Chapter 52: Newcomers to the Zhai?

Qin Lianjun froze in place, his eyes widened like copper bells, his face full of disbelief.

"That wasn't an auditory hallucination?"

"Lianjun, the people from the Lu Family Stockade, it seems like they're calling for us to go back?" the man beside him asked in a low voice, filled with a mix of confusion and nervousness.

"I heard it too, and it sounded like they said they wanted to return the prey to us?"

"Could there really be such a good thing?" The men's faces were written with suspicion; they couldn't believe their own ears.

Qin Hai didn't say a word; his throat bobbed as he swallowed hard. If it were truly as they said, that would be the best thing possible.

At this moment, the shouting from behind rose again, carrying a clear sense of urgency.

This time, everyone heard it clearly. They looked at each other, and with uneasy hearts, they turned around and looked toward the rear.

They saw the people from the Lu Family Stockade standing where the group from the Qin Family Stronghold had previously stopped, rummaging through the spoils of war. And Lu Guohao, with a face full of smiles, was waving at them enthusiastically.

"Lianjun, why don't we go over and take a look? What if they are being sincere?" someone couldn't help but suggest.

"That's right, we have no grudges against them; if they really wanted to do us harm, they would have acted long ago."

"Let's go try; we won't lose anything."

"Then... then let's go take a look."

Qin Lianjun was moved; he gritted his teeth and agreed.

The group walked over cautiously. When they were twenty or thirty meters away, Qin Lianjun asked with a fawning smile: "Brother Lu, were you calling us just now?"

As he spoke, his gaze fell involuntarily on Lu Yu, who was standing not far away with a calm expression.

He clearly remembered that it was this young man who, single-handedly, had wiped out the entire Hunting Team of the Wang Family Zhai, possessing terrifying strength.

Lu Guohao nodded with a smile, pointed to the more than half of the Giant Horned Horse on the ground, and said: "If I remember correctly, this should be your prey, right?"

"Yes, it's ours." A man responded impatiently.

Qin Lianjun nodded along, though his heart was pounding, nervous to the extreme.

"Then you should take it back," Lu Guohao said without hesitation.

"!" The men from the Qin Family Stronghold felt as if they had been struck by a pie falling from the sky; the happiness came so suddenly that they were momentarily at a loss.

"Brother Lu, are, are you telling the truth? You aren't joking, are you?" Qin Lianjun still couldn't quite believe it. Even if Lu Guohao had proposed taking half, he would have found it acceptable; after all, if it weren't for the Lu Family Stockade, this prey would never have been recovered.

"Eh?" Zhao Shan, who was to the side, couldn't help but laugh out loud. "Lao Qin, you're an interesting fellow. Would we lie to you?"

"Exactly, if you don't want it, we'll just keep it."

"We want it, we want it!" Qin Lianjun responded hurriedly, as if he had been scalded.

"Then why are you still dawdling?"

"Alright." Lu Guohao looked at Qin Lianjun with a smile. "Lao Qin, I know what you're worried about. Rest assured, there are no other conditions. Whoever this prey originally belonged to, they should be the ones to take it away."

Hearing this, the men's eyes turned red with emotion.

From Lu Guohao's tone, they could truly feel that he was sincere about returning the prey.

"Brother Lu, thank you so much, thank you!"

"Thank you all. If it weren't for your help, we would have gone back with so little that we wouldn't have had the face to see the people in the Stronghold."

"That's right, now it's great, everyone will have something to eat." As the men spoke, they raised their hands to wipe the tears from the corners of their eyes.

Lu Yu watched this scene quietly, feeling both a bit amused and full of emotion.

The life of an adult is always full of hardships; no one has it easy.

"Lao Qin, don't say that." Lu Guohao waved his hand and sighed softly. "Come to think of it, I'm the one who should be thanking you."

"Ah?" The men, who were busy wiping their tears, all looked up in surprise, their faces full of confusion.

Lu Guohao explained: "When we encountered you being bullied by the Wang Family Zhai earlier, we didn't help immediately not because we were afraid of trouble, but because we were worried about accidentally hurting you during the fight, so we pretended to flee to lure Wang Ba into leading his men to chase us.

We also knew that doing this might make you feel cold-hearted, and we didn't expect you to follow us, but you still did. You were thinking of helping us out when the time came, right?"

Zhao Shan and the others couldn't help but nod slightly upon hearing this. Even Lu Yu had been somewhat surprised at the time; he hadn't expected the people from the Qin Family Stronghold to have the courage to pursue them. For this point alone, these people were worth befriending.

Among the men from the Qin Family Stronghold, everyone except Qin Lianjun looked ashamed.

So that was how it was. No wonder they had such strong capabilities yet still went through the trouble of fleeing; it turned out they were afraid of causing accidental harm.

And as for them, not only did they harbor resentment, but they had also secretly hoped for the Lu Family Stockade's misfortune.

If it hadn't been for Qin Lianjun's insistence, they never would have followed.

If that had happened, they certainly wouldn't have gotten the prey back, and every time they went out hunting in the future, they would have lived in fear, let alone understanding the good intentions of Lu Guohao and the others.

"Brother Lu, I am truly ashamed." Qin Lianjun's eyes also moistened. "Come to think of it, we didn't help at all, so why would you need to thank us?"

"That's right, we were too foolish. We misunderstood you before; thinking about it now, sigh!"

"It's fine, it's all in the past." Lu Guohao shook his head and looked at the men opposite him. "Everyone is just trying to make a living in this difficult world; it's not easy for anyone. When we meet, helping each other out is only right."

"Yes, yes, yes."

"We should help each other." Qin Lianjun and the others nodded busily.

"Alright, let's leave it at that for today. The road back is long, so everyone be careful." As Lu Guohao said this, he scanned the surroundings.

The items on the people from the Wang Family Zhai had basically all been scavenged, so it was time for them to withdraw.

As for these corpses, they wouldn't last the night here before being picked clean by the beasts of the wilderness.

"Xiao Yu, what are you thinking about? It's time to go." Zhao Shan asked with a smile.

"Mm." Lu Yu nodded, his gaze falling on the men from the Qin Family Stronghold.

He was pondering that perhaps now was a good time to recruit them.

Although there was a possibility of being rejected, the likelihood shouldn't be high.

Just then, Qin Lianjun's voice came.

"Um, Brother Lu."

"Hm?" Lu Guohao, who had just turned around, turned back and asked with a smile, "Brother Qin, is there something else?"

The people of Qin Family Stronghold subconsciously looked toward Qin Lianjun. Could it be that Qin Lianjun still wanted to offer more thanks?

However, his next words left everyone present in shock.

"Um, Brother Lu, could we join your Lu Family Stockade?"

For a moment, the surroundings were silent, as if time itself had frozen.

The people of Lu Family Stockade had never expected the other side to say such a thing.

Lu Yu was secretly delighted; he had not expected things to develop even more smoothly than he had anticipated.

With these people from Qin Family Stronghold joining, to say nothing else, just going to Zhou Family Fort to trade for supplies would be much safer when the time came.

After a long while, Lu Guohao tentatively asked, "Brother Qin, you just said that your Qin Family Stronghold wants to join our Zhai?"

"Y-yes, that's right." Qin Lianjun was both nervous and full of anticipation.

"Our Zhai is truly too small, and winter is arriving soon; life will be even harder to endure from here on out."

"It seems you don't have many hands either; of course, your strength is much greater than ours, but if we join forces, we will certainly be able to live better."