Rotting Land: Survive

The dome of the vintage villa gradually vanished from everyone’s sight. Watching the blurred direction of the villa, the survivors had mixed feelings.

Although recently their life in the villa has been rather tense and monotonous, the villa’s unique geographical location, excluding the talk of the Spring Xiu group, is indeed a rare oasis in the apocalypse.

At least during the two months they lived there, they hadn’t seen a single zombie.

Contrasting the survivors who were reluctant to leave the villa on their moving journey, the people left behind in the villa were not feeling any joy.

Liu Fugui goes without saying; ever since Old Xu suddenly informed them of their departure, he had noticeably lost weight, and his formerly competent and dignified spirit was entirely replaced by a decadent old age.

Liu Fugui is already such, so we cannot even mention Huang Yong and his subordinates. As Huang Yong said privately to Yao Ruyi and others, the villa move was tantamount to burning the bridge, leaving them completely unprepared.

Not to mention the possible attacks by Spring Xiu and He Lei’s group at any time; just figuring out how to deal with future meal supplies becomes problematic.

This is probably the bloodless killing. And everyone clearly understands that the person who put them in such a passive position is that muddle-headed Liu Yunpeng.

Liu Yunpeng is lucky to have a good father; otherwise, with his lack of skill and tendency to attract trouble, he would have died many times over.

Liu Yunpeng has his father to protect him; no one dares to touch him.

But Yang Xue, the other principal behind this conflict, does not have such good fortune. At least to respect Liu Fugui, Old Xu’s people informed the Liu family about their departure.

Yet, this lazy and gluttonous woman seemed to have been forgotten. Even Wei Yang, whom she mocked and found annoying like a sticky rice cake, never visited her room to invite her to meals or remind her of anything.

Shock, confusion, and fear hovered in Yang Xue’s mind. From the moment the convoy left the villa, she had to start contemplating her fate.

She remembered the words Liu Yunpeng said to her in their first conversation upon his return; their risky escape back to the villa aimed to join forces with people here against Spring Xiu and He Lei’s group.

Now it seemed her actions caused this alliance to crumble. Thinking about Liu Fugui’s terrifying methods of punishment, Yang Xue shivered.

Previously, this destination was one she enjoyed in her dreams; however, at this moment, no matter how she tosses and turns, closing her eyes to count sheep, she could not calm down her frantic heart.

She was extremely frightened, feeling like a lamb abandoned, waiting to be slaughtered, with the nearby door resembling the Ghost Gate of Hell, possibly to be breached by Black and White Impermanence at any moment to take her away.

Why did she have to be involved with Liu Yunpeng again? This question haunted Yang Xue numerous times, yet human selfish desires stopped her from acknowledging her own mistakes. Even now, she shifted the blame to Liu Yunpeng.

She believed the current situation and her unfavorable circumstances were all due to the latter.

If the latter hadn’t come looking for her, if not for her beauty and excellence that two men fought over, how could this series of events have been triggered? Therefore, ultimately, it was because of her charm.

Yang Xue did her utmost to absolve herself in her world, as if this could make the gods forgive her sins and evade the responsibilities she might have to bear.

Shamelessly, she even grouped Wang Qiang, who had always loved her deeply, into the irresponsible traitors group.

She viewed him as a complete coward, for witnessing his girlfriend being almost violated firsthand, yet choosing to flee, leaving her alone to perish in the wolves’ den.

Wang Qiang sorrowfully nestled in the corner of the bus, his expression resembling a living zombie. Those unaware might truly mistake him for a corpse.

Before the incident with Yang Xue occurred, he rarely stayed so calmly in the mid-bus area. With his personality, not pestering Old Xu to place him in the first bus to lead the way would mean the sun rising in the west.

Looking at the despondent Wang Qiang, everyone felt uncomfortable; besides cursing Yang Xue and Liu Yunpeng, they understandingly refrained from disturbing Wang Qiang.

Because before setting off, Xiao Zhang particularly advised everyone never to mention anything about Yang Xue or Liu Yunpeng front of him to avoid agitating him.

He said that to truly help Wang Qiang out of his predicament, it must rely on himself. Only when he sees through and understands can he be reborn in a true sense.

The term "toll booth" is not unfamiliar to the Chinese, whether official or privately funded; every time you hit the road, you haven’t escaped extortion, especially those who rely on transport for survival. Their loathing runs deep.

"Damn it!" Old Xu cursed and slowly parked the car. They had just finished driving along a rural road, and not far ahead at the exit stood a toll booth.

Of course, Old Xu’s curse wasn’t over the road toll, and even if he intended to pay, no one would be there to collect it now.

The toll booth wasn’t large, which is understandable, being at the township level. Regular traffic was probably scant; hence, there were only two tollbooth lanes, set back to back, collecting fees for incoming and outgoing vehicles.

But now these two tollbooths were completely wrecked, both lanes blocked by vehicles, even the toll collector’s booth smashed by a truck.

Fragments of shattered glass were scattered on the ground, a faint large five-finger bloodstain visible on them. Witnessing such a scene left no need to ask, Old Xu and the others could infer the terrifying event that transpired.

Several gaunt wandering zombies were easily dispatched by Old Xu and Tang Xiaoquan. Following their pre-action agreement, upon discovering anomalies, they promptly stopped the three trailing vehicles. Now, as Old Xu’s leading team, they inspected the dilapidated toll booth.

"Thump, thump, thump!" Old Xu skillfully climbed onto the small truck’s roof using abandoned vehicles clustered together.

"How’s it looking, Old Xu? What’s the road condition ahead? Can we pass through?" Tang Xiaoquan shielded his eyes with his hand, trying to peer further. Unfortunately, the human eye has its limits. Thus, he had to abandon the futile effort, patiently awaiting Old Xu’s findings. (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please visit Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)