Chapter 474 Budd Farm
Players cannot interact with civilian NPCs, but they can still use the "activity patterns" of civilian NPCs that they have "explored" to locate NPC gathering points in the wilderness (yes, these players mistook the farmer's pastureland for wasteland).
An innocent passerby was walking on the path without provoking anyone, when suddenly a group of undead jumped out of the pasture and rushed towards him with their fangs and claws bared.
"Oh my God!"
Passersby and villagers were horrified and turned and ran away.
The undead deliberately slowed down, making "KABAKABA" sounds, waving their swords and knives, and pretending to chase after them with ferocious looks.
The frightened villagers didn't care to wonder if there was something wrong with the speed of these undead spirits. They screamed and ran towards the nearest house...
A group of players who could catch up with the horses on foot slowly followed behind this villager.
It is in Black Stone Village, about five kilometers away from where the undead were "terrorizing" the villagers.
"Sir, are you talking about Elan? He's a good guy." The village woman who was sitting at the gate of her house twisting hemp thread heard the purpose of the visitor and became talkative. "Before he went to the army, he was a well-known hardworking man in our village. He would come to help anyone who had farm work to do as long as he was given some food."
"What a pity. I heard that he lost the battle and can't come back. The atmosphere in the White family has been very bad recently. I hope they can hold on... Mrs. White hasn't seen her son for seven or eight years. If it were me, I would be very upset too."
"Has Elan White never been home in all these years?" Captain Miles, who came to the door under the pretext of asking for water, pretended to be curious and asked.
"I've never met him, but I know he sends money back every year through someone else," the village woman said with regret. "I heard that the White family's debts are almost paid off, but I didn't expect something like this to happen at this time."
After saying goodbye to the village woman, Captain Miles wandered around the village for a while and struck up a conversation with a farmer who had just returned from the fields.
"Are you from the city? To tell the White family? Oh... their family is so unlucky. When I heard from the town that all the defeated people were arrested, I was still hoping that Elan would be able to escape." The farmer sighed, "I watched that kid grow up. When he was a child, he was naughty and stole potatoes from our fields. But it was because his family was too poor... In those years, his family lost a lot of money and had to borrow money from Master Bud's family to make ends meet. In our village, they are the family that owes the most money to Master Bud's family."
"Master Bud lent money to many people? It seems that he is a generous gentleman." Captain Miles said calmly.
"Hey." The farmer smiled sarcastically, but did not say much to the out-of-town guest. Instead, he said, "The White family is on the east side of the village. Go down this path and it's the fourth house with a red roof. Someone should be home now. Mrs. White always comes back to prepare lunch during the farm's lunch break."
Captain Miles didn't ask any more questions and just thanked him politely.
As he walked towards the White family's home, Captain Miles had already drawn a red line in his mind for Private First Class Elan White to pass the test - he had no , and his neighbors in his hometown had no complaints about him, so the private naturally did not need to stay in the prisoner-of-war camp any longer.
Next , he only needs to visit Elan White’s family and inform them of Elan’s recent situation, and then he can leave Black Stone Village to investigate other targets.
But...Captain Miles always felt something was wrong with the old man Bud that the villagers always talked about.
Thinking silently, Miles came to the White house.
The red-roofed house of the White family is actually a country house with a thatched roof made of red clay. This red clay, which is common in the northern part of the Territory of Taqiya, is sticky and is usually used to make mud bricks and earthen walls. People who really can't afford tiles will also use it to paste their roofs - although the waterproof performance is very poor, it is better than nothing.
After knocking on the door twice and waiting for a while, Miles met the hostess of the White family.
The moment Miles saw this village woman, he felt an unreal trance...
He had met Elan White, the corporal who had done the registration.
If I remember correctly...Elan White was only twenty-seven years old.
But the woman in front of him... was very old, so old that Miles suspected that she was actually Elan's grandmother - orange peel skin, cloudy eyes, wrinkles around the eyes, sunken temples and cheeks, and a skinny and hunched body. She really didn't match Captain Miles' impression of a woman in her fifties.
Mrs. White felt the man's gaze on her and became panic-stricken for no reason... Although Captain Miles was only wearing a very common and ordinary citizen's uniform, and the windproof hat on his head and the box in his hand were also cheap items, his confident aura of a "city man" still made Mrs. White feel ashamed.
"Good day, sir, what can I do for you?" Mrs. White unconsciously clutched her apron with both hands and quietly pulled back her feet, whose shoes were covered with dirt.
"Good day, ma'am." Captain Miles took off his windshield and bowed slightly politely.
When Captain Miles visited the White family, it was two kilometers east of Blackstone Village.
With the help of the innocent passerby, the players finally found Mr. Bard's farm.
The frightened passers-by and villagers screamed and instinctively fled to the crowded farms. The undead who had been wandering in the wilderness for a long time also rushed to the farms excitedly, howling.
The farm workers who were taking a lunch break were wondering who was yelling and turning their heads... they saw a large group of undead running towards the farm.
Workers: “???”
The innocent passerby who was shouting for help was gasping for breath. When he was still some distance away from the farm, he suddenly heard the sound of wind whistling in his ears.
The undead that had been chasing him for a long time passed by him like the wind and ran towards the farm.
Passerby: “?!”
The innocent passers-by were confused and followed the undead unconsciously for several steps before they reacted and hurriedly turned around and ran away again.
As they stumbled away, passers-by and villagers couldn't help but look back...
The group of undead who almost scared him to death ignored him and rushed towards the farm at an astonishing speed that no ordinary horses could match.
Passersby with question marks on their foreheads: "......?"
As the first undead turned over and jumped into the farm fence, the farm workers who were taking a lunch break finally realized that it was not an illusion. Regardless of whether they were lying on the haystacks to rest or hiding in the shadow of the barn to cool off, they all screamed and ran away.
Some hid in nearby buildings, some hid in haystacks, and some ran in the direction of the undead's attack without knowing where to go...
A shirtless milker in overalls was running towards the big house with cold sweat on his forehead, looking for his brother. While looking around, he suddenly saw his reckless brother running towards the undead, and he was almost scared to death.
The milker shouted out his brother's name with tears welling up in his eyes.
Then... he saw his brother almost bump into the undead, and was pushed away by the undead in disgust.
The brother who was pushed staggered and fell to the ground. The undead seemed to be too lazy to pay attention to him and walked around the brother who was howling with his head in his hands.
Milker: “……???”
The undead that rushed into the farm were very purposeful, and they all ran in unison towards the big house where the owner lived, and at a very fast speed. Skeletons jumped over countless workers who were running for their lives, and bypassed the milkers who forgot to run away in shock, and scrambled to squeeze through the door.
The workers who had not yet found a hiding place were gasping for breath, sweating profusely, and staring blankly in the direction of the big house.
Soon, there were screams and the sounds of people throwing things and crashing into each other in the big house...
The villagers of Black Stone Village still don’t know what happened on the farm next door.
"Thank you... Thank you, Mr. Miles, for taking the trouble to bring back news for Elan." Mrs. White, crying with joy, kept bowing and choking with sobs, "I really - I really don't know how to thank you."
"Please don't be like this, ma'am. I'm just a messenger. I haven't done anything to deserve your gratitude." Captain Miles reached out to support Mrs. White. "Please sit down and calm down first."
After helping the excited Mrs. White to sit down, Miles took a step back and said with mixed feelings: "I think you need to know... Although Elan White can be spared from prison, he can't come back to you in the short term."
The rigid standard for becoming a corporal is to have professional-level strength. The undead regime obviously won't do something stupid like releasing such a group of strong young men back into society.
"Of course, you can go to the city to see him." Seeing Mrs. White's panic, Captain Miles comforted her, "Please don't worry, Elan's freedom is not completely restricted. He just needs to accept the reorganization of the new city hall. Please believe me, this is a good thing. The new city hall will arrange a job suitable for Elan. He can get a legal salary and the benefits stipulated by the new city hall."
"So that's how it is." Mrs. White breathed a sigh of relief and said, covering her chest with her hands, "That's good, that's good..."
Mrs. White simply couldn't imagine her son becoming a mercenary. If the new city hall was willing to arrange a job for her son in the city, it would always be better than returning to the countryside.
Mrs. White, who had relaxed, realized that she seemed not to be thoughtful enough, and quickly stood up to pour water and prepare meals for the guests - although their family could not offer anything good to entertain, at least they could not let the guests leave hungry.
Captain Miles was about to say goodbye, but he hesitated and didn't say anything.
"I heard that Mr. Bud from the farm next door is a generous gentleman and is happy to help the villagers?" While Mrs. White was making a fire, Miles asked with pretended curiosity.
Mrs. White, who was taking a matchbox out of her apron, suddenly looked a little strange.
"Perhaps... that's the case, sir." Mrs. White said reluctantly.
Captain Miles observed her reaction, and got a rough idea in his mind. He sighed deliberately, "This Master Bud is really different. He is completely different from the farmers in the south that I have heard of. When I was in the city, I heard others mention that farmers in the south would only lend money to villagers in nearby villages when they encountered misfortunes, and would ask for high interest. Many farmers in the south would never be able to pay back the money they borrowed from the farmers once in their lifetime..."
Mrs. White, who was half-squatting and stuffing firewood into the stove, broke a branch as thick as a child's arm with her bare hands, making a "snap" sound.
"It's really terrible that...it's really like this." Mrs. White smiled stiffly.
“…That’s right.”
Mrs. White, who lowered her head, did not notice that Captain Miles's face became very gloomy.
