Upon hearing Hu Xiaodong's words, Lu Rui froze. He had no doubt that the latter wanted to kill him, but he never expected that Hu Xiaodong would propose it in such a blatant manner.

What frightened Lu Rui even more was that Long Er seemed to have a special appreciation for Hu Xiaodong. With Long Er's violent nature, it was possible he might attack him. Therefore...

"Brother Long! Don't fall for that kid's trick; he's obviously trying to drive a wedge between us. He just wants to see us make a fool of ourselves!"

Lu Rui spoke quickly, fearing that if he was even a moment slower, Long Er would execute him.

But Long Er appeared unusually calm. He casually raised his hand to interrupt Lu Rui, then frowned and said softly to Hu Xiaodong, "Brother, your request... is a bit difficult for me! Although I don't know what grievance you have with Lu Rui, he is, after all, one of my men and has followed me for so long. If I kill him just because of an unfounded accusation from you, how can I expect my brothers to respect me in the future?"

Long Er's eyes slightly lifted as he noticed Hu Xiaodong wasn't responding. He continued, "Here's what I think: why don't you give me some face and reconcile with Lu Rui. As a condition, I'll promise to release your friends. How does that sound?"

To be honest, the condition Long Er offered at this moment was undeniably attractive to the survivors.

At least in Tang Xiaoquan's view, there was no better way to resolve the current predicament.

Even though agreeing to this condition was somewhat unfair to Hu Xiaodong, from the perspective of the bigger picture, all team members could survive because of it.

Long Er himself was also very confident in the deal he presented, because he could see that the man in front of him valued loyalty greatly. To save his companions, Hu Xiaodong would surely accept the offer without hesitation.

However, it was unfortunate that both Tang Xiaoquan and Long Er were wrong.

Indeed, Hu Xiaodong was someone who valued friendship and loyalty and would go to great lengths for his brothers, but at that moment, Hu Xiaodong was clearly not the usual Hu Xiaodong. Simply put, he was blinded by hatred, so...

"Pah!" He spat forcefully at the ground, the bloody spittle landing right in front of Long Er: "Hmph, you want me to reconcile with that bastard? Go dream on during the day! I'm telling you, today it's either him or me! If I'm here, he's not!"

"Are you sure you want to be this stubborn?" Long Er frowned, his face starting to turn ugly.

He had already given Hu Xiaodong a lot of face, but the latter was still being so ungrateful, really getting on his nerves.

However, considering future developments and survival, Long Er still suppressed his urge to explode; after all, money is easy to get, but good employees are hard to find.

Although he had a bunch of brothers under him, most of them were just idle loafers and bootlickers who couldn't stand up to anything. If Long Er fell into danger someday, he couldn't trust this bunch to be reliable.

That's why Long Er genuinely wanted to recruit someone like Hu Xiaodong, who was tough and loyal.

"Are you sure you don't want to reconsider my suggestion? The lives of these people are in your hands! If you miss out, you'll have no chance to regret it later!" Long Er gave Hu Xiaodong another chance to choose, and his words once again put Lu Rui on edge.

"Ha!" Hu Xiaodong sneered disdainfully, raised his eyebrows to meet Long Er's gaze, seemingly examining something, and after a long look, he slowly said, "Regret? You think I'll regret it? Let me tell you, if I ever joined you despicable scums, that would be the real regret!!"

"What the hell did you just say!!?" Lu Rui seized the moment, dashed forward, and without any pause, stabbed a knife right into Hu Xiaodong's thigh.

It was a move he had prepared long ago, and the reason he only stabbed Hu Xiaodong's thigh and not his belly was out of fear of Long Er.

After all, Long Er had already expressed his admiration for Hu Xiaodong, so if Lu Rui openly seriously injured Hu Xiaodong, he couldn't be sure Long Er wouldn't turn his wrath on him.

Now, by only stabbing the thigh, he wouldn't immediately kill Hu Xiaodong, yet he fulfilled his purpose of revenge. Why not?

Having succeeded in his action, Lu Rui's lips curled into a subtle, sinister smile, but this smile disappeared without a trace the instant he turned around.

"Brother Long! This guy is too damn ungrateful. Without teaching him a lesson, he'll really think he's worth something!" Lu Rui justified the stabbing, thinking that even if Long Er was angry, he wouldn't explode impulsively.

After all, Lu Rui attacked to maintain Long Er's dignity, and if Long Er retaliated against him, it would be like slapping himself in the face.

Lu Rui's plan seemed clever, but...

"Bang!" A crisp sound rang out, followed by Long Er kicking fiercely, his force directly sending the unprepared Lu Rui flying into the transport van, only to be followed by a resounding "clang".

Everyone was dumbfounded by Long Er's sudden action; what's going on? Why is he even hitting his own men?

But this thought only lingered for a few seconds, then Tang Xiaoquan's gaze shifted to the man lying on the ground in agony.

Hu Xiaodong was gasping heavily, his teeth clenched together tightly. Tang Xiaoquan couldn't determine how much pain Lu Rui's stab caused him, but he was sure that if Hu Xiaodong didn't get immediate medical attention, he'd die from excessive blood loss.

"Brother, Brother Long! Wha, what are you doing! I, I..." Lu Rui stammered, unable to articulate anything.

"You! How dare you ask me what I'm doing! You dumb pig brain! Who the hell told you to use the knife? Don't you know that it could attract zombies? He's trying to kill us all!" During his speech, Long Er kicked Lu Rui's head fiercely again, and the latter's face was instantly covered in blood.

Now Lu Rui was truly dumbfounded. He was upset, but considering his inferiority in skills and numbers, he ultimately gave up the idea of resisting. With a mournful face, he apologized humbly, "Bro, Brother Long, I'm a pig brain! I'm a bastard! I'm damn wrong! I'm damn wrong!"

As if to verify his attitude, Lu Rui kept slapping his own face as he spoke.

The crisp smacks were loud enough for people to know the strength was substantial.

Perhaps annoyed by Lu Rui's cowardly demeanor, Long Er glanced at him, waved his hand, and ordered a few subordinates, "Go tie them all up!!".

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