The team members, upon hearing the bell, knew that Young Master Gu was in the village and rushed over.
When Gu Qingcheng was in the village, she would patrol various parts of the village daily, overseeing the work. Her appearance, besides serving as a form of inspection, also brought a sense of security to everyone. Gu Qingcheng had led them through the flood, and her luck was off the charts, earning her a very high status among the villagers. Recently, not seeing Young Master Gu strolling around had made them feel uneasy. Some villagers, upon inquiring, learned that Young Master Gu had gone out on an errand.
The number of refugees seeking shelter in the village had gradually decreased. Not every local wanted to become a villager of Phoenix Village; a significant portion chose to rely on relatives and friends to get by. However, from the refugees who had arrived, the people of Phoenix Village heard that the outside world had become a vast expanse of water. They felt immensely fortunate to have chosen Phoenix Village, otherwise, they would have become fish food by now.
Dai Fa and the other team leaders quickly arrived at Gu Qingcheng's house.
"Young Master Gu, you all seem to have lost some weight this time," Dai Fa observed.
"That's right. It's been unstable down the mountain recently. A type of monster has appeared, and we spent a lot of energy dealing with it." Gu Qingcheng then recounted their two encounters with zombies to them.
"What? People attacking people? And those who are bitten lose their minds and become like them?" Dai Fa was terrified by the description of such a horrifying monster.
"So, I've gathered everyone here because I want to build a defensive fortification at the pass outside the village, based on the characteristics of the zombies we observed, to prevent them from entering our village."
"How?" Dai Fa and all the team leaders felt a chill down their spines upon hearing about the ferocity of the monsters. When they heard that Gu Qingcheng had a plan, they felt a little more at ease.
"I plan to dig a three-meter-wide moat 50 meters outside the pass. The front of the village is exposed and cannot withstand the zombies, so this defense is necessary. However, the village is protected by a cliff at the back, so we don't need to worry about that side. After digging the moat, we'll fill it with flammable dry branches and twigs. If any zombies invade, we'll throw torches into the ditch to ignite the firewood, thus creating a barrier to stop them from approaching the village," Gu Qingcheng explained in detail.
"Alright, this task must be done. I'll assign people to it starting tomorrow, and we'll aim to complete it within a month." Dai Fa's face was grave. He took any matter concerning the village's survival very seriously.
"A month is too long. It must be completed within half a month. Zombies spread very quickly, and I'm worried they're already on their way." Gu Qingcheng reminded them. With only the four of them, it was impossible to completely clear the zombies that were already spreading everywhere. Even in Jiren Village, they had set the entire village ablaze, yet there were still stragglers. Once this kind of human-to-human transmission spread, it would grow exponentially, at a terrifying rate.
Dai Fa, being a merchant, understood the logic and quickly nodded. "Alright, apart from essential tasks, all labor will be diverted to digging the moat. Does anyone have any objections?" The team leaders quickly shook their heads, saying they had no objections. After all, this was a matter of their own lives and safety, so how could they object?
"This is the most important task we need to accomplish in terms of infrastructure. Furthermore, from now on, we need to educate every villager about preventing and controlling zombies, teaching them how to respond. Also, after work every day, villagers must come to the public assembly hall for an hour of training in swordsmanship and fire attack techniques. Every villager who attends will be rewarded with half a jin of rice, which they can collect after training." Gu Qingcheng knew that not everyone would have a sense of crisis. Even if she depicted the zombies as terrifying as possible, some people would still be complacent. However, if they were rewarded with grain, it would be different. Even the laziest man would want to earn that half jin of rice. For villagers who had experienced hunger, no reward was better than grain; nothing was more practical or enticing.
"Haha, Young Master Gu, when we first spoke to the villagers, they were already willing to attend training. Now that you're offering such generous rewards, the hall will surely be packed," Dai Fa chuckled. Having Gu the wealth magnet be so generous was also a great help to the vigorous development of Phoenix Village. Of course, Dai Fa sometimes wondered where Gu Qingcheng got so much grain from. Even the wealthiest landlords wouldn't be willing to dispense with their grain reserves. Grain was a family's lifeline, and it was impossible to support the distribution and operation of Phoenix Village without Gu Qingcheng possessing a vast granary. However, Dai Fa didn't want to probe further, as it might disrupt the current situation, which would be a huge loss not only for Phoenix Village but also for himself. Even if he was now frugal and had saved up over a hundred jin of grain, it wouldn't last long if Gu Qingcheng's grain supply ceased. Therefore, Dai Fa secretly resolved that as long as Phoenix Village could operate normally, he wouldn't care where Gu Qingcheng's grain came from or how it was obtained. As long as Gu Qingcheng could distribute grain on time, and everyone could eat their fill and live peacefully, that was all that mattered. Sometimes, knowing too much wasn't good; curiosity killed the cat.
Gu Qingcheng's seven-day seclusion at home wasn't for rest but for devising detailed combat strategies based on the zombies' characteristics. She had also consciously purchased a batch of protective clothing, but it required the cooperation of the village women for modification, as her mother alone couldn't complete thousands of sets. In times of chaos, she could only prioritize the safety of her own village. Gu Qingcheng had initially worried that the baseball helmets might reveal their uniqueness, but when she fought zombies in Liantang Village, she noticed that the local villagers didn't seem surprised by them wearing baseball helmets, perhaps thinking they were some variation of military helmets. Since everyone could accept it, Gu Qingcheng naturally wouldn't give up this life-saving artifact. However, this would require her to spend a significant amount of "cool points" to purchase supplies from the lynx supermarket.
After handing over the tasks, everyone dispersed to prepare. The next day, the entire village learned that besides the rising water levels and the raging flood, a terrifying monster had appeared. It was more fearsome than tigers and packs of wolves because it not only ate people but could also turn them into monsters like itself. These monsters were called zombies.
Instantly, the villagers were in a state of panic. Some even lost the will to work. An anxious villager threw down his hoe and declared he wouldn't work anymore. "What's the point? We can't stop the monsters anyway. If we're going to die, we might as well enjoy ourselves now, live a little, eat and indulge." This sentiment was embraced by a portion of the villagers, who began to emulate him.