Chapter 79
Sun Dali and his wife stood guard at the gate with their guns.
The adults and children on the farm all wore wary expressions.
Outside the gate stood thirteen survivors, sallow-faced and trembling.
Yi Qi lowered his voice and said to Wei Cheng, “A few of them are relatives of the thugs who used to follow Uncle Zhong. The kids among them came all the way from Linshui City after hearing about what our base did.”
Wei Cheng’s gaze swept across the people standing at the front.
He recognized three of the men and one of the women.
The men had indeed been thugs at Uncle Zhong’s side. The woman’s eyes were dull, as if she had suffered some devastating blow.
That woman had once had a son named Junjun. Where was her son now?
Uncle Zhong was dead. Had that teenage boy who’d been fairly gentle when searching Guanguan died too? And Uncle Zhong’s daughter?
Sure enough, good people died young while the scourges of the world lived long.
Wei Cheng steadied himself and asked, “What do you mean by hearing about our farm’s deeds?”
“The fact that Wu Qiang from Watcher Community led dozens of people to their deaths in Wuqing City isn’t a secret anymore. The three major bases and the small factions around Yu City have all heard about our farm’s reputation.”
Yi Qi tipped his chin toward the people outside the gate. “A few of them escaped from Watcher Community. They said that after the deputy leader’s son died, his personality changed drastically. At first he and the chief leader clashed over weapons and manpower because he wanted revenge. Their factions fought each other for a long time. Then the chief leader gave in, and the deputy leader sent Wu Qiang with dozens of men to attack the farm in Wuqing City. But just then, the Thirteenth Joint Canning Factory and Highland Shelter both came looking for revenge… Watcher Community was badly weakened, zombies attacked the base, and the survivors inside were forced to scatter in all directions…”
So Highland Shelter had acted too? They had some backbone after all.
The other children on the farm didn’t dare come over, but Guanguan was very bold. As the adults spoke, he crouched low and shuffled to the gate to peek at the people’s faces.
So many dark, dark people!
After making a full round of inspection, Guanguan ran back to his brother’s side and whispered in surprise, “It’s bottle brothers!”
Wei Cheng paused. “Bottle brothers?”
He quietly said something to Yi Qi, and Yi Qi immediately raised his voice. “All of you, spread out. Throw your bags at your feet and put your hands up.”
The cold muzzles of the guns pointed at their heads.
The survivors who wanted to live and survive didn’t dare disobey. They obediently raised their hands in surrender.
It was them!
At the back of the group were six gaunt teenage boys.
The first beginner mission he and Guanguan had ever received was collecting bottles to earn Twisty Coins.
The basketball court had the most bottles. By coincidence, they had met a group of male high school students there who wanted to play ball.
At first, Wei Cheng had thought they would bully the two children picking through trash. But not only did the high school boys not chase them away, they had even purposely bought two whole cases of bottled water to drink—despite not being thirsty—just so the two poor little boys could collect more empty bottles.
Wei Cheng could no longer see the spirited youth and confidence they’d once had on their faces.
Still, in the apocalypse, with no guarantee of surviving the next day, with homes destroyed and families gone, it was already extraordinary that they had lived until now.
“I’m Dafeng, one of Uncle Zhong’s men. I don’t know whether you still remember me. We could count as acquaintances…”
Dafeng swallowed nervously. “Can you take us in? We can do anything.”
The two men beside him also hurried to say nice things.
The rest remained quiet.
Wei Cheng said, “Who among you escaped from Watcher Community?”
Three men and women raised their hands honestly but nervously.
Wei Cheng asked, “Anyone else?”
Dafeng’s eyes flickered. He lowered his head and gave a warning glance to the woman beside him.
“We have a grudge against Watcher Community. For the safety of the farm, we cannot take in survivors from that base.”
The faces of the three people instantly fell.
One of the men suddenly pointed and accused, “Those people are from Watcher Community too!”
The ones he pointed at were Dafeng’s group of four.
“That’s nonsense! We’ve been staying in Wuqing City the whole time!”
“You are from Watcher Community. I saw you before—you’re one of the deputy leader’s people!”
Dafeng panicked. “Bullshit!”
These three groups had run into each other on Wuqing Mountain. At the time, there were many zombies chasing through the forest. The situation had been urgent, and no one had had the leisure to ask about each other’s backgrounds. They had only wanted to cooperate and deal with the zombies. By accident, they had really found the legendary farm.
Wei Cheng’s brows suddenly relaxed. At last, the thing that had been bothering him became crystal clear.
Apart from Wei Cheng’s group, the only people who knew exactly who had killed the red-haired man were Uncle Zhong’s people.
These people had joined Watcher Community. Not only that, they’d become the deputy leader’s people. So… how could they possibly not have sold Wei Cheng’s group out in order to earn merit? They must have embellished the story before the leader, saying the “murderers” had guns, saying how the “murderers” had killed more than twenty hunters despite being at a disadvantage.
And how could ordinary people have guns? Where did the guns come from? Why would Watcher Community’s chief leader agree to let Wu Qiang bring so many men and weapons to seek revenge?
The chief leader wasn’t an idiot. He was ruthless and authoritarian. Agreeing to revenge was only the surface reason. The real lure was the enormous profit behind it.
So that was it! These people had sold them out!
If they hadn’t obtained the map to the farm, if they hadn’t obtained the heavy machine gun, could their five adults really have stood against fifty or sixty attackers?
Wei Cheng’s voice turned sharp. “Uncle Yi! Shoot!”
Yi Qi drew the handgun at his waist and fired at Dafeng’s group.
The change came too suddenly. The instant the shots rang out, the rest of the survivors scattered in terror.
Those few couldn’t dodge in time. Bullets hit both knees, and they collapsed to the ground, crying out in pain.
Junjun’s mother, who had long since gone a little mad, suddenly laughed. She laughed so hard she bent over, tears running down her face. “Hahaha, retribution! Retribution!”
Yi Qi’s gun briefly aimed at the woman, then slowly lowered.
Sumin suddenly said in a low voice, “Mr. Yi, don’t kill her. She… she must have suffered a lot. Let her go.”
Yi Qi still remembered how that woman had once gratefully begged him to save her son.
The woman laughed and cried at the same time, cursing retribution as she staggered away.
The man who had exposed Dafeng and the others as former members of the deputy leader’s faction fell to his knees in terror. “Spare us! Spare us! Our family has never done anything bad!”
Yi Qi finally reacted to what Dafeng’s group had done. He stomped hard on Dafeng’s head. “You all can go. These few repaid kindness with betrayal. We can’t let them off so easily!”
Hearing that, the three people didn’t dare linger. Supporting one another, they hurried away from the farm gate.
Wei Cheng looked at the three writhing men on the ground. “Uncle Yi, Uncle Sun, tie them up and throw them in a mountain ravine.”
The other two had already fainted from the pain. Only Dafeng, clinging to one last breath, was still sweating coldly. “You! You kill innocent people. You’ll all die badly! Every single one of you will die badly!”
Wei Cheng sneered. “You know very well what you did.”
“So what? Did we beg you to save our families? You were the ones willing to do it. You were the ones who were stupid! Besides, you only wanted to save your own people! Don’t think we’d be grateful to you!”
“If you don’t join a major base, you’re dead anyway! Uncle Zhong had no right to stop us from joining one! When his whole family died in zombies’ mouths, he should have listened to me! You were the ones who killed the deputy leader’s son, and all I did was tell the truth. What right do you have to hate us? A life for a life—it’s only natural! You killed someone’s son, so you should die!”
Dafeng was shamelessly twisting the logic. Grinding his teeth, he spat, “Wu Qiang should’ve killed all of you! The chief leader won’t let you off! Every last one of you is going to die badly!”
Shen Zheng couldn’t stand it anymore. He grabbed a brick from the side and smashed it into Dafeng’s face. “Shut up!”
At last, it was quiet.
Yi Qi and Sun Dali quickly stuffed cloth in the three men’s mouths, tied them up, and hauled them onto the back seat of the truck.
Sumin looked at the pool of blood on the ground and rolled up her sleeves. “Director Wang, let’s fetch water and wash this away.”
Director Wang hurriedly said, “All right.”
The remaining boys had just witnessed a death sentence being carried out in front of them. Their faces turned pale, and they looked at one another, unsure whether to stay or leave.
The tall, thin boy at the front licked his dry, pale lips. “Let’s go.”
The other boys glanced longingly at the high steel wall and the big sign on the gate that read Full-Belly Farm.
“Bottle brothers!”
Their footsteps stopped.
Guanguan didn’t dare run out. He only pressed himself against his brother’s leg and made a little loudspeaker with his chubby hand. “Are you bottle brothers~?”
The thin boy in the number eight jersey turned around, confused. “What?”
The still-cleaning Sumin and Director Wang also looked over at the sound.
Wei Cheng remembered clearly that this boy had been the one in the number eight jersey back then.
They had met twice. Once while collecting bottles, and once again while handing out flyers.
Wei Cheng kept it simple. “Does your home happen to be near Warm Sun Welfare Home in Changyang Town, Fengshui District, Huan City? A year ago, two children were picking up bottles on your school’s basketball court…”
The boy in the number eight jersey widened his eyes. “It—it’s you!”
Then, with his mouth hanging open, he pointed at Guanguan. “The curly-haired chubby kid!”
Guanguan scratched his cheek. “Baby is only a little chubby.”
The boys behind him nodded too. “I remember now! It was them!”
“Yeah, Lin bought more than twenty bottles of water and made us drink them just so they could collect the empties!”
Wei Cheng’s eyes stayed fixed on them. “How did you end up in Yu City?”
The boy wiped at his face, eyes reddening. “We… we stayed in Linshui City the whole time. Before the torrential rains, we were at a sports training base there… We… we always wanted to go home, but we just couldn’t make it back…”
Changyang Town had long since turned into a zombie-infested town. Their homes and their families were gone.
The six tall teenage boys suddenly hugged their heads and burst into tears.
No matter how tall they were or how fast they could run, they were still just seventeen- and eighteen-year-old kids.
Director Wang was born and raised in Changyang Town. He sighed. “Poor children…”
His hometown accent remained unchanged, and hearing it made the boys cry even harder.
Guanguan hurriedly waved his little hands. “Don’t cry, don’t cry! For the favor of bottle-giving, splish splash, Baby’s farm welcomes you!”
The boys all froze. “Huh?”
The curly-haired chubby kid was the farm owner?
Guanguan planted his hands on his hips, a tiny boss in every sense. “Me. Four years old. Farm owner. Lots of little brothers.”
