Chapter 266: Confrontation and Corruption

When I get back I need to tell Han Bing… this settlement isn’t the safest kind anymore…

Lu Xin silently put away his small notebook thinking to himself, “Good thing it was me who came here. What if it had been someone else?”

“Brother can I have these toys?”

His Sister who was hanging upside down from the roof peeking through the crack in the door and watching the people gathering outside somehow put on a cute smile. She called out to Lu Xin in a delighted sweet whisper tinged with a hint of playful whining…

Beside her the skinless dog stared fiercely its blood-red tongue lolling out the side of its mouth.

“If you keep acting like this I’m going to have to scold you…”

This time Lu Xin didn’t indulge her putting on a stern expression.

Sister had been getting a bit too spoiled lately. Ever since he’d held her while she cried that one time she seemed to be taking advantage of his kindness.

Not only did she not accompany him on the road usually but she was also getting greedy.

If he didn’t stop her and teach her while she was still young she’d definitely go astray when she grew up.

“Hmph.”

Sister got angry and squeezed the screaming chicken in her hand hard.

The skinless dog tucked its tail between its legs frightened and pretended to look nonchalantly at the village scenery.

…

“What do you plan to do?”

The old lady on the bed saw Lu Xin calmly put away his notebook and then mutter some sort of reprimand into the air.

It felt a bit strange.

But she was surprisingly unfazed. She didn’t ask just let the sneer fade from her face and lowered her voice to ask.

“Have a good chat with them of course…”

Lu Xin said earnestly picking up his bag at the same time.

By now the rustling footsteps outside the house had vanished. But in this eerily silent village devoid of even the sound of dogs barking or chickens crowing one could hear numerous breaths high and low just outside.

They were suppressed rising and falling like many bellows.

These bellows surrounded the small house casting an indescribable eerie gloom.

“Zhang Daquan you can’t hurt him…”

The old lady glanced at Lu Xin then suddenly shouted outside, “He can treat our illnesses…”

“He just said it’s all that woman’s fault! You should kill that woman…”

…

“Shut up…”

Someone outside cursed loudly and threw a rock hard against the window.

The old man who had given Lu Xin directions earlier called out in a low voice from the crowd, “Guest are you there?”

“Guest please come out for a moment. We have something to discuss…”

…

As he called out two burly men stood beside him.

One held two kitchen knives the other aimed a long-barreled homemade shotgun intently at the house.

The surrounding people had already started creeping closer bit by bit.

The ones at the very front were tiptoeing towards Lu Xin’s motorcycle parked by the door.

Just then Lu Xin sighed picked up his bag and pushed open the door.

*Creak…*

As the light from inside the house spilled out from behind Lu Xin the crowd gathered outside simultaneously took a step back.

All eyes focused on Lu Xin’s face.

But because Lu Xin was backlit they couldn’t see his expression.

They could only hear Lu Xin’s calm and gentle voice:

“I’m just a guest passing through planning to leave first thing tomorrow. I mean you no harm.”

“Even though I ate your food and drank your water I’ll pay you for it so please don’t hurt me.”

“The Wasteland isn’t lawless you know; we have to follow the Alliance’s laws.”

“Besides I’m from Qinggang I have connections…”

…

No one listened. After their initial step back they started inching forward again.

Lu Xin continued, “Besides I was planning to help you solve your problem. You’ve all been affected by the Pollution so…”

He tried his best to keep his voice gentle and calm to avoid provoking unnecessary hostility.

“Who the fuck are you saying has a problem?”

At that moment the burly man with the shotgun standing beside the old man hiding behind him cursed loudly, “Get him!”

At his urging some impatient people immediately threw whatever they were holding forward.

One of them holding a torch hurled it towards Lu Xin amidst a shower of kitchen knives axes and stones.

The flickering flames illuminated Lu Xin’s face.

Only then did they realize that Lu Xin who had spoken so politely just moments ago wasn’t actually smiling at all.

Facing the incoming projectiles Lu Xin twisted his body. His movements seemed unnatural yet were incredibly deft.

Though his feet barely seemed to move his body contorted dodging everything thrown at him. Then he steadied himself reached into his bag and pulled out a dark revolver.

Lu Xin raised the gun its muzzle flashing.

*Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!*

Four shots rang out and the four people in front of Lu Xin collapsed.

They were the ones who had just thrown the torch axe kitchen knife and fist-sized stone.

Each had a bleeding bullet hole in their chest or abdomen.

“Everyone please listen to me. If you try to hurt me I will fight back…”

“I have a gun you’ll only suffer for it.”

…

Lu Xin’s face fell back into shadow as he spoke calmly walking forward.

“Aaah…”

When the shots suddenly rang out and the people in front fell the old man or rather the village chief was stunned speechless with fear.

He backed away shouting, “Quick kill him! Kill him sons…!”

As the village chief yelled Lu Xin had already reached him.

The burly man beside him holding the shotgun apparently hadn’t expected Lu Xin to be so fast fumbling frantically for the trigger.

Perhaps because the gun hadn’t been fired in a long time the mechanism was stiff. It took him two or three seconds to finally pull the trigger.

A dull bang erupted from the homemade shotgun’s muzzle spewing a cloud of scattered iron shot.

But Lu Xin had already reached him grabbing the barrel and forcing it upwards towards the sky.

All the iron shot flew harmlessly into the air leaving behind the thick smell of gunpowder smoke.

Lu Xin held the shotgun barrel with one hand and pressed his own gun against the burly man’s forehead firing with a bang.

The burly man collapsed. The old man shrieked in terror. The other large man beside him holding two kitchen knives grimaced fiercely a guttural growl rumbling in his throat as he raised the knives shouting, “I’ll kill you…”

But despite his loud shout he was clearly frightened too and didn’t actually charge forward.

Lu Xin turned to look at him raising his gun to point it at the man’s face just in case.

Tilting his head slightly Lu Xin studied him. “Are you really going to kill me?”

“I…”

The burly man’s face froze words caught in his throat. His head instinctively started to shake side to side.

But Lu Xin after a careful look cut off his movement. “Yes you are.”

The next moment: *Bang!*

…

Suddenly utter silence fell in front of the earthen house.

The hunched figures nearby had collapsed to the ground terrified staring blankly.

Looking at the fresh corpses that had suddenly appeared they felt like they were dreaming; it seemed too unreal.

This sense of absurdity and shock even made them forget to run.

“I really don’t hold any hostility towards you.”

Lu Xin stood before the old man and opened the revolver’s cylinder.

He tipped out the six spent casings then took out fresh bullets loading them one by one.

While doing so he spoke to the old man before him, “But if you try to hurt me I definitely have to protect myself. So why don’t we just sit down calmly and talk about how I can help you resolve this Special Pollution matter? Wouldn’t that be better?”

“…I wasn’t even planning on asking for payment for handling this.”

…

Hearing Lu Xin’s utterly calm words a rattling sound came from the old man’s throat. Suddenly he crouched down overcome with grief letting out a heart-wrenching roar filled with anguish and rage, “My sons… Da Ge! Da Ge what happened to you… Er Zi… Er Zi speak to me…!”

Lu Xin frowned slightly. It seemed the old man wasn’t in a state to communicate right now.

He looked at the others hoping to find someone who could lead him to the Pollution Source.

Then he noticed something strange. The people who had been gripped by fear and panic just moments ago upon hearing the old man’s anguished cries seemed to have suddenly thought of something.

Excited expressions appeared on many faces temporarily overriding their fear. “Zhang Da and Zhang Er are both dead… Then… doesn’t that mean it’s my turn with that woman?”

Unnatural excitement and greed quickly spread across their faces and they scrambled hastily to their feet.

“Mine! Mine…”

“It’s finally my turn…”

“Get the fuck out of the way! That woman is mine…”

…

Pushing and pulling each other they scrambled desperately rushing towards a specific place.

“Woman?”

Lu Xin frowned slightly looking in the direction they were rushing.

Were they talking about the Pollution Source?

Just as he was thinking this a curious sound came from beside him, “Huh?”

Lu Xin saw a white blur leap towards him scrambling up his leg and arm onto his shoulder.

It was Sister. Her earlier anger had vanished.

Now she was looking ahead curiously suddenly saying excitedly, “Brother look quickly…”

…

Lu Xin had already looked up ahead and saw a woman walking towards them from the end of the narrow country road.

The woman wore only ragged clothes swaying as she walked under the moonlight. Her gait was strange one hand curled tightly a leg dragging behind her. With each step her body wobbled awkwardly and bizarrely.

When her figure appeared the men who had been scrambling to rush forward all stopped abruptly.

They crouched on the road heads raised staring blankly at the woman. The sound of many people swallowing saliva filled the air.

The scene was indescribably bizarre.

Lu Xin frowned looking at the woman only to realize she seemed to be staring back at him.

Her hair was messy falling across her face obscuring her features.

But upon closer inspection despite her obvious lack of coordination her body was surprisingly beautiful.

She was tall with long slender legs and her skin looked unnaturally smooth under the Red Moon.

Even her swaying limping gait seemed to possess a strange rhythm.

Looking closely it almost felt like she was dancing.