The night was cool as water,
December's weather had turned a bit cold.
Liu Weimin's stomach rumbled with hunger, but at this time, the Village Chief and others across had already set down their packages, revealing some supplies: rice, instant noodles, soda crackers...
But it seemed they had no intention of offering Liu Weimin food; after all, it was the end of the world, and food was scarce. Everyone was waiting for someone else to be generous to Liu Weimin, but since everyone was waiting for someone else, no one gave anything.
Liu Weimin was too proud to ask them for food.
But today, he had saved them, ah, how ungrateful people are!
He then remembered the road the Village Chief had forbidden him to take and felt a vague sense of unease.
He had to check it out!
So he said to his daughter beside him, "I'm going out for a bit, to check on that road." Glancing at the dark and quiet night road, he thought for a moment and said, "I don't know what's going on over there, wait here for me."
Liu Huamei, upon hearing this, was reluctant and wanted to go with him.
But after Liu Weimin dissuaded her, saying, "I'll be back soon."
After he spoke, he left the tile-roofed house, and the Village Chief, who was eating cookies, tensed up when he saw Liu Weimin's movement.
But Liu Weimin was already out the door, and it was too late to stop him.
The tattooed youth next to him, however, didn't think so much. Seeing Liu Weimin go out, he became restless.
He staggered over to Liu Huamei, leaned on the door frame with one hand, and said, "Beautiful girl, are you scared? Do you want to come into your brother's warm embrace?" His tone was full of teasing.
Liu Huamei looked at this person with disgust, didn't say a word, and just stepped aside a few paces.
But this retreat excited the tattooed youth even more. He began to grab at Liu Huamei's arm, the youths nearby saw and started jeering, crowding around.
Just then, the Village Chief came over, slapped the tattooed youth, and said in a low voice, "What time is it, and you're still playing? Those women you played to death are just outside! That cop is gone! If he sees the bodies, he's going to come back and make trouble; think about what to do!"
The tattooed youth, upon hearing this, lost all interest, his gaze became murky as he looked towards the door and saw Liu Huamei, who had retreated to the edge of the door.
Liu Huamei, standing far away, didn't hear clearly what they were saying, but she vaguely heard the word "bodies". And through the interactions along the way, she felt these people were not good.
The Village Chief and the tattooed youth exchanged glances, then the tattooed youth gestured, and everyone understood as if they had previous experience.
The tattooed youth and a few others slowly surrounded Liu Huamei, and Liu Huamei just happened to look outside, wanting to see if her father was coming back.
While Liu Huamei turned her head, and her gaze was not on them,
They quickly grabbed Liu Huamei's shoulders, the tattooed youth swiftly snatched the axe from her hands, and the Village Chief held her mouth tight, not allowing her to make a sound.
Liu Huamei knew these people were not simple, honest farmers, but she didn't expect them to dare to do this!
How outrageous! How dare they!
At this moment, the pitiful villagers from under the wall had turned into wolves!
Liu Huamei struggled desperately, but against several adult men holding her down, she couldn't break free!
"What about that guy?" asked the tattooed youth as he looked outside, speaking eerily.
The Village Chief didn't even think before responding, "Then just like before, slaughter him." As if realizing they were short-handed,
He then looked towards a dozen hesitant people behind him and said, "Everyone had dirty hands, we're all going down if trouble comes! Zhang Tianhe, Tie Zhu, you've all handled a knife before!"
The people behind him changed expressions upon these words.
Some were silent, while others muttered softly, "You forced us to stab!"
"Heh!" The Village Chief sneered, "Then didn't you go through with it? Everyone is tainted, we're all grasshoppers on a string. Heh, I saw how eager you were when dividing the food!"
Then he shouted under his breath, "Come help!"
How do you keep another person from telling if you've done something wrong?
You drag that person into the mud!
When an avalanche falls, no snowflake is innocent!
After hesitating for a while, those in the back finally stepped forward to help. They took over from the tattooed youth, holding Liu Huamei down firmly so she could not make a sound.
The tattooed youth and a few others secretly stood behind the door, ready to ambush Liu Weimin when he came in.
Liu Weimin stepped outside and made his way down the road.
He turned on the police multifunctional flashlight he carried with him, directing it towards that direction.
Before he had covered the distance, he could already smell a foul stench, mixed with a faint scent of blood from several meters away.
His heart skipped a beat, and he quickened his pace.
The beam of light swept across, and the scene that met his eyes sent a chill coursing through him.
Having been a policeman for many years, he had seen a lot, but he had never come across a scene like this.
There, on that stretch of road, to the left was a small ditch, and in that confined space, lay a sprawl of human corpses.
The faces of these people bore no signs of zombie transformation; they had died while still human!
Some of their clothes had been stripped off.
There were men, women, and elderly among them, but the women's clothes were in disarray, clearly having suffered something before their death!
And some of the men bore multiple stab wounds on their bodies!
Not just from one stab! Numerous knife marks completely disfigured the corpses!
The bodies must have been there for a few days already, their surfaces bloated, with several heads crawling with maggots.
As the flashlight scanned, the scene became clear, extremely gruesome.
Why did the Village Chief not allow me to come over just now? What do these have to do with them?
Piecing together the events of the day, he had already vaguely sensed something was off about these people.
"Not good!"
The sudden thought of Liu Huamei still being at the tile-roofed house made him anxious.
He hurried towards the tile-roofed house and soon arrived at the doorstep.
Although he was deeply concerned for his daughter's safety, years of police experience allowed him to retain some professional composure even in the gravest of crises.
He approached slowly, noticing the door to the tile-roofed house was closed, with not a sound coming from inside.
This abnormal quiet seemed to confirm some of his worst suspicions.
Anxiety rose within him, accompanied by a surge of intense anger from deep within.
Why!?
It was as if the ideals he had steadfastly maintained for years were collapsing like an iceberg.
The beliefs that had sustained him through countless difficulties,
The enthusiastic spirit and high morale he had once held,
The principles he had sworn to uphold with his life,
At this moment, they were on the brink of collapse!
With this all-consuming rage, Liu Weimin kicked the door powerfully, sending it flying off its hinges.
Several people behind the door were knocked down by the force of it.
Liu Weimin peered in with caution, his head feinting a movement before he stepped back.
At that moment, a gleaming Kitchen Knife fell from the right side next to the door.
Brushing past Liu Weimin's face, it missed as he swiftly dodged; the quick blade carried a gust of wind with it.
That was close, fortunate to have dodged quickly.
Liu Weimin shifted to one side and slipped in through the other side of the door.
As soon as he steadied himself, the tattooed young men surrounded him.
Eager to rescue his daughter, Liu Weimin scanned the crowd.
Seeing his daughter, Liu Huamei, being forcefully pinned to the ground by several people, her wide eyes filled with terror.
The last shred of hope in Liu Weimin's heart was utterly extinguished!