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墨書 Inktalez
The next day, Liu Tao arrived in the village, driving a large truck that rumbled into the area. He still maintained his usual imposing demeanor, dressed in camouflage and wearing Harley sunglasses. At the same time, he brought three solar generators, which immediately diverted the villagers' attention. Zhang Liang exclaimed that everything else was insignificant; the generators were the real deal! Although these generators could only be used for lighting, it was already a pleasant surprise. The children jumped with joy, making the atmosphere feel festive.
As for Zhang Liang's situation, nothing could be clarified without seeing a body. Liu Tao handed the matter back to Li Jingfeng, patting him on the shoulder in front of the entire village and saying, "Li Village Chief, the Party and the people believe you can handle this matter justly and fairly. Right now, Li Yan and his group are merely suspects. A suspect is someone who has not yet been convicted. I say to you, villagers, we need evidence to catch a wrongdoer. We cannot tolerate a bad person but also must not wrong an innocent one. As for Zhang Liang's wife claiming that Li Yan and his group have killed before, I want to ask if anyone here is truly innocent? I have killed before; does that make me a suspect too?" Liu Tao smiled and went about his business.
Zhang Liang's wife was relentless, shouting for Li Yan's family to pay with their lives. Liu Tao went to the scene of the incident and noted that his years as a special forces soldier were not in vain. Analyzing the traces and geographical environment, it was clear that this was not the work of just one or two people, although much evidence had been destroyed by the villagers. There were still clues to follow; this was clearly a group effort. Moreover, it seemed Zhang Liang had suffered greatly before his death; the yellowish-white substance found at the scene was likely bone marrow, indicating how brutal this group had been. If it truly was Li Yan and Zhou Miao who did this, he thought Li Yan would have simply killed him outright rather than resorting to such sadistic torture... This was indeed intriguing to him.
The villagers didn't understand these matters well but could see that Liu Tao's team operated with great skill, suggesting they were indeed knowledgeable. They observed several soldiers measuring shoe prints at a certain location, applying ink over them and immediately making copies on paper. Li Yan watched from nearby but didn't hold much hope; too many villagers had come through, and much of the evidence had been compromised. He noticed Zhang Yaoming and others chatting cheerfully with nearby villagers, completely oblivious to their involvement in this incident. In contrast, Zhang Zhong's face turned pale as he watched the soldiers replicate the shoe prints.
From what could be seen at the scene, Zhang Liang's chances of survival were slim. Liu Tao understood that his soldiers were aware of this as well as Li Yan and Zhou Miao; however, others were not in the loop. This situation wasn't something to broadcast widely. Liu Tao remarked that it appeared Zhang Liang had been beaten here but didn't elaborate further.
This was no small matter; the presence of such dangerous individuals in the village posed a real threat to everyone’s safety. The existence of such people in a Safe Zone was certainly not a good sign. Liu Tao felt conflicted; finding a safe place in this world was not easy. However, it was dark at night, and no one had a habit of going out after dark, so no one saw who Zhang Liang left with that evening.
Zhang Liang's wife believed Liu Tao was using excuses; she insisted her husband had been killed by Li Yan. She frequently visited Li Yan's house to cry outside their door dramatically. Li Ming's little friend thought her crying was quite unique and even brought a small stool along with wontons and dumplings to watch. Sometimes she would eat tomatoes or corn on the cob while observing—after all, there wasn't much entertainment these days, so having something fresh to watch was nice.
Zhang Liang's wife felt frustrated; she knew how formidable wontons and dumplings could be. Although she harbored resentment towards Li Ming, she dared not confront him out of fear for her life. After several days of crying without results and tiring herself out emotionally, she decided to seek out Liu Tao. "Captain Liu," she pleaded, "please have pity on me! My husband’s death is so unjust! Our whole family relied on him; now we don’t even know if he is... sobs... Captain Liu, you are like a reincarnation of Bao Qingtian; you must bring us justice! You don’t know—Li Yan’s family is full of bad people! That house originally belonged to us; they forcibly occupied it without returning it! Although Liangzi knew they were neighbors and held some resentment inside him, he never drove them away. Now they’re taking advantage of their skills—you don’t know how many people they’ve killed before! They came from the city; who knows if they committed crimes outside?"
Liu Tao frowned; this woman had an incredible talent for fabricating stories. When he first established the Safe Zone, he had already gathered information about Li Yan and Zhou Miao’s family thoroughly. Seeing her continue her nonsensical claims made him quite annoyed.
Liu Tao grew weary of dealing with her and said directly: "Zhang Dasao, there are rules in the Safe Zone as well; we haven’t found any bodies yet. We can’t accuse anyone without evidence—I can only promise I will do my best to find Brother Zhang for you; how does that sound?"
He had heard about Zhang Liang before; such people were not uncommon these days. As a former special forces member, Liu Tao held disdain for such ruffians. During their journey from the city, many of his brothers had fallen victim to people like them. One time he remembered a young brother who had just joined the army—he must have been around ten years old—who kindly opened the car door intending to share some buns with them but ended up being dragged out by those thugs while Liu Tao could only watch helplessly without any chance to save him. That young boy had his whole life ahead of him; now all that remained were bones scattered on the ground.
Zhang Liang's wife had no choice but to return for now. Liu Tao instructed his team to search the nearby area, emphasizing that as long as they stayed within the Safe Zone, they would definitely find the missing person. Zhang Liang's wife strongly insisted on joining the excavation team, eager to contribute her share to the group.
Li Ming also wanted to join, having heard that the excavation team consisted mostly of young recruits, and those who found bodies would receive a small red flower as a reward. He used to earn these flowers often back in school, and now that he had been away for so long, he felt nostalgic. However, others rejected him, labeling him as an accomplice to murder. The child was heartbroken and cried bitterly, feeling wronged as he sought comfort from his older brother.
Li Yan had a rough idea of what was happening and decided to observe the situation quietly. The outside world was chaotic; recently, people had been throwing corpses into the Safe Zone, specifically targeting those that were already decomposing. The people inside the Safe Zone had no choice but to burn the bodies, which only increased their fear of the outside world.
Every day, there were attempts to forcefully enter the Safe Zone. Although it was possible to farm outside, any crops grown would inevitably be stolen. Consequently, everyone focused on scavenging for food; if one lacked the ability to steal food, they could only hide in a place where no one knew them and survive day by day. With the hot weather and scarce water supply, conditions inside the Safe Zone were likely not much better outside. Li Yan and Zhou Miao had secretly climbed over the wall at night; their bodies had been significantly purified since then. While they weren't as light as a swallow, climbing walls was no longer difficult for them. However, they dared not venture too far due to the high risks involved. Recently, they had broken through to an intermediate level of training, and their overall condition had improved significantly—both their agility and speed had more than doubled.
Sometimes Li Yan would take Li Ming out with him, even though he wished for the child to remain carefree forever. Recently, however, Li Ming's intelligence had noticeably changed; although he still lagged behind normal children in some aspects, he could generally understand more complex matters. Li Yan decided to take Li Ming around for some exposure as a form of experience.
Li Yan always felt that the Safe Zone wasn't as safe as everyone believed; people outside were constantly trying to get in while those inside were living under less than ideal conditions. Eventually, when food ran out after a prolonged period, those with dark intentions would still rebel. It was beneficial for Li Ming to see more of the world for his own protection.
Typically at night when they went out, they would give some food to those in need—mostly children and elderly people. These individuals lacked the ability to fight back and were likely to starve. People tended to be selfish; parents would save a bite for their children while neglecting the elderly.
Thinking about it made him feel pity for the elderly who had worked hard all their lives for their children. In their old age, children often did not treat them as they themselves had been treated—a common issue among citizens.
Yu Tian made corn fritters to comfort the child. This dish required quite a bit of sugar; adding some shredded carrot and frying it in oil made it deliciously fragrant. Yu Tian and Li Ming also picked a watermelon from their space and chilled it in a well; its taste was pure and far superior to anything kept in a refrigerator.
The child and Grandpa Zhou competed to see who could spit watermelon seeds farther; whoever won would get an extra piece of watermelon. When Li Yan and Zhou Miao returned from their outing, they saw Li Ming with his round little belly and sparkling eyes like tiny moons—it was quite endearing. They took some watermelon to eat; being out in such hot weather made them sweat profusely and feel uncomfortable.
Just as they were about to enjoy some porridge, Liu Tao walked in. Seeing there was still some watermelon left, he didn't hold back and started eating it eagerly—even devouring the rind completely. Watermelons were scarce; who knew when they would have another chance to eat one? He never asked where Li Family got their fresh fruits from—it wasn't necessary or relevant.
The old man squinted at Liu Tao while watching him eat with delight; he showed no curiosity at all. Satisfied, he took wontons and dumplings into another room for a nap—these days, only clever people seemed to live long lives.
"How is it? Is that woman still causing a scene?" Zhou Miao served Yu Tian some porridge and eagerly added several pieces of cold cucumber.
"Yeah, her son joined the Youth Army, and now he's gone out looking for her husband," Liu Tao sighed, unsure if he was genuinely feeling sentimental. "I swear, I've aged at least ten years this past year. You two are living the life of landlords, you know?"
"Alright, just eat your food," Zhou Miao said, handing a cucumber to Liu Tao. "Your Youth Army is just a bunch of country bumpkins, always eavesdropping on the walls." For instance, eavesdropping on their wall while his wife wouldn't even get close to him anymore—what a pity.
"Haha, I really don't know about that. I'll have to get those little rascals to report back," Liu Tao said without feeling embarrassed; in fact, he felt proud. "I'm doing this for the future of the Safe Zone. In this day and age, no one knows what tomorrow will bring. The District Chief believes we need to start training soldiers from a young age. You guys don't know; my life isn't easy either. Hey, this cucumber tastes good—give me another one. Let's let little Yin Le try some too. You've seen it; with the current trend, who knows if this year's harvest will last through the winter? The water situation over at Village Three is already critical. The District Chief thinks each village should share the burden; we can't just let people starve."
Yu Tian remembered that somewhat shy little soldier; nowadays, everyone wants to take a little more if they can. That young man had even asked them to take less last time, and now it's hard to find someone like him.
While they were talking, they saw Wonton shouting over there. Li Xiaoming was the first to run out to see what was going on; kids get bored staying at home all day. Before long, he came back in holding a dirty little child, and upon closer inspection, it was Tang Zhaodi.
"Brother." The child looked at the cucumbers on the table, swallowing hard as her eyes remained glued to them. Ever since her father took her brother and grandfather away, her mother hadn't cooked in a long time.
"Here you go," Li Xiaoming said as he handed her two tomatoes and a cucumber. Even though she hadn't played with him in a long time, Li Xiaoming was still happy. However, she was dirtier than before; maybe he could ask Yu Tian to give her a bath later.
Tang Zhaodi wiped her hands on her clothes; to outsiders, they still looked like grimy little hands, but the child clearly thought it was better this way. "Thank you, brother." Tang Zhaodi sincerely thanked these older boys because they were among the few willing to give her food, both in the past and now. "Captain Liu, I saw Uncle Zhang Liang and Tian Dashan going out together the other day." The child eagerly took a bite of the cucumber and smiled sweetly—it tasted so good.
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