Qi Family Gang (17)

It was like a village long since abandoned, yet they were desperately shouting into the void, hoping for a response.

But from the very beginning yesterday...

It was as if this village were already dead.

Those villagers they saw yesterday...

Were they really human?

From yesterday until now, had anyone else truly existed in this village besides them?

What exactly had they seen?

And what were they looking for now?

"Don't bother looking!"

Nan Yue's voice rose sharply, cutting through the sound of the rain.

Some people heard her and stopped, while others had already broken through the doors.

After a moment, one of them came out, panicking.

"No one!"

"There is no one inside!"

Not only were there no people, there wasn't even a trace of anyone living there; it looked exactly like the stilt houses they had cleaned up yesterday, as if no one had lived here for a long time.

One door after another was forced open.

No one...

No one.

No one!

There wasn't a single villager in the entire Fish Fry Village.

"Yesterday... where are the people from yesterday?"

Nan Yue heard someone muttering to themselves in the rain, their voice filled with terror.

The group's morale reached its breaking point; they began to doubt their own eyes and even their experiences.

This was bad.

"Calm down!"

As Nan Yue spoke, a faint white mist enveloped everyone, stabilizing their frayed nerves just as they were about to snap.

"Don't panic!"

She didn't know what role the Qi Family Gang played yet, but it was clear now that they weren't ghosts or monsters, but victims trapped here with them.

This mission was very likely evolved from their fears.

The fear and resentment of so many people, combined with countless others who had gone through the same experience before, no wonder it had become an extreme mission.

"Exactly, you cowards! You're really embarrassing me."

Headman Qi approached, wearing a straw raincoat and looking like a great bear.

He raised a hand to wipe the rain from his face, his voice echoing through the downpour like a great bell.

"If there's no one, there's no one. It's either miasma or minor ghosts. We've traveled the world for so many years; are we really afraid of this!?"

Headman Qi's voice further soothed the crowd.

Even though everyone knew that if it were just ordinary miasma or minor ghosts, it would be impossible for all the horses to silently walk into the deep pool overnight.

Not to mention the black horse had been wearing things to ward off evil.

The Bagua mirror and the bronze bridle were the real deal.

But no one pointed it out; everyone needed those words to support themselves.

They still had to leave this place.

"Headman, let's leave now."

Nan Yue walked to Headman Qi's side; his eyes were still red, but his emotions had stabilized.

"There's no telling when this rain will stop."

Headman Qi had the same thought as Nan Yue.

Although their speed would be much slower without the horses, moving even a little bit was better than staying. The important thing now was to get away from this eerie village.

"Pack your things. We're moving out."

Nan Yue followed the others back to the stilt houses to pack.

With the horses gone, their dry rations and water were limited to what they could carry.

No one complained; they all just wanted to leave.

You wouldn't starve to death in the woods; if things were lost, so be it.

As everyone packed their belongings, many were scratching at their bodies.

The rashes on many people had turned into rice-grain-sized blisters, clustered together so densely they looked terrifying at a glance.

The itch was uncontrollable; those who scratched felt the blisters pop one by one with a "pop" sound.

Transparent pus flowed out, and wherever it touched, the skin began to turn red.

This was definitely no ordinary insect bite.

Among Nan Yue's group of seven, the most severely affected were the physically weaker Yin Qian and Jiang Yuhao, followed by Zhu Xi Ning.

Jiang Siyan was the best off; his healing ability allowed him to keep the blisters within a tolerable range.

He used his white mist to treat several people, but after a while, Jiang Siyan withdrew the mist and shook his head.

"It's not very useful. It suppresses it for a moment, but as soon as the white mist dissipates, they come back."

At least their condition was better than the Qi Family Gang's.

"Try treating Dazhi discreetly."

Nan Yue was curious if the people of the Qi Family Gang could be healed.

If they didn't die, perhaps the difficulty of this mission wouldn't be so high.

Jiang Siyan's attempt failed.

Unlike them, the blisters on Dazhi's body could not be suppressed at all; he couldn't even lighten the symptoms.

Perhaps influenced by the rainy weather, Nan Yue suddenly felt a sense of dejection.

It was as if...

She already knew that the people in the pollution world were also living human beings.

They had their own lives, joys, and sorrows.

Some brought it upon themselves, but others were simply caught up in it.

The villagers of Antswamp Village were very simple people, but the scavengers couldn't save them.

The Qi Family Gang were also good people, loyal and generous. Nan Yue hoped they could survive, or rather, that the presence of the scavengers could change something.

But it seemed this mission was the same as the ones before...

These were events that had already happened; they couldn't change the fate of the Qi Family Gang.

They could only do their best to save themselves.

"Clink."

Someone dropped something while hurriedly packing, the crisp sound bringing Nan Yue back to her senses.

When she saw what it was, her pupils constricted.

It was Zhao Wu packing his clothes; yesterday he had taken them out to dry over the fire, and now the clothes he was wearing were completely soaked.

The blisters on his body were even worse, almost spreading to his face.

Large patches of blisters covered his exposed skin.

The sound just now came from when he shook his clothes and something fell out.

It was a silver nugget the size of a chestnut.

Nan Yue stepped forward quickly and picked up the small piece of silver; the size and shape were exactly as she remembered.

"Where did this come from?"

Zhao Wu was startled by Nan Yue's sudden approach. He looked at the silver in her hand and scratched his head.

"How should I know? I probably tucked it into my belt when I was buying liquor or something."

"It's not much money. A-Nan, are you thinking..."

Zhao Wu figured Nan Yue wasn't the type to be short of money and wouldn't want his cash.

Sure enough, Nan Yue returned the silver to him.

"Let's go. This is truly bad luck. The horses are gone; this whole business deal has turned out to be a massive loss."

Zhao Wu grumbled as he picked up his gear and headed out into the rain.

Zhu Xi Ning had seen it clearly from the side.

"A-Nan, was that..."

Nan Yue's voice was heavy. "...Yes."

"That was the silver nugget Headman Qi gave to the villager yesterday."

Why would the silver that had been placed in the villager's hand suddenly appear in Zhao Wu's clothes?

Had that villager entered the room last night?

Impossible.

There was no way the seven of them wouldn't have noticed.