The villagers who had been watching the spectacle instinctively backed away the moment the crystal core appeared, clearly afraid of getting their hands on it.
Li Xin'er could understand the epidemic the village chiefs had mentioned.
Dog Egg looked at Li Xin'er eagerly, pointing at the crystal core, and squeaked.
This is my treasure. Give me the antidote, and I'll give you everything.
As it spoke, it pointed inside the thatched hut.
I have many more.
Li Xin'er had already understood what it meant, and the village chief was still helping to translate, but he was too embarrassed to say "baby" again.
"Dog Egg said that he has many more of these stones, and he'll give them all to you as long as you're willing to give him the antidote."
Li Xin'er then asked, "Don't you know what's happening outside?"
The village chief looked sorrowful. "There must be an epidemic outside too, right?"
"Although our Jianxi Village is remote, it's not completely isolated from the outside world. We sent people to the town as soon as an epidemic broke out in the village..."
The village chief did not hide anything and explained the situation in their village.
It turned out that none of the people they had sent had returned. Later, they realized that the epidemic was getting more and more serious, and they figured that the situation outside was not much better.
The village is surrounded by deep mountains and forests, and besides the villagers, it is also attacked by zombie beasts.
Where there are zombie beasts, there are also mutated beasts.
Dog Egg and his group couldn't find any food in the forest, so they came to seek refuge in Jianxi Village.
One side provided food, and the other side provided labor. With the protection of these mutated monkeys, Jianxi Village was able to settle down.
Lu Jin'an felt that Jianxi Village was lucky, at least they had the help of the mutated monkeys, which made their lives much easier.
He frowned, and a hint of pity and compassion flickered in his cold and resolute eyes.
Due to its topography and other factors, China has many villages hidden deep in the mountains and forests, and not everyone is so lucky.
Li Xin'er noticed the person beside her was downcast and said calmly:
"It will be alright."
Lu Jin'an was momentarily stunned, but quickly composed herself and nodded.
"Yes, it will be alright."
They sincerely hope that both their country and the world will be better.
Immediately afterwards, Lu Jin'an explained the current situation to the village chief.
"You guessed right. It's not just your village; it's the same all over the world. Those you think are infected with the disease are actually zombies, and the animals are the same..."
This seemed to be beyond the villagers' comprehension. They were initially confused, but after understanding it, they were all filled with fear and worry.
"Then...does that mean we're just waiting to die?"
The family members who had been sent out to search for rescue covered their faces and wept bitterly.
"Does that mean that neither of us, Er Lizi and the others, will ever come back?"
"My son! How will I live if you leave this old woman like me!"
"Waaah, brother..."
Even though there were concerns and speculations beforehand, at least there was hope, thinking that maybe the delay was just on the way.
Now that they know there are zombies outside, their only hope has been shattered.
The village chief's eyes also reddened; his hands, like the bark of an old, withered tree, were used to wipe away his tears as if trying to conceal them.
Are there any living people outside?
"Yes, we have established survivor bases in various places, and your people may have gone to those bases."
"base?!"
The crowd was drawn to the novel words, and even more so to hear that their family members might still be alive, so everyone strained their ears to listen intently.
Lu Jin'an nodded, her tone firm, "Yes, it's a base, a place where the official rescue team is located. All the survivors gather together to fight the zombies and rebuild their homes."
He concealed one point: in reality, only cities have official bases; smaller areas haven't had the opportunity to make contact yet, and communication has been cut off.
It seemed that Lu Jin'an, as a soldier, carried a convincing sense of reliability. The villagers surrounded him, asking all sorts of questions, which Lu Jin'an answered patiently one by one.
Forgotten to the side, Gou Dan scratched his head, desperately searching for the antidote!
This monkey is going to die!
After scanning around and finding no one available, he turned his attention to Li Xin'er, who was also forgotten on the side.
Of course, Li Xin'er was deliberately trying to minimize her presence.
Dog Egg leaned closer, his face once again pleading, blinking his bright, large black eyes and squeaking.
You promised to give me the antidote, so you can't lie to the monkey!
Seeing its pitiful little face, Li Xin'er gave up on teasing it and took out a Maltesers from her spatial storage, tossing it over.
"Learn from this lesson and don't eat out indiscriminately in the future."
Dog Egg took it without even glancing at it, stuffed it whole into his mouth, nodded, and squeaked.
I'm not eating anymore, I wouldn't dare even if you killed a monkey!
It doesn't want to get poisoned again.
Lu Jin'an's side gradually quieted down as well. Seeing that the conversation was almost over, Li Xin'er took the initiative to speak to the village chief:
“These stones are crystal cores. The base outside has already used crystal cores instead of money as the currency. If you are willing, I can trade with you in the form of supplies.”
Hearing that these stones, which they previously looked down upon for being hard to find, could now be exchanged for money and even for supplies, made them seem like a different matter.
The villagers all had strange expressions, a mixture of surprise and bewilderment.
Lu Jin'an also had a strong internal reaction. He had just told the villagers about the situation outside, but he hadn't mentioned the crystal core.
Based on his limited contact with Li Xin'er, he believed that she was a typical businesswoman.
Like his uncle, he always tries to maximize his own interests in everything he does.
I thought Li Xin'er would just take the crystal core away, as Gou Dan promised, but I didn't expect her to take the initiative to explain the value of the crystal core and exchange it with the villagers.
She seems...to be quite kind.
Li Xin'er only knew that Lu Jin'an seemed quite surprised, but she didn't know what he was thinking.
Otherwise, I would definitely give him a good talking-to. There's no need to use that word to describe her. She's not trading without earning crystal cores, nor is she doing charity.
She's just not so heartless as to deceive a group of 'ignorant' and naive people for some crystal cores.
The villagers, already worried about their dwindling food supplies, were immediately intrigued when they heard that this stuff could be exchanged for goods. Their eyes lit up as they looked at the throng of monkeys watching the spectacle. Then, eager, fawning voices filled the air.
"The Monkey King!"
"Big Tooth~"
"Little Monkey King~"
"Hey Big Flower~ How about you trade your treasure for some food?"
The monkeys, frightened by their enthusiasm, retreated.
You...you stay away!
Seeing the villagers' expressions, the village chief felt rather embarrassed. He awkwardly explained to Li Xin'er and the other woman...
“Those stones were saved by the monkeys themselves; we have to ask them for their opinion.”
Li Xin'er nodded, "No problem, I can wait."
Based on this alone, she felt that the people in Jianxi Village were quite nice.
Li Xin'er and her companion were invited by the village chief to his home for a short rest.
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