Chapter 345: The Cold Wave is Coming

The weather is growing increasingly cold, and Winter has thoroughly arrived. The people at the Kexiaozhan have also started using coal from New City, though the quality is generally quite poor; they only use coal that has been carefully selected, otherwise, they wouldn't dare use it at all, preferring to use firewood instead.

Their time spent going out each day has also been greatly shortened; after all, there is nothing left to search for or observe. The Heaven is cold and the ground is frozen, and all things are hidden away, but this does not include those wild beasts. The shortage of food in Winter forces them to increase the frequency of their hunting trips; otherwise, it would be difficult for them to survive this Winter, and they have no way to hibernate like bears do.

The people at the Kexiaozhan have also discovered abnormalities, as they can always hear movement at night. Fortunately, they have enough people and their Weapon is sufficiently powerful, so they are fully capable of killing the wild beasts that come to attack. Therefore, they are not afraid, though they still dare not go out at night, as their night vision cannot compare to that of those wild beasts.

When they go out to search for tracks during the day, they cannot see any traces, so they have to temporarily put this matter aside and wait for them to deliver themselves to their door.

The relationship between the horse herd and them has thoroughly warmed up, perhaps because the constant decrease in Grass has caused the horse herd's range of activity to continuously expand, and it has also become more scattered.

A large area around their Kexiaozhan has not been grazed by any herbivores, so the Grass is still very abundant, which is extremely attractive to the horse herd that finds it hard to fill their stomachs.

Coupled with the guidance of the Salt Block, the horse herd is getting closer to the Kexiaozhan day by day, which is a very fortunate thing for the entire Kexiaozhan.

Seeing the horse herd getting closer and closer to them—to the point that when they open the door to go out, the horse herd has gone from initial panic to indifference—the Scientific Expedition Team feels that the time is almost ripe, and it would be best to find a way to capture the entire horse herd in one fell swoop.

Just as they were preparing to send a letter to the Urban Area in a few days to have them prepare to come and surround the horse herd, they discovered that the weather was not looking good.

Judging from their experience of passing the Winter over these years, the gradually darkening sky and the sudden drop in temperature made them understand that a Major Cold cold wave might be coming.

They themselves are not afraid because the wooden houses are built solidly enough, and their daily necessities such as coal, firewood, and grain are enough to last them for two months. There is even less need to worry about water; the cold wave brings a large amount of Snow, and Snow is water—once boiled, it can be drunk without any problems.

But what they are worried about is the horse herd. The horse herd has already begun to grow restless; perhaps they have not experienced such an impending cold wave, or perhaps they have experienced such a cold wave before, which caused them heavy losses.

However, on this grassland, there is no place for them to take shelter. All they can do is persist in the Snow. The cold is only one part of it; they have already evolved ways to resist the cold, so the cold alone should not directly cost them their lives. What is terrifying is the lack of food.

Once this Snow falls, there is no telling how thick the accumulation will be. If it is thin, they can still push the Snow aside to look for the turf underneath, but if the accumulation is too thick, they will have no way at all.

The people of the Scientific Expedition Team are worried about the horses on one hand, and on the other, they are also a bit excited, because the opportunity they once planned to use Grass to lure the horse herd now has a chance. But looking at the blizzard that has already gathered, they do not know when it will fall, and they wonder if the Urban Area will be able to process their application in time.

The captain of the Scientific Expedition Team feels that they cannot hesitate any longer; if they miss this, they might never have this opportunity again. Most importantly, he is afraid that the horse herd they finally found and just grew closer to will not be able to survive this cold wave.

So he made a prompt decision and wrote an urgent letter, which flew rapidly to the Old City via carrier pigeon. That distance takes less than two hours for a carrier pigeon, and the Scientific Expedition Team's ideas, as well as the application documents for grass and feed, were immediately delivered to Baifeng's desk.

Baifeng also felt that he could not hesitate; this is a good opportunity. Here in their Old City, they can also feel that a huge blizzard is brewing.

They have plenty of grass, and the establishment of the feed mill has also made the supply of feed sufficient. Therefore, Baifeng approved the note at the first opportunity. Once the official document was issued, the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Works exerted their efforts together, and twenty large carts of silage and five carts of grain-mixed oil residue feed set off from the Old City in a grand procession.

Because the roads are clear, they can reach the Kexiaozhan in less than two days. However, given the current situation, the last stretch of their journey might be a bit difficult to travel, because by that time, the Snow will have already started to fall.

Therefore, Baifeng gave them the authority to make decisions on the spot, with people as the priority. If the heavy Snow already threatens their safety before they reach the Kexiaozhan, they have the authority to abandon the grain and fodder and head to the nearest Kexiaozhan or New City for shelter, and even abandon the oxen if necessary.

It seems like the cost is high, but this is only the worst-case scenario; they shouldn't be that unlucky. But as long as it is successfully delivered, the work of reclaiming the horse herd should be smoother, because the horse herd will accept human feeding under forced circumstances. In the future, when humans go to feed them, their resistance should be much reduced. If that really doesn't work, there is only the Taomaguan left.

The caravan set off in a grand procession, with the grass piled as high as a small mountain. However, according to the intelligence they sent, the number of horses in that herd is such that if they eat freely, this grass won't even last ten days. But as long as they persist through the most difficult time, the grain and fodder can be successfully delivered.

Perhaps sensing the approaching blizzard, the horse herd, besides being restless, is constantly burying their heads to eat grass, paying no attention to the behavior of humans moving through their herd.

The people of the Scientific Expedition Team are also anxious, not knowing what the opinion of the Urban Area is.

A day passed, and they saw nothing on the road. They also knew that it was impossible to mobilize and transport it in one day. They estimated they would see how things were on the third day, but with the current appearance of low-hanging black clouds, they probably won't be able to wait.

By the morning of the second day, the Snow was already falling, and there was already a thin layer of accumulation on the ground, though it couldn't even cover the roots of the grass. Now the people of the Scientific Expedition Team have lost hope, because even if the Urban Area agreed to the plan and sent it, it is already too late. The Snow is getting thicker and thicker, and the road is impossible to travel.

The fate of the horse herd can only be left to itself. They are still braving the Snow now, looking for some grass in the accumulated Snow. The people of the Scientific Expedition Team sigh, wondering how such beautiful creatures could fall to such a miserable state.