Chapter Fifty-Eight: The Difference Among the Awakened

Dai Wu and Uncle Xie—one a top-tier assassin from before the apocalypse, the other a master of traditional Chinese martial arts who had also fought in underground bouts before the world fell. Both had once benefited from the Tu family, and now they worked for them.

Young Master Tu knew very well that even among the awakened, the gap could be enormous. Think about it: some people had spent more than a decade training and killing without respite, shedding sweat and blood through endless practice and combat. After awakening, they were not something ordinary newly awakened people could compare with. Perhaps only after a year or two of constant fighting and training would someone be able to stand alongside them. After all, even when strength was nearly equal, a life-or-death battle was decided not by force alone, but by resolve, experience, reflexes, and more. A hair's breadth of difference could mean a world of error; perhaps a time difference of just a fraction of a second was enough to decide death.

Besides, people who had undergone special training in the past were already far stronger than ordinary people, and after awakening their power surpassed ordinary awakened ones by a great deal as well. Right now, Dai Wu and Uncle Xie were achieving near-overwhelming victories against the awakened under his command. Of course, there were exceptions such as Huang Yanze, whose tough hide and fearlessness gave him special advantages; those unique abilities could, to some extent, make up for a lack of combat experience.

"By the way, has Huang Yanze come back from hunting? We're still waiting for his beast meat tonight."

Young Master Tu was still quite at ease about Dai Wu's affairs, because he knew that although Dai Wu was cold, even ruthless, his weakness was his fondness for women. That alone made Tu confident he could keep him firmly in hand. At the moment, remembering that Huang Yanze still did not seem to have returned, he could not help asking Uncle Xie.

Only then did Young Master Tu seem to recall that nearly a day had passed and there was still no sign of "Brother Huang." He had not gone personally to deal with the mother and son of the Liu family in New City, sending only Dai Wu and a team of his trained elite subordinates, because along the way he had discovered an advantage he could not ignore. Thus, although this failed mission would cost him dearly, he was not yet in despair or madness.

The Tu family of New City, having long been a prestigious old clan, had always adhered to certain ancestral traditions. For example, every member of the family cultivated the traditional Chinese martial arts passed down through the generations, and each possessed some skill for self-defense. The benefit Young Master Tu had obtained this time was related to that. He had received news that an underground auction in South City had unearthed, together with a sword, an ancient manual. The manual was the original text of the "Overlord Fist" practiced by Xiang Yu, the Hegemon-King. For martial artists like them, the allure was self-evident. Everyone knew how fearsome Xiang Yu's name was, but the Overlord Fist was also enormously renowned. It was said that when the Hegemon-King was surrounded at Gaixia, and his long weapon broke in the slaughter, a Han general tried to capture him alive. Unexpectedly, the Hegemon-King unleashed the Overlord Fist, seizing the general's weapon in one move, then smashing his skull with a backhand punch, and carving out a bloody path through tens of thousands of troops before breaking the encirclement. From this alone, one could see the power of the Overlord Fist.

During this time, Young Master Tu had been cultivating that original manual. The fist art was pure, fierce, and overwhelmingly domineering, placing extremely high demands on the body. If Tu himself had not also been an awakened one, with true qi in his body that nourished and restored the flesh to a certain degree, he might not have been able to cultivate it at all. After all, this was the creation of Xiang Yu, a man not just anyone could learn. One only had to think of the line describing him as having the strength to uproot mountains and the aura to cover the age, to understand how monstrous he had been—single-handedly driving the Qin army to utter defeat. Even so, Young Master Tu could only practice for a limited time each day before stopping to consume massive amounts of beast meat to replenish the energy and recover from the damage and expenditure caused by training. That was why Huang Yanze had gone out hunting.

"Well, Huang Yanze still hasn't returned yet. I don't know whether something has happened."

Uncle Xie seemed, for a moment, to have forgotten the person who had gone out hunting. All this time he had been busy searching the crowds for the person in the portrait. Only now did he remember that Huang Yanze had gone out to hunt beast meat for Young Master Tu and still had not returned.

"Young Master, it's getting dark and Huang Yanze still hasn't come back. Could something have happened? Should we send someone to look for him?"

Seeing that the other's face had darkened a little more, Uncle Xie cautiously offered his opinion, seizing the chance to steer the topic elsewhere first.

"You take some men and go look. Call the others along, bring a squad with you, and make sure the weapons are ready. Safety comes first."

Young Master Tu frowned. The world was terribly dangerous now. It was nearly dark, and it would be better to have Uncle Xie and the other awakened ones act together; otherwise, who knew what accident or danger might arise.

"Understood, Young Master. By the way, while we were searching this afternoon, we found Lu Fengsheng. Would you like to see him?"

Only then did Uncle Xie seem to remember that he had seen Lu Fengsheng in the crowd. He and Young Master Tu had once been drinking companions, or to be precise, Lu Fengsheng had spent a great deal of money currying favor and flattering Tu. But now that the world had changed drastically, the man's money was of little use. He did not know whether Young Master Tu would still acknowledge him. Since he had accepted the other man's benefits, he ought to do what was required; as for the result, that would depend on Young Master Tu himself.

"Oh? He's still alive? Forget it. Let him help out on the side. No need to see him."

At present, Young Master Tu looked down on Lu Fengsheng entirely. Still, they had once been drinking buddies, and the man had brought him no small number of benefits, so he would acknowledge that favor. Only, to ask nothing about the man's circumstances and simply absorb him as a lackey—one had to wonder what sort of thoughts lay behind that.

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Crackle—

Buzz—

Just as Liang Jing, wearing the Fierce Ghost Mask and carrying Baroque's Sorrow on his back, turned a corner with the others, the world before them suddenly opened up...

A dense sea of people stretched across a wasteland of overgrown grass. A great uproar rose, filling the air with a droning hum. The crowd extended beyond sight ahead and behind; no one knew how far it wound on, only that all one could see were countless dark silhouettes of heads and bodies.

It was nearly dusk, and the crowd had stopped to prepare supper. The survivors stood in scattered disorder, with here and there a small tent, though most had none. They clustered in twos and threes, even in large groups, forming all kinds of factions, and most were carefully eating what little food they had, afraid of dropping even a crumb and wasting it. Fires and cooking smoke were extremely rare. With so many people, finding firewood must have been difficult. After all, if it was close by, others would snatch it from you before long; if it was farther away, one needed courage to go after it. Everywhere there were dangerous mutated monsters, and without some ability and nerve, who would dare run far from the crowd?

Liang Jing and the others were stunned by the endless masses before them. Even before the apocalypse, it would have been hard to see such a magnificent sight. For a moment they felt shock, joy, and excitement all at once. In their hearts they thought that at last they had found a settlement. The world had mutated for so long, and it was difficult to see so many people anymore. Their blood stirred with exhilaration.

"Let's go!"

Liang Jing waved a hand and led the group toward the crowd. But as they drew nearer and nearer, all of them began to frown. These survivors were little different from beggars gathered by the roadside—clothes filthy and tattered, bodies reeking of a strange stench. Who knew how long it had been since they had bathed, or washed their clothes? Their garments were likely torn to shreds by the hardships of flight along the way. Many faces were dirty as well. Right then they were eating, and what they ate varied, but most important of all, it was basically cold and raw food. Want to light a fire? Firewood was hard to find. With so many people crammed into such a small area, it was easy to imagine why no one dared go out to gather it.

Watching them carefully break apart grimy biscuits in their hands, afraid of dropping even a bit, then place the dry fragments onto cracked lips, slowly hold them in the mouth, close their eyes to savor them, and let them gradually dissolve before swallowing; or seeing others using bowls to eat rice that had been cooked at some unknown time, taking tiny bites and still trying to appreciate the flavor—Liang Jing's keen sense of smell could catch the faint sourness within it. Some even picked bark and roots from the wild land around them, not even bothering to clean them properly before stuffing them into their mouths, chewing furiously as if afraid someone might snatch them away.

Liang Jing frowned. Judging by their clothing, before the world changed these people must have been social elites living well in South City. He had not expected them to end up like this, even far worse than the survivors they had once met from East River City.

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