Starting from his vigorous old age, he began to conquer Liaozhai.

Fu Qingfeng looked disappointed, with tears welling up in his eyes. "It must be because I'm too stupid. Uncle Cao doesn't think much of me."

Cao Xiong's heart skipped a beat; where did this familiar taste come from?

"Miss Qingfeng has really misunderstood me. I once told you that there are six realms in martial arts, and I am only at the third realm. When you return to the capital, there will be plenty of martial artists at the Refining Dirty Realm or even the Blood Refining Realm lining up to be your master."

"It's not that I don't want to take you as my apprentice, it's just that I'm afraid of misleading other students."

Fu Qingfeng's eyes darted around. "But Mother and Uncle Tie both say you're very capable."

"And you also saved my life."

Fu Qingfeng grabbed Cao Xiong's arm and shook it slightly, "Please, Uncle Cao, take me as your apprentice."

After pondering for a moment, Cao Xiong finally spoke, "How about this, you can make a decision after you return to the capital and ask your father. If your father agrees, then I will take you as my disciple."

"It's a deal!" Fu Qingfeng excitedly extended his little finger.

Cao Xiong was taken aback, and he also extended his finger to make a pinky promise with Fu Qingfeng.

Next, Cao Xiong instructed Fu Qingfeng in practicing the "Leaf-Picking Step" for two hours before returning to the Hundred Households Office.

When Cao Xiong arrived at the Hundred Household Office, Liu Mingzi's Third Banner and Cao Man had already returned to the military camp.

"Greetings, Commander of the Hundred Households!"

Liu Mingzi was dressed in water-polished, waist-high steel armor and held a feather fan, which looked somewhat out of place.

"It's good that you're back. Now, Vice Minister Fu's family has all been taken back to Guobei County."

"Congratulations, sir. Based on this matter alone, you have likely caught the eye of Minister Fu, and your future is sure to be bright."

Liu Mingzi was genuinely happy for Cao Xiong. As the saying goes, when one person attains enlightenment, even his chickens and dogs ascend to heaven. With Cao Xiong's career progressing smoothly, his subordinates could also benefit from it.

"Do your best and leave the rest to fate. Let's not talk about this anymore. I'm going to give you a task now." With that, Cao Xiong took out the recruitment notice he had written that morning.

"I'm preparing to conduct a special recruitment drive. The details are all here. Have someone make a lot of copies and make sure everyone in Guobei County knows about it by tomorrow afternoon."

"The recruitment day is set for three days from now."

Liu Mingzi read the notice carefully, his eyes growing brighter and brighter.

"Rest assured, sir, I will certainly complete the mission."

When Liu Mingzi left the barracks with the notice in his hand, his steps were much lighter.

In Liu Mingzi's view, Cao Xiong was not only highly skilled in martial arts, but also courageous and resourceful.

In this era of impending chaos, this is truly precious.

……

……

……

Liu Mingzi's efficiency was surprisingly high. The next day, the special recruitment notice from the Baihu Office of Guobei County spread throughout the entire Guobei County.

Cao Xiong left the Hundred Household Office early and led the officers and soldiers of the First Banner to Boli Township.

The Second General Banner, led by Sha Huizi, was stationed here, along with more than one hundred military households temporarily conscripted.

When Cao Xiong arrived at the temporary encampment of the government troops in Boli Township, he saw Yu Tong dragging the bodies of the plague-infected civilians who had already been killed into a pit and burning them.

"Greetings, Commander!" Yu Tong greeted Cao Xiong immediately upon seeing him.

"Where is Commander Sha?" Cao Xiong scanned the entire camp, finding only Yu Tong and his soldiers.

"Baihu, Commander Sha is organizing a resistance against these plague-infected monsters." Yu Tong's tone was serious, clearly indicating that the plague was becoming increasingly severe.

"Where has the plague spread to now?" Cao Xiong's gaze fell on the fire pit where corpses were being burned.

You can vaguely make out the appearance of these corpses; their skin is pale, their eyes are red, and their postures are strange.

"Reporting to the centurion, the plague has spread from Zhengjia Village to eight surrounding villages. Initially, only Zhengjia Village had infected people, and I followed your orders to cut off Zhengjia Village's connection with the outside world to observe the spread of the plague."

"After discovering that the plague could only be transmitted through the bite of an infected person, we carried out a unified cleanup under the leadership of General Sha."

"However, even after the infection is completely cleared, new infections will always emerge."

"It is my fault for failing in my duties. I beg you to punish me, Commander." Yu Tong knelt on one knee and clasped his hands in a fist.

"This isn't your fault; it's been handled very well."

Cao Xiong looked at Yu Tong, sensing that the other's cultivation was not yet fully stable.

"You've entered the Bone Forging Realm?"

"We just broke through two days ago, and haven't had time to report it yet."

"Haha, good. Starting today, you will be transferred to the First Banner Commander position and serve as the Banner Commander." Yu Tong's breakthrough surprised Cao Xiong. For the current Hundred Households Office, having another Bone Forging Realm martial artist is a great help.

His three commanders finally had a stabilizing force.

"Now, take me to Sha Huizi. Starting today, advance inwards and gradually tighten the encirclement."

Cao Xiong originally planned to wait until two days later, after the recruitment was completed, before coordinating the operation. However, it now appears that the spread of the zombie plague is accelerating, and further delays may lead to unforeseen changes.

With two Bone Forging Realm warriors and Cao Man, who is no weaker than a Bone Forging Realm warrior, in charge, they can definitely organize an attack.

Soon, Cao Xiong led dozens of soldiers to the outskirts of Yujia Village, where Sha Huizi was located.

The Sha Hui people had just finished a battle, and a group of officers, soldiers, and military households were dragging the corpses of civilians infected with the plague that had been disposed of and piling them up together.

Cao Xiong walked up to a corpse and examined it carefully. The corpse's skin was pale and bluish-white, dry and loose, and covered with lividity.

The facial features were distorted, the eyeballs were cloudy and white, and the wound was bleeding normally, but the area around the wound was black.

"Aren't these just zombies?" Cao Xiong confirmed in his mind that the characteristics of these corpses were no different from those in the zombie movies he had seen in his previous life.

The virus is transmitted in the same way; it cannot be transmitted through breathing or touch, but only through blood.

Cao Xiong pried open the corpses' mouths and found that their teeth were still the same as when they were alive, without any mutation. This indicated that these people infected with the corpse plague had limited biting ability.

He summoned all the officers, soldiers, and military households stationed in this area.

"From now on, we will gradually move inward to clean up the people infected with the plague. All infected people will be named plague corpses."

"Everyone put on their armor. Those soldiers without lamellar armor disposed of the corpses and cleared out any who escaped."

After Cao Xiong finished speaking, all the officers and soldiers began to check their armor to ensure that there was no damage.

"All personnel, listen up! Musketeers in front, move out!"

At Cao Xiong's command, all the officers and soldiers gathered together.

The soldiers holding muskets automatically took their places at the front of the column and began to advance into Yujia Village.

Cao Man, wielding a giant axe, led the vanguard, striding forward and charging directly into the side path.

Cao Xiong also chose a direction and began his search.

Not long after entering Yujia Village, Cao Xiong saw a fenced yard.

The courtyard was silent, and the fence surrounding it had long been damaged and was in a dilapidated state.

Cao Xiong walked into the courtyard and kicked open the door. The room was also severely damaged, with tables, chairs and benches smashed and the floor littered with debris.

There were dried bloodstains on the ground.

Clearly, a rather fierce fight had taken place in this room after the plague spread.

Cao Xiong searched the room but found no trace of the plague corpse.

[Thanks to reader "A Man Who Likes Beautiful Women" for the 300 Qidian Coins donation. There will be an extra chapter tomorrow.]