Our neighborhood has been transported again.

Chapter 103, Day Twenty-One Settlement (4K)

Slowly sliding down the tree, Qin Ziwen arrived in front of the wild boar carcass, reached out, and grabbed the card.

The light on the card's surface dissipated, revealing its true form: a purple card.

It turned out to be a recruitment card.

Pick up the card and look at the front.

A chestnut horse remained in a walking posture.

[Recruitment Card] Common - Tame Mongolian Horse *1
(Photo: Mongolian horse)

horse?
This horse is nice, but unlike a harpy eagle, a horse can't fly out of the window. You can't always lead it up and down the stairs in the hallway.

Moreover, a horse has a much larger appetite than a harpy eagle.

However, the next map is the Gobi Desert, so you can summon it there.

If he remembers correctly, Mongolian horses are known for their hard work and resilience, and can adapt to various harsh environments; they are not a particularly prized breed.

Qin Ziwen patted the eagle's head. "Go back first and bring the others over. Don't fly too fast so they don't lose you. Lead the way for them. I'll wait for you here."

After speaking, he looked around, picked up some dead leaves from the ground, and then cleared away the surrounding weeds and dead leaves to prevent a fire.

When the withered leaves are lit, some of the damp leaves also emit gray smoke.

The gray smoke drifted into the sky through the gaps in the tree branches.

"Go early and return early."

The harpy eagle let out a cry, then spread its wings and flew into the sky.

"Such a big wild boar, it'll keep us eating for a long time," Qin Ziwen remarked. He added that once he got back, he might not even have enough coarse salt at home.

Fortunately, the cellar temperature is low, so it can be stored for a couple more days. We need to work harder these next few days to produce more coarse salt to help with the pickling process.

He bent down, went to the wild boar carcass, took out a crowbar from his bag, and prepared to remove the large clamps.

Once activated, these animal traps cannot be opened by hand; a crowbar is required.

"Sir, let me do it, don't hurt yourself." Du Yu took the crowbar, and the two of them worked together to slowly remove the animal trap from the pig's leg.

Looking at the giant wild boar's trapped hind leg, it was almost broken. This was partly due to the trap, and partly due to the boar's own efforts to constantly stimulate the broken leg.

"Tuk-tuk-tuk."

There was a knocking sound coming from the kitchen window.

Qin Ziwu, who was guarding the living room, heard the noise and quickly went to open the window.

The harpy eagle let out two urgent cries after it came in.

Qin Ziwu hurried to the salt well and said to the refugees, "Come on, don't worry about work for now, follow me and carry the wheelbarrow."

They received instructions in advance, and after hearing the commands, they put down their work one after another.

"Sir, the salt in the pot is only half-cooked." Da Zhuang, who had moved a stool and was standing on it stirring the large iron pot, hesitated.

Qin Ziwu frowned. His elder brother had said to hurry. What if it took too long and delayed his brother's business?

His eyes narrowed immediately, and he pointed to the salt-drying field next to him, "Pour it in here, and take it out again to boil it once more later."

Da Zhuang wanted to say something more, but Liu San tugged at his arm and gestured for him to stop talking nonsense.

Then, a group of six people rode three metal wheelbarrows down the stairwell and pushed them out of the east gate.

This unusual scene attracted the attention of some residents in the surrounding communities.

Huang Tao had just finished dealing with his business and came out of the second floor with a few people when he saw Qin Ziwu and the others pushing a wheelbarrow away from the community.

Huang Tao turned his head and asked the old man behind him, "Engineer Yao, is this the wheelbarrow we made?"

The man he called Engineer Yao was a tall, thin old carpenter with tanned skin.

Engineer Yao shook his head after just one glance. "We didn't make them. Those wheels are made of wood. We only use tires."

Huang Tao frowned. Could it be that someone in the neighborhood was competing with him for business?
Looking back, the person had already gone far away and disappeared around the corner.

More than three hours later, as the sun was setting, Qin Ziwu finally led everyone to find the eldest brother who was dismembering a wild boar by the campfire.

"Big brother!"

"Hmm, come lend a hand." Qin Ziwen pointed to the dismembered giant wild boar on the ground.

Knowing that it would take Qin Ziwu and his group quite some time to arrive, and with the idea of ​​not wasting any time, he and Du Yu slowly butchered the wild boar.

Otherwise, if we wait for someone to arrive and then dismember the body, it will take several more hours.

Several people worked together to place one of the body parts onto the wheelbarrow. The wheelbarrow sank, but it still steadily supported the pig's body, which weighed over 300 pounds.

After all, this wheelbarrow was originally designed to transport heavy granite from the quarry. Although it looks a bit rough, it is top-notch in terms of both materials and sturdiness.

“Go find some vines or soft branches nearby and tie them to the wheelbarrow.”

The group pushed the cart slowly back.

Wang Xiaoli carried a bucket to the riverbank.

Even though Grandma Li no longer needed her to fetch water, she still developed the habit of doing so at this time.

Perhaps because it was getting late, the river surface was somewhat dim.

She arrived at the riverbank and carefully observed for a while before squatting down to collect water, making sure there was nothing underwater nearby.

As ripples spread across the water, a dark shadow rapidly approached from beneath the surface.

Wang Xiaoli, who had been on high alert, let out a scream and quickly got up and ran away.

As she let go, the bucket wobbled and slowly rocked on the water, gradually moving away from the shore.

"Oh no, my bucket!" Wang Xiaoli was a little annoyed. She hadn't even seen what was under the water, only a long, thin black shadow.

She picked up a branch from the side, hesitated for a moment, and still didn't have the courage to go any closer to the river.

She was certain it wasn't a crocodile, because crocodiles wouldn't be that small.

It could be a snake. The thought of snakes crouching underwater by the river makes her legs go weak. She has been afraid of these legless reptiles since she was a child.

"What's wrong?" Zheng Yuan, who was fishing by the river after dinner, rushed over upon hearing the noise.

“There’s something in the river,” Wang Xiaoli said, pointing to the surface of the river.

“There’s definitely something in the river. Don’t stay by the river for too long. Although there are fewer crocodiles recently, they’re not completely gone.” Zheng Yuan thought this woman wasn’t very smart.

"Thanks for reminding me. I just came to fetch water. I was startled by something in the water, so I dropped the bucket," Wang Xiaoli said with a wry smile, pointing to the location of the bucket on the river.

Zheng Yuan looked in the direction Wang Xiaoli was pointing, and his pupils suddenly contracted.

On the river surface, a completely black, flat creature, somewhat resembling a shrimp and somewhat a centipede, crawled out of the water and into the bucket.

The creature I glimpsed near the hippopotamus carcass yesterday overlaps with the creature before me.

Could it be that it killed the hippopotamus?
Seeing the strange expression on the man's face, Wang Xiaoli turned her head and her face turned deathly pale.

"What is this?"

This thing looks like some kind of aquatic insect, but insects don't grow this big; it's probably a meter long.

Zheng Yuan looked around and finally looked at the wooden stick in Wang Xiaoli's hand. "Can I borrow your stick for a moment?"

After receiving the wooden stick, Zheng Yuan carefully touched the water's surface with the tip of the stick.

A dozen seconds later, the stick suddenly sank, a pulling force coming from the other end. Zheng Yuan gripped the stick and growled, "Get out of the way!"

He swung the object sharply, hooking it out of the water and then slamming it heavily to the ground.

After being removed from the water, the strange black worm struggled on the ground, seemingly not adapting well to the environment on land.

Zheng Yuan rushed forward, raised his stick, and struck several times before finally killing him.

"This thing is quite hard." Looking at the thick shell on its back and its ferocious mouthparts, Zheng Yuan frowned. If the hippos downstream were indeed killed by them, and now that they have spread upstream, the river is definitely even less safe.

We just chased away the crocodiles, and now so many strange insects have appeared.

After thinking about it, Zheng Yuan felt that he should tell other people in the community about this, so that no one would accidentally get caught in the crossfire.

This insect doesn't look like a good one.

It was already 10 p.m. when I got back to my apartment complex.

The neighborhood is basically quiet by now.

Three wheelbarrows were slowly pushed into the residential area.

Four refugees clutched their stomachs, their eyes filled with resentment.

"Don't worry, there will be food when we get back, and it'll be plentiful! We'll even have meat tonight!" Qin Ziwen encouraged them.

Reinvigorated by the adults' words of encouragement, the four of them regained their strength.

Upon arriving at the apartment building, the eight men slowly carried the body back into the house, then carried the wheelbarrow upstairs. Qin Ziwu then used a mop to clean up the bloodstains in the stairwell.

After finishing his work, Qin Ziwen cheered up and went to the tavern's kitchen to cook.

Going to the soup kitchen to cook might attract another group of refugees.

Taverns are better; as long as the lanterns aren't lit at night, no customers should come.

After working for half an hour, I simply cooked a large pot of smoked meat and vegetable porridge for eight people.

This time, the porridge he cooked was rather dry, and it also contained meat. Qin Ziwen and the others were fine, but the four refugees ate it ravenously, and Dazhuang cried as he ate.

"Woo~"

"Why are you crying? The adults are cooking meat for you, and you're still crying," Liu San quietly reminded the simpleton.

Dazhuang turned his head, and the man was crying like a child. "Before my mother starved to death, she kept saying that she wanted to eat a piece of meat. I wish my mother could have eaten some too."

Upon hearing his words, the other refugees drinking porridge around him fell silent.

Everyone silently buried their heads in their bowls.

Qin Ziwen put down his bowl and said to the others, "Anyone who isn't full can have more. Everyone has worked hard today, so dinner is all you can eat. But don't overeat. If you work hard, you'll have more opportunities to eat meat in the future."

After they had eaten and drunk their fill, Qin Ziwu went to wash the dishes, while the others went about their respective tasks and got busy.

Some were responsible for cutting the meat, some for making the braising sauce, some for boiling the salt, and others for cutting the meat into small strips before marinating it.

Time slipped away quietly amidst the heightened enthusiasm.

"You have successfully 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: 2 Blank Expansion Cards (Small), 1 Level 1 Fishpond, and 1 Tailor Shop.

Upon hearing the voice in his mind, Qin Ziwen slowed down his actions of marinating the meat.

Silently reciting his newly acquired rewards, Qin Ziwen pondered: two new buildings, and two small expansion cards?

A small expansion card covers an area of ​​20*20 meters. With these two cards, the kitchen and master bedroom can be completely sealed off. This way, there will be fewer and fewer gaps in the house, and no one will ever be able to enter the house from the outside.

However, there is a flaw: all the windows on all four sides of the house have disappeared, which would look very strange from the outside.

Moreover, there is another weakness, which is the main entrance.

Even if the main entrance is damaged, others can still enter through it.

Thinking about this, Qin Ziwen couldn't help but wonder if he should have Li Tieshan build an extra set of iron railings inside.

This way, even if someone breaches the main gate, there's still a layer of defense behind it.

Simply building iron railings is not enough; locks are essential, and Li Tieshan is not a locksmith.

He pulled himself out of his thoughts and looked at the level 1 fishpond and the level 1 tailor shop.

Both of these buildings are good. The fishpond can raise fish, so even in the desert there will be fish to eat. More importantly, the fishpond can store a large amount of water.

Although the water in the fishpond is not as clean as that of the spring, it is still much better than the stagnant water in the desert.

As for the tailor shop, there are currently no skilled personnel available, so it has to be put on hold for the time being.

Qin Ziwen thought of Xiao Xuemei.

My sister-in-law probably knows some tailoring skills.

But it's not appropriate for her to work at the tailor shop.

Tailors and blacksmiths are both skilled workers. According to Du Yu, there are very few skilled workers like this among the refugees; the vast majority are farmers.

Qin Ziwu said, "Brother, you've marinated the meat twice."

Qin Ziwen glanced at his younger brother.

Qin Ziwu immediately shut up.

Everyone worked until after 4 a.m. before finishing.

Finally, the wild boar, weighing over a thousand pounds, was processed.

Unlike last time when some of the internal organs had to be discarded, this time almost everything was brought back.

Some offal is repeatedly washed before being pickled.

Some of the internal organs were soaked in salt water.

The harpy eagle picked up a piece of heart that had been soaked in salt water and ate it with relish.

After everyone else had fallen asleep.

Qin Ziwen went to the kitchen and chose to use the expansion card outside the kitchen area.

As the light shifted, a large, newly opened, blank expansion area appeared outside the kitchen.

However, unlike before when the walls disappeared, this time the kitchen's glass window was still intact after using the expansion card. To get to the back area, you need to climb over the kitchen window.

Of course, you can also knock down the stove and window.

But it would be a real shame to knock down those large, transparent glass panels in the kitchen.

Opening the window and jumping to the new expansion area on the back, Qin Ziwen took out the [Building Card] Level 1 Fish Pond.

A level 1 fishpond requires a 20x20 area, which perfectly occupies the entire area of ​​this small expansion card.

Stand close to the wall and silently recite "use" in your mind.

As the light faded, his foot slipped, and he was greeted by a square puddle of water.

"Wow!"

"Gulu gulu."

Struggling to his feet from the pond, Qin Ziwen cursed, "Damn, why is the earthen embankment by this fishpond so slippery?"

He wiped the water off his face; the water was quite cold. He didn't need to measure the depth; he had personally felt it when he fell in—it was about two meters deep.
(End of this chapter)