Chen Hanyu repeated, "Suicide, what’s wrong with that?"
The word exploded like a muffled thunder in Ren Zhong’s mind.
He turned his neck stiffly, turning his face away, his gaze piercing through the car window, staring outside.
At the same time, with excruciating slowness, he asked word by word.
"What exactly, are you saying?"
Ren Zhong’s jaw was clenched tightly, veins throbbing on his forehead.
The scene that seemed serene and peaceful just moments ago, now exuded an eerie, sinister atmosphere in his eyes.
The trucks were still those white trucks, bearing the words of the Mengdu Group branch, alongside a small red-edged white-heart cross symbolizing medical aid.
The people were still the same, but all were going in, with none coming out.
Atop the truck were two conveyor belts, one sending some round objects to the high platform, the other bringing similar objects back.
On the high platform, the Hunters were still busy.
Mechanical arms, like the antennae of bees, were sending bloody things back.
Simultaneously, another mechanical arm grabbed an object from the platform and tossed it into a pit behind.
Ren Zhong saw everything clearly.
What was traveling back and forth on the conveyor belt were the heads of the elderly.
The necks were neatly cut, radiating white mist, likely frozen to prevent blood from splattering.
What the Hunters were taking away were the brains.
No further explanation from Chen Hanyu was needed, he understood it all.
The elderly were indeed queuing up for suicide.
The Hunters were timely harvesting their brains.
Seeing through the phenomenon, Ren Zhong couldn’t comprehend the reason.
He quietly watched the queue of people.
The scene reminded him of another image.
The way these elderly died, what difference was there between them and pigs lining up at the slaughterhouse’s Ghost Gate?
The ferocity on Ren Zhong’s face flashed and disappeared.
Because he immediately realized, with the Hunters so close, he had to disguise himself.
Particularly as he caught something from Chen Hanyu’s previously indifferent tone.
As someone living in this world, he should be as accustomed to it as Chen Hanyu.
Ren Zhong closed his eyes, covering his face with his hands, not letting anyone see.
His hands were slightly trembling.
"Mr. Ren, what’s wrong?"
"No, I’m fine, just a little tired."
Ren Zhong only opened his eyes a slit to hide the sudden bloodshot appearance, gently pressed the accelerator again.
The Thunderbolt Car proceeded forward smoothly and slowly.
Ren Zhong cursed himself in his heart.
Seeing the Hunters and these queuing elderly from afar, I should have realized.
I actually stopped the car here, even asked someone.
I should have just driven away.
My disguise is still not perfect, because I still haven’t fully adapted to this world.
But I really don’t want this kind of perfection!
Although Ren Zhong said nothing, everyone could sense the atmosphere in the car suddenly turned cold and murderous.
Chen Hanyu vaguely sensed something was off.
She knew Mr. Ren was an excessively kind person, so she took the initiative to explain, "Mr. Ren, we don’t know much about the situation in the city. This is probably the first time you’re seeing this. But it is indeed a common endpoint for the elders among the wild people in the town. This usually occurs in the two months leading up to the Pu Cha."
"Many elderly choose to do this to give up their temporary wild people quotas to their children, allowing them to stay in the town. Furthermore, the Mengdu Group pays compensation, which is additional income for the children or family members. This is indeed a common phenomenon. This is how Zheng Tian and her brother got their quotas. Unfortunately, her brother didn’t survive until now."
When Chen Hanyu narrated these things, she was very calm, as if describing today’s weather.
Ren Zhong, however, only felt his scalp crawl.
Is Chen Hanyu a good person or a bad person?
Ren Zhong believed that Chen Hanyu was inherently a good person.
She had also suffered unjust fate, and she harbored anger and resentment towards certain people.
She also had explicit targets for revenge.
But she remained calm, even overly indifferent, to the old people queuing up for death.
This was so different from the kindness she displayed towards him in the past.
Has Chen Hanyu changed?
It only proved she genuinely had no awareness of anything being wrong with this.
All of this, to Ren Zhong from the 21st century, was utterly unfathomable, sending chills down his spine.
Chen Hanyu’s explanation continued, "Starting this week, the Mengdu Group’s truck will come once a week, until the final week before Pu Cha. Hunters take away the brains, Mengdu Group will take away the bodies. The money they pay is the compensation for buying the bodies. In the past, it was common for several dozens to over a hundred people to choose suicide every year, a number roughly half that of newborns. It’s said that this year there is an unusually high number of newborns in town, so probably more elders will choose this path."