CHAPTER 14: CHAPTER 14: RETURNING A LIFE-SAVING GRACE WITH BULLETS

Morrison has always been annoying like this – lazy, annoying, and dirt poor.

Shooting him feels like a waste of bullets – he’s really that worthless.

That’s why Qu Jianlei would rather use a knife to hack him.

Upon hearing this, he wasn’t surprised. "Where are my metal stick and charcoal?"

"Exchanged for food," Morrison admitted to stealing the tricycle and decided to own up to those worthless trinkets as well.

Qu Jianlei stared at him dumbfounded for a moment, then spoke up, "Pull the cart for me from now on!"

If he couldn’t get compensation, then he would just exploit his labor.

Morrison’s eyes darted, "Then... how about my wages?"

Qu Jianlei pointed the long blade at him, indifferently asked, "Wages... What are you expecting?"

"At least you should cover my food and drink, right?" Morrison shamelessly replied.

"Figure it out yourself," Qu Jianlei had no tolerance for his nonsense, "Pay off your debt, and I’ll let you go!"

"Tsk," Morrison clicked his teeth helplessly, but didn’t dare argue.

He was used to petty thievery, and when life got tough, he didn’t mind doing labor for some food and drink.

But working for free was something he couldn’t tolerate.

So, he secretly decided he’d have to find an opportunity to escape.

Then his eyes darted again, looking at the short dagger at Qu Jianlei’s waist, grinning, he spoke up.

"Xiaoqu, I’ll work for you, but... can I borrow a short dagger for protection? A lot of people don’t like me."

Qu Jianlei expressionlessly pulled out the dagger, lowering his eyes asked, "This one?"

"Yes yes," Morrison nodded smilingly, "Don’t worry, just borrowing."

As soon as he finished speaking, Qu Jianlei moved, so fast that it was impossible to see clearly.

In the next moment, blood splattered everywhere, and Morrison’s thigh had a hole in it.

Morrison didn’t have time to react, only felt a jolt on his leg.

After four or five seconds, he clutched his thigh, looking at Qu Jianlei in disbelief.

He let out an "Ah!" scream, "You... you really hit me?"

Qu Jianlei didn’t even have the interest to look up, speaking blandly, "Try yelling again?"

Morrison held his thigh, slowly sat down, gasping in pain.

He didn’t dare shout anymore, just whispered through gritted teeth, "My leg... is injured, I can’t ride a bike."

"Then pull it along," Qu Jianlei’s voice was emotionless, "Work, or die!"

"..." Morrison fell silent, I’m working for you, and you stabbed me?

This guy is a complete lunatic!

He sighed after a long silence, "This way, my work efficiency will decrease, you can’t blame me."

Qu Jianlei replied without hesitation, "You can try and see what the consequences of slacking off are."

Morrison couldn’t help but complain, "Xiaoqu, Brother Qu... can you be reasonable?"

Qu Jianlei finally raised his eyelids, looking at him coldly, "I’ll let you reorganize your language."

"Fine," Morrison sighed, "I meant to say I wanted to help you protect the goods, can you stop hitting me?"

Bullshit protection of goods! Qu Jianlei knew perfectly well what this guy was up to.

But he didn’t bother explaining, just blandly said, "You can also try running away."

Morrison chuckled awkwardly, "I won’t... why would I run?"

He genuinely had plans to escape, intending to swipe the short dagger before making a break, but didn’t expect the other to stab his leg directly.

Survivors in the wasteland are tough, with strong self-healing abilities.

This stab to the outside of his thigh would heal in about half a day, allowing him to limp around.

But thinking about relying on speed to escape was out of the question for the next few days.

Moreover, injured survivors are more likely to encounter accidents in the wild, the Fallen and mutant beasts have very keen senses of smell.

The place where they were was more than a kilometer away from the junkyard, shielded by garbage, so most wouldn’t notice this scene.

However, unexpectedly, a filthy woman stood atop the heap of trash, holding a pair of binoculars.

She took in the scene, sighing after a long while, "So decisive... changed his temperament so quickly?"

Next to her was a burly teenage boy, "Sis, this guy seems dangerous, should we tell someone?"

"Why should we tell others?" the woman glanced at him, "Just us knowing he’s troublesome is enough."

She was a bit surprised that Sha Qu could change from his usual cowardice, but she knew it was best to steer clear.

She believed there were certainly others among the Scavengers who thought the same.

Qu Jianlei didn’t pay any more attention to Morrison who was muttering in a low voice, instead walked again towards the junkyard.

About half a kilometer from the junkyard, he stopped, continuing to watch the people passing by.

Before long, a slightly chubby young man and a red-haired fellow walked straight towards him.

Qu Jianlei didn’t need to guess their intentions — they held a Gauss Automatic Rifle, was there any need to ask?

So he faced the opponent, slowly retreating backward.

The Wasteland is indeed chaotic, and human life is cheap, but with so many eyes watching, striking first is still not quite appropriate.

Coincidentally, the two on the opposite side thought the same. Seeing Qu Jianlei retreating, they approached slowly and deliberately.

Seeing this, Qu Jianlei quickened his retreat. Fortunately, his body was quite nimble, allowing him to maintain the distance between them.

It didn’t take long for him to retreat nearly a kilometer, to a spot not far from Morrison.

Then he stopped retreating and took out the Gauss Automatic Rifle.

Seeing this, the two on the other side also slowed their steps. The slightly overweight one spoke loudly, "Sha Qu, we don’t want to make things difficult for you."

"We need to take back the laser gun of Third Master, name your price."

"The laser gun was snatched from Greedy Wolf by me," Qu Jianlei replied loudly, "Third Master did me a favor; I must retrieve it."

Did him a favor? The slightly chubby man felt a moment of joy in his heart. Unless absolutely necessary, he didn’t want to have a shootout either.

"If that’s the case, on behalf of Third Master, I thank you for retrieving his heirloom."

"That’s not necessary," Qu Jianlei also didn’t want to attack them rashly, so he attempted one last persuasion.

"Third Master said he’d look out for me; this gun should be mine."

"The boss said he’d look out for you?" The slightly chubby man’s eyebrows raised, looking somewhat surprised, "But we are his men."

"Isn’t it only right for us to inherit his legacy?"

He wasn’t planning to reason, aiming instead to lower Sha Qu’s guard, so he could get close and launch a surprise attack.

"But..." Just as Qu Jianlei began speaking, he raised the Gauss Automatic Rifle and decisively opened fire.

"Da da da," a salvo of bullets was unleashed, blocking their direction of movement and even considering the possibility of them falling prone.

Qu Jianlei’s marksmanship was quite average, but his calculation ability was exceptionally strong.

Although his accuracy was lacking, at this range, it was more or less accurate.

The key was the automatic rifle’s ability to fire continuously; its recoil was substantial, but Qu Jianlei’s calculation abilities were not to be doubted.

The slightly chubby man’s body instantly bore three holes. While none were fatal, the power of the Gauss Automatic Rifle was too great.

In a flash, his right arm was shot off, his left ankle fractured, and one bullet took away his left ear.

"You!" The slightly chubby young man’s eyes were wide with anger, but whatever he intended to do was already too late.

His whole body was propelled by the massive kinetic force, spinning and flinging heavily to the right!

He genuinely hadn’t anticipated that the other side, just like him, harbored thoughts of striking first.

At this moment, his mind was filled with outrage: How dare you strike so fiercely!

Ultimately, Qu Jianlei had always appeared so harmless in the past, which is why others underestimated him.

The slightly chubby man dared to demand the gun from Qu Jianlei based on this judgment, and Qu Jianlei’s reaction further fueled his arrogance.

That’s why he thought that he and Red Hair could take down the lone wolf on the opposite side.

At this moment, he was truly furious, "How dare you..."

Qu Jianlei’s face showed no expression, but internally, he scoffed: If I didn’t dare, wouldn’t I be the one dead?

Red Hair was directly dumbfounded, then fell to his knees, raising both hands, "Qu... Bro Qu, it’s not my business!"

Qu Jianlei didn’t even have the interest to glance at him, raising his hand to fire three more shots.

The slightly chubby young man was still holding a Gauss Automatic Rifle!

Until his death, his eyes were filled with disbelief.

After killing him, Qu Jianlei turned his head, expressionless, towards Red Hair.

Red Hair, trembling, spoke with his hands still raised high, "Qu, Qu Bro... Third Master is my boss; he saved your life."

"Yes, Third Master is my lifesaver," Qu Jianlei nodded, then turned the gun, pulling the trigger.

Seeing Red Hair fall into a pool of blood, he heaved a soft sigh, murmuring under his breath, "But it was Third Master who saved me... what does that have to do with you?"

Then he raised his head, looking indifferently in one direction, "Have you seen enough?"

"Enough, enough," Morrison replied hastily, "I’m recovering from an injury and can’t go far."

Qu Jianlei shot him a cold glance, "I hope you can keep your mouth shut... or do I need to help you?"

"No need, no need," Morrison quickly answered, an increased sense of apprehension within his heart.

He always thought that after getting the weapon, Sha Qu’s mindset became somewhat inflated, hence his actions were reckless.

But now it seems, this guy is incredibly calm-headed.

He only gave himself a cut but didn’t hesitate to kill Third Master’s two assistants.

The Wasteland isn’t short of people who kill without blinking, but killing one to warn another takes a precise control that’s hard to master.

Morrison could vaguely guess why those two died, and yet he survived.

But regardless, killing people without any forewarning isn’t something an ordinary person can do.

Silently taking on two opponents, a timid person definitely couldn’t manage it... the key is that he did it.

At this moment, he became fully convinced of the outside rumors—the mind of Sha Qu really isn’t normal!

So he proactively asked, "Shall I bury the two of them for you?"

(A new month has begun, during the new book period, seeking all kinds of support.)