Chapter 155: The Mountain Village

The other people stared at them in panic, unable to believe what was happening right before their eyes. The elderly man, in particular, collapsed onto the ground with a thud and muttered, "Divine beings, divine beings! How can this be possible?"

The middle-aged man demanded with great anger, "What on earth are you people?"

Xiao Han smiled and said, "We are naturally here to help you."

Wujue glanced at An Yi and said, "Give them some practical evidence so everyone knows we aren't lying."

An Yi immediately turned around, rushed out onto the highway, grabbed two zombies directly, and dragged them back in front of the group.

This immediately caused quite a commotion. Someone from the opposing group shouted, "What are you doing? Why bring zombies here?"

Wujue said, "Don't be impatient. We are about to show you whether the threat can indeed be eliminated."

He then pulled out the particle cannon, loaded a piece of green crystal, aimed it at the two zombies, and fired one by one.

As the green glow enveloped the entire bodies of the zombies, the two mutated humans slowly lost their fierce and violent demeanor, and their bodies began to regenerate.

Finally, with two consecutive thuds, they collapsed to the ground.

Wujue shook his head and said, "It's a pity their brains were completely destroyed, otherwise they could have been fully restored."

He then turned to the stunned villagers and said, "You must have seen it for yourselves. We are not lying. A solution to the zombie crisis has been found. They were simply infected by a virus. As long as we use the high-tech equipment in our hands, we can lift the threat posed by the dead."

What had just transpired quickly plunged the villagers into profound shock. The elderly man, still kneeling on the ground, cried out, "There is hope, there is truly hope! You are honored guests. Quick, Zhuzi, we can no longer neglect these guests! Take them to the village and share this news with everyone. We can finally be saved!"

The man who had been holding the gun earlier was presumably the Zhuzi the old man referred to. Having witnessed Wujue's methods and feeling a sense of disbelief, he snapped out of his daze, made an abrupt about-face in his attitude, and stammered, "I'm sorry, we didn't expect things to turn out like this. Please forgive our rudeness. Come with us to the village quickly. Everyone has been living in constant fear because of the zombies; none of us ever thought there would be a day of hope."

Seeing this, Wujue nodded and said, "That's completely understandable, everyone is facing the same situation. Xiao Han, An Yi, let's go with them."

Thus, following these villagers, they left the spot and walked along a mountain trail for about half an hour until an isolated village finally appeared nestled behind the mountain forest.

However, the place was visibly desolate. At least half of the earthen houses in the sizable village had been destroyed, and while there were some fields outside the mountain, the crops within them had largely gone to waste.

Upon entering the village, a few youths poked their heads out to take a few curious glances, and soon several adults came out to greet the arrivals, firing off a flurry of questions: "How is it, Village Chief? What's the situation outside? Are the zombies still in the city? Is Boss Wu's gang coming to make trouble again?"

Seeing three strangers among them, someone couldn't help but ask curiously, "Who are these three?"

The village chief took the initiative to introduce them: "Quickly go notify everyone, our saviors have arrived! We might not have to hide from zombies anymore."

Consequently, all the survivors in the village—totaling no more than twenty or thirty people, which included seven or eight children, elderly folks, and women—were summoned. At a single glance, Wujue knew that the entire village was practically on the brink of extinction.

He couldn't help but ask Zhuzi and the others what had actually happened to the village prior to this.

Upon inquiry, he learned that the place was called Sanwang Village, a settlement whose people had lived there for generations. When the nearby city underwent redevelopment, there were plans to revitalize this area as well, but a local gang of bullies had a falling out with the former village chief over the division of the village's farmland, leading to open conflict.

Over the years, Sanwang Village remained at odds with the local overlord, Boss Wu of the South China Gang. When the apocalyptic outbreak occurred, hundreds of survivors from that gang fled straight here, attempting to seize the villagers' land.

At the time, the village had not yet been affected by the zombies, so the two sides fought bitterly for a while. Eventually, growing impatient, Boss Wu lured the zombies from the city over. Not only did this destroy the farmland, but it also resulted in the deaths of most of the villagers of Sanwang Village.

Even now, zombies would occasionally break into the village to cause chaos, but Boss Wu had since been driven out, and the zombies he had lured over had gone rogue, slaughtering many members of the South China Gang as well.

Just as the villagers of Sanwang Village were sinking into utter despair, Wujue and his companions appeared—undoubtedly a major turning point.

Wujue had not expected the situation here to be quite like this.

It turned out to be that same South China Gang and this so-called Boss Wu, who sounded much like the late Boss Cheng. Wujue smiled and said, "The South China Gang, is it? Actually, we also have news about them to pass along. The South China Gang in Ning City has already been wiped out, so the faction here will be no exception. Old man, everyone, just sit back and watch."

Hearing this, An Yi rolled up her sleeves and said eagerly, "Are we going into action again? My hands have been itching for a fight."

Xiao Han scratched his head and said, "We're starting already? Are we really about to take on the underworld?"

Zhuzi piped up, "I'll lead the way for you. Everyone, let's have a hearty meal first. Those bastards have always bullied us; it's high time we struck back."

Seeing this, the remaining villagers grew excited as well and chimed in, "Exactly! We can't let them off easy. We'll fight them to the bitter end."

Just as the atmosphere reached a lively pitch, someone outside suddenly shouted, "Damn it, it's only been a few days since I last saw you, and now you're acting all high and mighty! What are you all doing? It's the fucking apocalypse, don't you know how to panic? Hand over your grain immediately and obey us obediently from now on."

Hearing such an overbearing voice, it was obvious that Boss Wu's underlings had arrived.

Wujue watched as Zhuzi and the others grew agitated, ready to grab weapons and head outside. He pulled Xiao Han by the arm, gesturing for him to follow outside, while he and An Yi temporarily hid behind the crowd to observe for a moment.

Meanwhile, someone pulled the old village chief aside and whispered a few words to him. Catching on immediately, the old chief stepped forward and said, "Listen here, Liu Xian! Why are you back again? We've already told you that Sanwang Village doesn't buy your tricks. Don't you understand yet?"

Zhuzi shouted from the back, "That's right, Liu Xian, go be Boss Wu's dog! You bully the neighbors day in and day out—aren't you afraid of retribution from the heavens?"

That Liu Xian, the troublemaker, sported a flat-top haircut and led a few thugs. He was currently strutting arrogantly at the entrance, rubbing his head as he sneered, "Still refusing to be soft or hard, huh? Fine, then we'll fight this to the end and see who survives the apocalypse!"

"Brothers, get them! Beat them all to the ground." At his command, the thugs behind him lunged forward to attack.

Seeing this, Xiao Han hurried out and shouted, "Hey, hey, don't hit anyone! What if an ox got loose just now and we accidentally spooked it?"

With lightning-fast movements and under the guise of dodging this way and that, he deftly relieved the thugs of their weapons in a matter of seconds.

Before long, a pile of machetes and steel pipes littered the ground. Xiao Han then retreated to safety, gasping, "That scared me to death! They're so fierce!"

The entire process was executed with astonishing speed. Before Liu Xian and his thugs even realized what had happened, the villagers had already swarmed around them, blocking their retreat with shoulder poles and hammers. "How dare you come here to commit violence! We're going to beat you bastards to death."

"Don't—don't hit!" Liu Xian panicked and roared, shielding his head with his hands. "We few are just messengers! What kind of honor is there in beating messengers? Besides, when two nations are at war, you don't execute the emissary!"

Good grief, Wujue listened from behind and couldn't help laughing out loud. How did this scoundrel come up with such a pompous and pseudo-intellectual phrase?

Realizing it was about time to show himself, he walked up and said, "Everyone, calm down. I reckon these two are just here to deliver a message; why not give them a chance?"

Wujue stepped into the crowd and held back the riled-up villagers. Liu Xian looked up, thinking to himself that he had never seen this face before, and demanded, "Who the hell are you? What do you want?"

"Nothing much. I'm just passing through," Wujue replied with a smile. "I originally had some news to share with the people here. I heard there are still survivors in the city, right? If possible, everyone should set aside their prejudices and figure out a way to deal with the zombies together. Because over in Ning City, a brand-new vaccine has been developed that can cure infected humans."

Liu Xian listened for a good long while before shaking his head. "What kind of nonsense is that? I don't get it." As it turned out, the fellow was a complete semi-literate who understood nothing. Zhuzi shouted, "Don't waste your breath on him. Scum like this deserves to die. Let's hack him to death first."

Raising his hammer, he prepared to strike.

Fortunately, Xiao Han was quick-witted; he yanked Liu Xian out of the way and reprimanded, "You people are so barbaric! You were rude to us just a moment ago, and now you're trying to commit murder? This is going way too far."

Liu Xian hadn't expected someone to step up and champion his cause, so he quickly cried out, "Hero, you've got to save me! These are all wicked bandits and unruly mobs. Don't listen to their nonsense—actually, we're the ones who have been wronged the most."

He was actually twisting right and wrong upside down. Of course, Xiao Han wasn't going to be fooled; this was all part of a prearranged play. Exchanging a glance and a signal with Wujue, Xiao Han also stepped forward and said, "Everyone, you're all far too emotional. It seems we can no longer stay here. But we certainly won't let you harm these people."

And with that, he and Wujue took Liu Xian and simply walked out of the village.

Unwilling to let the matter rest, the villagers chased after them for a long distance before finally turning back.

Princess An Yi blended into the crowd and whispered to the villagers and Zhuzi, "Leave the rest to them. They will definitely uproot the South China Gang here, root and branch."