The Qi Family Gang (28)

The stilt house was in complete chaos as everyone was gripped by panic.

Manager Wu tried desperately to calm them down, but no one would listen.

BANG!

Headman Qi kicked a bamboo stool, smashing it to pieces, and the room finally fell silent.

"Pathetic! You're a total disgrace to the Qi Family Gang!"

"What? Are you scared? If anyone's scared, go slit your own throat right now; I won't stop you!"

When Headman Qi's temper flared, everyone instinctively lowered their heads.

His voice softened slightly. "Yes, the Qi Family Gang fell into a trap this time, and many of our brothers died for no reason, but you're being useless right now. You're doing nothing but causing more trouble."

"Do you want people to say that when the Qi Family Gang was wiped out, all that was left was a bunch of cowards who lost their minds in the face of death?"

"Right now, A-Nan is going to the deep pool to face whatever that monster is, and look at yourselves!"

"Back then, so many of you wanted to take A-Nan as your wife. In my opinion, it's a good thing she went with Old Jiang. Not a single one of you cowards is worthy of her!"

Nan Yue: ...He's getting off-topic.

The horsemen blushed, and many of them stole glances at Nan Yue.

The women of the Nan family were all Zhan You, born with fierce courage, but even for a Zhan You, going into that deep pool to face that monster required immense bravery.

The room fell silent; no one was screaming in panic anymore. Instead, they were more composed than before.

The worst possible outcome was death, and if A-Nan wasn't afraid, they couldn't afford to be a disgrace either.

They couldn't be afraid!

"We're not afraid!"

"That's right! It's just death! I'm staying here to wait for A-Nan to come back!"

"Yeah, A-Nan, go kill that damn thing!"

Nan Yue watched the room full of people in silence. Some of them were still covered in those horrific blisters.

Any outsider would look at them and see monsters.

Not to mention the physical pain they were enduring.

They were desperate and terrified, but they were also brave.

Even though they knew they would likely die anyway, they had truly united as one in this moment.

Nan Yue had seen plenty of the filth of human nature and many appalling incidents in the pollution world.

She had once felt a deep aversion to the world of the Federation.

Why should such a world be the real one?

Why did such a world exist for so long and even create them?

But this time, she seemed to understand.

Every civilization inevitably had its moments of brilliance.

Even if the Federation was now this corrupt, and even if the world of the past had such dark experiences.

There would always be a group of people who shone brightly even in the darkness.

In the most desperate times, there would be those who displayed the most brilliant human nature, fighting against the darkness with tragic heroism.

Just like the scavenger world, the real world also had people like this protecting it.

She suddenly understood that Wen Xiang Yuan didn't want to destroy the real world.

She only wanted to destroy the Federation, to dig up that rotten tree.

As for the soil, Wen Xiang Yuan firmly believed that new greenery would sprout from it.

The others were also moved by the scene before them, and no one spoke to interrupt.

As scavengers, they had always looked down on the pollution world, and many of them rejected or were hostile toward the natives.

After learning the truth, they had even felt a sense of misplaced anger toward the natives.

But now, no one felt any dissatisfaction with this group of people.

They felt only respect.

These horsemen were different from them; there was no other world they could escape to. They had no way out.

And yet they were so resolute.

So brave.

Nan Yue didn't say anything. She simply nodded to the crowd, gripped the King's Coin, and left wearing her straw raincoat.

"Chi Yu, you and the others stay here."

Chi Yu's ability was fire control; she couldn't help much in the heavy rain outside, so it was better for her to stay here with Yin Qian and Jiang Haoyu.

At least they could be of some help to the Qi Family Gang.

Nan Yue originally wanted Zhu Xi Ning to stay behind as well, but Zhu Xi Ning had already stepped out the door before she could say anything, and she couldn't call her back.

Gu Xiang Kai ran toward the back mountain with Nan Yue. "Do you know something? The Qi Family Gang..."

Nan Yue remained silent for a moment and didn't answer. Instead, she brought up something else.

"I've figured out the meaning of the transformation."

"Jiang Siyan was right before. Fish Fry Village was just an expression of their hope for a prosperous life, but the villagers didn't actually worship fish. And now I know why we're transforming."

"I suppose it's just fate."

Nan Yue let out a long sigh. The exposed skin on her body looked somewhat revolting now. Although it wasn't that severe yet, it was enough to make someone with trypophobia lose their mind.

With a flick of her wrist, her silver blade sliced into her own arm, creating a long, deep wound.

Blood gushed out, and Gu Xiang Kai watched Nan Yue's actions in shock. Beside her, the veins on Jiang Siyan's forehead throbbed as he struggled to restrain himself from immediately healing her wound.

"This... this is..."

The two of them watched as Nan Yue peeled back the wound without flinching, revealing what was inside.

In the place where flesh and meridians should have been, there were now clusters of blisters packed tightly together.

The larger blisters were the size of pigeon eggs, while the smaller ones were like pearls, almost completely filling the space under the skin of her arm. Smaller blisters were attached to the larger ones, and some as small as grains of rice were clinging to the pale bone.

The small blisters were hard to see clearly, but the larger ones contained black dots that looked like pupils.

They were trembling, and countless blisters were shaking.

Gu Xiang Kai felt dizzy and nauseated after just one look, and he turned his gaze away.

Nan Yue looked coldly at the disgusting things inside her body. Jiang Siyan hadn't expected such a scene either; he instinctively wanted to clear the blisters, but found he couldn't.

"Heal the wound."

As soon as she spoke, Nan Yue's arm returned to its previous state. However, since they had already seen what was inside, they couldn't help but think that they were likely in the same condition.

What about the horsemen who were in even worse shape?

Was their entire body filled with blisters, with only a layer of skin maintaining their human form?

It was unthinkable.

It was enough to drive someone mad.

"Those blisters..."

Gu Xiang Kai's face turned pale. He now knew why Nan Yue had only told them.

If Yin Qian and Jiang Haoyu found out, they would probably break down on the spot.

Even people with exceptionally strong mental stability like them could barely handle it.

The various eerie encounters, physical burdens, and the pressure of thinking along the way could cause even the strongest person's mental stability to falter.

Not to mention that this wasn't just a visual shock; simply thinking about the fact that their own bodies were in this state was enough to drive a healthy, normal person insane.

"Those aren't blisters."

Nan Yue looked at Gu Xiang Kai as a faint white mist enveloped the three of them, while Jiang Siyan worked to pull their shocked mental stability back.

"They're fish eggs."

"We have fish eggs inside us. We are the vessels for those eggs, using our flesh and blood to nurture them."