Chapter 163: If There's Trouble, Come at Me!

So-called tools, such as kitchen knives with chipped or rolled edges, rusted hoes, and cracked shovels, are all things that are common and accessible to survivors who have lived until now.

Liu Mu... had the Dog-leg Knife she'd damaged while hacking last time tucked into the back of her waist.

The disadvantage of not bringing Niu Boyi along was the inability to remotely eavesdrop on the other party's conversation; compared to Gouzi, who had a natural buff, Liu Mu's hearing was still slightly inferior.

The four of them took a slight detour, got onto a mud road that had been cleared not long ago, and headed toward the mine under excavation. The rest of the group was ordered to lie in ambush nearby in various spots; if a fight really broke out, they could support the battle within twenty minutes.

There were deep tire tracks on the mud road, and stones had been packed into places prone to sinking.

Besides Liu Mu and Zheng Tian, the other three were named Niu Feng, Jia Guan, and Wu Hao, respectively. In terms of appearance, none were particularly outstanding; they weren't ugly, even somewhat delicate-featured, but none had any memorable traits.

The three of them were also old hands who had stayed from the beginning, having participated in several infiltration operations, so their combat strength and abilities were naturally very outstanding.

After observing the road surface for a while, they obtained a lot of information from it.

The oldest, Niu Feng, spoke first: "They don't have medium or large vehicles; these should be marks left by pickup trucks. Judging by the depth, the load wouldn't exceed two tons. It doesn't look like they're transporting ore, and there's no ore slag on the road surface."

The thinnest, Jia Guan, nodded in agreement and offered his own speculation, "It looks like they're transporting tools or other things. Old Niu is right; if it were ore, some would inevitably fall off."

The tallest, Wu Hao, pointed to the plant branches extending from the roadside, "Judging by the height of the damage to the plants, it's not a large vehicle either. No roadbed was built during the construction of this road, which is strange. If they wanted to transport ore out, this kind of road surface couldn't withstand it at all. Could they have other plans?"

"It could also be that they haven't been here long," Liu Mu stated her own view. "A mine that hasn't been opened doesn't just yield ore after digging a couple of times. As it happens, we've come to help out, and we can let them dig the ore out in the process."

The three of them looked at each other and smiled, giving Liu Mu a thumbs-up in unison; when it comes to shrewdness, it still has to be the person who acts as the Boss.

Yet, they saw Liu Mu silently shift her gaze to Zheng Tian, "Brother Tian, you have experience in this area, so we'll have to rely on you to lead us to a fortune."

It was only through recent chats that they learned Zheng Tian had taken a group of young men from his village out to work since he was in his teens; he had worked in factories, construction sites, gone to sea, mined, and even picked cotton.

It was just a pity he hadn't encountered good times; he had always been working for others, and the world had ended before he could start his own business.

"Alright, leave it to me," Zheng Tian patted his sturdy chest, "I guarantee everyone will have food and drink."

Liu Mu retreated to the back of the group, lowering her presence.

Still at the foot of the mine, the five of them were successfully intercepted. Guarding the place were several burly men, dressed differently, but all carrying Long Knives on their backs.

The Long Knives were of the same standard, with dark, heavy blades and silvery-white edges, looking very sharp.

The only difference was the color of the rope tied to the ring at the end of the hilt; except for the leader's, which was yellow, the other three that could be seen were all green.

It stood to reason that this was used to distinguish rank; Liu Mu moved her right hand slightly backward, placing it on the hilt of the knife at her waist.

The leading man was of medium height, but the muscles on his exposed arms rippled; one look and it was clear he was a trained fighter. With just one hand, he pushed Zheng Tian quite a distance away, "What are you doing? Do you have a death wish, daring to barge in anywhere!"

"Big Brother, Big Brother, please don't be angry," Zheng Tian didn't resist, likely landing on his butt, then hurriedly scrambled up and waved his hands repeatedly, "We were fleeing as refugees and arrived here. We met people ahead who said this place was hiring, so we wanted to come and see if we could find some work. As long as we can get a bite to eat, that's enough."

One didn't know where this guy had gotten it from, but he actually fished half a pack of cigarettes out of his ragged pants pocket and, stooping, offered them forward.

Liu Mu was not the least bit surprised by this behavior; if you're out in the world and can't even do this much, how can you lead people to survive? While he was cozying up to them, she was calmly sizing up these people and their things.

Mutated Plants had already formed a forest here, and their growth rate was clearly faster than in other places. These people didn't know how long they had been here, but it was only enough to clear a small path no more than two meters wide.

The entrance was almost submerged by plants, which showed that their recovery speed was also very fast. There were no deep indentations on the road surface, nor were there any tire marks; this situation was not optimistic.

The few of them exchanged glances and understood more or less: this group of people hadn't been here long, and the arduous project was likely not even close to starting.

This left Liu Mu disappointed. Damn it, after all that, a bunch of losers!

Boss Liu, seeing she couldn't get a big bargain, rolled her eyes and changed her mind; now was not the time to act.

These losers—no, these people—were indeed just here. After being flattered by Zheng Tian, they intended to take the group in. It was just that when it came to Liu Mu, they stopped her.

The other four felt a tightening in their hearts; although they wouldn't admit it, most women in the apocalypse did indeed have a great disadvantage and were easily objectified and fought over.

Zheng Tian hurriedly said, "Old Brother, this is my younger sister. Don't look at her like that; she's very nimble when doing things, even most men can't keep up with her."

The other three nodded repeatedly, "Yes, yes, yes, we can't compare to her."

"A woman? This height, she's practically a little giant," the leader looked up at Liu Mu, his language very mean, "If you hadn't said so, I would have thought she was some family's boy. Anyway, since she's a woman, go to the work shed over there and help with the cooking. A woman growing up like this, tsk, what a waste of food."

These words provoked the group. Liu Mu gave them a warning look and spoke up, "Big Brother is right. It's a good thing I don't eat much, otherwise it really would be a waste."

That man hummed and hawed a few more times before letting someone take them inside.

But they weren't able to go up the mountain; instead, they went to the work shed to collect tools and were arranged to clear Mutated Plants on the road up the mountain.

Liu Mu was taken to a makeshift work shed and handed over to a middle-aged woman.

"My surname is Ma; you can just call me Sister Ma."

Sister Ma was short, fat, and sturdy, her whole body round; from a distance, she looked more like a ball with limbs, and even her small eyes were standard round apricot eyes.

This appearance was truly likable and didn't look aggressive, but Liu Mu was, of course, not that naive.

Nowadays, even in the Haicheng Barrier, there were few people with stable jobs and food who were still fat; Sister Ma's appearance showed that not only had she not suffered after the apocalypse, she had lived quite comfortably.

"My name is Mu Liu; Big Sister, you can just call me Little Mu," Liu Mu said with a faint Northeastern accent, bending over as she followed Sister Ma into the shed.

The shed was about twelve square meters and divided into two rooms. The outer room, along with a few tables outside the shed, was the kitchen, while the inner room was stacked with many large bags, cardboard boxes, and some bottled cooking oil.

Seeing these things, the corners of Liu Mu's lips relaxed even more.

Before the disaster, these things were common enough, but nowadays, even the manufacturers of plastic bags, plastic buckets, and cardboard boxes were gone, let alone supplies with such intact packaging.

Nine times out of ten, supplies transported to the Haicheng Barrier had no packaging, and the tenth time, the supplies themselves were scorched or moldy.

Simply put, the items couldn't have been produced after the disaster; they must have been preserved before the disaster, and not stored on the surface. One had to know both the time of the disaster and the disaster itself; an ordinary organization simply couldn't pull that off.

While being assigned the job of washing vegetables, Liu Mu pondered. The first thing that came to mind was naturally the well-funded Sky Viper, but this option was quickly ruled out; they shouldn't dare to fill Haicheng again in the last two years.

The official authorities were even less likely; besides the lack of obvious signs, those people didn't have a shred of military temperament.

To say that they were mining without sending the military, but using mere survivors, no one would believe it.

Then...

Liu Mu pinched the unknown dark green vegetable leaf in her hand, her fingers applying slight pressure, squeezing out green juice; a faint, lingering fragrance immediately wafted into the air.

This fragrance wasn't strong, but it lingered for a long time, and after smelling it for a while, her nostrils felt a bit numb.

Nowadays, what could grow naturally were basically all Mutated Plants; those that hadn't mutated couldn't adapt to the baptism of the Black Rain and had mostly died off.

It wasn't that she hadn't eaten Mutated Plants before, but the vegetable leaf in her hand was clearly poisonous. Did these people eat this too?

She was fast, and a large basket of vegetables was washed in a few minutes. She picked it up and put it on the shelf just as Sister Ma came out.

"You washed this whole basket?" Sister Ma thought Liu Mu was slacking off, having just splashed some water on them and calling it washed, and was immediately somewhat dissatisfied, "If you don't wash them clean, you'll get diarrhea after eating them. Little Mu, you can't be careless."

Liu Mu lowered the basket a bit, "How could that be? I washed them leaf by leaf. If you don't believe me, Ma Dajie, you can take a look yourself."

Ma Dajie wiped her hands on her apron and really started rummaging through them, but after looking for a long while without finding a single dirty one, she felt it was somewhat incredible.

"You're also too fast. Oh my, you're so capable?"

However, she still discovered a problem, "It's just that, next time don't use so much strength. Look, quite a few leaves have been washed until they're torn..."

The warning reached her lips, but Ma Dajie's expression suddenly changed; she grabbed Liu Mu's hand and examined it front and back for a long time.

"Are you alright? These leaves are poisonous if torn. Don't you feel uncomfortable anywhere?"

Liu Mu followed up in a panic, "Poisonous? Then did I get poisoned? No, how can you all even bring things that are poisonous here to eat?"

Seeing her panic as she moved her body, and noting there were no wounds on her hands and her mental state was good, Ma Dajie set her heart at ease, "You're lucky. There were no wounds to touch the water inside the leaves, so you weren't poisoned. These leaves are poisonous when raw, but they can be eaten once boiled. Xiao Mu, it's not that Big Sister is lecturing you, but you need to be gentler when you work. Why are you like a man?"

Liu Mu's speed of work and height made her dislike her, not to mention looking closely at those features—the nose was a nose, the eyes were eyes, not the least bit ambiguous. If placed in the past, she would likely have been at least a model or a star.

Unaware of the sourness in Ma Dajie's heart, Liu Mu only said, "Then I'll be more careful next time. Ma Jie, if you see anything else you need me to do, just say the word. I guarantee I'll do it well for you."

"Anything else?" Ma Dajie's eyes flickered slightly, and she smiled, "Do you know how to chop vegetables? There are still some pickled vegetable knots inside. They've been sitting there for a long time and I haven't had the time. Why don't you go and chop them all?"

"We have pickled vegetables here too?" Liu Mu feigned surprise, "How long has it been since I've eaten that stuff? No, what kind of conditions do you have here? How come it's so abundant?"

"This is nothing. We have plenty of good things to eat," Ma Dajie saw that she hadn't put down her work after saying this, and found her a bit more pleasing to the eye, "Hey, let me ask you, where did you all come from? Life hasn't been easy, has it?"

Liu Mu carried the bag containing the pickled vegetable knots straight out and chatted with Ma Dajie and a few women who had gathered around, taking advantage of the daylight.

These people were actually very curious about Liu Mu's background, but since she had just arrived and Ma Dajie was in charge, they hadn't dared to speak first.

Seeing the timing was right, Liu Mu immediately concocted a difficult but legendary experience for herself and her group.

Orphaned since childhood, she had crawled out of a pile of corpses after the disaster only to face a lack of food and drink. After finally finding a small Base to settle in, a flood caused by heavy rain submerged the small city they were in, and after that, they began a wandering mode.

Eating grass roots and fighting Mutated beasts, their team of dozens was now reduced to five, and they had come here just to have a mouthful of food.

Various non-existent characters sacrificed themselves in the face of danger, causing Ma Dajie and several ladies to cry for quite a while, saying repeatedly that Liu Mu had it hard.

"Girl, from now on you'll follow us. We don't have much else, but letting you eat your fill and live well is no problem."

"Sisters, you are so brave. The Mutated Mountain Rat pack was so fierce; it's good you escaped. Is that leg still unable to use any strength now?"

"Just do what you are capable of, child. Why didn't you tell us your leg was bad?"

After all this, Liu Mu felt embarrassed herself. They were so good; how would she be able to bring herself to snatch things later?

However, very soon, this budding guilt reasonably dissolved.

Dinner was ready, and the workers came down the mountain. A massive crowd emerged from the woods, more than Liu Mu had anticipated.

The food was placed in several large wicker baskets and two large stainless steel basins. When Liu Mu brought out the vegetable leaf and egg drop soup from the kitchen pot, the area in front of the kitchen was already crowded with people.

"Move faster! Are you trying to starve me to death? You stinking women don't do anything all day, and you're even dawdling while cooking a meal!"

Once the food was placed on the table, these people almost snatched it directly, not giving them any time to distribute it at all.

Ma Dajie shouted while holding a large ladle, but she was pushed by the tall, fierce-looking man who was causing the most trouble, "Get lost, you dead hag! You dare to block the way? I'll slap you to..."

Before the word 'death' could be finished, the hand that was striking was twisted by Liu Mu. The thick arm had no more resistance than if it were made of cotton, and the bones emitted a fragile creaking sound.

"Who are you going to slap to death?"

Liu Mu kicked the man in the back of the knee from behind. The burly man knelt down on cue, his knees hitting the bluestone slabs on the floor, making a very pleasant sound.

"Xiao Mu, Xiao Mu, don't do anything, don't do anything." Seeing that Liu Mu actually dared to hit a man like this, Ma Dajie grabbed her arm and whispered a warning, "We can't afford to offend them. Hurry and let go. If those people come later, they will kill you."

Ma Dajie's voice was anxious. Liu Mu knew what she was doing and smiled at her, "Don't be afraid. I'm just cleaning up some trash."

As she spoke, she moved her hand, and the man who had been resisting immediately let out a pig-like howl; he realized clearly that his arm was broken.

"You damn bitch, you're dead meat!"

The burly man still hadn't realized the danger of the person in front of him, only cursing and threatening, and asking others for help, "Brothers, help me grab this woman! I'll share my food with you!"

Liu Mu turned her head and shook it slightly at Zheng Tian and the others in the crowd, her fierce gaze sweeping over the other dozens of people, "Let's get this straight first: I don't know how to hold back. Whoever I kill, consider it your own bad luck!"

"You damn..." "Ah!"

The burly man still wanted to shout, but a bone-chilling pain shot up from his lower leg.

A bone-breaking sound that made one's scalp tingle came from under Liu Mu's flip-flop. The men who had already taken a few steps forward stopped, asking who she was in hindsight.

"Where did this woman come from? Ma Hongmei, did you do this on purpose?"

"We are workers who open up the mountains. Aren't you afraid the Boss will execute you?"

Seeing that Liu Mu had used lethal force and that the man's lower leg was clearly ruined, Ma Dajie's anxious expression actually eased, "Who told you to bully people every day? Ah, you deserve it! Bah, you shameless thing! You slack off at work and come to the kitchen to demand food before the time is up. I haven't even reported you yet!"

Perhaps still afraid, the large ladle in Ma Dajie's hand trembled slightly.

"Stop yapping! I think it's these women who need a lesson. They dare to lay a hand on us? Everyone, attack together! Pin that woman down and let her know how tough we are!"

These people weren't afraid of Liu Mu at all. They were ruthless people who had truly survived by stepping over corpses in the apocalypse; how could they give up their superior status just because an irrelevant person got beaten?

Moreover, they had handy tools in their hands. As they surrounded her, it played right into Liu Mu's hands.

Including her, there were five women helping in the kitchen. At this moment, two of the younger ones actually stood among those men—one hung her head, not daring to look directly at this side, and the other had jealousy surging on her face.

Liu Mu could hear the other party fanning the flames, but she didn't understand how she had offended her.

"Little bitch, you're dead today. Watch my brothers..."

The kneeling man spat out the blood he had bitten out, but before he could even let out a sneer, he saw Liu Mu casually take the ladle from Ma Dajie's hand and, without a moment's hesitation, strike down with it.

The man fell to the ground in a desperate roar, his head caved in significantly, and the handle of the ladle in Liu Mu's hand was almost bent into a semicircle.

"Murder! Go call the Boss! You stinking woman, you're dead today!"

The person shouting bit his own tongue, because he saw Liu Mu apply a little force with both hands and actually straighten out the stainless steel ladle that had been bent beyond use.

Liu Mu looked at the ladle handle toward the crowd, feeling unsatisfied, and used a bit more force to bend it completely back to its original, slightly inclined angle for serving soup. As for the somewhat deformed part of the ladle, she pinched it with her fingers, molding it into a circle even more perfect than the original.

"What are you yelling about? Have you never seen someone killed, or have you never killed anyone yourselves?"

Her voice was not loud, but it made everyone freeze. If one were to say they hadn't killed anyone, perhaps a few hadn't, but to say they hadn't seen someone killed...

These people really hadn't.

However, what did that have to do with her killing someone?

"Listen to me, from now on, everyone, please line up for meals. If you think the work in the kitchen is equivalent to doing nothing, then how about we stop cooking from now on? You are all capable of doing it yourselves, after all."

"You, you, you, where did a woman like you come from, using such sophistry? You are just here to cook, what right do you have not to?"

There were still those who didn't fear death who stood out, pulling out a rusty Watermelon Knife, the blade edge full of notches, and gestured with it toward Liu Mu.

This kind of posturing might bluff others, but it naturally couldn't scare Liu Mu; she returned the stainless steel ladle to Ma Dajie and casually fished a Handgun out of her workwear pocket.

The Handgun had chipped paint and some marks from being struck by blades, but everyone knew these did not affect the gun's function.

"Let me introduce myself, I am Mu Liu, who just arrived today, and I am hardworking and especially reasonable."

She chambered a round with one hand, reasoning with people through force.

"You, are you also a new arrival today?"

Among the workers, some remembered the others who had started work halfway through the day and looked toward Zheng Tian and his group, only to see... four men, holding rice bowls piled into small mountains, squatting to the side and eating with great relish.

"Oh man, how long has it been since I've had this much meat? It's so fragrant!"

"Eat fast, in a moment when this bunch of idiots realizes what's happening, they're going to snatch it."

"If only there were some chili, it would be perfect."

"Why don't you ask for a hot pot while you're at it? I'm having another bowl!"

That speed of sweeping away the food like a storm, with the bowls nearly empty in less than a minute, truly stunned everyone.

"Eat first!" Liu Mu took the opportunity to shout, "Everyone line up, if you keep blabbering, you'll be the last ones to get served from now on!"

In the apocalypse, how many people haven't gone hungry? At least among these workers, there were no such lucky ones.

Compared to sympathizing with fellow workers, those engaged in heavy labor naturally cared more about their rice bowls, especially since the person shouting had 'truth' in her hand.

Under the gaze of Ma Dajie, whose jaw nearly dropped, the chaotic crowd actually really lined up, and they didn't even dare to curse at them.

The food, vegetables, and soup were served in an orderly fashion, and their work pressure suddenly eased by a large margin.

But Ma Dajie was still uneasy; she glanced at the big man lying motionless on the ground, arranged for the other three to serve the food, and pulled Liu Mu into the kitchen.

"Little Mu, I know you did this for me, but I can't let you get into trouble. Take this food and run."

Ma Dajie spun around in front of the stove like a ball, until she had pressed and packed three stainless steel lunch boxes,

"The Boss here values the workers highly; you killed one just now, and they won't let you off when they arrive. Listen to me, run through the woods in the back, it's less than a kilometer to the main road. Once you're on the road, head south to Haicheng; I heard they built a Barrier there, if you run there, you can survive!"

She handed the filled lunch boxes to Liu Mu, then pushed her toward the back of the kitchen, "Climb out the window and go, those people have guns too. Call everyone who came with you and leave, you can't beat them."

"Don't rush, don't rush," Liu Mu braced one hand against the wall and looked back, "Ma Dajie, if I run, what will happen to you? Those people will still bully you in the future, I'm not leaving!"

"Why are you being so stubborn, child? We aren't even close, who asked you to stand up for us? Go quickly, I don't like you, we don't want you here, hurry up and leave!"

The two were still pulling at each other when a gunshot suddenly rang out from outside, and Ma Dajie's face turned pale immediately, "Why are they here already? How could it be so fast?"

Immediately after, the kitchen door was kicked open, and several people holding guns appeared at the entrance, backlit, but it was clear they were not the ones who had been guarding the roadblock earlier.

"Who killed him? It wouldn't be you, would it, Ma Hongmei?"

The one who entered was a thin man, sporting a center-parted hairstyle that clung to his scalp, and while he called out to Ma Dajie, his gaze shot straight toward Liu Mu.

"It wasn't, Xiaoliuzi, listen to me. It was Big Bear who started hitting us first, and you know that kid always looks for trouble with us every time he eats..."

Ma Dajie, who was desperately trying to explain, used her own short stature to block Liu Mu, her voice not loud but firm.

Liu Mu's eyes narrowed slightly; she felt that Ma Dajie wasn't truly afraid of the few people in front of them, "It was me, it has nothing to do with Ma Dajie, if you have a problem, come at me!"