Conflict flared again

"Deal!"

After quickly checking the food in the bag, Lin Wanqiu happily agreed without hesitation.

These supplies had clearly exceeded her expectations before coming here.

Seeing her delighted expression, Shen Ye felt a little puzzled.

After all, he was clearly getting the better end of this deal.

After a moment's thought, he asked curiously, "Why didn't you trade with Steward Huang or Captain Song? They have far more supplies than I do."

At the mention of Steward Huang, Lin Wanqiu's newly lifted smile faded, unpleasant memories immediately flooding back.

She hesitated, then chose to be honest with Shen Ye. "Actually, I had another thing like this before."

"But when I traded it to Steward Huang two days ago, all I got was a piece of bread."

Shen Ye's mouth twitched at her words. You call that a trade?

Looks like I'm still too kind.

Grumbling aside, he could never bring himself to do what Steward Huang had done.

He wanted to survive this goddamn apocalypse, but as a human being, not an animal.

Besides, Lin Wanqiu had done nothing to offend him. Instead, she had chosen to trade with him under these circumstances; otherwise, this valuable item would certainly have ended up in someone else's hands.

He had also learned something important.

Steward Huang had a Weird Object, too.

Lin Wanqiu paused, then continued, "As for Captain Song, I don't trust him either."

Shen Ye grinned and pointed at himself. "So you think I'm a good person?"

Although she disagreed inwardly, Lin Wanqiu nodded, afraid he might turn hostile.

"My grandson is dead! My precious grandson!"

Shortly after Lin Wanqiu left, Old Mrs. Zhao's heart-wrenching wails suddenly rang out, shattering the camp's brief peace.

Shen Ye looked toward the noise and saw Liu Bing charging toward him, his face flushed crimson and an oil-stained wrench clenched in his hand.

His eyes were red and his teeth clenched, making him look like a beast driven into a corner.

His wife followed, sobbing so hard she could barely breathe, along with Old Mrs. Zhao, who clutched her grandson's body tightly to her chest, her withered hands trembling nonstop.

The commotion instantly drew the attention of the entire camp. Many people woke with a start and pushed open their vehicle windows to peer outside.

Those still awake immediately gathered around.

Steward Huang was the first to intercept him, spreading his arms to block Liu Bing's path. "Liu Bing! What are you planning to do with that weapon? You'd better calm down!"

He was not taking Shen Ye's side. They were going out to search for supplies that afternoon, and he did not want trouble at such a critical moment.

"What do you think I'm planning to do?"

Liu Bing abruptly stopped, his chest heaving violently and the knuckles of his wrench-gripping hand turning white.

He pointed his other hand straight at Shen Ye nearby, his voice trembling slightly with sheer rage.

"He beat my only son to death! Tell me, shouldn't he pay with his life?!"

"What? Your son is dead?"

Steward Huang was startled as well and glanced at the chubby boy, who was already stone dead.

At first, he had thought the chubby boy had merely taken a kick and suffered a few injuries at most, never expecting them to prove fatal.

But he quickly collected himself, not a trace of pity in his eyes.

The chubby boy had always been a troublemaker in the team. If he was dead, so be it.

"Liu Bing, calm down. Don't forget the team's rules. Besides, Captain Song already said your family was in the wrong first..."

Before he could finish, Liu Bing exploded.

"What could my son possibly have done wrong?!"

He shoved Steward Huang aside, veins throbbing on his forehead as his hoarse voice rose into a near roar. "He only wanted a packet of his instant noodles! One packet! And he killed my son for it!"

"He was only a kid in his teens!"

Before his words had even faded, he lost all control, raised the wrench, and rushed past Steward Huang toward Shen Ye like a madman.

Within seconds, Liu Bing was right in front of Shen Ye.

His eyes were bloodshot. The wrench swung down hard toward Shen Ye's head with a rush of air as he let out a furious roar.

"Die!"

"You fucking bastard!!"

Some of the onlookers cried out in alarm, while others turned away, unable to watch.

Yet the scene everyone expected-Shen Ye's skull being smashed open-never came.

Instead, just before the wrench reached him, Shen Ye moved first.

He moved so fast that his motion was almost impossible to follow.

With a dull thud, Liu Bing flew backward as though struck by a cannonball. The wrench sailed far from his hand, and his body slammed hard into his wife and Old Mrs. Zhao behind him, sending all three tumbling into a heap.

Shen Ye calmly lowered the leg he had kicked with, his expression unchanged as he looked down at the family on the ground without a flicker of emotion.

Only after a long while did Liu Bing manage to climb painfully to his feet, clutching his lower abdomen.

His face was deathly pale, his breath came in great gasps, and cold sweat streamed from his forehead.

The murderous rage he had felt moments earlier had been completely washed away by fear.

If his wife and mother behind him had not absorbed some of the impact, that kick would have left him dead or crippled.

"Enough!"

Just as Shen Ye picked up the wrench and prepared to finish him off, a burly figure planted himself firmly between them.

It was Song Lei.

To Liu Bing, that figure looked like a savior descending from above. He opened his mouth to plead his case, but Song Lei spoke first, his voice steady and cold.

"Liu Bing, your son is dead. I understand how you feel."

He paused, then continued in a slightly gentler tone. "But your son was in the wrong first. He brought all of this on himself."

"Even before the apocalypse, Shen Ye's actions would have counted as self-defense."

"As long as you're in my team, you have to follow my rules."

"If you want to keep seeking revenge, I won't stop you."

"But first, get the hell out of the Rock Carriage Team."

Song Lei delivered each word slowly and forcefully.

To everyone else, his words sounded fair.

How could anyone expect to rob someone without letting them fight back?

One after another, people stepped forward to agree.

"Liu Bing, the dead can't come back to life. Let it go."

"Exactly. If your son hadn't tried to steal his food, none of this would've happened."

"Captain Song is right. No matter how you look at it, your family was in the wrong."

Listening to the overlapping voices around him, Liu Bing's face alternated between livid and pale. Rage clogged his throat with nowhere to go. His trembling right fist slammed hard into the ground.

"Let it go? Why should I let it go? Why?!" he growled.

Old Mrs. Zhao hugged her grandson's body and wailed, tears streaming down her deeply wrinkled face, her voice so hoarse it was almost unrecognizable. "My precious grandson is dead... dead!"

"Why does he get to walk away unharmed? Heaven, open your eyes and look..."

Liu Bing's wife sat collapsed on the ground, her hair disheveled and her eyes vacant, her whole body shaking with sobs.

"My son... how am I supposed to live now that you're dead..."

Yet even faced with such a miserable sight, few among the onlookers truly sympathized with them.

Liu Bing remained silent for a long time.

He looked down at his son's cold body in his arms. The boy's round face still held the shock of his final moment.

He gritted his teeth, finally struggled to his feet, and said to his mother and wife:

"Enough. Stop crying. No matter how much you cry, no one's going to help us."

His voice was strangely calm, so calm that it sent a chill through anyone who heard it.

Before leaving, Liu Bing glanced back at Shen Ye.

His gaze was cold and sinister, like a venomous snake lurking in the dark, etching Shen Ye's appearance firmly into his memory.

Shen Ye met that gaze, knowing full well that Liu Bing had only backed down for now. He would never give up on revenge.

But with Song Lei watching, Shen Ye could hardly walk over and kill him outright to settle the matter once and for all.

At this point, he did not want to anger Song Lei.

Whether he could beat him was another question. For now, he still could not leave the Rock Carriage Team.

Without the team's guidance, he might not survive more than a few days in this apocalypse full of uncanny horrors.

But as soon as he had the chance, he would certainly find another way forward.

As for Liu Bing, sooner or later there would be a time when Song Lei could not intervene.