I Become a Landlady in the Game World

Chapter 40 - 033: Wolves Ahead, "Tiger" Behind

Hearing the sound, Cao Jingshan and the others couldn't help but tense up.

When they turned around, they saw Yu Ziming and about half of his team aiming their weapons at the plank within the group of old and weak.

"Hand over all the money and supplies you have. If you don't, we'll drag you down with us," Yu Ziming said arrogantly, his gaze fixed on Cao Jingshan.

He dared to do this because he had observed that his Level was the highest among the group, at Level 6, nearly the same as Cao Jingshan.

Previously, with the advantage of numbers, he hadn't dared to make a move, but now, with the combat power of the group, especially Cao Jingshan, occupied with the Demon Beast, it was the perfect time for them to act.

They just needed to snatch enough money, and once inside the territory, they would be able to live comfortably.

Back in Jiguang Village where he was from, robbery was common. He knew it very well that the Lord was behind those robbers, which is why there was no punishment after the robberies. To survive, he had also joined the robbers.

He would rob Demon Beasts, money, and supplies. In a short period of time, he accumulated capital and built his own team.

Unfortunately, Jiguang Village couldn't withstand the sudden invasion of the Demon Beast. In a confrontation, the Demon Beast entered their territory, killing indiscriminately. Everyone scattered, and he could only flee with his team. Along the way, they encountered Canglei Village and decided to stay in this territory.

That night, Canglei Village also faced a similar attack by a Demon Beast. He figured out that whenever a territory was upgraded, it would attract a Demon Beast attack.

But that wasn't the main point. The main point was that after surviving two rounds of Demon Beast attacks, their entire team, in order to save their lives, had almost run out of equipment and money.

They could have recouped their losses by killing the Demon Beast, but then this stormy weather made their situation even more difficult.

This Hope Village, he wasn't clear about the situation. However, based on the experience with the previous two territories, the equipment would definitely be expensive.

Moreover, since the Lord of the territory had absolute authority and could expel the residents, they definitely couldn't rob openly inside the territory. So, they had to rob the fleeing group before entering Hope Village, gathering enough resources to move forward.

By then, given their team's Level, if Hope Village still needed people to fight the Demon Beast, the Lord of Hope Village would likely want to enlist their help.

Indeed, Huang Jingshan's team also had some decent residents, but they also had a lot of burdens!

The injured, the disabled, even a few women with poor Constitution.

He thought that not many territories would choose so many encumbrances over a fully combat-ready team.

Yu Ziming had thought everything through before they staged this scene.

But it must be said, Yu Ziming's actions really touched a nerve with Cao Jingshan and the others.

Because his wife and children were among those considered "old and weak."

Their team had the fighting power and had chosen to bring these "old and weak," precisely because they were family.

Initially, the entire team was moving together, with their team clearing the way and Yu Ziming's team at the rear, orderly finding a territory.

Just when they were about to settle down temporarily, the betrayal of Yu Ziming, who had fled with them from Canglei Village, was unexpected.

Because of Yu Ziming's threatening actions, several of Cao Jingshan and his fighting men were instantly distracted.

After all, once those planks were destroyed, the life value, which was inherently low for the old and weak, would likely deplete and disappear.

[Life Value -10]

[Life Value -10]

[...]

Hearing the sound of life values dropping, Cao Jingshan snapped back to reality and said to a few people, "You guys keep fighting, I'll go talk."

The others, seeing the fierce Demon Frogs and then looking at Yu Ziming taking advantage of their vulnerability, were extremely resentful but had no choice but to grit their teeth and deal with the Demon Beast first.

As the situation at the scene stabilized once more, Cao Jingshan had already walked up to Yu Ziming.

"You came out with us from Canglei Village, you should know we don't have much supplies or equipment on us. If we give everything to you, we won't even be able to enter the new territory, you're asking for all of our lives. If you push us too hard, we'll all go down together," Cao Jingshan's words grew increasingly severe.

Although he knew human nature could change after the Doomsday Game, he hadn't expected it to happen so soon, to add fuel to the fire when they were in such a difficult situation.

Without money and supplies, how different was it from asking for their lives?

Had the apocalypse wiped out all humanity?

Hearing Cao Jingshan's words, Yu Ziming's lips twitched, "I don't expect you to give us everything, but it must add up to more than 20 gold coins. Make a decision soon, I'm not very patient."

While speaking, Yu Ziming deliberately knocked his weapon against the plank, full of menace.

"Fine, I'll pay!" Seeing Yu Ziming's weapon aimed at his wife, Cao Jingshan agreed without hesitation.

Money can be earned again, but lost family members are truly gone.

Cao Jingshan began to gather the funds on the spot.

People capable of combat each contributed one gold coin for their families, while the rest, who depended on the group's protection and knew their lives were linked to others, obediently handed over copper or silver coins.

With such a collection, they managed to gather only 19 gold coins.

"This is our limit already, we still need to keep some for entering the new territory," Cao Jingshan said coldly.

Yu Ziming accepted the gold coins, glanced at Cao Jingshan's weapons, but ultimately didn't say much.

The opponent's weapons were no better than those he already had in hand, taking them would be useless.

Then, he shot a knowing glance towards his companions, and in the next instant, a small team of more than twenty people rapidly grabbed their weapons and broke away from the group.

They were headed straight for Hope Village.

After they had left, the area was filled with continual cries of distress.

"These ruthless people! My money!"

"How are we going to survive when we get to the next territory?"

"Do you know how expensive food and weapons are now?"

"If this territory can't hold back the Demon Beasts, we won't be able to flee again!"

Cao Jingshan quickly joined his wife Xu Ximan and daughter Cao Zhu, "Are you both alright?" @@novelbin@@

"We're fine, go busy yourself! We should hurry to the territory, I'm worried our daughter can't endure it," Xu Ximan urged hastily.

Cao Jingshan glanced over and noticed his daughter's pale face.

She was young, with a low level, her Life Value couldn't compare to theirs.

At that moment, Cao Jingshan felt a bit regretful, regretting that he had been overprotective of his daughter, never allowing her to kill Demon Beasts, resulting in her not leveling up and having a lower Life Value than theirs.

With fists clenched, Cao Jingshan had returned to the front of the group vigorously, and, together with others, took down the remaining Magic Frogs, then addressed the group, "Let's keep moving! We'll follow behind them to the territory."

Yu Ziming's target was definitely Hope Village, and following them would save some energy.

Hearing Cao Jingshan's statement, most, no matter how angry, depressed, or sad, gathered their spirits to continue onward.

Only when they had truly faced death did they realize they were afraid of dying.

Since they were afraid, they must strive to live.

And just as the whole team was ready to advance, not far in front of them, a sudden burst of hurried footsteps was heard.

Hearing the noise, everyone stopped, and soon saw a team appear before them, uniformly dressed in leather armor, holding long spears that differed from their roughly carved wooden ones, gleaming faintly with a cold light.

More importantly, they wore hats with wide brims and were draped in cloaks that seemed to repel falling raindrops, as if an invisible protective shield surrounded them.

That must be equipment that allowed them to move freely in rain.

How expensive that must be!

Clearly, this was a formidable team!

Realizing this, the only thought in the minds of Cao Jingshan and his people was: This is the end!

The wolf had left, and now came a tiger!

Just as Cao Jingshan was considering whether to risk it all, he saw the leader of the team speak up, "Are you alright? We are the Soldier Team from Hope Village, here to rescue!"

Li Xingteng was the first to arrive, looking worriedly at this team of people. Upon seeing their nervous expressions, he added,

The effect was significant; hearing that they were rescuers, the fear in these people diminished slightly, replaced mostly by disbelief.

Li Xingteng didn't leave them much time to think and immediately said, "Come with us; we'll take you to Hope Village."

The moment after, Li Xingteng's soldiers glanced towards the center of the group, where the vulnerable were, among them, Cao Zhu.

She was the first child they had seen since the apocalypse.

One soldier took off his cloak and placed it over Cao Zhu's head, "Use this first!"

Following that, other soldiers also removed their cloaks and lent them to some injured members of the group.

After that, they began escorting them forward.

Many just blindly followed.

It was only after covering some distance that they bewilderingly realized.

They had really... been saved?