WS - Chapter 121
Chapter 121
Wary of all the watchful eyes in the team, Zhao Da and Zhao Er didn't stay outside long. Ultimately, Zhao Er was persuaded again by Zhao Da and suppressed his impulse for the time being.
But this temporary dormancy and compromise was like a ticking time bomb, hanging right in front of the people watching the livestream on StarNet.
The all-too-real evil was shocking, and after the shock came towering indignation and fury.
Mu Xingzhou's fans, scattered across the stars, were like countless sparks igniting, instantly spreading into a wildfire.
In the face of life and death, what did being an illegitimate child matter? What did a possible secret relationship matter? Even if they felt some sadness and anger at being kept in the dark, those feelings were rooted in their love for their idol.
And only when the person who illuminated them—the person they adored so passionately—was still alive, did those feelings of love and sadness, joy and anger, still hold any meaning, right...
From all walks of life, men and women, young and old, from the moment the Yaoxing Storm struck Wilderness Planet that afternoon until now, Little Stars had stood firmly united and begun exerting pressure on the Mu Group and the Mingtan Aerospace Bureau.
They couldn't intervene on Wilderness Planet, where the Yaoxing Storm was raging. So all their indignation and fury naturally needed a target to bear it.
Just think of it as... revenge!
Let's set aside the Mingtan Aerospace Bureau for now, which was already on the verge of collapse under pressure from all sides and swarming with police and Armed Forces inside and out.
Originally, the suicide note left by Deputy Director Sun of the Aerospace Bureau pointed directly at Yao Yuxi of the Yao Group. The Yao Group was one of the major conglomerates in the Mingtan System, and the higher-ups carefully weighed the matter before issuing the arrest order—only after confirming that Yao Yuxi no longer held any Yao Group shares.
Now, a Yaoxing Storm had not only brought out the Yao Group but also the Mu Group.
Those in politics on Mingtan Prime were getting a little uneasy about targeting two major conglomerates at once.
But that new livestream platform, which had appeared out of nowhere, had broadcast the footage of Zhao Da and Zhao Er plotting murder with absolute clarity, instantly confirming the rumors about the legitimate sons killing the illegitimate son that had been blazing across StarNet for the past few hours.
They had originally just brought the Mu brothers in for a secret investigation. Even after the rumors broke out, they had only upgraded from requesting their assistance to a guarded investigation with extra personnel. But now things had reached a point where they had to give the public some answers quickly.
It wasn't just people from the Mingtan System—thanks to Mu Xingzhou's massive fanbase across various star systems, people from many other systems also began putting pressure on Mingtan Planet.
The campaign targeting the Mu Group, demanding they hand over the murderers, grew larger and larger.
After the Mu brothers left the villa for the Mu Group, they were soon taken elsewhere by the Armed Forces, losing contact with the rest of the Mu Group. With the Mu Group leaderless and the situation sliding uncontrollably downhill, some people ultimately broke through the defenses set up by the Mu brothers and stood before Old Master Mu's bed in the hospital VIP ward.
When the group rushed in, Old Master Mu was just having his meal.
The free-range bamboo-fed chicken from the agricultural subsidiary planet had firm flesh. After being stewed with medicinal herbs for hours, the broth, though not as clear as plain chicken soup, was still delicious and nourishing.
Old Master Mu had just taken a mouthful of soup mixed with some shredded chicken when the intruders startled him.
Luckily, Old Master Mu had weathered countless storms in his life. He managed to swallow the mouthful of tender chicken and soup without changing expression, then unhurriedly told the group to catch their breath and speak slowly.
But who could have expected? When Old Master Mu still had soup in his mouth, he hadn't been frightened to death by choking. Now, after swallowing everything, he was so angry that he lost his breath.
The doctors and nurses rushed in, urgently patting and massaging until they got the old man breathing again. But before they could drive out the people who had agitated the patient, they themselves were driven out by Old Master Mu first.
At the request of Old Master Mu, who had recovered his breath and was now half-lying in bed, the visitors recounted the matter once more.
Even though this time the speaker had not rushed at all, and had even dared not show any anger for fear of affecting the patient, Old Master Mu was still trembling with fury.
The people who came were all old Mu Group retainers who had followed him for years. After reporting the matter, they added a few words, saying that it definitely couldn't have been the First Young Master and the Second Young Master, and that the priority now was to find evidence to refute the rumors...
But Old Master Mu, after hearing this, had no doubt in his mind—his thoughts raced and he was instantly certain that those two beasts had done it.
All these years, they had been putting on an act of brotherly affection in front of him, making him believe that after he was gone, the three brothers could support each other!
Poor child of his and Chang Yi—after all the precautions, they still hadn't managed to protect him.
Truly, the sons took after their mother. He should never have been soft-hearted toward those two beasts in the beginning!
It was very likely that his unusually long afternoon nap today, only being woken up just now at dinnertime, had also been meddled with by those two!
Alas, despite all his regret and helplessness, he could no longer do anything about Wilderness Planet, which seemed to have its own isolated barrier.
Beyond Wilderness Planet, how many people's emotions were stirred by it.
On Wilderness Planet itself, however, another game was being played out.
After Zhao Da and Zhao Er finished taking care of personal matters, they returned to the campfire. Zhao Da looked around but saw no one holding the map and copying it, and his brows furrowed slightly.
"Has everyone finished looking at the map?" Zhao Da walked up to Guan Yongyi, who had been the last person he saw holding the map when he and Zhao Er left.
To Zhao Da, a map wasn't a big deal, but if anyone tried to play tricks on him, thinking he was easy to bully and would swallow his silence, then they were sorely mistaken.
"I gave it to Ning Chuyang," Guan Yongyi said.
Zhao Da looked at Ning Chuyang.
Ning Chuyang turned her head toward Zhuang Jiachuan: "I gave it to Teacher Zhuang..."
So the chain of pointing went quickly from one to another, and eventually Zhao Da stood before Wang Daming.
"Hey, I've got nowhere left to draw. Brother Zhao, you two have two maps, don't you? Why not let me keep this one," Wang Daming said with a flattering smile, showing no trace of the earlier argument he had had with Zhao Da and Zhao Er that afternoon.
Over the past few days in the Production Team's group, Zhao Da had seen plenty of Wang Daming's obsequiousness toward Director Zhang; he just hadn't expected to be on the receiving end himself one day.
But regardless...
"I'll hold onto it," Zhao Da said, extending his hand.
Wang Daming hesitated again and again, looked around several times, and seeing that no one would speak up for him, could only slowly pull the map out from his coat. In the end, he unwillingly added, "Is it really okay for you two to hold all the maps? What if you think we're dead weight and abandon us halfway..."
Zhao Da pulled the map from Wang Daming's still somewhat tight grip and laughed, "Isn't that exactly why you all wanted to borrow the map to look at and copy it?"
Sometimes it's best to leave certain things unspoken; the worst is when someone speaks such blunt truths.
A silence fell—whether from parched throats or from having their thoughts exposed.
Everyone wore uncomfortable expressions and hurriedly averted their gazes from Zhao Da and Wang Daming.
Zhao Da, however, did not stop there. He swept his gaze around and added, "We carried people for half the journey today, and I never expected everyone would still think this way. Starting tomorrow, let's all take turns carrying the injured. After all, the road ahead could be even more dangerous, and wild beasts may be closing in. We all need to conserve our strength. The severely injured can carry a bit less, the lightly injured a bit more. Let's all work together."
Just as Zhao Er had said, even if they split the load with Wang Daming and Zhuang Jiachuan, they couldn't carry people for half a day. Now with everyone taking turns, they could lighten the burden while also laying the groundwork for later. After all... they couldn't keep carrying people indefinitely on this journey.
So the question now was: should they kill Mu Xingzhou first and then abandon the dead weight, or abandon the dead weight first and then kill him?
That was a question they'd have to probe into and discuss during the night watch.
Zhao Da's proposal was met with another wave of silence.
But soon, Mu Xingzhou was the first to speak: "Fine. Those with foot injuries can carry less; those of us with hand injuries can have two people carry on the same side."
With someone breaking the ice, Ni Jinghe also chimed in: "Then those of us with less strength can carry too—just two people on one side."
Ning Chuyang and Zhuang Jiachuan also agreed.
With a few taking the lead and several others nodding, the rest said nothing more and tacitly accepted.
And at this moment, no one indeed had more to say. Even Wang Daming, who had caused the most trouble that afternoon, merely folded his arms and curled his lip, saying nothing further.
But implementation was always harder than decision—that was a matter for later.
As the night deepened, the hunger in their stomachs could still be tolerated, but the thirst in their mouths was unbearable.
Even without speaking, their throats burned. Their tongues felt stuck to the roofs of their mouths, and the slightest movement brought a tearing pain...
Even though Yu Nianbing and Ning Chuyang still had some jerky in their bags, they didn't feel like eating any of it at all.
Sleeping out in the open wilderness like this was truly... miserable. Especially for those whose bags had been left in the cave—they didn't even have anything to use as a pillow. There were too many bugs, so they didn't dare take off their jackets to use as pillows; they could only gather some large leaves to spread underneath and use their arms as pillows...
But despite how uncomfortable it was to sleep like this, once silence truly fell, many people quickly drifted off.
The exhaustion was not just physical.
Ning Chuyang usually lived not exactly luxuriously, but she was quite particular. The previous night, even in the lean-to shelter, she had tossed and turned for a long time before falling asleep. Sleeping out in the wild like this... was truly difficult for her.
Lying on the large leaves and spare clothes spread on the ground, Ning Chuyang tossed and turned for the umpteenth time. The more she tried to force herself to fall asleep quickly, the more thoughts flooded her mind, and the more wakeful she became.
At a time like this, she truly envied Song Shiyue.
What kind of constitution was that? They'd arrived at the stopping point, and she'd simply lain down and fallen asleep. It had been about two hours, and she hadn't woken up even once. Ning Chuyang was genuinely jealous.
Thinking of Song Shiyue, Ning Chuyang couldn't help but let her thoughts wander further.
Since she couldn't fall asleep anyway, Ning Chuyang simply sat up.
The women were sleeping close together, so as soon as Ning Chuyang sat up, she could see where Yu Nianbing and Song Shiyue were.
Then...
A gaze filled with coldness and wariness looked back at her.
What kind of feeling was this...
In the flickering firelight, a chill instantly ran down Ning Chuyang's back.
It had been over an hour since everyone had lain down.
Had Yu Nianbing... been sitting beside Song Shiyue this whole time, not sleeping?
Even though she hadn't done anything, being looked at by Yu Nianbing like that made Ning Chuyang suddenly feel guilty. She didn't stretch her neck to check on Song Shiyue's condition again, but hurriedly lay back down, turning her back to the two of them.
On Ning Chuyang's other side lay Feng Qianqian and Ni Jinghe.
As soon as she turned, Ning Chuyang saw that Ni Jinghe seemed to have been disturbed by her movements. Propping herself up on her elbow, Ni Jinghe sat up, apparently intending to check on Feng Qianqian's condition.
Ning Chuyang's heart stirred. Ignoring the dirt on the ground, she crawled on her stomach toward Ni Jinghe, tugged the back hem of Ni Jinghe's clothes, and whispered, "Doctor Ni, I think Song Shiyue is sleeping a bit too deeply. Why don't you go check on her, see if she's okay?"
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