Chapter 67: Entanglement

Even in cities, typical families had enough food to last for a few days or even more than ten days. Changguang Village, being rural, should have had more food reserves. Yue Zhong had heard that in his own village, families usually kept enough food for an entire year.

Big Dog chuckled and said, "Our village doesn't grow crops. We run a rural guesthouse, specifically for hosting tourists. The village does have a few pigs, chickens, and fish. But every household had some food stored. One day, the entire world suddenly got a lot of zombies, killing many people. Everyone either fled or hid."

"Later, Brother Hu and his people arrived. They killed all the zombies in the village, but they took all the food, pigs, and chickens. When we ran away, none of us had much food on us. We had no choice but to dig wild vegetables and roots to survive."

Yue Zhong pointed to the fields outside the village, "Why aren't they planting anything? If they planted some crops, they could harvest some food in a few months."

In the fields outside the village, only women and children were digging for wild vegetables. No one was farming. This couldn't go on. Without planting crops and relying solely on reserves, even if they had a mountain of food, it would be consumed quickly.

If there were no professionals doing the farming, the food problem alone would be enough to cause headaches.

Big Dog smiled wryly, "Brother Hu got a lot of seeds from a nearby store, but those seeds have been in the ground for a long time, and not a single one has sprouted."

Yue Zhong's heart sank. If they couldn't solve the issue of growing food, humanity's situation would only become more difficult. There were plenty of scattered food and supplies, but the more they used, the fewer they had. Moreover, food that was left for too long would spoil, leaving even less edible food.

Yue Zhong pushed his doubts aside and walked to other parts of the village.

Inside the village, apart from the armed men, everyone had a haggard look on their faces, with no spark of hope in their eyes, as if they were walking corpses. They couldn't see any future ahead.

Outside the village, fields stretched out, and many people of all ages were searching the land for edible wild vegetables and roots.

The children who had been following Zhang Xin and the others were now also running into the fields to search for something to eat. The apocalypse had forced those originally innocent, lively, carefree children to mature far too early. They were already struggling for survival.

The zombies around Changguang Village had been wiped out by Brother Hu's group, which was why the villagers could go out and search for food.

"Here are two steamed buns. You two can play with me for a day, and these two steamed buns are yours."

A lecherous voice came from around a corner.

Yue Zhong frowned and walked over.

Inside a brick house, an armed man, holding a Type 81 rifle and standing a little short, was holding two large white steamed buns while leering at a woman and a young girl.

The older woman was around thirty years old, with a full figure, beautiful looks, and dressed in a white shirt and jeans, exuding elegance. The younger girl looked to be about eleven or twelve, with large, fearful eyes constantly glancing at the armed man and occasionally at the steamed buns. She had been hungry for many days and longed to eat a large white steamed bun, something she once wouldn't even look at twice.

The beautiful woman, gritting her teeth, begged, "Xu Dage! I'll stay with you! Please let Shanshan go! She's still so young!"

The armed man, Xu Wei, narrowed his eyes, and his voice turned icy, "Li Xuan, you're not knowing your place! It's your good fortune that I've taken an interest in you and your daughter. Don't refuse my offer. If you anger me, I'll just shoot both of you and toss you into a ravine. In this world, even if you die, no one will stand up for you."

Seeing Xu Wei's lecherous face, Li Xuan felt despair rise in her heart. Her husband had gone out to search for food and never returned. Without her husband's protection, Xu Wei, who had been eyeing her, had now come knocking.

Xu Wei's eyes flashed with a sly gleam, and he changed his tone, "Li Xuan, if you and your daughter come with me, I'll make sure you never go hungry, as long as I have food."

Xu Wei's combination of threats and offers left Li Xuan with no choice. Before the apocalypse, she could have easily dealt with someone like Xu Wei with a single phone call. But now, she was powerless against him.

Li Xuan, her eyes filled with mixed emotions, hugged her daughter, Zhou Shanshan, torn inside. In Changguang Village, there was no law. Even if Xu Wei killed them, no one would stand up for them. She was willing to sacrifice herself for Xu Wei, but she couldn't bear to push her daughter into the fire.

Xu Wei looked at Li Xuan and her daughter, Zhou Shanshan, his eyes full of greed, and continued threatening, "My patience is limited!"

As he spoke, Xu Wei unstrapped his Type 81 rifle and placed it at his feet, keeping it within easy reach while still being able to use it to threaten the women.

Seeing Xu Wei's actions, Li Xuan grew even more frightened. She clenched her teeth and trembled, unsure of what to do.

"Wait!" At this moment, a voice rang out, and Yue Zhong strode in.

Seeing Yue Zhong enter, Xu Wei's face changed dramatically. He quickly gripped his Type 81 rifle and nervously glared at Yue Zhong. "Yue Zhong, what do you want?"

Zhou Shanshan, still in her mother's arms, turned her gaze toward Yue Zhong.

Yue Zhong's tone was cold as he stared at Xu Wei, asking one word at a time, "What do you think you're doing?"

Xu Wei, intimidated by Yue Zhong's presence, took two steps back and then gathered his courage to speak confidently, "I'm making a deal with them. Two steamed buns for a day with them. It's a free trade between us. Even if this gets reported to Brother Hu, I'm not afraid."

Standing next to Yue Zhong, Lu Wen couldn't help but mutter, "Shameless!!"

The other girls couldn't believe Xu Wei had the audacity to say such things out loud.

Chi Yang glanced at Yue Zhong, a flash of murderous intent in his eyes.

Yue Zhong shook his head at Chi Yang. Now was not the time to turn on Wang Guanghu. If they made a move, it would be a fight to the death.

Yue Zhong pulled two compressed biscuits from his pocket and coldly said to Li Xuan and her daughter, "Here are two compressed biscuits. I'll buy you both with these! After you follow me, as long as you do the work assigned to you, you won't go hungry. Take it or leave it."