Zombie Life Begins in Hongxi Village

Michelle stood by the side doorway, one hand on the doorframe, the other covering her mouth, her face deathly pale.

A small head peeked out from behind her.

A girl of about fifteen or sixteen, dressed in a blue school uniform, with two braids, had a round face and a pair of bright, curious eyes.

"What's wrong, sister?"

She first saw Michelin's back, then followed Michelin's gaze into the main hall—

"ah--"

The little girl's scream was louder than Michelin's; her voice was shrill and piercing, so loud that even the guards outside the Marshal's Mansion could probably hear it.

Lin Yi frowned, and with a thought, her figure vanished from the spot, and the next second she was standing in front of the two of them.

"Shut up!"

The rebuke wasn't loud, but it carried an inexplicable sense of oppression.

Mi Nianying's scream stopped abruptly, as if someone had grabbed her by the neck; her mouth was still open, but the sound was gone.

Michelle instinctively reached out to shield her sister behind her, her own back pressed tightly against the door frame.

Michelle's pupils contracted.

She saw it clearly—this person appeared right in front of her, so fast that she didn't even have time to blink.

She was a junior disciple from Maoshan. Although her Taoist skills had deteriorated considerably after marrying Long Nanguang, her knowledge remained.

Even her master couldn't do this kind of teleportation ability.

Shi Jian, the strongest senior disciple of Maoshan today, can shatter millstones with his Lightning Thunder Fist, and even with the enhancement of lightning, his speed is not that fast.

What does this mean? It means that even if everyone from Maoshan came, they might not be a match for this young man.

Lin Yi's gaze lingered on Mi Nianying's face for a moment.

The little girl trembled at his gaze and shrank behind Michelin, her two braids swaying back and forth, looking like a little white rabbit being targeted by a big bad wolf.

Lin Yi shifted her gaze from Mi Nianying to Michelle's face.

A slight smile curved his lips as he spoke in a sinister tone, "Madam, you wouldn't want your sister to die so young, would you?"

Mi Nianying turned pale with fright at these words, her fingers gripping the hem of Michelle's clothes until her knuckles turned white.

Michelle's expression changed drastically. She spread her arms to shield her sister behind her, raised her chin, and although her voice was still trembling, her tone was firm: "No! Nianying is innocent. If you want to kill someone, kill me!"

Lin Yi looked at her with great interest.

Michelle's protective manner towards her sister has a bit of the aura of a female knight-errant from Maoshan. Although she married that good-for-nothing Long Nanguang, her stubbornness is still there.

He put the butcher knife into his storage ring, and his tone changed slightly: "Then it depends on whether you, Madam, are willing to cooperate."

Cooperate?

Michelle's face turned pale and then flushed.

She subconsciously glanced down at herself—wearing a well-fitting plain white cheongsam, her figure at its most charming age.

She gritted her teeth, a resolute glint in her eyes. She could tolerate that womanizer Long Nanguang; this one, at least, was young and handsome.

Besides, she had no feelings for Long Nanguang. He wasn't a good person to begin with, so his death was no big deal. As long as she could protect her sister, she wasn't unwilling to submit to him.

"I'm willing to be your woman." Michelle's voice was soft, but every word was clear, "I only ask that you spare my sister."

After saying that, she stiffened her neck, closed her eyes, and struck a pose as if she were offering herself to the demon and bravely facing death.

Her eyelashes trembled slightly, her lips were pressed into a line, and her whole face was filled with the expression "If I don't go to hell, who will?"

Lin Yi's expression froze.

He looked down at Michelle's face, which was closed and looked like she was ready to die, and then at Mi Nianying, who was trembling behind her. He didn't know whether to be angry or laugh.

His earlier mention of "cooperation" clearly meant he wanted her to help cover up the story of Long Nanguang's assassination—she was Long Nanguang's wife, and her statement that Long Nanguang was assassinated would be more effective than Deputy Chen saying it a hundred times.

This woman's mind went way too far! She jumped directly from "cooperating in giving false testimony" to "offering herself in return."

"What kind of nonsense are you thinking about?" Lin Yi said, both amused and exasperated. The sinister tone in her voice was gone, replaced by a look of helplessness.

"I asked you to step forward and explain that Long Nanguang was assassinated, and that I'm the one avenging him. It's that simple. What are you thinking?"

Michelle's eyes snapped open.

She was stunned for a moment, then her cheeks flushed red at a visible speed—from her ears all the way down to her neck, and the skin above her collarbone turned pink.

She opened her mouth as if to say something, but her throat felt like it was stuffed with cotton, and she couldn't squeeze out a single word.

In her panic, she had let her imagination run wild and made such a big blunder. In front of her sister and the adjutant Chen next to her, she felt her face burning and wished she could find a crack in the ground to crawl into.

Mi Nianying peeked half her head out from behind her sister, blinked her big eyes, looked at her sister and then at Lin Yi, and suddenly felt like laughing.

Michelle took several deep breaths and used the back of her hand to cool her burning cheeks.

After all, she was a female sorcerer from Maoshan. Although she was embarrassed, she managed to keep her composure.

She looked up at Lin Yi and said, "Okay, I promise you, as long as you don't hurt my sister."

"Don't worry, I mean what I say." Lin Yi nodded.

Just then, a series of hurried footsteps came from outside the main hall.

The footsteps weren't from one person, but from a large group, mixed with the clanging of guns and the shouts and curses of soldiers.

Clearly, a large group of people is heading this way.

Lieutenant Chen immediately stood up straight, his fawning expression instantly switching to the seriousness of a professional officer.

Although this guy is afraid of death, his professional skills are indeed quite good.

He strode to the main hall entrance, blocked Lin Yi's path, and shouted outside, "Don't panic! Listen to my orders!"

The main hall entrance was quickly surrounded by a dense crowd of people.

Dozens of heavily armed soldiers, each holding a rifle, pointed their guns straight at the hall. Every soldier wore a look of vigilance and tension, their fingers resting on the triggers.

Several officers, who looked like leaders, were also squeezed into the crowd, with pistols slung at their waists, and they were standing on tiptoe, peering into the hall.

"General! Something's happened to the General!"

"Who did it? Who killed the commander-in-chief?"

"The commander-in-chief is dead? Then who will pay our salaries?"

Shouts rose and fell, the soldiers were in a frenzy, and some impulsive ones had already leveled their guns and were sweeping the muzzles back and forth in the main hall.

The air was so tense, like a rubber band stretched to its limit, that if someone couldn't resist firing the first shot, a barrage of bullets would pour into the main hall like a torrential downpour.

"Stop it, all of you!" Lieutenant Chen stepped out of the door, raised his hands, and his voice was so loud that the nearest soldiers took a step back.

He was Long Nanguang's adjutant. All the soldiers present recognized him. Although they didn't lower their guns, no one fired.

"Lieutenant Chen, what exactly happened? How did the Commander-in-Chief die?"

A captain with a scar on his face pushed through the crowd and walked to the front. He glanced at Lieutenant Chen's face, then looked into the main hall and saw Lin Yi, Ren Tingting, and the Michelle sisters. His brows furrowed.

"Yes, the commander was perfectly fine just now, how could he just disappear like that?"

Another officer with a full beard also asked a question. He was holding a Mauser pistol, the muzzle of which was not pointed at anyone, but he did not put it down either.

Lieutenant Chen took a deep breath and quickly went through the script he had just written in his mind.

He glanced at Lin Yi out of the corner of his eye—Lin Yi was looking at him with a half-smile, an expression that made Deputy Chen's legs go weak again.

When he thought of Lin Yi's butcher knife and Lin Yi's body that even bullets couldn't penetrate, all his little thoughts vanished.

He pointed to the two corpses on the ground and said, "They are Wang Mazi and Li Erlengzi! These two traitors led the guard squad in a rebellion!"

The general was killed on the spot, and his wife narrowly escaped death! Fortunately, Mr. Lin was there. Mr. Lin was highly skilled in martial arts and single-handedly killed the rebels, saving his wife's life!

His words were spoken with such conviction, and coupled with the trembling, angry expression on his face as he pointed at Wang Mazi's corpse, they seemed even more real than the truth itself.

The soldiers present looked at each other in bewilderment—Wang Mazi and Li Erlengzi were the commander-in-chief's confidants, how could they rebel?

Taking advantage of the momentum, Deputy Chen changed the subject: "General Long has unfortunately passed away, and we have lost our wise leader!"

But an army cannot be without a leader for a day, and Yun County cannot be without a commander for a day!

In my opinion, Mr. Lin is highly skilled, has saved the life of the lady, and is the head of the Ren family, the richest family in the county.

"Whether in terms of strength, loyalty, or wealth, he is the only suitable candidate to succeed as commander-in-chief! Mr. Lin should rightfully assume the position and lead our Yun County Independent Regiment!"