“Nonsense!”

The villagers at the edge of the field were gnashing their teeth in anger. They knew exactly what was going on in Pang Dakun’s family; where did all these relatives come from? It’s pure nonsense.

“Thief, you’re a damn ingrate! Not only do you steal, but you also collude with outsiders to steal in the village. Your grandfather wouldn’t rest in peace!”

Someone in the crowd pointed at Pang Dakun and cursed.

Immediately, someone chimed in, “Pang Dakun, where did you bury your grandfather? I want to go and tell Mr. Pang about the shameless acts you’ve done!”

“I…”

Just as Pang Dakun was about to speak, Zhang Su pressed down on his shoulder and said, “If you have hands and feet, there’s no need to argue. Look at this street; we cleared it. If you have the ability, clear the other streets yourselves. If you don’t, then get lost from wherever you came!”

The villagers looked at the cleared barricade with complex expressions, knowing these people weren’t lying. But given their numbers, they couldn’t let them take away so much food.

“In consideration of your hard work, we’ll let you take some food, three hundred pounds, no more. Return the excess to us!”

The leading Da Tie held a crane-beaked shovel and spoke loudly, expressing what he felt was reasonable.

“We’re not tired at all, and we don’t need your charity. Since we have the ability to clear a street, we can take as much as we want. Using your own words, if you don’t get lost, I’ll make sure you all stay here!”

Zhang Su found it impossible to communicate with this group of people and had lost patience.

If these villagers had come over to help clear zombies when they saw someone doing it in the village, they would have been friends. If they wanted to negotiate an exchange of goods, they could have talked nicely. Even standing by idly wouldn’t have been a problem. But given their current attitude, there’s really nothing more to say.

Initially, Zhang Su considered using the Loyalty Brand to control their leader, Da Tie, to further recruit the others. After all, they were a capable bunch.

But from his observation, the villagers only outwardly obeyed Da Tie, or rather, they merely put him up as a spiritual leader. Each had their own thoughts, and they were far from united.

With such a team, controlling the leader had no meaning; it was still a scattered group!

The villagers thought Zhang Su was making threats, but everyone in the team, except for the new arrivals Zhang Ya and Pang Dakun, knew that once things escalated, Zhang Su never made idle threats; he acted ruthlessly.

Yu Qing was anxious, least wanting to see a conflict because if one erupted, there would definitely be casualties.

She tugged on her father Yuwen’s sleeve, giving him a meaningful look.

Yuwen, of course, knew what his daughter was thinking, yet he frowned and shook his head, clearly indicating she shouldn’t say a word!

Then he took a few steps forward and said, “Mr. Zhang, may I try to talk to them?”

Zhang Su looked at Yuwen, saw his serious expression, and nodded, “Give it a try.”

Yuwen stepped forward again, politely greeted the other party, and spoke a few words of reason and emotion.

However, the other group was impervious, not only refusing to listen but also cursing Yuwen out.

Seeing the frustrated and disheartened Yuwen, Zhang Su patted him on the shoulder, “Thanks for trying…”

“Sigh…”

Yuwen sighed, returned to the group, and gave Yu Qing a “you see” expression.

“Send an old man to beg for mercy; are you all fools?”

Da Tie slung the crane-beaked shovel over his shoulder and grinned, “You think one crossbow will scare so many of us? As I said, you won’t take a grain of Shuwa Village’s grain. If you don’t comply, don’t blame us for being ruthless!”

“Guess how many arrows you can shoot while we charge over and slaughter you? One arrow, or two? We have seventeen people; even if two or three get hit, so what? This flimsy thing can’t even kill a bird, let alone a person. When it comes to a fight, my crane-beaked shovel is a deadly tool!”

After Da Tie finished, he flashed the crane-beaked shovel a few times, looking quite impressive; his arm strength was undeniably formidable.

One could imagine the severe consequences of getting hit by that thing in his hand — it would be fatal or lead to severe injury!

“That’s right, leave your stuff here and get out, or you’re all done for. In today’s world, who cares about a few deaths?”

Immediately, a villager egged on, loudly, for fear Zhang Su’s group couldn’t hear.

“Of course, no one cares. Kill them all and dump them in the village. Who would know?”

“Old Qiu, you’re making things complicated; no need to dump them. Let them rot here, and no one will care. Just do it!”

“Do it, they dare to steal our grain, let’s get them!”

“Get them!”

The backup immediately followed, and the seventeen villagers felt victory was within reach. Every one of them waved their weapons fiercely, emotions fully engaged.

“Haha…” Zhang Su grinned and said, “After the apocalypse broke out, do you know who I hate the most? It’s not the cowards shivering at the sight of zombies, nor the beggars kneeling for food. It’s people like you, who don’t dare to kill zombies, but act tough with humans, only fighting among yourselves, you dogs!”

“Old Tan! Crane-beaked shovel, that bastard!”

Upon Zhang Su’s command and as he raised his crossbow again, a whooshing sound whizzed past his ear.

Swoosh.

Before the villagers could react, Da Tie’s body stiffened, his neck stretched backward. To everyone’s shock, they saw a crossbow arrow pierced through his forehead. The iron-tower-like body slowly fell back, eyes wide open, dead without closing his eyes.

“Murder! Charge, kill them to avenge Da Tie!”

Someone shouted, and then they saw people stepping over Da Tie’s corpse, rushing toward the fertilizer store.

Swoosh, thud.

“Ah!”

As the villagers just took a step forward, another person was hit by an arrow, this time not in the forehead, but in the abdomen. The pain was immense, yet not fatal. The one hit gritted their teeth and continued charging forward, clutching their stomach.

Just as Zhang Su said, this group was extremely ruthless when dealing with their kind but became timid when faced with zombies.

As Tan Huajun shot the crossbow, he hurried to reload it, and when the villagers rushed about twenty meters, he shot a second arrow!

Swoosh.

Thud.

Another person’s head was hit by an arrow and fell to the ground, the arrows never missing their mark, which was amazing.

Even though two people had already died, the villagers showed no intention of retreating. Their emotions had been ignited, and there was no turning back as they roared and charged at Zhang Su and his group, determined to tear them to shreds.

On Zhang Su’s side, everyone was ready for battle. There were no cowards in the team, except for Pei Lan, who was afraid of combat with a bandaged arm. She was standing on the roof of the fertilizer store, holding a red brick, waiting to persuade the enemies with her wits once they got close.

Yu Qing, with a kind heart, didn’t want to see any casualties, but that didn’t mean she would submit to being butchered. On the contrary, she was determined to reduce the pressure on her father and Zhao Dezhu.

The inconspicuous Corgi Good Fortune had already sneaked into the nearby bushes, eyes full of coldness, baring its teeth, body tense, ready to deliver a fatal blow as soon as it exploded into action.

Zhang Su and his companions were different from the villagers. They not only dared to fight and kill zombies but were also unafraid of their kind, especially in direct confrontations. They were ready to go all out!

Unfortunately, Zhang Su didn’t give others a chance to fight.

After firing the crossbow arrow, he didn’t reload like Tan Huajun but quickly slung the crossbow over his shoulder, lifted his shirt, pulled out a black USP, and without hesitation, fired at the fastest charger.

Bang!

The crisp sound of the gunshot echoed through the world, resonating in the heart, and shook the soul.

Everyone was stunned, the villagers instinctively slowed down, and Zhang Su’s group was also shocked. No one knew Zhang Su had already chambered the bullets…

Bang, bang, bang bang bang…

Once he started pulling the trigger, he didn’t stop until he emptied all thirteen rounds in the magazine, leaving five villagers dead in disbelief.

The remaining villagers, hearing the empty click of the gun in Zhang Su’s hand, tried to charge forward again, but were terrified to see him pull out another identical gun…

In peaceful times, even a fight over water between two villages could escalate into armed conflict, let alone a struggle for resources in the apocalypse. It wasn’t a joke. From the villagers’ aggressive attitude, Zhang Su sensed intense murderous intent. He didn’t doubt his companions’ combat prowess and had confidence in winning in close combat, but there would inevitably be injuries and probably deaths.

That was not something he wanted to see!

“Whoever moves, dies!”

Zhang Su didn’t continue pulling the trigger this time but spoke coldly. His voice wasn’t loud, but it was soul-stirring in the quiet surroundings.

From the initial charge to a distance of only about ten meters left, the seventeen had been reduced to ten. Seven lives were enough to wake the remaining ten from their fervent passion.

The remaining villagers, seeing the black muzzle, lost the courage to move forward as they stopped.

As the scene quieted down, the zombie wails from the village came through instead. The gunfire was too loud, like a zombie lure, attracting zombies even from a hundred meters away!

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep