Chapter 344: Chapter 165 Slanderous Accusation_3

Xu Xiaojun turned his head, grabbed the firefighter axe, and with one blow for each, he took down the few zombies. Then he looked back at the crowd without saying a word, leaving with a trace of dejection.

Watching Xu Xiaojun’s retreating figure, many people heaved a sigh of relief.

“Phew—finally he’s gone. I was afraid he was going to make a last stand against us!”

“Hmph, just because he’s big and looks a bit scary. But he’s also afraid of so many of us; if he dared to make a move, we could have taken him down in minutes!”

“It’s best that scum like him left; just looking at him was bad luck!”

The crowd muttered and cursed.

“Let’s go back. From now on we’ll have to rely a lot on Eldest Yu Wei!”

Upon hearing this, Yu Wei immediately spoke with a smile:

“Don’t worry, everyone. Now that I have become the new leader of our camp, I will fulfill the responsibilities of a leader. I will definitely lead everyone to survive in this apocalypse! Let’s all head back; don’t let one bad apple spoil the mood…”

In the crowd, Li Yi, who hadn’t been at the camp long, had a complex expression but eventually let out a helpless sigh and followed everyone back.

…

From dawn to dusk, Wang Tao and Jiang Shixue searched near the granary but didn’t see any shadow of a blood-red zombie.

However, Wang Tao was not disappointed because the more this was the case, the more it proved one thing—the zombies were extremely afraid of sunlight!

If they could exploit this weakness, Wang Tao felt that he and Jiang Shixue definitely had a chance to hunt down a Level 3 zombie!

“They should come out at night…”

Wang Tao stroked his chin, deep in thought.

He wondered if he could track them tonight if the zombies really came out and see where their new nest was… then go eliminate them during the day!

“Brother, look!”

Jiang Shixue suddenly tugged at Wang Tao’s clothes.

Wang Tao looked in the direction Jiang Shixue was pointing and saw a burly figure squatting amidst the ruins.

He was very tall, but curled up tightly. The setting sun shone on him, casting an inexplicable sense of loneliness.

“Hmm? Xu Xiaojun? What’s he doing here?”

Wang Tao was surprised, then led Jiang Shixue over.

“What are you doing here?”

Wang Tao suddenly spoke up, startling Xu Xiaojun.

He quickly turned his head and saw that it was Wang Tao and Jiang Shixue, then he breathed a sigh of relief and said with a bewildered look,

“I… I don’t know, I was just spacing out…”

Just by looking, Wang Tao knew that something must have happened to him after he returned to Fish Bay Camp.

Wang Tao sat next to him, curiously asking,

“Can you talk about it?”

Xu Xiaojun hesitated for a moment, but there was nothing he couldn’t say. Eventually he spoke,

“They said… I caused the death of the others…”

Listening to Xu Xiaojun’s account of what happened, Wang Tao didn’t show much surprise on his face.

Because Wang Tao was well aware that when those people locked the door and left Xu Xiaojun in the underground granary to attract the zombies, they had already severed all ties with him.

To them, the best outcome would be Xu Xiaojun’s death.

What Wang Tao didn’t expect, though, was that upon their return to the base, they would slander Xu Xiaojun as the one who killed the others.

Normally, shouldn’t they have praised Xu Xiaojun for sacrificing himself for everyone’s sake, being the camp’s hero, and having his spirit perpetuated within the camp?

Did those people know that Xu Xiaojun hadn’t died? So they prepared in advance? But that didn’t seem right; after all, they couldn’t have predicted Wang Tao’s actions.

After much thought, Wang Tao figured it might be because they needed a scapegoat to be held accountable for the incident.

Such an almost-total annihilation was a huge burden, not something everyone could shoulder.

If Eldest Lu were alive, the blame would certainly fall on Eldest Lu, and his reputation would greatly suffer. But Eldest Lu was dead.

Of course, even if Eldest Lu were dead, he could still be blamed, but in doing so, Eldest Lu’s reputation would be completely ruined.

If some people wanted to do certain things and that required Eldest Lu’s reputation for endorsement, then the blame couldn’t fall on Eldest Lu.

For instance… something like Eldest Lu naming someone as the new leader with his dying breath!

If Eldest Lu couldn’t be blamed, then Xu Xiaojun was the perfect candidate. After all, he was strong, he was the camp’s guardian deity, and he was qualified to take the blame.

Of course, personal vendettas might also play a part. Maybe some were jealous of Xu Xiaojun’s strength or simply didn’t like his face.

Xu Xiaojun was always a good person in the base, but good guys aren’t necessarily liked by everyone; who knows what they really said about him behind his back.

To some extent, making everyone like Xu Xiaojun was much harder than making everyone fear him!

If he had the power to intimidate, to make everyone fear him, such an incident wouldn’t have occurred.

As for Xu Xiaojun’s return alive, it must have been beyond many people’s expectations. They must have been terrified upon seeing Xu Xiaojun, always on guard in case he would attack them.

But looking at Xu Xiaojun now, he probably hadn’t made a move.

Wang Tao shared his thoughts with Xu Xiaojun.

After listening, Xu Xiaojun’s expression instantly became blank, followed by a look of pain.

“They… they really didn’t like me…”

Wang Tao refrained from saying more, simply patting Xu Xiaojun on the shoulder.

“I’m planning to find a place to rest for the night. What about you?”

“I don’t know…”

Xu Xiaojun shook his head blankly.

“Then come with me. I’ll be staying in the county town for a few days. You might be able to help me out.”

Wang Tao invited him.

“…Okay.”

Xu Xiaojun had nowhere else to go.

He followed Wang Tao to a three-story building.

Wang Tao had chosen this place specifically because it had a view of the granary.

Wang Tao moved away the debris that had been blocking the entrance to the underground granary, exposing the entrance. He wanted to see if the blood-red zombies would return. After all, this was their old lair.