In this place, survivors were divided into two kinds.
The first kind were Qiu San’s trusted followers.
The second kind were the weak survivors that remained here.
Seeing the little girl, Cao Qing, knocked down to the ground by a slap from Qiu San, they dared only shrink into the corner of the wall, watching anxiously, with no one daring to stand up. They knew all too well the consequences of standing up to Qiu San.
The trusted followers hovering behind Qiu San had their arms crossed or smirked at the corners of their mouths.
The end of the world had corroded their hearts, infinitely magnifying the darkness within. The mont their moral and ethical bottom lines had been breached, they were no longer themselves, but ’it’.
Cao Qing covered her face, with big tears streaming down helplessly while the surviving onlookers watched her with covetous eyes, like a pack of jackals and tigers.
"Brother San, how should we deal with this girl?"
"How do you want to deal with her?"
Qiu San looked at his follower, Ma Jian, a fellow with cropped hair and small eyes that gave off a sleazy first impression—which was often the right impression.
He was not only sleazy but also a pervert.
He had a history of sexual harassnt, had been locked up for a long ti, found it difficult to get a job afterwards, and finally ended up washing dishes in the kitchen of Xinfeng Hotel.
"Heh heh, why bother asking , Brother San? You know what I like. I’m just that kind of person," Ma Jian said with a sinister smile, revealing his perverted deanor. Under the pressure of the law, he could only fantasize in his mind and search for pictures and videos online to satisfy his twisted psyche.
He had had his eye on Cao Qing for a while, but Cao Yan had been too vigilant, leaving him no chance to make his move. Now that her father was dead, there was no one to protect her.
Qiu San looked at Ma Jian, then at the little girl sitting on the ground, weeping, and said, "If you like her, she’s yours. We don’t keep the useless around here."
"Understood, understood," Ma Jian replied, his smile scaring anyone who saw it.
The survivors leaning against the wall heard their conversation, their hearts growing colder as they could imagine what Cao Qing would face next, yet still, no one had the courage to speak up.
They wanted to live, no matter how abject their existence, better a sullied life than a glorious death. Everything was fake; when faced with injustice and dissatisfaction, what could they do?
Their hearts had beco numb, only wishing to scrape by in this apocalyptic world, preferring a disgraceful life to a good death.
Ma Jian took steps towards Cao Qing, then suddenly lifted his head to look at the group huddled in the corner, baring his teeth in a low chuckle.
"You guys, don’t you have sothing to say, or sothing you want to do?"
He watched the crowd before continuing:
"Ah, it’s been a long ti since I was caught, I still rember those outraged faces. You were all good people, brave people, ready to jump out and stop , beat up. Now I’m about to do it again, and you all just stand there as if you haven’t seen anything. Surely your courage before was all a façade."
Ma Jian mocked them unabashedly.
When his misdeeds were exposed in the past, the furious mob had splattered him with spit. Rembering those faces, he wondered if anyone was willing to stand out now.
The survivors being stared at by Ma Jian all cowered silently, not daring to speak or show any discontent. Their expressions, in addition to fear, showed even more indifference, each one adopting an attitude of it’s none of my business.
"Ma Jian, mocking them is useless. What’s the situation now? Without the law to back them, they shrink their heads, scared to resist. Haven’t you heard the saying, ’a dog backed by its master’s power’? You expect them to be the good guys, the heroes, now? They don’t have the courage. They’re all cowards," Qiu San said with a laugh, his followers chuckling along with him.
"Brother San is absolutely right," Ma Jian responded with a grin, reaching out to grab Cao Qing, preparing to drag her to a room.
At that mont.
Footsteps were heard.
Along with a gentle voice.
"Excuse , which one of you is Cao Qing?"
The crowd was bewildered upon hearing this. Out of the blue, whose voice was that? Or had so brave survivor beco fed up and decided to take a stand?
Looking toward the source of the voice.
A figure appeared in their view, a young man with a sword on his back, walking down from the staircase, a stranger’s face that left the survivors baffled, not knowing who he was.
How exactly he had co down from upstairs.
"So many survivors."
Lin Fan was also slightly startled to see so many survivors there. He had not co up from below; the path was blocked, and without seeking another way, he had simply jumped onto the rooftop.
True, the height was sowhat significant.
But as long as one had confidence in their jumping ability, it was no problem at all.
"Who are you?" a brash survivor shouted loudly.
Lin Fan glanced at him, noting the man’s brutish appearance and bad eyes that suggested he was not a good person. However, Lin Fan was there to find soone. Since the man had not done anything bad in front of him, even if he wanted to send them to the police station, it was obviously not feasible.
"My na is Lin Fan. I live in Sunshine District and I’m a security guard. I’m here on behalf of Cao Yan, looking for his daughter Cao Qing," Lin Fan said.
"You’ve seen my dad, right?" Cao Qing, who had been slapped to the ground, heard the ntion of her "dad" and quickly got up, approaching Lin Fan. Bright hope shone in her eyes—the hope of seeing her father again.
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