by N. Heller
'This is not good.' With Yu Yuan's injury, pulling him here and there would only exacerbate his condition.
"Do you have food?" the girl asked. "I can get you the water if you give me some food in exchange."
"I'm sorry, but no, I don't have food either."
The girl went silent, a pronounced disappointment written all over her face. After a few seconds, she walked out of the building with her head held low. She did not wear shoes and there was an empty bottle in her hand.
"Anyway," she said, her voice low and muffled, "I haven't had water in two days, so I am going to get some water. Wait for me here, I will help you get some as well."
Hearing her words, Lin Sanjiu was awash with jubilation. Aside from Yu Yuan, this girl was the first one who was willing to offer her help. Even before the appearance of the black mountain, the people in Peanut Town never showed any intentions of helping her. Not only did they shut her out, but they even stole her car. Since this girl was willing to help her, was it because they finally had "hearts" now?
Lin Sanjiu thanked her for her help, and then asked, "Why haven't you had water for two days? Is the river that far?"
"Oh, no, it's not. It only takes about 30 to 40 minutes by foot to get there," the girl replied expressionlessly. "The problem is that the route to get there is too dangerous."
"Too dangerous?"
"There are a lot of men along the way," the girl said as she fixed an indifferent expression on her face. "They roam around the river in groups."
"What… What are they doing there?"
"Hunting for food."
"You mean… fish?"
"No, there are no living things left in the river. They patrol around the riverside occasionally. If we want to drink water, we have to stay alert and be quick. If we do not do our homework before going to the river and are too slow in hiding, we might get discovered by them… Then, we have to say goodbye to the world."
Tongue-tied, Lin Sanjiu did not know what to say.
"Here, let me show you something." The girl turned around and showed Lin Sanjiu the wound at the nape of her neck. "Can you see the wound? Yeah, it was caused by them. I almost got caught by them, but luckily, I managed to escape in the end."
"Why… why don't you all leave the town?"
"Peanut Town has been shut down. We can't go out," the girl looked at her woodenly, her eyes clear. "About half a year ago when the sacred mountain was still here, Mayor Orlean closed down Peanut Town. He said he would take over the town and he would protect us until the end."
'That stupid m*ron again!'
"Then what did you eat to survive?"
"Rubbish, rats… anything that with legs or can run or swim or fly. Ah, yesterday I ate two beetles."
"Your parents…" Lin Sanjiu cut off her sentence when she suddenly remembered something.
"Parents? What are those? Are you talking about mentors?" the girl asked with raised brows. "She went out to find us some food, but I don't think she'll get anything. Do you have any more questions? If not, then I need to get going now. The sky is getting dark. I need to get the water so that I can exchange food with my mentor."
It was only then that Lin Sanjiu realized it was getting close to dawn. She bit her lower lip, as she realized she was now torn between the devil and the deep blue sea.
There was no way she would allow the girl to risk herself just to get her water while she sat here doing nothing. However, she couldn't be sure if she could depend on the girl to take care of Yu Yuan and her rifle either. After she took stock of the situation, she stood up and said, "Give me the bottle. I will go to fetch the water while you stay here and look after him."
She was faster and she knew how to use a gun. It was very apparent who was the more suitable candidate to go and fetch the water from the river.
However, before Lin Sanjiu could walk far, the scene of the citizens dispersing like a swarm of flies kept surfacing in her mind. She could not shrug the image off no matter how hard she tried and that made her even more worried about Yu Yuan. She stopped walking forward. There was a voice inside of her telling her she should go fetch the water right now, while another voice told her to double back to check on Yu Yuan and the girl. Lin Sanjiu had never felt so torn before, and after having a war inside her mind, the second voice appeared victorious. She turned around and doubled back.
She stepped into the shadow of the building and walked stealthily down the sidewalk like a cat, aware that she was about to risk one of her nine lives. The girl was still sitting next to Yu Yuan, and neither of them had moved ever since she went away.
Lin Sanjiu stayed in the dark and observed the girl for a while. After seeing the girl make no move to do anything to Yu Yuan, her heart began to fall back into her stomach.
Ever since Yu Yuan gave "heart" to the people of Peanut Town, this was the most help she received from a citizen. Perhaps something inside of them had changed. There might not be anyone hunting for citizens by the riverside, and the mentor would give the girl food even though she did not go fetch the water. After all, in many stories, "heart" equated to conscience. And maybe this rule could be applied to her storyline as well.
Just when Lin Sanjiu had succ.u.mbed to her own reverie, a figure appeared from the other side of the street. Lin Sanjiu's heart somersaulted again. It was a petite middle-aged woman. She had a head of frizzy golden hair that dr.a.p.ed over her shoulders like a roll of dry hay. Before she even got close to them, the girl rose to her feet and went up to her.
'Does she know her? Could the woman be her mentor?'
Lin Sanjiu thought things through for a moment then forwent the attempt to go out, deciding to wait for a while longer.
The middle-aged woman kept circling around Yu Yuan. She examined him from head to toe while whispering to the girl standing next to her. They were too far away, so Lin Sanjiu could not hear what they were talking about. After a short while, the middle-aged woman nodded and patted the girl's shoulder as if she was giving her encouragement. Even though she was very far away from them, Lin Sanjiu could clearly see the p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e and a twisted smile that flashed across her face.
After that, she crouched next to Yu Yuan. She pulled out a sharp metal piece and held it against his neck.
'I really shouldn't have trusted them!'
Just when Lin Sanjiu's heart tightened and she was about to dash forward, she froze, her eyes widening in disbelief. The girl who was standing behind the middle-aged woman suddenly raised her arm. There was a brick in her hand. In a quick and mighty downward swipe, the girl bludgeoned the woman with the brick, causing the woman to fall onto the ground like a ragged doll. Then, without giving the woman a chance to get up, the girl continued to smash the brick into her face until there was nothing left but blood and mush.
Huffing, the girl threw the brick away. She stretched out a quivering hand, dipped her finger into the bloody mess, and put it into her mouth.
Lin Sanjiu stared at her fixedly.
The girl licked and s.u.c.k.e.d on her finger. After that, she lifted her head and scanned her surroundings, looking as if she was searching for something. Then, she took a deep breath and shouted at the top of her lungs, "Help! Help! Somebody is going to kill your friend!"
Lin Sanjiu gave a slight start. She didn't know what the girl was planning, but she couldn't leave Yu Yuan alone there. Seeing Lin Sanjiu's figure appear from the shadows, the girl was obviously stunned. However, she soon adjusted her expression and said urgently, "My mentor wanted to eat your friend, so I killed her!"
Lin Sanjiu looked at the middle-aged woman and realized she was still holding on. Lin Sanjiu's face turned grim. She jerked her head and stared into the girl's eyes, asking through a menace-laden voice, "What the hell is going on here?"
"You don't need to fetch water anymore," the girl said, a hint of pride on her face. "My mentor is dead, so we don't have to worry about food or water. She wanted to eat your friend, but I didn't want to, so I killed her."
&n
bsp; "You hate her?"
C.o.c.king her head, she laughed as if she had heard a joke. "Hate her? No, I don't hate her."
"Then why did you..."
"You have a gun," she interjected matter-of-factly.
Lin Sanjiu looked at her in dumbfoundedness as the girl continued to speak. "It's such a waste for you to use your gun like this. You should establish an interim governing council or something. If you really did that, I would be your first supporter. After all, we need somebody to guide and manage us."
She spoke with such fervour and assurance that it was as if she had been cooking up the plan for a long time.
Chapter 768 - She’s The Killer
"I saw you from afar when I was up there. I know where you got your gun from."
The sun was sinking low in the west. It sprayed its final beams of vermillion rays off into the sky, dying it red. The girl stood silhouetted against the red laden sky, her hair fluttering along with the wind. Her face was shrouded in a blanket of darkness, so Lin Sanjiu couldn't see her expression well.
"You got it from Mayor Orlean, correct?" the girl said as she examined Lin Sanjiu's rifle as if it was some kind of masterpiece. "I've seen this kind of gun with those police officers before. Ah, those good old days."
When Lin Sanjiu spoke again, her voice was hoarse. "Good old days?"
The girl let out a long sigh. Her mentor, the middle-aged woman with a head of golden hair, was lying lifelessly next to her feet. A pool of blood was forming beneath her head, and the muscles on her left leg twitched from time to time.
"Yeah, there was so much food we couldn't finish… So, you used to be one of the police officers, right? Can you tell me what happened half a year ago? Where did the mayor and the sacred mountain go?" She fired questions at Lin Sanjiu in a dry, staccato cadence. "Will the mayor ever return to us?"
It was then that Lin Sanjiu realized she was still wearing the police officer's uniform.
She raised her head and looked at the girl. She did not know what to say.
'They are just too hungry,' a voice suddenly sounded at the depth of her psyche. People tended to do crazy things when they were starved to a certain extent, so it was normal to pine for those days where they did not have to worry about clothing and food. After all, they had been reared like pigs for almost a decade.
Seeing that Lin Sanjiu ignored her question, the girl was slightly stunned. Then, she laughed embarrassedly. "Please don't get me wrong… That's not what I meant. It's fine for me if the mayor is not coming back; the most important thing is that you are here now, and you have a gun! You will be our savior! If you take over Peanut Town, I swear to god, nobody will dare to go against you."
Lin Sanjiu then silently unlatched her rifle from her belt. She could sense the girl's breathing suddenly become faster as she stared fervently at her every movement.
"Even if I take over Peanut Town, I don't have food for you all. So, how are you going to solve that problem?" Lin Sanjiu asked, holding the rifle with one arm.
"I have thought about this problem before," the girl instantly replied the moment she heard her question. "There are actually some farms in the suburb area of the town. Although the farms have been left uncultivated for almost a decade, so long as we form an interim governing council, we can deploy some of the citizens to take care of the farms. We can grow our own crops, and if there is somebody who refuses to follow the order, we can turn them into nourishment for our crops."
The mentor lying next to her feet twitched again, which prompted the girl to cast her eyes downward. Lin Sanjiu had no idea why, but the way the girl looked at her previous mentor gave her the impression that she was looking at a piece of pork ribs rather than a human being.
"There are farms in this town?" This time, Lin Sanjiu was truly surprised. "The black mountain disappeared almost half a year ago, yet nobody went and reclaimed those farms?"
The girl shifted her eyes to her but did not say anything.
Lin Sanjiu suddenly realized that she had said "the black mountain" just now.
However, the girl peeled her eyes away without saying anything. There was a hint of disappointment sitting on her face as she pouted. "Everybody is too lazy. My mentor and I had been watching the farm for almost a month, yet we couldn't even find a blade of grass. I remember that Mayor Orlean distributed a lot of seeds and tuber-type food for us. They should take those out and grow them!"
Lin Sanjiu looked at the girl as if she was looking at an alien.
'She wants other people to grow the crops so that she could steal them?'
"Even though you're armed, you are alone. If a group of men comes up at you all together, there is nothing you can do," the girl continued to say passionately. "You need more eyes, and I am willing to become one Wherever you go, there will be a group of people protecting you, guarding you, so that nobody will ever get close to you and snatch your gun away."
"You are right, but you forgot something: bullets are expendable. We will use up all the bullets at one point," Lin Sanjiu said coldly, "Then, you will be doomed."
The girl cleared her throat and tried to calm herself down. She pitched her voice low and laughed. "That won't happen, trust me. Let me tell you something. About half a year ago, two intruders invaded Peanut Town and set half of our town on fire. In order to protect us, the sacred mountain accelerated and nudged faster towards the town hall. At the time, we heard that it had summoned all the police officers. And once the police officers had been gathered up, the sacred mountain opened its body and took all of them away."
Lin Sanjiu remembered the couple where the wife reported about her husband's apparent traitorous action and how the black mountain reacted by opening its body and consuming the husband.
Perhaps the black mountain wanted to juice up by absorbing more "energy" from the police officers before it came to attack them.
"Those police officers took all the guns away with them, so there aren't any guns left. However..." The girl cleared her throat again, as she felt raw in her windpipe. After that, she pointed in a direction and grinned. "Over there we have an armory. Inside the armory we can find a great wealth of ammo."
Lin Sanjiu followed her finger and gazed at the building indifferently. Then, she crouched down and lifted Yu Yuan up.
"You can hide him in my house first," the girl suggested, her cheeks livid. "That way, when we are gathering more people, he won't get in…"
"Get lost."
By the time she finally came around, the smile on her face dropped and her brows drew together in a deep frown. "What?" she asked dryly. "What did you say?"
"I said get the f*ck out of my face."
Lin Sanjiu pointed the rifle at the girl. There was a friendly, almost amicable grin on her face and her voice was gentle. "I don't care what is on your menu today or if you have food to eat in the future. I am not interested in your proposal, and I don't want to see you again."
The girl's face turned even grimmer. She stared at the rifle, disbelief was written all over her face. She looked at Lin Sanjiu's face intently as if she wanted to pierce through her brain with her gaze. After that, she turned around and went into the building.
After seeing her figure disappear into the building, Lin Sanjiu let out a sigh. She lifted Yu Yuan up from the ground arduously and began to move forward.
Truth to be told, she did not know where she should be going. After she wandered aimlessly about on the street, the night came and darkness fell. It was just that the flow of time in the Reverie Libretto was faster than it was in the real world, hence the night soon ended and the dawn began to break. However, Lin Sanjiu felt that this time, the time flew even faster. It was as if the plot was speeding up.
When the first ray of sunlight skewered through the darkness and lit up the sky, the speakers on the roadside crackled and let out a buzzing noise.
'The speakers are still functional?!' Just as the thought surfaced in her brain, Lin Sanjiu caught a fairly familiar voice from the speaker.<
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"Attention everybody!" a sharp voice that could only belong to a female rang out. Although it sounded a little different, Lin Sanjiu still recognized it as the girl's voice. It seemed to her that the girl had grown up overnight, as her voice sounded much more m.a.t.u.r.e right now. "All the survivors of Peanut Town, listen to me! I am here to reveal something that you should have known earlier. There is now a woman dressed in a police officer's uniform roaming around in our town. She is the main culprit who deprived us of our beautiful and peaceful lives! I have a series of evidence pointing to her being the one who destroyed the sacred mountain and murdering Mayor Orlean. I am very certain about it because I am the one who buried Mayor Orlean's body! Your suffering, your misfortune, your poverty… everything that you are experiencing right now is because of her! Do you want to let her go like this? Don't you want to tear her bones out, eat her flesh, and drink her blood?"
She turned around and she could only see a row of speakers standing under the dimly lit sky. In the dimness of the shadows, bloodless faces and pairs of eyes glittering with cold light flitted through like reptiles and bugs.
Perhaps they were more interested in how much flesh her body could provide them. However, she was pretty certain that they wouldn't care to vent their anger while they fed on her body.
Be that as it may, none of them dared to come up to her directly because of the rifle in her hand. Lin Sanjiu let out a sigh and decided on her destination. With a menacing face, she picked up her pace and hurried over the armory at the corner of the street not far away.
"When you guys see her, don't be scared. This is because her rifle has no ammo!" the girl continued to shout through the speaker. "Anyone who kills her and gets her gun can come and see me. We will form an interim armed governing council together. I have a gun as well, and I only need one more partner!"
Lin Sanjiu could sense that the things hiding in the dark were getting even more restless after hearing what the girl said.