Snowflakes fell in a blanket, the biting cold wind blew, and the sky and the earth were covered with white.
After just one night, a thick layer of snow had accumulated on the road.
Wei Xiyin was wearing a short shirt and a thick jacket, but she still felt the wind blowing into her clothes. She had no choice but to tighten her sleeves and bury her head in her collar.
The weather has been abnormal in recent years. She didn't think much about it in previous years, but now it seems that the occurrence of natural disasters was foreshadowed.
"Girl, the mountain road is muddy and difficult to walk on. I'm afraid we can't cross the mountain." Chang Ying said worriedly.
The return was different from the outward journey. Now they were carrying hundreds of carts full of food. The mountain roads were slippery due to the snow, making it difficult to travel and impossible to get through.
Wei Xiyin pursed her lips and spoke with difficulty in the wind and snow: "Let's leave Qingyang County first, arrive at our destination tonight, and then replan our route."
"yes!"
This snow came at the wrong time, and I don’t know what the situation is like in the tribe.
Wei's Fort.
Heavy snow was falling, and several uncles from Mingjingtang were leading the servants and villagers in the fort to cut wood in the mountains.
Seeing that the snow was getting heavier, an uncle of the Ming generation hurriedly called for a halt and asked everyone to pack up and return to the fort to avoid the wind and snow.
"We can't stop!" Chu Yu rushed to Mingjing Hall upon receiving the news. He found Wei Mingze and said in a serious tone, "Snow in October is already a heresy. We don't have enough firewood prepared in the fortress to survive the winter. If we stop now, what will we do when the twelfth lunar month arrives?"
Wei Mingze was stunned. They didn't think that far ahead. The people in Mingjingtang just thought that it was snowing heavily outside and it was not suitable to go out to work.
Before he could speak, Chu Yu continued, "I'm afraid the weather will get worse and worse. Brother Mingze, please listen to me. While the temperature outside is still bearable, it's better to make more preparations than to regret it later."
Wei Mingze thought about it carefully and felt that he was right. This winter would definitely be difficult to endure. It would be better to work hard now and store firewood for the winter.
"Mr. Chu, what you said makes sense. I'll inform everyone right away." Wei Mingze left in a hurry and informed everyone who had just returned to the fort to go up the mountain again.
The men in the tribe caught two wild boars and seven or eight pheasants from somewhere.
Wei Li was leading everyone in building a pigpen with great enthusiasm. The tribe originally had a pigpen, but the original livestock died of an epidemic. They were afraid that the remaining blood and hay nearby would be accidentally eaten, so they thought about it and decided to rebuild a new pen.
But the new enclosure had just been half built when it suddenly started snowing and the temperature kept dropping.
For fear that these hard-earned livestock would freeze to death, the men had to reluctantly choose a new location to build the shed. However, they searched for a long time but could not find a suitable place. It was impossible to keep them in the house.
Afraid of being scolded again, they didn't dare to ask their seventh uncle again.
Wei Li thought about it and led his cousins to the blacksmith shop to find Wei Ting. His family had the most properties in the fortress, so maybe he had a place to stay.
The temperature in the shop was much higher than outside. As soon as the gentlemen entered the house, they were wrapped in a warm current. They couldn't help stretching their bodies and sighing comfortably.
Someone shouted inside: "Wei Ting, please think of a way to find a place for us."
Wei Ting was sitting at his desk, flipping through a book on weapon forging. He looked up when he heard this and asked, "What place are you looking for?"
The cousins immediately surrounded him, and Wei Li told him what had happened. "We spent a lot of effort to catch this wild boar. Wei Xu was injured by the wild boar and still can't get out of bed."
When Wei Ting heard this, he realized that it was about finding nests for wild boars and pheasants. As a scholar, how could he know where to raise livestock?
He hesitated and asked, "What kind of place are you looking for?"
Wei Li was stunned. He didn't know either. After thinking for a while, he replied hesitantly, "How can we prevent the wild boars from freezing and allow them to breathe?" The smell of those wild boars was so strong that it made people feel uncomfortable.
This answer stumped Wei Ting. He knew nothing about raising livestock and couldn't understand why they would think of coming to him.
"How about... raising it in the backyard of the blacksmith shop?" Wei Ting said tentatively after a while.
The backyard was originally the blacksmith's residence, but it has been vacant for a long time. The temperature of the newly built furnace in the yard is very high, causing the temperature in the surrounding houses to rise a lot.
Plus, there is a large open-air courtyard outside, which is both ventilated and warm, but I don’t know if it is suitable for raising livestock.
When the cousins heard this, they immediately clapped their hands and cheered, thinking it was a great idea. They immediately got to work on the renovation.
The young men of the Wei family received an orthodox education from an aristocratic family. They were familiar with poetry and books since childhood, knew how to treat people, and learned rules and etiquette. However, they had never learned how to do farm work.
Seeing that they were messing around and had no order in their actions, Wei Ting quickly sent his servants home to call the bricklayer to help.
The bricklayer came quickly and drew the blueprint for the gentlemen to review as quickly as possible.
After obtaining everyone's consent, the three rooms in the middle were quickly connected and fenced to raise wild boars. The room on the west side was converted to raise pheasants.
Only the east room remained untouched, where forging materials for the blacksmith shop were piled.
In order to facilitate future entry and exit, the bricklayer specially opened a small door in the backyard so as not to disturb the craftsmen in the blacksmith shop.
On the other side, Chu Yu came out of Mingjing Hall and walked home with his child on his back. The road was slippery due to the snow, and servants were sweeping the road with brooms on the street.
Seeing him passing by, the servants stopped and saluted, "Mr. Chu."
Chu Yu looked indifferent and nodded slightly in response.
On the way back, he passed by the old house and stopped to take a look.
The door of the old house was closed and the scene inside could not be seen. The scene in front of the door was less lively and more desolate.
The temperature has dropped sharply in the past few days, and Wei Ji has been feeling unwell. The medical officer of the fortress said that he has caught a cold. The tribesmen are very worried. Wei Zhongxun is also worried about his health, so he ordered that no one is allowed to come and disturb the tribe leader's rest.
………
Wei Xiyin and others pushed the food cart with difficulty in the wind and snow. The wheels of the cart pressed over the snow, leaving a long track. Not long after, the track was covered by the wind and snow again, leaving only a vast expanse of mountains and rivers.
The gap between the wooden ox and the flowing horse was infinitely magnified in the wind and snow. The vehicle she modified not only had a larger capacity, but was also obviously easier to drive than other vehicles.
When encountering a pothole with thick snow, the wheels of the carts could easily pass through the snow, but the other seventy wooden oxen and horses would fall into the pit if they were not careful, and needed the help of several people to push them out of the bottom of the pit.
Fifty elite soldiers guarded on both sides, responsible for clearing out the sporadic zombies they occasionally encountered on the road.
Although the guards were wearing gloves, the thin layer of animal skin could not block the invasion of the cold wind at all. After a while, their fingers were frozen and numb.
In front, another zombie was shot dead and fell to the ground.
Qin Shan retracted the weapon in his hand and his expression became a little solemn.
He could clearly feel that the zombies seemed to be getting stronger and stronger, and their movements were not as clumsy as before, almost becoming like those of normal people.
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