Apocalypse: My Sweetie Is Tough but Cute

Chapter 83: Chapter 083 Facing Cruelty, Still Forge Ahead Bravely

Su Shu finally turned her head and looked into Third Elder Peng’s eyes, her gaze serious, “Elder Third Grandfather, you don’t need to explain so much to me. I can understand, really understand. I’m not an unreasonable person who insists on having my own way. I can see for myself the current situation in Peng Village and assess it. I know that everyone’s final decision is the best choice after weighing the pros and cons.”

Third Elder Peng looked at her and didn’t interrupt. He felt that there was a special light in the eyes of the young lady when she spoke seriously.

Su Shu paused, then continued, “Elder Third Grandfather, sometimes sacrificing the welfare of the few for the good of the many may be the optimal choice, but it’s not necessarily the best choice. It’s human nature to seek good fortune and avoid harm, and the people of Peng Village are not wrong. I, an outsider, have no right to comment on Peng Village, and I shouldn’t comment. But I wonder if everyone has thought about the courage required to face something that is known to be impossible and choose to rise to the challenge. Sometimes, in extraordinary times, such courage is more important than playing it safe. Now, everyone still has an escape route and doesn’t feel that there’s anything wrong with this approach. But if one day everyone is driven into a corner and easily chooses to give up the lives of others, how can they trust anyone else? At that time, when everyone is looking out for themselves, wouldn’t that pose an even greater danger?”

Third Elder Peng remained silent.

Perhaps there were some thoughts Su Shu had pondered all night, and she had held them back all night. She had planned to prepare herself today to try to leave Peng Village through the mountain trails. She hadn’t anticipated that Third Elder Peng would seek her out to talk. After thinking it over, she decided to speak her mind.

After a long while, she took a sip of water and said lightly, “In times of despair, the best things aren’t food and medicine, but hope.”

And last night, the people of Peng Village had extinguished the spark of hope embodied in “doing one’s utmost without giving up” with their own hands.

She didn’t know whether the people of Peng Village, who had chosen between precious medicinal herbs and human lives following the earthquake, would still trust those around them when facing the true cruelties of the Apocalypse in the near future. She wondered whether they would still be willing to trust each other. When faced with difficulties again, she had no idea whether they would choose to persevere or to give up. All this, she couldn’t guess anymore.

Peng Village, surrounded by mountains, rich in forest treasures, blessed by the heavens; its location, secluded in a corner, advantageous in the land; its people, generations of kin, close in blood, harmonious in unity.

The people of Peng Village, with the blessings of the right time, place, and unity, might surmount the several years of the Apocalypse crisis more quickly than outsiders if they were all united.

Now?

Su Shu dared not contemplate the future of Peng Village.

“Yesterday, thank you Elder Third Grandfather for speaking up for me, for speaking for that sister-in-law,” Su Shu remembered how Third Elder Peng had set out the pros and cons last night, but alas…

After a long silence, Third Elder Peng said, “It’s hard on you, young girl, to think so far ahead for our Peng Village.”

Third Elder had lived through many big storms in his life. The words Su Shu said, thinking far ahead from one step, somehow connected to the recent nightmare-laden times and this sudden disaster, gave him a vague and uneasy premonition.

Su Shu lowered her head, looking at the stones under her feet, and after a while, she spoke slowly.

“When I was young, my parents passed away, and over the years, I, like everyone else last night, always weighed the pros and cons before doing anything. I always thought that if Heaven treated me so unfairly, why should I care about the life and death of others? It’s good enough if I can take care of myself. I never thought what I did was wrong. The things I wanted, I would strive to acquire them. It was only after I met someone that I realized, there really are people who no matter what dire situations they face, refuse to give up their principles and beliefs.”

“He did many things which I considered superfluous, and also many things I would never agree to do. At first, when he did them, I thought he was silly, why bother? But later, I realized that I was the silly one. Sometimes the sacrifices we make are not for others, but for ourselves, to help ourselves retain our integrity and not become someone we dislike.”

She had seen those truly strong people who, facing the grim reality, still charged forward with undiminished passion.

She had witnessed all the cold blood, indifference, scheming, entrapment, betrayal, selfishness… and in the end, only longed for the one passionate heartbeat in the endless darkness that never faded.

Yet she herself was unable to keep up with even a tenth of his pace.