Chapter 108 - 101: Day 21 Settlement
It might be a snake. The thought of a snake lurking underwater by the riverbank made her legs go weak. Ever since she was a child, she’d been afraid of those legless reptiles.
"What’s wrong?" Zheng Yuan, who had come to the river to fish after his meal, hurried over when he heard the noise.
"There’s something in the river," Wang Xiaoli said, pointing at the water’s surface.
"Of course there’s something in the river. Don’t linger by the water’s edge for too long. There have been fewer crocodiles lately, but that doesn’t mean they’re gone." Zheng Yuan thought the woman wasn’t very bright.
"Thanks for the warning. I just came to get some water. Something in the water startled me, and I dropped my bucket." Wang Xiaoli gave a wry smile and pointed to where her bucket was floating on the river.
Zheng Yuan followed her finger, and his pupils suddenly contracted.
On the surface of the river, a creature that was jet-black and flat, looking a bit like a shrimp and a bit like a centipede, crawled out of the water and into the bucket.
The image of the creature he had caught a fleeting glimpse of near the hippo carcass yesterday overlapped with the one before his eyes.
’Could this be what killed the hippo?’
Noticing the strange expression on the man’s face, Wang Xiaoli turned to look, and her own face instantly turned deathly pale.
"Wh... What is that?"
’It looks like some kind of aquatic insect, but what insect grows this big? It must be at least a meter long.’
Zheng Yuan glanced around before his eyes landed on the wooden stick in Wang Xiaoli’s hand. "Let me borrow your stick."
After taking the stick, Zheng Yuan carefully tapped the surface of the water with its tip.
A dozen or so seconds later, the tip of the stick suddenly sank, and a pulling force came from the other end.
Zheng Yuan gripped the stick and bellowed, "Get back!"
With a mighty heave, he fished the thing out of the water and slammed it onto the ground.
Out of the water, the strange black insect struggled violently on the ground, seemingly unaccustomed to the environment on land.
Zheng Yuan rushed forward, stick rising and falling in a blur. After several strikes, he finally smashed it to death.
"This thing’s pretty tough." Looking at the thick shell on its back and its ferocious mandibles, Zheng Yuan frowned. ’If these things are what killed the hippo downstream, and now they’ve spread upstream, then the river is definitely even more dangerous.’
’We just got rid of the crocodiles, so why are there so many of these weird insects now?’
After some thought, Zheng Yuan decided he should tell the others in the Gated Community about this, lest someone accidentally fall victim to them.
’One look at this insect and you know it’s bad news.’
...
By the time they returned to the Gated Community, it was already ten at night.
At this hour, the Gated Community was mostly quiet.
Three wheelbarrows were slowly pushed into the Gated Community.
The four refugees clutched their stomachs, their eyes filled with a hungry yearning.
"Don’t worry, there’ll be food when we get back. And not just enough to fill you up! We’re having meat tonight!" Qin Ziwen encouraged them.
Watered by their leader’s "chicken soup for the soul," the four found a new burst of strength.
Once downstairs in their building, the eight of them slowly carried the pork back to their apartment. Then they carried the wheelbarrows up and had Qin Ziwu mop the bloodstains from the stairwell.
After they finished, Qin Ziwen roused himself and went to the tavern’s back kitchen to cook.
Cooking at the porridge stand would likely attract another batch of refugees.
’The tavern is better. As long as I don’t light the lanterns at night, no customers should show up.’
After half an hour of work, he had simply cooked a large pot of smoked meat and vegetable porridge, enough for eight people.
He’d made the porridge thicker this time, and with the addition of meat, it was a feast. Qin Ziwen and his group were fine, but the four refugees were wolfing it down. Da Zhuang even started crying as he ate.
"SOB... SOB..."
"What are you crying for? The boss cooks meat for us and you cry?" Liu San quietly admonished the big oaf.
Da Zhuang turned his head, the large man crying like a child. "Before my mother starved to death, she kept saying she wanted to eat a piece of meat. If only my mom could have eaten this too."
Hearing this, the other refugees drinking porridge around him fell silent.
Everyone silently buried their faces in their bowls.
Qin Ziwen put down his bowl and said to the others, "If you’re not full, go get more. Everyone worked hard today, so eat until you’re satisfied. But don’t make yourselves sick. As long as you work hard, there will be more chances to eat meat in the future."
After they had eaten and drunk their fill, Qin Ziwu went to wash the bowls and chopsticks while the others returned to their respective tasks and got busy.
Some were in charge of cutting the meat, some of making the brine, some of boiling salt, and others were cutting the meat into strips for curing.
Time slipped by amidst their soaring enthusiasm.
You have safely survived in the wilderness for twenty-one days. You hunted a large wild boar and obtained a Card... Overall Score: 80 points.
You have received the following rewards: [Blank Expansion Card (Small)] x2, [Building Card] Level 1 Fish Pond, [Building Card] Level 1 Tailor Shop x1.
Hearing the voice in his mind, Qin Ziwen’s hands, which were curing the meat, slowed for a moment.
Silently reciting the new rewards, Qin Ziwen pondered. ’Two new buildings and two small Expansion Cards, huh?’
’One small Expansion Card covers a 20x20 meter area. With these two Cards, I can seal off both the kitchen and the master bedroom. This will close up more and more of the weak points in our home... People will never be able to get in through the windows again.’
’But there’s still a flaw. If all the windows on our apartment disappear, it’ll look very strange from the outside.’
𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂
’And there’s another weak point: the front door.’
’If the main door is destroyed, people can still get in that way.’
Thinking of this, Qin Ziwen couldn’t help but wonder if he should have Li Tieshan forge a set of iron bars to install on the inside.
’That way, even if someone breaks down the main door, there’s another line of defense behind it.’
’But just forging iron bars won’t be enough. They’ll need a lock, and Li Tieshan isn’t a locksmith.’
He pushed the thought aside and turned his attention to the Level 1 Fish Pond and the Level 1 Tailor Shop.
’Both of these buildings are good. The Fish Pond can raise fish, so we’ll have fish to eat even if we end up in a desert. More importantly, a Fish Pond can store a large amount of water.’
’Although the water in the Fish Pond won’t be as clean as water from a spring, it’s still much better than the stagnant water in a desert.’
’As for the Tailor Shop, we don’t have anyone with the necessary skills right now, so I’ll have to put that aside for the time being.’
Qin Ziwen thought of Xiao Xuemei.
’My sister-in-law should know some tailoring skills.’
’But it wouldn’t be appropriate for her to run the Tailor Shop.’
Tailors, like Blacksmiths, are skilled artisans. According to Du Yu, skilled workers like these are extremely rare among the refugees; the vast majority are farmers.
Qin Ziwu said, "Big Brother, you’ve already salted that piece of meat twice."
Qin Ziwen glanced at his younger brother.
Qin Ziwu immediately shut his mouth.
Everyone was busy until after four in the morning before they finally finished.
They had finally finished processing the wild boar, which weighed over a thousand pounds.
Unlike last time, when they had to discard some of the organs, this time they had brought back almost everything.
Some of the organs were washed repeatedly and then cured.
Other organs were soaked in brine.
The Beaked Eagle picked up a heart that had been soaked in brine and ate it with relish off to the side.
After everyone else had gone to sleep, Qin Ziwen went to the kitchen and chose to use an Expansion Card on the area outside the kitchen.
As light flowed, a large, new, blank expanded area appeared outside the kitchen.
However, unlike before when the wall disappeared, this time, after using the Expansion Card, the kitchen’s glass windows remained. To get to the area behind, one would have to climb through the kitchen window.
Of course, he could also knock down the stove and the window.
But it would be a real shame to knock out these large, clear panes of glass in the kitchen.
Opening the window and jumping into the newly expanded area behind, Qin Ziwen took out the [Building Card] Level 1 Fish Pond.
The Level 1 Fish Pond required a 20x20 area, which was the exact size of this small Expansion Card’s range.
Placing it against the wall, he silently willed it to activate.
The light faded, his feet slipped, and he was greeted by a square pond right beneath him.
"SPLASH!"
"GLUG GLUG GLUG..."
Scrambling with difficulty out of the pond, Qin Ziwen cursed under his breath, "Fuck, why is the bank of this Fish Pond so slippery?"
Wiping the water from his face, he noted that it was quite cold. No need to measure the depth; he had personally experienced it when he fell in. It was about two meters deep...
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