Zhao Yulong was puzzled and turned to ask the ordering soldier: "Brother, do you know what the monster mentioned in this military order refers to?"
The ordering soldier shook his head: "Replying to your lord, I don't know what my humble position is. But my superiors have specifically told me to ask your county to act quickly after receiving the order. Don't dare to delay!"
After saying that, he gave Zhao Yulong a military salute, turned around and left quickly.
County Magistrate Zhao stood there stunned for a full quarter of an hour. After all, he still couldn't figure out what this military intelligence order meant.
The county magistrate under his command came over to look at the military order and couldn't help but said: "Sir, why don't you execute it quickly?"
"Execution? How to execute it?" Zhao Yulong glared at the county magistrate: "It's a fool's errand to ask this officer to execute this mindless order."
He threw the military order on the table next to him and continued: "There are tens of thousands of people in the city, with their families, old and young. They are evacuated when they are told to evacuate? Where to evacuate? Moreover, look at that What does the military order say, monster sneak attack! This is too nonsense."
The county magistrate hesitated for a moment and said cautiously: "Could it be a nickname, referring to the Turks?"
Zhao Yulong almost laughed angrily at him: "Is this necessary? Just say that the Turkic army is going to attack Zhongmou. It's inexplicable to be a monster."
"Then should we carry out the orders of the Protectorate?" the county magistrate asked: "After all, they represent His Highness the Crown Prince."
Zhao Yulong pondered for a moment and waved his hand: "Ignore him for now! Arrange some people to go to the neighboring counties to inquire and see if they have also received the same military order. By the way, ask them how they plan to respond."
The county magistrate nodded in agreement, and then asked worriedly: "But just in case... I said it is just in case. If the Turks really come, what should we do?"
Zhao Yulong smiled and asked, "Are there any government soldiers in Zhongmu County?"
"No. Just dozens of government officials."
"Still," Zhao Yulong said: "We have no soldiers or generals, and the Protectorate has not sent troops to assist in defense. Even if the enemy comes, there is nothing we can do. At most, we can just evacuate this place."
The county magistrate couldn't bear to ask: "What about the people?"
Zhao Yulong reached out and patted his shoulder and advised: "Don't worry. As long as there is no fierce resistance, the Turks will not easily massacre the people in the city. Just wait until the imperial army launches a counterattack and regain the lost territory." With that in mind, hurry up and prepare horses and vehicles, and let my family members leave Zhongmu first, and go...to the northeast, to Xiangzhou!"
The county magistrate obeyed the order and turned around to arrange the evacuation. He was also thinking about his family, so he took the time to send a government servant to deliver a message, telling his wife and children to pack their luggage quickly and take refuge in Xiangzhou with the county magistrate's wife later.
While he was busy, a burst of screams and screams suddenly came from the street outside the Yamen. It sounded very loud. The county magistrate was quite surprised and was about to send someone outside to see what happened. A government servant covered in blood stumbled into the county government gate. As soon as he entered, he shouted loudly: "Ghost! There is a ghost!"
This shrill voice suddenly startled everyone in the yamen: Did you see a ghost in broad daylight? !
However, before they could react, more people poured into the county government office, crying for their fathers and mothers and making a mess. Judging from the appearance of those people, they seemed to be desperately trying to avoid something extremely terrifying behind them.
A strong man ran and shouted: "Close the door! Close the door quickly! The monster is coming!"
However, none of the people who fled into the county government office bothered to close the door. Everyone just ran and crawled, trying to hide as far inside as possible.
The county magistrate came to his senses and quickly ordered people to stop him and prevent the chaotic crowd from running into the back hall. At the same time, he appointed several strong government officials to quickly seal the gate of the county government office to prevent the chaos from running into the back hall. Another person comes in.
At this time, the county magistrate Zhao Yulong was also alarmed. He ran over from the back hall, pushed away the people who almost hit him, and shouted at the county magistrate: "What's going on? Who are these people?!"
The county magistrate already felt that something was wrong. He did not answer Zhao Yulong, but ran to the injured government servant and asked anxiously: "What's going on outside?"
"Sir, there is a ghost, there is a ghost!" There were five or six wounds on the Yamen servant's body, and black blood was pouring out at the moment. The pain made him almost pass out: "The ghost is eating people!"
Zhao Yulong came forward quickly and happened to hear these words. Looking at the horrific wounds on the Yamen servant's body, he couldn't help but feel a little bit in his heart: Damn it, is it really a monster?
The county magistrate had the same idea as him and asked in horror: "Sir, what should I do?"
Zhao Yulong turned his head and looked at the closed county government door. The screams outside the door were closer and more harsh than before. He was stunned and said anxiously: "Where are our people? Quickly transfer them to protect the county government!"
"They are all here," the county magistrate raised his finger and pointed at the dozen or so pale-faced government officials around him, and said with a mournful face, "The others are patrolling the streets and guarding the city gates outside. They are the only ones who can be used now."
Zhao Yulong suddenly felt that his head had grown twice as big, but the situation was critical now, and he could only rely on him to stabilize the situation, so he quickly ordered: "Don't be stunned, go and get the weapons! There are many of us, even if there is something weird, Don’t be afraid of it either!”
The government officials agreed and ran to look for swords and guns. Zhao Yulong turned around and saw that the injured official was already motionless, and he didn't know whether he was dead or alive. He quickly grabbed a commoner next to him and asked, "What's going on outside? Tell me honestly!"
The common man knew that it was the magistrate of the county who was holding him back, and his panic finally calmed down a little, and he stammered: "Just now...many monsters suddenly ran out on the street just now, killing everyone they saw, and... they also ate them. Human flesh and drinking blood made the villain so scared that he abandoned the stall and ran away..."
Zhao Yulong asked anxiously: "What kind of monster? What does it look like?"
"It looks scary!" the people cried, "just like the evil ghost in the painting!"
After hearing this, Zhao Yulong was finally convinced that the military order sent by the Protectorate this morning was not nonsense. He secretly cursed "Damn it" and told the government officials who had gathered again: "Guard the county government office for me, no one is allowed in! Li Hu, go get a ladder and go up to the wall to see what's going on outside." ?”
Li Hu, the yamen servant, agreed, ran to move a long ladder and put it on the wall, and climbed up using both hands and feet.
As soon as he showed his head, Li Hu was frightened by the scene in front of him. I saw corpses and blood everywhere on the street outside the Yamen. Dozens of ugly monsters were wandering around nearby. In some places further away, monsters could be vaguely seen killing people who had not had time to escape.
Li Hu almost vomited, suppressed his nausea, turned around and whispered: "Sir, everything outside is..."
Before he could finish his words, there was a muffled sound, and the county government door was slammed hard, and the door bolt, which was as thick as an arm, was almost broken.
Immediately afterwards, a roar like a wild beast came from outside the door.
The people standing at the door took two steps back in unison, with panic on their faces.
Li Hu also jumped down from the ladder at this time and quickly told Zhao Yulong and others the scene he just saw.
This is bad!
Although Zhao Yulong still couldn't understand what was going on, he knew that Zhongmu County was completely finished.
According to what Li Hu saw, there were definitely more than a few dozen monsters that broke into the city. Without the protection of the army, thousands of people in the city could only become pitiful prey, allowing the evil spirits to slaughter them wantonly.
Bang! Bang! There were two more violent impacts, and everyone felt their hearts tightening as the door shook.
The county magistrate's voice was already trembling at this time: "Sir, what should we do? Please come up with an idea!"
Zhao Yulong was also panicked and asked Li Hu: "You have been a soldier. Do you think it is possible to break out of the encirclement?"
Li Hu was worried: "Although we are not sure, there is only one way left. If we ride a horse, we may be able to get out of the city!"
"Horse! Go get the horse quickly!" Zhao Yulong ordered hurriedly: "Those who have horses ride on them, and those who don't have horses rely on two legs to protect me and go through the back door. We will wait until we get out of the city!"
After giving the order, everyone quickly moved and prepared to break out. There are only three post horses in the county government office, plus two old horses used to pull carts, which is not even a cavalry team.
However, they didn't care about that much now. Zhao Yulong, Xian Cheng, and Li Hu each rode on a horse, while the wife's family members rode in a carriage. Under the protection of more than a dozen government officials, they opened the back door and rushed to the street. Seeing this, dozens of people who had taken refuge in the county government office also found broomsticks and bamboo poles as weapons, and followed them to escape.
Unexpectedly, the group of people immediately regretted their decision not far after leaving the county government office.
A monster with a bloody face and disgusting pustules all over his body happened to meet them head-on.
Zhao Yulong had only heard the description from Li Hu and others before, but he didn't know what the so-called monster looked like. When he saw it now, he couldn't help but be frightened to the core.
As for the other people, they were no better than Zhao Yulong. Some were timid and wanted to turn around and run away on the spot.
Among everyone, Li Hu reacted the fastest. After all, he was a man who had been on the battlefield. Although he was also afraid, he still swung the knife forward and shouted angrily: "Let's go together and kill it!"
The government officials listened to his order, shouted at the same time, raised their weapons and rushed forward.
When the monster saw people coming towards him to kill him, not only was he not afraid, but he even roared with excitement. It moved extremely fast, staring at the front servant, and swooped down, knocking the man to the ground.
The next moment, the monster's bloody mouth bit the yamen servant's face, tearing off a large piece of flesh on the spot, dripping with blood.
The yamen servant screamed, frightened and hurt, and passed out immediately. His companions were furious and quickly drew weapons to attack the monster.
However, what everyone didn't expect was that the monster was hit by several knives, but it seemed to be completely unaware and continued to tear a few mouthfuls of the Yamen servant's flesh and blood. Then with a low roar, it got up from the man and pounced on the other man next to him again. A government official.
