NFBE Chapter 150 Inspiring
Chapter 150 Inspiring
Xie Jin and Yan He naturally had no objections.
As for the white wolf—it had been eating well these past two days and had excess energy to burn. It didn't resist Meng Fuqing's command to 'go' at all and ran happily towards the stone house.
Upon reaching the stone house, the white wolf howled, and soon several people emerged from the house.
Upon seeing the white wolf delivered to their doorstep, a look of surprise and delight appeared in their eyes.
"We've really struck it rich today! Not only did we catch a two-legged sheep, but a white wolf also came knocking on our door!"
"This white wolf is quite majestic. It would be even better if we could train it to hunt for us!"
The white wolf suddenly pounced on the person behind it who had uttered those malicious words.
The commotion outside attracted the three people inside the stone house, who grabbed their weapons and went out. To their surprise, they found their men lying all over the ground.
Before they could turn and hide, a sharp sword swept across them, slicing open the throats of the two men in front.
Meng Fuqing, who was hiding on the side of the stone wall, took the opportunity to slip behind the third person and kicked him hard in the lower back. The man crashed straight into Xie Jin's longsword and the sword pierced through his chest.
Turning my head, I saw the scene inside the stone house: one person was bound and lying motionless on the ground, while another person was standing up, seemingly trying to untie the child.
Five- or six-year-old children were hung upside down above a large pot of boiling water. Their little faces were red from the steam, and their voices were so hoarse that their cries were barely audible.
The man untying the child at this point either meant he wanted to use the child as a hostage or he wanted to throw the child into the pot.
Meng Fuqing stepped forward, grabbed the man by the collar, and shoved him into the pot. Then, she kicked it, spilling water all over the ground. The man was then pressed onto the still-burning fire, letting out unintelligible howls.
As soon as Yan He entered the stone house, her heart pounded with horror at the sight of the man inside. But when she saw the mangled limbs on the ground, she went up and kicked the dying man.
"Even those who eat people are considered human? Why don't you dozen or so of you just devour each other? Bah!"
Meng Fuqing had already put down the child whose eyes were covered with a cloth.
Qiu Xiaonian couldn't see anything. His hands were untied, but he obediently didn't move the cloth covering his eyes. He just held tightly to Meng Fuqing's clothes and kept calling out "Father".
"Go check on his father," Meng Fuqing said, turning to Yan He.
Yan He quickly checked Qiu Yuan's condition and found that only the injury on his forehead was more serious, and he had fainted. She pulled the dirty burlap out of Qiu Yuan's mouth, untied him, took out a small porcelain bottle from her bosom, opened it, and waved it at Qiu Yuan's nose.
Before long, Qiu Yuan slowly woke up, as if he was still not fully awake, muttering something to himself.
"Hey, your son's alive! Get up and get back to your unit!" Yan He reminded him.
Upon hearing this, Qiu Yuan suddenly sat up, startling Yan He so much that he almost fell to the ground.
"Xiao Nian is still alive? Still alive?"
Recalling what happened before he fainted, Qiu Yuan wished he could tear those people to pieces.
They hung his son upside down and made him kowtow repeatedly. When they were satisfied with the kowtows, they would move the child further away from the pot; when they were not satisfied, they would lower him down. This was repeated until he fainted again.
Meng Fuqing pushed the child directly in front of Qiu Yuan, saying, "Take the child and return to the team."
After saying that, she and Yan He walked out of the house.
Overjoyed at finding her again, Qiu Yuan's eyes reddened, and he pulled Qiu Xiaonian into his arms.
After the father and son had cried, Qiu Yuan noticed the person on the ground whose face was no longer recognizable. He then realized why his son's eyes were covered with a cloth.
Outside the stone house, Xie Jin slit the throat of the last survivor with a single sword strike and told Meng Fuqing about the news he had just learned.
"This place is right next to the Cangxia Plain. While the northern lands have experienced a heavy snowfall, the Cangxia Plains have not seen any snow. The drought here is even more severe than that in the northern lands, and with the frequent outbreaks of disease, people have even resorted to cannibalism."
They fled into the deep mountains because they couldn't survive there, hoping to make a living off the land. However, in winter, wild animals were scarce, so they chose to prey on corpses and the living.
Yan He nearly vomited, exclaiming incredulously, "You eat corpses too?"
Meng Fuqing was used to this kind of thing; after all, it was a common occurrence in the apocalypse.
“They don’t seem to have been forced to eat people!” Qiu Yuan limped over to the three of them, picked up the child, and knelt down.
“I, Qiu Yuan, will never forget the great kindness and virtue shown to me by the three of you today. If you ever need anything in the future, just give me your orders, and I will do anything you ask!”
As if he understood, Qiu Xiaonian broke free from his father's embrace and groped his way down to kneel, but—he knelt on the wrong knee.
He turned his backside towards the three men and kowtowed loudly.
Meng Fuqing and the other two: ...
Seeing that Qiu Yuan was about to pull the person around, Meng Fuqing spoke up at the right time, "Get up. We won't sit idly by when someone in the team gets into trouble."
On the way back, Qiu Yuan recounted the ordeal of the father and son, concluding, "They must have eaten people before, and they probably hid in the deep mountains and forests to avoid the plague."
The five men and one wolf returned to the convoy, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
Most people are just as conflicted as Du Zhong and Meng Bochang.
The unknown is the most terrifying thing. If they look for someone, they fear that they will also encounter misfortune. If they don't look for someone, they worry that they will follow in Qiu Yuan's footsteps.
The actions of Meng Fuqing and others have given them a renewed sense of confidence.
Seeing this, Meng Bochang seized the opportunity to boost morale.
Setting off again, everyone was full of energy and spirit, as if no matter how many difficulties and dangers lay ahead, nothing could stop them from moving forward.
The journey continued without further danger, and the next morning, the surroundings were no longer as white as they had been the previous two days, with only a thin layer of fog remaining.
As usual, they collected some of the frost that had fallen on the grass and trees, and the caravan continued on its way.
Not long after setting off, Meng Fuqing suddenly noticed a red pine forest on a hillside not far away.
Even though she was still some distance from the red pine forest, she could see many pine cones growing on the pine trees.
Pine tree towers are not only good for burning, but they also contain pine nuts. She had only seen pine nuts before when she went to a restaurant in the county, but she didn't know their price.
I just wonder if there are still pine cones in the pine tree tower at this time of year.
She asked Yan He, "You've traveled all over the country, do you know how pine nuts are eaten?"
Yan He nodded, "Not only do I know about it, but I used to eat it all the time. That stuff is very expensive, even a small dish of it is expensive. I'm afraid I won't be able to afford it if I'm with you."
Hearing her complaining, Meng Fuqing immediately pointed to the red pine forest, "Isn't it just pine nuts? Plenty to go around, you can even eat the pine cones yourself."
Yan He looked in the direction she was pointing and asked, puzzled, "Where do pine nuts grow? Are there any left at this time of year?"
Meng Fuqing smiled slightly, "Then I'll have to trouble Miss Yan to go and take a look."
Yan He: ...
Considering the high price of pine nuts, she accepted the job.
Before long, she returned carrying several pine cones, and presented them to Meng Fuqing like treasures, "There really are pine cones inside! There's a huge pine forest behind the hillside! Aren't you really going to pick some more?"
Many people saw her carrying a small pile of things back and assumed it was something valuable, so they paid extra attention and immediately asked, "Miss Yan, what's the use of these things?"
“This is food; it can be sold. Selling it to restaurants can make a lot of money,” Yan He said.
The group, who were focused on getting on their journey, had some distracting thoughts and slowed down their pace.
Seeing this, Meng Fuqing said, "Let's stop and rest for a while. I'll go and tell Chief Du."
The convoy soon stopped, and people grabbed empty bags and ran up the hillside. Even Meng Ranran and Meng Ali didn't want to miss out, and despite not being tall enough, they happily ran forward.
Bags of pine cones were brought back and piled on the truck. With so many people in the convoy, the locusts were usually picked in no time when they passed through.
The convoy didn't stop for the rest of the journey, and continued on until evening, when they emerged from the forest.