Rotting Land: Survive-Chapter 522 - 515: Vehicle Approaching in the Mountains (Part 3)
After listening to Li Zhong and Li Guo’s memories, the survivors with similar experiences all empathized deeply.
However, Tang Xiaoquan considered things more deeply, because he noticed that the pair didn’t hide their actions of killing.
One must know, the feeling of killing a person and killing zombies is entirely different, and Tang Xiaoquan knew this all too well.
After all, at the start of the apocalypse, he had mistakenly killed a "zombie" that he thought was human, and the "guilt" from that slaughter still haunts him to this day.
As for Li Zhong and Li Guo, not only did they speak about these matters, but their expressions during the description were extremely complex.
This showed that they were candid, but also terrified.
Thus, Tang Xiaoquan’s judgment of the characters of Li Zhong and Li Guo improved slightly.
But even so, it still didn’t mean Tang Xiaoquan fully trusted Li Zhong and Li Guo.
The same was true for Xu Renjie, although outwardly he didn’t show any signs: "Hmm, you two really have it tough."
As his words ended, Wu Chao cheerfully walked out from the kitchen. Upon reaching the living room, he immediately served the tea as instructed by Xu Renjie, along with freshly warmed, snow-white buns.
The moment the buns were placed on the table, Li Zhong and Li Guo’s eyes instantly turned green with hunger. This kind of reaction could never be faked by a normal person; it’s a natural response only when genuinely starved to the bone.
Xu Renjie, who had trained outdoors for years, understood this all too well, thus confirming the authenticity of the young men’s story.
At least, in terms of being hungry, they hadn’t lied.
"Come on, it’s not lunchtime yet, but you two go ahead and eat these buns while they’re hot to fill your stomachs. We’ll make you a proper meal at noon."
Upon hearing this, Li Zhong and Li Guo spared no thoughts for anything else, abandoning all manners, reaching out with both hands and shoving the buns into their mouths as if reincarnated as starving ghosts.
"Eat slower, eat slower, be careful not to burn yourselves!" Watching their unsightly eating manners, Xu Renjie shook his head helplessly.
In less than a minute, the two buns were completely devoured by Li Zhong and Li Guo. After finishing, they reluctantly picked up the crumbs on the wooden table and popped them into their mouths, truly embodying "hard-earned grains."
"Thank you! Really, thank you so much!" Perhaps realizing their "ugly state," Li Zhong, the elder brother, smiled awkwardly, swallowed hard the remaining crumbs, and took a couple of sips of warm water: "Sorry for this unsightly scene, but to be honest, my brother and I haven’t eaten for a whole day. If we hadn’t encountered you, we might have..."
He shook his head helplessly, and Li Zhong lowered his head sorrowfully.
Seeing this scene, Xu Renjie assessed:
These brothers are quite honest and straightforward, but they are too scholarly and lack manly strength.
If not, as grown men with functioning limbs, even in such a dire world, as long as they dare to fight for their lives, how would finding food and drink be an issue? How would they end up in such a deplorable situation?
However, regardless of his thoughts, Old Xu remained calm-faced, showing no emotional fluctuation at all.
He wanted to impose an aura of authority to make them realize that this place isn’t somewhere for tricks and games.
And for reassurance on the other side, he knew Tang Xiaoquan by his side would handle relations well.
So, Old Xu shook his head slightly: "It’s nothing, since we’ve accepted you, these are as they should be. But there are some things I need to clarify with you!"
His expressions tightened, and Xu Renjie’s eyes suddenly shot out with sharp glints:
"First, joining our big family requires unity and devotion. I don’t care what temper or habits you had before, but here, don’t cause trouble!"
"Second, we don’t keep idle people here. To put it plainly, you must contribute and show your worth. This worth doesn’t have to be immense, but it must be sincere!"
"Third, when on a mission, you need to obey commands! In danger, be courageous and decisive! I don’t wish for you to be those who only share but can’t withstand ordeals!"
"Fourth, don’t leave the group without permission. For any actions, report in advance!"
"Fifth, and the most important point, remember this. If you want to join us, regard this place as home. If you harbor other intentions, then sorry, I surely won’t let you off!"
"Do you understand?"
"Uh..." Apparently not expecting the man opposite them to be so fierce, Li Zhong and Li Guo were momentarily stunned there.
"Haha, alright," timely interrupting the conversation, Tang Xiaoquan casually patted Xu Renjie’s shoulder and then smilingly said: "Old Xu, look how you scared Zhong and Guo brothers. Li Zhong, Li Guo, don’t overthink it. Old Xu is just like this, his reason to lay down these terms is mainly to hope you quickly integrate into our family. I can assure you here, as long as you treat this place as home, we’ll naturally treat you as family, so need not be distant, haha!"
Sure enough, as Tang Xiaoquan’s words fell, Li Zhong and Li Guo’s initially bewildered expressions immediately relaxed, and they bowed their heads in response: "Rest assured, we will certainly integrate quickly among you."
"Yeah! Good! That’s great!" Upon hearing this, Tang Xiaoquan clapped his hands twice, his gestures appeared especially excited.
But fully understanding young people, Xu Renjie knew well that the former was acting.
"Let’s do this, I suppose neither of you had a proper bath recently, you should go shower first. After that, I’ll take you for a health check. Oh, don’t misunderstand, this is a preventive measure. For the safety of the premises, we need to conduct checks on outsiders to prevent infection or mutation."
"Oh, that’s understandable, that’s understandable!"
Afterward, Tang Xiaoquan led Li Zhong and Li Guo into the bathroom and took away the clothes they removed.
Upon returning to his own room, he immediately inspected these clothes for any carried items.
Finding nothing suspicious, Tang Xiaoquan slightly relaxed his vigilance.
Meanwhile, Xu Renjie went up to the second-floor surveillance room, feeling uneasy. Upon entering, he saw Lin Junfu scanning around with tightly furrowed brows. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎
This inevitably piqued Xu Renjie’s curiosity, and he walked over quickly to ask: "Old Lin, what are you looking at? Something going on?" (To be continued. If you like this work, you’re welcome to visit Qidian.com to vote for recommendations and monthly votes. Your support is my biggest motivation. Mobile users, please read at m.qidian.com.)
