Chapter 34: Extreme Heat, Human Favor

The six men were dressed strangely, each with a brightly colored mushroom on his head.

Jiang Si’s finger, about to pull the trigger, suddenly froze. ’These people know the mushroom’s use and have even fashioned them into umbrella hats. Does that mean they know how to neutralize its toxin?!’

A look of pleasant surprise flashed in Jiang Si’s eyes as she pulled the trigger. BANG—a single shot hit one of the men in the thigh.

He fell to the ground. The leg exposed to the sun began to sizzle and smoke; the corrosion of his flesh was even more painful than the gunshot wound. He gritted his teeth and forced himself to stand up to avoid further exposure to the sun’s radiation.

Surprised by Jiang Si’s marksmanship, the other five men quickly found cover and opened fire on the conspicuous targets, Zhang Qingzhi and Shen Baoying.

But they had overlooked Qin Shen, whose marksmanship was just as divine.

BANG! BANG! BANG!—

Amid a chaotic burst of gunfire, the remaining five men were all shot at almost the exact same moment.

Each of Qin Shen’s bullets had precisely struck its target in the forehead.

Blood gushed from their foreheads, their eyes still wide open in death.

Niu Niu was too scared to open her eyes. Lu Zhifeng comforted her in a low voice, "Don’t be afraid, Niu Niu. They brought this on themselves. If we didn’t kill them, we would be the ones to die. You have to be strong, Niu Niu. Daddy will protect you."

Her face pale, Niu Niu cautiously opened her eyes, took one look, and quickly squeezed them shut again.

It was the first time she had ever seen dead bodies so up close.

It was just too horrifying.

The only man left alive had a terrified expression, begging Jiang Si and the others not to kill him.

Jiang Si walked up to him, pointed at the giant mushrooms, and asked, "How do you cure the poison?"

Everyone surrounded him. "Spit it out!"

Snot and tears streamed down the man’s face as he trembled uncontrollably. "I don’t know, I really don’t know."

Jiang Si pressed her gun to his throat. "Are you sure?"

’Such a beautiful girl, but she’s a deadly demon in the flesh.’

Desperate to live, the man racked his brain. "I’ve never been poisoned, so I really don’t know! But—but our boss always has us collect the maggots from inside the mushrooms. Maybe... maybe that’s the antidote!"

Jiang Si’s eyes lit up, and she hurried back to catch the maggots in the mushrooms.

In no time, she spotted a mushroom with boreholes in it.

Jiang Si skillfully sliced it open with her knife, and a finger-sized, plump white maggot squirming to escape appeared in her view.

Jiang Si picked up the maggot, placed it in a bowl, and mashed it, squeezing out a large amount of green liquid.

Jiang Linhai frowned. "Sisi, what if it doesn’t work?"

Jiang Si said, "The medicine at Qin Shen’s place isn’t guaranteed to work either. Let’s give this a try."

Her intuition told her it should be effective.

Jiang Linhai could only brace himself and hold out his hand.

She tentatively dripped the green maggot juice onto one of Jiang Linhai’s fingers.

His burning hot finger instantly felt a coolness seeping into the skin.

The awful itching that had been tormenting Jiang Linhai was also soothed at the same time.

The effect was surprisingly fast.

Seeing Jiang Linhai’s shocked expression, Jiang Si knew it had worked.

She quickly had everyone help her catch more maggots.

The mushrooms that were more rotten and had more boreholes contained more maggots.

Before long, everyone had caught a full bowl of maggots. The mashed juice was enough to treat Jiang Linhai’s hands, with enough left over to fill a small bottle.

Just in case Jiang Linhai needed more juice for his hands to fully heal, they quickly caught several more large bowls of the creatures and packed them to take away.

The dead men’s mushroom hats were much more convenient than the mushroom "umbrellas" the group had been holding. Everyone took them, along with the men’s guns. They also looted their bodies, finding daggers, magazines, flint, matches, bandages, and other small items.

Seeing this, the lone survivor hurriedly pulled out everything he had and obediently offered it all to Zhao Yuning.

Jiang Si took the items and barraged him with questions: "How many more of you are there? Who’s your boss? Why do you have guns? And why did he send you to kill us?"

The man hastily replied, "There are five more people in the watchtower. Our boss is named Zhang Xianchao. We used to be poachers, which is why we have guns. The giant mushrooms let people travel during the day, so... so he wanted to silence you."

"Don’t kill me! I’ve really told you everything! I was just following orders, I beg you."

Jiang Si glanced toward the watchtower, but in the next instant, she raised her gun. BANG—she cleanly finished the man off.

Zhang Qingzhi and Shen Baoying’s eyes widened, clearly having thought that Jiang Si would spare him.

Jiang Si saw their confusion. "Their boss isn’t going to let this go. If this man gets rescued, he’ll turn right around and point a gun at us. When you know something is a threat, you have to eliminate it completely."

Zhang Qingzhi and Shen Baoying were still processing the reality of having to kill someone to eliminate a potential threat.

But Lu Zhifeng said, "They only have five people left now. Should we go up there and wipe them out?"

He agreed with Jiang Si’s decision. If they weren’t planning to leave Longquan Village, they couldn’t afford to show misplaced compassion or be merciful to their enemies.

Jiang Si shook her head. "They hold the high ground. If we go to them, we’ll be walking right into an ambush. Let’s go home for now."

Lu Zhifeng sighed. Back in Longquan Village, if he and Niu Niu were targeted alone, the danger would be immense.

But what Jiang Si said was also true.

Approaching the watchtower without any cover, they would just be moving targets.

Watching Jiang Si’s group leave, laden with supplies, and realizing they now knew the antidote to the giant mushroom’s toxin, Zhang Xianchao clenched his fists tightly.

’Next time I go into the city, I have to get the best sniper rifle!’

’And I’ll hire the most elite assassins to work for me!’

Luo Daqiang, his face covered in blisters, was helped back by a subordinate. Before he could even get treated, Zhang Xianchao smashed a cup of instant noodles over him. "You idiot! You still have the nerve to come back?!"

The blisters on Luo Daqiang’s face burst, and he screamed in pain, rolling on the ground without a shred of dignity. Then, he was met with a kick from Zhang Xianchao.

"Useless trash!"

As they were about to leave the forest, Jiang Si fairly divided the day’s spoils among the group, keeping only the maggot juice aside.

Lu Zhifeng was surprised that he received such a large share.

After all, Qin Shen and Jiang Si had done most of the heavy lifting. He had to look after Niu Niu and had only really exerted himself carrying the Weasel Crocodile.

Moreover, Jiang Si had saved him and his daughter; he should have been the one giving her things to repay her.

Lu Zhifeng pushed the weapons back to Jiang Si. "My daughter and I have a gun. Your family is larger, so you should take these. You don’t need to give them to us. Thank you for taking care of us." Then he turned to Qin Shen and said amicably, "I don’t have any diesel, but can I give you some charcoal instead? If that doesn’t work, I can give you twenty more bullets."

Qin Shen nodded. "That’s fine."

Qin Shen had been bitten by a poisonous snake while saving Shen Baoying. Even though Jiang Si had given him an antivenom shot and he was fine, they still owed him a huge favor. On top of that, when Jiang Linhai’s hands swelled up and everyone was at a loss, he had been willing to let them try the skin medicine he had at home.

That made the debt of gratitude even greater.

Only after Lu Zhifeng and his daughter had left did Jiang Si say to him, "Besides the five hundred pounds of grain and clothing I promised you before, how about I add a drum of gasoline and a set of bedding?"