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Chapter 34: Extreme Heat, Human Bonds
These men looked strange—each had a brightly colored mushroom on their head.
Jiang Si’s finger was on the trigger but paused abruptly.
These people clearly knew the purpose of the giant mushrooms and had even made them into mushroom hat umbrellas. That meant—they might know how to neutralize the mushroom’s toxins!
Jiang Si’s eyes lit up in surprise and hope, then she pulled the trigger.
“Bang—”
One shot hit a man in the thigh.
He fell to the ground, and the part of his leg exposed to the sunlight began to sizzle and smoke, corroded by solar radiation—it hurt even more than the gunshot wound.
Gritting his teeth, he forced himself to stand to avoid further exposure.
The remaining five men were shocked by Jiang Si’s accuracy and quickly sought cover, firing at the more visible targets—Zhang Qingzhi and Shen Baoying.
But they underestimated another sharpshooter—Qin Shen.
“Bang! Bang! Bang!”
Gunfire erupted in chaos.
Almost simultaneously, the remaining five men were all shot dead.
Each of Qin Shen’s bullets landed precisely on their foreheads.
Blood streamed from the bullet holes, their eyes still wide open in death.
Niuniu was so frightened she didn’t dare open her eyes. Lu Zhifeng gently reassured her,
“Don’t be afraid, Niuniu. They brought this on themselves. If we hadn’t killed them, it would’ve been us. Be strong, Daddy will protect you.”
Niuniu peeked through her fingers, took a quick glance, and immediately shut her eyes again.
It was her first time seeing a dead body up close—it was terrifying.
The only remaining man looked horrified and begged them to spare him.
Jiang Si approached and pointed to a giant mushroom.
“How do you cure the toxin?”
Everyone surrounded him.
“Speak!”
Tears and snot ran down the man’s face as he trembled.
“I—I don’t know! I really don’t know!”
Jiang Si pressed her gun against his throat.
“You sure?”
Such a beautiful girl—but in that moment, she was a living demoness ready to kill.
Desperate to stay alive, the man racked his brain.
“I’ve never been poisoned myself, I swear! But—but our boss always sends us to collect the maggots inside the mushrooms… maybe, maybe those are the antidote!”
Jiang Si’s eyes sparkled—she quickly ran back to find mushrooms with bug holes.
Sure enough, she soon found a mushroom riddled with holes.
With practiced ease, she sliced it open.
A plump, finger-sized maggot squirmed inside.
Jiang Si picked it up, placed it in a bowl, and mashed it, squeezing out a bright green liquid.
Jiang Linhai frowned.
“Si Si, what if it’s useless?”
Jiang Si replied,
“Qin Shen’s skin medicine might not work either. Let’s try it—this feels right.”
Jiang Linhai hesitated but offered his hand.
She dripped a bit of the green maggot juice onto one of his blistered fingers.
The moment it touched the skin, the burning pain subsided, and a cooling sensation spread.
The unbearable itching disappeared too.
It worked—and it worked fast.
Jiang Si immediately knew from her father’s shocked expression: this was effective.
She called everyone to help catch more maggots.
The more rotten and bug-eaten the mushroom, the more maggots it contained.
Soon, they had a bowl full, enough to treat Jiang Linhai and fill a small bottle.
Fearing Jiang Linhai might need more for recovery, they caught several more bowls’ worth and packed it to take back.
The mushroom hats worn by the dead men were far more convenient than holding umbrellas, so the group took them, along with their guns, knives, magazines, fire starters, matches, and bandages.
The still-living man saw this and quickly handed over everything he had, offering it obediently to Zhao Yunning.
Jiang Si accepted the supplies and began questioning him:
“How many of you are left? Who’s your boss? Why do you have guns? Why did he order you to kill us?”
The man stammered,
“There are five more in the watchtower. Our boss is Zhang Xianchao. We used to be poachers, that’s why we have guns. These mushrooms let you go out during the day—so he wanted to kill everyone to keep it secret!”
“Please don’t kill me—I swear I’ve told you everything. I was just following orders, please!”
Jiang Si glanced at the watchtower—then raised her gun.
“Bang!”
She ended him cleanly.
Zhang Qingzhi and Shen Baoying stared, shocked—they thought Jiang Si would let him live.
Jiang Si explained,
“His boss won’t let this go. If he gets rescued, he’ll turn a gun on us later. Since he’s a threat, he has to be eliminated cleanly.”
The two women were still digesting the harsh truth: in this world, eliminating potential threats meant killing people.
Lu Zhifeng said,
“They only have five left. Should we take them out now and finish the job?”
He agreed with Jiang Si’s decision—if they weren’t planning to leave Longquan Village, they couldn’t afford sentimental mercy toward enemies.
But Jiang Si shook her head.
“They hold the high ground. If we go charging in, we’ll walk right into a trap. Let’s go home first.”
Lu Zhifeng sighed.
If he and Niuniu were targeted alone later, it would be dangerous.
But Jiang Si wasn’t wrong.
Getting close to the watchtower without cover would make them moving targets.
Back at the tower, Zhang Xianchao clenched his fists, watching Jiang Si’s group leave—carrying bags full of supplies, and now knowing the mushroom toxin antidote.
He swore:
Next time I go to the city, I’ll get the best sniper rifle… and hire top-tier assassins!
Luo Daqiang, face covered in blisters, had just been helped back by his men when Zhang Xianchao hurled a bucket of instant noodles at him.
“Useless fool! You still dare come back?!”
The container burst open on Daqiang’s face, bursting the blisters.
He screamed and rolled on the ground in agony, then got kicked again by Zhang Xianchao.
“Trash!”
Before leaving the forest, Jiang Si distributed the loot fairly among the group—except the maggot juice, which was kept for treatment.
Lu Zhifeng was surprised he received so much.
After all, it was mostly Qin Shen and Jiang Si doing the heavy lifting. He’d only helped carry the mutated eel and look after Niuniu.
And Jiang Si had even saved their lives—it was he who owed her.
He tried returning the weapon to Jiang Si.
“We already have a gun. Your family’s bigger—you keep it. Thank you for taking care of us.”
Then he turned to Qin Shen, friendly:
“I don’t have diesel, but I can give you some charcoal instead. If that’s not enough, I’ll add twenty rounds of ammo.”
Qin Shen nodded.
“That’s fine.”
He had been bitten by a viper while saving Shen Baoying, and though Jiang Si injected serum to save him, the favor was still enormous.
Not to mention, when no one could help Jiang Linhai’s hands, Qin Shen had offered his own medicine.
It was a huge debt.
After Lu Zhifeng and Niuniu left, Jiang Si turned to Qin Shen.
“In addition to the five hundred jin of food and clothes I promised before, how about I also give you a barrel of gasoline and a quilt?”
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Lhaozi[Translator]
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