhan Xinjia had a vague feeling that these monsters were contagious, and not like the kind of fungal nail infection where one person infects two others and both die. This disease was more like transforming people into bloodthirsty monsters driven only by their aggressive instincts, turning normal people into the next patients through biting.
This is bad. She's not sure if the other person's saliva and blood are also infectious, so it's best not to use sharp objects. What if she gets splattered with blood and turns into a zombie too? Who can she complain to then?
Thinking of this, Zhan Xinjia delivered a swift roundhouse kick, sending all the remaining creatures that had surrounded them flying into the pond.
Although the pond water only reached waist height, it was still enough to effectively control the monsters' movements.
Following this method, it wasn't long before Zhan Xinjia kicked all the monsters into the water like dumplings being dropped into a pot.
"There's no time to explain, Lord Shen, come with me!"
Grabbing Shen Suqing's wrist, Zhan Xinjia hurriedly tried to leave.
The monsters have been dealt with for the time being, and the old scoundrel who was scared half to death before has suddenly become tough again.
"stop!"
Prefect Wang crawled out from under the stone table, casually brushing the dust off his official robes, and snorted coldly through his nose.
"And who are you? It's not proper for you to take someone away right in front of this old man. If you can't produce a cure for the plague, no one is leaving today!"
I received your letter, but I am speechless with grief.
She could have simply stabbed the old man to death, but he was, after all, a fourth-rank official of the imperial court. Killing an official of the imperial court was not a trivial crime that could be easily dismissed.
At that time, not only will Lord Shen be implicated, but her father will probably be implicated as well.
At that point, it won't just be a demotion to commoners; the whole family will probably have to go to Ningguta to dig for stones...
Furthermore, if she were to leave with Lord Shen like this, what if that old scoundrel, in a fit of desperation, went around spreading rumors that the plague was all caused by Lord Shen, saying that as long as Lord Shen died, someone would naturally send him a plague cure or something?
With people in a state of panic and everyone feeling insecure, it's likely that the entire city's population will rise up against Xiao Shen.
After thinking for a moment, Zhan Xinjia took out a piece of paper from his sleeve.
"You want the plague cure formula, right? You should have said so earlier. Here you go! It's a reward for you."
She handed it over generously.
This time, not only Prefect Wang, but also Shen Suqing were stunned.
He shoved the paper into the bewildered Prefect Wang's arms, then grabbed Shen Suqing's hand and ran off without looking back.
To avoid pursuers, she used her lightness skill to propel herself along, almost to the point of simply carrying the frail young Master Shen horizontally and scaling walls. However, fearing it would hurt his pride, she ultimately refrained from doing so.
After escaping the prefect's mansion, Shen Suqing, who was panting heavily from being dragged along, caught his breath before hesitantly speaking.
"Where did you get the antidote prescription?"
"ah?"
Zhan Xinjia stared blankly at him.
As if suddenly realizing something, she belatedly raised her hand, patted her head, and laughed heartily.
"Oh, you mean the prescription I gave that old man earlier? That's not the antidote prescription."
"...If it wasn't a prescription, then what did you give him?"
"Hehe, the secret recipe for the delicious crab roe burger."
Shen Suqing: "???"
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