Title: A Fake Holy Mother in the Zombie Apocalypse
Translator: Little Bamboo Spirit
Chapter 196 - For the first time in her life, Bei Nuan experienced the pain of having too much money and nowhere to spend it (1)
Old Hu finally confessed, "I was the one that divided people into different groups, but I really didn't expect Master Qiu would use it that way!"
"Oh?" Lu Xingchi was interested.
Old Hu glanced at the sharp dagger tip and scooted back.
That dagger easily went forward a bit. The relative distance between him and the dagger hadn't changed at all.
Old Hu was about to cry.
"I'm responsible for the registration of the laborers on the island. I write down their names when they're brought to me. I secretly write down a number from 1 to 5 next to their name. I haven't told anyone about it."
"But then one day, Master Qiu came, flipped through my notebook, and he asked what the numbers after the names meant. I told him that if the person is stronger and looks more powerful, I'll write 1. If the person is too old, young, or weak, I'll write 5."
"Master Qiu mulled it over and praised me for my good idea. He had me change it from numbers to letters. He said that would make the sense of hierarchy stronger. He had me make metal tags and give a metal tag to the current laborers and also give metal tags to future newcomers."
After saying that, he stopped talking.
Lu Xingchi's beautiful eyes looked impatient. He sent the dagger forward and stopped it right in front of Old Hu's eyes.
"Do you think I'm wasting my time sitting here because I want to hear this?"
Old Hu was already leaned back as far as he could. There was no place for him to evade. Sweat dripped down from his forehead.
Lu Xingchi stopped going around in circles with him.
"Old Hu, what's your supernatural ability?"
Old Hu fell completely slack. This man really knew everything.
"I can see lights on people." Old Hu's eyebrows drooped. He finally gave up on keeping his secret. "Different people have different lights. Some people have red lights, yellow lights, or green lights."
Lu Xingchi guessed, "So you denote the people with green lights as A and the red people as F?"
"Yes, from green to yellow to red. The closer to red, the lower their rank."
Lu Xingchi asked, "What does the color of the light represent?"
Old Hu confessed, "I'm not sure either. Based on my observations, the greener the light, the safer they are. They're not likely to encounter accidents. Less of them die. The people with red lights generally don't live for long."
Old Hu defended himself, "I didn't follow Master Qiu's method in giving out tags. I only give F tags to people with red lights. Anyways, they'll die soon. It's fine to give them F tags."
Lu Xingchi nodded. "When did you get this supernatural ability? Were you reborn?"
Old Hu looked away from the dagger and looked at Lu Xingchi in surprise.
"Yes, after I was reborn." Old Hu withered.
Lu Xingchi lightly looked at him. "Have you died before?"
Old Hu honestly answered, "Yes. I died the 7th year after the zombie outbreak. There were too many zombies. The lake couldn't keep them out. The island couldn't be defended. We fled on a boat. When we reached the other side, everyone had gotten onto shore, but I was pulled into the water by zombies."
Old Hu shivered. Remembering the fear he felt as he was dragged away by the zombies, he instinctively reached out to get his stainless steel cup on the table. He wanted to drink. But then, he remembered his cup was gone. He awkwardly withdrew his hand.
Lu Xingchi thought; if Bei Nuan was here, she would definitely have a question for Old Hu.
Lu Xingchi asked that question for her. "There's a child that sells barbecued sparrows. Her name is Little Shao. Has she died before?"
"Little Shao ah," Old Hu said, "I remember her. She had grown into a teenager by then. Before the zombies had broken through to the island, she had climbed over the wall with a boy and left."
Lu Xingchi was absent-mindedly listening. He kept tightening and loosening his grip on the metal tag. He had gone around and asked this and that. He knew that he had to ask the question that he didn't want the answer to.
Lu Xingchi delayed by asking, "You were going to give one of the men in my group a B tag, but then you gave him an A tag. Why?"
Old Hu recalled and answered, "I remember that. "His light was yellow at first, but when I looked again, it had changed to green. I don't know why the light would change. That's the first time it happened."
Lu Xingchi paused for a moment before calmly asking, "What about the girl in my group? You gave her an F tag."
Old Hu gulped and glanced at the dagger.
"As long as you tell the truth, I won't kill you," Lu Xingchi lightly said.
Old Hu stammered out, "Her light… is pure red. Based on my past experience, people with a slight green light might still die. People with a slight red light might continue to live. However, people like her, who have a pure red light, they're doomed."
***
When Lu Xingchi came out of the cave, the sky was full of stars.
Bei Nuan was waiting for him with her back to the wall. The tips of her long hair were gently lifted by the night breeze. In front of her, there was a vast sky without light pollution and a resplendent Milky Way.
Hearing him coming out, Bei Nuan turned around and smiled at him under the starlight.
She asked, "Did you get any new information out of him?"
"Nothing," Lu Xingchi said, "They're just tricking people with those metal tags."
Looking as if she had figured it out a long time ago, Bei Nuan replied, "I knew it. It's too fantastical. How did they even come up with something like survival probability?"
The others walked over.
Du Ru grabbed Jiang Fei and Tang Tang by the shoulders. "Let's go back to the campsite to sleep. I'm so tired."
Bei Nuan turned around and skipped forward.
Lu Xingchi caught up to Bei Nuan in a few steps and suddenly took off her F tag and tossed it into the grass.
It was too dark, and it wouldn't be possible to find the tag in the grass.
Bei Nuan was baffled. "Why did you throw away my tag?"
Lu Xingchi nonchalantly replied, "That sort of useless fake supernatural item, why wear it? So pointless."
He took out his metal tag from his pocket and threw it into the grass.
Du Ruo heard this, immediately turned his head, and gripped his metal tag. "Let's agree to leave mine alone. I don't want to throw mine away. It took a lot of effort to get this A tag."
Tang Tang asked, "Will it cause trouble if we don't wear them?"
Bei Nuan thought it over. "I don't think Qiu Ji cares about people wearing tags the way his brother does."
Lu Xingchi lowered his head and used the starlight to look at her. "Do you know him very well?"