Rotting Land: Survive

Chapter 642 631: Remote Backwater (Part 1)

After resolving the matter involving Liu Yunpeng, Liu Fugui felt utterly exhausted. After advising his son on some trivial matters, he headed outside.

Huang Yong had been waiting at the entrance of the hallway. Seeing Liu Fugui emerge from inside, he quickly approached.

He didn't ask anything or say anything, he simply followed closely behind, knowing that if Liu Fugui needed anything, he would bring it up himself, and his job was to maintain silence and provide a quiet environment.

Besides Huang Yong, another person remained in the hallway, and that was Li Huiru, who had been driven out by Liu Fugui. Her face was pale, lacking any of her former allure, though her tear-filled eyes could still arouse some sympathy.

However, Liu Fugui was clearly not among those feeling sympathetic. When he learned his son had been instigated to take drugs, and Li Huiru was present during the incident, he had already sentenced her to death in his mind.

Though Li Huiru was not the person who directly supplied drugs to his son, it was because of her and other idle, lazy, and vain women surrounding his son day and night that he became so lackadaisical.

Liu Fugui walked past Li Huiru as if she didn't exist, completely ignoring her greetings. When he reached his room door, he emotionlessly instructed Huang Yong, "I don't want to see that Li woman near Yunpeng again. Do whatever it takes."

Upon hearing this, Huang Yong was shocked; he hadn't anticipated Liu Fugui to be so severe, directly ordering Li Huiru's disappearance.

Knowing that Li Huiru had served Liu Yunpeng very well, it was clear Liu Yunpeng was quite fond of her.

Now, Liu Fugui commanded him to make this woman disappear, leaving Huang Yong somewhat troubled.

It wasn't that Huang Yong had any affection for Li Huiru, but he knew no matter how careful he was, the truth would eventually come out, and Liu Yunpeng would discover he was involved.

If Liu Yunpeng continued digging, he might even find out it was Huang Yong who exposed the drug matter.

Though Huang Yong was not afraid of retaliation from Liu Yunpeng, he couldn't withstand hidden mischief.

After all, Liu Yunpeng was Liu Fugui's son, and no matter how favored by Liu Fugui Huang Yong was, he couldn't rival familial bonds.

Sadly, one can't control many things in this world; often you know you shouldn't act, but you must.

Huang Yong reluctantly accepted the task, and inquired if Liu Fugui had any other orders.

Liu Fugui waved tiredly, "That's all. I'll rest now; unless it's urgent, don't disturb me. Wait two hours before saying anything further."

"Understood!" Huang Yong watched Liu Fugui enter his room, then quickly slipped away.

"Hey, see how it looks over there?" Zhao Yunhai let the car glide slowly, gesturing to the area he'd mentioned.

Tang Xiaoquan glanced in the indicated direction. Given their high position on the road, the surroundings were fully visible, and Zhao pointed towards a small village northeast of their path.

From the car, the village appeared small, surrounded by farmland, an ideal setup for the action team to search for a suitable refuge area.

"Yes, not bad! Let's go down and take a look!" Tang Xiaoquan confirmed Zhao's opinion without moving his gaze.

However, whether this village could ultimately serve as the second refuge for all in the villa awaited on-site inspection.

It was getting late, and if they didn't find a place to hide from the night soon, they'd have to sleep on the road, obviously unwise in the post-apocalyptic world.

From the car, the village appeared nearby, but driving there revealed a vast difference in their initial estimation.

The primary issue was the road conditions leading to the village; they were terrible, causing the three in Jianghuai's car to endure a bumpy ride just a few hundred meters in.

"Damn it!" Wang Qiang complained intermittently as the ground rolled below, gripping the rear cab railing, grumbling quietly into the handheld radio: "This road is ridiculously bad; how do villagers travel, and why don't they fix it?"

Upon hearing this, Zhao laughed, "Wang, fixing roads costs money! Everyone wants to fix roads near their homes, but money is a major problem!"

Thinking this over, Wang Qiang conceded, but immediately sighed, "Looks like we're in a poor village. I was hoping for some supplies, and now it's unlikely."

Perhaps fate intended to punish such inappropriate thoughts; Zhao fell foul of a large pothole he didn't see, causing Wang Qiang to spin 180 degrees sideways.

Wang Qiang predictably attempted to curse as he steadied himself, but Tang Xiaoquan intervened, "Enough, we're primarily here to find a place to stay tonight. Additionally, I think poorer villages might make for better secondary refuges."

"Huh? Why's that?" Wang Qiang asked as he returned to his seat, confused.

"It's simple. Poverty indicates a lack of development, and poorly developed areas rarely attract businesses. Without enterprises, employment becomes problematic, hindering local economic growth. A vicious cycle ensues, leading to population outflow, so..."

"So fewer people, meaning fewer zombies infected!" Wang Qiang realized.

"Exactly, but that's just speculation; we'll only know once we're there!"

"Hope your theory aligns with reality, no one wants to spend a night surrounded by the undead," Wang Qiang said, unwilling even for one night.

"Alright, everyone, stay alert as we enter the village."

Zhao sternly reminded the chatty Tang and Wang, and Wang Qiang quickly grabbed the crossbow beside him, watching cautiously through the observation ports.

"I must say, Tang, you're right. This village appears poor! Look at these ramshackle houses, shoddy buildings!"

Observing the sparsely built mud houses, Wang Qiang wondered about the safety of living inside them.

Tang Xiaoquan, too, frowned, the living conditions truly austere; windows covered with plastic sheeting in many of the dilapidated houses.

Living there in winter must be unbearable.

Yet Zhao perceived this differently, believing if the location suited as a refuge, he could repair these homes.

On this front, Zhao Yunhai, being a professor of architecture, was confident. (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, visit Qidian.com for votes and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, visit m.qidian.com to read.)