Over here, Huang Mao and his newly recruited henchmen were enjoying their meal, while over there, Shang Haoqiang's team members were grilling the rapeseed snakes they had just caught.
"Captain Shang, are you really not going to eat?" asked the young men who were with him.
Shang Haoqiang shook his head with a smile: "I won't eat it. I'll say it again: I won't eat this kind of thing until I'm completely desperate."
"But it smells so good!"
"I know, but I also want to remind you that snakes are prone to parasites, which is very dangerous. Although it's a matter of probability, I still won't take the risk."
"Oh, okay, but we still need to eat, we're too hungry."
"Okay, but grill it a little longer, even if the meat is a bit tougher." Although it's not very helpful, it's at least a psychological comfort.
"Okay, I understand!"
Shang Haoqiang stopped watching them roast snake and instead climbed an apricot tree, picking a lot of small green fruits.
I rubbed the dust off my hands, glanced at it with disgust, but still couldn't resist putting it in my mouth and taking a bite. Oh my god, it's so sour!
Shang Haoqiang almost spat it out, but remembering there wasn't much food around and he couldn't waste it, he swallowed it down. He picked a dozen or so small fruits, put them in his pocket, and then climbed down from the tree.
Then, smelling the aroma of meat wafting from the fire, he swallowed hard. Forcing himself to look away, he said, "I'll go check it out!"
"Okay, if you catch another snake, you must bring it back."
"Okay, no problem!"
Shang Haoqiang readily agreed, but to his surprise, he actually caught a rabbit.
This is a problem. Should we take it or not?
After hesitating for a long time, I finally decided to take it back.
When everyone saw the skinny rabbit, they were all excited beyond words. But then they remembered that it was Shang Haoqiang's food, so they silently shut their mouths.
"I... caught it from the front." He said somewhat embarrassedly.
"Okay, I know. We'll go check it out in a bit. Captain Shang, why don't you grill some while you're at it? Otherwise, it'll all be taken by others when we get back, and you'll go hungry."
Hearing the well-intentioned reminders from the others, Shang Haoqiang nodded: "Okay, let's eat our fill before we go back." He believed that Tang Shunlin and Ji Shaoming wouldn't do such a thing, but he wasn't so sure about the team members who turned back halfway.
The group chatted and grilled happily, and Shang Haoqiang was generous, sharing his offal, rabbit head, and even half a rabbit with others. After dividing it up, although they weren't full, they had about seven or eight parts left.
After extinguishing the fire and cleaning up the surrounding area, he patted his now-suppressed stomach and said contentedly, "Let's go back first. That area is vast; we can't explore it all right now. We'll discuss it with the others when we get back."
"Okay, whatever you say!"
Shang Haoqiang led his men back to the gathering place, where they saw that those who had returned earlier were all eating fish with Huang Mao.
He was a little surprised, but after finding out the situation, he didn't insist. "Since they're willing to be with Huang Mao, then so be it."
This was a hastily assembled team, with little regard for discipline or loyalty. It's better to part ways at the beginning than to invest emotions and trust only to be hurt in the end.
Moreover, he had no confidence in those who caused trouble halfway through their journey.
Amidst a multitude of thoughts, I heard someone softly call out, "Water, water!"
Shang Haoqiang already knew that these people had just been rescued. He took the rabbit blood and went forward to feed the person a mouthful.
But to his surprise, the pungent smell of rabbit blood jolted the person lying on the ground awake. He coughed and sat up, wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth. Looking at his fingertips, which were stained crimson, he asked in horror, "What...what did you give me to drink?"
Shang Haoqiang was puzzled: "Rabbit blood, what else could it be?"
When the blond-haired guy saw this, he burst out laughing: "Hahaha, hahaha, this idiot actually fed someone rabbit blood!"
Shang Haoqiang frowned: "Otherwise, what are we feeding them? There's no water source on this mountain."
The blond-haired man choked, his laughter abruptly stopping, but he was still unconvinced and stubbornly retorted, "There's plenty of seawater!"
Everyone present tried to suppress their laughter, even those from the blond-haired group rolled their eyes.
Shang Haoqiang didn't argue with him anymore. He placed the rabbit blood next to the man who had woken up and said, "This is all there is. Drink it or don't, it's up to you."
The man thought for a moment, then realized he was too weak to be brave, so he picked up the bottle and said, "Thank you!"
Shen Yanming, observing this scene, glanced at it and guessed that the rabbit Shang Haoqiang had killed might not be from his own space, otherwise the blood wouldn't smell so strong. Moreover, the color was rather dark.
However, now is not the time to worry about such things; it's good enough to have food and stay alive.
"By the way, you've been gone for so long, what's the situation over there?" Tang Shunlin asked.
"The mountain is quite large. It hasn't been flooded by the sea yet, and we can't reach the end of it in a short time, so I turned back," Shang Haoqiang replied.
"So what do we do? Do we stay here and wait for the tide to recede, or do we go into the mountains?" Some mountains are endless, and we don't want to be stuck there for ten days or half a month without getting out, that would be troublesome.
"I don't know. How about we go take another look this afternoon? This time, let's go a bit further away," Shang Haoqiang suggested.
“Alright, we need to find ingredients anyway. If that area isn’t a mountain range, we’ll go there and find a way out. We can’t just stay here.” Ji Shaoming nodded.
After they finished discussing, they looked at Shen Yanming and Meng Wu.
Shen Yanming said with a smile, "We have to leave eventually. The resources here can't support so many of us."
Meng Wu nodded: "I'll listen to him."
Yu Shui and Zhang Heping also stated, "We will go with Lao Shen."
Li Zhaozhao hesitated for a moment: "Ya Jing cannot be moved for the time being; she needs to rest for a while."
Li Wanwan bit her lip, struggling slightly: "I... I'd better stay and take care of my sister-in-law. My brother can't manage on his own. And my parents, we still haven't heard from them."
“Uncle Li and Aunt Li will find them.” Shen Yanming felt that his words of comfort were weak and could only change the subject: “We’re not in a hurry. It will take about two days to explore the environment. Use this time to rest and recuperate. We’ll set off in three days. None of you can fall behind.”
Otherwise, things won't end well.
Shen Yanming glanced at the blond-haired man, and everyone seemed to sense something, quietly distancing themselves from the blond-haired man's group.
"Okay, I'll try my best," Xu Yajing said weakly. After this incident, she regretted not listening to advice. If only she had known this would happen, she would have...
Xu Yajing was heartbroken. Perhaps she would have done the same even knowing the outcome. After all, it was her baby; how could she bear to abandon him? Even if it was an unexpected miscarriage, at least she had tried her best.
That is, if I had decisively chosen to seek refuge near the Kunmeng Mountains, would I and my baby have been safe and sound?
Unfortunately, there's no going back in life. Xu Yajing touched her flat stomach, feeling somewhat resentful that her husband hadn't listened to her advice.
These past two days have been agonizing for Li Zhaozhao. He keeps reflecting on whether he should have listened to his wife.
So he tried to minimize his presence and didn't participate in any of the operations. While eating the rabbit meat Shen Yanming had brought him, he secretly wondered if he had valued brotherhood too much.
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