Plans to enter the village

The Dawn Convoy's dozen or so remaining vehicles stopped beneath the banyan tree at the village entrance. No one dared drive any farther.

Shen Ye turned off the engine and glanced at Song Shiya, who was still fast asleep in the passenger seat. Without waking her, he gently pushed open the door and got out.

The moment his feet touched the ground, several former members of Zhao Biao's convoy gathered around him.

He Yumin was still the one leading them, with two gaunt-faced men following behind.

One man's lips were so chapped that traces of blood showed through the cracks. The other had sunken eyes and protruding cheekbones; he had clearly been starving for days.

These men were all He Yumin's passengers. They had been without food or water for days, and if they had any other choice, they would never have wanted to face Shen Ye.

"Captain Shen." He Yumin approached, rubbing his hands together with an uneasy expression.

"We talked it over and wanted to ask if you could take us into the village to look for something to eat."

"I haven't eaten or drunk anything for two days. I really can't hold out much longer."

"Please, Captain Shen. If that won't work, we can go in ourselves. You can just wait outside for us."

The man with the cracked lips chimed in, explaining, "Back when we were in Zhao Biao's convoy, every time he robbed another convoy, he kept practically all the food for himself."

"We could only follow behind and pick up what he didn't want. Even out of those scraps, we had to give him half as protection money."

The other man added, "If you couldn't pay enough, he'd either beat you half to death and kick you out of the convoy, or... you had to hand over the women in your vehicle for him to abuse."

"And for all his brutality, he only dared bully his own people. He never dared go near any of the cities, villages, or towns with plenty of supplies, let alone lead us in to scavenge."

"It's been nearly half a month since the apocalypse began. What little food we had ran out ages ago."

"If we weren't out of options, we really wouldn't want to trouble you."

Shen Ye had been about to refuse, but something seemed to occur to him, and he glanced into Qianxing Village.

"Go back to your vehicle for now."

"I need to discuss this with the captain."

He Yumin opened his mouth, but in the end, he said nothing more. He nodded and led the men back to the bus.

Shen Ye walked over to the Volvo and knocked on the window.

An Ning was curled up in the passenger seat, her arms wrapped around her knees and her face buried in the crook of her arms.

At the knock, she jerked her head up. Her eyes were still red; she clearly hadn't fully recovered from being surrounded the night before.

"Shen Ye?"

"Get out. I need to discuss something with you."

An Ning opened the door and stepped outside. The morning breeze kept blowing the loose strands of hair across her eyelashes.

She raised a hand to hold her hair down and asked softly, "What is it, Shen Ye?"

Shen Ye pointed at the houses on the mountainside.

"A lot of the people from Zhao Biao's convoy have run out of food."

"Zhao Biao didn't leave them much to begin with. They've eaten everything they could chew on during their escape."

"I want to take some people into the village to look for supplies."

"Into the village?" An Ning's eyes widened. "But..."

Before she could finish, Shen Ye cut her off. "That's why I came to have you take a look first."

An Ning bit her lip and said nothing more.

She closed her eyes. When she opened them again, her irises had turned a deep purple.

She gazed toward Qianxing Village for a long while.

The densely packed buildings were reflected in her purple eyes, while the mountain breeze kept stirring the loose strands over her forehead.

Only after about half a minute did she look away, her face somewhat pale.

"There are a lot of Eldritch in this village too. I don't recommend going in."

"How many?"

"I can't count them. They're packed together, and their auras are everywhere. At least... a hundred. And mixed in with them is something that makes me feel afraid."

Shen Ye's eyebrows rose slightly.

"But their auras are all very weak. Even weaker than those Tier One Man-Eating Tree Spirits last night."

An Ning paused. "And something is off about their state. They all seem to be asleep. Like those Green-Scaled Snake Demons, they aren't very active."

After hearing that, a hint of delight appeared at the corners of Shen Ye's mouth.

A hundred or more, low-tier, dormant during the day.

Put all that together, and wasn't this one enormous bundle of experience?

Ever since fighting the Man-Eating Tree Spirits the previous night, he had become increasingly aware of one problem.

He was still too weak.

Killing points were the Asura Sequence's only resource for growth. Without them, his strength would remain forever at its current level.

And in this apocalypse, stagnation meant waiting to die.

The Eldritch were growing stronger, and so were the other Sequence Awakened. He had to advance faster than everyone else.

Besides that...

The motorhome's battery was almost drained.

When Zhao Biao was alive, he had kept the appliances running practically twenty-four hours a day to maintain his luxurious lifestyle inside.

Shen Ye needed to find some solar charging panels, or at least a generator. Otherwise, the motorhome would soon lose all the comforts it was supposed to offer.

If that happened, he might as well have driven the Volvo from the start.

Seen that way, he had reasons that left him no choice but to go in.

"Shen Ye, you aren't thinking of going in, are you?" Seeing his expression, An Ning immediately panicked.

"Absolutely not! There are over a hundred Eldritch in there. No matter how strong you are, you can't hold them off if they swarm you!"

"You said it yourself. They're asleep, and they're weaker than the Tree Spirits."

"And from what I know, these Eldritch can use less than half their nighttime strength during the day."

"But..."

"As the captain, surely you've noticed how long those people have been starving?" Shen Ye interrupted her.

"If we let them keep starving like this, they'll turn on each other before the Eldritch even get a chance to kill them. You should know that when some people get hungry enough, they'll eat their own kind."

At those last words, An Ning's expression instantly soured.

"Eat their own kind? Isn't that..."

She didn't dare say the word.

Standing nearby, Lin Wanqiu's lips twitched slightly when she heard this.

She glanced at Shen Ye, a flicker of understanding passing through her eyes.

Worried about unrest in the convoy? Since when had a killer like Shen Ye ever cared about something like that?

From her very first deal with Shen Ye, she had known he wasn't a warmhearted person.

If he volunteered to take something on, he definitely had an agenda of his own.

But Lin Wanqiu said nothing.

Her words carried little weight in the Dawn Convoy. Besides, nearly half a month had passed since the apocalypse began, and she had come to fully understand where she stood.

"I'm going with you."

An Ning spoke suddenly. Her voice still trembled a little, but her tone left no room for discussion.

Shen Ye looked down at her, surprise in his eyes.

"My ability can help you avoid dangerous places, especially areas where the Eldritch are clustered together." She clenched her fists.

"And... I want to find some supplies for myself too. The food in our car was brought by Wanqiu. I don't want to keep living off hers..."

Her voice grew quieter and quieter, but her expression became increasingly determined.

Shen Ye watched her for two seconds, then nodded.

Lin Wanqiu folded her arms. "I won't be going. I'd only hold you back."

Her previous experience in Snake Village was still vivid in her mind.

And with some food still left in the car, she wasn't about to take a risk unless she had absolutely no other choice.

Shen Ye curled his lips, glanced at Lin Wanqiu, and sneered. "You really think highly of yourself. You make it sound like I'd bother looking after you. Go or don't. I don't care."

"You..." Lin Wanqiu was left speechless. For a long while, she couldn't get a single word out. Finally, furious, she yanked open the rear door, climbed in, and slammed it shut.