NOVEL NEXT Chapter 189 - 168, Several Gathering Points_1
Chapter 189: Chapter 168, Several Gathering Points_1
The convoy continued forward.
Guided by Wang Ke, they slowly stopped at the crossroad.
They first had ‘Xiao Xiao’ scout the nearby buildings, and after confirming there was no danger, everyone disembarked.
The entire village seemed hollowed out, empty and covered in weeds.
It held an eerie atmosphere. There were no zombies, nor signs of any survivors.
Everyone got out of the cars and checked the surroundings.
Qiangzi and the others inspected a nearby barbershop.
They reported, “It looks like it’s been searched. The kitchen and food stocks are gone. Probably been looted.”
Seems like there really were survivors here.
They must have cleared or led away the zombies here.
“Qiangzi, you guys stay here and repair the cars. We’ll move on in a moment.” Wu Heng said.
“Alright!” Qiangzi and his people nodded.
During the stay at the cattle farm,
the convoy suffered significant damage.
Especially the few vans, which were in a sorry state.
They hadn’t repaired them there and then but now was a good chance to do so.
Everyone started getting busy.
Wu Heng, Li Yahong and the others entered the alleyways.
Wang Ke seemed nervous, pointing at a building up ahead she said, “That’s my grandmother’s house.”
“Let’s go.”
The walls of the courtyard weren’t high, the black metal gate was covered in clear bloody handprints, traces that it had been vigorously hit by zombies.
The gate wasn’t locked, a gentle push opened it.
The courtyard centred around a cement pathway.
On one side were chicken and duck pens while the other side was a vegetable patch which was now overrun with weeds, half a person’s height.
After confirming there was no danger, the group went straight into the building.
The house was in chaos, with clothes and bedding strewn about and the furniture clearly having been searched.
Wuuu wuuu!
Wang Ke began to sob softly at the side.
With the courtyard’s gate standing wide open, and weeds everywhere,
it was clear that no one had lived here for quite some time.
Wu Heng glanced around the room and said, “Stop crying. Your grandmother might not have run into trouble.”
Wang Ke lifted her head in confusion.
Wu Heng continued, “Have you ever seen a zombie rummaging through cabinets? This place was probably looted by people, that’s why it’s in this state.”
Wang Ke looked at the mess on the floor, “It does seem like that.”
Li Yahong also comforted her in a soft voice, “Weren’t we prepared for the worst? If you cry like this, what about the others?”
“I’m sorry, Sister Hong.”
Ding ding~!
At that moment, a harsh horn sound came from outside the gate.
Everyone’s faces stiffened; they headed towards the sound.
They hadn’t yet left the alley,
when Qiangzi came towards them and said in a low voice, “A lot of men are coming from that side. They claim this is their territory. They’re looking for some perks.”
“They dare to stop our convoy?” Li Yahong asked.
“They probably didn’t see the skeletons in the car. They’re acting very cocky.” Qiangzi continued.
The back of the truck was covered in a canvas.
You couldn’t see what was inside from the front or side.
They probably hadn’t seen the skeletons.
Otherwise, just seeing the skeleton horde, let alone fighting, would induce a strong psychological pressure on any normal human.
Even during the zombie outbreak, the sight of skeletons wielding kitchen knives was intimidating.
“Go tell them that we’re only looking for people, and we will leave as soon as we find them. This place will still be theirs and we won’t take away any of their resources.” Wu Heng directly instructed.
After all, they are the ones who had cleared the zombies here,
there was no need for any conflict.
“Fine.” Li Yahong led Qiangzi and some others and walked straight out to the front.
There were a few men standing opposite.
They wore leather boots and jackets, holding various pipes and machetes in their hands, just like the delinquents from Hong Kong movies.
Seeing a woman in a navy blue stab-resistant suit walk out, their eyes shifted.
After confirming that Li Yahong didn’t have a gun around her waist, they relaxed a bit.
Li Yahong directly said, “Gentlemen, we’re here to find someone. We will leave as soon as we find them, and we won’t take any of your resources. Please allow us to do so.”
Instead of replying, the lead man asked, “Are you guys a rescue team?”
In this context, a “rescue team” usually referred to military or government personnel,
not individual shelters.
“No, we’re just a regular survivor group.” Li Yahong answered.
“Oh!” They sized up Li Yahong and the convoy behind her once again before asking, “What’s inside your cars?”
“Aliens and an aircraft carrier, why, does that concern you?” Qiangzi bluntly asked.
“Fuck! You’ve got quite a temper. You’re in our territory now, how is it not our concern?” one of them retorted.
Li Yahong stopped Qiangzi, who was ready to argue back, and continued, “We’ll leave after picking up the person. We don’t want any conflict with you.”
“Heh! Open all the compartments, let us inspect to see if you stole anything around here. Once we’ve ascertained there’s no issue, then you can leave.” The man continued, signaling his followers with a glance.
Several of his henchmen, each gripping an iron rod, stepped up to inspect the vehicle.
Wu Heng heard clearly from behind.
He recognized that they were planning a daylight robbery.
He promptly pulled out his gun and stepped forward.
The men before him froze at his mocking laughter, their steps retreating slowly.
Reasoning gets us nowhere, it’s the gun that’s persuasive.
“Damn, they have a gun!” The leading man retreated with a tight face but kept his composure. “We outnumber you. You only have a gun while we have far more brothers. I’d advise you not to…”.
Bang!
The gunshot echoed.
The bullet instantly penetrated the man’s skull.
His words abruptly stopped, and his eyes bulged out as he fell backwards.
The remaining men turned deathly pale, abandoning everything to escape into the narrow alleyways on either side and vanished completely.
Qiangzi and others, looking at the dead body on the ground, were shocked by their decisive action.
The trigger had been pulled without giving the other party a chance to speak.
“Turn the convoy around and get ready to go back!” Ordered Wu Heng.
Qiangzi and the others immediately got into the vehicle and began to slowly turn around.
On a village road like this, turning a truck around was quite a task and had to be done delicately.
“Drag the corpse over here.” Wu Heng walked into a nearby barbershop.
Basen, who was nearby, dragged the body inside.
Wu Heng promptly cast the Communicate with the Dead spell, and the corpse sat up instantly.
“How many survivor gathering points are there in your village?” Wu Heng asked directly.
The corpse raised its head, “There’re two in total. One in the north and some villagers hiding in the southern part of the area.”
This small village had surprisingly divided into two locations.
Having estimated the situation, Wu Heng immediately ordered, “Which part is the old lady from next door in?”
“She’s not in the north. We didn’t take the old lady in. If she’s alive, she could be in the southern part.” The corpse said.
Wu Heng nodded and then dismissed the Necromancy spell.
The corpse fell to the floor with a thud, silent now.
Wu Heng, together with Li Yahong, walked out.
The convoy had completed its turn and was ready to leave any moment.
Upon getting onto the bus, he glanced at Wang Ke, who was seated.
Wu Heng said, “Head south, we’ll try to find her one last time. If we can’t find her, we go back.”
Li Yahong nodded, picked up the walkie-talkie, and instructed, “Head south.”
The convoy started and sped down the road towards the south.
The other side.
A convoy of motorbikes rode through the rough terrain.
Kicking up a cloud of dust.
Suddenly, they saw a group of men rushing back and came to a stop.
“Why are you guys back? What about the convoy you mentioned?”
The man at the front, with long hair and a half-smoked cigarette in his mouth, shirtless with slightly dark skin, yelled at his subordinates who had run back in panic.
The men who had run back, out of breath and propping themselves up on their knees, answered sporadically, “Brother Zhang has been killed. They had a gun and started shooting without much talk, and our brothers scattered and ran back.”
More of his men appeared from behind, running towards them.
Every single one of them was part of his crew.
They scrambled as if escaping from a disaster.
“They had guns? How many guns?” He asked again.
“We only saw one; the others don’t seem to have any.”
“Damn, just one gun and you are all panicking.” The man cursed. “Did they actually have a lot of supplies in their vehicles?”
“We didn’t see, but there were five trucks and some were passenger and commercial vehicles. Probably a lot of supplies.”
The man hesitated for a while, put out the cigarette on the floor, and said, “Go back and get Molotov cocktails. If we snatch this cargo, we can live comfortably for a while.”
All of them turned around and began walking back.
The convoy entered the building area south of the village.
From afar, they saw a factory building with a red flag sticking out.
Several people were on the wall with knives and iron bars, watching vigilantly.
The convoy stopped at a distance.
“Wang Ke, what’s your grandmother’s name?” Li Yahong asked.
“Yang Huifen!”
Li Yahong turned on the vehicle’s external speaker, and shouted: “Are there any old ladies named Yang Huifen inside? Her granddaughter Wang Ke has come to pick her up.”
Sudden commotion arose on the wall.
At this time, there were still family members coming to pick someone up?
What’s going on?
She must be an important person to have this sort of treatment!
Then someone hastily clambered down from the wall and ran into the building.