"We have no choice but to be extra careful. If someone accidentally bumps or falls, there's no way to save them now, so we have to be even more careful than before." Yun Qi was extremely grateful that she had given birth to her two little ones before the apocalypse, otherwise, it would have been truly terrifying to think about!
"Then how will they deliver the babies?"
“There are a few retired nurses in the village who have left the hospital, so we’ll have to rely on them. But the supplies you brought back from the county town last time were a great help.”
Si Cheng looked at his wife in confusion. What could possibly be the connection between these two things?
"You probably didn't notice at the time, but those families with pregnant women basically found some baby and toddler supplies, and some even found medical equipment, otherwise they would have been really desperate."
"They're lucky they're clever; otherwise, they wouldn't be able to find them at this point."
"By the way, why didn't Mom and Dad go to get the wolf meat today?"
"You know that neither of them eats dog meat. In their view, wolves and dogs are close relatives, the same species, and they say they just can't bring themselves to eat it."
“They can’t bring themselves to do it, but I’m going to do it to their daughter.” Si Cheng finished speaking and immediately flipped over and pressed down on her.
Many villagers are now grateful that they were able to bring back supplies from the county town last time. With their previous reserves, they don't need to worry too much for the next few years, so they have calmly accepted the decision to lock down the village. As for the tasks assigned by the village, no one has any objections. Now that there's no entertainment, going out to do some work will make life a little easier.
Early the next morning, most of the villagers came to the foot of the mountain. Even those who hadn't specifically requested to go up took a long wooden stick and followed the group.
"Anyone under 15 years old, go back home." Seeing that there were even five or six-year-old children in the line, Yun Mingwu directly told their parents to send them back, and immediately cries and tantrums broke out.
"Why don't we let them come along? Anyway, this group will be back this afternoon, so it won't cause any trouble." Some soft-hearted parents couldn't bear to see their children crying like this, so they pleaded.
“Isn’t this ridiculous? We don’t even know what’s going on up the mountain. How can we take them up there? Even if they stay in this area, who can guarantee their safety?” The village chief refused decisively.
Everyone in the village who is mobile enough to go up the mountain, while the elderly will search near the village entrance. This was a sudden notice issued last night. This will reduce the workload of those going up the mountain and will also be equivalent to conducting a search of the entire village.
"There's a snake hole here." Someone discovered this as soon as they reached the foot of the mountain.
"Everyone, quickly search the vicinity." After searching for a while, they found nothing. Liu Zhijian, an experienced snake catcher, took out a special iron box for smoking snakes from his bag. He blocked the narrow side of the hole, then took out a small piece of sulfur. His son, Liu Fengya, found some dry grass nearby and lit it. He slowly added some dry firewood, and when the fire was almost burning, he used a small shovel to put it into the iron box. At this time, he also added the small piece of sulfur on top and fanned the smoke into the box.
Before long, smoke began to drift out from several other nearby cave entrances. Liu Fengya followed the smoke and sealed off all the entrances.
During the time the snakes were being smoked, Liu Zhijian also gave everyone a brief talk about the snakes' living habits.
"In this kind of hot and humid weather, they usually live near water sources. If you find such a hole, it's best to check if there are any snakeskins or snake droppings nearby." As he said this, he pulled out some animal droppings from the side.
"This kind of feces has a peculiar fishy smell, and if you look closely, you'll find some mouse hair on it. This is because it ate the part of the mouse that it couldn't digest." He then pointed to the burrow entrance, "There are many burrows in the fields, but most of them are mouse burrows. How do you determine if it's a snake burrow? You have to observe the entrance. Mouse burrow entrances are relatively rough, and you'll find some mouse hair and claw marks. Snake burrow entrances, on the other hand, become very smooth from constant friction. This snake burrow doesn't have spider webs and is very smooth, indicating that it has been active in this area recently. So, we can try fumigating it."
"Uncle, I saw you just added a piece of sulfur. Is it because snakes are afraid of sulfur and will come out after being fumigated?"
“You’ve all been misled. Snakes aren’t afraid of sulfur, they’re afraid of pungent smells. If you add tobacco and realgar to this kind of smoke, they won’t be able to stand it and will run away.”
At this moment, Liu Zhijian gestured for everyone to lean back, as it seemed the snakes inside couldn't take it anymore and were about to rush out.
Liu Zhijian pulled the iron box aside and stared intently at the cave entrance. A moment later, he saw a snake, over a meter long, emerge with a black "king" character on its head and black, yellow, and white rings on its body.
Upon seeing that it was this kind of snake, Liu Zhijian relaxed. He walked up, grabbed the snake by its seven-inch mark, and with a shake, the snake was now vertically in his grasp.
"This is a king cobra, also known as a rat snake. It's not very venomous and mainly hunts small animals. With snakes like this, you just need to grab it by its neck. Would you like to come up and try?"
Most people shook their hands when they heard him say that, but some were bolder, such as Yun Jianying. He stepped forward to look at the snake curiously and carefully touched its body.
"Uncle Zhijian, is it alive or dead now?"
"It's still alive, but it can't fight back now. Do you want to try?" As she spoke, she put the snake on the ground. "The spot I just grabbed was the snake's seven-inch mark. Try grabbing it there."
Taking a deep breath, Yun Jianying, following Liu Zhijian's instructions, grabbed the snake by its vital spot and lifted it up.
"Huh, it's not very cold. It still has some warmth. I thought it was a cold-blooded animal with no warmth at all."
"It definitely has a temperature. Its body temperature changes according to the air temperature. Now that the weather is so warm, its body temperature will also change with its height."
"Now that the snake has been caught, why don't you hurry up and follow the group up the mountain?" The village chief saw these young people still dawdling here. If he didn't want them to learn some experience, he would have spoken up when they were just watching.
It was only then that a few young people who had been watching realized that everyone had already started cleaning up the area, so they quickly picked up their sticks and joined in.
Meanwhile, Si Cheng and his men had already entered the deep mountains, leaving the outer perimeter to be patrolled by the villagers.
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