165: Sympathy in the end times is a death warrant

"Get in the car!" Xu Qianyao shouted.

Cao Xingying and Huang Wenzhou scrambled into the car.

As soon as the car door closed, some of the refugees were already catching up.

They surrounded the off-road vehicle, frantically smashing it with the tools in their hands.

"Give us the food!"

"I saw pears! Give them to me!"

"Get out!"

Xu Qianyao pressed the accelerator, trying to break through, but the refugees were not afraid of death at all, blocking the tires with their bodies.

"Open the windows and shoot!"

Jiang Fei, using her travel bag as a cover, retrieved three small and powerful submachine guns from the Supermarket warehouse and distributed them to Lu Yu and Yin Jing.

She lowered the car window to a slit just wide enough for the gun barrel to pass through and pulled the trigger.

Da da da—!

At the same time, Lu Yu and the others also lowered their windows and opened fire.

With the submachine guns clearing the refugees, Xu Qianyao quickly found an opportunity to break through the encirclement.

Bringing the military trucks behind him along.

The refugees pursued relentlessly, not wanting to let go of the long-awaited fat sheep, but two legs couldn't outrun four wheels, and they were soon left behind.

After shaking off the refugees, Xu Qianyao slowed down and used the walkie-talkie to call the cars behind.

"Is anyone injured or is the car damaged?"

The trailing cars replied one by one, all reporting that they were safe.

Cao Xingying, sitting in the last row, was pale with fright: "How could so many refugees come over..."

"Those people have been hungry for a long time. As soon as they hear there's food, they'll naturally rush here like hungry wolves seeing meat."

Yin Jing warned Cao Xingying: "Next time you let your sympathy run wild, you'll get out of the team and don't even think about returning to the Safety Shelter."

It wasn't that she was harsh; once entangled with refugees, it would result in minor losses of supplies or, worse, instant death.

The survivors outside were starving and freezing, and then they saw them, clean, with food and drink, and felt a severe imbalance in their hearts.

Everyone is human, why am I hungry while you get to eat?

Leading to extreme retaliatory behavior.

Cao Xingying lowered her head guiltily: "I'm sorry... I almost implicated the team..."

Seeing Cao Xingying apologize, Yin Jing's tone softened a little: "I used to be much like you, feeling pity for others and thinking I should help. It was thanks to Jiang Fei that I changed this."

"Sympathy in the apocalypse is a death warrant, not a virtue."

Like Cao Xingying and Huang Wen Zhou, who had never been out on a mission, they assumed the outside world was like the Safety Shelter, with no shortage of food and water, and where life could continue normally.

Little did they know, it was the officials who were protecting the survivors from the elements.

Cao Xingying remained silent, pondering Yin Jing's words.

"Jiang Fei, thank you for the submachine gun. This thing has more firepower than a pistol. Without it, we would truly be doomed today."

Jiang Fei didn't take Yin Jing's gun, instead giving her a box of hundreds of bullets.

"You keep it. I have more."

The submachine gun had been used, so it was inconvenient to put it back into the Supermarket warehouse.

It was heavy in her bag, and she didn't want to carry it.

Having acquired a new weapon, Yin Jing admiringly examined it.

Jiang Fei also gave Lu Yu a box of submachine gun bullets.

The corner of her eye suddenly caught sight of a hand.

Huang Wen Zhou pointed at the pear on Jiang Fei's seat, and with a thick skin, he spoke: "I haven't eaten fruit in a long time. Can I have that one?"

"Ping An Supermarket sells fruit. If you want to eat it, go back and buy it yourself."

Jiang Fei put the fruit and food into Lu Yu's backpack.

She wasn't close to Huang Wen Zhou, and last time he had lied to her. He shouldn't even think about getting anything for free from her!

Not even eating a teammate's food!

Lu Yu gave Huang Wen Zhou a cold glance.

Huang Wen Zhou, who was about to try to wheedle, immediately sat up straight, genuinely afraid of Lu Yu.

Not to mention Lu Yu's higher position, when they lived in the dormitory before, he would constantly take advantage, freeloading food and drinks.

Once, he secretly ate Lu Yu's self-heating hot pot and was severely beaten.

Since then, he dared not take advantage of Lu Yu.

Huang Wen Zhou grumbled inwardly:

If you don't give it, then don't give it. What's the big deal?

—

Huaiyuan Village was over 600 kilometers from the Safety Shelter. The rainy weather made travel difficult, and the team drove for nearly 9 hours in total, finally arriving near the village.

The off-road vehicle and military trucks parked in a sparse forest of dead trees.

Xu Qianyao, in the driver's seat, took out a hand-drawn map.

"The officials interrogated One-Eyed Dragon, and this is the village map he drew. Memorize it."

"One-Eyed Dragon said Huaiyuan Village takes in refugees, especially women. The villagers will warmly entertain them. For safety, we'll pretend to be a couple when we enter the village and must not separate."

Saying this, Xu Qianyao went to the trunk and retrieved a bag of items.

Inside were 6 fully charged miniature cameras, capable of taking photos and videos.

6 mini pistols, 6 boxes of matching bullets, and 6 fully charged small walkie-talkies.

"I'll distribute them to you when we enter the village."

"Remember, our mission is to investigate Huaiyuan Village and who its mastermind is. In non-emergency situations, no one is allowed to fire a gun indiscriminately."

"Otherwise, it will alert the enemy, ruin this mission, and you'll face punishment upon return."

"Now, get out of the car and get disguised."

Xu Qianyao glanced at Jiang Fei and Lu Yu, reminding them: "You two need to get dirty and put some mud on your faces, otherwise you won't look like refugees."

Jiang Fei was simple and crude. Holding her breath, she rolled in the mud, messed up her hair, looking like a madwoman.

Lu Yu copied her actions.

Yin Jing and Cao Xingying, who were smearing mud nearby, found Jiang Fei's method quick and effective, and joined in.

They also didn't forget to pull Xu Qianyao and Huang Wen Zhou along.

Soon, there were 6 dirty little mud figures.

The rainwater washed off some of the mud, making it look more natural.

To make it more convincing, Xu Qianyao contributed his backpack, throwing it on the ground to get dirty, and filling it with half-eaten bread, biscuits, and a few bottles of freshly filled muddy water.

The walkie-talkies and other items for the 6 people were packed in plastic bags and hidden at the very bottom.

Jiang Fei proactively asked to carry the backpack and put some more items inside.

Only to have a shield, allowing her to retrieve supplies from the Supermarket.

The Comrades in the military trucks remained in place, responsible for backup.

Xu Qianyao led Jiang Fei and the others toward Huaiyuan Village.

When she saw a huge stone at the intersection, with a blurry bird pattern carved on it, Jiang Fei instantly clenched her fists.

She had been here before.

In her previous life, Xu Yichen and Yu Xuanjiao had sold her to the cannibal village at this very spot.

So... the cannibal village was called Huaiyuan Village.

Suppressing the hatred rising in her heart, Jiang Fei acted as if nothing was wrong and walked forward.

More than ten minutes later, a village full of brick houses appeared in everyone's sight.

Just as Xu Qianyao and the others were about to enter, a group of people holding iron forks and wearing raincoats suddenly ran out of the small houses on both sides.

"Don't move! What are you doing?!"

Xu Qianyao feigned weakness and spoke: "We are survivors from Lincheng, trying to reach the Safety Shelter in Qingyang City. We're too exhausted to go on, and seeing houses here, we just wanted to borrow some supplies..."

"Don't be nervous... We mean no harm..."

The villagers scrutinized Xu Qianyao and the others.

From head to toe, not a single spot was clean. They couldn't even stand straight, appearing completely harmless.

Most importantly, they were all quite young.

The Fat Man (fat man) leading them waved his hand, signaling the other villagers to lower their weapons.

The Fat Man (fat man) smiled and said: "The world isn't peaceful. I thought you were here to steal things."

"Since you're refugees, then come in with me. It wasn't easy for you to get here, you've been traveling a long time. I'll find you a place to rest."

Xu Qianyao "moved" gripped the Fat Man's (fat man's) hand: "Thank you... May good people live safe and sound lives..."

"Don't mention it, we Chinese should help each other."

The Fat Man (fat man) led Xu Qianyao and the others into a small house by the roadside at the village entrance, bringing out 6 sheets of paper and pencils.

"Our village has a rule: everyone who enters must register. Write down your name, age, and ID number."

To avoid having their real names known, Jiang Fei and the others all used fake names.

Jiang Fei made up the name Huang Da Ni, Lu Yu was Niu Xiangqian, Xu Qianyao was Sun Youqian, Yin Jing was Jing Jing, Cao Xingying was Chen Xing, and Huang Wen Zhou was Wang Zhou.

Their ID numbers and ages were real.

Anyway, there was no internet now, so ID numbers couldn't be checked.

After writing down the information, the Fat Man (fat man) collected the papers one by one.

He noticed that two of the girls were just over 20, the others were around 25, and only one was 28. A glint flashed in the Fat Man's (fat man's) eyes.

These refugees were good.

The Fat Man (fat man) called a woman over, smiling: "There's one last rule for entering our village: a body search."