The next day.

Dawn was just breaking.

Huo Mingchen arrived at the entrance of the cave where the villagers were gathered. They had nowhere to bury the dead, so they just left them lying haphazardly at the entrance. Inside, there were still several hundred people gathered in the small cave.

The air was thick with the smell of decay, and there was less than a meter of space for everyone to move around. Some people were coughing, and some were vomiting... This place was simply an excellent breeding ground for the plague!

Huo Mingchen covered his face with a white cloth, and when he entered, he immediately attracted a lot of attention.

Those people's eyes gleamed with greed: "Huo Mingchen, are you here to watch our show?"

Huo Mingchen glanced around before saying, "Everyone, get up and leave this cave!"

Zhang Wang was the first to stand up, but he was a little exhausted and lacked his usual arrogance: "Why should we leave?"

"Then why don't you leave?" Huo Mingchen asked coldly, his eyes filled with indifference. "The flood has receded, there's no need for you to stay here any longer."

Zhang Wang found this ridiculous: "If we don't stay here, where else can we go? The village is gone, the food is gone, we're going to die no matter where we go, why waste our energy dying out there?"

Huo Mingchen shouted, "You might not die outside, but you definitely will if you stay here!" Without another word, he dragged Zhang Wang out.

Then there are the second and third...

His actions were so violent that the remaining people dared not resist and could only slowly move out of the cave.

After completing the first step, Huo Mingchen began piling up the corpses. At first, the people didn't want to pay attention to him, but when they saw him surrounding the corpses with firewood to set them on fire, they finally panicked: "What are you trying to do?"

Huo Mingchen said coldly, "These dead ones must be burned."

"Burned?"

The pale-faced man became agitated: "Why are you burning my father's body! A dead person must have their body intact; burning it is just turning their bones to ashes!"

So this caused a huge uproar. Everyone was furious and, disregarding the stench and decay of the corpses, grabbed them and shouted, "Huo Mingchen, if you dare touch my parents-in-law, I'll fight you to the death!"

"Don't touch any of them!"

Huo Mingchen wielded a stick and pushed those people away, angrily saying, "Some of these people died from high fever, and they all carry a virus that could infect you. If you don't want to die, you'd better get lost."

"..."

Everyone was stunned for a moment.

No one wanted to die, so they looked at each other in bewilderment.

When everyone was at a loss, Zhang Wang stepped forward: "Your words sound so righteous, but the truth is, if you hadn't been hiding in the cave eating all by yourself, none of these people would have died!"

"right!"

A burly man stood up next to him.

His face was sunken from hunger, and his eyes were filled with hatred as he looked at Huo Mingchen: "Our village is already isolated. You and that Cheng family girl occupied the best cave and did all sorts of illicit things inside. Now that we are all going to die, what are you trying to achieve by coming here with this hypocritical attitude!"

Huo Mingchen frowned as he looked at everyone: "These corpses have begun to produce toxins. If we don't stop the fermentation now, it won't just be you who die!"

Zhang Wang waved his hand dismissively: "We're not bodhisattvas. Since we're going to die anyway, why should we care about other people's lives?"

"That's right!"

People began to echo this sentiment.

Just then, a woman's voice came: "Everyone, please don't do this. Brother Huo is just trying to save us out of kindness."

Huo Mingchen immediately turned around.

But what he saw was not Cheng Shanshan, whom he had expected, but Cheng Wan'er.

At this moment, although Cheng Wan'er was disheveled, her demeanor remained very calm: "The dead are gone, and everyone knows how terrible the plague is. We must not give up hope!" When she said this, she seemed to be going all out: "I still have some millet stored here. If everyone is willing to cooperate with Brother Huo, I am willing to share it with everyone so that we can get through this difficult time together."

"Millet?"

There is food.

Their eyes immediately lit up.

So they disregarded everything else and crowded around Cheng Wan'er to take it.

Cheng Xiulan, who was standing next to her, watched as the only remaining life-saving food in their family was divided up, and she almost had the urge to rush over and snatch it.

However, Cheng Wan'er secretly stopped her, then straightened her clothes before approaching Huo Mingchen: "Brother Huo, do you need any help?"

Huo Mingchen didn't even turn his head: "Stay away from me."

"Brother Huo, are you afraid of infecting me?" Cheng Wan'er not only didn't try to distance herself, but instead closed the distance between them a little: "Wan'er isn't afraid, Wan'er is willing to help."

"Get away!"

Huo Mingchen shouted angrily.

His expression turned cold and ruthless.

Cheng Wan'er was startled by his appearance, but she pretended to be calm: "Brother Huo, I just want to help you."

Huo Mingchen's voice was extremely cold: "The best way to help me is to get lost!" After saying that, he ignored her and turned back to his work.

This situation brought tears to Cheng Wan'er's eyes; she felt extremely wronged. However, she didn't make a fuss but instead pretended to be well-behaved and quietly went to the side to watch.

As the body burned, the air was filled with a pungent, acrid smell.

People vomited from the stench, and some couldn't help but cry out, "Father, I'm so sorry. You died without even a proper body."

"Waaaaah, it's all my fault, but... there's nothing I can do."

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry to my in-laws."

Huo Mingchen looked at the crowd who were crying, his eyes remaining cold and devoid of any warmth. Cheng Wan'er, who was not far away, glanced at him and then at the others.

After looking around, she quickly found a large piece of wood: "Everyone can write down the names of your relatives, so that when we get through this, we can worship together."

"That's a great idea!"

"Yes, yes, that's what we'll do. I'll write my name down right away."

The people who were originally heartbroken suddenly seemed to have found a pillar of support and rushed over to help. Seeing this, Huo Mingchen looked at Cheng Wan'er for the first time.

Cheng Wan'er's big, watery eyes were filled with pity and helplessness: "Brother Huo, will what I'm doing cause you trouble?"

Although Huo Mingchen's eyes were still cold, his words were firm: "You did very well."

Really?

Cheng Wan'er immediately beamed with joy.

Her delicate appearance was like that of a little white lotus.

Cheng Shanshan felt physically uncomfortable upon seeing this scene as soon as she arrived, but she didn't leave. Instead, she walked up to Huo Mingchen and asked, "Brother Huo, how are you doing here?"