My lord, spare his life!

"My lord is full of heroic spirit; I like this kind of personality."

Guan Zong dislikes dawdling the most.

He prefers to cut through the mess quickly and decisively.

"I also appreciate your honesty." Zhang Yang felt a slight pang of regret. Tsk, what a shame, Guan Zong's name was still yellow, neither turning green nor red. "If you're not happy, then fight. Don't use words if you can solve things with murder."

However, the system log has an extra record.

Guan Zong's favorability towards you has decreased by one.

Zhang Yang glanced at Guan Zong's overall favorability rating. She thought optimistically: Not bad, still more than thirty points away from negative.

Fan You roughly noted down the general categories, and Zhang Yang then put all the odds and ends back into his game backpack. He then dragged Zhang Dami over and found a comfortable position to lie down and continue sleeping. Zhang Dami's back was tense until Zhang Yang closed his eyes, at which point it let out a long sigh of relief, carefully relaxing its limbs, curling up slightly into a half-ball, just enough to hug Zhang Yang in the middle.

Zhang Dami lowered her head and gently nudged Zhang Yang, then used the tip of her tail to hook up the large blanket that had slipped down and straighten it up before going back to sleep.

Before long, the breathing of the man and the tiger alternated.

Fan You stared at the blanket covering his knees for a while, then smiled.

He wasn't the only one who couldn't sleep in the latter half of the night.

Guan Zong couldn't sleep either.

Firstly, he shared a large blanket with a dirty farm boy, and the smell of the blanket was so strong that he couldn't escape it; secondly, he couldn't stop thinking about that huge fortune whenever he closed his eyes, and he was so eager to get it that he tossed and turned and couldn't fall asleep!

I opened my eyes, wanting to talk to the colleague I had just met.

"When did you develop this leg ailment, sir?"

Fan You: "I have no leg ailment."

Guan Zong asked in surprise, "No leg ailment?"

Fan You's leg injury from the dungeon had long since healed, and he had been using a wheelchair because he was too lazy to walk: "It saves energy."

Guan Zong: "..."

Fan You said, "The triple descent of the stars must be unpleasant, right?"

Guan Zong's expression changed abruptly, but he dared not show any change in his aura, let alone reveal the slightest killing intent. He was still too vulnerable at the moment; any adult could crush him like an ant. Fan You seemed not to notice the change in his expression.

"In one's lifetime, there are few opportunities to defy fate and change one's destiny."

"What would you like to say, sir?"

Do you really have a sworn sister?

Guan Zong's facial nerves twitched violently.

"...Yes, of course I have it!"

"So, her 'Descending Stars' descent really happened right before or after yours?"

Guan Zong: "..."

Fan You said softly, "I once had brothers and sisters too. I understand the bond between siblings better than you do. Even blood relatives can turn against each other, let alone strangers with no blood relation. But if there really is such a person who risked their life to save me, then losing her would be like losing half my life. Even if mountains crumbled and the sky collapsed, it would not be comparable to that."

Fan You smiled slightly: "But you accepted it too quickly."

Guan Zong's breathing became three degrees deeper.

Fan You crossed his hands over his lower abdomen and closed his eyes.

She chuckled and said, "My master is different from others."

She harbored murderous intent towards Guan Zongsheng more than once.

But he never made a move.

Fan You observed with a detached eye and analyzed the root cause.

Ultimately, a rough conclusion was reached—

Others might abhor betrayal, but she secretly rejoices in it, using it as an opportunity to unleash the savage beast within her. She can kill with a clear conscience, without bearing any societal condemnation. Fan You thought her nature was quite wicked.

This is a ruler who doesn't care about the loyalty of his subjects.

As her subject, if someone is equally heartless and indifferent to loyalty between ruler and subject, they might thrive. But if they happen to encounter someone with a stubborn personality who hopes that their loyalty will earn them equal respect and trust from their lord, then that would be too pitiful!

"The heartless should associate with the cold-hearted and cunning."

These few words stirred up a storm in Guan Zong's heart. He closed his eyes, exhaled a breath of turbid air, and entered a meditative state.

Guan Zong: "..."

The next day arrived in the blink of an eye, and the wind and snow gradually subsided.

The thick, gray-white clouds overhead seemed to have lowered considerably, and the snow outside had gone from knee-deep yesterday to up to half a thigh.

Even the well-traveled and knowledgeable Puyang Kui couldn't help but gasp in surprise.

"After the natural disaster, it is unknown how many people will survive."

"Few people in this world care about the quantity of grass..."

Having not slept all night, Guan Zong's face was pale and bluish. Today, he had recovered to the size of a two-year-old, growing a head taller than yesterday, and already resembling a typical four- or five-year-old child: "That being said, your words are still too disheartening."

Zhang Yang rode Zhang Dami past the three of them.

"The three of you are all talking in a very dejected way, like you're living on your deathbed."

To put it bluntly, even the zombies in the occupied territories are more cheerful and optimistic than these three. Some advanced zombie beasts that have evolved consciousness and intelligence can even throw parties. They are ambitious and want to conquer human bases and turn the whole world into a zombie beast kingdom. They are really working hard.

These three?

Ugh, it's so depressing it's unbearable to look at.

Fan You said, "I've died more than once, so I'm not used to speaking without a touch of gloom."

Puyang Kui ordered his guards to melt the snow and clear the road ahead.

The group passed through two more villages along the way.

The two villages had a combined total of seventeen survivors. Fan You consulted Zhang Yang and decided to bring them all along. The closer they got to the nearest city, the more corpses lay by the roadside, most of them naked, regardless of age or gender, with nothing to cover themselves or keep warm. Clearly, their clothes had been stripped off by passersby. Some corpses were missing limbs.

The lost limbs were all from areas where fat was concentrated.

Other useless organs were thrown around everywhere.

Zhang Yang, who had rescued over thirty people, also wanted to secretly cut off some of their loot, but he was immediately spotted by Zhang Dami—whose round, amber tiger eyes suddenly appeared, terrifying them to the point of losing their courage. Looking up, the boy sitting on the tiger's back had a cold expression.

She didn't say anything, just stared at him coldly.

The person being stared at felt their hair stand on end and was so frightened that they knelt down and kowtowed.

Zhang Yang coldly looked away, rubbed Zhang Dami's big head, and left with the words: "Don't eat people. If your diet can include people, then Dami can have people too. Fresh meat should taste better and be healthier than frozen dead meat."

You can't apply double standards when you're an NPC.

Before sunset, the towering wall finally came into view.

The drawbridge was lowered, and the moat kept refugees at bay. The city gates were tightly shut, and for miles around outside the city stretched countless makeshift tents and piles of frozen corpses. Those still alive had limbs that were red and blue from the cold, too weak to even cry out for help.

"It seems like they're not lacking in warm clothing."

Zhang Dami gracefully stepped over the pile of corpses, carrying Zhang Yang towards the city gate. A glance up revealed the soldiers standing proudly atop the gate. Beneath their armor were thick cotton-padded coats, clearly indicating they were very warm.

"Uncle Yan, how do we get in?"

The moat is wide and the water is swift.

The only entrance to the city was the city gate behind the drawbridge.

"Cut the suspension bridge's iron chains?"