Chapter 58 Signing the Agreement

Ah-Jing…… Ou Xiang was clearly astonished. Although she was aware of their current predicament, agreeing to Peng Qian's terms evidently came as a massive shock to her.

I raised a hand to halt Ou Xiang's words, then glanced at Lan Fang, offering her a reassuring look. True enough, though Lan Fang's lips moved a few times, she ultimately held her tongue.

Yet Ou Xiang was clearly unwilling to let it go, murmuring under her breath, "Ah-Jing, even if you agree to them, they'll surely still find fault and won't let us go!"

"Don't worry, Xiangxiang. I won't let anything happen to you!" It was spoken in a low murmur, almost to myself, but my tone carried a measure of steadiness, hoping to quiet Ou Xiang.

Sensible as ever, Lan Fang grabbed Ou Xiang's arm, stopping her from speaking further.

"Peng Qian, I don't care what happened to you all, but by now, a fire source is undoubtedly what you need most! So I can start a fire for you, but you must give me some medicine first!"

"No..." Before Peng Qian could utter a word, an angry, low roar suddenly burst from the side. It was none other than that long-winded fellow, Zhou Jianguo.

To my surprise, his head was wrapped in cloth, and in the dim, flickering glow of the fire, I could see he had suffered a head injury. Half of his already obnoxious face was badly swollen.

"Is he the one calling the shots for you now?" Although I loathed Zhou Jianguo and longed to kick him a couple of times, with Peng Qian and Jia Lue present, I saw no reason to waste my breath arguing with this wretch.

"Just treat his barking as flatulence!" Sure enough, Jia Lue was clearly smart enough not to give Peng Qian any face, yet he said with calm composure, "We can give you half of the medicine, but remember, this medicine might not even save them, so why bother wasting it?"

"Whether it can save them is my business. To survive here, one must make decisive choices!" I could feel the breathing of both Ou Xiang and Lan Fang grow rapid. "If you want me to join you, we can divide the labor and cooperate, but all the medicine must be under my control and at my discretion!"

Actually, I had not the slightest interest in the half-share Jia Lue offered. I had witnessed firsthand the mindset of these people. Without some preparations in place, I would naturally not compromise with them so easily.

"I must say, Huang Jing, your appetite is a bit too big!" Peng Qian waved his hand, and with that, the rest of them emerged, forming a semicircle around us!

True enough, Han Yu the fat man, Chen Zhimeng with her short hair, and Liu Huan with her fair skin—all of them had turned up. To my surprise, the fat man looked rather disheveled, Chen Zhimeng's right arm seemed injured, while the rest appeared completely unscathed.

This naturally caught me off guard. Clearly, among all these people, the one who had suffered the most severe injuries was Huang Jianfen. So I fixed my gaze on Peng Qian. "You were attacked last night, yet all of you came out of it safe and sound?"

I knew full well how cruel and ruthless that man was. Although I hadn't looked closely, the arm he carried on his back was real. Falling into their hands would spell a miserable fate. Though I didn't know how many of them there were, the thought of their methods sent a shiver down my spine.

"Huang Jianfen is lucky to still be breathing!" Peng Qian's inner thoughts were somewhat inscrutable, though he certainly wasn't showing genuine concern. "Two people came to attack us last night. A-Fen was chased by one of them, and it took so many of us swarming a single guy just to barely beat him to death. You call that safe and sound?"

"That may be true, but A-Fen is still unconscious, and all of this was brought upon us by you!" Looking at these people, none of whom dared approach my traps, I was in no particular rush. Even so, Peng Qian's words left me shocked. "We are mostly the old, the weak, the women, and the children whom you abandoned. Now that you come crawling back to us, aren't you being a bit too shameless?"

Unexpectedly, Jia Lue stepped forward, cutting Peng Qian off before he could speak further. Though his tone remained cold, he laid out the raw truth. "Huang Jing, everyone is trapped in this rainforest now. For the sake of survival, some things needn't be dwelled upon! The dangers around us are obvious, and having a larger group will undoubtedly make us much safer!"

If Peng Qian had said those words, I would have cursed him for being shameless. But looking at Jia Lue's expression, I understood that this man was level-headed enough, and certainly far more dangerous than Peng Qian. "What you say makes sense; safety in numbers gives us a better chance of survival. But why should we trust you?"

"Huang Jing, don't be ungrateful! We are willing to team up with you, and you should be thrilled!" Zhou Jianguo chimed in once more, clearly not entirely devoid of sense. Before he was injured, he had considered himself someone of value. Now that he was hurt, he had evidently become a burden, prompting him to preemptively secure his position.

"Oh, I suppose I should be down on my knees thanking you? Without you lot, we've been getting along just fine! Cut the crap. Right now, who's afraid of whom? If you lack sincerity, we'll all go down together and perish!" My wooden bow remained taut, and I aimed it squarely at Zhou Jianguo. I had not an ounce of sympathy left for this fellow.

If what they said was true, the combat prowess of that attacker last night was truly terrifying. The fact that I had managed to take one down myself filled me with lingering dread whenever I thought about it. Though I didn't know the exact circumstances of the person they had faced, their appearance here clearly showed they were also on the run.

Their remaining group consisted of Peng Qian, Jia Lue, Han Yu, Zhou Jianguo, Chen Zhimeng, and Liu Huan—a mix of four men and two women. With Peng Qian and Jia Lue both unharmed, contrasted against our side—which consisted solely of myself and Ou Xiang—the disparity in combat capability was stark. I had no choice but to carefully weigh our current situation.

"Peng Qian, leaving aside how I treated you in the past! Have you no shame at all? Ah-Jing has repeatedly given you leeway, and yet you refuse to leave us a single shred of life?" To my surprise, Lan Fang suddenly spoke up, her voice laced with agitation. "If it comes to this, even if Ah-Jing refuses to protect me, I'll make him deal with you!"

"Ah-Jing... calling him that sounds so sweet! You really are something else..." Zhou Jianguo wore a strange expression, casting a mocking and teasing glance at Lan Fang.

"Shut your mouth!" Peng Qian frowned, then looked over at Lan Fang with a falsely amicable expression. "Sister Fang, your words are hurtful. Am I really that bad of a person? As you've seen, and as Jia Lue said, we are all trapped here, and the most sensible thing we can do right now is unite and cooperate!"

I could not fathom how a person could be shameless to such a degree. Yet, looking at Peng Qian's unperturbed demeanor, I genuinely wanted to walk up and slap him twice. Still, I was not a mindless fool; both Peng Qian and Jia Lue were shrewd men who acutely felt the peril of their current plight.

For the moment, however, I held my tongue, wanting to watch their performance and see if they possessed even a shred of genuine sincerity!