Chu Tian’s attempt at persuasion went extremely poorly. The gentle priest displayed an unusual stubbornness when it came to leaving.
Even when Quan Xiaoyu spoke in the name of God’s “revelation” and warned of the impending catastrophe, the priest still refused to leave. He was determined to stay here.
However, he did believe Quan Xiaoyu’s “revelation.” Instead, he persuaded the congregants not to continue following him, but to leave with Chu Tian. He also said that if any survivors came to the church in the future, he would tell them about God’s “revelation” and persuade them to leave as well.
Of the four congregants, however, only two were willing to leave. The other two said that even if death awaited them, they would still follow the priest. They were willing to wait with the priest for the Lord’s call.
As for the two who wanted to leave, they did not choose Chu Tian’s group either. Compared with the somewhat overbearing and sarcastic doctor and the cold-looking mercenaries, they were more willing to choose Lei Shi’s team.
Chu Tian had no objection to this. They followed the principle of voluntary choice, so he let them go.
Although the doctor had said that they could simply tie up the priest and take him away if necessary, neither Chu Tian nor Quan Xiaoyu intended to do that.
The priest was not Xie Mingxuan. He was a man of great wisdom, loyal to his faith and unwavering in following it. Perhaps he had already considered all the possible consequences and still chose to persist. If so, it meant that he had a clear understanding of his own life and had made his own choice. No one else had the right to interfere.
“Father, are you really not coming with us?” Before leaving, Quan Xiaoyu made one last attempt to persuade the priest, seeking confirmation.
“Go, child. The Lord will protect you.” The priest wore his usual kind expression. His face was calm. He was fully aware of the disaster that was about to arrive, yet there was not the slightest ripple in his emotions.
Quan Xiaoyu knew that this was the priest’s final refusal.
He sighed and could only bid him a quiet farewell before turning around and returning to his team with Chu Tian.
“The priest doesn’t want to leave?”
Seeing the expressions on their faces as they returned, Xiao Ziran quickly guessed the result.
Chu Tian nodded, his face filled with regret. Quan Xiaoyu remained silent.
“Then forget it. Let’s go.”
Xiao Ziran had already expected this outcome, so he calmly skipped over the matter and ordered everyone to leave.
“But—” Li Nan timidly spoke up. “But what about him?”
Following Li Nan’s gaze, everyone saw Xie Mingxuan still sitting on the ground in a daze.
This really was a problem!
That was what most of them were thinking.
Honestly, there was no doubt that Xie Mingxuan was a genuinely good person. But everyone present was afraid to stay with someone like him, because if this exceptionally kind person suddenly had another burst of compassion, who knew what kind of accident might happen?
There were dangers everywhere in the apocalypse. No one had two lives to gamble on an accident, nor did they have any obligation to pay the price for someone else’s kindness. And the price could very well be their own life.
“Let him fend for himself!”
Xiao Ziran made the cold decision.
And no one else objected.
Quan Xiaoyu smiled bitterly. Other people could disregard Xie Mingxuan’s life or death, but he couldn’t. Yet he also couldn’t disregard his teammates’ wishes and force Xie Mingxuan into the group.
So Xie Mingxuan really had become his biggest problem.
“How about this? Give me a vehicle. I’ll take him and follow at the very back of the convoy. I’ll also cover the rear. With my combat ability, guarding the rear won’t be a problem.”
Quan Xiaoyu spoke. This was the best compromise he could think of.
Xiao Ziran merely frowned. After thinking it over, he did not object.
If Quan Xiaoyu had said he wanted to leave alone with Xie Mingxuan, Xiao Ziran would have killed Xie Mingxuan on the spot without hesitation.
Because there was absolutely no way he could allow someone useless to take away one of the strongest combatants in his team at a time like this.
Besides, if Quan Xiaoyu left, Li Nan would inevitably leave with him. And she was a healer! A healer whose abilities surpassed the healer on Lei Shi’s team!
You’ve got to be kidding!
And if Quan Xiaoyu wanted to leave, Chu Tian wouldn’t agree either.
But Quan Xiaoyu had only said that he would stay behind to guard the rear. Someone had to be assigned to do that anyway. With Quan Xiaoyu’s increased speed and strength, he was actually quite suitable for the job.
Therefore, Xiao Ziran more or less gave his silent approval.
Chu Tian did not object immediately either, but his tightly furrowed brows clearly expressed his extreme displeasure. He thought for a moment and was just about to speak when a voice interrupted.
“Everyone, are you planning to abandon this fellow congregant?”
Lei Shi strode over with a solemn expression. Behind him were the two congregants who had decided to leave with Lei Shi’s team.
When the doctor had just said “let him fend for himself,” many people had heard him. Presumably, those two congregants had heard it as well and hurried to find Lei Shi for reinforcements.
As someone who was always willing to help others, Xie Mingxuan actually had a fairly good reputation among the congregants.
“Since you people have already disregarded benevolence and morality, don’t make things worse for this fellow congregant. Hand him over to us. Our Lei-Jia Team will be responsible for his safety.”
Lei Shi’s tone was stern, and his voice was loud enough that probably everyone inside the church could hear him.
“With pleasure.”
Xiao Ziran eagerly made a “please, go ahead” gesture.
He had seen through Lei Shi’s intentions at a glance, but he didn’t care in the slightest what other people thought. He had never cared about such things. To him, reputation was even more insubstantial than a passing cloud. Why would he care about Lei Shi’s little attempt to smear him?
As long as the problem could be solved, that was what mattered.
This time, even Quan Xiaoyu did not stop him.
Because he knew that Lei Shi’s team really did protect ordinary people. At least, in his previous life, they had continued providing ordinary people with the necessary protection.
Perhaps they wouldn’t charge straight into a horde of zombies to rescue someone, but when zombies attacked, they would surround the ordinary people in the middle while ability users and some physically stronger ordinary people went forward to fight.
They were still capable of doing that.
It was only later, as the apocalypse became increasingly brutal, that more and more ordinary people died.
And in his previous life, no one had actually caused Xie Mingxuan’s death.
He had killed himself.
Xie Mingxuan had naturally heard everything everyone said and clearly seen everyone’s attitude.
Originally, he had already made up his mind that no matter what happened, he would stay by Quan Xiaoyu’s side and protect him.
Yet he suddenly realized that Quan Xiaoyu did not need him.
He couldn’t even guarantee Quan Xiaoyu’s safety.
He had not yet fully digested everything Quan Xiaoyu had said to him, but at least he understood one thing—
No one on Quan Xiaoyu’s team liked him.
No one approved of the way he behaved.
He would become their burden.
So now, he no longer had the face to insist on following Quan Xiaoyu.
“I… I’ll stay at the church and help the priest…”
Xie Mingxuan trembled slightly as he tried to state his choice, but someone mercilessly interrupted him.
It was Bai Mingxi.
At this moment, Bai Mingxi spoke to him in a cold tone, as if saying, “You’re beyond saving.”
“You want to stay at the church and get the priest killed too?”
Xie Mingxuan fell silent.
Why?
Why?
Why did they keep saying that he would get people killed?
Why?
He had no ill intentions at all!
He just wanted to help people.
Help lots of people.
Help all those helpless people.
That was all!
Why were they saying that he would get people killed?
He had never hurt anyone!
Xie Mingxuan’s mental state began to collapse. For the first time, he experienced such intense rejection from other people.
Seeing the situation, the two congregants didn’t waste any time. They hurried forward and helped the somewhat dazed Xie Mingxuan to his feet, supporting him from either side.
They quietly tried to comfort him as they led him toward Lei Shi’s team.
Everyone else on this side let out a sigh of relief.
Xiao Ziran waved his hand.
“Let’s go!”
He completely ignored Lei Shi’s presence.
Everyone began moving, all of them going to join up with the mercenaries.
Once again, no one paid any attention to Lei Shi, as if he were nothing more than a patch of air.
Lei Shi was furious, yet there was nothing he could do.
Surely he couldn’t just attack them like this?
They hadn’t actually done anything to him. They hadn’t even talked back.
In the end, he could only snort coldly and leave on his own.
Quan Xiaoyu sighed and followed everyone.
Chu Tian took his hand and squeezed it firmly, offering silent comfort.
Just as everyone was about to get into the vehicles, Lu Zhongxia came running over.
This time, he went directly to the doctor and expressed his desire to join the doctor’s team.
The doctor had heard Chu Tian briefly explain the history between Lu Zhongxia and Jialun Xu’s group. After speaking with Lu Zhongxia for a few moments and making his rules clear, he agreed to let him join.
After all, he was a healer-type ability user.
Chu Tian’s group was still four people to a vehicle.
Quan Xiaoyu thought for a moment before running over to find Lu Zhongxia.
He asked Lu Zhongxia to look for some ability users he was familiar with in the Lei-Jia Team and ask them to take extra care of Xie Mingxuan. He also handed over some food and cigarettes, asking Lu Zhongxia to pass them along to those ability users.
After all, when you asked someone for a favor, you couldn’t exactly show up empty-handed.
The people in the Lei-Jia Team knew very well why Lu Zhongxia had left, so they weren’t particularly displeased by his departure.
Since he was a healer, he had built up quite a good reputation over time. And since this was a request from Quan Xiaoyu, he naturally agreed without hesitation.
Once everything had been taken care of, the convoy finally set off in a grand procession.
Ahead of them was yet another unknown journey.