The First Order

As night fell, the people in town gradually returned to their homes. Those living in houses would keep their doors shut while those living in shacks would conceal themselves behind curtain doors.

When Ren Xiaosu came back in the evening, he heard that a man working at the rubber factory had been stabbed to death after returning from work. It was said that someone learned about that man’s habit of saving money, so someone got evil intentions.

The people in town liked living together to look out for each other. Friends, brothers, and couples stayed together and took turns to keep watch throughout the night. In a way, this gave them a better sense of security. This was also how Ren Xiaosu and Yan Liuyuan teamed up together at the beginning.

But some people fell victim to the people they partnered with.

The assailants were often shortsighted as they did not realize that after harming their partners, no one would ever trust them again.

The assailants who ended up alone this way would usually come to a bad end.

Ren Xiaosu sat in his shack and unwrapped the bandage from his hand. He frowned when he saw the condition of the wound. The flesh around it was red and swollen. This was a sign of inflammation. When he looked up and saw Yan Liuyuan walking over, he hurriedly rewrapped the bandage around his hand.

“Bro, how’s your injury?” Yan Liuyuan asked.

“It’s fine,” Ren Xiaosu calmly said.

“I don’t believe you. Let me have a look,” Yan Liuyuan said as he tried to remove the bandage that Ren Xiaosu had just rewrapped.

“I said that I’m fine.” Ren Xiaosu pushed Yan Liuyuan away. “If it gets bad, I’ll go and buy medicine.”

“Don’t lie to me. You tried to endure it the previous time,” Yan Liuyuan said in agony.

Ren Xiaosu sighed. “Don’t worry. I won’t treat my life as a joke.”

In nature, predators didn’t usually go hunting on a whim because they understood one principle: If they got injured even slightly, it could spell death.

If even animals could understand this, how could Ren Xiaosu not?

“Eh, bro, there are two potatoes hidden under the chair. Oh, there are even three pills here too. Aren’t these the anti-inflammatory pills that you wanted to buy today? They look just like the ones we saw at the store.” Yan Liuyuan was surprised. “Did you put them there?”

“No.” Ren Xiaosu shook his head as he looked at the three pills. “These sure are anti-inflammatory pills.”

“Then Big Sister Xiaoyu must have been the one who put them there. She was the only one I told about your injury.” Yan Liuyuan grinned as he handed a potato to Ren Xiaosu. “Big Sister Xiaoyu is so good to you. Why don’t you marry her?”

Ren Xiaosu did a double take. “You really change your stance quickly, huh? When she gives us something to eat, you praise her. But when there’s nothing, you start badmouthing her.”

“Hehe.” Yan Liuyuan chomped on the potato noisily. They usually wouldn’t get any dinner. Ren Xiaosu said that one had to eat a hearty breakfast and a full lunch, but eating at night was bad for the body.

This was a saying passed down from before The Cataclysm. Actually, Ren Xiaosu knew the reason for not eating any supper in the present was due to the fact that they were poor.

“Bro.”

Ren Xiaosu turned around. He suddenly noticed that Yan Liuyuan had his head down and sounded a little sad. He asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Do you still remember when you came back here after getting attacked by a wolf pack last year? Someone secretly gave us some medicine that ended up helping you survive the ordeal,” Yan Liuyuan said.

“Of course I remember. I’ve always been trying to find out who that person was,” Ren Xiaosu said.

“Big Sister Xiaoyu probably also gave us those pill.” Yan Liuyuan said, “The hiding spot of the pills is exactly the same.”

Ren Xiaosu got lost in thought.

All of a sudden, Ren Xiaosu heard footsteps coming from outside.

There were a lot of people.

It was very rare for people to travel on the streets of the town at night. But Ren Xiaosu had already guessed who they were and what their motive was.

…

The reason why the band needed to go via the Jing Mountains this time was just as Ren Xiaosu had predicted. The soldiers of the private army were indeed on another mission. Stronghold 113’s overseers had found some information that proved that the Jing Mountains were actually formed after a severe tectonic movement of the Earth’s plates, so this could mean that something from before The Cataclysm could still be found there.

The group had learned about Ren Xiaosu from Old Wang’s grocery store. Although they had some hesitations over his “mental illness,” they asked some other sources as well, and almost everyone felt that Ren Xiaosu was the best candidate to act as their guide.

Some of them even wondered what was so great about this Ren Xiaosu that made him so well-known in town!

Driven by curiosity, they continued making further inquiries. Finally, they got an ambivalent answer: Ren Xiaosu seemed to be the only person around here to have survived an attack by wolves and still make it back to town alive.

Last year, when Ren Xiaosu returned to town after a hunting session, he was almost at death’s door. His body was bleeding from the wounds that the wolves had inflicted on him with their claws.

No matter how vicious the people in town were, they would not do something bad to a dying youth. Everyone looked on with indifference from the sidelines.

Even though everyone thought that Ren Xiaosu would surely die that night, he unexpectedly pulled through and even lived well until now.

The band members were interested in learning how that youth had managed to survive. Old Wang smiled and said that it was entirely because of Yan Liuyuan, who went door-to-door to beg for food on his knees. In the end, Ren Xiaosu survived. It even seemed like someone had given him some medicine, but no one knew who it was.

Everyone in town knew that Ren Xiaosu had survived through that ordeal, but it also left him with a sickness in the head from that day onwards.

“By the way, Wang Fugui,” a person from the group said to the accompanying Old Wang, “What do you mean by ‘there’s something wrong with his head’?”

“It’s nothing. I was just saying.” Old Wang said with a grin as wrinkles appeared on his face, “It’s not a big deal. It’s not anything serious. Look, his place is right ahead.”

Old Wang only dared to tread the streets at night if he was tagging along with these important people who hailed from the stronghold. At this moment, he deliberately spoke in a louder voice as though he purposely wanted to let the townspeople know that he, Old Wang, had a fantastic relationship with these important people of the stronghold.

“Xiaosu, hurry out. You have VIPs,” Old Wang shouted with a laugh.

Suddenly, the shack’s curtain door was thrown aside.

Ren Xiaosu happily grasped Old Wang’s hands and said to him, “Congratulations! Father and child are both fine! The baby weighs 3.24 kilograms!”

Old Wang was confused, as were the band and the soldiers of the private army.

A band member pointed at Ren Xiaosu and looked at Old Wang. “How can you call this alright when he’s so mentally ill?!”

Besides, what the hell did he mean by father and child are both fine? Wasn’t it supposed to be mother and child are both fine?!

That band member said angrily, “Wang Fugui, do you know what the consequences of lying to us are? Is this what you call alright?”

As soon as he finished speaking, the band members turned around and left. They had had some expectations for the legendary Ren Xiaosu, but in the end, they found out that he was just a lunatic.

No wonder the people in town said that there was something wrong with Ren Xiaosu’s head. There, didn’t what they say turn out to be true?