Chapter 188: My Profession is Zombie King 20
Author: 打字机
“What…what should we do?”
While those who lost their loved ones were still immersed in grief, others had already started to worry about their safety. The fact that the unknown attackers had stolen the food from three households at the village entrance meant that they knew about the abundance of food stored in most households in the village. When that food was all gone, would they return to raid again? And would the unlucky ones be the victims, then?
Facing an unknown and powerful opponent, nobody could help but be afraid.
Now, everyone was hoping for the village chief, Li Dong, to devise a solution. Initially, Li Dong had warned them not to be tempted by the wild game in the mountains, but they didn’t listen. Had they heard and organized a patrol to stay in the village, would today’s tragedy have been avoided?
Now, all they could think of was Li Dong. They hope that he could devise an excellent solution to help the village get through this difficult time.
“Other than sending people to guard the village entrance every night, I can’t think of any other solutions,” Li Dong said irritably with a frown.
Now that those people had already tasted the sweet reward, could they give up on the rich harvest at Haoan Village? Unfortunately, the news about the abundant food storage in Haoan Village was likely to spread, and like fish in a river, the thieves would continue to appear in endless waves.
The more Li Dong thought the more his head hurt. Making him crave cigarettes so much.
“We can only wait for the police to come tomorrow night and see if they can find those bad guys,” Li Dong sighed. In today’s chaotic society, he didn’t have much hope for the police.
“Wait a minute, Jiang Liu, you just said there were no traces of the traps outside the village?” Suddenly, Li Dong thought of a suspicious point. “It doesn’t make sense. The traps were made so well. How could outsiders avoid them so precisely?”
It should be noted that Li Dong put a lot of effort into the roadblocks at the village entrance. He had people dig several large pits, which were covered with fine grass and dead leaves and looked no different from ordinary road surfaces. Some of these pits were in the middle of the road, and some were on both sides of the road. They were utterly untraceable. Except for the people of the village, it was difficult for anyone to avoid these traps and enter the village. Even the villagers occasionally fall into the traps due to carelessness and shout for help, waiting for someone living near the village entrance to hear their cries and rescue them.
Thinking of this, Li Dong became suspicious, and his sharp gaze swept over the people present.
“Could it be that some people in the village are stealing from others?”
Li Dong became more suspicious the more he thought about it.
Why did those people choose the perfect timing to appear when the young men in the village were up in the mountains hunting for wild game? How were they able to avoid the traps at the entrance of the village and enter the village? Perhaps there was a spy among them.
“What are you all looking at me for? I didn’t hear anything outside. My husband and children are all in the village. What benefit do I have in colluding with outsiders?” said Li Chun, defending herself against the accusing glances of the others.
Li Chun’s eyes were filled with tears. She couldn’t believe she was being accused of such a thing. “I really didn’t hear anything, I swear.”
Some villagers doubted her story, thinking an average person wouldn’t have missed the sound of barking wild dogs. But Li Chun’s emotional plea and the lack of evidence against her eventually cleared her of suspicion.
“I don’t think anyone from our village is involved,” said one of the villagers. “Our roots are in the village, and what benefit would we gain from attracting those bandits? It’s more likely that it’s outsiders.”
The suspicion then shifted to those who had recently visited the village to visit their relatives in the past two months.
Since three suns appeared in the sky, many relatives have come to the village one after another. Most of these people are from the city, some are siblings who have already settled in the city, and some are the parents and siblings of the newlywed brides who came from the city. In short, dozens of strangers have appeared in the village in the past two months. Due to the shortage of food during the disaster, there were many trivial disputes and quarrels in the village because of these relatives who came to stay.
Of course, besides these people, those who came before the disaster also have suspicions.
For example, Jiang Liu, the sisters from the Chi family, and the Tang Ao family.
The Tang Ao family doesn’t need to be mentioned. They were initially outsiders and were the objects of the villagers’ suspicion. Although Jiang Liu and the sisters from the Chi family are also part of the villagers previously, their relationship with Huanan Village is not so close since they moved out to live when they were young.
Especially Jiang Liu. Although he has some coarse salt from his father’s generation, however, he lacks food reserves. Seeing his generous attitude when buying pork from Yang Sanhan, doesn’t he worry about spending all his coarse salt and not having food to exchange in the future?
Or has he already prepared himself and collaborated with outsiders to rob the villagers of food?
For a while, everyone suspected each other. Consequently, the originally harmonious neighbourhood relationship was completely destroyed.
Seeing everyone’s suspicious looks, Li Dong suddenly felt regretful. He was confused. Why did he provoke internal conflicts when there were external enemies? Not to mention whether there were any internal spies, just the current state of mutual vigilance among everyone is not conducive in resisting those external enemies.
Jiang Liu and other who has become suspected object have no way to defend themselves. This time they could only be wronged. Anyway, time can prove everything.
“The patrol team cannot disband. Starting today, all men in the village aged 15 and above and women aged 18 and above must join the patrol team.”
Li Dong quickly diverted everyone’s attention.
“Don’t complain saying their children are too young or women are not being strong enough. Those bandits are targeting us. If they really break in, they won’t care if you’re a child or a woman. If you don’t protect your home, you’ll only end up being killed.”
The three households at the village entrance served as a warning. They killed them without blinking an eye, including a two-year-old child and an elderly person in their eighties. It was evident that those people had no humanity. Otherwise, they could have tied them up and only taken away the food.
Therefore, hope should be placed on oneself, not on other people.
Because of Li Dong’s words and the nine bloody corpses in front of them, even those who cared for their children fell silent.
“And there are Jiang Bin and others.”
Li Dong pointed to Jiang Bin and others who had lost their loved ones and their food supply.
Seven people survived from the three households, all young and strong men except for one woman. Li Dong worried they would cause trouble since they had lost their loved ones and had no food.
“Xu Hongjun, Ma Manchun…”
Li Dong called out the names of twelve people who should have been patrolling at the village entrance but indirectly caused the tragedy due to their negligence.
“Each household must contribute 50 kilograms of food to ensure that Jiang Bin and others can survive this period.”
Li Dong had thought it over. If each of them provided 50 kilograms of food, they would be able to gather nearly 600 kilograms of food. Although it was not as much as the food previously stored by the three households combined, it could be enough for the seven to live on for two or three months by being thrifty.
As for the future, they will take it step by step. Maybe the police can catch those bad guys and return their food, although this possibility is slim.
Some of the people pointed out by Li Dong were unwilling. How long can they survive with 50 pounds of food? The wild game they picked up in the mountains may not add up to 10 pounds.
However, when their gaze turned to Jiang Bin and others and saw their crazy and angry expressions, they backed off.
They say that barefoot people are not afraid of those with shoes on. Now that Jiang Bin and others have lost their restraints, they are the ones who are barefoot.
Perhaps these few people have already held a grudge against them. If they reach the point where they have no food, will they turn on them? These seven are all strong labourers, unlike them, who have the old and the young at home.
With such concerns, the twelve households could only recognize their lousy luck and agree to Li Dong’s arrangement.
*********
“Sis, I’m a bit scared.”
When she saw the nine corpses, Chi Ruoyu’s feet trembled. Those corpses reminded her of some unpleasant memories.
In her past life, she used furniture to block the door and was afraid she would end up like this. During those ten-plus days, she heard too many cries of despair and grief. Although it was a long time ago, she could never forget it.
Fortunately, she starved to death back then. Although she died miserably, at least it was luckier than being killed by someone.
But this life was different. Chi Ruoyu didn’t want to die so miserably. She had her sister, her cousin, and Xiao Jiang, whom she finally reunited with. She also wanted to be able to protect them while they protected her.
“Sis, teach me how to fight.”
Chi Ruoyu took a deep breath and said to her sister. She didn’t want to be a child anymore. She wanted to survive in this chaotic world, at least until they finished eating all the food they had. They all had to survive.
“Okay.”
Chi Rujin looked at her sister and nodded.
*********
The next day, the Chu sisters welcomed a guest, Tang Ao, who appeared at their doorstep with two apples.
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