Seeing how considerately he moved aside, the man who had spoken immediately seized the opportunity, hoisted Zhai Man onto his back, and quickly left.
They took Yang Tao and Zhai Man with them and rushed out of the street as fast as they could, without giving the giant python another second glance.
It was already past midnight when we left.
When the group returned to their lodgings, Zhai Man was so shocked that he fainted on the spot. Yang Tao, on the other hand, had the most severe injuries, and she too collapsed after returning home.
"Give Yang Tao the best medicine; we have to save her. Otherwise, when Brother Zhai wakes up, he'll definitely come after us."
"yes."
The latter half of the night wasn't a long time, but it wasn't short either. Yang Tao's wounds had all been treated and treated. After the doctor examined her, there were still a few more serious injuries that would need to heal slowly.
Zhai Man is still asleep.
However, the doctor said that Zhai Man is in good health; he was just too frightened, which is why he was unconscious for so long. He will wake up soon.
The group had been busy until now, and had just managed to catch their breath a little.
They sat by Zhai Man's bedside, and with this moment of leisure, they had the energy to think about what had just happened: "Hey, what exactly happened with that giant python?"
They all knew perfectly well that if it weren't for the giant python that suddenly appeared, none of them would have escaped tonight.
"I don't know. I think his target is our Brother Zhai. People who attack Brother Zhai always end up dying a terrible death."
“I saw that too, but the key point is that our Brother Zhai couldn’t possibly have any connection with a giant python.”
When Brother Zhai saw the giant python, he was so scared he almost died. There was no chance of any connection between the man and the python; given Brother Zhai's tolerance, he probably wouldn't even be able to see them.
The more they talked, the more confused they became.
They couldn't explain the reason, and they couldn't very well ask the giant python. One of them pressed his temples and said, "Forget it, let's not think about it anymore. Let's ask Brother Zhai when he wakes up."
"What we need to think about now is whether Old Man Zhai is dead or not."
Yang Tao said she had stabbed the old man, and stabbed him very deeply. The old man was already quite old; if he didn't make it this time, there would be a lot of trouble later.
Although Zhai Liu was in their hands, the old man had other sons.
The situation is unstable right now. If the old man dies now, the entire Eastern District will probably descend into chaos. They want to seize power from Zhai Man, but they can't just watch the Eastern District descend into turmoil.
Nowadays, not to mention the East District, the entire Fourth District is living in dire straits.
Zombies are everywhere, and there is currently no solution.
At least Xie Chiyuan was in charge of the West District, and the managers of the North and South Districts were decent, but at least no major problems had occurred.
Only that old man from the East District is like a time bomb, who knows when he might come out and blow up the East District.
Those who follow Zhai Man are all brainless.
Since Zhai Man is still unconscious, they need to formulate some plans in advance. For example, what should they do next if the old man dies?
If the old man hadn't died, how would they have dealt with his difficult behavior?
The starfruit is in their hands, how are we going to protect it?
Each and every question concerns their life or death.
After an unknown amount of time, the group could no longer stay awake and hastily went to sleep.
Shortly after they fell asleep, Zhai Man finally woke up from one nightmare after another. In his nightmares, he was constantly being entangled by the same giant python.
The most terrifying thing is—
He dreamt that the giant python coiled around him, slowly approaching, and then licked his face with its tongue.
The dream ends.
Zhai Man's back was soaked with sweat, his eyes were red-rimmed, and his eyes were wet. He looked both pitiful and incredibly alluring.
"No, no!"
He struggled to break free from the terrifying dream.
A voice filled with resistance and panic rang out, but thankfully no one was around. So, no one could see his disheveled state at that moment.
The room was bright and clean.
His gaze searched carefully, but he couldn't find the python from his dream. This discovery gradually calmed his still wildly pounding heart.
He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and tried to calm himself down.
After a long while, he felt that he had finally come back to life.
After leaving the room, he went to see Yang Tao and then met with the men he had taken out the day before. The group sat together and recounted the events of the previous night. Perhaps because it was broad daylight and there were many people around, Zhai Man was finally less afraid.
After they finished talking, they agreed on one thing—
None of them recognized the giant python.
Zhai Man couldn't figure out the other party's intentions either. He frowned and could only put the matter aside for the time being: "Maybe it was just a coincidence that the giant python happened to pass by there."
"Let's talk about something else. Have you gone to find out anything? Is the old man still alive?"
"We sent people to inquire early this morning, but we haven't found out yet. By the way, Brother Zhai, what should we do with Zhai Liu?"
Although Zhai Liu and Zhai Man share the same father, Zhai Man does not acknowledge his younger brother.
He thought about all the outrageous things Zhai Liu had done in the past and said calmly, "Dealing with him is simple. Didn't he love sending innocent girls to the old man? Those girls' families must hate him to the core."
“Give him to the girls’ families and tell them they can do whatever they want with him.”
"yes."
Some people agreed and immediately got up to do it. Others worried, "If we send him away, how are we going to explain it to the old man?"
"The old man trusts him a lot and calls him over every few days."
"Let's see if the old man survives first," Zhai said nonchalantly. "Even if he does survive, I have a reason to explain where he went."
Zhai Man's men couldn't get any specific information about the old man because they couldn't go to where the old man lived to see him for themselves.
"Take good care of Yang Tao, I'm going to go."
Before leaving, Zhai Man looked down at his clothes. He had worn them yesterday, and they were definitely unwearable now.
"I'm going to take a shower first."
Zhai Man was very particular about his image in public. After sending the person away, he went to the bathroom to take a shower.
Warm water washes over the skin.
The cold sweat from his nightmare was washed away by the water. He tilted his head back, his porcelain-white skin almost glowing translucently underwater.
He let out a comfortable sigh of relief.
While showering, he also washed his hair. Some shampoo foam accidentally got into his eyes, and the water temperature was a bit too high at that moment.
He closed his eyes and reached out to turn the temperature down. But after groping around several times, he couldn't get it right. Just as he was about to lose patience, something smooth seemed to brush against the back of his hand, and then, slightly cooler water came down.
Zhai Man suppressed the strange feeling in his heart, rinsed his hair with water, and washed his eyes.
His eyes were still a little uncomfortable, but he could see things clearly now. He looked around the bathroom; there was nothing slippery inside.
"Could it be my imagination..."
He murmured to himself, withdrawing his gaze. The slippery sensation he had just felt reminded him of the python he had seen yesterday, but that python was too large to fit into his bathroom.
Zhai Man didn't let himself think about it anymore. He quickly took a shower, dried his hair, changed his clothes, and went out.
The door closed.
A python, shrunk to the size of a small snake, swam out just a second before the door closed.
Not long after.
Zhai Man arrived at the old man's place; his house was quite large. In these difficult times, it was only the old man who could still live such a comfortable life.
Zhai Man went inside and, unsurprisingly, saw his other brothers.
"Zhai Man, you dare to come here again!"
"Grab him!"
As soon as his brothers saw him, they all pointed their anger at him: "Dad is still undergoing treatment. Are you trying to kill him with anger, you bastard?!"
The accusations from these brothers were of no consequence to Zhai Man.
He simply said, "Let's see who dares to arrest me? And what right do you have to arrest me? I'm here today to fulfill my filial duty to my father."
He completely denied that his father's accident had anything to do with him.
One of the brothers sneered, "Don't think we don't know. This time, Father's accident is related to a woman. I heard that this woman is one of your men. Now that she's missing, you must have hidden her away."
"You can't just say things like that."
Zhai Man smiled, his expression as gentle as ever: "You say I'm hiding a woman who tried to assassinate my father, what evidence do you have? Did you see it with your own eyes?"
The people who chased Yang Tao last night are all dead. There are no survivors to identify them.
Seeing that the other party had spoken, Zhai Man continued slowly, "Who said that I sent the woman who assassinated my father? I never sent any woman to my father, nor did I hide any woman. You can't just make things up without any evidence."
Zhai Man was right; his father's assassination attempt had absolutely nothing to do with him from beginning to end.
There is no evidence to identify Zhai Man as the murderer, or that he protected the murderer. Strictly speaking, the only person who could deal with his sons was their father.
The old man was still being treated, and all his brothers stayed behind. At this critical juncture, no one was going to be lazy and leave.
Because the place was large, all the brothers were assigned rooms.
The moment they moved in, they learned that one of their brothers had died.
The old man's condition wasn't good, and anyone with eyes could see that he needed to plan for the future. Zhai Man didn't make a move; he didn't want to act too soon.
These brothers aren't very bright; he'll just wait for them to finish fighting.
Of course, he needs to protect himself during this process.
On the first night, one person died.
On the second night, another one died.
Two brothers died in two consecutive nights. Zhai Man sat in his room, his face not looking too good.
He didn't bring any of his own people with him this time.
He had thought he had to be extremely careful to protect himself from assassination attempts by his brothers. But those who came to kill him all died swiftly and decisively.