Night quietly descended.
Wen Zuo, who had been sitting in one position for a long time, slowly turned around, looked down at Mo Shuwan who was facing away from him, silently raised the hand that had touched Mo Shuwan's stomach earlier, looked at it for a few seconds, and then put it down with a slightly flushed face.
In the woods not far from where the passengers were staying on the highway, a dozen men with grim expressions looked up at the moon, which was slowly climbing into the sky. They were waiting, and the moon's movements would determine their harvest.
As time passed, when the moon hung high in the sky, tinged with blood red, someone cursed viciously.
A group of people looked at the blood-red moon with resentment and said angrily, "The interval between blood moon appearances has been getting shorter and shorter over the past six months."
"Who cares about short or long, what we need most right now is food. If we don't go out and get some today, everyone will starve to death."
"Hehe, go if you want, no one will stop you."
"Luo Jingdong! Can't you stop talking like that for even one day?"
Seeing that the two were about to fight, the others who hadn't reacted to their argument reached out and pulled their agitated companion away. "Stop arguing. It's a blood moon today. Nobody dares to go out. We're not the only ones who will go hungry. Everyone else is going to go hungry too. We're all in the same boat. There's nothing to argue about."
"Xiangzi is right. Let's go back first. The stored food can last us for another day or two. If we're lucky, the blood moon might disappear tomorrow."
Even so, everyone present couldn't help but sigh. Everyone knew that since the apocalypse, the blood moon would last for at least three days each time it appeared. How could it possibly disappear tomorrow? They just didn't know how many people would die this time.
"Let's go back."
A group of people reluctantly shook off the mud and got up. As they turned to leave, a shout suddenly came from the side.
Bai Shu rubbed his eyes, making sure he wasn't seeing things, and excitedly turned around to talk to his companions, only to find that everyone was gone. Frustrated, he rushed to his companions who were some distance away and shouted, "There are people on the highway outside!"
Unfortunately, no one responded. Except for the seemingly refined young man wearing a tattered hat, who paused for a moment, probably weighing something in his mind. After a few seconds, he turned around, frowned, and looked at Bai Shu, who had an anxious expression. "At this time, the only things that can appear outside are zombies. If you don't want to die here, get up quickly."
"I have no interest in risking my life. Can't I just take a look and see if it's a human or a zombie outside?"
Bai Shu was so anxious that he wanted to grab Luo Jingdong by the collar and drag him over, but knowing his temper well, Bai Shu didn't dare. He could only try to persuade him, "Just come and take a look!"
Luo Jingdong stared at Bai Shu for a few seconds. When everyone else turned to leave, he quickly returned to Bai Shu's side, who refused to leave. When Bai Shu showed a surprised expression, Luo Jingdong grabbed him and dragged him to catch up with his companions at a very fast pace.
He looked gentle and refined, but he was surprisingly strong. Bai Shu was being pulled along, and despite using all her strength, she couldn't break free.
In his panic, he started swearing, "Damn it, Luo Jingdong, let me go! There really are people outside!"
The words had barely left his mouth when a loud gunshot rang out. Everyone still moving forward froze, turning their heads in disbelief to look in the direction from which the gunshot had come. They exclaimed in astonishment, "Anyone dares to stay outside at a time like this? And dares to cause such a commotion? Which safe zone are they from? Are they courting death?"
"Let's go take a look."
The dozen or so people who had initially decided to leave and even walked some distance all turned back. Bai Shu was overjoyed, shouting, "Luo Jingdong, let me go right now!!!"
Luo Jingdong shrugged and released his grip on Bai Shu's hand.
The dozen or so people returned to the spot where they had been lying down to observe the moon. From their angle, they could only vaguely see what appeared to be people walking on the long-abandoned highway.
Luo Jingdong glanced at his phone. It was exactly 10:00 PM. In less than an hour, this place would become a living hell. The time it would take them to get back was thirty minutes. In other words, if they wanted to get there, they had to complete a round trip from here to the highway within twenty minutes.
After quickly calculating the time needed for the operation and the remaining safe time in his mind, Luo Jingdong frowned and said, "No one dares to stay outside at a time like this, unless their strength is extremely strong, stronger than we can imagine."
After a brief silence, Xiangzi, who was squatting on the ground, spat out the weeds he had been chewing for a long time and said sarcastically, "Impossible. If such a team really existed, the human living area would not be getting smaller and smaller."
The crowd, already in a bad mood because of the appearance of the blood moon, felt even worse upon hearing this. After so many years, humanity had only been barely surviving.
No one spoke anymore; everyone focused their attention on observing the survivor who had emerged from some unknown safe zone on the highway.
The passengers who were considered to be in other safe zones were still in shock from the sudden incident.
Qin Lei, who had been watching Wen Zuo and Mo Shuwan for half a day, finally couldn't resist making a move when Mo Shuwan woke up and Wen Zuo took his place. At that moment, Wen Zuo had just closed his eyes when Qin Lei rushed forward with a dagger in hand. Mo Shuwan was shocked and instinctively raised the gun she was holding to intimidate the restless passengers.
Normally, if Qin Lei had retreated at this point, nothing would have happened. However, Qin Lei was driven to desperation by the pain of hunger. In a fit of rage, he charged forward without caring about anything else. In her haste, Mo Shuwan accidentally pulled the trigger, resulting in the scene we see today.
The moment the gunshot rang out, all the passengers who were still asleep were awakened and stared in disbelief at Qin Lei, who was lying on the ground groaning.
No one expected that Wen Zuo and Mo Shuwan would actually dare to shoot and injure people. The passengers who were planning to grab food with Qin Lei were filled with fear, swallowing hard and asking in trembling voices, "You... how could you kill people? We're all in the same boat now!"
"Kill them...kill them now...if you don't act, they'll kill us all!!!"
Qin Lei's weak yet hysterical voice startled the passengers, causing them to back away. Previously, the conflict between Qin Lei and Wen Zuo hadn't posed a threat, so the passengers hadn't paid much attention. But now it was different. Now that Qin Lei had been shot in the leg, who could guarantee that Wen Zuo and Mo Shuwan wouldn't attack them?!
Once the seed of doubt was planted, everything felt eerie. Some passengers even began to speculate that the person who died next to the bus was murdered by Wen Zuo and Mo Shuwan.
Fear and anger surged up together. In their agitation, some passengers rushed towards Wen Zuo and Mo Shuwan, demanding an explanation. However, when they confronted the tall and imposing Wen Zuo at close range, the questions that had been on the tip of their tongues turned into something else entirely. They said weakly, "What... what exactly do you mean? Shouldn't we be united in this situation? What are you trying to do by secretly killing people while we're sleeping?!"
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