NOVPUBChapter 51: Chapter 51: Save People
Chapter 51 -51: Save People
Gu Pan and Lu Ruisheng went to several trading points again to exchange gold, starting with others, and finally arriving at the one where Shi Liang was located, hoping to chat more if time allowed.
However, upon arriving at the trading point in front of the psychiatric hospital, they did not find Shi Liang. After asking around, they were told that Shi Liang had gone home to fetch some items. It had been an hour since he left, while he usually took no more than half an hour since he lived nearby.
Gu Pan and Lu Ruisheng looked at each other and felt uneasy, so they asked for Shi Liang’s home address and hurried over to Shi Liang’s house.
Just as they entered the corridor, they heard the sounds of a fight and quickly ran upstairs.
Seeing that the door to Shi Liang’s house was open, they drew their guns and entered.
Inside, two men were wielding machetes; one of them was about to chop down at Shi Liang, who was already injured and on the ground. His wife threw herself in front of him to block the blade.
Lu Ruisheng reacted swiftly, shooting the man who was about to chop Shi Liang dead. The knife fell, scraping Shi Liang’s down jacket and instantly filling the room with floating feathers.
The other robber, frightened, immediately raised his hands: “Don’t kill me, I was forced to do this.”
Gu Pan didn’t give him a chance and fired her gun. Forced? What did that mean when they were already attempting murder? What use was their excuse? These two men knew they recognized Shi Liang; leaving them alive would only be a future threat. In the apocalypse, it was either kill or be killed; there was no room for mercy.
Both men were down, Gu Pan guarded the door while Lu Ruisheng checked every room to ensure safety before they closed the door.
Shi Liang and his wife were in shock, thinking they were certainly going to die. Suddenly there were gunshots, and since they did not recognize the people with the guns, they assumed the robbers’ accomplices had arrived. The couple held each other, ready to face death together, but after a while, they were unharmed, and the two robbers were dead.
When Shi Liang saw Gu Pan and Lu Ruisheng, he was surprised: “Benefactors? How did you come to be here?”
Gu Pan replied, “We came to find you. We heard you went home to fetch something and didn’t return for a long time, which seemed unusual, so we came to check. We didn’t expect to encounter real trouble.”
Shi Liang watched them with gratitude: “I was followed, I didn’t expect them to follow me all the way home. Thank you; you truly are our benefactors.”
Shi Liang’s wife immediately knelt down: “Thank you for saving our lives. We really don’t know how to thank you enough.”
Gu Pan helped her up: “We’re also bound by fate; please don’t do this.”
Lu Ruisheng squatted beside Shi Liang, examining the wound on his leg: “The injury is pretty severe; we need to tend to this wound quickly.”
Gu Pan also took a look and then spoke to Lu Ruisheng: “This is too serious; if we bandage it ourselves, it might cause a lasting disability. Maybe I should go back and bring Dr. Feng here.”
Lu Ruisheng knew there was no other way, and since his wife had space, going back to fetch someone wasn’t too risky, so he said, “Hmm, just be careful on the road.”
Gu Pan agreed and dragged one of the bodies out with her.
Reaching a secluded spot downstairs, she took out her snowmobile, went back to fetch Feng Zhekai, and hurried back with a medical kit.
When Gu Pan and Feng Zhekai returned, Lu Ruisheng had already cut open Shi Liang’s pants and cleaned around the wound, and had thrown out the other body.
Thus, Feng Zhekai started with anesthesia, disinfecting, and then suturing; the procedure was completed swiftly.
During this time, they also learned that Shi Liang’s wife was named Deng Fang and that they had gotten married this year.
Deng Fang was a beautiful and virtuous woman, and it was clear today that she was willing to give her life for Shi Liang.
No wonder Gu Pan and the others felt such desolation when they first met Shi Liang in their past life.
After dressing the wounds, Feng Zhekai left them with anti-inflammatory and antibiotic medications.
Gu Pan left Shi Liang’s wife with a bag of milk powder and two packs of compressed biscuits, telling them to rest well and that they would come back to check on them in a few days. They had been shocked today and it wasn’t suitable to waste energy entertaining guests; they needed time and space to recover on their own.
Deng Fang was immensely grateful to Gu Pan and Lu Ruisheng, seeing them out with endless thanks.
Watching Gu Pan and the others walk away, Shi Liang and his wife hugged each other and cried; the feeling of being reborn from death was truly wonderful. They were both alive, and Shi Liang’s leg had not been injured to the bone and would heal after some time.
While crying, Shi Liang said to his wife, “How could I have expected that these two noble persons would come to save us? We must have accumulated good deeds in our past lives.”
Deng Fang nodded repeatedly, “I thought I was definitely going to die. Who would have thought they would come, Liangzi, when did you make such capable, kind-hearted friends?”
Shi Liang scratched his head, “Actually, I don’t know them well. They first came to trade with me, said they were introduced by a friend, and then they brought a big order, the twenty catties of food a few days ago. This is only the third time I’ve seen them.”
“We’ve really met noble people, not to mention anything else, your leg, if it weren’t for the doctor they brought, it would have been terrible, you might even have lost your life because of this injury.”
“Yes, they are truly our noble saviors, a debt of gratitude we can never repay in this lifetime.”
“They even left us with food and medicine, things that can’t necessarily be bought with money right now.”
“But I never asked for their names.”
“Next time we must ask. As long as we are alive, we must remember their kindness.”
At home, the couple couldn’t stop talking about Gu Pan and Lu Ruisheng. Meanwhile, Lu Ruisheng first took Feng Zhekai back home on his motorbike, then came back to pick up Gu Pan.
Feng Zhekai didn’t ask much; previously, Gu Pan had only told him a friend was injured, someone they were close to and who had helped them.
Lu Ruisheng, riding the motorbike with Gu Pan, returned home, both feeling relieved about today’s events. If they had been any later, they wouldn’t have been able to save Shi Liang’s wife.
In their past lives, they couldn’t guess how they had retaliated to keep Shi Liang alive. Perhaps the attackers had stolen things, saw Shi Liang was injured, assumed he wouldn’t live, and thus didn’t kill him outright. Anyway, none of that mattered anymore.
When Gu Pan saw Shi Liang’s wife take a knife for her today, she also remembered the moment Lu Ruisheng had taken a knife for her in their past life.
Holding Lu Ruisheng, she said, “Husband, do you know? In our past life, you protected me just like Deng Fang did today.”
Lu Ruisheng, touching Gu Pan’s face, replied, “But you still didn’t survive.”
“Three years after the apocalypse began, it was different from now; the world had no signs of life. Can you imagine a world without any green for three years? Can you imagine cannibalism? Back then, my hope to live was you; without you, what reason did I have to continue?”
“Although it’s the apocalypse, thinking about the cannibalism you mentioned still makes my skin crawl. Wife, in this life, let’s try to live better.”
“This life, with ‘Space’ and the ‘Prophet,’ it will surely be better. We must keep ourselves alive and see the day this apocalypse ends.”
“Yes, so we must still stay alert and be more vigilant.”
The two were ceaselessly reflective. Although this life was different, naturally, they would face different dangers. In an apocalypse, risks were ever-present, so they could only be more cautious to live a better life.
