Chang Sanheng's gaze was like a sharp spike, fixed intensely on Su Lin's face, as if trying to see through the facade to determine if it was actually someone else beneath.
At this moment, however, Su Lin exhibited a shy smile, resembling a bright and sunny young man.
This was in stark contrast to the ruthless decisiveness he showed when he drew his gun earlier, and far from the sly rogue persona he adopted when he sweet-talked Hou Yong into treating him.
Could it be this kid has been pretending to be a pig to eat the tiger all along?
But the old master of the Su Family was the former leader of the Hunting Group, and Su Lin's father is one of the deputy team leaders in charge of Search Team 2.
Who is he putting on this act for?
Chang Sanheng couldn't grasp the depth of this Su Family member at all.
Moreover, in his heart, there was a vague feeling that his foolish son might indeed have done something stupid and was caught red-handed...
The surrounding atmosphere became increasingly tense as a sudden gust of wind arose, making everyone's clothing flutter noisily.
Chang Sanheng let out a long sigh, suddenly raising his voice:
"You're right, Hou Yong brought it upon himself!"
Like a dam about to burst suddenly finding a floodgate, everyone's bottled-up emotions were instantly released, and they collectively breathed a sigh of relief.
When they looked at Su Lin again, their gazes had changed.
To have injured someone from Team 1 and yet walk away unscathed right under the captain's nose?
Everyone couldn't help but express their amazement.
"That's good. Since it's a Team 1 member, I'll leave it to Captain Chang to handle."
The bulging veins on the back of Su Qi's hand quietly subsided. After responding loudly, he gave Su Lin a look and turned to leave.
Su Lin immediately bent down to gather the scattered supplies, without sparing a glance at the groaning and weakening Hou Yong.
After finishing, he happily followed closely behind his second uncle.
Pretend to be tough and then run, damn, that's thrilling!
Su Lin grinned, temporarily forgetting his body's fatigue.
...
Approaching noon.
The uncle and nephew returned to the village entrance.
In the village camp, more people were now visible, adding a touch of vitality to this desolate post-apocalyptic world.
The burly villagers all wore leather armor, carried great swords or long sabers on their backs, and holstered guns at their waists.
Even the women carried weapons with them.
This scene was quite novel to Su Lin.
This pair, the Su Family uncle and nephew, weren't extremely rare in this small village where everybody frequently sees each other's faces, but they were unprecedented.
As a result, they attracted many amazed glances from the villagers.
Thick-skinned Su Lin was unaffected by others' gazes.
He quickened his pace to approach his second uncle and asked in a low voice:
"Uncle, I didn't cause you any trouble by firing that shot, did I?"
Su Qi shot him a sideways glance:
"Now you ask? Why didn't you think about the trouble when you pulled the trigger?"
"Hehe," Su Lin said with a cheeky grin, "I was just thinking that since Hou Yong is from Team 1, it was a good chance to kill two birds with one stone, getting back at Hou Yong for taking advantage of me and Captain Chang's son for trying to set me up, shouldn't be a big deal."
"Then why are you asking?"
"Just wanted to let you know, Uncle, that I'm not a fool who randomly fires shots."
Su Lin did his best to put on an innocent face.
Su Qi stopped walking, turned his head to stare at him, and a slow smile crept onto his lips.
"Heh, you brat."
He chuckled, scolding him as he resumed his steps.
"But that shot of yours was wrong no matter what."
"Huh? Why?"
"A single bullet costs 20 copper, and it'll be deducted from your share of today's sales."
"...I was wrong."
Su Lin instantly looked dejected.
Busy showing off, he forgot how precious even a single bullet was for someone as broke as him.
If only he'd kicked Old Monkey in the crotch instead.
——Hou Yong, being taken to the village clinic, suddenly shivered for no reason.
...
Su Qi was well aware that his elder brother spent all his savings preparing for the "Night of Survival," and he knew that this unreliable nephew of his had once traded all the family's food for meat.
Hence, he didn't let Su Lin go straight home, but rather took him to the marketplace.
The marketplace was located at the back of the village, inside a collapsed highway bridge.
Here, the cement and steel reinforcements had been reinforced with special rules by the villagers to prevent further collapse.
The marketplace had been set up based on this structure.
Stalls made of rusty iron sheets and broken steel bars stood in rows.
Some even laid down a few pieces of old waterproof fabric as makeshift stalls, which flapped loudly in the wind and sand, like a sickly person gasping for breath.
At the market's edge stood a wooden hut, with its signboard, painted red and crooked, displaying the words "Gouhuo Tavern."
Su Lin followed his second uncle to the foremost iron sheet stall.
A middle-aged man missing his left ear sat behind the stall, settling accounts for three or four customers.
Upon seeing Su Qi, the vendor's eyes lit up:
"Hey, what wind blew you here today? Hold on! I'll be done in just a moment!"
He quickly finished tallying, exchanging bags of supplies for strings of copper coins.
Su Qi remained silent, holding two bags of supplies.
Su Lin, curious about his surroundings, also kept quiet.
The vendor swiftly concluded his business, looked towards Su Qi with a broad smile:
"Don't get your hopes up, today I'm just bringing my nephew out for some practice, didn't bring any good stuff."
Su Qi said calmly, placing the two bags filled with supplies on the counter.
Su Lin's two large bags were left aside; Su Qi glanced at them but said nothing.
"Aww," the vendor cried out in disappointment after sifting through the goods and finding only low-quality materials, "resins, metal, cheap wood, it's all low-grade stuff? No ceramics, alloy, carbon fiber that can be extracted? At least some sulphuric acid, chemicals, or electronic components would've been something."
Su Qi patiently replied, "Not today, I'll look around another day. Give me a good price for this batch. Besides, this is my nephew, get to know him, look after him when he comes around."
The vendor nodded reluctantly, glanced at Su Lin, and squeezed a welcoming smile:
"Alright! For your sake, Second Grandfather Su, I won't mind losing a little on the profit."