The speed was astonishing!
Li Yaohui didn't even feel the pain; he just felt his body sway and he couldn't hold on any longer.
"Plop"
He collapsed onto the snow with a thud.
Li Hongzhuang and his wife stared wide-eyed at Li Yaohui's left shoulder, their eyes practically bulging out of their sockets.
It's empty! The arm is gone!
"My arm...it's gone?!"
Li Yaohui turned his head and stared blankly at his bare shoulder for a long time before he reacted and let out an incredulous scream.
Dark red blood gushed out from the cut.
Zhang Cheng reacted quickly, grabbing a handful of candles and pressing them firmly against the wound.
"My son!!! Damn it!!!"
Li Yaohui's mother finally couldn't take it anymore, and sat down on the ground, pounding her chest and wailing.
Li Hongzhuang's face turned ashen. He kicked his wife hard and growled:
"Stop crying! The person isn't dead yet! Stop wailing!"
While pressing hard on his wound, Zhang Cheng said to Li Hongzhuang:
"Uncle, let's see if we can stop the bleeding."
"Once the bleeding stops, Yaohui's life will most likely be saved."
The implication was clear: if this folk remedy didn't work and the bleeding couldn't be stopped, then Li Yaohui would really have no choice but to wait for death.
Seeing that the bleeding had slowed down, Zhang Cheng breathed a sigh of relief, turned around and went back into the house. Using his newly acquired military knife, he cut the roe deer's leg...
"Click click"
A large piece of meat with bone was chopped off, weighing about three or four pounds.
He came out carrying the meat and handed it to Li Hongzhuang:
"Take it back and make some meat soup for Yaohui to nourish him properly."
Whether he survives or not depends on his own fate, on whether the King of Hell will take him.
"Hey! Hey! Er Gouzi, I'm so grateful!"
Li Hongzhuang quickly had his wife take the meat. He took a breath, bent down, and carefully picked up his son, whose eyes were vacant and who looked utterly lost.
"My child, hang in there! You have to hold on for your father!"
He nodded heavily to Zhang Cheng:
"Ergouzi, then I'll take him back first! Once Yaohui is better, I'll bring him to your door to personally thank you!"
"Um."
Zhang Cheng responded.
Li Yaohui's mother was still sobbing softly, wiping away her tears. With one hand she carried the roe deer meat, and with the other hand she tremblingly picked up the earthenware jar containing half a severed arm. She followed behind her husband, walking home with uneven steps.
Watching the family of three stagger away, Zhang Cheng felt a mix of emotions.
Stopping the bleeding is only the first step; there's still the hurdle of infection and inflammation to overcome... Whether Li Yaohui can survive truly depends on fate.
These days, human life is as cheap as grass.
Just as he was about to turn back to the drafty mud house, a loud commotion suddenly erupted from the front yard, with shouts and curses coming from all around.
Zhang Cheng looked up and saw a large, dark group of people, at least twenty or thirty in number, each carrying a weapon—a carrying pole, a pitchfork, a machete, a wooden stick—rushing menacingly toward him, looking as if they wanted to skin him alive.
Zhang Cheng's brows furrowed instantly. Without thinking, he turned and rushed back into the house, grabbed the old, worn-out hunting rifle, and clicked it open with a bullet.
"Zhang Ergouzi! You little beast! Get out here right now!"
"Zhang Ergou! A life for a life! You killed Junyi! Today we'll skin you alive to make you pay with your life!"
"Yes! A life for a life, it's only right! Beat this heartless, rotten bastard to death!"
The crowd rushed to the courtyard entrance, but was stopped by the dark muzzle of Zhang Cheng's gun, which he was holding, but the shouts and curses grew louder.
Zhang Cheng frowned, his cold gaze sweeping over the faces contorted with excitement and anger, and said in a chilling voice:
"Shut up, all of you! You're talking utter bullshit! Who the hell said I killed Li Junyi? Show me the evidence!"
In the crowd, a burly man with a full beard led the way; it was Li Junyi's father, Li Houcheng.
Overwhelmed by grief and rage, his face flushed crimson and then purple, his eyes bloodshot as he glared at Zhang Cheng, spitting as he roared:
"Still trying to deny it! Qiming saw it all! You're the one who smeared that black ash on the back of Junyi's neck! If you hadn't messed around, Junyi might have survived! You're the murderer! Give me back my son's life!"
Zhang Cheng almost laughed out of anger upon hearing this.
The cut on Li Junyi's neck was terrifyingly deep, with blood gushing out like a fountain, clearly indicating that a major blood vessel had been damaged.
I pressed the ash on his skin to stop the bleeding; it was a last resort, a desperate measure.
If it weren't for my pressing, he would probably have bled to death on the spot, or died even faster!
But looking at the group of villagers in front of him, who were blinded by grief and in a fit of rage, he knew very well that explaining anything at this moment would be useless.
They were convinced that Li Junyi's death was related to them, and they just wanted to find an excuse to vent their grief and anger, and to find a scapegoat.
Reasoning? In front of these bloodthirsty people, reason is worthless!
Zhang Cheng narrowed his eyes, his gaze sharpening. He placed his finger on the trigger, his eyes fixed on Li Houcheng, who was jumping the most fiercely, gripping a machete tightly and cursing incessantly.
These days, in this godforsaken place, human life is practically worthless.
If a real fight broke out, with my body only just beginning to recover, being swarmed by this group would definitely mean certain death.
To catch the thief, first catch the king... Or... how about we shoot Li Houcheng first? Make an example of him?
Zhang Cheng quickly calculated in his mind, and a murderous aura unconsciously spread through him.
From afar, Old Zhang's family also gathered at the front gate, peeking and watching the commotion.
As she tiptoed to peek into the backyard, the old woman cursed gleefully:
"Oh dear! I told you! This little brat was bound to cause big trouble sooner or later! Look! Look! Now look what happened! He's stirred up a hornet's nest! It's good that Li Houcheng and the others beat him to death! It'll save him from being an eyesore! But... oh dear! What if this ingrate dies in our yard? That would be so bad luck! What if he breaks the feng shui? Husband, do you think... will this affect our Er Ya's precious grandson? Will it attract some unclean spirits?"
Standing to the side, Er Ya, heavily pregnant, listened to her mother-in-law's words and looked at the tense scene in the backyard. She turned pale with fright, instinctively protecting her belly with both hands, her eyes filled with worry and fear.
She was also afraid. What if her brother-in-law was really beaten to death in the yard, and it affected the pregnancy?
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