Before everything goes out

"Thank you for your support! Thank you for your support!"

Zhang Cheng smiled broadly, his hands clasped high and waving them repeatedly.

It's like the gesture of bowing when paying New Year's visits.

Under the watchful eyes of Li Fei and his group, he laboriously stepped over one tree figure after another, and loudly introduced himself from a distance of more than twenty meters.

"My name is Zhang Cheng, Cheng as in honesty. I come from the eastern part of the city. May I ask who my benefactors are...?"

Before he could finish speaking, he was interrupted by She Qingqing.

"stop!"

She Qingqing raised her gun.

Seeing the dark muzzle of the gun, Zhang Cheng quickly stopped, raised his hands above his head, and changed from bowing to surrendering.

"Don't be nervous, my benefactor. Let's talk this out."

"We're looking for a little old man who wears a mask. Have you seen him?"

"A mask? An old man?"

Zhang Cheng's smile froze, and he pressed on with a serious expression.

"I don't think I've seen him before. How old is he?"

"Around sixty years old, 1.6 meters tall, quiet, dark-skinned, and most notably, he wears a linen mask, which is his most distinctive feature."

"Oh, then I'm sure I've never seen it before..."

Zhang Cheng shook his head.

After thinking of something, he called out to the group behind him:

"What are you dawdling for! Hurry up and come here, didn't you hear your benefactor ask you a question? Have you seen an old man wearing a mask? He's so tall."

He gestured with his hand to his chest, simulating Snake Seven's height.

The people behind him exchanged glances and shook their heads, indicating that they had never seen him before.

"It seems they haven't met him either. My benefactor, if it's alright, may I ask why you're looking for that old man?"

"That old man is my father. A week ago, he was also killed by these tree people..."

Before She Qingqing could finish speaking, Li Fei patted her on the shoulder, interrupting her.

The two exchanged a glance, and she instantly understood what Li Fei meant.

"Don't say any more."

There's no need for them to reveal too much information to a group of strangers.

If these people had never seen Snake Seven, then the scent that Ertong smelled was very likely from a tree-man. After all, it would be perfectly normal for a tree-man to have Snake Seven's scent on it during that chaotic battle that night.

"Oh? So these bastards are called Tree People? Damn Tree People!"

After being reminded, Zhang Cheng spit on the corpse of the tree-man at his feet.

"My benefactors, you have no idea how unlucky we've been. We only go hunting once every two weeks, and we never expected to run into these monsters..."

"From what you're saying, it seems you encounter this thing quite often? What a bunch of brainless idiots! Provoking us is one thing, but daring to provoke 'military lords' like you is practically asking for death!"

Sir?

This man called us "Military Lords".

In other words, he treated us like a ring?

This is normal.

After all, what they wore and carried were all ring-shaped equipment.

Or does he refer to all armed men as "military officers"?

Li Fei's eyes flickered slightly, but he did not respond directly.

His intuition told him that although the man in front of him looked unkempt, he was by no means stupid. Judging from the respectful attitude of these people towards him, he also had a good reputation.

This might be a test for them.

Furthermore.

Given the nature of the ringleaders, they may have made quite a few enemies; they'd better be as cautious as possible...

Thinking of this, Li Fei took the initiative to ask a question.

"Where did you guys come from?"

"East."

"Where to the east?"

"Outside Changjiang City, in some godforsaken suburb, where are you, my benefactors? Where did you come from?"

"I ask you a question, you answer it."

"Alright, but look, my benefactor, these brothers of mine got scratched pretty badly by that tree-man. How about we get them bandaged up first?"

Zhang Cheng pointed behind him and then showed Li Fei the numerous wounds on his body.

Although not fatal, the injury was indeed quite serious.

"it is good."

After Li Fei nodded in agreement, he called over a woman named "Qian Mei'er" to bandage the wounded.

The bandages weren't made of rags, but with medical gauze, hemostats, and even alcohol...

They were all taken from stainless steel boxes, and they were all well-made first-aid supplies.

"No guns, but so many professional medical supplies?"

Li Fei frowned slightly, watching the girl's movements quickly.

While he was getting his wound bandaged, he casually asked Zhang Cheng all sorts of questions until he found out where these people came from.

"The Hunter".

That's how Zhang Cheng refers to himself.

This statement may be a bit old-fashioned, but in general, these people do fall into this category.

After the disaster, they left the city and lived in small groups in this desolate wilderness, relying on hunting various animals in the mountains or catching fish and shrimp to make a living.

after that.

Seeing the curious looks from the three men, Zhang Cheng took out two rabbits from his pocket to prove his identity and began to talk incessantly.

From the recent poor harvest, something felt off when I went out this morning.

From accidentally encountering the tree-man to their escape, until they were trapped in this valley.

At last.

After he finished venting his frustrations, Li Fei looked at the hemostat in Qian Mei'er's hand.

"If it's wilderness survival, where did these things come from? They couldn't have been pried out of a rabbit's mouth, could they?"

"Oh, my benefactor, you mean this? We brought it out of 'Paradise' many years ago, including our clothes and weapons; we took them with us when we left Paradise."

"paradise?"

"Yes, paradise."

Zhang Cheng simply repeated those two words without offering any explanation.

It seems like this is a place even a three-year-old knows.

Tell me about this amusement park.

"Well..."

Zhang Cheng squinted.

After realizing something, he pointed to a distant direction outside the valley.

"A settlement, located on the outskirts of Changjiang City."

"How large is it?"

"I don't know now, but when we came out a few years ago, there were about a thousand people there."

"Okay, are any of my teammates in there?"

"Yes, of course! There are plenty of places like that, frequented by military officers like you."

Zhang Cheng chuckled.

However, unlike his fawning smile earlier, a hint of... appeared on his face now.

Lewd?

Li Fei wasn't sure, but he felt there was something strange about the smile.

After his family had finished bandaging him, Zhang Cheng dressed, tucked the knife behind his waist, and stood up from the ground.

"Oh, right, my benefactor."

He got up from the ground and casually glanced around.

The light swept over Niu San, over She Qingqing, over Ertong, over the guns in the hands of the men, and over the bags on their backs...

Finally, the image focused on Li Fei's face.

"Actually, we still have a few brothers in our family who often travel in the mountains. They might have met this heroine's father. If you ask me..."

If you don't mind, the three of you can come back with us and ask around. If you really have any clues, then it won't be a waste of your time coming all this way.

"If we don't have any leads, and you've had a long and tiring journey, you can rest and eat something at our place, and take some cured meat with you on your way. That way, we can repay your life-saving kindness in a small way. What do you think?"