33: Revealing their true colors

Ai Guosheng was walking back with the tea tin when he ran into a fully-armed Li Shilan, who looked like she was about to head out aggressively.

Seeing Ai Guosheng enter safe and sound, she asked,

"Who was it? Those thugs?"

"No, it's the neighbors. They braved the danger to bring us a tin of tea as a special thanks. I'm telling you, this is authentic Dongting Biluochun; it's hard to find the real deal on the market. Smell this fragrance, ah..." Ai Guosheng took a deep breath, a look of intoxication on his face.

Li Shilan found it amusing. "Since you like it so much, we can't just take their things for nothing. They probably aren't short on food for now, so how about we give them a bottle of Guilin Sanhua Liquor as a return gift?"

Snapping out of his trance, Ai Guosheng slapped his thigh and said, "Yes, that's a good idea! I'll bring it over to them in a bit."

"No, let me go instead. I'm already geared up like this, so it won't be dangerous. To be honest, I'm a bit bored. Let me go out for a stroll."

"How could that be okay?"

"Hmm?"

"Cough, cough, cough. I mean, it's definitely not okay for you to go alone. I'll go with you."

"Hmph, that's more like it!"

"Hey, should we tell Yueyue about this?"

"Probably not. If we tell her, she definitely won't agree. We'll just be careful. Besides, it's not far; we'll be back in a moment."

"This... alright then."

The two of them left with the liquor as they spoke.

Ai Yue knew nothing of this. She was hiding in her room eating snacks and watching a funny variety show, laughing her head off, completely unaware of her parents' little scheme.

Just like that, the two families became familiar with each other through frequent interactions. Ai Yue eventually found out about it, but every time she saw her mother return with a beaming smile, she couldn't bear to stop them from associating with Villa No. 36.

They had been in the Apocalypse for so long, and her parents had managed to avoid socializing with others. They could handle it for a short time, but as time went on, the isolation became unbearable.

After all, humans are social animals; how could they truly avoid all contact? Ai Yue also feared that in this hopeless Apocalypse, the two of them would develop some kind of mental issue from being cooped up, so she tacitly allowed it.

However, she remained vigilant toward the seemingly harmless mother and son. Her years of experience surviving the Apocalypse told her that appearances could be deceiving and that one must always maintain a sense of caution.

In the blink of an eye, half a month passed. Her parents were visibly more cheerful, which brought Ai Yue a fair amount of relief.

That day, Ai Guosheng went out to observe the movements of the Dragon Tiger Cooperative.

Her mother went alone to Villa No. 36 to chat with Zhao Lan. Half the day had passed and it was time to return, but there was still no sign of Li Shilan.

Ai Yue knew things had gone south. She had an agreement with her parents about the time; once the time was up, they would always return punctually. There had been no exceptions these past few days.

Ai Yue felt a chill deep in her soul. Her hands and feet trembled slightly uncontrollably. She pursed her lips tightly, her eyes cold and heartless, as if they would shoot out icy blades at any moment to pierce someone's heart.

Ai Yue cautiously approached the exterior of Villa No. 36. After observing and finding nothing unusual, she nimbly jumped into the courtyard, pressed herself against the wall, and reached a first-floor window. Looking inside, she saw a scene that made her eyes nearly burst from their sockets.

Li Shilan was tied to a chair with blood on her head, looking at Zhao Lan with a face full of hatred. Zhao Lan was brandishing a kitchen knife in front of her, saying something with a distorted expression. Her son, Wu Yong, was nowhere to be seen.

Ai Yue took a fire axe from her space, smashed the glass with one swing, and jumped into the room.

Startled by the noise, Zhao Lan jumped. Seeing Ai Yue leap in and run toward her with murderous intent, Zhao Lan immediately held the kitchen knife across Li Shilan's throat and screamed in terror, "Don't come over! Take one more step and I'll kill her!"

Seeing Zhao Lan's overly panicked state, Ai Yue didn't dare to act rashly. Her mother's neck was being nicked with small cuts by the constantly trembling knife. Ai Yue was afraid of provoking her further, fearing she might recklessly slash down and seriously injure Li Shilan.

Ai Yue tried to distract her. "Auntie Zhao, haven't you been on good terms with my mother lately? What are you doing?"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Lan said disdainfully, "Good terms? Who's on good terms with her? If it weren't for the fact that you people are useful, would I have bothered to flatter you?"

So that was it.

"Look at you. Don't you see what you look like? You're as skinny as a bean sprout, yet they treat you like a treasure. What's so good about you?"

Ai Yue was somewhat confused, not understanding how the conversation had shifted to her. She heard Zhao Lan continue, "It's a blessing from three lifetimes for our family to take an interest in you. What right does your mother have to look down on my son? My son is handsome and dignified; would it be a grievance for you to marry him?"

"If you married into our family and suffered with us, how could your parents bear to see you go through that? What's wrong with us moving into your villa to live with you? Ah, isn't that only right? Our two families could support each other..."

Ai Yue realized she was delusional. Seeing her rambling further and getting more excited, Ai Yue took advantage of her lack of preparation and fired a shot at the arm holding the knife. The knife fell to the ground with a clang.

To her surprise, the old hag somehow pulled out a fruit knife and stabbed toward Li Shilan's waist, cursing, "You little wench! My son will be back with people soon. Just wait until he gets back and finishes you off. He'll turn you all into sieves..."

Seeing the blade coming, Li Shilan dodged with all her might, but it still stabbed into her thigh. In that split second, Ai Yue quickly pulled the trigger and completely gunned down Zhao Lan. Even as she died, Zhao Lan was still muttering curses.

Fortunately, Zhao Lan hadn't hit any of Li Shilan's vital organs. Ai Yue felt relieved.

She stepped forward and kicked Zhao Lan away, cut the ropes binding Li Shilan, and quickly picked up her mother, wanting to go back and bandage her wounds.

Just then, voices came from outside the window. "Chairman, don't you worry. My mom is watching her; she definitely won't escape. The other two don't even know I've caught this old woman yet."

"Haha, you did well. With her, are we still afraid the other two won't submit? Little Wu, you're not bad. Follow me from now on, and there will be plenty of benefits for you."

"Yes, yes. Oh, thank you, Chairman! I'll definitely be obedient. I'll do whatever you tell me to do." The nine-foot-tall man was bowing and scraping like a lapdog.

"Haha... good." Fang Zhongguan looked pleased as he repeatedly patted Wu Yong's face.

Wu Yong didn't show the slightest hint of reluctance, smiling as he allowed Fang Zhongguan to pat his face like one would a dog.

Hearing the commotion, Ai Yue gave a cold laugh. She turned and placed Li Shilan in a safe spot, then grabbed her submachine gun and walked to the window, crouching down. She waited until most of the people had entered the courtyard.

With a blank expression and a bloodthirsty glint in her eyes, Ai Yue pulled the trigger without hesitation.

Fang Zhongguan and Wu Yong took the brunt of the bullets. The people behind them scrambled to escape. Those who couldn't escape turned back to fire into the villa. Ai Yue quickly ducked under the window, swapped in a fresh magazine, moved to another window, and suddenly opened fire from the side. In an instant, there were countless casualties outside.