Rotting Land: Survive

"Wei Dazhuang!" Old Lin parted the crowd and walked into the room, gently patting Xu Renjie on the shoulder to express his understanding of his hardship, then turned to the others and continued, "Everyone, let’s head back to our rooms. We’ll handle things here."

"What, Old Lin, even you want to protect that little bastard surnamed Liu?" Wei Dazhuang had no intention of backing down, glaring defiantly at Old Lin.

"Wei Dazhuang, and everyone else, I understand your feelings, but we need to investigate the matter thoroughly to give Qiangzi a fair deal, right?" Old Lin explained patiently.

However, Wei Dazhuang lacked such patience. To him, Xu and Lin’s cautious and inactive behavior was no different from that of traitors.

So, naturally, he spoke without restraint, his words harsh: "To hell with it, don’t talk to me about fairness. Investigate? Qiangzi was beaten unconscious and is still lying in Xiao Zhang’s room. You tell me what there’s left to investigate?"

"Is there really nothing to investigate?" A familiar voice sounded from the back of the crowd. Everyone turned towards the sound to see Tang Xiaoquan walking step by step through the slightly crowded doorway of the room.

The reason he had not appeared until now was that he had been in Xiao Zhang’s room, keeping watch over his brother.

In fact, he rushed up as soon as he heard the shouting upstairs, following Wei Dazhuang and the others. But they encountered Lei Tong carrying the unconscious Wang Qiang midway, and they all accompanied him to Xiao Zhang’s room.

He had just waited for Wang Qiang to wake up, got a basic understanding of what had happened, and hurried back, concerned that Wei Dazhuang and the others, who had left earlier, might clash with Liu Fugui and his group.

"How’s Qiangzi, Xiao Tang?" Seeing Tang Xiaoquan with a gloomy face, Wei Dazhuang mistakenly thought something had happened to Wang Qiang, prompting him, nervous and anxious, to grab Tang by the collar and shake him.

"Dazhuang, calm down, Qiangzi is fine. Let go of me first." The vigorous shaking made Tang Xiaoquan dizzy.

Once a bewildered Wei Dazhuang released his grip, Tang straightened his slightly disheveled collar and said in a deep voice, "Qiangzi is awake now, Xiao Zhang has treated his wounds, and he just needs to rest for a few days."

Tang Xiaoquan spoke lightly, but the reality was far less optimistic than he described. As Xiao Zhang told him, while he could treat the physical wounds through medical means, the psychological trauma Wang Qiang suffered was...

Wang Qiang’s return to consciousness slightly eased the minds of Wei Dazhuang and the others, but it didn’t quell their anger toward Liu Yunpeng, the perpetrator of the incident.

"Alright, Quan, step back and watch how I take down that Liu kid to avenge Qiangzi." Wei Dazhuang pushed the blocking Tang Xiaoquan aside, forcing the latter, unprepared, to stagger back two steps. If Old Xu hadn’t timely reached out to support him, Tang might have fallen backward with a thud.

This, however, highlighted how infuriated Wei Dazhuang was at that moment.

Before Tang Xiaoquan could stand upright and intervene, Wei Dazhuang’s thunderous roar echoed again: "Damn it, Huang, if you’re sensible, get out of my way. If you keep blocking me, I’ll cut you down too!"

"Oh? Try it then!" Huang Yong, fearless, gestured at his neck: "Do you think I, Huang Yong, am someone you can intimidate? Let me tell you, if you want to touch our young master today, you’ll have to get through me first. And I’ll warn you again, watch your mouth, or if I hear more crap from your dog mouth..."

"Swish!" A short-bladed knife was drawn by Huang Yong from the sheath at his waist, pointing directly at Wei Dazhuang.

The tension escalated, and the two sides, which had seemed to calm a bit, were back in a face-to-face confrontation. Neither Liu Fugui nor Old Xu wanted to see the situation worsen like this.

"Huang Yong, put down the knife!" Liu Fugui declared first, followed closely by Old Xu. But before he could speak, Tang Xiaoquan stepped forward once more, fearlessly inserting himself between Wei and Huang, who were in a tense standoff: "Dazhuang, calm down too. Acting on impulse won’t solve the problem; it’ll only make things worse."

"What? What did you say?" Wei Dazhuang stared with eyes wide as saucers, leaning his ear toward Tang’s mouth while pointing at himself, "You said I’m messing up the situation? Fine, tell me then, what the hell should I do now?"

"Sigh!" Tang Xiaoquan sighed deeply: "Dazhuang, I’ve been friends with Qiangzi for over ten years. Seeing him like this hurts me just as much. I also want to..."

"Stop with the sentimental stuff, get to the point, how should we handle this?"

Tang Xiaoquan had wanted to use a heartfelt approach to defuse the crisis, but it seemed ineffective under the circumstances.

With Wei Dazhuang’s mood being what it was, there was no calming him down to listen to reason. Since the gentle approach failed, Tang’s expression hardened, and he said seriously: "Dazhuang, I’m asking you not to act rashly, not just for me but because of what Qiangzi said when he woke up. Do you know what he said? He said he doesn’t want anyone else involved in this; he stressed it’s a matter between him and Liu Yunpeng. He wants to settle it himself, so... Dazhuang, if you don’t believe me, you can go to Xiao Zhang’s room and ask Wang Qiang yourself!"

After speaking, Tang Xiaoquan showed a displeased expression, turning his face away.

"Qiang... did Qiangzi really say that?"

Tang Xiaoquan feared that the stubborn Wei Dazhuang would dismiss his words, but seeing Wei’s hesitant stance now, he knew there was hope: "Hmph, I told you, if you don’t believe it, ask Qiangzi first. It won’t be too late to act after verifying."

Hu Xiaodong nudged Wei Dazhuang. He was also one of the earliest friends of the team with Wang Qiang, so he knew the latter’s character and personality quite well from their time together.

So, considering Wang Qiang’s proud and face-conscious nature, he definitely wouldn’t want to blow this matter out of proportion, as it wasn’t something commendable for him.

Moreover, from another perspective, Tang Xiaoquan belonged to the villa side, and it was unlikely he’d make jokes about something like this, so...

After listening to Hu Xiaodong’s whispered advice, Wei Dazhuang slowly lowered the steel blade in his hand, saying viciously, "Alright, Liu kid, I’ll spare your dog life for now. Once I’ve confirmed the details with my brother, we’ll have a talk!" (To be continued. If you like 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.)