Chapter 7 007 Qingcheng Town

Chapter 7 007. Qingcheng Town

"This is the official road, and it is also the main road that runs through Qingshui County and the county town. We encountered more than a dozen waves of zombies along the way!"

"This road is supposed to be one of the main roads in Qingshui County. How could they allow these refugees to become zombies?

Did the government not care?"

"Over the years, the imperial court's orders have become increasingly difficult to implement. The government soldiers are struggling, and the militia in the county is mostly a treasure trove for the masters to eat empty salaries.

There was a rebellion in Northern Anhui Province. The situation has been unstable in the past two years. The heavy taxes are more severe than those collected here. There are bandits like leeches. It is said that there was a flood this year, and many refugees came to our side.

The weather is getting colder, and there are more refugees starving and freezing to death on the roadside. The masters in the county government don't care about it, so there are naturally more zombies.

It's not a big deal if there are a few zombies. If there are too many, it's possible that there will be another big outbreak like in the past few years!

I don't know how many people will die by then!"

When we were about to reach Qingcheng Town, we passed a small village called Xiaowang.

Xiaowang Village is much larger than Liujia Village. There are more than 500 people in the village. Because it is close to Liujia Village, the relationship between the two villages is good, and many families are related by marriage.

For example, Wang Qiqi in the caravan, her mother's family is from Xiaowang Village.

Xiaowang Village is not far from the official road. A tea shed was built on the roadside outside the village and a tea shop was opened.

The caravan passed by here and naturally stopped here to rest.

Because it is close to the main road, when the group of people from Liujia Village came here, there were two distinct groups of people in the tea shop.

One group of people wore black tight clothes, and each of them looked strong and powerful. They held swords in their hands. Whether in posture or momentum, they were completely different from the villagers with vegetables in the village.

The other group of people wore mixed clothes, but they were much better than the villagers. There were also a few people holding swords in the team, like some traveling merchants.

Ren Pingsheng stared at the flames jumping in the furnace. The lid of the boiling pot was opened, and the boiling water swelled out with a "hissing" sound, and sprinkled on the stove and made a "hissing" sound.

His attention was not on the stove, but he listened to the conversation of these people while drinking tea.

Listening to their conversations and knowledge, they were much better than Village Chief Liu.

"It is difficult to get the government orders, the government soldiers are insufficient, the militia is not paid, the taxes are heavy, the rebellion is everywhere, the zombie poison is spreading, and the government office is still inefficient. No matter how you look at it, this world is not peaceful, and this dynasty is also in troubled times."

Ren Pingsheng couldn't help thinking: "The more turbulent the situation is, the less obvious the rules are, and the more ordinary people have to endure the oppression of the powerful. If I want to gain a foothold in this world, I have to withstand the test of this dark jungle."

After saying goodbye to Xiaowangzhuang, it took only more than half an hour to walk, and the outline of Qingcheng Town was already in sight.

Unlike the adobe walls of Liujia Village, Qingcheng Town is not only large, but also has a base made of stone strips collected from the mountains, and the outer wall is made of green bricks fired in a serious manner.

It is said that the inside is still adobe, but it is also mixed with glutinous rice, lime, etc., and compacted layer by layer. This brick-covered wall is 12 meters high, and it looks quite imposing from a distance.

Such a wall can give people a strong sense of security.

It is almost impossible for zombies to conquer such a city from the outside.

"Qingcheng Town was originally the old county town of Qingshui County. Later, due to the rainy season floods, Qingcheng Town was easily flooded because of its low terrain, so the county town was moved to the current Qingshui County.

Although it has become Qingcheng Town now, the city wall is still preserved.

Moreover, Qingshui County is a large county, and Qingcheng Town is an old county town. Compared with the county towns of some other counties, the scale of the city and population is not small."

Liu Shu introduced the city in front of him to Ren Pingsheng.

When he walked outside the city, Ren Pingsheng found that some refugees gathered outside the east gate of the city.

A quick look showed that there were hundreds of people.

There were officers holding whips, driving these people to line up, and at the front of the team, there were more than a dozen officers, cooking watery vegetable porridge in iron pots.

Outside the East Gate, an officer blocked the way of Ren Pingsheng and his party.

"All of you will be quarantined for two hours, and you can enter the city after two hours!"

The officers drove Liu Qiang and his party roughly to the open space on the side of the East Gate.

There was also a row of small wooden houses outside the city gate, but those were used by wealthy families with some status and money. Liujia Village had no money, so naturally there was no treatment to enter the house. They could only stand in the cold wind with their hands out.

"Fuck him! These grandsons!"

Lao Liu couldn't help but curse in a low voice.

"Officer, didn't we enter the city in one hour in the past? Why does it take two hours today? If we are quarantined for two hours, it will be dark when we leave the city..."

Liu Qiang smiled and said to the officers who drove them.

"Have you seen us before? Damn it, it's those refugees who kept us from having a good time at the county government office and drove us to Qingcheng Town!

Don't think I'm making things difficult for you. This is the master's order. You either stay here for two hours or turn back."

After the officer finished speaking, he went back to the doorway of the East City Gate with his sword on his waist to avoid the cold wind.

"Brother Qiangzi, what should we do?"

"If we really wait for two hours, the market might be over, and what can we sell!"

"What if we encounter zombies again on the way back at night? We can't see them. What should we do? Why don't we go back?"

Everyone in the team was as anxious as an ant on a hot pot.

Liu Qiang looked up at the sun in the sky. It was bright and clear, and the sun shone on his body, but he couldn't feel any heat.

He gritted his teeth and said, "Hold on. If we don't sell the skins, where can we get the money when the tax collectors come to collect taxes in the second half of the month?

How many people will we have to do hard labor if we can't get enough money?"

"Alas, this life is really unbearable!"

There was a sigh in the team.

"The zombie poison broke out, and it was only one hour at most. The county government asked us to isolate them for two hours. What's going on?

Isn't this a one-size-fits-all approach?"

"Forget it, there's no point in saying more. Let's not talk about it. Be careful of the mouth."

In addition to the people from Liujia Village, there were many people in the isolation area. They all looked bitter and whispered.

Ren Pingsheng did not participate in the emotional discussion of these people. He walked to the edge of the isolation area and looked at the refugees in the distance who were walking numbly like zombies.

Occasionally, a refugee fell down, and the officers went forward to check their breath. Some were carried to the side to rest and fed porridge, while others were directly chopped off the head with a knife and carried to the firewood pile in the distance.

The refugees who had received the porridge were immediately driven away by officers with whips, and they were driven away from the East Gate, and they continued on their way to make a living.

"There used to be people living outside the city, but since the zombies broke out seven years ago, no one has lived outside the city. We used to live outside the East Gate, and there was a moat outside at that time."

Looking at these refugees, a white-faced man in a round-necked shirt sighed with emotion.

"Brother, are you a traveling merchant?"

Ren Pingsheng had some impression of this white-faced man. He had seen him at a tea stall before. When he spoke, he was well-organized and insightful.

"The business is not big. I just go around the towns in Qingshui County. I dare not go outside because there are soldiers, bandits, and zombies.

I am Lu Junyi, from Qingcheng."

The white-faced man looked quite talkative and bowed to Ren Pingsheng.

"Ren Pingsheng, from Liujia Village."

Ren Pingsheng bowed.

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