This chapter continues the violent survival theme, focusing on the family's desensitization to killing and their first public, authoritative display of force. The violence is less intimate but remains graphic and consequential.
===
Seeing Jing An hesitate, the knife heavy in his hand, Jing Shu added softly, her voice low and close to his ear, "Think of mom. What if she had been taken hostage? Think about whether these people would come back to retaliate if they escaped." She let the images form in his mind, the possibilities stark.
The peaceful era was over, a memory receding like a tide. Laws wouldn't take effect again until after the next major restructuring, their power suspended. For this half-year, when humanity's morality had all but collapsed, crumbling under hunger, killing wasn't a crime, just another transaction of survival.
Jing An resolutely took the knife, his fingers tightening on the grip, gritting his teeth as he gave a heavy nod, a decision settling in his bones.
He ended the pinned man's life with one swift strike, the blade finding its mark. The feeling of killing someone with his own hands wasn't as bad as he had imagined no sudden nausea, no blinding guilt. Strangely, his body released a surge of adrenaline, a chemical flood. His heart raced against his ribs, his body warmed, and shockingly, there was a flicker of excitement beneath the grim resolve, a primal spark.
The wounded men lying on the ground, seeing this, began to beg, their voices ragged. "Please, don't kill me! I just ran out of food at home and came to borrow some!"
"I haven't eaten in two days. Please, just a little food!" One man clutched at his injured leg.
"We're all from the same community. We only came because we heard you had plenty of supplies. Please, spare us!" Their pleas tangled together in the dusty air.
Just as Jing Shu thought her father's compassion would flare up again, that softness returning, Jing An coldly finished them off one by one, his movements methodical. The last man realized the danger and used all his remaining strength to crawl away, fingers clawing at the asphalt. But as he tried to flee, Su Lanzhi stepped out of the car, her face pale but determined, and thrust her knife into the back of his neck, a clumsy, desperate strike.
Jing Shu sighed inwardly. For someone untrained, stabbing blindly like this was only torture, not mercy, prolonging the inevitable.
She strode forward, boots scuffing on the road, delivered a swift killing blow to end the suffering, pressed on the wound to prevent blood from spraying in an arc, and then retrieved Su Lanzhi's knife from the body, wiping it clean on the man's shirt before handing it back to her, handle first.
Su Lanzhi clutched Jing Shu tightly, her knuckles white, her body trembling faintly against her daughter's.
Jing Shu patted her mother's back gently, the gesture firm and rhythmic. She would get used to it. She had been just as terrified the first time, her own hands shaking. Back then, her mother always comforted her, saying everything would be alright, voice soft in the dark. And wasn't everything better now? Compared to the life of suffering and misery in her previous life, the gnawing emptiness, this time they had food, clean water, and a safe home. They were already in the middle tier of the apocalypse's pyramid of survival, a precarious but enviable ledge.
"Let's go." Jing Shu's voice broke the stillness.
Luckily, the energy car was undamaged, just scuffed and bloody. They moved the barricade and the bodies out of the way, dragging the weight. The family drove on in silence, no one speaking, the only sound the hum of the engine. Jing Shu carried the spiked mace, walking alongside the slow-moving vehicle. Each person was adjusting to this apocalypse in their own way, internal landscapes shifting. Only Jing Shu, the outsider who had lived this once before, remained detached, watching events unfold as if on repeat, a familiar, grim play.
Jing Shu reported the attempted robbery to Wang Qiqi, her message brief. Wang Qiqi soon posted in the group chat, the text appearing for all to see:
[Wang Qiqi]:"@Everyone, there was another attempted robbery in the community just now. The five attackers were all killed. Half a year ago, over 130 people came to collect water. Now, only about 80 come daily. Instead of robbing others and throwing your lives away, think of practical solutions."
Wang Cuihua sent a voice message, "Kids these days! We older folks go strip bark from trees every day. There are plenty of grasses on the hill. Clean them, put them in a rice cooker with some rice, pressure cook for an hour, and it's edible!"
[Fat Girl, No. 25]:"The grasshoppers up the hill are plump. Roast them, they're delicious."
[Wang Qiqi]:"Don't be afraid to ask experienced folks in the group. Nobody has food now. The government will distribute its first batch of vegetables soon. Hold on a little longer!"
…
The second attack came while they were on the way to drop Su Lanzhi off at work, the route now feeling like a gauntlet. At a corner near the Planting Industry R&D Management Department, large stones were set up in the road, a crude but effective blockade. "Energy cars are worth a fortune now. Let's steal theirs and trade it for food!" A voice shouted from the shadows.
Suddenly, more than a dozen men with clubs and cleavers rushed out from behind nearby rubble, a ragged wave of violence. Jing An, now more experienced, his jaw set, floored the accelerator, the car lurching backward into a group of them and knocking them down like pins. Then he spun the car in a sharp, screeching 180-degree turn, tires protesting, slamming into another cluster with a solid thud.
Some clung to the car doors, fingers gripping the frames, and others smashed at the windows with sticks, the impacts loud and jarring.
Pong!
A car window shattered, safety glass webbing into a thousand pieces, shards scattering near Jing Shu, glittering in the dim light.
In chaotic motion, with obstacles everywhere, bodies and stones, a crossbow was clearly less effective than a gun at this range, in this mess.
Jing Shu grabbed one of the sticks thrusting inside with one hand, yanking it inward, and fired with the other, popping off shots bang, bang, bang, the reports sharp, wounding three men. Screams erupted, raw and pained, and the crowd panicked, scattering like startled birds.
"They've got a gun! Run!"
"That bitch lied! They have a gun!" The shouts were accusations thrown into the chaos.
Jing Shu hefted the spiked mace, its weight familiar, leaped out of the car, and struck down three men in a flurry of heavy, precise blows, the weapon connecting with sickening crunches. Jing An turned on the high beams, the stark white light cutting through the dust, aimed them at fleeing attackers, and ran them down with a stomp of the pedal, the car jolting over forms.
The one-sided battle ended before it had even begun, leaving only moans and stillness. In the darkness beyond the headlights, Jing Shu's eyes glowed terrifyingly, reflecting the beams. She raised her gun, arm steady, and fired precise shots, one after another, the cracks echoing off nearby walls, cutting down every fleeing attacker. None escaped the circle of light and violence.
She grabbed the man who had shouted earlier, the one who had spoken of the lie, by his collar and pressed the barrel of her gun under his chin, the metal cold against his skin. "Who lied? What exactly did that person tell you?" Her voice was flat, devoid of emotion.
"T-that woman from this office," he stammered, eyes wide with terror. "She said there were two weak women riding this car every day. Told us to hit this route, steal the energy car, and trade it for food." He jerked his head toward the building.
Just then, the shuttle bus that brought employees to and from the Planting Industry R&D Management Department arrived, its headlights joining the scene. The driver stopped abruptly, and first out were a dozen security guards in mismatched uniforms, followed by a group of employees huddling in the doorway.
Security captain Huang Long checked on Su Lanzhi first, his expression concerned, then asked, "Director Su, what happened here?" He surveyed the carnage.
Driver Master Liu was shaken, his face pale. "W-what happened to all these people lying on the ground?" He stared at the bodies.
Jing Shu smirked coldly, a humorless twist of her lips, yanked Yu Caini from the crowd where she was trying to shrink back, and dragged her out into the open, the woman stumbling. "Is it her? Repeat what you just said about her." She kept the gun trained on the captured man.
The man stammered, "Y-yes, it was her," then repeated the accusation, pointing a trembling finger.
Whispers rippled through the crowd of employees, a susurrus of shock and judgment.
"Didn't expect Deputy Director Yu to stoop this low."
"Deputy? She's been demoted three ranks. She's in retraining now."
"She should be arrested, or at least fired." The voices weren't kind.
Yu Caini glared at Jing Shu, her eyes burning with hate, gritting her teeth. "This doesn't count as evidence. Su Lanzhi, let me tell you something. You only have authority over personnel transfers. You can't fire me. My post is in the new district's administration. You have no power there." She drew herself up, clinging to bureaucratic technicality.
Bang!
A shot rang out, deafening in the confined space of the street, making everyone jump, hands flying to ears.
Yu Caini collapsed to the ground in terror, her legs giving way, a scream dying in her throat.
Jing Shu released her grip on the man, letting him fall heavily beside Yu Caini in a heap. "Is evidence really that important sometimes?" she asked, blowing on the smoking barrel, a casual, chilling gesture.
Yu Caini shrieked, a high, thin sound, then dissolved into sobbing, her shoulders shaking. A foul smell spread around her as fear overwhelmed her control. "You can't kill me. I'm a government employee! If you kill me, you'll be arrested!" The threat was weak, desperate.
"I hope you remember your place. And for the next few days, don't be alone with anyone." Jing Shu chuckled, a dry sound. She hefted a boulder from the barricade, muscles straining, and hurled it aside with a boom, the heavy crash of stone on stone making Yu Caini tremble again, flinching.
Su Lanzhi stepped forward, her posture straightening, authority settling on her like a cloak. "Given Yu Caini's poor retraining performance," she announced, her voice clear and carrying, "I demote her to staff level and extend her retraining by a year. Yu Caini, since you love this job so much, stay. I'll personally train you." The promise was a sentence.
It was time Su Lanzhi stood tall. People always chose the softest persimmon to squeeze, and that time was now over.