Su Chen had not heard the discussion inside the car. That glance had simply let his emotions show.
If anything happened to his sister, he would not let those two off.
Su Chen laid his sister Su Xi down inside the car, closed the windows, and locked the doors.
Then.
He headed back to the house to get the wheelchair.
Watching Su Chen's retreating figure, Fan Hui understood something of the situation.
So she poked Gao Yue with a finger.
"Something seems to have happened to his sister."
"What a sin!"
"Serves her right!"
Fan Hui spat out a curse.
Gao Yue rolled her eyes at Fan Hui and said, "If his sister doesn't wake up, he'll carve you up."
Was Fan Hui really that stupid?
She was the one who had pushed Su Xi.
"What does it have to do with me?"
Fan Hui stubbornly refused to admit that it had anything to do with her.
But then Fan Hui remembered Su Chen holding the knife and said hesitantly, "Why don't we leave now?"
"Let's wait for Officer Huang!"
Gao Yue really had no confidence about the conditions outside.
At the very least.
She did not dare drive away alone at night.
Gao Yue felt her mind growing foggy. She leaned back against the seat and closed her eyes.
Inside the house.
Old Yang called out to Huang Wei, "Officer Huang, young lady officer, shall I make you each a bowl of noodles?"
Old Yang's attitude toward Huang Wei was fairly friendly.
Huang Wei had performed well when facing the walking corpse earlier.
"Do you have any bowls and chopsticks left?"
"I see there's still food on the table. There's no need to cook anything else. We'll just have a little of that."
Huang Wei glanced at his junior colleague Zhang Xiaomeng and did not refuse at all.
Zhang Xiaomeng had to be hungry.
But she was too shy to say so.
If he did not eat, Zhang Xiaomeng would not want to eat either.
"Those two ruined the food after they came in."
Old Yang had noticed earlier that the food had been ruined.
Eating it was one thing.
The problem was that they had made a complete mess of the leftovers.
There was no way to eat them anymore.
"All right!"
Huang Wei could hardly refuse.
Mother Yang and her daughter-in-law Wang Xiumei got up and went to the kitchen to cook noodles.
Old Yang gathered up the glutinous rice scattered on the floor.
Just then, Su Chen returned for the wheelchair.
Seeing that Su Chen was about to leave again, Old Yang told him, "Wait a moment. I'll get you that knife manual!"
Remembering his promise to Su Chen, Yang Defa spoke up too.
"Su Chen, I'll get my tools and install the solar panels for you."
After his experience with the walking corpse, he was even more determined to stick close to Su Chen.
"Thanks."
Su Chen nodded.
The power had gone out in the apocalypse.
That made the solar panels all the more important.
"Senior, are you all right?"
Suddenly, Zhang Xiaomeng cried out through her tears.
Huang Wei had been sitting there perfectly fine, yet his body unexpectedly tipped over uncontrollably.
What was this?
Su Chen and Yang Defa both saw that Huang Wei had fainted.
"Did he pass out from hunger?"
Yang Defa offered a guess.
When Wang Xiumei's blood sugar was low, she would gradually lose consciousness.
"Not necessarily."
Su Chen felt that Huang Wei's condition was almost exactly the same as Su Xi's.
Su Chen used the Intelligence System to check Huang Wei's condition.
[Sequence Awakening in progress...]
It really was the same as his sister's!
He had no idea.
Just what rules governed this Sequence Awakening?
It had happened twice in succession.
But the Intelligence System offered no feedback for now.
Once they finished awakening, he might be able to obtain more information.
"It's nothing serious."
"Maybe he's tired. Let him rest for now?"
Su Chen offered Zhang Xiaomeng some reassurance.
He and Yang Defa moved Huang Wei onto a bed to let him rest.
Mother Yang finished cooking the noodles and brought them to the table.
With tears lingering at the corners of her mouth, Zhang Xiaomeng managed to eat two large portions.
Old Yang brought a yellowed booklet out of the inner room.
In one hand, he also held a cloth bag and a plastic bucket.
Old Yang found Su Chen and handed him the booklet first.
"This is the knife technique I mentioned!"
Su Chen glanced at the contents page.
"Guide to Slaughtering Live Pigs."
This was a knife technique?
Su Chen was a little stunned. He opened it and took a look.
It really did seem to be a knife technique!
It explained the body parts of wild boars in detail, along with how to insert a blade more easily.
More importantly, there were some movement techniques toward the back.
They looked very practical.
"Thanks."
Su Chen thanked him.
"What are you...?"
Su Chen also noticed that Old Yang was carrying other things.
"I'm going to take a look around the village."
"I'm still the village chief. There are a few young people left in the village. I'll tell them to leave with you tomorrow morning!"
Old Yang explained his plans.
He intended to stay in the village. Though he knew it was dangerous, the others had no need to remain there.
"Be careful."
Su Chen gave him a word of caution.
He was not sure whether there were other dangers in the village either.
Old Yang nodded and walked into the darkness.
His back was straight.
The flashlight's beam cut a path through the night.
Su Chen watched in a slight daze.
"Su Chen, I'll install the solar panels for you."
Yang Defa had also gathered his tools and came to find Su Chen.
Su Chen and Yang Defa began working on the solar panels.
Elsewhere.
Mother Yang had not gone to sleep either.
After cooking the noodles, she began packing things for her son and daughter-in-law.
She knew about fleeing disaster.
The villagers had lived through years of poverty. In some places, people had to travel great distances just to find a mouthful of food.
What her son faced now might be much the same.
A mother worried when her son traveled far.
Mother Yang intended to pack everything in the house that her son could take with him.
Some time later.
Old Yang returned and came over to Su Chen's vehicle.
Su Chen looked at Old Yang.
There was nothing wrong with Old Yang!
Once Su Chen confirmed that nothing had happened to Old Yang, he relaxed.
Old Yang, however, raised the cloth bag and plastic bottle in his hands.
"Take this incense ash and black dog blood with you!"
During his trip around the village, Old Yang had also gathered some of the evil-repelling items Su Chen had mentioned.
"Dad!"
"You and Mom... the village really isn't safe. Come with me tomorrow, won't you?"
Looking at those things, Yang Defa could not help trying to persuade him again.
A corpse.
After coming into contact with the banyan tree, it would turn into a walking corpse.
The village was more dangerous than he had imagined.
"No!"
Old Yang was stubborn too. He turned and went into the house without looking back.
He quietly kept his deeds and merit to himself.
Old Yang had his own thoughts.
For one thing.
He was old and could no longer run.
At this point in his life, all he wanted was to return to his roots.
For another.
If he went on the run with them, his son and daughter-in-law would have to divide their attention to look after him.
That would make him a burden.
"Ah!"
Knowing his father's temper, Yang Defa sighed.
After returning inside, Old Yang went to find Mother Yang.
He sat down beside her and smoked incessantly.
His brow was deeply furrowed.
He seemed to have something on his mind.
"What's wrong?"
Mother Yang knew Old Yang very well. She knew that when he looked like this, something had to be wrong.
"I went and looked at that tree from a distance..."
Old Yang began describing his experience, then hesitated.
"What happened?"
Mother Yang had been sewing clothes by candlelight, but stopped when she heard this.
"Why don't you leave with Defa and Xiumei?"
Whatever Old Yang had seen, he was actually considering having Mother Yang leave.
"Old man."
"I've grown old too!"
Wearing reading glasses, Mother Yang gave Old Yang a long, searching look.
They were an old married couple.
Rather than keep each other alive with what little they had, perhaps it was better to part ways and forget each other.
"Then tell them to set off early tomorrow morning!"
Seeing that Mother Yang had made up her mind, Old Yang did not try to dissuade her.
"What exactly did you see?"
Mother Yang asked in puzzlement.
Though Old Yang had not seen much of the world, he had once been a soldier.
After leaving the army, he had served as village chief for a long time.
In his dealings with people and affairs.
He had always remained calm in the face of upheaval.
Old Yang said nothing, his back growing a little more hunched in the candlelight.
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