Chapter 16: Informing about the disaster and taking inventory of supplies harvested from the deep mountains (minor revision)...
Seeing that Lu Xuan was only carrying a basket and there was no other prey in sight, he guessed that his harvest in the mountains these past few days might not have been very good. He didn't ask any more questions, but just patted him on the shoulder and said, "It's good that you're back safe and sound. But you're not allowed to mess around like that again!"
Lu Xuan already knew from the villagers who first surrounded him that the villagers had gone into the mountains several times to look for him. Although it was unnecessary, he still said to the village chief with gratitude, "I'm sorry to have worried you, Uncle Tie."
Li Tie laughed and said, "Your sister and brother-in-law are the most worried. Alright, stop talking nonsense. You must be exhausted. Go home and get some rest."
Lu Xuan nodded, and soon returned to the Lu family home with Lu Qing, Lu Chen, and the others who were still clinging to him and unwilling to let go.
After arriving home, Lu Xuan first changed out of the dusty clothes he had been wearing for several days, wiped himself down briefly, and changed into newly made clothes before returning to the main room.
Throughout the process, Lu Chen followed closely behind him like a little tail, even after sitting down, he stayed close to him as if afraid that he would run away, which made Lu Xuan feel a little helpless.
As Lu Qing handed him hot water, she kept muttering with red eyes, "You're not allowed to go up the mountain anymore. It's too dangerous, and you're gone for several days at a time. I haven't been able to sleep these past few days. Every time I do fall asleep, I dream that you're covered in blood. It's terrifying!"
Lei Yan also said, "Ah Xuan, why don't you farm with me from now on? It'll be tiring, but at least it'll be safe."
Lu Xuan did not answer directly, but said, "I have found a lot of good things in the mountains these past few days. Let me show you first. I have something else to tell you later."
He picked up the basket that was placed to the side and took out the contents one by one.
The first things I took out were several kinds of wild fruits that were most susceptible to damage and were wrapped in leaves, along with a large bag of mushrooms, as well as some wild vegetables and common herbs.
In addition, there were also some wild Sichuan peppercorns and black peppercorns that were unexpectedly discovered, weighing about ten or eight pounds in total. He also took out the half-full box of honey and opened the lid.
The sweet aroma of honey filled the room, and Lu Qing and the other two, who had been feeling heavy-hearted, instinctively sniffed and instantly perked up.
Lu Chen quickly wiped away his tears, his eyes shining as he looked at the contents of the box and asked, "It smells so good! Brother, what is this?"
"Honey." Lu Xuan went to the kitchen to get a pair of chopsticks, picked up a small piece of golden honeycomb from the box, and said, "Open your mouth."
Lu Chen subconsciously opened his mouth, and Lu Xuan directly shoved the honeycomb into it.
Lu Chen instinctively started chewing, then his eyes widened excitedly, and he mumbled, "Mmm—so sweet! So delicious!!"
Lu Qing's eyes lit up slightly. "Honey? You actually found such a good thing?"
Then she noticed that the box containing the honey looked very strange. It was completely opaque, and the golden honey inside was clearly visible.
Lu Xuan hummed in agreement and said, "Keep these at home. You can chew some every day or soak them in water to drink, to nourish your bodies. Also, dry the wild peppercorns and black pepper in the yard for the next few days. They'll taste even better when you stew meat after they're dried."
Looking at the things that filled almost half the table, Lu Qing and Lei Yan realized that Lu Xuan's trip into the mountains hadn't been entirely fruitless.
Although not as good as the previous two times, both honey and pepper are good products, and they could probably earn just as much as wild boar.
Lu Qing immediately said, "Take all these things to town and sell them for money. It's too wasteful for us to eat them ourselves." It would also be unfair to him for his hard work in the mountains these past few days.
“I have other things prepared to sell.” Lu Xuan took out the most important items from the bottom of the basket, which were a hundred-year-old ginseng and a pile of red and purple Ganoderma lucidum.
Lu Qing and Lei Yan gasped in shock upon seeing the two items.
"This is... ginseng!? And lingzhi?" Lu Qing's voice trembled. "Where did you find these things!"
Lu Xuan chuckled and said, "Naturally, I found them in the mountains. Selling these two items will earn me enough money."
"This ginseng is so big, it must be over a hundred years old, right? How much silver would it sell for!" Lu Qing's expression was somewhat dazed.
Lei Yan's expression also began to falter.
Because Lu Chen was young, he didn't quite understand the value of ginseng. He tugged at his brother-in-law's sleeve and asked, "Brother-in-law, are these things very valuable?"
Lei Yan subconsciously said, "It should sell for at least a hundred taels of silver."
Over a hundred taels! So much!?
Lu Chen's eyes widened even more as he looked down and counted on his fingers how much grain his family could buy with that much silver, but he couldn't figure it out at all!
The viewers in the live stream were amused by Lu Chen's dizzy appearance and burst into laughter.
This is nothing compared to what's in the streamer's space! There are several even older ones! What I've shown is just a fraction of what's available.
Lu Xuan waved his hand in front of Lu Qing and her husband, who were in a daze, to bring them back to their senses. "Don't be surprised yet. It's not too late to be surprised after you hear what I'm about to say."
The two looked at him in confusion. Wasn't finding a hundred-year-old ginseng enough to be astonishing?
As it turns out, it was indeed not enough.
Lu Xuan didn't beat around the bush and told them directly that a catastrophe would begin in half a month.
Drought, torrential rain, blizzards, tsunamis... all kinds of disasters they have heard of or have not heard of, experienced or not experienced, will occur one after another, and will continue for years without stopping.
Lu Qing and Lei Yan listened with blank expressions and vacant eyes, as if they couldn't understand what he was saying at all, and didn't give any response for a long time.
Viewers in the live stream: Were you scared out of your wits?
Lu Xuan snapped his fingers. "Snap out of it."
Lu Qing and Lei Yan immediately jumped to their feet.
Lu Xuan raised an eyebrow at them and asked, "What do you want to say?"
Lu Qing took a deep breath, her voice hoarse: "Ah Xuan, do you know what you're saying? What catastrophe... You can't just talk nonsense about this. Besides, how could you possibly know about these things?"
Lu Xuan had already prepared his story on the way back, so he could just blurt it out: "When I fell and fainted, I was taken to the Immortal Realm. I met the gods there, and it was the gods who told me about it."
Lu Qing: "...?"
Lei Yan: "???"
Lu Chen looked up and around, his expression puzzled. What are immortals? Can you eat them?
The viewers in the live stream immediately started criticizing.
[Pfft! What the hell? We went to the Celestial Realm and met immortals! Does the streamer mean the Star Alliance is the Celestial Realm, so are we immortals?]
[Hahaha, I accidentally got transformed into a species and became an immortal, isn't that amazing?]
[I thought the streamer might come up with a plausible reason to convince his family, but I never expected him to say he'd seen a deity, wow!]
Lu Qing and Lei Yan were equally speechless.
Lu Qing said helplessly, "Ah Xuan, you can't say things like that carelessly."
“I’m not talking nonsense, look.” Lu Xuan casually took a wild boar out of his spatial storage and threw it on the ground, making a loud thud as it hit the ground.
The three of them were terrified when they saw the huge creature that appeared out of nowhere. They took several steps back in fright. Lu Qing couldn't help but gasp in surprise, and Lei Yan instinctively shielded her behind him and pulled Lu Chen back as well.
Lu Xuan said, "Don't worry, it's dead."
The three stared in disbelief at the enormous wild boar, then at Lu Xuan, then back at the boar, looking back and forth several times, unable to comprehend how the boar had appeared.
Lu Chen, even more curious, ran out from behind Lei Yan, grabbed Lu Xuan's hand and examined it back and forth, as if trying to figure out where he had hidden the wild boar.
Lu Qing's expression was completely dazed, and she murmured, "I must not be fully awake yet, no, this must be a dream..."
As she spoke, she pinched hard with her fingers, "Sure enough, it doesn't hurt at all."
Lei Yan: "...Wife, you're pinching me."
Lu Qing: "..."
Viewers in the live stream: Pfft.
Lu Xuan made the wild boar disappear right under their noses again, and clapped his hands as the three of them took another breath.
"This is also a power given to me by the gods. In the past few days, in addition to looking for things that can make money, I have also found caves in the mountains that can be used as temporary shelters. After the disaster started, we hid in the mountains to take temporary refuge."
He gently patted Lu Chen's hair, who looked anxious, and said reassuringly, "In order to cope with the disasters in the next few years, I will use the money from selling the ginseng and lingzhi to buy food and other useful supplies. We will set off tomorrow."
"I might not be able to buy everything I need in town. I might have to go to the city, and if I can't get back in the same day, it will probably take two or three days or longer."
"You're going out again?" Still shaken by the fear she'd experienced these past few days, Lu Qing panicked and blurted out, "No!"
Lu Xuan reassured her, "Going to the city and going into the mountains are two different things, so don't worry. Once the drought comes, there will be no harvest, no food, and no water. Sister, do you want our family to starve to death?"
Lu Qing opened her mouth, speechless, and subconsciously imagined that scene, her heart tightening involuntarily.
Drought... has happened before.
Their village is quite united, and they help each other out when they are in trouble. Even the poorest families can barely get through the difficult times, but the feeling of hunger and thirst is hard to forget.
Not to mention that in other villages, there are also many families who sell their children during years of disaster, and the sight is heartbreaking.
Lu Chen wasn't quite sure what was going on, but he still loudly declared, "Don't starve! Eat your fill!"
Lu Xuan nodded, "Don't worry, with me here, I'll make sure you don't go hungry. Not only will you have plenty of food, but you can also eat meat every day from now on."
Lu Chen's eyes lit up, "I believe in my brother!"
Lu Qing opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something, but remembering Lu Xuan's action of taking the wild boar out and putting it back, she pursed her lips and remained silent.
·
Because the news Lu Xuan told them was so shocking, Lu Qing and Lei Yan's minds were in a daze. So much so that when he later pulled out two packets of still-warm honey-glazed chicken, apart from Lu Chen being overjoyed, the couple didn't give much of a reaction.
...They ate everything cleanly, without wasting a single bite.
After the meal, we ate a large bowl of clean, sweet and sour wild fruits.
late at night.
Lu Qing lay in bed, tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep.
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