He Cannot Die Yet

Suddenly, a green snake slithered forward, raised its head, scanned the crowd with its tongue, and then swiftly swallowed the nearest gemstone.

"They desire the gems more than we do. Let's go, before it finishes eating them," Tom urged.

"But... there are so many gems. If it becomes mutated after consuming them, it'll be very dangerous," Baozi hesitated, unwilling to abandon this potential threat. Mutated ants were already difficult to deal with; mutated snakes would be even more terrifying.

"There's always a way. This is a bamboo leaf green snake, it's poisonous. Let's go!" 

Baozi gritted his teeth, picked up Tom, and ran, with the others following closely behind. After running a few steps, they saw someone pushing a cart towards the steps, unsure of how to get it down. Baozi immediately cursed, "Idiot! If you can carry it, carry it. If not, leave it behind. Lives are more important, hurry!"

The group of eleven quickly grabbed whatever they could and jumped down the stairs, running back down 8 flights. They looked back and saw that the bamboo leaf green snake hadn't caught up. They breathed a sigh of relief but continued running, heading straight for Uncle Wei's clinic.

The clinic door was already open. As they entered, they shouted, "Close the door quickly! There's a bamboo leaf green snake, it's eating gemstones!"

The person on guard immediately realized the seriousness of the situation, his face turning pale. He shouted to the twenty or so people around him to help push the door closed, leaving only a small gap at the bottom.

Uncle Wei, who was nearby, heard the commotion and immediately went to fetch two large bags of sulfur from the medicine cabinet. He brought them over and sprinkled them under the door crack, then arranged for people to sprinkle sulfur in other places where the snake might sneak in. Only then did he have time to check on the casualties.

Fourteen people had gone out in the morning, but only eleven had returned. Tom was the most severely injured. Upon examination, Uncle Wei found that the broken rib had been further injured. He immediately started scolding.

"Wei Uncle, don't blame Tom. He got injured saving me," Baozi spoke up for once. "If it weren't for him, we would all have died on the third floor."

At this moment, Uncle Qi, having learned of the situation, walked over. Without asking about casualties, he immediately demanded, "Baozi, where's the good wine you promised?"

"Uncle Qi... We poured the wine on the ground to ignite the mutated soldier ants. That's how we burned them. Otherwise... we would have... we would have all been wiped out."

"Damn it, you could at least save me a bottle! You promised to bring back good wine, but what did you bring back? Nothing! You useless waste!" Uncle Qi's words were not just directed at Baozi and his men; even the injured Tom felt a chill. After surviving danger and losing several brothers, the first thing the leader thought of was his wine. Compared to before, when Zeng Shisan took out over a hundred and eighty people and returned with heavy losses, he was very worried about Zeng Shisan and the others' safety. Such a leader was simply unacceptable.

Uncle Qi erupted into a tirade, and Baozi's expression turned extremely unpleasant. Tom rarely saw this; in the past, no matter how Uncle Qi scolded, Baozi remained calm. He wanted to speak up for fairness, but Uncle Wei pulled him aside, signaling him not to get involved.

Tom sighed. At this point, Uncle Qi announced Baozi's punishment. "Due to Baozi's improper command leading to the deaths and injuries of our brothers, you will no longer lead them out. From now on, you will go with Shisan and obey his command."

This statement angered the nine horsemen, who protested, asking why they had to follow Zeng Shisan, that bastard, and so on. This made Uncle Qi's face very ugly, but Zeng Shisan stood with his hands clasped behind his back, smiling as he watched the show.

But just as Uncle Qi was about to explode, a bloodied figure crawled in from under the door crack, startling those nearby.

"It's Uncle Zhiyun, Uncle Zhiyun!" Someone recognized the appearance of the bloodied figure. "Uncle Zhiyun's spirit has returned!"

Uncle Zhiyun was one of the five who had gone out with Zeng Shisan yesterday. Zeng Shisan claimed they had all been taken away by ants.

The crowd exploded, scattering in all directions. Uncle Wei stopped those trying to escape. "Nonsense, didn't you see Zhiyun still alive?" He immediately ran over to help the barely conscious Uncle Zhiyun.

"Zeng Shisan, I'll curse your ancestors! I'll curse your entire family!" Uncle Zhiyun's first words upon regaining consciousness were curses, surprising everyone.

Uncle Wei supported him, trying to calm him down. "Zhiyun, don't speak. It's me, I'll take you inside."

"No, I want to speak... Zeng Shisan, you heartless demon! After injuring us, you deliberately threw us to feed the ants... curse your entire family."

This revelation confirmed many people's suspicions, causing an uproar. Tom could tell that this Uncle Zhiyun was likely the one he had seen the bloody footprints from under the door earlier. It was evident that Uncle Zhiyun had escaped from the ant nest.

This gave him a bad feeling.

Uncle Qi was completely overwhelmed now. Just as he had blamed Baozi for improper command leading to the loss of brothers, someone had accused Zeng Shisan of deliberately feeding people to the ants. This made him, as a leader, lose all face. He immediately shouted in anger, "Zeng Shisan, what's going on? Did you do this?"

Zeng Shisan, clasping his hands behind his back, chuckled in response, "Yes."

The crowd erupted once again, and some even quietly picked up weapons such as sticks and needles.

"Why? Why would you do this?"

"Gems, of course. If you want gems, you have to pay the price. I saw there were too many people in the camp, it was too difficult to find food for them, so it's better to proactively feed some to the ants. That way, we can get more gems."

"Are you crazy? They're human, not animals. How could you... how could you..."

"I'm not crazy! I'm perfectly normal, more normal than ever before. With more gems, I can exchange them for better things," Zeng Shisan retorted.

"Exchange for what? We've all shrunk, what's the use of money? Are you not insane? They're all living people! You're simply... simply worse than pigs and dogs! Guards, tie him up!"

Unfortunately, the part of the horsemen who used to obey him unquestionably were now standing behind Zeng Shisan, staring coldly at him.

"You... Are you all rebelling? Baozi, get... Baozi?" Uncle Qi called for Baozi but received no response. Upon searching, he discovered that Baozi and his nine men had disappeared.

Zeng Shisan was also surprised. "Oh, Baozi is quite clever indeed. He knew something was wrong and ran away. Fine, next time I see him, I'll make sure he's fed to the ants whole. Hahaha."

"You... Everyone, follow me. Let's kill these rebellious scum!" Uncle Qi, infuriated and anxious, grabbed a stick and charged forward, but then... "Bang!"

Uncle Qi sat on the ground, clutching his leg. Smoke filled the air, leaving everyone dumbfounded.

"A handgun!" Tom recognized the weapon in Zeng Shisan's hand, a small handgun meant for figurines. "But mine? I thought it ran out of bullets? Did he manage to find some?"

"You only have one... handgun... Don't think I won't..."

Zeng Shisan raised his hand, laughing maniacally. The horsemen around him brandished their weapons, aside from handguns, there were even shotguns, and someone even had a submachine gun, shocking everyone.

Uncle Qi couldn't believe what he was seeing. "This... this is impossible..."

Tom felt the same. Had Zeng Shisan traded his gems with the Ocean Guards for these weapons?

"Nothing is impossible!" Zeng Shisan fired a shot into the air, shouting, "Everyone, get into that damn box now! Don't come out without my order, move!"

The armed horsemen rushed forward, driving the survivors. The faces of the elderly turned pale with fear as they trembled and shuffled into the cardboard box.

Uncle Wei helped Tom up and started to move towards the box but was stopped by one of the horsemen.

"Thirteen, are you trying to kill my old man?"

Zeng Shisan smirked, "Where would I? Wei, I've said it before, you're a divine healer. My men still need a healer like you to save their lives. It's just that this kid is injured, wasting food and air. Leave him behind and come in yourself."

Tom leaned against Uncle Wei's shoulder, clenching his fists tightly. If Zeng Shisan took two steps closer, he would rush forward and fight him to the death.

"No! If you want to kill him, you'll have to kill me first."

"I don't want to kill you, but your grandson..." Zeng Shisan glanced at a horseman, who immediately brought Uncle Wei's grandson Tianzi over. Tianzi was in pain and immediately burst into tears.

"If you hurt my grandson, I'll fight you to the death. I, Qi Zhiwei, am not a clown to be manipulated by others. Why should I spare you?" 

Uncle Wei's anger was unprecedented, which startled Zeng Shisan, making him feel a bit awkward.

Seeing Zeng Shisan falter, Uncle Wei immediately put forward his reasoning, "Tom has extensive experience dealing with mutated creatures. It was thanks to Tom that Baozi and the others escaped. Your team needs someone like him."

"Hmph, I warned him not to cross the line, but he went to hang out with Baozi. That's disrespecting me, Zeng Shisan. Why should I keep him?"

"Everyone makes mistakes. Giving others a chance is giving yourself a chance. Don't think you're all that just because you have a few guns. Without me, you wouldn't be able to handle mutated bamboo leaf greens, and without Tom, you wouldn't be able to handle mutated rats and the like."

"Oh? Is that so?" Zeng Shisan loosened up a bit. "Is he willing to join me?"

Uncle Wei quickly signaled Tom, who hesitated for a moment. Knowing Uncle Wei was being deceptive, he nodded, "When I... get better..."

Zeng Shisan, who had been holding a handgun, thought for a moment, then holstered the gun and waved his hand, "Let's go."

Uncle Wei and Tianzi helped Tom walk into the cardboard house.

The cardboard house was originally a quiet place for a few sick people to recuperate, with many holes around it for ventilation. But now, with more than a hundred people being herded in, it became crowded in an instant.

Everyone trembled in fear, not knowing what to do, only able to seek solace from Uncle Wei.

After comforting everyone, Uncle Wei checked on the patients again and found that they were all fine. He then came to examine Tom's injuries.

Tom wasn't seriously injured, but he was grateful that Baozi had escaped. Otherwise, Zeng Shisan would have probably gone after Baozi first.

"Uncle Wei, do you think Zeng Shisan will spare Uncle Qi?" He didn't care about Uncle Qi's life or death; after all, he was a leader who couldn't distinguish right from wrong, and his current situation was entirely self-inflicted.

"Sigh... It's hard to say."

As he sighed, the curtain was lifted, and Uncle Qi was pushed in. The horseman impatiently said, "Stop his bleeding. Thirteen said he cannot die yet!" Then he turned and left.