Rebirth: Love in the Apocalypse - Chapter 47

Chapter 47: More Strangeness
Excluding the village chief, there were nine adults.

Of the nine, seven were men, and two were women.

However, everyone looked too different.

In a clan village like Chenjia, the residents usually had the same ancestry and looked vaguely or very similar.

Unexpectedly, Chenjia was the exact opposite.

At a glance, Mo Chenxuan saw no vague or pronounced similarities between the ten adults.

Noticing this, he carefully looked at the children and realised the same problem.

‘They have no similarities at all. Also…” Mo Chenxuan frowned; his eyes narrowed into slits.

After careful observation, he saw a vaguely familiar man.

This man was a popular news anchor.

Although Mo Chenxuan didn’t know much about the man, he knew the person was a native of city T.

Considering that, why did the person suddenly become a resident of Chenjia village?

Mo Chenxuan couldn’t figure it out, so he turned to the village chief.

“Chief Chen, your village seems to be doing well.” He stated, and Chen Da happily nodded.

“We were lucky. Most of our village survived.” The chief said in a proud voice.

“Are these your fellow villagers?” Mo Chenxuan asked, pointing at the nine adults.

“We are fellow villagers who have been helping each other even before the apocalypse. Maybe it’s why our village was so lucky.” Chen Da laughed, and the villagers nodded in agreement.

“Our village has always been very harmonious.” One said.

“We have always helped each other, and because of that, our village has managed to survive many disasters.”

“It’s more serious this time, but we will also survive.”

“What can’t we survive with our chief Chen here?”

“Chief Chen is our belief. We can survive anything as long as our chief Chen is here.”

The villagers readily spoke, their eyes filled with pride.

However, Mo Chenxuan was more confused.

He couldn’t understand why the news anchor was talking like he was actually a villager who had always been living in Chenjia.

‘Something is seriously wrong.’ He thought, looking at his team with meaningful eyes.

“Four friends from afar…” Chen Da suddenly called, drawing everyone’s attention.

“You have come from far and are tried. Why don’t you go to our village to eat a hot meal and rest for the night?”

Hearing this, Mo Chenxuan and the others didn’t refuse.

Although they knew the invitation was a ruse, they still wanted to find out what was going on.

After all, it was not a good idea to ignore such an obvious abnormality.

If possible and necessary, they wanted to understand and solve the problem in Chenjia village.

“We won’t ask for a hot meal, but we could use a place to rest. Thank you for inviting us.” Qin Wu said, looking at the village chief with a polite expression.

“How can you not eat when you come to my Chenjia village? My wife is a good cook and makes the best food in the village. You must try her cooking.”

After that, Chen Da led everyone into the village.

Along the way, Mo Chenxuan and his team saw no zombies, mutated plants or animals.

However, they sensed an underlying gloom beneath the superficial harmony.

While walking, Qin Wu used her visual enhancement, and Mo Chenxuan used his spiritual power to check the surroundings.

Eventually, Mo Chenxuan discovered a room in one of the houses.

Generally, the room was ordinary and no different from all others.

However, it was the only room that had people.

The people were a man and a young girl.

At a glance, the man was in his late twenties or early thirties. He wore an army uniform and had a buzzcut.

Beside him, the young was about eight or ten and wore a school uniform.

If the two were just sitting in the room, Mo Chenxuan wouldn’t have been alarmed.

However, the two appeared to be in unnaturally deep sleep.

Most importantly, their sleep didn’t seem peaceful, and both their faces were contorted in what looked like pain.

‘As expected! This is a den of snakes and thieves.’ Mo Chenxuan thought, shifting his spiritual power from the two.

Other than those two, everyone else was in a large space at the centre of the village.

At this time, the villagers were husking corn while happily chatting with each other.

“Four friends, you can rest in this house.” Chen Da said, pointing to a house.

“I will let someone bring your supper when the time comes.”

“Thank you, village chief.” Qin Wu smiled, and the village chief nodded in approval.

“Don’t think too much. Just rest and unburden yourselves. My Chenjia village is a paradise that’s untouched by the filth outside.”

After that, the four entered the house, and Mo Chenxuan checked for eavesdropping equipment before nodding.

“The house is clean.” He said.

“Is it me or…” Lin Rongrong frowned with an uncertain expression.

“What’s wrong?” Xu Fei asked.

“Does one of those villagers look like announcer Li Gang?”

“It’s him.” Xu Fei confirmed.

Others may not be certain, but Xu Fei was a veteran of the entertainment industry.

Although Li Gang was a business anchor and not an entertainment reporter, Xu Fei still recognised him.

“Why did announcer Li Gang become a Chenjia villager?”

“Rongrong, did you notice their skins?” Qin Wu suddenly asked and quickly continued before the person answered.

“One of those women has extraordinary skin. The kind that can’t be achieved without years of spa and beauty treatments. It’s not something that an ordinary villager can have.”

“I don’t think the villagers are natives of Chenjia village. They are likely the travellers who passed by here after the apocalypse began.”

“I also suspect that but what made them stay here?” Qin Wu asked in a helpless voice.

From what she observed, none of the villagers seemed dissatisfied with their situation.

They looked happy to stay and even had memories of striving and surviving together with other villagers.

“It must be an ability, but what kind of power is it?” Xu Fei couldn’t help but frown.

“It’s okay if these people are voluntarily here, but if not…” Mo Chenxuan narrowed his eyes.

An ability that could control people’s memories and behaviour was extremely terrifying.

If such an ability fell into the wrong hands, the apocalypse world would become a mess.

Thinking of that, Mo Chenxuan was more determined to get to the bottom of things.

After all, such an ability could potentially affect all their plans.

“Until we know what is going on, we can’t touch the food and water they give us.” Qin Wu reminded, and everyone nodded in understanding.

Their assigned house had a sitting room, a kitchen, a bedroom, and a bathroom.

While waiting for the situation to develop, the four took turns taking a shower.

After that, they sat in the sitting room and ate while waiting.

This wait lasted until after eight in the evening.

At this time, the four were playing cards when they heard a knock.

After subtly glancing at each other, Mo Chenxuan stood up and opened the door.

“The village chief asked us to bring dinner.” A woman said.

“Please come in.” Mo Chenxuan said, standing aside to let the people pass.

Soon after, a table of food was laid out.

The table included steamed white rice, egg drop soup, stir-fried beef, bacon, steamed cabbage, and a plate of ripe bananas.

“It’s not much, but I hope you will enjoy your dinner.” The leading woman said.

Originally, Mo Chenxuan thought the people would stay to watch them eat.

However, the women acted against his expectations.

After serving the food, they left the house and closed the door behind them.

“What’s going on?” Qin Wu was also surprised.

She thought there was something wrong with the food.

In that case, it was logical for the women to stay to make sure they ate everything.

“Is it reverse psychology?” Lin Rongrong asked and quickly continued.

“We would be suspicious if they stayed but let our guard down after watching them leave?”

“It’s possible.” Qin Wu said, looking at the food before continuing.

“It’s also possible that the trick is not in the food.” She said.

“There is another possibility.” Mo Chenxuan said, and everyone turned to look at him.

“Our team is rich and not short of good food, including meat and seafood, but what about other survivors?”

When everyone heard this, their eyes widened, and a trace of understanding flashed in their eyes.

“Other survivors would not be able to resist this table. They would eat without asking questions.” Lin Rongrong said, and the others nodded in agreement.

“They left because they aren’t afraid we won’t eat.” Qin Wu said, her fists clenched into fists.

“Should we throw away the food?”

“Let’s not arouse their suspicions for the time being.” Qin Wu said, removing a big plastic bag from her space.

A moment later, she poured the food into the plastic bag and stored it in the space.

After that, the four waited until they had another knock one hour later.