The traffic congestion on Route 72 had completely turned into a disaster.
Slinging an oppressive tactical gun case on his back, Ling Feng leisurely shuttled through the gaps in the traffic flow.
Along the way, the muggy air was mixed with the pungent smell of gasoline and body odor, and most of those irritated drivers were smoking and complaining on the roadside.
But whenever Ling Feng passed by, those redneck brawlers who usually had mouths full of F-bombs tacitly shut their mouths, not even daring to let their gazes linger, and proactively yielded half a step.
No one was willing to court bad luck by provoking a tough character radiating a dangerous aura and carrying heavy firepower.
Walking forward for about a hundred meters, a sharp argument ahead caught Ling Feng's attention.
Calling it an argument, it was actually completely unilateral verbal abuse.
"Are you out of your mind! You're almost out of food yourself, yet you still care about whether others live or die!"
"Giving my canned goods to them, do you want to starve me to death, you useless pig!"
Harsh and unpleasant curses came pounding over like a volley, extremely grating to the ear.
Ling Feng stopped in his tracks and turned his head sideways.
A dilapidated blue station wagon was parked on the shoulder of the road.
A white fat man wearing a plaid shirt and sporting a beer belly was pointing at a thin woman with short hair in front of him, cursing endlessly.
The fat man's flesh-covered face was flushed red, and while cursing, he reached out to push the woman's shoulder.
The woman was pushed back repeatedly, her back eventually pressing firmly against the car door, her hands tightly clutching her hemline, not even daring to raise her head: "Ed, don't be like this... That child who passed by just now kept crying, and we still have several boxes of beans in the trunk, it doesn't matter to share a little..."
"Still dare to talk back? Even if I throw my things away to feed dogs, I won't give them to outsiders!" The man named Ed grew even angrier, abruptly raising his right hand as his broad palm looked like it was about to slap the woman's face.
Beside the woman, there also stood a little girl holding a plush bear toy.
The little girl was trembling all over with fear, tears swirling in her eyes, yet she didn't even dare to cry out, clearly having been beaten into fear in the past.
Ling Feng raised an eyebrow.
He finally met acquaintances.
Carol, Ed, and their pitiful daughter Sophia.
The most classic family combination in the walking dead world.
The later Carol was a badass character who slaughtered gods when meeting them and single-handedly took on an entire base, but right now, she was just a submissive housewife who had suffered from domestic violence for a long time.
As for Ed, this guy was a typical piece of trash who bullied the weak and feared the strong. Besides beating his wife at home to find a sense of existence, he was nothing when going outside.
Since he ran into people from the protagonist group, Ling Feng naturally had no reason to stand by and watch.
He strode out on his long legs, directly bypassed the rear of the car, and silently walked behind Ed.
Ed's palm at this moment was paused in mid-air, not yet having time to fall.
Carol was so scared that she closed her eyes tightly, instinctively turning her head away to dodge. After waiting for a second, the imagined slap did not fall.
She quietly opened her eyes, her line of sight directly crossing over her husband's shoulder to see that tall figure standing behind him.
Ling Feng stood there quietly, carrying an exaggerated large sniper rifle on his back, biting down on half an unlit cigarette in his mouth. Although he didn't say a single word, that unmasked sense of oppression directly lowered the temperature of the surrounding air.
Carol was stunned, glanced at the gun barrel behind Ling Feng, and subconsciously swallowed her saliva, her voice as thin as a mosquito's: "This gentleman... Is there something?"
"Who the hell are you talking to, you stinky bitch? You even dare to pull in helpers?" Ed thought Carol was up to some tricks and turned around cursing.
"F..."
Just as he spat out a syllable, the remaining curses were abruptly stuck in his throat.
Ed's height was just over one meter seven, while Ling Feng in front of him was well over one meter eighty-five.
Coupled with the broad shoulders trained from years of fitness, the physical size gap between the two standing together was extremely disparate.
Ed's line of sight first swept across Ling Feng's expressionless face, then involuntarily moved upward, staring dead at the heavy sniper rifle barrel that towered a large chunk above Ling Feng's shoulder.
His mouth opened slightly, smacking his lips dryly. That originally fierce and malevolent expression instantly converged cleanly, his Adam's apple rolling with difficulty.
Ling Feng gazed at him so calmly, not even lifting his eyelids a bit more, completely presenting an expression of looking at a dead person.
This condescending apathy made Ed feel creeped out.
He had an illusion that as long as he dared to say another curse word, the Asian man opposite him would directly pull out the gun on his back and shove it into his mouth.
"Um..." Ed let out a dry laugh, rubbed his hands, and shifted his footsteps aside extremely naturally, "It's too hot, my temper is a bit big. I'll go smoke a cigarette over there, you guys chat, you guys chat."
Finished speaking, he fished out a lighter from his pocket, turtled his neck, and dashed in a flash to the front of the car, leaning against the hood to smoke fiercely, utterly not daring to look back here again.
As for his wife and child? How could that be more important than his own safety...
What a spineless coward, Ling Feng sneered inwardly.
He didn't bother with that piece of trash, turning his head to look at the little girl who was still trembling aside.
Sophia at this moment was opening those watery blue eyes, staring at Ling Feng without blinking.
From the little girl's perspective, this good-looking big brother was simply a knight lord from a fairy tale.
Such a terrifying dad just now got scared and ran away without even hearing a single word from the big brother, so amazing.
Ling Feng crouched down, looking squarely at the little girl, extending his broad palm to gently rub her golden hair twice.
[Ding! Detected that the host interacted with the plot female character Sophia!]
[Pleasure Points +100!]
What the fuck?
Ling Feng's action of rubbing hair abruptly paused, almost failing to keep his expression.
System, you don't even let go of a little loli?! Isn't this judgment standard a bit too prison-worthy!
But thinking about it again, the system's rule was that interacting with female characters in the show could provide Pleasure Points.
Sophia was definitely a core plot character. With this layer of identity blessing, getting a basic score for patting a head was completely reasonable.
Free wool not to pluck is a waste, this wave is a massive profit.
Pressing down the wild joy in his heart, Ling Feng stood up to look at Carol who hadn't recovered yet, his voice softening a bit: "Are you okay, ma'am?"
Carol clasped her hands together, appearing somewhat uneasy, and shook her head repeatedly: "I'm fine, I'm fine. Just now... Thank you for helping me out."
Ling Feng took a drag of his cigarette, exhaling pale blue smoke.
He intentionally raised his volume a bit to ensure that Ed over at the front of the car could hear crystal clear: "I usually couldn't be bothered to meddle in other people's business, but what I look down on the most are those domestic abusers who act like cowards outside and close doors to beat their wives and children. With not the slightest bit of ability yet a big temper, people like this are just wasting air by living."
Ed's shoulders leaning against the hood in front visibly shook, but he merely threw his cigarette butt onto the ground and stomped on it hard twice, still not daring to turn back to retort a single half sentence.
Hearing these words, Carol's eye sockets instantly turned red.
For so many years of marriage, how many beatings and how much grievance she had endured, people around her either pretended not to see or advised her to endure it and it would pass.
This was the first time that a stranger she met by chance stood up for her without any scruples right in front of her husband.
An indescribable sorrow mixed with gratitude rushed straight to her nasal cavity.
Carol wiped the corner of her eye and bowed extremely sincerely: "Thank you very much indeed, sir. My name is Carol, and this is my daughter..."
"My name is Sophia!"
Before Carol finished introducing, the little girl beside her eagerly raised one hand high, while her other hand still clutched that dilapidated little bear, her voice crisp and loud.
Seeing the little girl's lively appearance, Ling Feng was in a great mood, reaching out to gently pinch her slightly baby-fatted cheek: "Hello, little Sophia."
After teasing the little girl, Ling Feng turned his head to look at the traffic flow ahead, "Carol, how long has this road been blocked? Have you seen anything special?"