Chapter 126: Chapter 126: You Want Me to Stay to Collect Your Corpses?

The two children were a boy and a girl. The older girl was about eight or nine, while the younger boy was five or six.

Stella Sterling glanced down at them, feeling a faint sense of familiarity. She took a moment to recall.

The elderly couple looked a little embarrassed, but they still placed the items beside Stella Sterling. "Young lady, please take this. We can see you’ve put in a great deal of effort lately. We’re both very grateful to you!"

When the others heard the couple’s words, their gazes flickered. Some sneered in contempt, but others simply lowered their heads.

Although they had their complaints about Stella Sterling, they could see she hadn’t been slacking off. Moreover, while digging the ice tunnel, she had offered plenty of advice that saved them from a great deal of wasted effort.

Otherwise, their group would never have made such smooth progress.

After they finished speaking, the elderly couple ignored the children’s resentful glares and walked over to the other side.

Grandma Lawrence let out a sigh. ’She had taken that family in because she felt sorry for them, but who would have thought it would bring so much trouble!’

’They were living in her and her husband’s home, yet little by little, that family had started trying to be the ones in charge.’

Just then, Stella Sterling also remembered who those two children were.

After all, their mother had once brought them to her door to cause a scene, demanding a justification. The memory was still fresh.

But after she’d given them a good scare, they hadn’t come back to bother her.

’And what was the relationship between that elderly couple and this family?’

She looked down at the large bag of supplies beside her. It was filled entirely with food, the kind that could fill your stomach—real, substantial goods, nothing fake.

She looked toward the elderly couple. The two children were still jabbering about something, and one of them was staring intently at Stella Sterling. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

She raised an eyebrow and smirked at the child. Then, right under the child’s intense stare, she bent down, picked up the bag from the ground, and accepted it without ceremony.

At this, the girl staring at her shot her a glare, her eyes practically overflowing with anger and resentment.

But when she saw Stella Sterling look her way, the girl immediately lowered her head, her shoulders slumping in a sulk.

’Well now, not bad acting. She’s got some self-control.’

Stella Sterling chuckled and ignored the girl. ’Let her stew. If she gets sick from anger, it’s not my problem.’

’The old folks gave it to her, so why shouldn’t she accept it?’

The group discussed their plan: after they moved the supplies back, they would return to the building to see if there was anything else useful.

They were just about to leave when a cheerful laugh echoed out. "Excellent, excellent. It seems someone beat us to it. That’s fine, though. It saves us the trouble of expending a great deal of energy on searching. Someone’s already collected it all for us. How convenient!"

Hearing this, the faces of the people who were about to leave changed. They began to cluster together, eyeing the newcomers warily.

Stella Sterling stopped, put down the bag in her hands, and gripped the shovel she had used to dig the ice tunnel, her body on high alert.

She sized up her position; she was very close to the ice tunnel. If things went south, she could quickly get into the tunnel and escape from here.

After quickly analyzing her situation, she had a plan. She remained vigilant, ready to make a move at any moment.

Just then, a dozen or so people walked in from another direction, led by an ugly, greasy man with a scarred face.

"Well, well, quite a crowd. But it looks like you’re all just old-timers and kids. In that case, we have nothing to fear."

Stella Sterling’s group only had six or seven adult men. The rest were women, the elderly, or children.

They looked like they had no fighting power, so even though the newcomers were outnumbered by Stella’s group, they didn’t take them seriously at all.

Their gazes made it clear they already saw them as a bunch of losers.

The ugly, scarred man in the lead shouted arrogantly, "Running into us is your bad luck. If you know what’s good for you, hand over the food you’ve gathered, and we’ll spare your lives!"

The two children were already scared and hiding behind Grandpa and Grandma Lawrence. Meanwhile, the man from whom Stella Sterling had taken half a bag of food earlier was so afraid his legs were trembling. After hearing their words, he was seriously considering handing over their things.

Although the others weren’t as cowardly as him, they were filled with worry. The newcomers were arrogant, but what they said was essentially correct.

The difference in numbers wasn’t huge, but the other group was composed mostly of strong, able-bodied young men, with only one or two women who also looked quite tough.

After he finished speaking, the ugly, scarred man suddenly turned toward Stella Sterling. "But, while the others can leave after dropping the food, you, little lady, will have to stay. HAHA!"

As he spoke, his lecherous gaze roamed up and down Stella Sterling’s body, his eyes gleaming.

’I can’t believe it,’ he thought. ’To find such a tender, delicate little morsel in a situation like this. Getting my hands on her would be absolutely incredible.’

The people on Stella Sterling’s side, who had been afraid just moments before, all wore strange expressions after hearing his words.

’They actually dared to make a move on Stella Sterling, that demoness!’

’That demoness is not someone to be trifled with!’

In an instant, they all moved a little closer to Stella Sterling. The woman who usually terrified them was now, for some reason, giving them a sense of security.

The man whose legs had been trembling in fear was now shouting excitedly, "Stella Sterling, that ugly bastard! He actually dared to harass you! Get him! Beat him to death! Hack him to pieces!"

He yelled with such excitement that for a moment, all eyes were on him.

The ugly, scarred man and his group looked at him with contempt. ’Telling a little girl to come and fight? Is this guy for real?’

Even Stella Sterling’s lips twitched as she shot the man a cold glare.

The man instantly fell silent, not daring to say another word.

Stella Sterling turned to the ugly, greasy man. "You want me to stay behind alone? What, so I can collect your corpses for you?"

"I suppose that’s not out of the question, but I do charge a fee. What are you planning on using to hire me?"

Hearing this, the people behind Stella Sterling felt a surge of excitement, their confidence soaring.

The men on the other side wondered if they’d heard her correctly. The greasy man was stunned for a second before bursting into an exaggerated laugh. "Well, well, well, little beauty, you’ve got quite a temper! But once I’ve had a chance to break you in, you’ll learn to be nice and obedient!"