Chapter Fifty-Five: Like a Horde of the Undead!

The group of five struggled to climb over the wall, only to find themselves quickly surrounded by more than a dozen zombies.

“I told you not to come! This is just a small courtyard in the City Lord’s Mansion. Wait till we reach the granary—there are heavily armed guards, and surely plenty of zombies as well!” Li Yuan trembled as he spoke, watching as Yue Qi and the others fought their way through the undead.

“You talk too much,” Yue Qi grumbled, dissatisfied with the slow pace of killing the zombies one by one. The courtyard was spacious, so he cast a spell, causing stones to fly. In no time, the previously crowded courtyard was cleared out and peaceful.

“How many people are in this City Lord’s Mansion?” Bai Lian frowned, clearly surprised that the number of zombies exceeded her expectations.

“You wouldn’t know…” Li Yuan forced a bitter smile. “The mansion covers at least half the area of Qingzhou City, and it stores weapons and provisions, so it’s heavily guarded. To put it simply, before the disaster, half of the city’s population was directly under the mansion’s jurisdiction.”

“Half? That many…!” Hong Ye couldn’t help but gasp. “I always knew the City Lord’s Mansion had a lot of people, but I never imagined it accounted for half the city. Qingzhou has nearly twenty thousand residents!”

Of course, Hong Ye referred only to the population within the city, not the surrounding villages.

“There’s no way—the number of zombies here is far beyond what we expected,” Bai Lian shook her head, a hint of worry in her eyes, then pulled out the top-grade spiritual stone she had been keeping.

“Brother Qi, take this. Use it to replenish your spiritual energy whenever you need,” Bai Lian said, handing the stone to Yue Qi.

“Is this… a top-grade spiritual stone?!” Li Yuan stared in awe at the emerald stone in Bai Lian’s hand, entranced.

“No need, Lian. I have a few myself. Keep yours for when it’s truly needed,” Yue Qi shook his head, though he had long coveted the stone, he knew it wasn’t the right time to take it.

“Those low-grade stones you have are useless; they replenish energy too slowly. Take this one. If you get stronger later, I’m not afraid you won’t have a chance to return it to me,” Bai Lian insisted, forcing the stone into Yue Qi’s hand.

“You two are certainly wealthy. This is something ordinary folk like us can only dream of,” Li Yuan laughed bitterly at their exchange.

“Oh? Do you know of other stones like this?” Bai Lian suddenly asked.

“Of course. Every year, the imperial court issues supplies, including top-grade spiritual stones. After all, those spell scrolls require spiritual energy, and ordinary people can only provide it through stones…” Li Yuan trailed off mid-sentence.

“The court issues top-grade stones? Are you saying…?” Yue Qi realized something was off in Li Yuan’s words and pressed him.

Li Yuan slapped his mouth, cursing himself silently, then admitted, “Yes, there are still about ten top-grade spiritual stones in the City Lord’s Mansion.”

“Damn!” Yue Qi couldn’t help but curse, and Bai Lian shot him a glare.

“Are you sure they’re top-grade? Not just high-quality mid-grade stones?” Bai Lian asked skeptically.

“Absolutely. Every distribution is handled by me personally; there’s no chance of a mistake,” Li Yuan replied, annoyed by Bai Lian’s doubt.

“In that case…” Bai Lian paused, “Brother Qi, hold on to this stone. When we find the batch in the mansion, you can return it to me, alright?”

Yue Qi deliberated for a moment and finally nodded, accepting the stone, then followed Li Yuan’s directions deeper into the mansion.

Tonight, Qingzhou City was destined to be sleepless. The sounds of battle continued until the hour before dawn.

“Find out who did this! Three houses at the South Gate—walls all collapsed by themselves? Your excuses are impressive!” Wang Chao sat at the head of the council hall, their usual place for deliberation.

Today, Wang Chao was particularly furious, angrier than when his own brother had died. Just clearing zombies from the streets tonight had cost over fifty lives in their camp. He didn’t mind deaths, but treating the wounded would consume precious medicines—resources more valuable than gold in this world.

“Boss, could it be because we threw that old man…” A shrewd-looking middle-aged man stepped forward. His name was Wang Ling, once a servant of the Wang family. With the apocalypse upon them, he relied on his cleverness to become Wang Chao’s advisor.

“You mean…” Wang Chao’s ruthless gaze flickered. Few knew of the incident; if word got out that he had killed the City Lord, his reputation could plummet.

“I think it’s highly likely. We tossed the old man in the Liu family’s mansion in the south, and that’s exactly where the trouble started!” Wang Ling said with a sly smile.

“Reasonable! At dawn, send people with me to search! Turn Liu’s mansion upside down and find the old man’s body. If not…” Wang Chao hesitated, “seal Qingzhou immediately, and search house to house!”

Meanwhile, Li Yuan, still in the City Lord’s Mansion, had no idea he’d been blamed for the disaster. The group managed to sneak behind a house, but Li Yuan suddenly sneezed, attracting two zombies.

“Strange… Who’s talking about me today?” Li Yuan wondered aloud after Yue Qi effortlessly dispatched the zombies.

“Are we almost there?” After tonight’s endless fighting, even Yue Qi showed signs of fatigue. Fortunately, Bai Lian’s spiritual stone kept him from exhausting his energy entirely.

“It’s just ahead. Through that door is a large training field, and the biggest building there is where we store our resources!” Li Yuan explained.

Yue Qi nodded, surveying the surroundings. Getting through the door would be tricky—zombies were everywhere, and any misstep would attract them all, making escape impossible.

“Wait here a moment…” Yue Qi said. Seeing his confidence, Bai Lian didn’t object, letting him go.

Yue Qi used his tried-and-true method: casting a spell to lure zombies away, then sneaking through. This approach rarely failed.

Sure enough, zombies were as foolish as ever. With a simple thunder spell, Yue Qi shattered the stone flooring, drawing most of the undead away.

He slipped through the door, dealt with a few more zombies, and reached the building at last. The group breathed a collective sigh of relief.

“We’re finally here. There should be guards around, but now they’re all zombies—who knows where they’ve gone…” Li Yuan looked around.

“Is it safe here?” Yue Qi eyed the two-story building.

“Don’t worry. The steel door is thicker than the city wall, and only I have the key. Not even a mouse could sneak in,” Li Yuan said, removing a key from around his neck and handing it to Yue Qi.

The door creaked open, attracting a few more zombies, but Bai Lian dispatched them with ease.

“Quick, get inside!” Yue Qi took Bai Lian’s hand. A zombie tried to follow them, but its head was crushed as the door slammed shut, blood splattering outside.

Inside, Bai Lian lit a candle. The room had no windows—sealed tightly for secrecy, so no one could see inside.

“This floor is all weapons, collected over many years. But I doubt you and your wife will be impressed by them,” Li Yuan said proudly, gesturing to racks filled with weapons.

Yue Qi stepped forward, noting the quality—even with such quantity, any piece was equal to those in Wang Jian’s mustard seed bracelet.

“What’s upstairs?” Bai Lian, uninterested in the weapons, glanced around and asked casually.

“That field you saw is for training, so the army’s weapons are here. Upstairs is mainly armor,” Li Yuan replied.

“And those scrolls and spiritual stones you mentioned—where are they? How useful are they for us?” Yue Qi couldn’t help but roll his eyes at Li Yuan.

“They’re on the second floor, in a secret room. I’ll take you there…” Ignoring Hong Ye, who was still picking through weapons, Li Yuan led Yue Qi and Bai Lian upstairs.

He switched on the light, brightening the room. Large metal boxes lined the walls, presumably filled with armor.

“There, that’s the secret room,” Li Yuan pointed to a large metal box on the floor, emptying it of armor. When the box was cleared, he tore off the metal lining, revealing a delicate lock on the floor—the entrance to the secret room.

“Let’s go, Lian…” Seeing Li Yuan unlock it and descend first, Yue Qi turned to Bai Lian, only to find her standing still, holding a book, absorbed in its contents.

“Where’d you get that book?!” Ignoring Bai Lian’s protests, Yue Qi snatched it and leafed through a few pages, his eyes shining.

“You!” Bai Lian’s face flushed red, but she said nothing, standing there awkwardly.

“Come on, Lian! Let’s go down first!” Yue Qi wrapped an arm around Bai Lian’s waist, making her jump as if bitten.

“Hey, relax! Let’s go!” Yue Qi grinned mischievously, half-pushing Bai Lian into the secret room.

“This… is practically porn!” Yue Qi swallowed, flipping through the book. By the candlelight, he saw several naked men and women in various poses, the scenes utterly astonishing.