Rescued

The brief interruption left Ren Anhua feeling a little embarrassed, but she had been a leader, after all.

She quickly adjusted her mindset and stood on Shi Mu’s head once again.

The main reason she recovered so quickly was that from this angle, Shi Mu couldn’t see her face.

Actually, she could have just sat on the backpack, but she felt that lacked a certain coolness factor.

It was only because Shi Mu was a monk and didn’t mind having a loli perched on his head; anyone else would probably have been a little angry.

Shi Mu didn’t seem to have any intention of finding a car to drive, which Ren Anhua found a bit strange, but it didn’t matter to her.

After all, she wasn’t the one doing the walking.

Although Shi Mu appeared to be walking, their speed was surprisingly fast.

Ren Anhua suspected this monk might have some kind of “inch-shrinking” ability.

Although his performance indicated he was a high-level Awakened, Ren Anhua had no idea what Shi Mu’s actual ability was.

Could it be a space-type ability?

But the ferocious attack power he displayed didn’t seem like something a pure space-type ability could achieve.

In any case, although the two were not driving, they were still advancing at a considerable pace.

In the post-apocalyptic environment, humans were extremely rare; most of what they saw were zombies.

However, away from dangerous places like the city center, high-level zombies were not common.

The level of zombies was closely related to the density of the local horde.

While not an absolute correlation, it was certain that in places with few zombies to begin with, it was difficult to encounter high-level ones.

The first small county town Ren Anhua and Shi Mu arrived at, Lifeng County, was just such a place.

Lifeng County was a small county town particularly close to the city.

Because of its proximity, it had developed well, with a newly built industrial zone of a considerable size.

But it was precisely because of this proximity that any young person in the county with a bit of ambition would choose to go to the city to make their mark, or at the very least, transfer their household registration from this unheard-of little county to the resource-rich metropolis.

So, in stark contrast to the neat and orderly industrial zone was a scattered and chaotic old town.

The old town was a residential area, mostly consisting of cement houses built by the locals themselves, with no planning and not very pleasing to the eye.

It had been slated for demolition and reconstruction the following year, but due to the sudden outbreak of the apocalypse, this old town would likely never be torn down.

With Ren Anhua on his head, Shi Mu entered this small county town.

There were only a few scattered zombies on the streets, posing no real threat, and the two high-level Awakened had no intention of provoking them.

After all, with zombies, although they might seem few in number at times, who knew how many more of these things were hiding in the residential buildings on either side.

Even if they couldn’t pose a danger to high-level Awakened like Ren Anhua and Shi Mu, being disgusted by them was still a hassle.

Ren Anhua had no intention of staying long in this small county town.

After all, there was still a long way to go to reach Su City.

But sometimes, things don’t go as planned.

A dozen uniquely dressed, arrogant-looking individuals surrounded Shi Mu and Ren Anhua.

“Hahaha, why is this monk carrying a little loli on his head? Monk, are you from India?”

A young man in a purple suit with his hair dyed green said this, sparking a burst of laughter.

Their casual mockery of Shi Mu naturally displeased Ren Anhua greatly.

Shi Mu was, in a way, her benefactor.

Ren Anhua was very clear about debts of gratitude and cared about them quite a bit.

Of course, more importantly, the other party had called her a “little loli” right off the bat.

Although Ren Anhua knew she was a little bit short now, her figure was at least maturely developed.

How was she a loli?

Oh no… Ren Anhua was furious that they simply saw her as a harmless female.

Couldn’t they see the “big brother” aura she was exuding?

She had been the overlord of the East Suburbs, for crying out loud.

Besides, it was obvious at a glance that this group had bad intentions.

Not only was their posture pretentious, but their way of speaking also gave off a flippant vibe.

Overall, they all carried an air of arrogance and madness.

Ren Anhua hated this type of person the most.

Because when she was the leader of the Survivor Camp, she would always encounter people like this.

They seemed to have a strange admiration for the concept of “evil” and always thought of Ren Anhua as a super-cool gang boss.

Then, with a strange yearning for the underworld, they would join Ren Anhua’s camp.

But all they did were the deeds of thugs and hooligans, using Ren Anhua’s name to bully others everywhere.

Collecting protection fees was standard procedure, and there were quite a few who committed crimes and violated the law, robbing people on the road at the drop of a hat.

It seemed that in this apocalypse, destroying order and breaking the law was the true meaning of life.

But how could Ren Anhua possibly agree with such a bullshit philosophy?

Being treated as a gang boss already made her extremely unhappy, and for them to commit such despicable acts under her name made her fly into a rage.

These people were responsible for at least thirty percent of Ren Anhua’s notorious reputation in Pingding County.

Their existence made Ren Anhua often ask herself, “What part of me looks like a gang boss? I’m clearly just a leader trying my best to survive the apocalypse with my men. Why can’t these people understand that?”

So, for this type of person, Ren Anhua either burned them or kicked them out of the camp.

In fact, most of them were burned directly.

Only those who couldn’t be burned on the spot were fortunate enough to be kicked out of the camp, like Er Gou when they first encountered the RV team.

It was just that Er Gou’s luck had run out; before Ren Anhua could burn him, Lu Shanshui had cut him down.

Watching the group stare at her like a pack of hungry wolves, Ren Anhua felt a wave of disgust.

That kind of gaze didn’t seem like one facing a strong enemy, but more like they had seen some delicious treat that could be enjoyed at will.

Ren Anhua couldn’t be bothered to guess what these people were thinking.

She jumped down directly from Shi Mu’s head and took out a handful of nails from her bag.

Wobu Zai’s death had given Ren Anhua an idea.

Driving a nail directly into the enemy’s heart was probably the only way she could kill an enemy before she fully mastered her healing ability.

“More good and less evil is the righteous path for a person. Patrons, robbing others of their belongings is an evil act. Committing such unrighteous deeds frequently, I fear, will invite karmic retribution.”

Before Ren Anhua could make a move, Shi Mu began his persuasion.

But for some reason, this persuasion sounded a little off to Ren Anhua.

“Hey, this monk is interesting. Why don’t we kill him first? We can keep the little beauty to play with for a while longer.”

The green-haired man in the purple suit seemed to be the leader of this group.

A purple suit and green hair.

Ren Anhua was finally reminded of a certain famous DC villain, but this person’s appearance really didn’t match that supervillain, and his face was also rather dark, which was why Ren Anhua hadn’t reacted at first.

“Amitabha. The multitude of living beings struggle in a sea of suffering, falling into evil deeds without knowing repentance. But the path of the Buddha is to persuade people toward goodness. This humble monk cannot see evil and not guide it toward good. At birth, man’s nature is inherently good. Patrons, in your next life, you must be good people.”

Shi Mu’s expression was filled with compassion.

Ren Anhua probably understood how this guy, Shi Mu, had survived in the apocalypse until now.

He seemed to have a unique set of personal values.

The two sides were at a standoff, as if a battle would erupt at any second.

But this tense atmosphere was broken by an off-road vehicle that came speeding over.

“F*ck, it’s that dog Chen Shu again.”

A curse was heard from among the dozen or so people, letting Ren Anhua know that this off-road vehicle belonged to another faction.

The off-road vehicle screeched to a halt between Ren Anhua’s side and the roadside robbers, its arrogant frame completely blocking Ren Anhua’s line of sight.

The back door slammed open, and appearing before Ren Anhua was a woman who could be described as an aloof beauty, but the urgent expression on her face ruined that cold aesthetic.

“No time to explain, get in the car!”

The woman extended a hand toward Ren Anhua.

Ren Anhua was momentarily stunned, not knowing what she meant.

She was just about to give each of those clueless guys a nail.

But then an off-road vehicle suddenly appeared in front of her, telling her to get in.

What was going on?

Seeing Ren Anhua frozen in place, the woman reached out and, with extreme speed, pulled the excessively light pink-haired girl into the car and set her down.

In such a tense situation, the woman didn’t seem to notice Ren Anhua’s abnormally light weight.

Compared to the dazed Ren Anhua, Shi Mu’s reaction was much faster.

He jumped into the car himself and even closed the door behind him.

With a roar of the engine, the off-road vehicle sped away, leaving the dozen or so thuggish robbers behind.

“Patrons, thank you for your rescue.”

Shi Mu placed his palms together, expressing his gratitude.

‘Rescue who? Those robbers?’

Things had happened too suddenly, and Ren Anhua was still a bit confused.

“It’s nothing, just saw an injustice on the road.”

The driver was a sturdy man.

He chuckled, looking very open-minded.

But when he spoke of the robbers who had blocked the road, his expression quickly darkened.

“Those people blocking the road are no good. Many of them are Awakened. It’s not difficult for them to gather resources and survive in this place, but they always like to prey on their fellow humans. They’re all scum! There’s something wrong with their brains, especially their boss, that Ren Anhua!”

There were four people in the back of the off-road vehicle.

Besides the newly boarded Shi Mu and Ren Anhua, there were two others who were already in the car.

One was the woman who had pulled Ren Anhua in, and the other looked like a high school student.

After hearing the driver’s words, the male student seemed to recall some bad things and became a bit agitated.

“Yeah! None of those people are any good!” the boy said.

“f*ck! You little brat, you’re swearing in front of my daughter again, you little shit! Watch your mouth!”

The driver, upon hearing the boy’s agreement, became annoyed instead, then spoke gently to the young girl sitting in the passenger seat.

“Xiao Yi, you must not learn from him.”

“Anyway, you’re safe now. Our resource collection for today is over, so we can take you to the Mutual Aid Society right away. Oh, you don’t have to worry about us being bad people. The people in the Mutual Aid Society are all ordinary folks. We’re all good people who work together to help each other survive in the apocalypse, not like those people from the Survivor Camp.”

The driver seemed to be the leader of this group.

“By the way, my name is Chen Shu, and this is my daughter, Chen Yi. If you don’t mind, you can join our Mutual Aid Society. Of course, we won’t force you. It’s fine if you don’t want to join. May I ask your names?” the driver continued.

“This humble monk’s dharma name is Shi Mu. You may call this humble monk Shi Mu.”

No matter how slow her reaction was, Ren Anhua had now roughly figured out the current situation.

It seemed they had been “rescued” by a faction called the “Mutual Aid Society.”

Those robbers who blocked the road all belonged to an organization called the “Survivor Camp,” and the leader of that organization was also named “Ren Anhua.”

‘What kind of demons and monsters are these?’

A countless number of “what the f*cks” rose in Ren Anhua’s heart.

“My name is Ren… Ren Xiao An.”

Ren Anhua hit the brakes just in time.

“By the way, I’m a boy, and I’m already twenty-five years old,” she added as a supplement.

“Hehe, this little loli is so funny when she talks,” said the high school-looking boy.