Zaoyao Village.
Located more than 30 miles southeast of Guang'a County, it is remote, the surrounding land is infertile, and the soil layer is thin. It was a famous barren land before the disaster.
Today, the remote mountain village has built earthen walls and more than a thousand people live here.
The village was heavily guarded because County Magistrate Zhou had issued an order that anyone willing to submit would be exempt from labor and would not have to serve the magistrate's son.
Although it is called "serving", everyone actually knows what it means.
Therefore, many people who were afraid of death and did not dare to run away surrendered to County Magistrate Zhou and were willing to guard their homes and stay around the village.
Those who had families with them were not so lucky. Even if they wanted to surrender, they were not welcomed and had to go out to work, either looking for food or looking for living people.
Early this morning.
The yamen soldiers escorted a group of pale and skinny people out to look for food.
With the arrival of the dry season, the nearby orchards had already been picked by them, and food and water were becoming increasingly difficult to find. The people below were worse than beggars, with haggard faces and skinny bodies, and had not had a full meal for many days.
"Hurry up!" The leading man said fiercely, whipping the lone man behind him with a whip. "What are you dawdling for? If you can't find food before dark, you will be asked to serve the eldest master tomorrow."
When the people around heard this, they forced themselves to cheer up and quickened their pace to walk out of the village.
The tall and thin young man stood out in the crowd.
He lowered his head and stared at his toes. There were two big holes in his shoes, and his toes were exposed. They were covered in dirt and looked dirty.
Walking and walking.
The person behind him suddenly bumped into him and slipped a piece of cloth to him from the blind spot of the yamen soldier.
This was their division of labor. The others were responsible for finding tools and gathering information, while he was responsible for recording. He wrote down what everyone had found out on a piece of cloth and placed it under the big tree on the boundary marker trail.
The yamen soldiers would not keep an eye on the people who were working. They would usually drive them out and leave them alone. Everyone had families here and could not run away, so they were relatively free to move around outside.
“Oh no!”
Those who had left earlier came running back in a panic, shouting, "There are so many monsters outside, so many monsters..."
The vicious-looking yamen soldier stepped forward, grabbed his collar, and kicked him on the knee, "Why are you panicking? Speak clearly!"
The person who returned clutched his knee in pain, but dared not resist. He could only repeat what he had just said, "We walked two miles and found that the fields across the official road were full of densely packed monsters, and they were coming this way..."
The guard's expression changed slightly, and he lifted the man up, "Follow me to see Lord Zhou."
There is a square house in the middle of the village. It was originally the residence of the local village chief. It has now been renovated and is fully furnished.
County Magistrate Zhou sat cross-legged at the head of the table. He said unhappily to a middle-aged man at the bottom, "Since winter, my son has still not regained consciousness. Didn't the Heavenly Master say that 81 days would definitely yield results?"
The middle-aged man had a turban with a swastika on it, a broad forehead, a flat top, and a full forehead. When he sat, he looked like a tiger. He was exactly the Heavenly Master that County Magistrate Zhou had mentioned.
He replied calmly, "Don't worry, sir. Your son's condition has improved. I think he will recover soon."
County Magistrate Zhou's face was gloomy, as if filled with pent-up anger and dissatisfaction. "The Heavenly Master has said this many times. When will my son recover? Today, the Heavenly Master must give you a definite answer."
Too many people have died trying to cure his only son.
County Magistrate Zhou certainly knew what this meant.
Once discovered by others, he will be condemned and punished unforgivably.
He originally thought that it would take more than 80 days, and reinforcements would not arrive so soon. In Guang'a County, he was the one who had the final say. It didn't matter how many people died. As long as his only son could be cured, he would kill all those who knew about it and falsely claim that they died in a disaster.
In this way, there will be no evidence and no one will find out.
But his mistake was that he trusted this so-called Taoist priest too much. He had seen that after such a long time, the county magistrate's son who was imprisoned at the end of the village became more and more terrifying. His strength became greater than that of other monsters. His flesh and blood were replenished, but there was no sign of recovery at all.
Thinking of this, County Magistrate Zhou had a vague intention to kill.
The Heavenly Master seemed unaware and replied respectfully, "Master Zhou, please be patient. Your son has reached the final critical stage. In just ten days, he will surely recover."
Ten days.
Upon hearing this, County Magistrate Zhou's expression softened. He said he would wait another ten days. If anyone dared to deceive him, he would feed this Taoist priest to his son.
"Sir, Captain Chen requests to see you." The yamen soldier guarding the door reported.
County Magistrate Zhou waved his hand and asked impatiently, "What's the matter?"
"Captain Chen reports that villagers have discovered a large influx of monsters into Guang'a County..."
The yamen soldier had not finished speaking.
County Magistrate Zhou immediately sat up straight and frowned, "Monster? Ran here from another county?" He did not realize the seriousness of the situation.
The temperature outside was hot and the monsters had become very weak. They probably wandered over from Lin County.
With this in mind, County Magistrate Zhou waved his hand and said, "Send some villagers out to solve the problem. Finding food is the most important thing right now."
The Guang'a County captain, who was waiting outside, heard this and hurriedly nodded and bowed, "Sir, the villagers said there are so many monsters, so densely packed that they almost fill the entire official road, and they are heading this way..."
The Heavenly Master beside him suddenly changed his expression and asked, "How many are there?"
The captain kicked the villager beside him and said, "The Heavenly Master is asking questions, why don't you answer them quickly!"
The villagers didn't dare to hide it, "Reply...Reply to the Heavenly Master, about tens of thousands of them."
As soon as the words fell.
The two people in the room stood up in shock. They originally thought there would be a few hundred at most, but they didn't expect so many!
County Magistrate Zhou is quite clever, otherwise he wouldn't be alive today.
With such a large number of people, the people in Zaoyao Village could not resist it at all.
"Quickly notify people to evacuate!"
He made a quick decision, "We'll come back after the monsters leave."
After receiving the order, Chen Dutou hurried down to make arrangements.
He originally paid for his position in the county government, and by offering gifts and flattering him, he worked his way up to County Magistrate Zhou and rose to the position of Dutou. When the disaster struck, County Magistrate Zhou became the local tyrant, while he was second only to him and above everyone else.
He is used to abusing his power.
As soon as they left the house, Chen Dutou's face immediately darkened.
Pointing at the soldiers, he ordered, "Go, take the food, tie up the families, and tell the villagers to retreat."
The yamen soldier responded and trotted to the mud houses at the entrance of the village.
In order to prevent anyone from escaping again, all family members were locked up at the most conspicuous entrance to the village. There were always people guarding there, and with so many people and eyes watching, it was impossible to escape.
There are three repaired earthen houses near the entrance of the village. The walls are of different colors and are full of potholes.
The room was very dark.
A group of skinny people were huddled together, and the room was filled with an indescribable pungent smell.
As soon as the yamen soldiers entered, they were immediately driven back by the smoke. Standing at the door, they pinched their noses in disgust and shouted inside, "Everyone come out!"
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