Five days later, at dawn.
Before the sky was fully bright, near the east gate of White Pagoda City, the gate of a two-story stone building was gently pushed open.
Lin Feng stepped into the courtyard and immediately saw Jiang Zhaoyue and Jiang Yelan gathered around the well in the corner, staring down at the well opening, the atmosphere somewhat heavy.
"What's wrong?" Lin Feng walked over and asked.
Jiang Zhaoyue straightened up, stepped aside to give way to the view of the well opening: "The well water is also polluted."
She picked up a small wooden bucket from the well. The water inside was calm, but a very faint layer of dark gray flocculent matter floated on it, emitting a faint smell of decay.
"Now, apart from four reservoirs and a few deep wells, almost all other water sources in White Tower City are no longer drinkable."
Lin Feng stared at the bucket of water, his brows furrowing almost imperceptibly.
"In the past five days, apart from a weak probing attack on the second day at the West Gate, which completely filled in the Still Water River, the undead army has only surrounded the area without attacking."
They surrounded the area on three sides, leaving only the east gate open, allowing refugees to pour in.
Jiang Zhaoyue nodded, her tone filled with worry: "In the past five days, White Tower City has received more than 400,000 refugees, and the total number of soldiers and civilians in the city has exceeded two million."
The Northwest Workshop District was already saturated, and refugees began to spread to the Southwest Residential District, even filling the alleys on both sides of the church.
Food supplies are barely enough to sustain us, but water is being consumed far faster than expected. What was initially anticipated to last three months is now reduced to a maximum of two months.
"The Undead's tactics are very straightforward," Jiang Yelan said calmly from the side. "They don't rush into a direct attack; they cut off our water and food supplies first, using a massive influx of refugees to deplete our strategic reserves."
Lin Feng straightened up: "That's a ruthless move. Let's go and check the West Gate. The number of refugees pouring in from the East Gate yesterday has decreased significantly. The preparations for the undead army should be almost complete."
The three walked out of the courtyard gate, and the West Gate Street along the way was no longer the same as it had been five days ago.
The eaves, steps, and walls on both sides of the street were crowded with refugees wrapped in tattered blankets.
Many people lean against the wall, close their eyes to rest, their lips are dry and cracked, and their complexion is ashen; these are characteristics of people who have been in a state of extreme dehydration for a long time.
Jiang Zhaoyue's brows remained furrowed. She pursed her lips and swallowed back the sigh that was about to come out.
At the foot of the wall, a young mother was squatting on the ground, gently coaxing a little girl who looked about four or five years old in her arms.
The girl's voice was broken and tearful: "Mommy...I want to drink water..."
The mother's voice was hoarse and soft, filled with endless helplessness: "Nana, we still have to wait two more hours before it's our turn to get water. Can you bear with it a little longer?"
The girl lowered her head sensibly and stopped talking, only tightly clutching her mother's clothes.
Jiang Yelan paused for a moment. She silently untied the water bag from her waist, squatted down, and handed it to the little girl.
The little girl hesitated for a few seconds before timidly reaching out her hands to take it, carefully bringing it to her lips and sipping it in small bites.
"Is that enough?" Jiang Yelan asked softly.
"That's enough, thank you, sister."
The girl wiped her mouth with the water bag and handed it back.
Jiang Yelan took the water bag without saying much, but when he stood up, he took another deep look at the mother and daughter.
Just then, the skyline in the direction of the West Gate suddenly changed.
A dark purple beam of energy rose from the ground about thirty miles away, shooting straight into the sky.
After the beam of light rose high into the sky, it spread wildly in all directions, quickly converging into a semi-transparent dark purple dome covering an area of hundreds of miles.
The entire sky was completely enveloped, and the gray-white clouds instantly turned deep purple, with dark red lightning silently surging deep within the clouds.
The cats and dogs in the city began to become extremely agitated. Several stray cats curled up under the eaves suddenly bristled and scattered in all directions, howling pitifully. The dogs tied up in the yard barked wildly and struggled desperately to break free of their leashes.
A few seconds later, the dome suddenly contracted, as if it had been torn apart from the inside by some invisible force.
The rain fell simultaneously from all directions.
The raindrops shimmered with an eerie, dark purple light, dripping onto the plant leaves, instantly turning the green leaves grayish-white, their edges curling and falling off.
When it landed on the ground, it made a slight hissing sound, like strong acid corroding it.
As the rain fell on the crowd, screams erupted one after another.
Chaos erupted on the streets; some people crouched down in pain, clutching their arms, while others frantically rushed to shelter under the eaves from the rain.
Just before the rain began to fall, Jiang Yelan suddenly spread out his cloak, shielding the mother and daughter beneath him.
She embraced the woman and child with one arm and desperately held up her cloak with the other, pushing them into the depths of the nearest roof.
At the same time, a few drops of rain fell on Lin Feng.
But he felt nothing; the system's notification box calmly appeared in his field of vision:
【Rain Curse failed to trigger】
【Effect resistance activated】
【If the curse is triggered, the following effects will occur:】
【1. Health Decay: The cursed being loses 10 health points per hour.】
【2. Dementia: When health drops below 50, the cursed individual enters a state of "dementia," becoming a neutral unit and indiscriminately attacking everyone around them until health reaches zero or the curse is lifted.】
【3. Skeleton Transformation: A cursed being with zero health will be directly transformed into a Lv7 Skeleton Warrior.】
【Curse removal: Wash the contaminated area with uncontaminated water, or use a purification skill.】
【Note 1: For targets below level 7, the curse has a 50% chance of triggering; once triggered, all effects take effect.】
【Note 2: Targets of level 7 and above are completely immune to this curse if their effect resistance is higher than 10%; if their effect resistance is ≤10%, they are not affected by "Hit Decay," but "Dementia" and "Skeleton Conversion" will still take effect.】
