Disaster Apocalypse: Farming, Family, and My Hidden Secret Space
Chapter 308. Cut the weeds and eliminate the roots

Chapter 308: 308. Cut the weeds and eliminate the roots

As Old Hua’s voice faded, Hua Qiang, holding a large bloody knife, decisively approached them, effortlessly twirling the blade. Even in the dark, the cold gleam of the weapon pierced through the night.

The blood dripping to the ground and the flashes of cold light quickly shattered the already terrified criminals, compelling them to spill the secrets they had been hiding, igniting a raging fury among the people of Hua Village.

Though somewhat prepared, upon hearing they treated humans like livestock, storing them for food, the burning anger inside was uncontrollable.

No need to suppress what couldn’t be suppressed, Hua Rong and the other men rushed forward, launching into a fit of punching and kicking. Even beating these inhumane people to death wouldn’t atone for their heinous deeds.

"Enough," it was Old Hua who wanted to keep a few alive to lead the way, stopping them when he saw it was almost over.

Since there were more people in their lair, they should take care of them all to prevent future trouble, a cold glint sliding through Old Hua’s eyes.

At that moment, these people lay on the ground like a pile of mud; if not for their breathing, they were hardly distinguishable from the dead.

Little Si angrily kicked at them a few more times with a face full of disgust. He couldn’t believe that there were actually people who practiced cannibalism.

He recalled hearing the Qijia brothers talk about it back in the mountains, remembering their terror-stricken faces. He had thought they were teasing him, trying to scare him, and never took it seriously. He never imagined it to be true.

An unprecedented rage surged through him, and for the first time, Little Si felt an urge to kill. Unfortunately, grandpa needed them for something, so he vented his anger with a few more kicks.

Old Hua’s words still held sway; as soon as he spoke, everyone stopped their attacks.

"Get up, lead the way, and if you’re honest, the old man might consider sparing your lives."

But whether they would truly survive remained uncertain.

The dozen or so people who had been lying on the ground like useless mud suddenly came to life, as if having taken a magic elixir. They raised their blood-caked heads and nodded sluggishly, repeatedly saying, "Sure, we will certainly behave... certainly behave."

Without another word, Old Hua glanced at them, then looked at Hua Qiang and the others: "Clean things up."

Besides those injured and incapacitated, there were dozens of corpses strewn across the road; they feared it would scare people the next day, so they planned to dispose of them in the woods by the roadside.

The cleanup took more than half an hour, burying all the lifeless bodies underground.

Hua Qiang and his group of men believed that these villains deserved to be left for wild dogs to devour and should be left exposed in the wild, denying their souls peace.

But the village chief was right; leaving the corpses posed a risk, and long-term exposure and decay could harm people and the environment.

Count these criminals lucky; after all the evil deeds, they still got to rest underground.

"Village chief uncle, everything’s been taken care of." Finishing their task, Hua Qiang and the others gathered around the village chief, unable to avoid glancing at the nearby Jin’er. If not for the chief’s warning gaze, these men would have gathered around Jin’er to discuss archery skills.

Jin’er obediently leaned against her grandfather, smiling at her uncles, showing an innocent demeanor.

Inside, she felt a sense of pride, though kept it hidden by maintaining a humble appearance in response to everyone’s admiring looks.

"Let’s go to their lair," Old Hua narrowed his eyes at the criminals. "Let them lead the way and keep an eye on them," he instructed.

"Don’t worry, village chief uncle. We’ll make sure they behave," Hua Qiang said sinisterly, glaring at these criminals, suggesting another round of timely ’discipline’ if necessary, scaring the criminals whose legs gave way, causing them to collapse again, then were forcibly stood up by the men of Hua Village to lead the way.

This was the first team, with Hua Rong and Hua Qiang leading about a dozen men watching over them.

Jin’er accompanied her grandfather and brother, surrounded by the Hua Village men, just like before, they protected them in the center.

The journey went smoothly except that those leading the way were a bit slow.

Jin’er didn’t let her spiritual power slack throughout the journey, fortunately, aside from this group of robbers, there were hardly any people on the road.

"Hurry up..."

Having endured for so long, Hua Qiang and Hua Rong were getting impatient, whipping the captors with willow branches.

They chose willow branches to avoid causing severe injuries that could slow them down further.

Even so, the lashes made the captors shiver, but the pace did quicken a bit. Seeing this, Hua Qiang and the others wielded their willow sticks more zealously.

It became apparent these guys might be trying to stall. They weren’t really walking slowly; they were deliberately lagging.

A couple of miles’ journey at their pace seemed a matter of over an hour.

A bunch of cunning guys, Hua Qiang and Hua Rong laughed slyly.

"Behave, or it’ll be more than willow switches. We might leave you here if you don’t move faster..."

One must admit, the threat was potent enough that the bandits, daunted by their bleak future and trying to delay as much as possible, immediately picked up their pace.

"Humph..."

With this small incident, their pace quickly increased.

Though faster, Jin’er still found it slow and missed her family’s large black horse and the car in the space dimension.

Unfortunately, now they could only rely on their own legs, and since her younger brother showed no sign of fatigue, she, as the elder sister, couldn’t afford to lag behind, venting her complaints while pressing on.

Continuing to gripe inwardly and utilizing spiritual power to keep watch, just when Jin’er felt she couldn’t go on, they finally stopped.

Sigh! Traveling swiftly alone felt much better than this slow journey, which was exhausting.

"Village chief uncle, we’re here."

Jin’er was eager to hear those words and didn’t care about maintaining ladylike composure as she plopped onto the ground, amusing Hua Rong and Hua Qiang with her actions.

Even adults found this long trek tiring, let alone a young girl. She hadn’t complained once or fallen behind. Indeed, the village chief’s family had raised her well.

"Mm," Old Hua nodded, he also gauged they had arrived.

Old Hua was familiar with Liuhe Village; he just hadn’t been there personally. Plus, the massive destruction caused by floods had altered the terrain significantly, making it hard to recognize, especially in the dark, doubling the difficulty.

Without these people leading the way, finding the place would’ve been difficult.

Nodding, he noticed his granddaughter sitting on the ground without any restraint, feeling a pang of distress and instantly forgetting Hua Qiang, who was waiting.

Used to it, Hua Qiang merely raised an eyebrow, patiently waiting for the village chief to remember him.

"Jin’er, are you tired?" Old Hua asked as he took out the water bottle from his body, handing it to his granddaughter, "Have some water to catch your breath."

As for the grandson beside him looking eagerly at him, he turned a blind eye. Hua Qiang, feeling sympathetic, offered his own water bottle to the child. But the boy, with a stubborn streak, shook his head and thanked him, fixating his gaze on his grandpa’s water bottle, as if trying to attract his attention.