Chapter 56: Lucy and Gina?

“Is this what you mean by being sick?”

The fire burned the beam, making crackling sounds, and his voice rang out clearly in the night.

The expressions of the crying villagers gradually turned numb, turning their heads away, not daring to look at those so-called relatives in the firelight.

This village had hundreds of people, but apart from those who turned into zombies, there were actually very few left, only about twenty or thirty.

Fu Jingmo stood there upright, his straight back like a pine tree. Even people who didn’t know him would feel reliable and trustworthy looking at him.

“We will leave in ten minutes, heading to the safe zone in Wushi. Those who want to come, follow us,” he raised his eyes and looked at the two strength mutants, “Are you sure you can guard this place?”

Today, they finally understood what it meant to be outclassed by others. They didn’t even have to fight; they were too scared to make a move. But this was the place where they had lived for generations, with land and grain.

Fu Jingmo ignored them and left with Lin Mu directly.

In the pigsty, a group of people were drenched, some wet from the waist down, some with just their heads wet, and only a few lucky ones had only their faces wet. They all got out of the pigsty, watching the firelight above.

Yuanyuan stood against the wall, looking in the direction of the ancestral hall, tears streaming down her face.

Shen Rangchen looked at He Ze with a face full of disdain. Useless indeed, can’t even control his own ability…

He reached out and pulled out a piece of yellow talisman paper, lightly tapping on it with two fingers, and mysterious black symbols appeared on it.

Lin Mu raised his eyebrow. He had only ever seen cinnabar talismans; he didn’t expect there to be black ones.

With a flick of his fingers, the talisman gently floated towards the direction of the ancestral hall, falling into the fire and disappearing.

Without stopping, Fu Jingmo led the way down the mountain. When passing by the Zhou family’s house, he went inside to get his backpack. The old man of the Zhou family was still sitting in the main hall, smoking, with a numb expression.

“Dad, go with them. There’s a safe zone outside. It’s very dangerous here. What if bad people or other mutants come?” Yuanyuan’s pleading voice came from behind.

Zhou Fuyou stubbornly shook his head, “No, our roots are here. I’m not leaving.”

“Dad…”

The father and daughter walked down the stone steps. The old man walked out of the door, looking at his granddaughter and son.

He was the village chief of this settlement, and at this moment, all the villagers were watching him. He glanced at the ancestral hall that was still burning.

After a few minutes of silence, he took a deep drag from his old smoking pipe. “Go, all of you who want to leave, just go.”

He was extremely thin, and when he spoke, his eyes seemed to bulge out of their sockets. After speaking, he clasped his hands behind his back and returned to the house.

Lin Mu and the others didn’t look back and continued walking down the mountain in a line.

The way down was much faster than the way up, taking only half an hour to reach the road.

Old Zhang went to retrieve the bus from the weeds. Fortunately, it seemed no one had passed by here in the past half-day, and everything was still the same.

With a flick of the black crystal, large stones on the road exploded into rubble. The miners instinctively moved forward to clear the stones. They finally understood what had happened and realized how close they had come to danger.

Having been saved once again by Fu Jingmo and Lin Mu today, they felt a mix of lingering fear and gratitude.

Lin Mu sat inside the bus, looking at the map by the light of the bus lamps. When he looked up, he saw the person sitting on the hood of the bus, one leg bent, lounging lazily.

The arched back revealed clearly defined muscles. Lin Mu glanced at the map in his hand and couldn’t help but look up again.

Soon, sounds came from the grass, and five villagers came down, carrying baskets on their backs filled with rice, flour, and clothes.

“Oh, there are still some sensible people,” He Ze remarked sarcastically before getting on the bus.

Not seeing Yuanyuan, Lin Mu sighed in his heart. Her parents were here, so there was no reason for a young girl to leave.

The group increased from 14 to 24 people, but fortunately, the bus could accommodate them. The road was quickly cleared.

After refueling the SUV, Fu Jingmo also got on the bus. He sat in the driver’s seat, studying the map with Lin Mu.

The back door was opened, and another person got in, squeezing He Ze further inside.

“Wow, what the heck are you doing here? Where’s your flashy bike?”

Shen Rangchen glanced at him and pointed to the big bus behind. “Picked it up on the way. I can’t drive it well, so I left it behind.”

“Get out, get out, get out,” He Ze reached out to push him. He and Shen Rangchen just didn’t get along, their personalities clashing. “Go to the bus.”

“Not going. I get carsick. I need to sit here.”

He spoke slowly, word by word, then closed his eyes and comfortably leaned back to rest.

“Darn it, Brother Fu, aren’t you going to do something?”

The SUV was spacious enough that having one more person in the back didn’t matter. Moreover, Shen Rangchen had no ill intentions and could be useful. Fu Jingmo didn’t say anything, just raised his eyes and gave He Ze a cold look.

“Shen Rangchen, have your paper doll keep an eye on things in the back. Don’t let those people cause trouble.”

Fu Jingmo said this while pressing the horn, signaling Old Zhang at the back to get ready to depart.

Shen Rangchen didn’t open his eyes, but a small paper doll slipped out from his collar. “Lucy, go.”

He said softly. He Ze widened his eyes. “Wow, you even named your paper doll, Lucy? That’s quite fancy for a Taoist.”

“Stop messing around, let him rest for a while,” Lin Mu shook his head, finding Shen Rangchen rather interesting. “By the way, sorry about the one we damaged.”

He thought of the one Fu Jingmo had broken. It probably had a name too.

Shen Rangchen lifted his eyelids to look at Lin Mu, feeling quite fond of him. “It’s okay, I forgive you. Her name is Gina.”

Lin Mu smiled and turned his head away.

On the bus behind, the paper doll, or rather, Lucy, was lying on the back of the front passenger seat, looking at the people behind. Even though it had no eyes, everyone knew it was watching them. Old Zhang, sitting nearby, couldn’t help but feel uneasy.

In the dead of night, coming down from the mountain, the people in the bus gradually fell asleep, with their heads tilted.

Only those few villagers remained awake, staring out the windows at the direction of the mountain pass. The fire burning there sent up puffs of blue smoke, which gradually dimmed.