Chapter 11: Hunters and Scavengers
Yanjing Town.
Located at the foot of the northern side of the Four Mountains, backed by the Yanjing salt mine, with a simple stone wall for defense.
Because the town produces salt, all the surrounding human settlements of various sizes regularly exchange goods with Yanjing Town. Merchants from the Giant Statue City also come to Yanjing Town every month specifically to buy salt, bringing high-quality supplies from the Giant Statue City.
With production capacity and trade, there is food and armament.
This has made Yanjing Town the largest settlement in the Four Mountains area, renamed from a small village to a 'town'.
The total population of the town is over 500, which is quite prosperous.
And there are quite a few guns, so looters rarely come to Yanjing Town to take advantage, making it relatively safer.
Early in the morning, the hunters set out with their hunting rifles and trapping tools, their targets being the mutated species in the Four Mountains.
The harm brought by nuclear radiation is reflected in all aspects of the world.
Now there are very few pre-war normal animals left, and the speed at which new species appear has the greatest biologists of mankind directly exclaiming that they can't keep up.
Therefore, they are collectively referred to as mutated species.
"Uncle, Uncle! Can I really go hunting with you today?"
"Of course, you're already 14 years old this year, a big boy now, it's time to learn real wasteland survival skills. Us old Wang family's seeds are born to be good hunters! Come on, your uncle will take you to hunt a blood deer today, and make you bone soup to drink at night for a big nourishment! Hahaha!"
Two men in animal skin clothes and a boy less than 1.6 meters tall were organizing their equipment at the main gate of Yanjing Town.
In Yanjing Town, 14-year-olds are already expected to be independent.
The boy blinked his inexperienced eyes, "Uncle, can we keep some of the meat from today's hunt? I want to eat meat."
"Don't be silly! One pound of meat can be exchanged for three pounds of beans, what meat to eat! Put the beans in the bone soup and cook it, it'll have the same meaty flavor."
The other square-faced man frowned and said.
"But meat tastes so good when you chew it..."
"Do you want to be beaten!" The square-faced man pulled a face.
"Hey, hey, hey! Brother, why are you so harsh on Xiao Hao, what's wrong with the kid wanting to eat some meat after a month of eating beans? Uncle will make the decision, when we get the game, we'll cut a big piece of meat for Xiao Hao to eat!"
Xiao Hao's eyes showed a glimmer of pleasant surprise.
"You shouldn't always spoil the child. In the wasteland, being frugal with food is a required course. If he eats a mouthful of meat today, he may have to starve for a day tomorrow. Meat is for the town chief and the big shots of Giant Statue City to eat. My mother told me since I was young, children from poor families grow up early."
But seeing the light gradually disappear from the child's eyes, the words behind the square face got stuck, and he turned his head and said in a muffled voice, "Just this once, don't do it again."
"Yay! Long live Dad! Long live Uncle!"
Xiao Hao jumped up happily.
Looking at the child's carefree face, Wang Qian's deliberately stern face revealed a trace of a smile.
In the wasteland, hope is the most valuable thing.
He believed that in the future, his child would become an even better hunter than him, hunting so much game that he wouldn't need to exchange it all for beans to survive. Maybe he could even go to Giant Statue City to become a soldier and be a city person.
"Dad, are blood deer powerful? What if it attacks me?"
Wang Qian put the cleaned hunting rifle into the slot on his back, and took out a homemade crossbow from his pocket.
"Hao Hao, blood deer are a mutated animal with low threat. Because their blood production function is very strong after mutation, sometimes the blood will burst through the skin and seep out, so their body is often covered with a layer of red blood scabs, hence the name blood deer. It's easy for us hunters to track their traces."
"It is one of the few pure herbivorous mutated animals and has no predatory desire for us humans, so it generally does not actively attack. It only fights back when threatened. It is very fast, and its horns are extremely sharp. If an adult is hit head-on by it, they will immediately lose combat capability and may even die."
"Therefore, we need to hide behind obstacles and attack it from a distance. You take this crossbow and aim according to the method I taught you before."
Wang Qian patiently explained the knowledge to the young hunter. These are all essential survival lessons for hunters.
After listening, Xiao Hao nodded, then looked at a young man walking in from outside, his eyes lit up.
"Brother Feng! You're back? That's great!"
"My uncle said last night that you might have died out there. I even argued with him. I knew you would come back alive!"
The other man, Wang Wan, looked slightly embarrassed, "Xiao Feng, you were gone for a bit long this time. I was afraid... It's good that you're back alive. When we get game tonight, bring your beans and come to our house for bone soup!"
Wang Qian patted Cheng Shaofeng on the shoulder, "What took you so long? Did you encounter that thing?"
Cheng Shaofeng shook his head, "No, I ran into looters on the way back and barely escaped with my life."
"Looters... deformed monsters! They've been rampant again recently. They were shouting outside our town last night. We had to turn on the lights and fire a few shots to drive them away. The town chief should really lead people to clear out a few of their camps!"
"Yeah, exactly! Qian, Wan, you're taking Xiao Hao hunting today?"
"Yes, he should also learn to survive on his own. Otherwise, we don't know when we might suddenly disappear like your hundred brother and ten brother."
Cheng Shaofeng nodded, "I understand... By the way, Qian, Wan, don't sell today's game to the town. I want to buy it, it's useful."
"You? Okay then, I'll bring it to your house when I get back."
Xiao Hao asked pitifully, "What about my meat..."
"Leaving you a piece is enough, you little glutton!"
Wang Qian and Wang Wan took Xiao Hao out of the small town.
Xiao Hao's voice could still be vaguely heard.
"Dad, can I go out and collect junk with Brother Feng? He has so many fun toys there..."
"Scavengers? Their work is more dangerous than hunting. A few decades ago, in my grandfather's generation it was fine, but now the supplies on the road from Yanjing Town to Giant Statue City have been turned over again and again by scavengers, leaving nothing. If you want to scavenge for useful things, you can only go to the Red City ruins, under the eyes of those things..."
"Hunting is what you should learn."
The voices of the few people became fainter in the wind, but still reached Cheng Shaofeng's ears.
"Scavengers... That's right, my predecessor was a scavenger. The last item he scavenged was a watch..."
The last memories of his predecessor were mixed and unclear. Cheng Shaofeng vaguely remembered that he picked up a watch in a city.
And then he collapsed in the wild of the Four Mountains.
And that watch... He looked at his wrist.
'Tianqi Nano Base, why... did the first sentence have to say that?'
This question had been in Cheng Shaofeng's mind, but he almost died yesterday and didn't investigate it further.
When he was lying down last night, he asked Zero. Zero said it was preset in advance by the base.
Who preset it?
Don't know.
Shaking his head, Cheng Shaofeng decided to still do what he should be doing now first.
After entering Yanjing Town, he felt his body cool down slightly, like walking from under the sun into the shade.
"No wonder people always tell ghost stories with this weird yin wind, but it's quite cool in summer."
Cheng Shaofeng greeted a few acquaintances on the way, then walked into the shed built by his predecessor.
It was already empty inside.
Even the sleeping mat was rolled away.
Cheng Shaofeng was not surprised. Nowadays, scavengers would be gone for several days when they went out, and home was never a safe place.
He turned around and walked into the shed next door.
In the corner, all his supplies were conspicuously placed!
The new book is written very, very slowly... Only half of the second chapter is written, will post it later, probably before 1 o'clock.
(End of Chapter)
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