Chapter 116 Exclusively published on Jinjiang Literature City: Handing over supplies, giving you a ride (including...)
The villagers thought they had finally encountered living people, but they soon discovered that the drone had found a village that had long been damaged.
It's only thanks to a brick house that you can barely tell it's a village that you can see some traces of human intervention. Otherwise, looking at the surrounding cracked mounds of earth and straw, who would guess that those were originally thatched/mud-brick houses of the villagers?
There wasn't a single person in sight.
Looking at the synchronized video feed on the bus, Grandpa Zhang sighed, "Thinking about it carefully, with such high temperatures before, it's really impossible for anyone to survive in such an open and unprotected place."
Others wholeheartedly agreed.
The original residents of this village may not have all died in the earthquake; perhaps they simply moved to the surrounding areas because their houses were gone and it was too hot.
Let's look around a bit more; maybe we can find someone there?
Everyone rallied, clinging to a sliver of hope, and urged the people holding the remote control to keep the drone flying! Speed it up!
Subsequently, the drones discovered several more village ruins.
Some villages, like the first one, were severely damaged, while others retained most of their buildings.
The common point is that there are no living people among them.
Even worse was a town.
From the air, the town is crisscrossed by dozens of underground fissures of varying sizes, and almost all the houses have collapsed beyond recognition. As you zoom in, you can also see many mummified corpses with parts of their limbs protruding from the buildings.
The villagers, caught off guard by the sight of the corpses, turned pale. The women covered their mouths and gagged, while the quick-thinking ones covered the children's eyes.
Only Lu Xuan stopped Lu Qing from covering herself, patted Lu Chen's head, and asked calmly, "Are you scared?"
Lu Chen's face was a little pale, but her gaze didn't leave the screen. She gripped her trouser leg tightly with her small hands and shook her head firmly, "I'm not afraid!"
Lu Xuan's lips curled into a smile. "Very good. Remember this: the dead are nothing to be afraid of; what's truly terrifying is the living."
Of course, one shouldn't approach the dead casually, after all...
Lu Xuan looked at the desolate, dilapidated town, his eyes darkening.
The audience noticed that he looked strange and asked him what he was thinking.
Lu Xuan rested his chin on his hand and said casually, "I'm considering whether to burn this town down."
Why would anyone burn down a town?
[Is the streamer an outlaw?]
[I know! It's a plague, right! In ancient times, unlike the Star Alliance, there weren't comprehensive epidemic prevention measures. If too many people died, the plague would spread widely, and an entire city could be wiped out in no time!]
[I've seen other beings in different dimensions order city lockdowns and burnings to prevent the spread of the epidemic! How terrifying!]
[What was the original saying? "A great disaster is always followed by a great epidemic?"]
[Wow! I almost forgot about this setting!]
[Then let the broadcaster be burned! So that other disaster victims who barely survived don't die from the epidemic.]
At this moment, the rarely spoken top fan's special effect text appeared on the screen.
Is the streamer worried that burning down the town would waste the supplies left behind?
The other audience members suddenly realized what was going on.
That's right! Where there are people, there are supplies!
Judging from the uncollected corpses in the town, most of the people probably died in the earthquake.
In other words, even if some supplies were damaged in the earthquake, some were damaged during the extreme heat, and perhaps the rain a few days ago damaged some more...
But there are definitely still a lot of resources waiting to be discovered!
If the streamer burned everything while other disaster victims were struggling to find supplies... well, if people found out, they'd probably want to eat him alive.
After all, an epidemic is only a matter of probability, not a certainty, and not everyone will get sick.
What if nothing happens?
His fire burned away the chance of survival for everyone else.
"So...we're not going to burn it?"
The top-ranked commentator pointed out incisively: "Even if it's just a matter of probability, once that probability is met, the epidemic will spread to other settlements, thus expanding its reach. Burning everything down is indeed the best option."
Lu Xuan naturally understood this point.
Besides, what does it matter to him what happens to the other disaster victims?
He only needs to do what he wants.
However, Lu Xuan ultimately did not burn down the town.
He spent tens of thousands of points to buy a large amount of disinfectant for epidemic prevention in the mall, loaded it onto the plant protection machine, and carefully sprayed it around the town.
The disinfectant produced by Star Alliance can kill 99.99% of viruses and bacteria, and will not reignite even if it continues to rain.
After learning of his intention, the villagers all said that this was a good idea.
Lu Xuan deliberately reminded him, "After disinfection, there's no need to worry about the spread of disease. Shall we stop and go inside to look for supplies?"
"No, no," the villagers shook their heads as if they wanted to.
Thanks for the invitation! But there's really no need for that!
They didn't know how much supplies they could find, but the mummified corpses everywhere were obvious to the naked eye, and they didn't want to go any closer to this dilapidated town!
The villagers remained resolute: Keep going, don't stop! We're in a hurry! We're really in a real rush!
...
Two hours after the hovercar set off, the drone finally spotted a group of living people moving around like them.
The villagers couldn't help but stand up and crowd around to see, "Is it really a living person?"
Li Tuo stared at the screen with shining eyes and said, "Looks like there are quite a few people, at least thirty or forty!"
Grandpa Zhang squinted and leaned closer. "Oh, these people are riding horses and leading oxcarts. They seem to be carrying a lot of goods. They must be doing quite well."
Li Tie paid special attention to the gender, age, and clothing of these people.
“These look like caravans or escorts. They still have six or seven carts of supplies left after more than two months. The cattle and horses are still there. The original scale should have been much larger than it is now.”
He didn't believe that anyone else besides them could have survived so intact; these people were probably the ones who survived after some losses.
The villagers were excited for a while before looking at each other and asking, "So what do we do next? Do we just go and make contact with them like this?"
Zhang Chengming, holding the drone remote control, chimed in, "Won't taking a hoverbus there scare them?"
Xiong Mao, standing next to him, crossed his arms and snorted coldly, "Instead of scaring people, we should worry about whether they'll find out the hoverbus is something good and try to rob us."
The villagers in the same car immediately became serious. This possibility... is not out of the question!
Li Tie frowned and said, "It's really not good to reveal too much when we're unsure whether they're good or bad."
Ultimately, they decided to drive a little further, hide the livestock truck when they reached a suitable location, then pack up the other two buses and the Lu family's RV, and walk on foot in the direction the caravan had come from, carrying only their backpacks.
Isn't it too risky for everyone to go together? Perhaps we should leave the women and children behind and only send the able-bodied men?
If you were in their shoes, and after surviving a disaster you suddenly encountered a group of strong, healthy strangers, would you excitedly rush towards them, or would you run as far away as possible?
Going together will lower their guard and let them know that the streamers have no bad intentions.
What if the other party, seeing that they have so many elderly people and children, gets malicious intentions?
[That's easy! The streamer just takes action and wipes them all out!]
【！！！】
Now that you mention it, I'm actually looking forward to the streamer pretending to be weak while actually being strong, and then Kaka going on a rampage after being exposed :)
As they spoke, they could see each other from hundreds of meters away.
·
"Stop!" The captain of the guards leading the way pulled on the reins and turned to warn, "Master, there are people here!"
Chen Bing, who was dozing off against the car, suddenly snapped awake. "Someone?! Where?"
The guard's expression darkened slightly, and his hand instinctively gripped the hilt of his sword at his waist: "They're just ahead. They look like they outnumber us many times over. They must have spotted us too."
Chen Bing sat up straight abruptly, his brows furrowed, and said, "So many people... could they be survivors from another nearby town? They came from another direction; if they mean no harm, they could exchange information."
The key point is that there was no malicious intent.
The captain of the guards understood and said to the other guards around him, "Take your weapons and be on alert."
The guards responded, "Understood!"
Chen Bing patted his two children's heads and comforted Yang Shi, saying, "I'll go over and negotiate later. You two wait in the car. If you find that the other party is hostile, act according to my signals."
Having had experience before, Ms. Yang held the two children in her arms and nodded calmly: "Don't worry, husband, I know what to do."
About ten minutes later, the distance between the two sides was less than 100 meters. When they saw each other's condition and appearance, they both breathed a sigh of relief.
In particular, when Chen Bing discovered that most of the people in the group were elderly people, children, and women, he mentally defused the alarm.
Bandits wouldn't bring a bunch of burdens when they come out to rob people; these are mostly survivors from different places who band together to increase their chances of survival.
When the other party had come up to him, Chen Bing noticed that they all had rosy complexions, were neatly dressed, and paused slightly.
Um... is sticking together for warmth really that effective?
He actually spotted several elderly people in the crowd who had developed double chins from eating so much.
Chen Bing: ? ? ?
The people of Yunlu Village stopped seven or eight meters away from the caravan. Li Tie, as the village chief, stepped forward to negotiate with the other side, followed by Wu Cheng and Ge Yuan, who were carrying bows and crossbows.
"Greetings, brothers. May I ask where you're from?" As he spoke, Li Tie took the opportunity to sized up Chen Bing, who was clearly the leader, and the man who looked like a guard.
The man was about the same size as Xiong Mao, and it was clear at a glance that he was a skilled fighter. He held a gleaming curved knife and his tiger-like eyes held a clear scrutiny and sharpness.
Li Tie suspected that if they made any unusual moves, the other side would not hesitate to swing their machetes at them.
As for Chen Bing, he wasn't particularly tall or strong, but he wasn't exactly weak either.
If these people were truly merchants, braving wind and rain all day long, often sleeping outdoors in the open, how could those with poor health endure it?
While Li Tie was making a clumsy observation of the people opposite him, Chen Bing was also assessing the people of Yunlu Village.
He has been in business for nearly ten years. He wouldn't say he's met countless people, but his judgment of character is quite good.
Judging from various details, the people in front of us should all be farmers, and farmers who haven't been through the famine that has lasted for more than two months.
Chen Bing's gaze fell on the crossbows in Wu Cheng and Ge Yuan's hands, which were clearly quite powerful...
I have no idea where they got such a good thing.
The guard captain beside him appeared resolute, but his gaze kept subtly glancing at the weapons in the hands of the two men behind him.
I kind of want it.
Regardless, Chen Bing judged that the people of Yunlu Village were not dangerous and that they could communicate with them!
His face quickly lit up with the smile he was used to when doing business, and he said, "We are a merchant caravan, and I am Chen Bing, the caravan owner. Because I am the sixth in my clan, my friends also call me Chen Liu."
"I was heading south to do business when the earthquake struck, but I got held up by the strange weather a few days ago. Now that the temperature has finally dropped, I'm thinking of heading back."
At this point, a hint of relief appeared on Chen Bing's face.
The wisest decision he ever made was that before this trip, because his son didn't want to be separated from him, and the destination happened to be quite prosperous, he inexplicably brought his wife and son along.
He couldn't even imagine how his wife would endure more than two months of high temperatures alone with their two grown children if he left her at home.
"I wonder where you guys are from?" Chen Bing asked with a smile, glancing at the villagers behind him.
There was nothing to hide about the origins of Yunlu Village. Li Tie introduced himself clearly and also mentioned the general process of how they went into the mountains to hide after the disaster.
At first, Chen Bing didn't think much of it, until he learned that the people behind him were not the group he thought they were sticking together for warmth, but all from the same village, and that no one had suffered any losses before or after the earthquake. His expression immediately cracked.
Nothing?
No one what?
What is no loss?
When the massive earthquake struck, at least a thousand people died in his city! A thousand!
Many more people subsequently died from their injuries, including more than a dozen people who died and six who were injured in his own caravan.
Even if the earthquake wasn't too severe in the area where the people of Yunlu Village were located, the ridiculously high temperatures in the following two months would have been unbearable for most young and strong people. How could they have managed to avoid losing even a single elderly person or child?
Is this reasonable?
Not only Chen Bing couldn't hold back, but the captain of the guards was also incredulous.
The viewers in the live stream, who had been pretending to be bystanders and watching the show with Lu Xuan, couldn't help but laugh when they noticed the two's reactions.
Although I had already guessed this would happen, seeing their expressions still made me laugh out loud!
The streamer himself is a cheat code, and the villagers, after having the streamer, also indirectly become cheat codes. It's all basic stuff; you'll get used to it.
At the rear of the caravan, Yang judged from their conversation that the crisis had passed, and her tense body relaxed slightly.
At the same time, I was also curious about what those people on the other side had said. Why did my boss look like he had been provoked?
Chen Bing was unwilling to believe Li Tie's nonsense, however...
Even without close observation, it's clear that these people look better than he does, despite having a caravan to rely on; it doesn't seem like a lie.
He didn't know how the group of people in front of him had managed to do it, but if what Li Tie said was true, then these people, even if they weren't dangerous, were definitely not simple!
With this understanding, Chen Bing's attitude became noticeably more polite.
Knowing that the villagers had been living in seclusion in the mountains and were unaware of the outside world, he took the initiative to tell them about their experiences over the past two months.
The Chen family caravan was relatively lucky; the city they stayed in did not suffer particularly severe damage in the earthquake.
Although many people died or were injured, the crops in the south were harvested early, and the grain shops in the city had just received new grain before the earthquake. There was also a large river not far outside the city, so the survivors did not have to worry about food and drink.
The real challenge was going out to fetch water in the scorching heat, and figuring out how to get through the long period of high temperatures.
Chen Bing looked somber: "Many people survived the earthquake with great difficulty, but died because of the heat while fetching water. Even if they didn't have any problems while fetching water, they couldn't survive because the house was too hot."
Li Tie asked, "How do they cope with the high temperatures over there?"
Chen Bing looked helpless: "What else can we do to block it? We can only build a few thicker sheds to block the sun, and block all the windows inside to prevent the temperature inside from getting even higher."
But after blocking it, the room became very stuffy, so the effect wasn't very good. Later, everyone moved to the shady side as much as possible.
Even so, people still die from the heat from time to time.
They were fortunate, as people in the north had a long-standing tradition of digging cellars, and there happened to be someone in the caravan who knew how to dig one. After the temperature became abnormal, Chen Bing had the foresight to have a large cellar dug on the shady side of the courtyard and move in.
Unless absolutely necessary, they almost never go out during the day, their habits seemingly forced to adjust to resemble those of nocturnal creatures.
"Later we taught other people in the city how to build cellars, which greatly slowed down the rate of death."
Chen Bingyan looked at the people of Yunlu Village with envy, "You guys are so lucky. There are trees in the mountains to provide shade, and the caves must be much cooler than brick houses or even cellars."
Li Tie gave a vague reply, "It is quite cool."
The villagers listening in thought to themselves, "It's not just much cooler, they also have air conditioning and cold drinks. You wouldn't believe it!"
Captain Cheng Yi said, "There are countless ferocious beasts in the deep mountains, and it may not only be beneficial."
Chen Bing clapped his hands, "That's right! How could I have forgotten about that?"
So, the villagers of Yunlu Village not only had to withstand the scorching heat and be threatened by wild beasts, yet none of them died!?
Chen Bing was inwardly frustrated for a moment before continuing, "About two weeks ago, it finally got a little cooler. I thought the disaster must be over, so I left with the survivors from the caravan."
Along the way, they encountered many surviving disaster victims, but without exception, their conditions were extremely poor. Moreover, the further north they went, the fewer people they encountered, and the more ferocious they became.
Because it was so hot and I was so hungry.
When people are in dire straits, they will do anything.
Chen Bingdao said, "When there's no proper food, we gnaw on tree bark and eat clay. If someone else happens to starve to death..."
The people of Yunlu Village had been whispering about certain things in private, and they understood his meaning almost instantly, their expressions turning serious.
The speed at which the live stream chat was flooded with comments also slowed down significantly, and someone typed out those keywords for them.
Chen Bing continued, "On the way, my caravan encountered several groups of refugees who had become bandits. In order to save people and supplies, the caravan lost several skilled men."
Of course, those who robbed them suffered an even worse fate; they were all sent to keep the dead company.
After Chen Bing finished speaking, there was a moment of silence.
Li Tie sighed inwardly for a moment, then suddenly felt a nudge to his lower back and remembered the other purpose of his conversation with these people. He coughed twice and asked, "So where are you going next? Is Brother Chen planning to go home?"
Chen Bing suppressed his stirred emotions and nodded, saying, "We learned from the people who robbed us that Yangshan County is still doing well and has gathered many disaster victims who came looking for it. Everyone in the caravan is from Yangshan County. Cheng Yi and I are from the county, and the others are from surrounding villages and towns. Since the county is still there, we naturally have to come back."
He still has a lot of goods from caravans stored at home. More than two months have passed, and he doesn't know if they're still there, whether they were stolen, or damaged in the earthquake.
I can't give up until I go back to see him.
Chen Bing glanced at Li Tie and the other villagers and warmly invited them, "If you don't have a specific destination, you can come with us. While the county town hasn't become too crowded yet, you might be able to settle down there."
Li Tie asked, "Is the county town far from here? How long does it take to walk there?"
"At our caravan's pace, we should have arrived by tomorrow evening. However, the official road leading to Yangshan County is severely damaged, and a terrifying, narrow fissure has appeared. The fissure is bottomless and looks extremely frightening."
Chen Bing glanced casually behind Li Tie and said, "We are preparing to take a detour, which will definitely take much longer, at least two or three days, and at most four or five days."
If even those with horses and oxcarts still struggle, the people of Yunlu Village, especially the elderly and children, who walk slowly and lack physical strength, will be more than twice as slow.
Furthermore, with the frequent rain these past few days, whether one's body can withstand it is also a question.
Most villagers didn't realize that Chen Bing's words had a hidden meaning, but the many astute people in the live stream immediately guessed that Chen Bing had ulterior motives.
Sure enough, Chen Bing continued, "There are still empty seats on our oxcarts. If you squeeze in, there's enough room for the elderly and children. If you're interested, my caravan can give you a ride if you pay a small amount of supplies."
The people of Yunlu Village were in such good spirits; he didn't believe they only had the few supplies in the large bags on their backs. They were probably worried that the caravan wasn't legitimate and had hidden their goods somewhere beforehand.
There are many wild animals roaming in the wilderness. It is true that they have some weapons, but they cannot guarantee that they can protect all the old and weak. His caravan is different.
Apart from him, his wife, and his children, everyone else was a skilled hand he had hired at great expense in the past.
Besides providing parking spaces, it can also help fellow travelers in case of real danger.
If he had encountered other harmless, half-dead disaster victims today, he wouldn't have minded giving them a free ride.
But since God has brought him to such a wealthy group, it's not unreasonable for a businessman to earn some food, right?
He didn't plan to ask for more; a pound of grain a day would cover the fare and earn him enough for food.
In fact, this price is not expensive.
However, the villagers' expressions were unusually subtle, so subtle that Chen Bing couldn't help but doubt his own judgment.
What's going on? You can't even spare this little bit of food? Are you that stingy?
Spending a few more days in the wild is risking your life!
Or did he guess wrong, and these people really didn't have any more food and were reluctant to part with it?
Just as Chen Bing was hesitating about whether to give them a discount, Li Tie said, "Well, we need to discuss this."
Chen Bing nodded understandingly, "Of course, you can discuss it as you see fit. We can also take a break and have lunch."
...
On an open ground dozens of meters away from the caravan, the villagers formed several circles around it.
When Li Tie said he wanted to discuss it, he didn't really mean whether or not to accept the supplies. Instead, he wanted to consult with others, especially Lu Xuan, to determine whether or not they should come along.
Some villagers were clearly resistant: "We've already found out all the information we needed to know, and we can get there ourselves after finding out the location of Yangshan County. If we bring a group of strangers, won't we be unable to take the bus?"
"Exactly, do we really have to ride in an oxcart?"
They knew the oxcart wasn't bad, but hadn't they already seen a better hoverbus?
Compared to the hoverbus, oxcarts have to take a backseat.
More and more villagers nodded in agreement, fearing that the village chief and Lu Xuanzhen would make them ride in an oxcart.
Especially for middle-aged and elderly people, they don't want to suffer on a bumpy oxcart instead of a proper bus. Just thinking about it makes them feel miserable.
Viewers in the live stream also joined in the fun, expressing their opinions and participating virtually.
After talking for a while, everyone finally looked at Lu Xuan.
Lu Xuan said casually, "If you're going to take the bus, just keep taking it. Don't worry about them. There's no need to make yourself suffer for strangers."
Li Tie asked worriedly, "Is it really okay that the existence of the bus has been exposed? What about when we get to the county town? Should we put it away in advance, or...? If we don't put it away, we'll definitely be watched."
Lu Xuan said casually, "The locals in the county may not welcome disaster victims from outside. If you are too weak, you will inevitably be bullied. It is not a bad thing to show some strength."
Being targeted isn't necessarily a bad thing.
Lu Xuan said, "Our trump card isn't just the hoverbus; revealing a little won't have much of an impact."
In the past half month, more than ten people have successfully awakened their superpowers. Even if they are not all attack-type, and a large portion of them are enhancement-type, it is enough to intimidate ordinary people.
"Moreover..." Lu Xuan glanced across the crowd at the caravan not far away, which was also gathered together eating dry rations and chatting, as well as the supplies on the carts covered by tarpaulins, and said with a smile, "The goods they brought are quite good."
"Goods?" Everyone was stunned.
...
"We've reached an agreement," Li Tie said to Chen Bing, who was walking over, suppressing a smile.
Chen Bing noticed Li Tie's strange expression, and the villagers behind him also seemed to have ill intentions, so he couldn't help but become a little wary.
What's going on? It's just a few pounds of supplies, it's not like we're going to turn against him so easily, is it?
If I really disagree, we can just go our separate ways.
Li Tie seemed oblivious to Chen Bing's wariness and said with a smile, "We think we can set off together. Moreover, as long as the caravan pays for thirty catties of medicine to ward off the cold, we can also give you a ride and guarantee that we will reach the county town today."
Chen Bing: "..."
Chen Bing: "!??"
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Author's Note: I just said yesterday that I was almost full of nutrient solution, and it's already surpassed 1000! You guys are amazing! Here's an extra chapter right away! [Sprinkling flowers] (When the next extra chapter is is up to you! [Let me see])
PS: Chapter 110 has revised the achievement reward for spending tens of millions, adding an 80% discount coupon. Please take note!
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