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墨書 Inktalez
If possible, Tang Zhaodi wanted to kill this woman. After all, killing was not a crime now, was it? The woman clung tightly to Tang Zhaodi's waist, crying as if she were begging for money: "Zhaodi, I'm not a person; I'm a wretch. It's all that bastard's fault. He said you were a burden and refused to take you in. I can't bear to part with you; after all, you are my flesh and blood. Do you know what kind of life I've been living these days? That bastard took the food and left without leaving me a single grain. Thankfully, thankfully you are still okay; from now on, I will rely on you."
"What are you looking at?" Tang Zhaodi shouted irritably at the people nearby. "Be quicker! If you're not careful now, we might not even survive the winter. Little box, make sure to tie up the potato leaves." While speaking, she looked around. The temperature had dropped a few days ago, and the soil had become hard and compacted. She found a larger piece and calmly said to the woman, "Let go of me."
"Huh?" The woman was taken aback; she never expected Tang Zhaodi to react this way. This child had never been fond of her but had always cowered away, never daring to retort.
She felt ashamed for being looked down upon by men, so when she left initially, she didn't think twice about it. But the man she followed afterward was no better; he secretly took a quota and snatched away the food. With no way out, she could only stay in Flower Fragrance Village. She wasn't attractive either, so her business suffered greatly, and she hadn't eaten in several days.
Last night someone told her that Tang Zhaodi was still alive and was in Bright Village, which was known as a wealthy village nearby. It was said that people there lived well; Li Yan and Zhou Miao were formidable figures who had built such high walls, and it was rumored they even had guns now.
The woman thought about trying her luck; after all, Tang Zhaodi was just a child who couldn't possibly hold grudges against adults. She was her mother; giving birth to her was already a great favor. Now that she hadn't entered the Safe Zone, this child would have to support her.
Tang Zhaodi could tell what the woman was thinking just by looking into her eyes. If it were just about being dragged down by her, then so be it; at worst, she would die and repay her kindness. But things were different now; she belonged to Bright Village, saved by Brother Li Ming, and her life also belonged to the Li Family. This woman had severed ties with her long ago when she abandoned her.
"Let go; I want to talk to you," Tang Zhaodi said coldly, looking at her with an expressionless face.
The people around exchanged glances but remained silent. Many knew about the time when Tang Zhaodi nearly died; even among the orphans in the orphanage, those whose parents had truly died were few. Humanity's selfishness and ruthlessness revealed in the face of death had long since frozen the hearts of these children.
The woman instinctively released her grip. In an instant, Tang Zhaodi seized a hard clump of soil and smashed it down. It wasn't until warm liquid flowed down from the woman's eyes that she instinctively reached up to touch it. "Ah! Blood! Blood! They killed someone! They killed someone! You dead girl!!..."
Seeing that Tang Zhaodi was about to suffer a loss, several nearby children rushed forward in a frenzy. The woman couldn't resist at all and quickly fell silent after being beaten. The nearby villagers were deeply shocked; when Li Yan took in these children, most of them were still resistant in their hearts because feeding ten mouths required quite a bit of food. However, these children gradually proved themselves capable of work over time. With Yu Tian continuously supporting them, the villagers' reservations began to fade, though they still looked down on them somewhat.
But look at these teenagers—some were only a few years old—and their strength was not weak! Thinking about this made them reconsider their future actions.
Zhou Miao held onto Yu Tian's hand and only let go when the woman stopped moving: "Wife, there are no children left in this world."
Yu Tian pursed her lips but remained silent; she couldn't comment on whether Tang Zhaodi was right or wrong. Waiting for death bit by bit in such circumstances was incredibly cruel for a child under ten years old. If it weren't for Li Yan taking them in during these days, they might not even have their bodies preserved.
Outside chaos had already erupted; just because Zhou Miao didn't speak didn't mean he wasn't thinking about going back. Aside from the Safe Zone and some large villages where farming could still be done, those refugees had no way to earn food other than stealing or robbing; if they tried farming, they would likely have their seeds dug up before they could even sprout.
The surrounding refugees were also stunned by what happened; seeing that it had started snowing outside, they rushed out hoping to pick up whatever they could find. Once the villagers finished gathering their food, they could still go out into the fields to search for scraps—if lucky enough, they might even find several small potatoes or something similar—this behavior had quietly been tolerated by nearby villages.
"They killed someone! People from Bright Village killed someone!" A relatively cleanly dressed woman suddenly shouted as a group of sturdy men stepped forward with fierce expressions while those nearby backed away in fear.
Damn, isn't this just blatant extortion? When they think no one is around in Bright Village. Liu Tao and his group just arrived and have no land. Today's main task is to maintain order at the scene and help the elderly and children.
Yin Le frowned, surrounded by a few people outside Tang Zhaodi and the others, while Liu Tao looked quite pleased: "Yeah, we killed someone, so what!"
If conditions allowed, Yin Le wouldn't even bother to look at a certain person. Yu Tian stood aside, sighing about what it means to be of the same ilk; everyone understands that.
The standoff between the two groups made the surrounding people increasingly tense, but they hoped to see a resolution soon. The defeated side would always provide them with something; after all, if someone was killed, their clothes and belongings would no longer be needed.
"Kid, don't get too cocky." Jiang Chao emerged from somewhere, still wearing the same outfit and sporting a pair of glasses he somehow acquired, looking somewhat convincing. "Last time you seriously injured the Ambassador; the Ambassador has a generous heart and doesn't want to stoop to your level. Who would have thought you could be so inhumane? What wrong did this woman do? She's just an ordinary person who has suffered greatly; life is already hard enough without your cruelty."
As he spoke, tears filled his eyes, and he pointed at Liu Tao and the others: "Moreover, this land doesn't belong to you; it's owned by the state. Everyone here has a share; what right do you have to take this food? We are all starving people; why should only you eat well while we starve?"
Perhaps his earlier words hadn't had much effect, but his later statements clearly resonated with the crowd of starving refugees around them. Yes, they were on the brink of starvation; there were young children at home... Just days ago, a child's mother had literally starved to death... If they didn't eat soon, they wouldn't last much longer...
As the crowd grew more restless, Liu Tao couldn't help but frown. Damn it, this person shouldn't be wasting their talent on such nonsense; if this continued, it was likely that these people would rise up against them.
"Jiang Chao?" Li Yan put down his farming tools and stepped to the front of the group. Looking at this man who seemed to be in his forties or fifties, it was hard to imagine that just a year ago he was seen as a promising young man with a bright future ahead. "That's right; the land belongs to the state, but this piece of land was once designated as our village's grain field. I believe everyone present has some stake in it. Second, even if you're shameless enough to reach this level, you should still have some basic understanding. This land is maintained by our villagers through hard work; how can we farm it, sow seeds, water it, and then have it taken away when harvest time comes? That would be unacceptable. If anyone dares to steal even a grain of rice from Bright Village, they'd better ask us first if we agree."
As for this woman—huh? The one who killed her was herself. Since she took away all her family's rations trying to enter the Safe Zone, she shouldn't come back. Otherwise, those who nearly starved won't have any thoughts of repaying kindness with kindness; this is the apocalypse—if you advance an inch toward me, I will only retreat half an inch—not to mention... offending Jiang Chao. What do you say?" Li Yan spoke each word clearly while staring directly at Jiang Chao with piercing eyes that seemed ready to pierce him in half.
Jiang Chao turned pale with fear but could only grit his teeth and hold his ground when he thought of Zhang Yaoming's orders. "What a joke! You're twisting words here... We have plenty of people on our side too; don't think we're afraid just because you’re robbing us. If you kill someone, you'll pay the price. The law can't punish you; our Savior Cult is the law of this apocalypse—it’s a tool for protecting ordinary people. Let me tell you, Li Yan—you must give us an explanation today! Our Savior Cult will always stand with the masses!"
"An explanation? What kind of explanation do you want?" Li Yan sneered.
Jiang Chao looked at Li Yan suspiciously; he couldn't believe he was being so accommodating—he had prepared for a fight. These people were among the best fighters in the church; given the situation on-site now, he could only force himself to speak up. "Hand over the murderer; they will face public trial. Don't worry—the Emperor is a fair deity."
"Is that all?" When Li Yan said this, more than ten children shrank back slightly—what did the village chief mean?
Seeing that Li Yan didn't oppose him made Jiang Chao feel somewhat excited; as long as Li Yan agreed to the first condition, what authority would they have left? If they couldn't protect their own people anymore, who would dare trust them in the future? "Secondly—believe me when I say this won't be difficult for Village Chief Li—there must be some civil compensation for taking a life. How about this: Bright Village compensates five hundred pounds of rice? Of course, other forms of compensation are acceptable too—as long as you fulfill these two conditions, our Savior Cult can let you off lightly."
"Hahaha! Oh my god! You’re killing me!" Zhou Miao couldn't hold back any longer; these fools were ridiculous! How stupid could one be to say such things? He glanced at Yu Tian's dark expression and felt no intention of mocking them—these guys were just too funny!
"What do you mean?" Jiang Chao's face turned dark as he realized he had been played; now that he had brought people over here, he wasn't afraid of Li Yan anymore. "I advise you all to behave yourselves; don't blame me for not warning you." Saying that, he pulled out a gun from his pocket sarcastically: "Don't think you're the only ones with guns."
"Brother Tian! Don't they believe in the church? Didn't they say that the Emperor is omnipotent? Why do they still need guns?" Li Ming looked at those guns—they looked terrible! The one his brother gave him yesterday was impressive—it was big and long! His brother said it was called a submachine gun.
Jiang Chao's mouth twitched—was this kid doing it on purpose? He couldn’t believe he didn’t know better than to show off like that! He raised his gun at Li Ming in an instant—but no one saw how Li Yan acted during that moment. Jiang Chao's hand was already bleeding profusely as his gun lay abandoned in the snow.
The men behind looked at each other for a moment, unsure whether to take action. With this person's skills, even the five of them would find it hard to approach him.
"I'll say it one last time, get lost." Li Yan clapped his hands and walked over to pat Li Ming's head. "Everyone, get to work. It gets dark early now, so be careful."
This was too much! Jiang Chao gritted his teeth, the madness in his eyes clashing with the little reason and cowardice he had left. He was talented and educated; what were Li Yan and Zhou Miao? And that Zhang Yaoming was just a high-level worker from before the apocalypse. But now? He secretly bribed his own people, thinking he could hide it from Jiang Chao. Hmph, once he caught Li Yan this time and took over Bright Village, he wouldn't let Zhang Yaoming have a say. "Get him! Don't forget Ambassador Zhang's methods!"
Li Yan pulled Li Ming closer and raised an eyebrow at Liu Tao. "Don't say I didn't give you a chance."
"Don't worry!"
Special forces were indeed a solid truth; those men might handle ordinary people three to one, but against special forces, they had no chance at all. During the fight, someone pulled out a gun that looked like a police firearm. Zhou Miao stood by and handled it without wasting a single bullet, breaking someone's tendons instead.
As for Tang Zhaodi's mother, Li Ming silently handed her a hoe and blinked with clean eyes. "Sister, when someone dies, they need to be buried." This was what his brother said; leaving someone unburied was pitiful and could become a source of infection.
Tang Zhaodi stood there stiffly; she didn't blame anyone—this woman deserved to die! But why did her heart still feel heavy? She remembered when her brother had chicken legs while she had chicken bones, when her brother wore new clothes while she wore old ones, and even how their parents eventually abandoned her. These memories felt like they belonged to a distant past...
"Burial is good; once buried, it's settled."
"Ah! Wolves! Help! I don't want to die!" With the screams, several people from the crowd were dragged away by the wolf pack, leaving deep claw marks in the snow. Soon, they disappeared from sight. After a few moments of silence, the onlookers who had been watching began to cry out and scatter in all directions...
They had seen it clearly just now—it was a pack of wolves!
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