On the edge of a mountain valley, a bonfire was lit, and a large pile of fresh meat was skewered around the fire, steaming hot from the heat.
The air was filled with the aroma of roasting meat, but the people inside the fire had no time to pay attention to it and simply lay down on the ground to catch up on sleep.
Si Cheng and two other people were sitting beside the fire, keeping watch while constantly turning over the strips of meat and chatting quietly.
Yunqi was talking to Sicheng about family matters, "We've been away for so long without sending any news home, and the time I agreed to meet with them is up. Should we go back first?"
"It's time to go back. It's been more than a month. Look at us, we all look like savages." Si Cheng glanced at the people lying around resting, many of whom had clothes that were no longer recognizable. Some had simply draped animal hides over their bodies.
Even Yunqi, who had been with them all this time, shaved her head completely, so that no one in the crowd would notice that she was a woman.
Yunqi looked at the dried meat on the fire. Every time they rested, they would turn the meat over and continue drying it. This would not only reduce its volume but also its weight.
“If we don’t go back soon, we’ll soon be unable to carry all this stuff. Besides, we didn’t bring much salt and food with us. We can’t keep eating this meat every time. No matter how delicious it is, it will get greasy. And salt, if we don’t go back to replenish it, we won’t last long.”
Given the current situation, it was only because Yunqi secretly replenished some salt from his spatial storage that we were able to survive until now; otherwise, the salt everyone brought would have been completely depleted long ago.
Si Cheng said, "Let's discuss it with everyone tomorrow and see which route is shorter, so we can patrol and return at the same time."
He had only covered one-third of the route he had promised Ma Tao and the others. They could exchange some salt in the nearby villages, but he still wanted to take everyone back first, especially since Yun Qi had been traveling with them for so long. If they didn't go back soon, his family would worry.
Thinking of the tragic state of the village during the day, Yunqi couldn't help but sigh, "These animals here are too rampant. They come down from the mountain to attack humans from time to time. If we hadn't helped deal with some of them this morning, who knows how many more people would have suffered."
Si Cheng touched her newly grown short hair. "The situation over there isn't much better than here. You've forgotten about the wolf pack in Baijia Village, and the leopard and wild boar we hunted before. When we go back this time, we'll start with the villages near us. Otherwise, if we let these animals breed, who knows how many people will suffer."
Yunqi looked at him, puzzled. "What about the other places? We can't just ignore them, can we?"
Si Cheng sighed, "We have to be able to manage it all. There are only a few of us, and we can't solve all the problems. We need to get everyone involved. Otherwise, if we can manage one family, we won't be able to take care of another, and things will still go wrong."
"That's true. Many people are too dependent. Even if we ask them to come up the mountain to help with the cleanup, they all quickly decline. But we can't stay here and help them clean up forever. They really have to rely on themselves."
Yunqi shook his head when he talked about this. It was probably because he had been bitten by an animal before and developed symptoms. Now, everyone is hesitant to talk about the animals in the mountains. But the more this happens, the more they say they can't protect themselves.
But you should know that even bigger challenges are yet to come.
Si Cheng flipped the meat in front of him to make it heat more evenly. "We've almost wiped out the larger populations that Ma Tao marked earlier. We need to give the remaining ones a chance to grow. They'll be facing these wild animals more often in the future, and we can't stay here forever."
Thinking back on all the villagers I've met recently, not one of them has offered to join them. In fact, they've all started to back down when offered to lead the way.
Si Cheng didn't know what to say to them. They really thought that everything would be fine after dealing with these animals this time. They should know that there are still many animals in the deep mountains that haven't come down yet. When the drought gets worse, the conflicts will become more frequent.
Sure enough, when the suggestion to take a detour back was made the next day, everyone happily agreed. You see, this trip was more exciting than previous ones. We encountered all sorts of wild animals, and our nerves were constantly on edge. If we could go back and relax, that would be the best thing ever.
"Even in peaceful times, I never imagined that one day I would eat so much meat that I felt like throwing up, and I had to carry all this meat back with me. Just thinking about it makes me feel miserable." Zhao Dongwei pointed at the dried meat on the fire, his face full of disgust.
Hou Yunhai teased him, "I remember you were so excited at the beginning, you came up with all sorts of ways to eat it, how come you're so disgusted now?"
"The seasoning is just too monotonous. Sprinkling a little salt every day has become tasteless," Zhao Dongwei said, glancing at Yun Qi.
Yunqi saw it but pretended not to notice. It wasn't that he was stingy, but the bag he brought was only so big. He had already provided so much barbecue seasoning, and it was a bit unreasonable to keep providing it endlessly.
Yunqi tossed him a piece of roasted jerky, "Even if it has no flavor, you have to eat it. You're still being picky here. Look at the other refugees, they just find some wild vegetables and mushrooms every day. If you were to switch places with them, you would know how precious this meat is."
Although Zhao Dongwei said he was disgusted, he quickly took the food, put it in his mouth and took a big bite. "They deserve it. We gave them a chance. We said we would train them so they could handle these situations in the future. They refused such a good opportunity. They deserve to not get any food."
"That's because you weren't as shrewd as them. These people were hoping we'd clean things up for them so they could come and reap the benefits," Yun Jianying said with some disdain, recalling the actions of those people before.
"How dare these people ask for meat, trying to trade their wild vegetables that can be found everywhere?" Zhao Dongwei couldn't help but complain, thinking about the actions of some people in the past.
Although I felt a bit disgusted after eating too much, I couldn't possibly be so ignorant as to dispose of the meat so cheaply.
Sometimes, because they didn't have time to process their prey, they had to drag it down the mountain whole. Those people even thought they could use their local power to get them to sell it cheaply, which is quite ridiculous.
After Brother Cheng gently crushed a stone, these people dared not say another word; they were typical cowards who bullied the weak and feared the strong.
Si Cheng was somewhat disappointed when he heard them talk about this. He had really wanted to bring a group of people out, and had even taken the initiative to contact various villages in the area. But after visiting so many villages, not a single one of them was willing to come up the mountain with them.
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