Xia Lunong hugged Kong Zhi's neck and strained her eyes to see the scene below.

The lotus flowers below spread from one end to the other, and there should be dozens of acres.

At this time, there were only a few lotus flowers left in the lotus field, the lotus leaves were withered and yellow, the lotus stalks were dry and brown, and many black lotus seeds protruded from the lotus stalks, full and big. From

time to time, birds landed on the remaining lotus and pecked at the lotus seeds with their beaks.

Xia Lunong could see clearly that the lotus fields below were not for viewing, but for economic use, where lotus seeds and lotus roots would grow.

If they drove over, they would definitely be able to dig up a lot of lotus roots and get a lot of lotus seeds.

Xia Lunong's eyes flickered, and she hugged the golden eagle's neck and shouted, "Kong Zhi, let's go back first. We'll go downstairs to pick lotus buds and dig lotus roots later!" The

golden eagle chirped and flapped its wings to fly back.

This time, their destination was clear, and Kong Zhi didn't delay and flew back directly. In a few minutes, he returned to the temporary camp.

As soon as Kong Zhi landed, Xia Lunong couldn't wait to get off his back and shouted to his brother: "Brother, we found the thing that exudes fragrance, it's lotus!"

Xia Huoqu: "Are there still lotus flowers now?"

Xia Lunong nodded vigorously, "Yes! There is a large area of ​​dead lotus in the southeast. Now the lotus field is full of withered lotus stalks. There should be lotus roots underneath. Let's go and see."

Kong Zhi turned back into human form. Xia Lunong took out clothes from the backpack and gave them to him. She continued: "I also saw many birds in the lotus field pecking at lotus seeds. Lotus seeds should be non-toxic and can be eaten directly."

Xia Huoqu asked: "Isn't the skin of dried lotus seeds very hard? Can birds peck at it?"

"I'm not sure about that." Xia Lunong said, "Let's go over and see what the situation is like later."

Yan Xinian came over with an opened bamboo joint and handed it to them, "Drink some water first, your face is red with excitement."

Xia Lunong took it and gulped down half a bottle of water. She handed the remaining half to Kong Zhi and said, "Of course you'll be excited. So many lotus seeds and lotus buds are all gifts from nature. How much can we harvest after working so hard for half a year? The lotus field can at least give us a hundred times more!"

Yan Xinian Xi Nian smiled, "That's really exciting. You've worked hard."

Kong Zhi put on his clothes, drank the water in the empty bamboo tube, and said, "It's mainly Xiao Nong's credit. If it weren't for him, I wouldn't have discovered that there is a large lotus field in the southeast corner."

Xia Lunong said, "That's our joint credit. It's strange, don't people from the base often come here to catch birds? They didn't find such a large lotus field."

Kong Zhi: "Birds are so fierce. Most people would catch a few birds and run away. How dare they pass through the bird's territory and explore there?"

"That's true." Xia Lunong thought of the truck, and without waiting for his brother and his brother Xinian to ask, he took the initiative to say, "We found the truck, too. It was by the river. It seemed to be stuck in the mud and couldn't be driven out for a while."

Xia Huo said, "It's conceivable that if the truck was fine, they would have driven it and run away that day."

"I guess they couldn't run away." Xia Lunong said, "The place where the truck was parked was very close to the flock of birds. It must have been attacked by the flock of birds. The windshield was completely broken, and the hood of the car was full of bird shit. The scene looked very tragic."

Yan Xinian said, "What about now? Is there a bird in the car?"

"No." Xia Lunong observed carefully, "The cab is empty and looks clean. There shouldn't be any damage from birds."

Yan Xinian turned to ask Xia Huoqu for his opinion, "Then let's pack up and go over there to take a look?"

Xia Huoqu: "Just drive the truck over there. We may leave from another road later."

"I think it's okay." Yan Xinian turned to ask Xia Lunong and Kong Zhi, "What do you two think?"

Xia Lunong said, "I think it's okay too."

Kong Zhi nodded.

The proposal was passed unanimously, and the few people packed up and headed for the beach.

Kong Zhi knew the place, so he drove the car.

The four of them squeezed into the cab.

Yan Xinian said, "Let's observe from a distance. If the truck gets stuck in the mud, I'll transform into a beast and push it from the back. Huo Qu drives the car, and Kong Zhi and Xiao Nong, you two stay in the two trucks, ready to support or escape at any time."

Xia Lunong said, "Why don't we push it too? More people means more strength."

"No need." Yan Xinian refused. "I can just lift the car up in my beast form. I don't need you. It's not convenient for you and Kong Zhi to use force in your beast form."

Xia Lunong had no choice but to say, "Okay."

Yan Xinian rubbed his head. "You just finished the investigation. It's our turn to do this kind of formal work."

Kong Zhi said, "I'll drive the car to the front first. Brother Huo Qu, you guys will follow."

Xia Huo Qu nodded. "No problem. We'll make a quick decision later."

After dividing the work, they drove the car to the beach.

The plants on the beach were relatively low, and the truck was very conspicuous. They saw the truck left on it at a glance.

Yan Xinian stared at the truck, feeling a little annoyed, "It's only been a few days, and the truck is already damaged like this?"

Xia Huoqu said, "Violent destruction is of course different from natural weathering. Kong Zhi, stop the car, we're getting ready to get off."

"Okay." Kong Zhi stopped the car, "Be careful."

Xia Huoqu and Yan Xinian opened the door and got out.

Xia Huoqu put on his backpack and went to the back of the car to get a bucket of gasoline.

Yan Xinian took off his clothes on the spot and threw them to Xia Huoqu, then turned into a giant tiger, followed him, crouched down, and shook his tail, meaning for him to sit on him.

Xia Huoqu was not polite, and with a strong effort with both hands, he turned over and climbed onto the back of the giant tiger.

The giant tiger led him forward, like a gust of wind, and quickly blew to the side of the truck.

Xia Huoqu jumped off the giant tiger, carrying his backpack, ran to the driver's cab, opened the door, inserted the key and started the truck, all in one go.

The giant tiger quickly lifted the truck up with its head from behind.

At the same time, the truck made a "buzzing" sound and drove straight up.

The flock of birds was startled by the sound, and most of them flew up again, first flying upwards, and then suddenly besieged the truck.

At this time, the truck had already driven out of the mud pit, and Xia Huoqu shouted in the empty driver's cab, "Get in the car!"

"Roar!" The giant tiger roared, shocking the flock of birds. It took two quick steps to the back of the car, quickly changed back to human form, stretched out its hand to grab the tarpaulin, swung directly, and climbed into the car, shouting, "All right!"

Without saying a word, Xia Huoqu started the truck and caught up with Kong Zhi's truck.

Kong Zhi calmly accelerated, trying to get rid of the flock of birds.

Xia Lunong nervously watched his brother driving to catch up in the rearview mirror.

The flock of birds was too large, and each bird was also very large. If they were besieged by so many birds, the consequences would be unimaginable if they were close to them.

Even a large number of ants can bite an elephant to death, not to mention that there were so many birds, and it was possible that they would be pecked to skeletons.

"Kong Zhi, hurry up!" Xia Lunong's voice changed due to nervousness, "Quick, quick, quick! Take my brother and the others out! They are going to be surrounded!"

"This is already the fastest speed." Kong Zhi saw from the rearview mirror that Xia Huoqu and his truck were surrounded, and said, "Wait! You drive!"

"What about you?!"

"I'll turn back into a golden eagle to scare away the flock of birds!"

Kong Zhi stepped on the brakes, stopped immediately, unbuckled his seat belt, opened the door and got out.

Xia Lunong quickly changed to the driver's seat, caught the clothes, shoes and socks he threw in, and piled them in the passenger seat.

Kong Zhi helped him close the door, "You drive ahead and lead the way, I'll go help Brother Huo Qu and the others."

Seeing him turn into a giant golden eagle, Xia Lunong's heart almost jumped out of his throat. He only had time to shout, "Be careful," and then he had to drive forward.

A bird had already spotted his car from behind and was flapping its wings to catch up.

Xia Lunong only had a car driver's license, he didn't drive much, and he had even less experience driving a truck.

He was not very skilled at driving, and as soon as he stepped on the accelerator, the truck immediately rushed out with a "bang", which scared him.

He slowed down a little and looked in the rearview mirror.

The giant golden eagle flapped its wings and flew towards the truck behind it. At the same time, it grabbed several birds that were rushing towards it with its sharp claws, and directly scratched several bloody holes in the birds.

The smell of blood spread all at once.

The golden eagle threw the bird carcasses into the flock of birds, and the flock of birds panicked.

Many birds immediately ignored the siege of the truck and flapped their wings and ran desperately in all directions.

The remaining wild birds were aroused and rushed towards the truck and the golden eagle fearlessly.

The golden eagle was not polite and killed dozens of birds in one breath with one claw.

The bird carcasses were thrown into the flock of birds.

Many birds not only did not retreat, but attacked the golden eagle and the truck while pecking at the carcasses of their companions.

Xia Lunong was anxious, but unfortunately, his beast form was that of a cat, with almost no ability to attack, so he could only worry on the side.

The only thing he could be thankful for was that his brother's situation did not seem dangerous, otherwise his brother would have changed back to beast form long ago. The flock of

birds kept attacking them, and their truck kept moving forward.

After driving for more than ten minutes in this intermittent and difficult manner, the flock of birds attacking them finally dispersed, leaving only a few scattered ones with particularly strong personalities, all of which were killed by the golden eagle's claws.

Xia Lunong was afraid that the birds would catch up with him, so he drove another mile forward, then stopped and opened the car door to see how his brother and the others were doing. When

the golden eagle saw him stop the car, it fell to the ground, changed back to human form, and opened the car door while panting.

Xia Lunong glanced at his body and saw that he had no injuries. She quickly grabbed his clothes from the passenger seat and handed them to him, "Put them on first. I'll see how my brother and the others are doing."

Xia Lunong ran to another truck, yanked open the door, and shouted, "Brother, how are you?"

Xia Huoqu was sitting in the driver's seat, covered in blood.

The cockpit was also filled with bird carcasses.

Xia Lunong was so frightened when he saw this scene that he almost went crazy. He shouted with a pale face: "Brother, are you okay? Why is there so much blood?"

"It's okay, mostly bird blood, I'm not seriously injured." Xia Huoqu's eyes swept over him, "How are you and Kong Zhi?"

"Nothing hurt." Xia Lunong reached out to touch his brother. After touching for a long time, he found that his brother had nothing else except a few scratches on his face and neck. He breathed a sigh of relief.

Xia Lunong walked to the back of the car with soft legs and tried to look behind Yan Xinian to see how he was doing. "Brother Xinian, how about you, are you okay?"

"Nothing, we also collected a bunch of bird carcasses." Yan Xinian grabbed a bird carcass from the car and showed it to him, "How about it, this year is a good time to get some dried squid."

Xia Lunong laughed, feeling relaxed, took two steps back, and gave him a thumbs up, "Good, very creative, others have dried squid, and it's also interesting for us to eat dried squid."

Xia Huoqu came out of the driver's seat and looked him up and down. "It's OK, I can still make a joke."

Yan Xinian wiped the blood and sweat off his face, "I'm not seriously injured, don't worry."

Kong Zhi also came over, seeing them like this, and asked, "I'll go get some medicine."

Yan Xinian waved his hands, "Give it to your brother Huo Qu, I have such a minor injury, don't waste medicine, I think it will be healed tomorrow."

Xia Huo said, "It is still necessary to disinfect with alcohol, don't show off."

Yan Xinian didn't say anything else, just said: "Let's find a place to rest first. I was too nervous just now. My fingers are almost numb. It's been half a year since I was chased so fiercely."

Xia Huoqu glanced at him and said, "Born in trouble, die in comfort."

Yan Xinian smiled and said, "That makes sense. Let's go, drive, let's find a place to rest. It's almost time for lunch."

Xia Lunong looked at the watch and took a long breath. "Let's have a good meal at noon to replenish our energy. "We need to gather some more lotus seeds and lotus roots, fill up the car, and go home tomorrow."

Yan Xinian was the first to respond, "I have no objection."

Xia Huoqu reminded, "Don't get close to the water source for now, find a more open place to park the car."

Kong Zhi said, "I know where the square of Changhe Marsh is, I'll drive."

Yan Xinian nodded, "Then I'll drive the car behind, and we'll set off quickly."

The four drove the car to a small square.

Xia Lunong first took out alcohol and medicine powder to treat the wounds of the two brothers.

After cleaning the blood on their bodies, Xia Lunong found that their injuries were not light, especially Yan Xinian, whose shoulder blade wound was so deep that the bone was visible.

Xia Lunong frowned, "If we had known, we wouldn't have come."

"How could we have known so much? Besides, aren't we doing well here?" Yan Xinian raised his chin and pointed to the dead birds on the ground, "Not only did we harvest so much meat, we also discovered a large lotus field. We counted them a lot."

Kong Zhi counted them, "A total of forty-seven dead birds. Excluding the nine that were too small or had poor meat quality, there were a total of thirty-eight left."

Yan Xinian nodded, smiling happily, "What a great harvest."

He had just finished saying this when Xia Huoqu, who was helping him treat his wound, tilted the alcohol bottle and poured it on his wound.

The alcohol instantly washed away the blood from his wound, revealing pink flesh. He clenched his teeth and hissed, "Huo Qu, you are too cruel!"

Xia Huo Qu said lightly: "It's better to be cruel, so that you will not only remember the special plan, but also remember the pain."

Xia Lunong was laughing beside him. Seeing his brother's eyes sweeping over, he hurriedly said: "So many birds have to be dealt with today, otherwise they will not be fresh. Brother, I'll boil some water."

Xia Huo Qu nodded, and instructed, "It's not safe in the wild. Don't use your superpowers. Just go get some ordinary water and come back."

"I see. Kong Zhi and I will go get water."

There is a river nearby. Although the river water does not meet the standards for entry, it is enough to burn it to pluck the birds.

The two of them brought back two large buckets of water. Xia Lunong found a soup pot, poured water into the pot, and started a fire to boil water.

Xia Huoqu and Yan Xinian had already treated their wounds and changed into a new set of clothes.

Their clothes were full of blood and holes, and they could no longer be worn, so they were buried directly on the spot.

It took four people more than two hours to bleed, pluck, and clean the internal dirt of thirty-eight wild birds.

Xia Lunong's main task was to cook.

At noon, he cooked a large pot of bamboo rice, and stir-fried bird offal with pickled peppers and bird meat with green and red leeks.

Both dishes were fragrant and spicy.

The four of them had a delicious meal with the two dishes. After eating, they threw the bird feathers and intestines into the bushes and drove to the other side of the square.

The place where they handled the birds smelled too bloody. Even if they buried them on the spot, they couldn't stop the smell. They had to go somewhere else to avoid the smell attracting wild animals and putting them in danger again.

"Brother, you two should get some sleep first. Kong Zhi and I will be on guard."

Xia Huoqu didn't refuse. "You two should be careful. Call us if anything happens."

"I know. Brother, you two can sleep well. I'll come and call you in two hours."

The few of them didn't get enough sleep last night. They had been busy for so long in the morning. It was necessary to rest well to ensure that they had enough energy to deal with accidents.

Xia Huoqu and Yan Xinian climbed onto the intact truck and fell asleep quickly.

Xia Lunong and Kong Zhi were not idle while on guard. They took out the birds they had handled and marinated them with salt.

Every time they go out, they bring a lot of salt. If they kill some large prey, they usually pickle it with salt and it can be stored for three to five days.

After bringing the pickled meat back to the base, if you don’t want it to air-dry, you can soak it in water to wash off the salt and eat it directly as fresh meat, which also has a unique flavor.

It didn’t take much time to pickle the meat. It was done soon. The two had nothing to do, so they began to concentrate

on standing guard. Xia Lunong didn’t hold on for long. She leaned on

Kong Zhi, yawned and felt sleepy while standing guard. Kong Zhi said, "I can do it alone. If you feel sleepy, go to sleep for a while."

"I'm not that sleepy." Xia Lunong leaned against him, "I don't want to leave you alone." Kong Zhi

tilted his head and kissed him.

Xia Lunong was startled by the kiss and quickly put out her hand to block it, whispering "Don't."

"Hmm?"

Xia Lunong touched her ear with a red face, "If we get distracted later, we will forget to stand guard."

Kong Zhi said, "Then let's kiss each other again when we get back."

Xia Lunong coughed lightly and changed the subject abruptly, "You said we saw so many acres of lotus fields this morning, how many lotus roots can we harvest this time?"

"It's hard to say, probably tens of thousands of kilograms."

"We definitely can't consume that much, and we have to notify the people at the base to come and dig together." Xia Lunong calculated, "No matter what, we won't be hungry this year."

"We can also plant the harvested lotus roots as seeds, and we can also plant some ourselves."

"We can plant it too?" Xia Lunong asked, "Do you want to dig a pond?"

Kong Zhi: "No need for a pond, don't we dig deep trenches in the rice fields for the fish to rest?

We can just plant lotus roots there." Xia Lunong slapped his head, "I forgot about this. Yes, we can plant lotus roots there. We won't be the only one planting rice in the base, and we can promote it so that everyone can get more."

Xia Lunong thought for a moment and said, "In fact, there are so many trenches in the base, we can plant in the trenches."

Kong Zhi looked at him, "Do you like to eat lotus roots?"

"Not bad?" Xia Lunong smiled, "I think the lotus root is delicious, so we can treat it as a common vegetable to enrich our lives. The lotus root is also easy to store. We harvest the lotus roots now and store them in the cellar. Maybe they can last until the New Year."

The two chatted casually outside and two hours passed in a flash.

Yan Xinian woke up first, jumped out of the car, and said to them, "You two have been talking about lotus roots and lotus seeds outside. I'm hungry. Let's pack up and go dig lotus roots."

Xia Lunong yawned, "Did we disturb you?"

"It's okay, not too noisy." Yan Xinian patted his shoulder lightly, "It's just that you guys kept talking about lotus root cakes, lotus root dumplings, lotus root powder and so on. I had a beautiful dream about eating lotus roots all afternoon."

Xia Huoqu also got out of the car, "Are you two sleepy? Do you want to take a nap?"

"It's okay." Xia Lunong said, "Not too sleepy. We can go to bed early tonight. We don't need extra rest now."

"Then let's go directly over and dig lotus roots." Xia Huoqu asked, "What's the water depth? Did you notice this when you saw the lotus field this morning?"

Xia Lunong scratched her head, "I really didn't pay much attention, about half a meter? The water in places where lotus roots are grown is generally not too deep, and we also have to consider the people who dig lotus roots."

Xia Huoqu said: "Then let's go and take a look first. Lotus fields also have certain dangers, so be alert."

Xia Lunong didn't care much.

He and Kong Zhi were in one car, his brother and his brother Xinian were in another, and the four of them drove the truck to the lotus field.

The place where they rested was not far from the lotus field, and they arrived at the edge of the lotus field in more than ten minutes.

The four of them got out of the car.

Xia Lunong looked at the lotus field that almost reached the horizon and said with emotion, "If we come here in summer, we can see the scene of 'the endless green lotus leaves connecting the sky'."

Xia Huoqu and Yan Xinian were shocked that there was such a large lotus field here, and they were silent for a while.

After a while, Yan Xinian said, "It's okay without the lotus leaves. This amount of lotus leaves is enough for us to consume."

Xia Huoqu reminded, "Walk around first and eliminate the danger before going into the field."

"Okay." Yan Xinian took a deep breath, "I feel the smell nearby is quite pure, there are only some small birds, insects and other small creatures, there shouldn't be any danger."

Xia Huoqu: "The lotus field is all muddy, and we will sink into it later. It will be inconvenient to escape. Don't worry, try to be foolproof."

Xia Huoqu was cautious, and several people turned into beasts and patrolled the surrounding area.

After checking the surrounding environment, several people turned back into human form.

Xia Lunong raised her hand and spoke first, "I feel there are snakes nearby, we need to be careful later."

Yan Xinian said, "The grass is so dense, it's normal for snakes to hide in it, just be careful. I also feel there are snakes nearby, but other than that, I don't notice any other dangers."

Kong Zhi nodded in agreement.

Xia Huoqu also made this judgment, he said, "Okay, let's divide the work. Xiao Nong, you and Kong Zhi use sickles to cut lotus buds, and Xinian and I will dig lotus roots."

"No problem." Xia Lunong was full of confidence, "We brought so many sacks, finally they can be put to use."

Several people went back to the car to get tools.

Xia Lunong dragged a sack and took a sickle. He first walked to the edge of the lotus field, leaned forward and hooked two large lotus heads, and cut them down with a knife.

The lotus heads had withered long ago, and now they were dark brown in color. They swayed in the wind in the lotus field, making the whole lotus field look particularly bleak.

The lotus seeds on the lotus heads were protruding and were also dark brown.

Xia Lunong stretched out his hand to pick up four lotus seeds, gave two to Kong Zhi, and held the remaining two in his palms, examining them carefully.

After examining them, Xia Lunong wanted to pinch open the lotus seeds to taste them, but then he found that the lotus shells were thick and hard and could not be pinched open at all. "The lotus shells are so hard that they can't be pinched!"

Kong Zhi looked at him, and with a strong force of his fingers, he pinched the lotus seeds open.

Xia Lunong didn't have his skill, so she just stuffed the lotus seed into her mouth and bit it directly with her teeth.

The lotus seed was like a piece of wood.

He bit it hard, leaving tooth marks on the lotus seed. The lotus seed finally cracked, and he had to use his fingernails to pry it open.

Kong Zhi put the pinched lotus seed in his hand, took the lotus seed that he had bitten into a mess and helped him peel it.

Xia Lunong looked at the lotus seed in his palm.

These lotus seeds had dried up long ago, and the flesh turned light yellow instead of light green, and smelled faintly fragrant.

He put it in his mouth and bit it, breaking the flesh, took out the lotus core inside, and then threw the flesh into his mouth.

Lotus seeds are slightly sweet and have a hard texture. They taste a bit like raw peanuts, but they are sweeter than peanuts.

Xia Lunong counted the inventory at home. If they take these lotus seeds back, they can use them to make porridge.

Then put some bamboo shoots, some lotus seeds, a handful of rice and wheat, and some red dates. It will taste very good.

Xia Lunong thought about it and his eyes curved.

Kong Zhi pinched five or six lotus seeds for him in a row. After

Xia Lunong finished eating, he felt a little dry in his mouth, and quickly returned the lotus seeds to Kong Zhi, "You try it too, these lotus seeds taste very good."

Yan Xinian and Xia Huoqu walked to their side with hoes.

Upon hearing this, Yan Xinian leaned over and said, "What a good idea! Let me try it too."

Xia Lunong was startled and almost dropped the lotus in her hand.

Seeing his brother's expression, Xia Huoqu patted Yan Xinian on the back and said, "If you want to eat, pick it yourself."

After Xia Lunong finished eating the lotus seeds, he saw the wounds on his brother and his older brother, then he remembered, "Brother, your wounds cannot get wet, let's switch jobs, shall we?"

"It's just digging lotus roots. We're not going to swim in the water, so don't worry." Xia Huoqu said, "Your reaction is not fast enough, and there's danger that you can't run away. Your older brother and I will do this job." Kong

Zhi said, "How about I dig lotus roots with Team Yan, and Brother Huoqu, you and Xiao Nong will pick lotus buds?"

Xia Huoqu waved his hand, "Cutting lotus buds is not an easy job, so let's not pass them around. Let's finish it quickly and go back quickly."

After Xia Huoqu finished speaking, he rolled up his trouser legs to his thighs and slowly went down to the field.

Xia Lunong watched his brother's movements nervously.

Fortunately, the water in the field was not very deep and there was not much silt. After Xia Huoqu went into the water, the water only reached the middle of his thigh.

After Yan Xinian went into the field, the water only reached the lower part of his thigh.

"Oh, I stepped on it." After Yan Xinian went into the field, he bent down and reached out to touch it, saying, "I stepped on a lotus root here."

Xia Lunong looked at him nervously for a moment, "Is it big?"

"Very big."