Chapter 354: Welcome the Young Master Home

What!

Mao Laoliu and Mao Lang have both been captured alive!

When Zhou You first heard of the Five Birds, a sense of familiarity arose, but he was immediately shocked.

Mao Laoliu was no ordinary Primary Martial Master; he was on par with Wang Laohu, and he even had Mao Lang, who was at the mid-stage of Blood Qi, by his side, along with many Disciples. To think he couldn't escape and was actually captured alive.

As everyone knows, capturing someone alive is much harder than killing them, and the operational difficulty is greater.

If it weren't for showing off their skills, martial artists generally find it more convenient to just kill their enemies directly.

The aggrieved party from Golden Crane Mountain has arrived; there are no coincidences in this world, so the Five Birds must be his accomplices.

"What is the background of these Five Birds?"

"I hear they are five sworn brothers and sisters, each possessing a powerful fist technique, using birds as their titles."

"Brothers and sisters? There are both men and women?"

"That's right, four men and one woman. The female martial artist is named Xiao Gu, and her ruthless methods are even more severe than the men's."

When Shi Gaofei introduced this, he couldn't help but shake his head, "The rebel army is brutal; now that Master Mao has become a prisoner, there is absolutely no chance of survival."

By the time they finished chatting, the food in the pot was thoroughly cooked, and the womenfolk called the men over to eat.

It just so happened that everyone was hungry, and like a whirlwind sweeping away clouds, they devoured the hastily cooked meal until nothing was left.

After the meal, a severe challenge lay before everyone.

The martial practitioners in the caravan needed a large amount of food to nourish themselves and convert it into Blood Qi to maintain their daily activities and combat; their appetites were ten to several dozen times that of an ordinary person.

Usually, in the city, one could buy and collect supplies if they had money, but now in the wilderness, the food they carried was already scarce, and once eaten, it would be gone.

Martial artists were the key to providing protection; if they weren't well-fed, they would be useless when the enemy arrived.

"What is to be done?"

Master Shen couldn't help but lament, "The rebel army has gnawed the grass roots in the wild clean; where could there be even half a grain of food left?"

Even though everyone present had more or less gold or silver ornaments on them, where could one find a place to buy food in the wilderness? Even if there were, no one would be willing to trade life-saving food for gold and silver.

The atmosphere in the caravan was somewhat heavy; they couldn't care about anything else while fleeing for their lives, but now that they had reached a safe zone, there wasn't enough food to eat.

Hunger is humanity's greatest enemy, enough to destroy all propriety, righteousness, integrity, and shame.

Many people looked toward the backbone of the caravan... Zhou You.

After all, at the very beginning, Zhou You had said there was no need to carry food or valuables, confident that he had a way.

"Do not worry, I have long been prepared. I set up a Zang nearby in advance and hid quite a few daily necessities."

Zhou You pointed in a certain direction ahead, "If we set off now, we can arrive in half a day. Everyone will have a good meal."

The group was skeptical, but Zhou You's prestige in the caravan was too high, and everyone had to rely on him to escape, so they had no choice but to listen and trust him.

On the road, Zhou Laodie was uneasy and secretly found Zhou You, "Son, when you were little, I told you stories about how putting a plum under your tongue to produce saliva could temporarily stave off hunger. It's hard to believe you still remember."

"But the stomach can only be fooled for a moment, not for long. If there is no food when we arrive, what should we do?"

Did his father think he was just trying to quench his thirst by looking at plums? Zhou You smiled and shook his head, "Father, even if I don't eat myself, I won't let you all go hungry. Rest assured, there is plenty of food."

Half a day later, exhausted and weary, everyone was hungry and thirsty, and they were speechless looking at the ruins before them.

Before them was a destroyed village; the living, along with the wild dogs, had all fled, so how could it look like there was food?

Could it be that Zhou You was lying?

"You few, go over there and move away the stone slabs pressing on the Zang entrance. It hasn't been opened in a long time, so it won't be easy to get in."

Zuo Shier and the others heard this and took action, clearing the ground until an entrance to a cellar was indeed revealed.

There really was a cellar...

After the cellar was opened, the scene that greeted them made several Blood Qi warriors involuntarily step back a few paces. There were mountains of grain bags, hanging cured pig legs, and jars filled with pickled vegetables, vinegar, wine, cooking oil, and so on; there were even quilts, winter clothes, and coarse linen fabrics—everything one could need.

If it were Gongliang City in peaceful times, gathering these things would not be difficult; Master Shen's firm could have collected them all in half a day.

But in these chaotic times of war, with cities fallen, the wilderness was filled with rebel soldiers and stragglers with eyes reddened by hunger.

Food had already surpassed gold, silver, and valuables to become the most expensive hard currency.

"These food and supplies are enough for over 100 people to consume for two months; it is more than enough for our use."

Master Shen and Manager Xu finished counting the supplies and breathed a sigh of relief; at least they wouldn't have to go hungry.

With cities fallen, wealthy and prosperous families reduced to abject poverty—they had seen such scenes among the refugees from Su, and naturally, they did not want the same to happen to themselves.

They had originally been worried about having no food or drink, but seeing the supplies in the Zang, they finally felt at ease.

Yet, upon closer thought, they were astonished by Zhou You's miraculous abilities.

Aside from the martial artists, the women and children in the caravan had no concept of so-called fist-martial realms, but they had an intuitive understanding of who could protect them and provide food.

The discovery of this batch of supplies caused Zhou You's prestige in the caravan to successfully climb to its peak.

"What are you standing there for? Start cooking! Everyone eat your fill and then we'll get on the road!"

Under Zhou You's call, cooking smoke rose from the abandoned village.

There were too many supplies; this was all the material stored in one Hunger Pouch, and once released, the pouch would be destroyed and couldn't be packed back in.

Therefore, to avoid waste, Zhou You told everyone not to be frugal and to eat until they were stuffed.

Rice, pancakes, cured meat, and pickled vegetables—they cooked with plenty of oil and ingredients, using high heat, as if they were celebrating the New Year every day.

When people are hungry, they easily become flustered; only when they are full can they be calm and have active minds.

While eating their fill, the women of the caravan even had spare time to cut fabric and make fresh clothes and socks for Zhou You and the others.

Thus, a very rare scene occurred.

This caravan fleeing for their lives actually had everyone looking radiant, without a hint of hunger or exhaustion, and their expressions were not flustered.

During this time, they even had a few meals where they went to pick wild vegetables to add fresh greens to their bowls to improve their diet.

After walking for a few more days, the ground shook, dust rose, and a large group of people approached rapidly.

In the wilderness, the thing one fears most is encountering one's own kind, especially large groups of gathered living people; this was a lesson learned in blood on the road to survival.

Although the purpose of people banding together is to seek survival and self-protection, once the numbers grow, the nature of it changes; they begin to turn and bully other weaker companions, and even cruel acts such as looting and slaughtering emerge.

Mobs, rebel armies, and mutinous soldiers are all transformed step by step in this way.

Several martial artists had their hackles raised and were immediately prepared to strike and fight, but they were stopped by Zhou You.

"Our own people!"

It really was their own people!

The sound of footsteps was slightly chaotic, but generally orderly and rhythmic; upon walking closer, it was discovered that they were neither rebel soldiers nor mobs, but a team organized by young, able-bodied villagers.

Leading them was none other than Tie Niu, who had left a step earlier, and beside him was his grandfather, Zhou Laiwei.

"Young Master, I am late; I am here to take you home now."

Hundreds of young, able-bodied men from Zhou Family Village, upon hearing this, followed Zhou Laiwei and knelt on one knee toward Zhou You, "Greetings, Young Master! We respectfully welcome the Young Master home."

For a moment, the caravan was deathly silent, and everyone was looking at Zhou You.

Including Zhou Laodie and his mother, their minds were completely dazed; since when did their You'er become a Young Master? (End of chapter)