Seeing Xu Youyou's welcoming smile and enthusiastic attitude, the other party's demeanor also became warm.
“What's with the 'big brother' talk?”
“I'm Wang Hu. You can just call me Brother Tiger.”
Xu Youyou immediately chimed in, “Got it, Brother Tiger!”
“By the way, we've been walking all night and are absolutely exhausted. Is there somewhere we can rest?”
Wang Hu paused for a moment, his eyes shifting slightly, before saying generously, “No problem, follow me. There are plenty of unoccupied houses here. I'll take you right over.”
Zuo Lin'an watched the two acting like old friends, silently mourning for Wang Hu.
Xu Youyou had already set his sights on him.
Who knew how much longer this guy had left to live?
Xu Youyou asked with a look of confusion, “Since we're new here, aren't you worried we might have bad intentions, Brother Tiger?”
Wang Hu burst into hearty laughter upon hearing this, drawing the attention of a few people nearby, though they quickly went back to their own business.
“What's there to scheme about?”
“You've just arrived, so you don't understand how things work in Sin Hunter City yet. Let me tell you, living here is nothing like what you might think.”
Different?
Wang Hu asked, “Before you entered the city, someone must have told you some rules to look out for, right?”
Xu Youyou nodded. “Yes, they said we can't kill anyone.”
“Exactly,” Wang Hu said. “You can't kill people in Sin Hunter City. Plus, there's no water, no electricity, no resources, and no entertainment. So what is there to steal or cheat people out of?”
“At most, just some food. But Sin Hunter City is massive. You can easily find an open plot of land near a water source to farm. If you just want to fill your belly, it's actually incredibly simple.”
Then, his tone shifted. “However... once a lot of people gather, you need to pick a fertile piece of land. Only with plenty of food can you support a larger group.”
“But more fields also mean you need more people to farm them.”
“So, our settlement happens to be short on hands lately. Your arrival is a perfect addition. How about it? Do you want to just stay here?”
Xu Youyou asked, “So, how many people do you have here?”
Wang Hu did a quick mental count. “Including me, nearly a hundred.”
Nearly a hundred?
The two of them looked around. They could only see a scattered handful of seven or eight people, which didn't look like a settlement of nearly a hundred.
Wang Hu chuckled. “Can't be helped. Everyone's situation is quite unique, so we live pretty spread out. It's rare to see everyone at once.”
“A few even prefer to keep to themselves. When there's no work to do, it's completely normal not to see them for ten days to a fortnight.”
Zuo Lin'an thought this was perfect.
If it was normal not to see people for weeks, wouldn't that provide the perfect cover for their actions?
Xu Youyou asked, “So when you say you're short on hands, Brother Tiger, is it just because you need people to farm?”
Wang Hu replied, “Brothers, I won't hide it from you. Farming is only one of the reasons.”
As he spoke, he pointed ahead.
“Look over there.”
Following his finger, the two of them saw a vast expanse of paddy fields.
Xu Youyou remarked, “Brother Tiger, are those rice paddies? They look like they're growing really well. But where did you get the rice seeds?”
“The rice seeds were bought in the city center,” Wang Hu said. “They're incredibly expensive. As for how those people got them, I'm not entirely sure either.”
“But as you know, no matter how expensive they are, we have to buy them.”
“But right now, the biggest issue isn't the seeds. It's that someone has set their sights on this place.”
Xu Youyou's eyes lit up. “Could another settlement be trying to seize this field from you, Brother Tiger?”
He had indeed noticed another criminal settlement nearby when he was studying the map earlier.
It was the second closest to the abandoned residential area they had been in, but walking there would take about five to six hours, making it unsuitable as their primary choice.
Wang Hu let out a heavy sigh.
“Yeah. About a two-hour walk from here, there's another place where a gang has gathered. Their leader is a guy named Zhao Cheng.”
“He got incredibly lucky recently and found a few newcomers, bringing their head count to a hundred and seven. We only have ninety-eight here. Adding you two just barely brings us to a hundred!”
Xu Youyou asked, “So... is there going to be a turf war?”
Wang Hu shook his head. “No, no.”
“While you can fight in Sin Hunter City, a gang brawl can easily get out of hand and result in someone getting killed. If you kill someone, you die too.”
“A lot of people died because of gang brawls in the past.”
“For example, if one of my men kills one of theirs, my man dies as well. It's a pure one-for-one trade. There's absolutely no benefit to it!”
“Over time, everyone realized this. So, gradually, we gave up on gang brawls and switched to another method of settling scores that doesn't involve fighting.”
Xu Youyou guessed, “Don't tell me you compare head counts?”
“You guessed right,” Wang Hu said. “Since then, we started comparing numbers. For small settlements like ours, as long as there's a difference of more than ten people, the side with more automatically wins.”
“For larger settlements, the difference has to be at least a hundred or even a thousand.”
“If the difference is small, say just one or two people, the smaller settlement won't accept the result. In their agitation, conflicts are highly likely to break out.”
“Once a conflict starts, there's a high probability someone will die. And once someone dies, things can't be easily resolved.”
After explaining all this in one breath, Wang Hu looked at the two of them with anticipation in eyes.
“So? Do you two plan to stay?”
“With you two, I'll have a hundred people. That bastard Zhao Cheng will have to find three more newcomers to maintain his lead. We can use this time to poach his members or recruit others to join us.”
Xu Youyou nodded repeatedly with a smile. “We'll join. Of course we'll join!”
“After all, we just arrived in Sin Hunter City and don't know anything. The most important thing for us right now is to find a place to settle down.”
Upon receiving a definite answer, the smile on Wang Hu's face became much more genuine.
The three of them walked and talked, or rather, it was mostly Xu Youyou chatting with Wang Hu.
Meanwhile, Wang Hu led them to an abandoned villa district.
It was kept in relatively decent shape.
At least it wasn't overgrown with weeds, and the streets were fairly clean. However, the pavement was cracked in many places, the walls were mottled and blackened, and traces of time were visible everywhere.
Still, Zuo Lin'an could understand why they had chosen this place as their settlement.
These were all villas, and it was obvious that this had once been a luxury residential area. Nearby was a river and a modestly sized lake.
Not far off were the vast rice fields.
Wang Hu asked, “Are you two living together?”
Xu Youyou replied, “Yes, we're partners. We killed together, got sentenced together, came to Sin Hunter City together, and now we're going to live together.”
Wang Hu smiled warmly. “Great! It's truly wonderful to have a brother you can trust!”
He sighed with emotion, then pointed to some of the villas ahead.
“These are all unoccupied. Feel free to pick whichever one you like.”
“As for the others, you don't need to worry about them. You can move around freely, and I'll come call you if anything comes up.”
Wang Hu chatted with them for a bit longer before reluctantly taking his leave.
Xu Youyou's mind raced. He tossed his backpack by the door and chased after him, calling out “Brother Tiger” with every other breath.
Left standing in place, Zuo Lin'an watched the two of them walk away with their arms over each other's shoulders, feeling a bit helpless.
“It seems... he really was starved for conversation.”
Rate on N.U.
