Chapter 226 Exclusively published on Jinjiang: Lu Xuan Sets Off Again (Bug Fix)...
In addition to the eastern part of the town where the disaster victims were evacuated, Zhang Chengming and Jin He also helped them put up ropes in several other areas to facilitate free movement.
This thoughtful gesture once again earned the gratitude of the disaster victims.
One of the disaster victims said with regret, "It's a pity that those people didn't make it to you."
Especially yesterday, even just half a day before Zhang Chengming and the other man arrived, he had already passed away, and it can be said that he just missed the chance to live.
Zhang Chengming wasn't a particularly eloquent person, and for a moment he didn't know how to comfort them, so he just said dryly, "No matter what, you survived."
The victims sighed, "Yes, at least we survived; we're actually quite lucky."
As for the others who died, how could people not die during a famine?
After that, the transaction proceeded smoothly, as expected.
The amazing supplies that Zhang Chengming and Jin He brought out opened the eyes of the disaster victims. The survivors temporarily suppressed their previous suffering and grief over losing loved ones and scrambled to exchange for the essential supplies.
In particular, they have been craving food and water for the past two months, as well as heatstroke medication to cope with the increasingly hot weather.
In addition, hoverboards are also extremely popular.
Even if the disaster victims don't have enough supplies and are reluctant to buy one each, they should still buy one for the whole group to avoid being trapped again in similar situations later.
The two stayed in the town for two days before leaving amidst the reluctance of the disaster victims and their repeated pleas for them to come back again.
...
Others also had their own experiences in the disaster relief settlements they visited.
While some, like the Wu family father and son, had smooth sailing, others encountered vicious criminals or were preyed upon by young men who came to their door.
Not every young adult is clever enough to avoid all dangers.
Several groups were deceived by the elderly, weak, women and children pretending to be pitiful, or were ambushed due to other reasons, and injuries were inevitable.
Fortunately, the preparations made before departure were sufficient, and no one actually lost their life on the trip.
On the contrary, after being scammed once, they became more vigilant and cautious, and grew rapidly in a short period of time.
The reactions of disaster victims from different regions to the traveling merchants from Yunlu Village varied.
Some were overjoyed and so grateful that they wished they could serve the young and strong men like oxen and horses.
After a relative died from the heat, he broke down in tears after acquiring medicines that could easily treat heatstroke, cooling patches to prevent heatstroke, and bio-clothes.
Some people had lost all their relatives, and with nowhere to vent their hatred, they took it out on Yunlu Village, resenting that they had come too late.
The myriad aspects of human life are too numerous to mention.
·
Yunlu Village.
Inside the processing shed, a large group of helpers from the Huo family army camp were busily processing the seafood that Lu Xuan and his group had just brought back.
Oysters are boiled into oyster sauce, and mussels and kelp are dried. Some of the dried kelp is also ground into powder to enhance the flavor.
During the hottest season, the sun is scorching hot, making the drying of vegetables incredibly efficient; several batches can be dried in a single day.
While processing the food, the group also talked loudly about the experiences of the young men who had gone out to do business.
Besides Li Tuo, the relatives of the first group of young men gradually spread the word about their experiences outside after communicating with them.
Leaving aside those days when everything went smoothly and without any major incidents, every instance of trouble that occurred sparked heated discussions among the villagers.
"Xiong Mao and the others really encountered a village that eats people? That's terrifying!" The timid aunt clicked her tongue and trembled with fear.
Miao Jinfeng looked disgusted. "They can even bite their own kind. They can't even be considered human."
Grandma Chen, who was holding her granddaughter and playing with her, covered the little one's ears, who couldn't speak yet. "When people are starving, they'll do anything. It's not surprising."
Grandma Lin wholeheartedly agreed.
“It is not surprising that people sell their children and even exchange children to eat during times of famine.”
Once the famine is over, if these people survive, they can easily return to normal life as if nothing had happened.
However, if another disaster strikes in the future, those who have experienced the ease of obtaining food will have already gone astray and may easily harbor evil thoughts again, taking shortcuts they shouldn't have.
Granny Lin said, "You can't have much contact with people like that; stay as far away from them as possible."
The others nodded in agreement.
"Fortunately, Xiong Mao and Uncle Ge have already taken care of the people."
Some people hesitated, asking, "Isn't killing everyone a bit too ruthless?"
While cannibalism is cruel, isn't killing one's own kind terrifying?
Su Ying sneered at the villager who said this: "Are you going to spare the lives of those scourges so that they will have the opportunity to harm even more people in the future? How can the act of upholding justice be called killing one's own kind?"
If those people's actions weren't so disgusting, she would have wanted Xiong Mao to retaliate in kind.
But after thinking about it, I decided against it.
I don't know if Xiong Mao would dare to do it, but if he really did, then this man is no longer worth keeping.
Besides Xiong Mao and his companion, Lei Yan's group was also treated like gods, and people even wanted to send them young boys and girls, which is quite a fascinating story.
The villagers always felt that Lu Xuan's strength and the large amount of resources he brought out were no different from those of a god.
It turns out that when someone who has acquired superpowers displays their special abilities even slightly, even if these abilities are far from comparable to Lu Xuan's, they are already considered 'godlike' by ordinary disaster victims.
This feeling is truly wonderful.
Some middle-aged and elderly people who did not intend to go out to do business, but were fortunate enough to have superpowers, had for a moment wanting to experience what it was like to be worshipped and revered as a god.
Of course, it was only a fleeting moment of attraction.
Rather than seeking momentary fame, they would rather stay in the village and live a peaceful and comfortable life.
The family members of the second batch of young and middle-aged people who had not yet left were a little uneasy and couldn't help but advise their husbands/sons.
"Why don't you stay home? It's too dangerous outside, and our family isn't exactly short of supplies."
The person being advised remained adamant.
"Only a small number of people encountered danger. With the experience of the first group, I will be more vigilant when I go out, and there will be no problem."
“My family doesn’t lack supplies, but how can I exchange crystal cores to improve my strength if I don’t earn more? Am I just going to watch other people of my generation in the village live better and better lives while I just loaf around and wait to die? That won’t do.”
“In the past, we always asked Lu Xuan to help us whenever we encountered problems. This time, we have a rare opportunity to go out and broaden our horizons on our own. I won’t miss this opportunity.”
Lu Xuan was unaware of the private conversations these people had, and even if he had, he wouldn't have cared much.
After several days of effort, in addition to the mutated pineapple, two other fruits have successfully mutated in the orchard: mutated passion fruit and mutated mangosteen.
The passion fruit that Lu Xuan bought from the livestreamer's store was a golden passion fruit, with a golden peel and pure sweet flesh. In addition to the improved taste, the genetic optimization mainly increased the yield and enlarged the size.
The mutated passion fruit is about the size of a honeydew melon, with the pulp weighing up to a pound. Its already rich aroma becomes even stronger, and the fragrance can spread throughout the entire living room and linger for a long time.
Although the mutated mangosteen is still smaller than a passion fruit, it is still about the size of an apple.
With its thin skin and large flesh, the pit inside remains the same size. Taking a big bite of the fruit is incredibly satisfying.
Lu Xuan sent about ten fruits to the families he was on good terms with in the village to try them out. He kept most of the rest for future transactions and put a small portion at the general store for the villagers to exchange.
Everyone in the village knows that Lu Xuan has recently acquired several new kinds of fruit, and the amount of the non-mutated ones that he has been forced to produce every day is quite large, and everyone has already tasted them.
Aside from durian, which many people cannot accept, there is no fruit that people dislike.
Upon learning that the grocery store had stocked two new mutated products, the villagers and helpers immediately dropped what they were doing and rushed over to buy them.
Passion fruit is not only delicious when eaten dry, but it's also great for making juice.
Therefore, from that day on, in addition to the most common chilled plum juice and chilled mung bean soup, many families in the village also added the highly praised honey passion fruit juice to their drinks.
After more than half a year of expansion, the number of beehives in the orchard has increased to over a hundred. Not only has the Lu family achieved complete freedom in obtaining honey, but the villagers are also willing to occasionally exchange some at the general store.
It's delicious in honey water, fruit juice, or honey-glazed dishes.
·
Seven days later, the people who had gone out returned one after another.
The village became lively again.
Everyone kept pressing Zhang Chengming, Wu Yang, Xiong Mao, and others for details about their gains and their interactions with the disaster victims.
The young adults who had just returned were very expressive, passionately sharing their exciting journey.
The different states of the disaster victims, the bustling scene of trading supplies, the thieves with ulterior motives, and the large amount of supplies obtained in exchange.
Although he couldn't compare to Lu Xuan, this trip, except for a few unlucky disaster victims who were too poor or didn't believe that the improved seeds could be grown and were unwilling to trade, the supplies he received and the IOUs he signed all added up to at least the reward of a two-story villa safe house.
The tangible gains instantly changed the minds of those who didn't want their leader to go out and take risks.
While you're young, you should go out and explore more.
The returning villagers talked for a long time before finally going back to rest.
The second batch of young adults, who had been prepared for some time, set off early the next morning.
Having learned from Zhang Chengming and others' experiences, Li Jing, Chen Rong, and their group either became more cautious in their actions, or simply followed Xiong Mao's example and acted like "a god descending from the sky."
The situations encountered were generally similar to those of the first group, but there were also quite a few unusual ones.
For example, Liu Chun, who was traveling to a remote area in the southwest, arrived at a village that was mainly inhabited by women.
These women not only raise and eat insects, but they also have a knack for controlling them.
During the attack by the polar beasts, they relied on this set of insect control skills and the special terrain of the village to not only repel the beast horde without taking any damage, but also obtain a large amount of beast meat to make jerky.
Although food supplies were scarce, their considerable meat reserves meant they didn't need to incur debts when exchanging goods; they could easily pay with meat.
Seeing that they had a lot of supplies, the female chieftain offered to keep one of them as her husband and promised that they could choose up to four more concubines from the village.
Liu Chun was so shocked by the audacity of the act that he almost left the village overnight.
Gao Dalin, who was in the same group as him, was quite pleased with the women in the village's attempts to please him.
They definitely couldn't stay, but the village's main purpose was actually to borrow seed.
They borrow sperm, pay a certain amount of resources, and have a fling, each getting what they want without any problems.
If Liu Chun hadn't said he would leave alone if he didn't go soon, Gao Dalin, who was so engrossed in his business, would have almost wasted all his trading time in the Southwest Village.
Other teams also encountered a group of mountain people who had lived in the mountains for generations.
These people lived off the mountains, wore animal skins, and relied on animal blood to replenish their salt, almost living like true savages.
Fortunately, communication is still possible. I have a lot of precious old medicinal herbs that can only be found in deep mountains, which can be exchanged for a lot of things.
Others dug tunnels, built treehouses, and lived in caves to resist various natural disasters, which really broadened the horizons of the young and strong who had not seen much of the world.
As the young adults interacted with different communities, they made many new friends with similar personalities.
While talking to his family, he was still marveling: "I never dared to imagine that I could make friends with people from several different prefectures. It's truly incredible that our village has produced a Lu Xuan."
·
Several days later, Lu Xuan suddenly received a message from Li Jing.
"We've come across a settlement, and the situation here looks a bit troublesome."
Li Jing quickly recounted what they had discovered.
The settlement they went to was a county town to the west, which was larger and more populous than Yangshan County, but it was occupied by a group of bandits who had wandered in from who-knows-where.
The bandits were numerous, with seven or eight hundred main members and more than two thousand underlings recruited over time.
These people exploited and plundered the county town, committing all sorts of atrocities except cannibalism, causing immense suffering to the people of the town.
Li Jing and his team observed for less than half an hour in the aircraft and discovered no fewer than ten cases of innocent disaster victims being brutally beaten and three houses being deliberately burned down.
Li Tuo, who was behind him, was so angry that he cursed loudly: "I think these people are out of their minds! They are burning down houses on their own in this hot weather. Aren't they afraid of burning down the whole county?"
As he spoke, he couldn't help but push aside his brother and say to Lu Xuan, "Brother Lu, the two of us really can't handle so many people. You need to come and whip them with the blood-sucking vines and strike these scumbags to death with lightning!"
The viewers in the live stream also disliked these bandits.
[Tsk, as expected, the more natural disasters and man-made calamities occur, the more scumbags emerge.]
[These bandits are far worse than the powerful families in the Jiangnan region. Streamer, kill them!]
[Let's unleash all sorts of superpowers on them, and see how they dare to bully us again!]
Lu Xuan was not swayed. He simply asked for the exact coordinates of Li Jing's gathering place, made a few slight adjustments on the communicator, and then said to the two of them, "You don't need to worry about what happened there. Let's find another place to continue the transaction."
Li Tuo's eyes lit up as he asked, "Are you coming over?"
Lu Xuan shook his head. "I sent the coordinates to General Huo. We are just trading with various disaster relief settlements to earn supplies and rescue the disaster victims. Suppressing bandits is not our responsibility. Let the imperial court handle it."
While the first group was busy with their 'battles,' Huo Tiankuo and the capital's city guards had already successfully arrived in the Northwest.
The situation there was much better than expected in the capital. The barbarians outside the pass had also experienced earthquakes and many subsequent natural disasters, and their losses in people and livestock were no less than those in the Central Plains. After the disasters, they had no spare capacity to enter the pass and cause trouble.
Although many of Huo's soldiers in the Northwest also died, they were all strong and healthy men. Thanks to the grain and fodder sent from the capital before the disaster and the meat obtained during the beast attacks, many of them survived.
With Huo Tiankuo's arrival, the Northwest Army had a backbone and only needed a short rest before it could go into battle.
The county town that Li Jing and Li Tuo encountered was not too far from the northwestern border, and it happened to be the first place where Huo's army made an example of them.
And that is indeed the case.
The day after receiving the news, Huo Tiankuo mustered his men and headed to the destination. With the help of the powerful Huo family army and the firearms he obtained from Lu Xuan, he wiped out all the bandits in the county town in just three days.
They spent two more days helping the officials sent from the capital to suppress the rebellion and handle the aftermath before heading to the next town to patrol.
The person in charge was relatively honest, so he only stated the attitude of the capital and left some supplies. Similar to the previous county town, where bandits/local tyrants ran rampant, he would directly suppress them with force!
...
During the first month of the hottest season, the young and strong went out to do business, while the rest of the villagers went about their daily routines of farming, hunting, and gathering. Time flew by.
With a new batch of grain and lotus roots ripening, Lu Xuan, who had been idle at home for a month, packed up the large amount of supplies he had stockpiled and set off again.
The secondary objective of this trip is to continue selling supplies; the primary objective is to collect payments!
It's time to get those dwindling points balance going again!
-----------------------
Author's Note: Thanks to "Changyushan" for throwing a landmine. (Time of throw: 2025-06-06 10:08:50)
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