Chapter 29
Chapter 29
The Bespectacled Man tossed the last piece of gravel he’d casually picked up from the garden. Hearing it strike with a dull thud, he felt both unsatisfied and vaguely uneasy.
He pushed his slipping glasses back up his nose and leaned toward the burly man beside him, whose fleshy face was marred by a vicious diagonal scar running from his brow to the corner of his mouth. Lowering his voice, he said, “Brother Li, we’ve been throwing rocks for ages, but there hasn’t been a sound from inside… Do you think no one’s really home? Or maybe… they’re all dead asleep?”
Scarface spat viciously onto the ground. Narrowing his eyes, he stared at the villa before them, its luxurious air undiminished even in the morning mist. Greed and malice glinted in his gaze.
“Who the hell knows? We all saw it clear as day that night! That car came tearing back in a panic. They must’ve found plenty of food.” He licked his cracked lips as if he could already smell it. “They might even have cigarettes and booze… Fucking rich bastards. Even after the apocalypse, they’ve still got all this good shit stockpiled.”
The Bespectacled Man swallowed. His hunger and craving for supplies instantly overwhelmed his unease. But then he seemed to remember something even more terrifying, and his voice began to tremble. “Brother Li, shouldn’t we… head back? Didn’t that woman tell us to return within half an hour?”
Besides, they were out in the middle of nowhere. He was terrified that a couple of madmen might spring out from somewhere and tear them to pieces.
The words “that woman” hit the Scarred Man, Brother Li, like a bucket of ice water, instantly quenching his feverish greed. He even shuddered involuntarily. The flesh on his face twitched, making his scar look even more vicious.
Whenever he thought of that lunatic woman, a dark fury rose inside him, mingling fear, anger, and humiliation.
He was a man who had spent half his life getting by on his fists and sheer ruthlessness, yet some slip of a woman had him completely under her thumb!
There was something in that woman’s eyes more sinister than anything he’d seen in the hardened criminals he’d met in prison! If she didn’t have… those things, as well as those vicious bastards who only obeyed her…
“Pah! Just my damn luck!” Brother Li cursed under his breath, forcibly banishing the images from his mind. But the frustration of wanting to rebel and not daring to only grew stronger.
Just you wait, he thought viciously. Once I get my chance, once I have enough supplies and weapons, that crazy bitch will be the first one I…
He ran through various methods of torture in his mind, taking a fleeting, hollow pleasure in the fantasy.
He cast one last resentful glare at the villa, sweeping his gaze over its pitch-black windows as if he could drag out whatever food might be hidden inside through sheer force of will.
Just as he was about to turn away, he thought he saw something move in the shadows behind one of the second-floor windows out of the corner of his eye…
He looked closer and saw pair after pair of eyes.
Cold and utterly emotionless, they stared straight back at him through the hazy morning mist and the glass.
Brother Li’s scalp prickled, and every hair on his body stood on end. He snapped his gaze toward the window and looked again.
There was nothing there but the dull gray reflection on the glass and the heavy shadows of the curtains. What eyes?
That brief glimpse had passed so quickly it might have been an illusion.
But the sudden chill it had sent through him still lingered along his spine.
“…Let’s go!” Brother Li’s voice was dry. He hesitated no longer. Turning abruptly, almost in a rush, he strode toward the path down the mountain as if something were chasing him from behind.
The Bespectacled Man and the other shifty-eyed men hurried after him. The group soon disappeared into the woods.
Only after the group had been out of sight for several full minutes did Qingshui slowly relax her grip on the crossbow.
She had assumed that after pelting the villa with rocks in such a brazen provocation, they would try to break down the door or search for a weakness in the defenses.
If they truly dared to approach, there was a good chance they would trigger the crude tripwires and traps by the entrance.
The traps would injure them and provide an early warning, but it would also mean damage to the defenses the group had worked so hard to set up. Repairing and reinforcing them would take time.
That was hardly ideal.
Yet, to her surprise, the other group had simply… retreated?
“They’re gone.” Qingshui slowly straightened from the shadows beside the window, her voice calm as she made the announcement.
At those words, the nearly frozen atmosphere in the living room began to thaw. Everyone let out a collective sigh of relief.
Li Wei’an and Chen Yuhui crowded beside Qingshui and strained to see outside. The first pale light of dawn had appeared on the horizon, providing just enough visibility through the gray gloom.
They could vaguely make out the group’s retreating figures as they disappeared at the edge of the woods.
“They just… left?” Li Wei’an frowned, confusion written across her face. “They made all that noise just to throw a few rocks?”
Their behavior made no sense. She had no desire for a confrontation, but somehow, the fact that the group had done nothing at all was even more frightening.
Chen Yuhui thought of an even worse possibility. “Could it have been… a diversion? What if they made all that noise to draw our attention while someone else snuck in from another direction?!”
Everyone instantly went cold with fear.
Lin Hao’s hair stood on end. “Th-That’s impossible, right? We checked and reinforced all the doors and windows… M-Maybe we should split up and inspect the villa now?”
“No.” Qingshui rejected the suggestion without hesitation. “Splitting up is the worst thing we could do before we understand what they’re planning. If we stay together, we can respond to any unexpected situation.”
She stepped to the window and stared in the direction the group had disappeared, deep in thought. “Maybe… they really were only trying to scare us.”
“Psychological warfare?” Ji Feifan finally spoke. His usual stern expression had returned, though his gaze was colder than before.
Realization dawned on Li Wei’an. “They want to wear down our nerves and vigilance first, then surround and attack us once we’re exhausted?”
Qingshui nodded and swept her gaze over the others. “It’s possible. Those people are dangerous. They’re testing us.”
After a brief pause, she made her decision. “We need to be even more vigilant over the next few days. The watch rotation will remain the same, but everyone needs to stay on full alert. Besides keeping watch as usual, listen for any unusual sounds from inside the villa. We’ll inspect the traps and alarms once a day.”
“Then are we…” An Xiaolin could not help asking, “just going to let them keep terrorizing us like this? What if they really do sneak over one night…”
“Waiting to see what happens doesn’t mean sitting around and waiting for death.” Qingshui’s gaze sharpened. “They’re only doing this because they’re running out of supplies. Let’s see who loses patience first.”
She turned to Lin Hao. “Lin Hao, we can’t risk flying the drone during the day. It’ll draw too much attention. Find an opportunity at night and conduct limited reconnaissance at low altitude in the direction they left. Don’t get too close.”
“Got it,” Lin Hao replied.
“Everyone, get some more rest.”
The group dispersed once again.
Fang Shuyao and Zhou Shaocheng soothed the child. When their eyes met, profound worry flickered in both their gazes.