CHAPTER 335: CHAPTER 316: THE VILLAGE AND GOU

This is evidently Healing Village.

Lu Shou’s prestige in Healing Village is also evidently high.

He got angry, and with a roar, all the people of Healing Village immediately went silent, and the woods suddenly became quiet.

But Lu Xi’an and Yao Wei could still see that the villagers of Healing Village regarded Lu Shou with awe, not fear.

There is a clear distinction between the two.

Fear makes one cower, careful with every move, terrified of angering the person they fear.

Yet under their awe for Lu Shou, the people of Healing Village dared to exchange glances, but none dared speak.

Lu Xi’an and Yao Wei sat in the car, and through the front windshield, they saw some familiar faces in the crowd.

The young Gou and the person they met later were among them.

"Da Ge, come here!"

Lu Shou roared again.

The person Lu Xi’an and Yao Wei met later came out full of apprehension.

It turned out he was called "Da Ge" here by Lu Shou.

But for both Lu Xi’an and Yao Wei, as well as Lu Shou, his stature was not particularly large.

"Master."

Da Ge called out hesitantly as he emerged from the crowd.

Lu Shou said, "Didn’t I tell you to drive them all away, leaving only you here? What’s going on?"

Da Ge, with a forlorn look, said, "Master, I did drive them away, but they don’t leave. They left but then returned. Driving them away is of no use!"

Lu Shou’s face was gloomy, and he looked at another person: "Old Chou, come here."

The person he looked at had a head full of white hair, hunched back, bowed legs, and a face full of wrinkles, but his spirit looked energetic enough.

He seemed to be the oldest among them.

After Lu Shou finished speaking, he came out, also calling out: "Master."

Lu Shou closed his eyes, took a deep breath, then opened them and said, "Among these people, you’re the oldest and have been with me the longest.

"Usually, everyone listens to you. Didn’t I specifically tell you to lead everyone away and not come back? I told you you’d die if you came back, with no way out. Why didn’t you understand and brought everyone back to die together?"

Old Chou shrunk for a long time, seeing Lu Shou staring at him with a fierce look on his face, realized he couldn’t escape, and then he said:

"Master, we were all going to leave, but after we left, we all felt this wasn’t the right thing.

"Now that we’ve left here, it’s either death or a life worse than death, so it’s better to come back. After having a master like you, we don’t want to find any other master.

"You’ve always treated us well and don’t eat us, and you demand that we don’t eat each other, too. You’ve treated us as human beings, so whether dead or alive, we are willing to follow you."

This ’eating each other’ probably refers to them, these ordinary people, becoming food for others when they die. Among ordinary people, they are considered their own, just like the Neo-Humans of Northern County indulging in cannibalism among themselves.

Lu Xi’an understood clearly and also noticed that Old Chou was speaking more and more smoothly.

Old Chou continued, "You’re in trouble now, and we’d rather come back to die with you than leave.

"This is what we all think. We left here because everyone decided this way, and I couldn’t stop them. Moreover, I didn’t want to stop them; I think the same way."

He spoke as if he were making a desperate move, "Anyway, things are like this now, Master. If you’re dissatisfied, you might as well just beat us to death, or let us follow you, dead or alive."

Lu Shou faced away from Lu Xi’an and Yao Wei’s camper, so Lu Xi’an couldn’t see his expression, but inside the camper, they could see Lu Shou’s body tremble.

Could this guy be tearing up?

Lu Xi’an thought to himself, watching as the people in front of him started talking one after another, essentially echoing Old Chou’s sentiments, expressing their resolve to follow Lu Shou, even unto death.

Lu Shou’s body wasn’t just trembling once but shaking uncontrollably, he held back for a long time before blurting out, "Go, go, scatter, do what you need to do."

The crowd understood from what Lu Shou said that he no longer intended to send them away, and their faces broke into smiles as they dispersed.

Some said they were going to tidy up the village; others said they were going to find food, grouping in twos and threes, each busy, appearing lively and well-organized, unlike elsewhere, full of animosity and pressure.

They seemed to be enjoying the moment to the fullest, even though Lu Shou had already told them that the people from Northern County would come later, and then it would be their death day; they still wanted to seriously enjoy the moment of being alive.

The young Gou and Old Chou saw Lu Xi’an and Yao Wei and came over to the camper to greet them.

But when faced with Lu Xi’an and Yao Wei, they seemed more reserved and fearful than when facing Lu Shou.

It appears that in their eyes, Lu Shou indeed seemed more like a good person than Lu Xi’an and Yao Wei.

Lu Xi’an felt as if he had returned to Institute 923, as if he was seeing the scene of when he first met Liu Hua and Tang Er and gradually confirmed where Lu Shou’s transformation began.

Humans are, after all, complex animals. This was someone who, driven by selfish desires, stole the Fungus Stone, fled Northern County, and hid here, causing the deaths of many ordinary people for the sake of creating useful human flesh, a Neo-Human who eventually slowly became a protector of a group of ordinary people.