The northern suburbs are a good place, with green water and blooming flowers in spring. I don't know which high-ranking families in the city have also enclosed their land here, built villas, pavilions and lofts near the mountains and rivers. Now it's even more It has become a good place to play.
But, this was many years ago.
The world is getting worse day by day. After several rounds of natural and man-made disasters, people have no choice but to live happily. There is no energy to travel and enjoy. Even the big family from Zhulou has gone through many twists and turns and dispersed.
As a result, the once bright spring scenery turned into a ghost forest in the wilderness, and the big house also decayed together with the vegetation.
In the past, there were still some homeless beggars using the broken bricks and tiles to protect themselves from the wind and rain, but these days, all those beggars have disappeared. It is said that the owner of the house who died in vain crawled out of the soil. Gone to catch food.
The desolation was even more eerie, and the northern suburbs and the mansion were even more deserted.
But today, there are visitors in this deserted suburb.
dusk.
The horses' hooves were wrapped in mats of wild grass on the old road. The knight on the horse stared silently at the "wreck" in front of him. Most of the house has collapsed, and only the calf-high pedestal remains of the high walls.
Ahead, across the yard filled with weeds, a house collapsed in the dim light, like a dying beast. The door panel is embellished on the door frame, swaying slightly in the wind, opening and closing like an animal's kiss.
The knight stirred up the reins, and with a light leap, the horse jumped over the collapsed wall and fell into the courtyard.
The yard was empty except for weeds and only one old tree. The knight dismounted and tied the reins. After lifting his cloak, a bearded face was revealed. It turned out to be the man named Yan. Suddenly, something floated on his shoulder, and when he touched it, it was a rough and hard wing feather.
He looked up and saw the red eyes of a tree under the dim skylight. It turned out that the dark things on the tree were not leaves, but large groups of red-eyed crows.
The crow didn't make any noise when it saw people, but didn't move at all, just staring down with its red eyes. Just such one is enough to make people's hair stand on end, and here, crows occupy the branches.
But the man surnamed Yan did not show the slightest fear. Instead, his solemn expression relaxed a little.
He took a wooden box from the saddle, opened a small movable door on the box, and knocked on the box a few more times.
"Bang, bang, bang."
By chance, such a bird actually came out of the box. Its head with a pair of red eyes was by the small door. After looking around a few times, it fluttered and merged into the crows on the tree.
This bird's name is simple, it's called the red-eyed crow. Although it looks unlucky, it is a strange bird cultivated by Taoism. It has many wonderful functions such as warning, monitoring, and transmitting messages.
Xuanqi from the Zhenfu Division always likes to take one or two of these with him when he goes out on official duties.
As for the Zhenfu Division, it was naturally established by the imperial court. There were twenty-six guards under it, known as the "Emperor's Personal Army", and they were divided into groups to suppress all kinds of demons, ghosts, monks, Taoists, and witches all over the world. And because he was dressed in black, in the arena, he was called "Xuan Qi" if he was nice, and "Lao Yu" if he was not nice.
But now that the imperial court is in decline, most of the time it is just a doughnut-shaped yamen that mediates the relationship between the world and the court.
However, now this Dianyamen has solved a major case and caught a "big fish", causing turmoil in all directions.
This man surnamed Yan originally belonged to the Longxiang Guards of the Zhenfu Division. According to the arrangements made by the superiors in advance, he should join the team escorting "Big Fish" with his colleagues in three days.
But a few days ago, the escort team suddenly stopped hearing from them. It stands to reason that in these years of wars and wars, it is normal to be cut off from information, so Longxiang Weili still carries out the plan step by step.
The man surnamed Yan always felt uneasy. In addition, because of the seriousness of the matter, he simply abandoned his colleagues who were gathering and came to the rescue single-handedly at night. Thanks to the yellow gelding, he was somewhat magical, otherwise he would be like this day and night. If he ran down, he would have died long ago.
But now, when I arrived at the end of the field and saw the trees full of red eyes, I guess other guards had arrived in time to help.
"Could it be that... I am worrying in vain?"
He straightened his clothes and strode into the door.
"I hope so."
………………
The room was extremely dark.
The thick darkness is like slurry, and it wraps people tightly when they step into the door, without any light.
A thick and cloying strange fragrance filled it, and a creepy malice was hidden in the gloomy darkness.
The man named Yan frowned, walked a few steps further in, then clasped his fists and said loudly:
"Long Xiang Wei Yan Xinglie was ordered to come to our aid."
After waiting for a long time, an old voice came from the depths of the darkness:
"It turns out it was Colonel Yan who was in front of me. It's really rude."
After saying that, the darkness in front of Yan Xinglie retreated to both sides, revealing a bonfire in front of him and a thin old man wrapped in a cloak next to him.
From the old man's tone, he seemed to recognize Yan Xinglie, but Yan Xinglie only thought that the man looked familiar and could not recall any specific information.
The old man smiled and said, "I am Hu Daogong, the deputy commander of Fengtian Guards."
Having said that, it seemed that he had some impression.
Big Beard Yan nodded, "I've met you, sir."
Then he took out a document and an iron plate from his arms and said, "Please verify the seal talisman."
When handing over tasks, the seal talisman must be checked. This is the rule in the department. The old man did it himself. He nodded and called:
"Ah Wu."
After a while, the darkness next to him surged like mist, and a man dressed as a governor, but with a black gauze covering his face, walked out. His walking posture was quite strange, his steps were very small, and his knees did not bend as he walked.
Yan Xinglie turned a blind eye and just handed over the object in his hand.
But when Ah Wu reached out to pick it up, Yan Xinglie suddenly changed his color and grabbed "Ah Wu"'s arm with a flick of his wrist. Ah Wu let out a low roar, and his reaction was not to break away and retreat, nor to use his fists or kicks. Instead, he stretched out his head as if to bite him.
However, Yan Xinglie grabbed his neck halfway and threw him to the ground. There was a muffled sound and several broken bricks flew up.
Ah Wuyou roared low and struggled endlessly, but it seemed that his joints were stiff and could not bend like ordinary people. When he struggled, he could only swing like a living fish on the beach, but his movements could shake the bricks underneath him. The stone shattered, showing that the force was really quite strong.
However, Yan Xinglie's expression remained unchanged, and his hands were as if made of steel, motionless.
Then, with a few heart-wrenching "clicks", Ah Wu's arm was folded behind his back, held down with one hand, and he freed his hand to lift the veil.
Under the veil was a young face, but his face was blue and gray. There was a short yellow talisman two fingers wide stuck on his forehead. A ferocious knife wound split his face diagonally. The rolled flesh was glowing with black and yellow color, and Still roaring, two fangs poked out of the kiss.
"Zombies!"
as expected!
As early as when he stepped into the door of this room, the reason why Yan Xinglie frowned was not the rich and strange fragrance, but another smell hidden under the fragrance, which was full of rotten sweetness.
He had served on the battlefield in his early years, and he was no longer familiar with this feeling.
And when "Ah Wu" walked in, his weird posture made him extremely alert. In recent years, wars have continued, and the southern land is full of poisonous swamps, which are most prone to zombies. When he was performing official duties in the company, he often walked in remote places, and nine times out of ten he would encounter some wandering corpses. Ah Wu's walking posture was clearly that of a new zombie, whose joints, flesh and bones have not yet completely ossified.
He immediately pulled out a yellow talisman and recited hurriedly:
"Urgently summon six soldiers and six armored soldiers to destroy evil and remove obstacles. Let the light shine quickly. Go!"
After finishing speaking, a talisman was thrown.
The tail of the yellow talisman ignited with dazzling flames, setting off a gust of wind, spinning rapidly around Yan Xinglie in the room, and the bright light tore through the many black barriers.
For a moment, the whole room was clear.
………………
But see indoors.
In addition to the old man and Ah Wu, there were thirteen "people" in the same Zhenfusi attire with black veils on their faces, arranged on both sides. They were either disemboweled or missing arms and legs. After looking at them, it turned out that Yan Xinglie's Lao Wuxing was the most complete.
And behind these zombies... Yan Xinglie's eyes were cracked, and his hair and beard were all spread out.
But on the edge of the house, corpses were piled on the ground. Corpses dressed as governors were piled up in the corners of the house like rags.
"Yanzhong Ding Degong, Jiangling Xu Jianshan, Shuzhong Ba Mazi..."
Yan Xinglie glanced around and found several familiar faces among them, all of whom were well-known players in the guards.
"What a thief!"
Yan Xinglie grabbed the scabbard at his waist and was about to kill someone!
But the old man smiled and said: "Captain, please wait a moment."
"What else do you have to say?"
The old man didn't say anything, but slowly took off his cloak, revealing his thin body.
Seeing this, Yan Xinglie was stunned.
But I saw that the old man's left leg was amputated at knee level, and there was only a brown bone stubble at the wrist of his right hand. His torso was covered with scars. The most terrifying injury was on his left chest, where there was a hole as big as the mouth of a bowl. You can see the squirming flesh and blood and broken ribs, but the most important heart is missing.
"This is……"
The old man slowly reached into the bonfire, took out a burnt object, and stuffed it into his empty chest.
With this action, the cloying aroma in the room immediately dissipated a lot.
The old man then asked:
"Have Captain Yan ever heard of the art of enduring death?"
At this time, Yan Xinglie still didn't understand that the entire escort team, including the old man, had been wiped out long ago. Yan Xinglie let out a long sigh, and besides being sad and angry, he was even more surprised. This operation brought together the best soldiers from all the guards, how could they all die so silently?
He couldn't help but ask: "Sir, why is this happening?"
"Oh, why is this so?"
The old man shook his head mockingly and began to tell the story of the trip.
"This operation started smoothly. We expected that no matter how rampant the thief was, and with all the experts from all the guards gathered together, he would not dare to lift the tiger's beard of our Zhenfu Division..."
"...But a few days ago, we, a group of old gangsters, ruined the way of thieves. Our 100% ability was reduced to 70%, and we couldn't even get a message out. We fought and walked all the way, even though we repelled several waves. I pursued and killed many thieves, but I also suffered heavy losses."
At this point, the old man stared blankly at the fireworks, his expression finally showing dejection and misery.
"These poor disciples like me have filial piety. Even if they died, they turned into zombies. With the help of my incompetent master, and this death-resistant technique, I managed to persevere until the end."
"If Lieutenant Yan were to come a moment and a half later, I might not be able to hold on any longer."
"but……"
The old man changed the subject.
"The captain also saw it. The thieves are ferocious. All the masters of the three states and nine guards are here. Even the old man is about to die."
"Right now, you are the only one alive in this room, Zhenfu Si Xuanqi, but the job ahead will be very fatal."
He turned to look at Yan Xinglie, his old face in the firelight, serious and heavy.
"Are you going to answer? Or not?"
Yan Xinglie smiled calmly and said:
"Why should you spare your life when you go to work on national affairs?"
"Okay! Okay! Okay!"
The old man laughed loudly.
"Captain Yan is indeed worthy of his reputation, so..."
Before he finished speaking, he suddenly heard the horses neighing loudly in the courtyard, and the red-eyed crows, who were originally like dead animals, also started making noises in unison.
Yan Xinglie rushed out of the door.
All I saw were crows scattered in all directions, their wings filled with feathers.
The old man's voice chuckled in the room:
"These thieves are really chasing after me!"
…………
dusk.
"coming."
"get ready!"
The first half of the leader's words were still in his ears, but they turned into a scream.
The enemy "people" wrapped in black energy easily broke through the front line and roared towards them.
In extreme fear, the young rebel soldier stabbed the approaching enemy with a shot. It clearly hit his chest, but it seemed like it had penetrated a cloud of smoke. However, the knife swung by the opponent directly cut off his head.
On the other side of the battlefield, the generals on horseback watched coldly as the rebels' last vestiges of strength were extinguished by the ghost soldiers commanded by magic.
This majestic city, which was heavily guarded by soldiers, was finally "recaptured" by him unscathed.
"General."
The young lieutenant's throat was rolling, and his eyes were full of desire, just like the other silent soldiers.
Having spent his entire life as a soldier, he naturally knew what the soldiers expected.
So, in the spotlight.
The general ordered:
"Massacre the city!"
………………
That night.
Barren mountains and deep forests, the moon is full in the sky.
Li Changan sat cross-legged on a large bluestone, holding the wine cup high to receive the moonlight.
Wait until the moonlight has turned into fine wine. The Taoist priest took back the wine cup but frowned.
The originally clear moon wine was suddenly stained with a hint of bright red.
I tried to take a sip, but my mouth was full of iron taste.
"It's turbid."
The Taoist priest shook his head and poured out the wine without hesitation. Seventy percent of the wine turned into moonlight while it was still in the air, and the remaining third fell among the grass blades. The night wind stirred it up, and scattered a little fluorescent light.
He shook his head and looked up.
In the stretching horizon in the east, the sky is filled with red light.
