Chapter 398 - 184: Kill

Chapter 398: Chapter 184: Kill

"???"

Xu Mo was stunned for a moment. He rarely saw situations like this anymore, but it seemed they meant no harm.

Xu Mo hesitated for a moment but still stopped the car a dozen or so meters away from them.

The three of them saw the car stop and immediately ran over, but they stopped three or four meters away. They clearly understood the rules, knowing not to rashly approach a stranger’s vehicle.

"Mister! Mister!" The one running in front was a young man in his twenties, skinny as a rail, but his eyes held a kind of excited light. "Can you help us out?"

"Hm?"

Xu Mo sized them up. The three of them were all dressed in tattered clothes, carrying several cloth bags on their backs, bulging with who-knows-what.

"What is it?" Xu Mo asked.

The young man rubbed his hands together, a placating smile on his face. "Mister, do you have any medicine? Fever reducers or anything? We can trade!"

"Trade?"

"Yeah!" The young man turned and took a cloth bag from the woman behind him, opening it for Xu Mo to see. "We have fish! Fresh! Just caught!"

Xu Mo looked down and saw that the bag did indeed contain a few fish. Each was about a foot long, their scales shimmering with a silver light. They really did look like they’d been caught recently.

"Where did you catch these fish?" Xu Mo asked.

"There’s a river over there!" The young man pointed behind him. "We live right by the riverbank. We catch and eat fish every day!"

Xu Mo nodded, then took out his backpack and started rummaging through it. There wasn’t much inside, but he did have a first-aid kit.

After a moment of searching, Xu Mo found a few pills of fever reducer and handed them to the young man.

"This is all I have. Take them."

The young man froze, his eyes going wide as he took the medicine.

"Mister, I... I can’t accept this. We said we’d trade, but you..."

"No need to trade," Xu Mo said. "They’re a gift."

The expression on the young man’s face shifted from surprise to gratitude, and then from gratitude to helplessness. He looked back at the man and woman behind him, who both wore similarly complex expressions.

"Mister, but..." The young man tried to say more.

"Just take them," Xu Mo cut him off. "Be careful on the road."

The young man took a deep breath, solemnly put the medicine in his pocket, then raised his head and looked at Xu Mo.

"Mister, words can’t express my gratitude. My name is Zhao Shitou, this is my wife, Chunlan, and this is my brother. If there’s ever anything in the future..."

"Alright, alright." Xu Mo waved a hand, cutting him off.

He glanced at the fish and suddenly remembered something.

"These fish," he pointed, "you eat them often?"

"Yeah!" Zhao Shitou nodded. "Every day. We don’t have anything else, but we have plenty of these fish."

Xu Mo fell silent for a second, then said, "Eat less of them."

"In the apocalypse, a lot of animals have mutated. Fish are no different. If you eat too much, it’s bad for you."

Hearing Xu Mo’s words, Zhao Shitou paused, then he blinked and smiled.

"Mister, we know about that. That eating too much fish will cause mutations. Someone told us."

"But what are we supposed to do if we don’t eat it?" Zhao Shitou gave a bitter smile. "Mister, look at us. What do we have besides fish? The crops we planted haven’t been harvested yet, and we can’t find any supplies when we go out looking. If we don’t eat the fish, we’ll starve."

He paused and continued, "We know it’s not good to eat too much of it, but we have no choice right now. After another two months, when the crops are harvested, we’ll stop eating the fish. For now, we’re just making do to survive."

Xu Mo looked at the three of them. Though they were thin, there was a light in their eyes—the kind of light only people who still have hope possess. They had land to farm, fish to eat, and a reason to keep going. It was difficult, but they were still trying their best to live.

"Alright."

Xu Mo nodded, then started the car, preparing to leave.

"Mister, wait!" Zhao Shitou suddenly shouted.

Xu Mo stopped and turned his head to look at him.

Zhao Shitou ran over, leaned against the car window, and said to Xu Mo in a low voice, "Mister, if you’re heading east, you need to be careful after you cross the bridge up ahead."

"What do you mean?"

Zhao Shitou glanced left and right, as if checking to see if anyone was eavesdropping, then said, "It’s dangerous over there. We don’t know the specifics, but of the people who’ve gone, some never came back, and the ones who did came back... strange. None of us dare to cross the bridge anymore."

Xu Mo’s gaze sharpened slightly. "How far is the bridge?"

"It’s about six miles up the road," Zhao Shitou said. "Once you cross the bridge, it’s a different area."

"Thanks," Xu Mo nodded.

"Don’t mention it, Mister." Zhao Shitou took a step back and waved at him. "Be careful out there!"

Xu Mo stepped on the gas, and the car slowly accelerated.

In the rearview mirror, the three of them were still standing there, waving at him. Zhao Shitou’s wife, Chunlan, even gave a deep bow.

Xu Mo pulled his gaze away and continued driving forward.

Six miles ahead, a bridge, and danger on the other side.

This information was worth far more than a few fish.