Zombie Apocalypse: Creation

Chapter 175: Chapter 175: White Lotus

After a short silence, Xiaoyun backed down. He knew what Yuqi did was destroying the whole purpose of a fair court system, but he couldn't help but start to agree with her points.

"You're right. I did grow too soft... I should have never been lenient with them," Xiaoyun apologized with genuine remorse in his voice.

As Xiaoyun spoke, tears unexpectedly began to fall from Yuqi's eyes.

"Darling, are you okay?" Xiaoyun moved closer, embracing Yuqi.

"I'm fine, you dummy... I'm just happy that someone understands me now. Do you know how hard it was for me to act in front of everyone as if nothing had happened?"

"Yes, it must have been tough... I'm sorry. I should of been the one who did it." Xiaoyun replied, gently patting Yuqi on the back.

As Yuqi sobbing slowly stopped, she spoke up again.

"You know, every night, I have been having nightmares that I'll be exposed as a mass murderer.

Everyone in the town would hate me for being a butcher, even though all I did was go with their opinion... Isn't it ironic?" Yuqi said, locking eyes with Xiaoyun, a single tear still trickling down.

"Don't worry about it... nobody will know. I'll cover it up," Xiaoyun assured, gently patting Yuqi's head.

The door suddenly opened, interrupting their emotional exchange.

"Um, hey, mom." Yuqi quickly changes her face as she waved toward Leyan, who entered with apprehension and remorse on her face.

Leyan suddenly bowed down out of nowhere.

"Yuqi, I just want to say you are right... A woman like me shouldn't influence Xiaoyun. I'm so sorry for what you had to go through." Leyan admitted, her voice tinged with regret.

"Mom, it's fine... Come on, Xiaoyun. You just going to watch?" Yuqi tries to get Leyan back up but fails.

"No, this is all my fault." Leyan insisted.

"Leyan, it's not your fault. I'm an adult and responsible for my actions."

With Xiaoyun's assistance, Yuqi was able to get Leyan back up.

"I'll sort this out on Monday. You two don't have to do anything, okay?"

---

Monday, at the training field.

A large crowd of soldiers stood there, waiting for Xiaoyun to speak as he prepared the script written on Sunday.

"Two days ago, a terrorist attack had struck at the trading zone. An enemy of our town had smuggled a zombie inside and caused chaos."

Some soldiers were shocked by the news Xiaoyun had just brought up, but most of them patiently waited for what Xiaoyun was about to say next.

"For the people who have lost your loved ones or your friends... I'm sincerely sorry." Xiaoyun raised his voice to emphasize his point.

After a short silence, Xiaoyun continued.

"However, we are not going to let terror rule over us. In the two days that had passed, we had found the culprit behind this terror attack. This is a war that they had brought upon themselves."

"Mr.Renqin, as the director of Foreign intelligence, will explain the people behind this attack."

Xiaoyun took a step back as Renqin walked up to the podium.

"Hello, everyone. This might be your first time seeing me, but I'm Renqin."

Renqin hesitated for a second, but he eventually cleared his throat and continued.

"The faction behind this terror attack is the White Lotus. It is located in the North of Guangzhou. You guys might know it as Qingyuan city."

The crowds of soldiers looked a little confused as Renqin announced their new enemy.

"They are a cult, specifically a religious cult that practices human sacrifice, and their goal is to seek so-called 'purification' of the human race by burning all women while they are still alive."

Immediately, the large crowd burst into chaos, especially the female soldiers in the crowd.

Seeing the soldiers start getting more rowdy, Renqin stepped back to the side and let Xiaoyun walk up to the podium.

"Everyone, please remain calm. I know all of you want to eradicate this disgusting crime against humanity, but we must be prepared and remain calm."

Xiaoyun paused for a second to let the crowd calm down, but then suddenly, Xiaoyun raised his voice and raised his fist in the air.

"I'll announce that we'll all be at the training field tomorrow for revenge! Is everyone with me?"

"Yes, sir!" All of the soldiers raised their fists in the air in support, with a small minority that felt suspicious of the claim that Renqin and Xiaoyun had just made.

However, the small minority is overshadowed by their peers' overwhelming support and pressure, forcing them to raise their fists.

---

The next day...

The six stood at the door as Wuli and Xiaoyun wore military uniforms and were ready to leave.

"Do you really have to go? Instead of fabricating an entire war over this, can we not let this die quietly?" Yuqi asked as she realized she had inadvertently sparked a conflict.

"You know I had been thinking for the past two days... I had been too comfortable for too long. I promised everyone I would end the apocalypse, but all I had done was live in luxury."

"Besides, this is the ambitious and tough Xiaoyun you wanted, right?" Xiaoyun smirked.

"Whatever, just return home safely, okay?" Yuqi's face blushes.

"It's almost time." Wuli reminded Xiaoyun.

After giving all five of them a goodbye kiss, Xiaoyun turned to Wuli.

"W-What you looking at me for?" Wuli asked.

Xiaoyun moved up and gave Wuli a kiss as well.

"Okay, better not be late!" Leyan shoved two out as Wuli's face blushed red.

---

At the command center...

"Took you long enough," Yezi commented as Xiaoyun and Wuli walked inside.

"Is everything sorted out?" Xiaoyun ignored Yezi's comment and sat down.

"Yes, we scouted the route yesterday... We'll go through this highway and arrive in three hours or so, assuming the road condition hasn't changed yet." Yezi pointed out in the map.

"I see... Renqin, how many people are in the White Lotus?" Xiaoyun looked over to the right.

"Around fifty thousand... but their core member is only three thousand. Only the core members have guns." Renqin replied.

"Good, this shouldn't be much trouble then." Xiaoyun got up from his seat and was just about to leave.

"Wait, Xiaoyun, have you thought of what to do after you cleared them?" Yezi stopped Xiaoyun from leaving.

"Not really, but I assume the power vacuum created will have more logical people ruling over it rather than some cult."

"Why not set up a puppet state?" Yezi suggested.

"A puppet state? How am I going to find someone to lead that?" Xiaoyun curiously asked.

"I'm sure you'll find someone that is willing to help you when you get there. Besides, we don't need them to be loyal to us. We just need them to fear us and not do anything stupid." Yezi explained her thoughts.

"I'll keep that in mind. Well, I'm going to go now." Xiaoyun turned around and left the command center, along with all the majors who were assigned to go with him.

A few hours later...

"Man, so many abandoned villages and towns," Xiaoyun commented as they drove past another one.

"Yeah, all of them have some weird symbol on them..." Wuli replied.

"A white lotus, to be exact. Just a little abstract."

After driving for an hour, they could finally see the city in the distance.

"Commander, where do we go next?" The driver turned around and asked.

"Exit the highway and drive toward this golf course on the left." Xiaoyun pointed out.

After driving for another ten minutes, they finally arrived at the golf course.

The entrance was completely blocked off with wooden planks, so the driver moved his car to the side and let the APC ram over the blockade.

"Everyone of their cars, Regiment One and Two, clear the side of the golf course. And Regiment Three, enter directly to the golf course. Over." Xiaoyun ended the walkies-talkies.

After standing outside for ten minutes, all four regiments came back out with a bunch of prisoners captured.

"What the fuck are you guys? What did we do to you?" One of them yelled out.

"You guys just got in the way. Anyway, is someone named Chen Ping?" Xiaoyun asked.

None of them spoke up as they remained dead silent.

"Chicken soup is sour," Xiaoyun said, quoting the code Renqin had told him before going on the trip.

"Pig can climb a tree." One of them suddenly spoke up.

"Monkey can fly," Xiaoyun said in the next code line.

"Rat likes to go bathing."

Xiaoyun could finally see a middle-aged man answering him in the back.

"Finally, I found you. You two go untie him." Xiaoyun signaled the soldier to let him go.

"You traitor! How dare you sell us out like this." The oldest-looking prisoner finally realized what Xiaoyun was looking for.

"Good afternoon, Boss!" The middle-aged man saluted Xiaoyun.

"Good afternoon, Chen Ping. I assume you know why we are here, right?"

"Yes, boss, here's a layout of their base that I was able to gather." Chen Ping handed Xiaoyun a piece of paper containing a map of the White Lotus base.

"Great. You can report back to Renqin now. You won't need to come back here anymore."

"Wait boss... can I have a request?" Chen Ping pleaded.

"What is it?" Xiaoyun decided to ask first rather than promising it right away.

"Can you let these people go? I know this is an overreaching request, but they have saved me multiple times out here. And I can promise you they don't actually follow the White Lotus teaching. They are only forced to act like believers."

Seeing a few women in the corner shivering, Xiaoyun knew Chen Ping wasn't lying about it.

"I'm not some bandit. I'll let them go after the mission is over." Xiaoyun gave his final verdict.

"Thank you, boss!" Chen Ping bowed down in gratitude.