335: resurrection

Late at night, the pale moonlight shone on the man's face, and only then did he gradually regain consciousness.

In a daze, he heard someone speaking, and his body seemed to be dragged on the ground, his back burning with pain.

“This guy’s pretty big this time. Just his thighs will feed us for days.

If we make jerky, it can last a long time.”

“Hehe, this family clearly stocked up on a lot of food beforehand, otherwise how would he have so much meat on him?”

“Too bad we didn’t find anything in this guy’s house. Those little brats cleaned it out pretty thoroughly.”

“Yeah, speaking of which, that Zhao Qingyang is ruthless. A swing of his blade and a life is gone. None of us adults are as vicious as him when we strike.”

“I heard that the first job he did was like this. He took a few of his subordinates, went to a widow’s doorstep to play for sympathy, and when she wasn’t paying attention, he drugged her and sold her to a Brothel.”

“Sigh, normally we only dare to do petty thievery. We really can’t commit murder and arson.”

“That’s why he can gather so many brothers. He’s quite a force outside the city.”

“I guess he also has some connections within the city, otherwise how would those women he kidnapped be sold to a Brothel?”

“With our guts, we’re only destined to follow behind and get a sip of the soup!”

One of the two was tall, the other short.

“It wasn’t easy to escape from Mingzhou; I don’t want to starve to death here.” The tall one recalled the tragic state of Mingzhou, his eyes filled with lingering fear, and he couldn’t help but shiver.

“The people in the city are truly beasts! They don’t allow refugees in and don’t distribute relief grain. Look how many people have starved to death outside!” The shorter one couldn’t help but curse under his breath after hearing this.

“Who… are you?”

At this moment, a weak, hoarse voice came from behind them.

The air instantly fell into an eerie silence.

“Just now, did you ask?” The tall one asked cautiously.

“No… right?” The shorter one swallowed, testing the waters.

“How about you look back?” The tall one urged.

“No, I have a stiff neck from last night, I can’t turn my head. You look.” The shorter one refused the tall one’s suggestion without hesitation.

The man’s shoes had been stripped off after he was robbed earlier.

At this moment, the two men held the man’s feet, feeling the warmth gradually spreading into their palms, and their entire arms trembled uncontrollably.

As they said, both of them were very timid and didn’t have the courage to rob anyone.

During their escape, many people were too embarrassed to eat human corpses during the day.

It was only at night that they would secretly sneak out to eat.

The next day, with bones scattered everywhere, everyone tacitly continued on their journey.

It wasn't that they wanted to eat, but rather, they were just too hungry!

Along the way, there were corpses everywhere, more than they could ever eat.

If they didn't eat, they would become corpses themselves, to be eaten by those who followed.

Many people developed the skill of making jerky on this journey, just in case there was nothing to eat later.

They didn't eat or dare to at first, but if they didn't eat, they would die, and they feared death more.

They had eaten their way from Mingzhou to here, long accustomed to it, otherwise why would they sneak out in the middle of the night to pick up corpses to eat?

But having walked so far, they had never seen a corpse talk.

When they found him, his neck had a deep gash, and his eyes had been deeply stabbed, so he was indeed as dead as could be.

“Alright.” The tall one took a deep breath. “Since that’s the case, when I count to three, we’ll both turn our heads and look back together.”

“Okay!” The shorter one nodded in agreement.

“One!”

The tall one began counting down.

“Two!”

“Three!”

The count was finished, but neither of them moved.

“Why aren’t you moving?” The tall one couldn’t hold back and asked.

“I was just about to move, but my stiff neck suddenly flared up, so I can’t move. Why aren’t you moving?” The shorter one retorted.

“I…”

Just as the tall one was about to explain, the man’s voice suddenly came from behind them again.

“Where… is this? Who are you?”

The tall and short men exchanged glances, and the next moment, both let out a deafening scream.

“Ah!”

“Ghosts!”

They immediately dropped the man’s legs and ran into the distance, their figures quickly disappearing without a trace.

On the spot, the man’s mind was still hazy, and he forced himself to open his eyes.

The first thing he saw was the bright moon hanging in the sky.

Then, he managed to shakily stand up, only to almost fall back to the ground.

“Right, right, my neck.” Thinking that he wasn’t already dead, the man quickly touched his neck.

It was smooth, without the gash he had imagined.

“And my eyes.” Next, he touched his eyes; they were also still there.

All the injuries on his body, except for the places where he had just been dragged, had miraculously disappeared.

“What happened to me?” The man looked at his hands, speaking in disbelief.

Suddenly, he thought of something.

Ignoring his heavy, dazed head and his swaying body, he staggered towards his home.

Although those two had dragged him so far away, the man had lived here for decades.

In terms of terrain, he was much more familiar with it than those foreign refugees.

Before long, he was running along the shortest path home, sprinting.

Gradually, his headache stopped, and he no longer swayed; his figure became more agile.

He ran all the way back without even shedding a single drop of sweat.

But the man didn't notice any of this.

At this moment, he had only one thought: go home!

Soon, he ran to the vicinity of his house’s courtyard, and from not far away, he saw the wide-open gate outside the courtyard.

“No, it can’t be, it can’t be.”

As he got closer to home, the man’s bad premonition grew stronger.

In fact, he had long known a certain truth, but he just refused to believe it.

Finally, the man stopped in front of the courtyard gate.

Looking at the bloodstains on the steps at the entrance, he knew it was his own blood.

And the mess in the courtyard, with signs of smashing and searching everywhere.

He stood for a long time, then finally stepped into the courtyard.

Gazing at the scene in the courtyard, the man said nothing.

It wasn’t until he walked into the house and saw the disheveled bed, with several broken wooden slats at the foot of the bed.

And on the bedsheet, a large, conspicuous, dark red stain of fresh blood.

Finally, the man couldn't bear it, he fell to his knees on the ground, tears streaming down his face uncontrollably.

They dripped onto the ground, mixing into the dust.

Then, he furiously slapped himself across the face.

“It’s all my fault, it’s all my fault!”

Next, he grabbed a broken, pointed piece of wood nearby and fiercely stabbed it into his finger.

“Ah!”

He was in pain, he was screaming, but the hand clutching the wood tightened even more.

He rubbed it hard, squeezed it hard, and forcibly broke his own pinky finger.