Chapter 129: We Are All His Relatives

The sky was thick with dark clouds; without the sun as a reference, the passage of time felt vague.

Zhang Su and his group spent over an hour clearing one street, with forty households lining both sides—though some were clearly new houses with no occupants, likely because everyone had gone to the city to work; there were over a dozen such streets in Shuikou Village.

"Block this intersection with something—we won't go anywhere else for now. Our vehicle capacity is limited; we can't even haul all the grain from these thirty or forty households on this one street. Don't be greedy!"

As they spoke, two zombies wandered over from other streets, and several team members dispatched them casually.

Zhang Su had another reason for this decision: zombies wandering through the village not only hindered them but also blocked later arrivals—acting as an unusual form of defense. If future groups feared the danger and refused to clear the zombies, the grain stored elsewhere in the village might still be preserved.

Though grain would eventually rot, it would last at least a year or two without issue.

No one objected to Zhang Su's decision; everyone immediately set to work, dismantling the old barricades and piling zombie corpses together like sandbags to form a new barrier.

Only after everything was done was the most anticipated harvest time finally here!

"Uncle, this house—this house has an old well!"

Pang Dakun stood happily at the doorstep of a house, waving them over.

The group walked over and saw that, as Pang Dakun had said, there was indeed a hand-cranked old well.

They poured water on it, pulled and pushed the crank vigorously, and a gurgling sound rose from the depths—exciting everyone briefly—then clear groundwater gushed out of the spigot with a splash onto the ground.

"Water! Water!"

"Hahaha!"

At the sight of flowing water, everyone was overjoyed; the longing for the source of life was etched into their bones.

"Big brother, come on, have a drink—better than liquor! Hey? What's wrong? Is the water bad?"

Zhao Dezhù had somehow found an enamel cup, filled it to the brim, and handed it to Zhang Su—only to find him frowning at the gushing spigot.

"No…," Zhang Su quickly waved his hand as everyone grew tense upon hearing Zhao Dezhù's words. "I was just thinking how to get this water into the tanks."

"Just hook up a pipe—easy!" Zhao Dezhù relaxed instantly when he realized that was all it was.

"It's not about the pipe… Both vehicles' tanks can hold several tons of water. Dakun, is there a better well with something more advanced?"

Zhang Su worried about efficiency; filling both vehicle tanks with this well was possible, but it would take too many people.

"Puff… puff…" Pang Dakun stopped cranking, stood straight, and pointed west. "Uncle, three houses west—that's my fourth uncle's place. His well has a pump, but no electricity to run it."

"Electricity? No problem!"

Zhang Su immediately led the group to his fourth uncle's house and ordered someone to bring the vehicles over.

If electricity can solve it, don't use manpower…

The two RVs parked outside Pang Dakun's fourth uncle's yard, a thick, long hose connecting to their tanks. Tan Huajun hooked up the generator to the pump, started it successfully, and within less than twenty minutes, all water tanks on both vehicles were full.

When the showerhead spouted hot water, nearly everyone couldn't help but cheer, causing zombies on the neighboring street to stir restlessly.

"Enough! Don't force more in if the tanks are full—breaking the vehicles would be worse!"

While filling water, everyone else stayed busy hauling grain from villagers' homes. Zhang Su silently calculated the load; with over a dozen households left unvisited, the vehicles were already at maximum capacity. He felt helpless but had no choice.

Two vehicles were parked in the village, but no keys were found; they forcibly pried open the fuel caps and siphoned off the gasoline.

The main food hauls were flour, peanuts, potatoes, and sweet potatoes, plus small amounts of cabbage, pickled vegetables, and meat.

Zhong Xiaoshan and Yu Qing had planned to tally the team's total food reserves, but Zhang Su thought it too early; they could count everything once they found a stable base.

"Let's eat. After lunch, we'll have a shooting competition—how about it?"

With everything done, Zhang Su was in high spirits. Seeing the open fields nearby, he felt it was time for everyone to handle a gun.

Including himself, none of them had ever fired a gun. It was a weakness. Even if firearms couldn't be issued to everyone, they needed familiarity—since sentries would be armed. They couldn't afford to fail at a critical moment.

"Good, good, good! I've been wanting to shoot for ages!"

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's start now—I'm not hungry!"

"Big brother, how many bullets can each of us fire?"

The men's enthusiasm was high, and the women were just as eager. Firearms differ from cold weapons—bullets fired from women's hands are just as deadly!

"Guns? Uncle, you've got guns too? Why didn't you bring them out sooner? Shooting zombies with guns would be so much faster!" Pang Dakun asked, puzzled.

Zhang Su gave him a dry chuckle. "We just found them and haven't even used them. Our marksmanship is garbage, and we've got only a few hundred rounds. Using them to kill zombies is a waste. Their purpose isn't as simple as you think. Come on, let's eat!"

Yet just as everyone hurried to prepare for lunch, Pei Lan, on watch atop the fertilizer shop, shouted: "Su-ge! People over there—people are coming from the fields!"

At this, everyone turned toward the direction Pei Lan pointed.

It was far, but a group of people could be faintly seen approaching.

"Xiao Pang, is there another village over there?"

Zhang Su was astonished. Based on his earlier observations, that side had only fields and greenhouses, then the river—how could a group suddenly appear?

Pang Dakun's face darkened. "No village. That group's from our village—they must've sneaked back from the other side, Beiliang Village!"

"The other side? But the bridge was blown up—how did they cross?"

Tan Huajun asked.

"Auntie, you don't know—the river's low now. There's a stretch of riverbed piled with big rocks. If you're careful and avoid zombies, you can walk across!"

The group understood: vehicles couldn't pass, but people could cross. As for zombies that had fallen in, they'd surely found a way to deal with them.

"These guys mean trouble. Don't let your guard down. Hurry up and eat!"

Zhang Su gave a command, took a bite of his bread, then asked Pang Dakun: "Xiao Pang, if things turn hostile, will you side with them?"

"Huh?" Pang Dakun laughed bitterly. "Uncle, if you hadn't talked me out of it, I'd have killed them myself. Why would I help them?"

"Good. Leave it to us. Don't say a word." Zhang Su patted Pang Dakun's arm.

As the group walked out of the fields, their aggressive demeanor made it obvious even to a fool that something was wrong.

Zhang Su said nothing. He shoved the half-eaten bread into his pocket, took down his crossbow from his shoulder, raised it, and fired—*shhh! —an arrow into the field.

*Plop!

The bolt embedded itself in the field ridge, half exposed, trembling slightly—eliciting startled glances from the approaching group.

The group, led by a tall, muscular man, halted, unwilling to advance further.

"Da Tie, they've got crossbows!"

A middle-aged man exclaimed in shock, immediately holding his shovel horizontally across his chest, fearing they'd be struck next.

"Who are you? If you've got something to say, say it from there. Come any closer and it'll be impolite!"

Zhang Su called out clearly as the group stood still. They were fifty to sixty meters apart; in the quiet, conversation was easy.

"We're villagers from Shuikou Village. We just saw you hauling away a lot of grain from our village. You're bandits—looting and destroying our homes, and now you won't even let us near. Are you insane?"

Someone immediately protested Zhang Su's words. The crossbow was frightening, but there was only one—and it reloaded slowly, limiting its intimidation.

"Real villagers protect their village, clear zombies, and clean the environment—just like we're doing. Where are you from? How could you possibly be from Shuikou Village? Leave now!"

Zhang Su wouldn't fall for their act—he turned the accusation around.

The muscular leader chuckled coldly, gripping a crane-beak hoe. "You're not even real villagers from Shuikou. Don't waste our time. If you take even one potato today, I'll make you all stay here forever!"

"We're genuine villagers from Shuikou. We've worked for the village—and we're his relatives. I'm his uncle." Zhang Su pointed to Pang Dakun behind him and grinned.

"That's right! I'm his brother!" Lu Yu joined in, slinging an arm around Pang Dakun's shoulder with a sly smile.

Zhao Dezhù patted his chest. "I'm his uncle too—Second Uncle! What, you got a problem with that?"

One by one, everyone introduced themselves—all as Pang Dakun's relatives…

(End of Chapter)