69 Chapter 69

The bearded man was shot right in the neck, and bright red blood spurted everywhere. He was already lifeless before he could even react.

In the blink of an eye, only the cripple was left to fight alone. He lost his footing after seeing the bearded man fall to the ground.

"...Gun, you actually have guns, who are you people?" the cripple muttered as he struggled to resist.

Wang Jie seized the opportunity and struck him directly in the lower back, kicking him to the ground: "Who do you care who we are?" At this moment, Wang Jie was still thinking about how amazing his cousin's slingshot skills were.

The cripple was already lying on the ground, but he still refused to submit. Seeing that Tong Songming was about to come over with a rope to tie him up, he yelled into the woods, "Are you all blind? Come and save me! If anything happens to me, all the old women and children in your village will have to pay with their lives!"

The villagers, who had been driven into the woods, had already noticed the commotion. Seeing their captors being beaten filled them with glee. But now, hearing the lame man's heart-wrenching screams, they hesitated again.

The young man named Ah Shun was the first to make a move. He gritted his teeth, clenched his fists, told the old woman next to him to hide in the woods, and then strode out.

"Ah Shun! Are you really going?" a middle-aged woman called out to him hesitantly.

“If these three people die outside, and we return to the village safely, won’t that group have a reason to kill our whole family and take over our house?” a man said bitterly. “Ah Shun is smart, I’ll go with him.”

"Even if you haven't done anything, you still get robbed every few days..."

...

Ah Shun ignored what the others were saying and gradually changed from walking to running towards the car.

The cripple's mouth was already gagged, and his hands and feet were tied. When he saw Ah Shun coming over, hope instantly ignited in his eyes. He kept wriggling on the ground, making "uh-huh" noises, wanting Ah Shun to save him quickly.

When Wang Jie saw someone coming, he raised his axe. Just as he was about to stop Ah Shun, Ah Shun moved even faster and lifted the cripple off the ground in one swift motion.

"What are you doing..." Qin Jiaqiang and Wang Jianye were tying up the protruding ears when they saw Ashun standing nearby. They had only finished their question when they saw Ashun swing his fist and smash it into the cripple's nose.

Tong Songming tried to stop him, but Tong Shu had already crawled out from under the car. She reached out to stop her father and shook her head at him.

Ah Shun used all his strength in each punch, the skin on his knuckles peeling off. The cripple's eyes rolled back in his head, but he was still not satisfied. He caught sight of an axe lying on the side, and picked it up with lightning speed. Before anyone could even react, the heavy iron block had already smashed open the cripple's skull.

Several villagers who had followed them out of the woods arrived and witnessed the scene. The two women immediately collapsed to the ground upon seeing the blood mixed with brain matter on the ground, and began to vomit uncontrollably.

"...Ah Shun, are you crazy? Didn't you hear what he just said...?"

"Do you think they'll be safe if they go back to our village alive?" Ah Shun interrupted the man. "Ever since they came into the village, several people have been dying every few days. I think you guys are just spineless and scared. Anyway, I'd rather die like a human than live like a dog!"

Ah Shun had sharp eyesight and had already figured out the situation while they were in the woods.

This truck must belong to the group that launched the attack. The cripple and his gang were far inferior to them in both numbers and equipment. As the bearded man fell, Ah Shun made a decision: no matter what, he had to get to know these people. And the cripple's life was Ah Shun's pledge of allegiance.

While the villagers of Yangshan Village were arguing, Tong Shu had already signaled her two uncles to go back to the car. Only one man with protruding ears, barely clinging to life, remained outside; he posed no real threat. Tong Shu stepped on the back of the protruding ear, crossed her arms, and watched them speak.

Most of the people in Yangshan Village communicate in their local dialect, but the young man who killed the cripple always spoke Mandarin. Tong Shu understood his intention after a moment's thought, and she looked at Ashun with a hint of interest.

The voices gradually subsided, and Ah Shun finally spoke a few words in his local dialect: "You didn't see clearly, but the bearded man was indeed shot to death. These people have guns! They can save us! And our families in the village!"

"...How do you know these people are good? They might just be a gang of robbers," someone retorted in a low voice.

"It can't get any worse." Ah Shun threw the dirty axe in his hand in front of the villagers: "If you have the guts, go and knock off those protruding ears. I'll go negotiate with these people and we'll go back to the village together to save the villagers. If you're spineless, go hide in the woods now. You can either come back with a thick skin or come back to the village to collect our corpses!"

The crowd stirred for a moment, and soon a couple came out. Their faces were flushed, and they didn't dare to look at anyone else. They turned around and went into the woods, running away without looking back.

After a while, no one left.

After a while, a petite girl came out. Her bright eyes sparkled like jewels against her dark skin. She said firmly to Ah Shun, "Ah Shun, I'll go with you."

As she spoke, she bent down to pick up the axe that had been lying on the ground.

A man snatched the axe from the girl and, seeing her puzzled expression, said, "Don't move. Young ladies shouldn't do such things. Uncle will handle this."

After saying that, the man picked up the axe and walked to the unconscious man with protruding ears. He had been mentally preparing himself for a long time, and finally, with trembling hands, he raised the axe high and brought it down heavily.

Tong Shu had already moved to the side, and seeing what these people meant, she didn't even think about stopping them.

"...No way, these villagers seem so honest, how come they're so ruthless?" Wang Jie couldn't stand it anymore, so he leaned close to Tong Shu's ear and whispered.

"Maybe they've seen something even more cruel?" Tong Shu whispered, then immediately fell silent when she saw Ah Shun walking towards them.

"...Hello." Ah Shun's Mandarin had a heavy accent, and he had lost the imposing manner he had shown in front of the villagers. He seemed a little flustered. "My name is Ah Shun. I'm from this mountain. Our village is in that valley called Yangshan Village." Ah Shun pointed south.

Tong Shu nodded, signaling him to continue.

“Most people in our village have never left the mountains in their entire lives and have no idea what's happening outside. One summer night last year, a group of more than thirty people suddenly came to the village. They rushed into our homes without saying a word, first stealing a lot of grain, and then, not long after, they robbed our houses…”

As Ah Shun spoke, his eyes reddened: "At first, some of us resisted, but those people were all killed by this gang of robbers in the end. They didn't even spare their families, and then no one stood up for us anymore."

Tong Shu frowned and asked, "How many of you are there?"

"A village?" Ashun raised his hand and counted for a while: "Originally there were more than 300 people, less than 60 households. Last summer the sun was too strong, and more than 20 people who couldn't bear to leave their crops were scorched to death. After that, the village chief stopped people from going to the fields."

"Now... now the village has been ruined by these people, and there are less than a hundred people left." Ah Shun couldn't hold back his tears.

"...So many of you can't beat these thirty-odd people?" Tong Shu looked at Ah Shun with suspicion.

"You must be from a big city outside?" Ashun sobbed, "The young people in our village who can go out have all gone out, and very few of them come back. The village is mostly made up of elderly people who can only make a living by farming."

"Besides, these guys have guns, we can't beat them," Ah Shun honestly said.

"Gun? Why would they have guns?" Tong Shu asked. These people were clearly locals; they shouldn't have any way of getting guns.

Ah Shun hesitated for a moment, then said, "They seem to have escaped from some prison... Do you know what's happening outside? Why would so many people escape from prison?"

Tong Shu looked up at the sky; the sun was about to set. She didn't want to waste any time: "What do you want from us?"

Ah Shun paused for a moment, somewhat embarrassed, then steeled himself and stammered, "...I, I want to ask you, could you... could you help us drive these bandits away...?"

"Why should I help you?" Tong Shu interrupted him coldly: "You've seen it yourself, there are only five of us, while there are more than thirty of them, and they have guns. Helping you will not bring us any benefits, and it will also put our lives in danger."

“…No, that’s not it.” Ah Shun explained anxiously, “If you help us kill these people, we can give you all the food, as long as, as long as we leave a little bit, that will be enough.”

Tong Shu had no interest in this.

Ah Shun had a sudden inspiration and said, "They...they're all unconscious right now. If you go, it won't be too dangerous. Besides, you have guns, and your skills are better than theirs..."

"You've misread it," Tong Shu interrupted him again, but she was quite interested in something else: "You said they were unconscious, why?"

Seeing that there was still room for maneuver, Ah Shun immediately spilled the beans: "It seems to be caused by a kind of mushroom. That group of people were grilling meat outside when a bunch of them suddenly collapsed. The remaining people thought it was caused by people from our village, so they killed several of our villagers. Later, when they went back, they found that several people who hadn't eaten meat were also unconscious, and that's when they found the cause."

"Where are the people from your village?" Tong Shu asked.

"We're all fine," Ah Shun said innocently.

Having witnessed the power of the mushroom, Tong Shu now looked at the villagers of Yangshan Village in a completely different light. She was genuinely curious as to why these people were unaffected by the mushroom. After a long silence, she said, "I'll go back and discuss it. You guys tonight..."

"Let's climb a tree to rest!" Ah Shun's face lit up with undisguised joy when she agreed. "Everyone in our village can climb trees! My grandma can too!"

Tong Shu nodded. Since they had a solution, she had nothing more to say. She turned around and went back to the car. Ashun ran back to the crowd and said a few words. Several villagers then got to work and carried the body on the ground into the woods.