There's a big problem with dreams in this world.

"Why have the supplies been reduced?" Lu Qing asked, looking at today's supplies with a puzzled expression.

"The village already doesn't have enough food, this is the limit I can give you," the young man said impatiently.

"Bullshit! The hunting team has clearly caught more prey these days. Do you really think I'm blind?" Lu Qing frowned and looked at the young man with dissatisfaction.

"hehe."

The young man smiled indifferently and then left the basement.

"Damn bastard."

Watching the young man's departing figure, Lu Qing couldn't help but curse.

Her figure appeared somewhat ethereal, occasionally flashing with glimpses of the doctor's appearance. Lu Qing herself did not notice this, and what she did not realize was that, at some point, the doctor's complaints had stopped appearing in her mind.

She silently lifted today's supplies and carried them into the basement as usual.

Fortunately, although the food supply decreased, the water supply did not, and there was still enough water to clean the patients' bodies.

Lu Qing skillfully cleaned the dirt off each patient's body, changed their clothes with clean ones, and put away the dirty ones.

The patients in the basement no longer reacted much when they saw Lu Qing. Even when Lu Qing approached them, they no longer asked whether their illness could be cured.

The light of hope had faded from their eyes, and Lu Qing could do nothing about it but pretend not to see it and continue with her work.

Fortunately, there was one exception among these patients.

"Doctor, how much longer until I get better? I really miss my sister."

"Sigh." With a sigh, Lu Qing skillfully comforted the other person, saying, "It won't be long. As long as you take good care of yourself, you will definitely see your sister again in the future."

"Oh, I see. But sometimes I'm scared. What if my illness doesn't get better..." the little boy said fearfully, unconsciously clenching his six-fingered hand.

"What are you thinking? Your illness..." Lu Qing paused for a moment before a self-deceiving thought suddenly came to mind. She continued, "It will get better, it will get better sooner or later."

"Really? But, but I heard other patients say that my illness is incurable and I will never see my sister."

"Don't listen to their nonsense, they're just jealous that you're doing well faster than others."

"Is that so?" the little boy asked, somewhat bewildered.

"That's right, that's exactly it."

Nodding, Lu Qing expressionlessly picked up the bucket and walked towards the next patient...

When it came time to feed them, because there was less food available that day, the amount of food allocated to each person was also reduced.

Including Lu Qing, the food that was already insufficient has become even less, and after eating it, it feels as if there is nothing at all, which has caused some patients to complain.

"Damn village, are they trying to starve us to death?"

"I'm so hungry, hehe, maybe it wouldn't be so bad to just starve to death like this..."

"Ugh, it's been this awful porridge every day, and now it's even decreasing..."

PS: Dark Forest has reached about 80 chapters so far, and it's only a little bit of plot left before it ends. After the doctor's incident is over, the next few events will be connected, and it shouldn't take more than 20 chapters.

perhaps........

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Chapter 359: Reversal

"Why is there even less today!?" Lu Qing looked at the young man angrily, the image of a doctor constantly flashing through her mind.

Yesterday's reduction was bad enough, but today's is even worse, almost half the original amount. If this food is to be divided equally among the patients, each person will probably only get a bite.

"I, I, why are you yelling so loudly? I'm not the one distributing the food!" The young man was startled by Lu Qing and stammered a couple of times.

He looked somewhat guilty, but Lu Qing, who was in the throes of anger, didn't notice.

The young man, feeling the angry look from Lu Qing, was unwilling to stay any longer and quickly left after making up an excuse.

"........."

Lu Qing stared at the supplies placed on the ground, and a feeling of anxiety welled up in her heart.

The patients in the basement were already desperate enough, but today's food was even less than yesterday's. How was she going to explain this to them?

Thinking about this question, Lu Qing began cleaning the basement.

When she had almost finished cleaning up, she also came up with a solution.

Heat the water that was not used during the cleaning process, then pour it into the paste and stir it with a wooden spoon to thin out the originally thick paste.

Well... it's basically just adding water to the food. That way, at least your stomach will be filled in a short time, which is better than not feeling full.

I don't know if this will work...

When it was time to eat, Lu Qing held a wooden bowl in one hand and a wooden spoon in the other, feeding the patients in the basement as usual.

There weren't many complaints as expected; most people just quietly ate their porridge without saying much.

This eased Lu Qing's anxiety somewhat; perhaps adding water to the food was the right thing to do?

She wasn't entirely sure either. After the food distribution for the day was finished, Lu Qing returned to her room and continued working on the antidote for the infectious disease.

She didn't really have a strong desire for an antidote, but time didn't allow her to leave the church, and with nothing else to do, she could only research the antidote.

........

The next morning, in the dimly lit room, Lu Qing, who was lying on the wooden table, slowly opened her eyes. After a while, she realized that she had fallen asleep on the table the night before because she was too tired.

She couldn't help but stretch to relieve the stiffness from sitting in the chair all night, and then she went up the stairs to the church.

Upon entering the church, Lu Qing witnessed a scene that surprised her.

Two burly villagers were seen holding the young man who had previously delivered supplies to her hostage, with even more supplies than before placed beside him.

"what happened?"

Lu Qing stared blankly at the scene before her, and a plausible scenario immediately formed in her mind.

The reason the food had been reduced was that the young man had secretly hoarded some of it. After the village discovered his behavior, they punished him and brought him here to apologize.

Well, we'll find out the truth by asking around.

"Excuse me?" Lu Qing asked, looking at the two burly men who were pinning the young man to the ground.

"He secretly harbored mutants in his home, causing them to mutate completely. Last night, they escaped and killed two villagers," one of the burly men explained to Lu Qing after hearing her words.

"That mutant is his mother. After she mutated, he locked her up at home. That's why the supplies sent to you a couple of days ago have decreased."

"Because there aren't many people available in the village right now, we didn't execute him directly. Instead, we sent him here to help you with your work."

"Hmph, if he dares to slack off, go find the hunting team captain, and we'll definitely help you deal with him."

"Is the hunting team captain the one the old man mentioned?" Lu Qing suddenly remembered what the old man had told her about before the Tree God Cult appeared in the village, about the strong young man who led the village at crucial moments.

It seems that during the time the other side was in charge of the village, the village was still relatively humane.

Lu Qing looked at the young man pinned to the ground, and at the supplies that were more plentiful than usual.

After thinking for a moment, she looked at the burly man and asked, "How is that mutant doing?"

“They’ve already been killed by us, and their bodies were just burned,” the burly man replied.

"I see. Then I'll trouble you two."

After seeing the two burly men off, Lu Qing looked at the young man who was still kneeling on the ground and refused to get up. Thinking of what she had been through these past few days, and adding to her past resentment towards him, she said somewhat irritably, "What are you still kneeling there for? Hurry up and come help me with the work."

Although she really wanted to beat up the young man, having another helper was a good thing. Rather than wasting her energy beating him up, she might as well get to work.

Upon hearing Lu Qing's words, the young man looked up, stared at her for a couple of seconds, and then...

"Awoooooo........"

The young man burst into tears, knelt on the ground, and sobbed without making a loud sound.

Lu Qing was stunned for a moment before she realized that, from her perspective, it was perfectly reasonable for her to be angry, but from the perspective of a young man, he was someone whose mother had just died.

From the village's perspective, it means he failed to report the information about the mutants in a timely manner, attempted to conceal the information from the village, and embezzled supplies sent to the church's basement for his own selfish desires.

He wasn't someone to be pitied, and Lu Qing wasn't that much of a saint; she could simply understand his behavior at that moment.

"You can cry all you want, but when you're done, come down and help me with the work." As she lifted the bucket and walked towards the basement, Lu Qing said this.

After walking for a while, she suddenly stopped, then turned around and said, "Don't even think about slacking off, or if I tell the hunting team captain, you'll get a beating. I don't want another patient."

"Wait, wait a minute!"

Upon hearing Lu Qing's words, the young man quickly wiped away the tears on his face.

He picked up the water and food that Lu Qing hadn't taken, then followed behind her, bowing deeply and saying, "I'm sorry!"

"........."

Lu Qing was stunned, while the young man waited anxiously for her reply.

He knew his mother was dead, a fact he had known since her body began to change, but he refused to accept it.

Adding to his guilt was the fact that he had caused the deaths of two villagers the previous night.

Since he had been assigned to work here, whether out of guilt or a desire for Lu Qing to forgive him, the young man readily apologized.

Incidentally, mutants are different from those infected with infectious diseases. Infected people undergo physical mutations because they hear certain indescribable sounds at night, while mutants, like the animals in the forest, mutate into monsters devoid of any reason.

When humans mutate into monsters, the typical signs are extensive bodily decay, gradual skin peeling away to expose blood-red chunks of flesh and muscle, and the brain splitting open in the middle to grow sharp teeth.

Besides being called the Mutant, it actually has another name: the Headbreaker!

PS: Ah, I'm cracked (physical).

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Chapter 360: Angel

P.S.: Thank you to reader Starry Sky Catastrophe: Shimmering for the 15600 Qidian Coins reward!

Thank you to reader Hao Meng for the 1500 Qidian Coins!

"If you want me to forgive you, then work hard. Just saying it doesn't mean anything." Coming back to her senses, Lu Qing said to the young man who was bowing and apologizing to her.

Anyone can talk the talk, but if you really want to change yourself, prove it with your actions.