Yun Qiang stood in front of his team.
"Everyone introduce yourselves" as he spoke he tried his best to hide the disappointment in his voice.
On arrival he was told that his team size was too small so new recruits would join him. Yet nobody told him that all of the new entries would be mortals without cultivation.
He looked at the seven mortals in his team, they looked like a mixed bunch; some of them were middle aged with rough looks, some were young and frail, some looked fearful, some looked hopeless and defeated.
I wonder how many of them will survive the day.
He suppressed a long sigh, and straightened his back, trying to imitate Voss's mannerisms.
"Today's task is corpse retrieval. We will take that cart fill it with dead bodies then return here."
He looked at his team, trying to gauge their attitudes, most of them seemed afraid of Yun Qiang, their eyes were either fixed on the ground or on the cart. Only Sun and Lee held their backs straight and met his gaze.
"Since the cart has no horses we will push it. I expect everyone to push it." As he said this he let his gaze linger on Sun and Lee, hoping they would get the hint.
If the cart was only pushed by mortals he doubted they would be in good shape in case of an attack.
Two hours later
Yun Qiang was guiding his team deeper in the swamp that surrounded the Rainy Fort. As he moved forward he took care of any plant or small trees that could get in the way of the cart, occasionally if he felt that the terrain was particularly difficult he would pull the cart forward using a rope tied to it.
He cleared another bush, cursing in his mind the small thorns that wrapped around most of the vegetation of the swamp.
He looked in front of him, he could see the vegetation thinning ahead.
Almost there!
He energetically pulled the cart forward, deciding to help out more as they came closer to their destination.
A series of relieved puffs sounded as he took the lead, he threw a casual glance behind. Most of his team was covered in sweat and had signs of exhaustion, only Sun and Lee seemed fine even if clearly fatigued.
In just a few minutes they arrived.
Area 17 was a large bog with sparse vegetation situated in the northern part of the Fort, this area wasn't rich in natural resources or particularly interesting. The only thing of note were the occasional beasts that came out at night to feast on the decomposing bodies.
Yun Qiang smiled, the amount of corpses wasn't high, which meant that this area had been largely ignored in recent confrontations making it less likely to encounter enemy scavengers or patrols. Overall it looked like a safe area.
"Good, we will take a 5 minutes rest before starting"
He briefly scanned the surrounding bogs before pointing out a large pile of corpses nearby.
"We will start from there."
Five minutes later Yun Qiang stopped resting and got to work, even if the Rainy Fort wasn't a place filled with honor and discipline it didn't mean he couldn't be different.
He wanted to become someone that others looked up to like Voss was. For this reason he felt like he had to be a good example and be the first to start working.
Under the mortal strange gazes, Yun Qiang took out a corpse from a bog, looted him then threw it in the cart.
"Come on, it's time to work" Yun Qiang made an effort to sound energetic and confident.
Sun and Lee didn't think much and started working after him, while the mortals hesitated. To Sun and Lee this scene was considered the norm, as a captain they felt that Yun Qiang had to do his part. But to mortals this concept was completely unknown, in their eyes cultivators were strong beings that rarely did any kind of hard work, some of them had served various captains, in their experience cultivators would either use mortals as bait to ambush enemies or force them to do all the hard work by themselves. Yun Qiang's way of doing things was completely different from others.
"What are you waiting for?" When Yun Qiang's voice reached their ears they couldn't help but shiver, and unhesitatingly started working. They still didn't trust him, some of them even thought this was some kind of game that Yun Qiang was playing, some kind of prank on them. Who knew what their leader was thinking, maybe he would even stab them in the back once they were working.
Their group worked silently, the sound of their heavy breathing coupled with the dull thud of corpses falling in the cart were the only things that could be heard.
However after an hour of work their cart wasn't even half full, sometimes the bodies were either too decomposed or completely destroyed and as such they had discarded them. These corpses were needed to make zombies or Jiangshi they couldn't be too damaged.
Suddenly the sound of twigs snapping reached Yun Qiang's ears. He instantly let go of the body he was helping carry and summoned his spear.
The mortal beside him fell into the water mumbling some imprecations, attracting the attention of the others. However when they saw Yun Qiang in a battle position, nobody dared to talk, letting silence fall in the muddy bog.
The sound of clapping broke the silence like thunder. A condescending voice sounded from the edge of the swamp.
"Good senses. I'm surprised"
As these words fell a man wearing a white robe came out of the forest, his face was deadly pale, and a group of men and women obediently followed him. These people had white skin similar to their master's, their movements were methodical and orderly making them look like a well trained platoon. However the various scars on their faces and their white eyes devoid of life betrayed their undead nature.
"Zombies?"
Yun Qiang's tone was questioning, he had seen a few Jiangshi at the headquarters, their presence was similar however their look was different, it felt more awake, more alive than the creations that were in front of him right now.
"Good guess..."
As the unknown man walked forward Yun Qiang's plaque let out a weak green light, identifying the man in front of him as an ally.
Yun Qiang was about to ask for the man's name, however the second he let his guard down, the stranger's expression changed into one of viciousness; at the same time his zombies directly charged forward toward him.
"You..."
Indignation instantly blossomed in Yun Qiang's heart, his so called comrades were more vicious than expected, they even dared attack their allies.
He instantly charged towards the man, as he moved water splashed everywhere while the zombies tried to attack him blocking his way. However Yun Qiang directly ignored them focusing only on their leader.
The man's pupils trembled in shock.
"You..."
His expression turned from mocking to seriousness. This wasn't the first time he had attacked a new arrival from the Skyward Pavilion, however few of them ignored his minions and decided to charge ahead.
As Yun Qiang closed in, the man in white put his hand forward and started chanting a spell. Then when Yun Qiang's spear was about to touch him an eerie green fire surrounded him shielding him from the attack.
Yun Qiang's face darkened as his spear bounced away, however he still moved ahead blocking his enemy's retreat, evil cultivators usually relied on numbers and their minions focusing mostly on attacking from a distance. As such Yun Qiang couldn't let him get away from him.
He unhesitatingly stepped forward, directly grabbing the burning man with his free hand. Then he stabbed the enemy with his spear; the green fire sizzled and started losing strength.
"No!"
Yun Qiang ignored the man's scream and struggles and stabbed again, this time when the spear hit the fire it directly burned out, revealing the pale face of his aggressor.
A pleading look appeared on the cultivator's face, the man was about to plead for his life, however Yun Qiang didn't give him the chance and directly killed him.
As the man fell, the zombies fell with him. Leaving behind his bloodied team, in the span of a few seconds, two mortals had already died, while the rest were injured. Only Sun and Lee seemed unharmed by the exchange.
Yun Qiang looked at his trembling hand with a doubtful look. Thanks to his Qi protecting it, his hand wasn't badly harmed. He closed his eyes for a second.
Too reckless...
However just as he was about to relive the last fight, a series of pained and tired sounds interrupted him. Hearing this he instantly turned around.
"Sun, Lee help them with their injuries." His voice sounded confident and decisive "I have some bandages and medicinal herbs with me"
As he walked towards them, he held his spear and back straight giving out a disciplined and imposing look.
Nobody noticed the doubt in his eyes.