Chapter 33
Granny Shumei?
Every time Grandma Song brought little Wei Cheng back to the countryside, she would always buy some fruit and xylitol pastries in Changde Town to bring to her old friends in Sun Village. One of them was Granny Shumei, whose legs were not very good.
Wei Cheng had originally guessed that these people might have run into the snowstorm on their way to Yu City Base and only stumbled into Sun Village by accident. But from the look of things, they had actually been led here by an acquaintance!
As for fever medicine?
Sun Village had never been looted by any teams, and because the village was far from the pharmacies in town, all those old grandpas and grandmas were afraid that if they ever got a headache or fever, they would have no medicine to take. They had stocked more fever reducers and painkillers than rice. He did not believe that not a single pill for fever or colds could be found in any villager’s home!
In other words, if they really cared about the child, then why would they be carrying a sick child through heavy snow to beg for medicine?
Guanguan cupped his little hand to his ear, his cheek pressed against the glass. “Brother, the little baby keeps crying!”
The two brothers were standing at the doorway on the first floor of the old house. Outside, the child’s crying had already become hoarse and breathless. Just hearing it was heartbreaking.
At this hour on ordinary days, they would have long since gone back to the little home to prepare for baths and story time. But after dinner, Guanguan had acted spoiled and asked for roasted little potatoes, and Wei Cheng had thought that potatoes roasted in the stove ashes tasted better than ones done in the oven or air fryer, so he had buried a few in the charcoal ash box under the heater.
That was what had delayed their return to the safehouse.
Simply avoiding the problem was not the answer. It would only make these people grow even more brazen.
Wei Cheng remained calm and unhurried. He picked up the blackened little potatoes one by one and placed them onto a plate. “Guanguan, go home first. The potatoes are still hot right now. They need to cool a little before we can eat them.”
“Okay!”
Then Guanguan quickly asked, “What about Brother!”
Wei Cheng rubbed his head. “Brother is going to go see what this group of people really wants.”
Guanguan frowned, his little brows knit together. He was very worried about Brother, but he still obediently hugged the plate of little potatoes and ran into the safehouse.
After all, right now, he was only a little baby with lots of soft meat who was also very good at eating meat.
Wearing the night-vision goggles, Wei Cheng carefully pushed the door open with controlled force, and the sounds outside immediately became clearer.
The sound of footsteps trampling in the snow was chaotic. There was definitely more than one person out there!
“Grandma Song! Open the door! You can’t just leave us to die!” The woman’s knocking grew louder and louder, and even her crying carried impatience and irritation.
The child’s hoarse crying suddenly stopped.
Either the child was already beyond saving, or someone in that group had finally found a scrap of conscience and taken the child away.
Then, accompanied by a scream, the beam of a flashlight swung into the courtyard.
One flashlight landed squarely in the snow beneath the wall.
“My hand! There are glass shards and blades on the wall!”
Wei Cheng made his decision instantly. He strode forward, kicked the flashlight into the snow, then propped up the tall ladder that he had never put away and quickly climbed up the wall.
He bent his back slightly, keeping his head hidden by the edge of the wall, which let him use the night-vision goggles to see the scene below very clearly.
A rusty iron ladder had at some point been leaned against the wall. Because the ladder was too short, anyone climbing it would have to jump hard at the end to reach the top of the wall.
The person just now must have had the flashlight clamped in his mouth. He had probably thought he would make it up, but instead the sharp blades and broken glass on the wall had bloodied both his hands first.
Several people were gathered around the person who had fallen, checking his injuries.
Two middle-aged men, and counting the one sprawled on the ground, a total of three young men. Each of them held a torch, a kitchen knife, or an axe.
“What happened? How did he fall?”
The moment Wei Cheng heard that woman’s voice again, he crouched lower.
These people really were vicious!
They were actually using a child as bait, counting on an old woman’s kindness—counting on the fact that once she heard a child crying, she would surely open the door to help. And the moment she opened it, they would hack her to death with random knives!
“Xiao Ze is… is dead.”
One of them was so frightened he fell flat onto his backside.
“My son!” The dark-faced middle-aged man went blank for a moment, then reacted and lunged toward the body on the ground, hugging it and sobbing. “Xiao Ze, Xiao Ze, answer your dad! Dad shouldn’t have let you come take this risk!”
Clearly these people had come with murderous intentions, yet now that karma had struck them, they acted as if they were the victims of some great injustice.
Another middle-aged man’s eyes also reddened. “That old hag is ruthless! She actually set blades up there! I’m going to chop them to pieces!”
“Uncle Weng, we can’t let Xiao Ze die for nothing. Didn’t the woman we kidnapped say the people living here were just an old woman and her little grandson? Then what are we afraid of? As long as we get inside, how could we not deal with them? I’m going up there right now to kill the both of them!”
“All right, keep it down! Are you trying to make sure the people inside know exactly what we’re doing or what?
“Changde Town is full of zombies. Before long, those bastards who survived in the bathhouse are definitely going to make their way here too. Right now this village is the only place without zombies and without any other capable survivors. We’ve been keeping an eye on it for so many days—we have to seize the initiative. This old house is the safest place available at the moment. We absolutely cannot just walk away from it!”
The woman glanced at the young corpse on the ground, blood running from his nose and mouth. Her expression was cold, but her tone urgent. “Old Weng, now isn’t the time to cry. Hold the ladder steady. We’ll climb. We’re definitely avenging Xiao Ze!”
The middle-aged man looked as though something in him had snapped. Grabbing a kitchen knife, he began climbing the ladder. “I’ll chop them to pieces! I’ll make them pay for my son’s life!”
The remaining people exchanged looks, all of them clearly relieved, then quickly helped by holding up torches and steadying the ladder.
Just as the middle-aged man was about to reach the top of the wall, he suddenly felt something strange on his head. Stunned, he reached up to touch it. It seemed like there was an extra object sticking out of his forehead, and his hand immediately came away wet.
“Old Weng, Old Weng, why did you stop climbing?” the people below urged in low voices.
“Hurry up! Throw your clothes over the top and jump in! Avenge your son!”
The middle-aged man could not hear anything anymore. His breathing quickened, and in the next instant he lost all balance and fell straight backward.
With a heavy thud, a large, sturdy middle-aged man crashed to the ground just like that.
The others were startled again. They rushed around him, only to see blood seeping from the back of his head, his eyes wide open in death, and a steel bolt gleaming coldly embedded in his skull.
Just like his son, he had fallen to his death alive!
The two young men let out a terrified cry. “Holy shit!”
The remaining woman and middle-aged man both realized at once that the people inside were not ordinary. They shouted, “Stop standing around, run!”
Then several steel bolts shot toward them in rapid succession.
Even though they scattered and ran in all directions, one was hit in the arm, another in the shoulder, and another in the calf.
The wounded middle-aged man rolled and ran to the foot of the wall. He seemed rather capable. He shoved out a motorcycle he had hidden earlier. “Get on!”
The few of them squeezed onto a single motorcycle and fled Sun Village in a rush.
Wei Cheng lowered the crossbow in his hands with a dark face and looked down at the two corpses below the wall.
He and Guanguan had two lives. These intruders had brought ruin upon themselves and paid with two lives as well. It was worth it.
To prevent the father and son from turning into zombies, he gave each of them another bolt through the head.
Judging from what those people had said, even Changde Town’s bathhouse had already fallen. That meant something must have gone wrong from within, otherwise that gang would never have abandoned such a favorable place and so many resources. They had also said that those thugs were now searching for a new base.
The reason Wei Cheng had been able to deal with these few so easily was mostly because they had no guns, and because he had claimed the positional advantage first. But if it had been a group of grown adults with guns too, that would have been much harder. After all, in terms of stamina and height, he was still at a disadvantage.
He looked at the old house with its high walls, reluctant, but with no other choice.
Still, this old house had sheltered them from wind and rain more than once. It was not in vain that he and Guanguan had spent days building up the walls and installing iron gates.
There was no time to lose. Tonight, they were leaving Sun Village! They would try their best to reach Yu City Base before the next heavy snow!
Wei Cheng quietly returned to the safehouse and saw a chubby little child asleep on the sofa.
Not one of the little potatoes on the coffee table had been touched.
That afternoon, Guanguan had been craving the potatoes so much that his little hands had wiggled nonstop, yet even while sitting guard over the fragrant roasted potatoes, he had not eaten a single one.
Wei Cheng knew that even though Guanguan was little, he had also been worried about Brother.
He walked over softly and gently lifted the child up from the sofa.
“Brother?”
Guanguan rubbed his eyes and said sleepily, “Brother, you’re back.”
“Mm, Brother is back. Why didn’t you go to bed?” Wei Cheng patted him.
“Had to wait for Brother to come back.”
Guanguan was so sleepy he swayed all over the place. “Brother, is that little baby still crying?”
Wei Cheng paused. “Brother doesn’t know.”
From what those people had said, they had kidnapped a woman. That child was probably the kidnapped woman’s child, and that explained why the woman who ran away had held the child and pretended misery as bait.
Then he said, “Guanguan, things have changed. We have to leave Sun Village right now.”
Guanguan instantly woke up. Nervously rubbing his little hands together, he asked, “We have to leave right now?!”
Wei Cheng’s expression was grave. “Yes. Right now.”
