Love and passion, cutting up the wasteland

"What's more terrifying?" Both siblings were stunned.

Isn’t it terrible that the compatriots who invaded their village are just having fun?

"Brother Allen, what news did you hear?" Ah Li calmed down and asked.

During his last outing, Allen's performance was recognized by everyone, and his status among the younger generation is getting higher and higher.

After returning to the village to recover from his injuries, he often traveled with Uncle Hua, as if he was being groomed to succeed Uncle Hua and become the next team leader.

There is no long-distance trade route like out of the swamp, but Allen still traveled a lot of short distances to communicate with each other in the swamp villages, and he must have learned more information from this than the people in the village.

"In recent days...many people from other villages have disappeared." Allen said slowly.

"Missing?" Ah Quan was puzzled by this wording. "Is he dead?"

It is normal for villagers to suffer casualties in the swamp.

Once contact is lost outside, villagers often assume that they have been buried in the swamp.

"Heishuipu, Golden Snake Village... people in those villages said so. Uncle Hua and I had no doubts at first." Allen said, "until I went to find a friend from another village who was a good wrestler in the village. , who has been to our village before."

"You're talking about that stinky guy who came last time?" Ah Quan recalled, "He said he wanted to pick on all of us by himself, but he ended up meeting you, Brother Alen."

"Well, we didn't win or lose that time. We agreed to compete again when I follow the leader to his village."

"I remember!" Recalling the past, Ah Quan aroused his competitive spirit and said excitedly, "Then who won?"

"It must be Brother Allen." Ah Li said casually.

According to her understanding, if Allen lost, he would not bring this matter up again.

Unexpectedly, Allen shook his head: "I didn't find him."

"He's missing too."

Ah Quan and Ah Li fell silent, and gradually felt something was wrong in each other's words.

"At first, I was just regretful that I lost such a friend and good rival," Allen said in a strange tone. "It wasn't until I was leaving that the leader of the gang in charge of their village came over."

"In order to avoid trouble, Uncle Hua and I hid aside...but I saw clearly the hands of the leader."

"His arms are strong, but the little finger on his left hand is shorter, and there is an indigo birthmark on it... It's my good friend's hand!"

"Other people may not know it, but I have wrestled with him so many times, I remember it clearly." Allen affirmed.

The two siblings looked at each other and felt a chill rising up their spines.

He was considered a missing villager, but one of his arms appeared on the gang leader's body.

"I told Uncle Hua the news, and Uncle Hua was also shocked." Allen continued, "Later, he told me what he had found out."

"A few months ago, the Skinners Gang and the Hound Gang clashed again in Shark Village, and many small gangs got involved.

"As for the gang leader, according to rumors, he was seriously injured in the fire. Not only did he have a whole hand broken, but he was also stabbed in the stomach. He lay in bed for many days and looked like he was dead.

"As a result, when his subordinates were plotting to separate the family, the leader suddenly kicked open their door, tied up the rebellious brothers one by one, and drowned them in the mud.

"Everyone still thought that the gang leader was acting to spread false news and deliberately lured out those who were interested... Now it seems that it may not be that simple."

Allen gritted his teeth: "I suspect that in addition to his hands, even the broken organs in his stomach came from..."

That's it, the other two people knew what happened without him having to say it clearly.

"Someone kidnapped those missing people, took away their belongings, and gave them to others..." Ah Li said slowly.

"This, this, can this be done?" Ah Quan couldn't believe it.

Reconnecting severed limbs and transplanting organs is still beyond the swamp people's understanding.

For him, this was close to coming back to life.

"I don't know how they did it." Allen shook his head, "But... maybe the example is right in front of us."

"You are talking about the Stone Rat Group..." The two of them remembered the goal of their original discussion and felt horrified.

Ah Quan thought of the bamboo basket carried by the leader of the Stone Rat Group, and that there might be a living person hidden in the bamboo basket who was about to be sent to the slaughter table... Even with his impulsive nerves, he couldn't help but shudder. .

And Ah Li felt even more scared.

She had actually been in the same room with that devil.

She felt like she understood why the leader did not attend the village banquet as usual, but instead had the ingredients delivered to the room.

——Just to feed the poor kidnapped man!

By the way, that person seems to want to stay and ask me questions in the end...

Goosebumps appeared on the girl's skin.

Compared with this ending, their initial worries were nothing!

The air was sultry after the rain, but both of them felt a slight chill.

However, after Allen finished speaking his guess, he slapped his mouth.

Something feels wrong.

It would be too arbitrary to draw such a conclusion.

"Ah Li, you have been in contact with that leader for the longest time. Tell me more about his situation." He decided to ask in detail.

Ah Li answered truthfully.

As a reference, she even mentioned the familiarity she felt when she saw that person.

"White hair...familiar..." Allen frowned.

"Is it the Double Blade Group?" Ah Quan answered, "All the members of this gang are sons of the Scorched Earth. They have pale hair and it is said that their eyes can shine even when they are in the water."

"And the Double Blades also came to the village with the Stone Rats last time. Sister, you might have seen him at that time, so you have an impression of him."

Ah Li nodded hesitantly, this was indeed a possibility.

"But the Double Blades are just a small gang. Do they really dare to do such a thing?" Allen questioned, "And this leader was brought in by Uncle Lin. He has been stationed in Stone Rat Town for so many years. How could he do this? Don’t you recognize the people from the Stone Rat Group?”

The Double Blade Group mentioned by Ah Quan is the weakest in the swamp in terms of strength. Even compared to the swamp village, they don't dare to be too strong.

They have no base of their own, and no village pays taxes to them. If the villagers know that the Double Blades are doing this kind of thing, it will be enough to make them miserable.

Ah Quan scratched his head, he really didn't know as well as Allen.

"Let's find an opportunity to learn more from Uncle Lin in the future... Wait, why don't we go to the village elder?" He thought for a while and suddenly said excitedly, thinking that he had found a good idea.

This is a real important matter that affects the lives of the villagers. If the village elders know about it, they can't just sit back and watch, right?

Unexpectedly, as soon as he finished speaking, he was greeted by strange looks from the other two people.

"What, what's wrong?" Ah Quan felt a little guilty.

"Brother..." Ali Youyou said, "Do you think that if the gang leader wants to put on the body of a villager... the village elders really don't know?"

"……What?"

"Yes, Uncle Hua said the same thing." Allen nodded, "I can recognize that the leader has changed to a newbie. Where is my good friend's family? They get along day and night and become closer, so how can I not recognize him?"

"Even so, they remained silent." Allen sighed, "If no one told them to shut up, how could they surrender..."

Looking at the appearance of his sister and Brother Alen, Ah Quan opened his mouth and subconsciously wanted to refute, but no sound came out.

He got it.

The two of them had thought of this possibility from the beginning, but they had been unwilling to say it.

Or maybe she didn't want to tell him.

Ah Quan suddenly realized that the three of them had grown up in the village and had always known each other... But unknowingly, from a certain moment on, he seemed to be unable to see through his sister and Brother Alen.

It seems that it was after they came back from going out.

Can that experience really change people so much?

Or, it's just that you haven't grown up yet.

"Things are not so absolute, and we have no control over the affairs of other villages." Allen patted his shoulder, "Everything right now is just speculation. Thinking on the bright side, if nothing happens, the leader of the Stone Rat Group Maybe he’s still a good person.”

Ah Quan nodded silently.

He knew it was a comfort, after all, it was too magical to think of a swamp gang leader as a good guy.

I stopped thinking that way when I was four years old.

By the way, Brother Allen will be six years old.

"Then what should we do?" His tone was much lower.

"do nothing."

"do nothing……"

"You can also put it nicely, just wait and see what happens." Allen explained, "It's just like when Uncle Hua taught you to cross the rain forest, you can use a wooden stick to scare away the poisonous snakes in the grass - but if there is something hidden inside, Where are the blood spiders? If we alert them rashly, our lives will be lost."

"In the past few days, pay attention to the situation in the village to see if any family has lost anyone. If the worst happens, we can't let him succeed."

"But what if not?" Ah Quan whispered.

"If not..." Looking at her younger brother, the girl was about to speak, but was stopped by Allen - it would be better for him to say: "If not, then don't worry about anything."

"Send away this leader, and we will live in peace."

As for the girl who may have been kidnapped.

If it were people from their own Huangshui Village, they would risk their lives to save someone.

This is already quite emotional.

But if she is a stranger from another village, saving her will offend the Stone Rat Group, which is really not worth it.

Ah Quan understands...

However, in this way, the girl's fate is doomed.

Even during her time in Huangshui Village, her experience would never be easy.

This can be inferred from the scene my sister witnessed.

Until they were finally sent to the slaughtering table, they, who may be the only ones who knew the truth, could only stand by and watch.

Thinking of the inhuman treatment the girl would suffer... the young man nodded stiffly.

Allen looked at his appearance and sighed helplessly.

He spoke coldly, but he felt uncomfortable after making such a decision.

"Alan, stop frowning, you can kill mosquitoes." The girl next to him said softly.

"Why am I frowning..." Allen retorted subconsciously, and then he was speechless.

He touched his eyebrows with his hand and found that there was indeed a slight groove that could not be smoothed out.

He remembered what Uncle Lin once said, once the swamp people grow up, they become old.

Allen didn't believe it before, but now he knows it.

Just when everyone was feeling depressed, a cheering shout broke the atmosphere:

"Brother Alen! Brother Alen!"

A young swamp man ran towards here while waving, his face full of joy, he forgot to adjust his breathing, he was out of breath, his face was red from holding back.

"What's wrong?" Several people looked at him in surprise.

"Brother Allen, sister Ali, good news..." The young man stood still and was about to speak.

In a blink of an eye, he saw Ah Quan next to him, but his tone was stagnant: "Ah, Ah Quan, you are here too - why don't you step aside first?"

"Get away from me!" Ah Quan was already in a bad mood, so he yelled loudly, "I won't listen to anything! It's good news for my brother and sister, but this will turn into bad luck for me, right?"

As he spoke, he rolled up his sleeves and was about to step forward.

"No, it's not!" The young man quickly stepped back and explained, "I don't know if I should tell you this. As Sheng said, only the people we went to sell grain with last time can listen..."

"Selling grain?" Allen and Ah Li looked at each other, both thinking of something.

"It's okay, Ah Quan is one of our own, you speak first." Allen stepped forward and stood between the young man and the furious Ah Quan.

Ah Li held her brother down and said, "Yes, if he dares to leak the secret, I will kill him first to silence him."

"You..." Ah Quan struggled, but was gagged the next moment.

"Okay," the young man got Allen's permission and felt relieved at the moment, "I'm not responsible for delivering food to Ariel and Asheng who are locked up in the shack of the ancestral hall..."

"As a result, Ah Sheng secretly told me that he met Mr. Lu when he went out this time!"

"What! (Uh-huh!)" sister and brother Ali exclaimed at the same time.

"...What's going on?" Allen didn't lose his composure, but his hand trembled, and he subconsciously grabbed the young man's shoulders, "Didn't Ah Sheng and the others only lead a group of merchants for a short distance, and they encountered something unexpected when they came back? How could you meet Mr. Lu after getting rid of the blood spider?"

——"Mr. Lu", the most common honorific.

But when it comes to him, the younger generation in the village can only think of one person!

That mysterious merchant in long clothes and sword who turned the tide!

"Brother Allen, please be gentle," the young man opened the other's hands that were unconsciously exerting force, and grinned, "Isn't that what you were about to say..."

"——The merchants who hired Ariel and Asheng, and their leader happens to be Mr. Lu!"

…

Inside the wooden house, blood spiders were crawling all over the floor.

They use their short appendages to pick up the fish bones on the ground one by one, and then pile them into the corner, looking like a sweeping robot.

This was not because Lu Meng was a good commander. He did not have the ability to control the blood spider in such a precise way.

These cubs have already regarded this hut as a nest, and they naturally have to clean it up after a good meal.

Lu Meng leaned against the table, using the warm light of the fire bed to illuminate a piece of leather paper in his hand.

There are dense markings representing the jungle on it, and occasionally there are large river pools... It's like a map.

The dotted circles represent the distribution of power in the swamp.