Suo Tian gazed at him for a long time, then said in a low tone, "Even if you don't agree, I'll still stay here."
Zhang Hongsheng was taken aback, and then he smiled wryly. "You're right. I don't have much leverage to negotiate with you."
"But even if we help you, what difference will it make?" Xu Shu, who had been quiet until now, suddenly asked.
"If we save the child, he'll still be in danger once we're gone."
Zhang Hongsheng looked at her. "I plan to leave with Jiale and my mom. I'd rather face the dangers outside than stay in this corrupt place."
"You plan to take a child and an elderly person with you?" Shen Feng asked with concern.
He knew how difficult it was to travel with dependents, and now Zhang Hongsheng was planning to take two.
"Yes, I have no choice. I couldn't leave my mom behind, only to be used as a sacrifice later." Zhang Hongsheng looked helpless.
I tugged on Suo Tian's sleeve, and he turned to me, leaning in slightly. "What is it?"
"Even if we don't help Zhang Hongsheng, shouldn't we still investigate those undecayed walkers?"
Suo Tian raised an eyebrow and asked, "You want to help him?"
I shook my head. "It's not about helping him, but rather... think about it. They're using living people as sacrifices to the walkers. If the child died from a walker bite, that would be one thing, but to be fed to the walkers for such a ridiculous and ignorant reason is just unbearable."
In my heart, I had already decided to help save the child tonight.
It wasn't about helping Zhang Hongsheng, but rather about saving the innocent life of Zhang Jiale.
From the conversations between Xu Shu and Shen Feng, I could tell they were also willing to help Zhang Hongsheng.
Suo Tian looked away, not responding or looking at me.
It was clear he didn't want to help.
I continued, "Zhang Jiale looks like he's only two or three years older than Rongrong. I can understand Zhang Hongsheng's desperation. If we were in his shoes and it was Rongrong who was going to be sacrificed, I'm sure I'd do everything to save her."
I said this because I had noticed that Suo Tian was always more patient and concerned about Rongrong than others.
Even when Rongrong was sick, he was more agitated than usual, despite trying to control himself.
Using Rongrong as an example might strike a chord with Suo Tian.
"The child can't be saved," Suo Tian said suddenly, leaving me momentarily stunned.
I asked, "What do you mean?"
"Even if he's not sacrificed, the child won't live much longer," Suo Tian replied, glancing briefly at Zhang Hongsheng before turning back to me.
"Since it's destined to end this way, why bother? He's going to die anyway."
"Wait, what do you mean he won't live much longer? How do you know?" I asked.
Suo Tian glanced at me. "Zhang Hongsheng said those people died from malaria. This morning, Zhang Jiale's face started to turn yellow, his lips were cracked, and his footsteps were unsteady. Given the current humidity, the cracked lips are likely due to dehydration. Putting it all together, I think he's infected."
"But if we save him, we can treat him. We have medicine. Zhang Tiejun and the others died from malaria because they didn't receive timely treatment..."
Before I could finish, Suo Tian's next words cut me off. "It's impossible to cure him."
"Why not?" I asked.
"Think about it in the context of the current viral infection," Suo Tian said, staring at me.
I tried to connect Suo Tian's words to reality in my mind, thinking deeply for a long time.
Suddenly, a bold guess occurred to me, and I looked at Suo Tian, whispering, "Is it not malaria, but rather a complication before the viral infection?"
Suo Tian shook his head. "Not entirely. I'm not sure yet. Why those three didn't decayed is still a mystery to me."
Before I could respond, Zhang Hongsheng suddenly spoke up.
"Everyone, I'm begging you to help me. Jiale is my only brother. In this world, after all you've been through, you must understand the importance of family. We're all fighting to survive, aren't we? This is a chance for you to help us have a chance to live on. Please, can you do this for us?"
Zhang Hongsheng's words struck a chord with me.
I have a younger brother too, and I could understand his feelings.
But thinking about Suo Tian's guess, I felt a pang of uncertainty.
If Suo Tian was right, then Zhang Hongsheng's pleas might be in vain.
Zhang Jiale's tragic fate might already be sealed, and even if he escaped tonight, he might still succumb to his fate soon after.
"Alright, I'll help you!" Xu Shu suddenly stood up, her face serious as she looked at Zhang Hongsheng.
"Everyone has a younger sibling. For the sake of that child, I'm going to help you today."
I wasn't surprised by Xu Shu's decision to help.
She had helped us earlier because of Rongrong, and now that Zhang Hongsheng was asking for help to save a child, it was consistent with her character.
"I'll go with you too!" Shen Xue stood up, and when she noticed everyone's gaze on her, she added, "Since the people here are so superstitious, I'll be superstitious too. Saving that child will be like accumulating good karma for Rongrong."
Before I could see Shen Feng's reaction, he had already stood up.
"We don't know how many days we have left. Let's do some good deeds while we can. We've been fighting walkers for so long; it's time to change opponents."
Yangyang followed suit, standing up. "Let's all go together then."
I looked up at them, feeling a bit frustrated.
Just this afternoon, they had scolded me for meddling, and now they were all eager to get involved in someone else's business.
Despite their words, seeing their determined faces filled me with a sense of comfort.
After all the hardships, they still had a spark of enthusiasm within them, waiting to be ignited.
Zhang Hongsheng looked at them with gratitude and stood up, his eyes finally resting on Suo Tian.
I followed his gaze, and a thought suddenly struck me: "Regardless of whether the boy is destined to die soon, he shouldn't be allowed to suffer a painful death at the hands of those ignorant people today."
I made a silent decision and stood up. "I'll join you too! We're a group of young people who have fought our way through hordes of walkers."
Suo Tian stared at the fire for a few seconds before standing up after I nudged him with my foot.
He dusted off his hands and said to Zhang Hongsheng, "Let's go take a look."
Zhang Hongsheng's eyes lit up like a lifeline had been thrown to a drowning man.
His face radiated excitement and hope.
It was clear that he had been waiting for Suo Tian's response all along.
He had good judgment, recognizing the strongest person in our group from the start.
With Suo Tian on board, our confidence was boosted.
We didn't waste any more time on unnecessary words.
Zhang Hongsheng knew that this wasn't the time for gratitude, so he didn't say a word, but his eyes expressed his thanks to each of us.
Suo Tian took charge again, acting as our strategist and leader.
Since we were going up against living people, we weren't sure if violence would be necessary.
Suo Tian decided to leave Shen Xue, Yangyang, and Chen Pu behind, taking the middle-aged man, the big bearded man, and a few other black-clad individuals with us.
I've always admired Suo Tian's decisive and efficient approach, but today I was thoroughly impressed.
I thought he'd lead us in a bold charge into the forest, waiting for the old man and his group to arrive so we could snatch the child.
But when Suo Tian gave the order, I was caught off guard.
It turned out that he'd already taken care of the walkers in the forest when we returned earlier.
Our task was simply to rush to Zhang Hongsheng's courtyard and safely extract Zhang Jiale and his mother.
As Zhang Hongsheng led us towards their courtyard, I ran up to Suo Tian and asked, "Did you anticipate this situation?"
"Yes," he replied.
"When did you figure it out?" I asked.
"When I was following you, and you were tracking them," Suo Tian said.
"So, you already knew the walkers wouldn't be a problem. Why did you tell me that Zhang Jiale was going to die soon? He wouldn't have had any issues if we didn't help him today," I said.
"That Old Bai isn't as foolish as you think," Suo Tian replied.
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