Our neighborhood has been transported again.

Chapter 153, Day Thirty-One Settlement (Two Chapters Combined)

“Although there are some empty rooms in the community, there aren’t many. Some haven’t been renovated yet, and some have been occupied by other residents. If you want to go, I’ll have to coordinate with those residents, which may take some time,” Zou Jianghe said.

"I understand, thank you very much." Luo Gang bowed.

After chatting for a while, Zou Jianghe went back to check on the casualties of the Tongmenghui.

Yuan Ming and Yuan Dajun walked over side by side, looking at the injured and dead residents along the way, both of them feeling heavy-hearted.

Yuan Ming said quietly, "Captain, you and Brother Du killed too fast, we didn't even get a chance to assist."

"I was nervous at the time and didn't have a chance to hold back."

"Captain, that's not what I meant. These wild beasts are dangerous, and it was right that you didn't hold back. It's just that I feel like we came here and did nothing, like we were just there for show." Yuan Ming felt a little regretful.

"Don't worry, you'll have your chance to make a move later."

Qin Ziwen paused for a moment, then continued, "Besides, isn't it simple to get things done?"

Qin Ziwen said, "I have a batch of animal hides here that need to be processed and dried. I have a leather craftsman who can teach you first. If any of your family members are also interested, they can come and learn."

Yuan Ming nodded quickly, "Great! My mom is forty-eight this year, the perfect age for her to strive!"

Yuan Dajun glanced at his "unfilial son," but then thought of his wife Hu Huilan's personality—she was someone who couldn't stop working. The Gobi Desert was different from the forest; there weren't many things to do there. Jobs like gathering and fishing were basically unavailable here.

If you can switch to a skilled worker position, that would be a good option.

"Captain Qin," Deng Guang said, somewhat intrigued, "Can my family members also come and learn?"

"Brother Deng, welcome! But why are you calling me captain too? It doesn't sound right. Just call me Brother Qin instead," Qin Ziwen said with a smile.

"No, no, no, I'll just use the same address as everyone else," Deng Guang quickly shook his head.

This was something his wife had specifically instructed him to do during the day. She said that Qin Ziwen's team was growing larger and larger, with more and more members. While others called him Captain Qin, he addressed them as "Brother Qin" and "Old Brother Qin." Qin Ziwen might not mind, but that didn't mean the other team members didn't have their own thoughts.

Seeing Deng Guang's somewhat troubled expression, Qin Ziwen thought for a moment and guessed the reason. "Okay, Brother Deng, you can call me whatever you want."

"Oh, right, Captain Qin, this afternoon, several families in our building came to ask me if our team is still hiring."

"What are their backgrounds?"

"They are our neighbors in this building."

"Next time you ask, just say yes, but you'll start as a regular member. There will be a selection process, and qualified members will become core members."

"Understood." Deng Guang nodded.

Zhao Pu came downstairs, followed by ten girls. He walked over and whispered, "Captain, I just talked to Teacher Luo. He learned that room 202 in our building is empty and wants to send ten students to stay there first."

"Let her stay. That's Granny Li's house. If she knew she could help someone, she'd probably agree." Qin Ziwen sighed inwardly, thinking of the kind old woman. He could still recall the taste of the apple he ate that day.

Ten female college students accompanied them.

The girl in the lead looked familiar; she was the same girl who went upstairs to the warehouse to get animal skins yesterday.

After a brief exchange, Qin Ziwen learned her name: Pan Congning.

On the other side, the carcass of the giant hyena king was carried out, its enormous body eliciting gasps from the onlookers.

The beast king's corpse was enormous; someone gestured from a distance, indicating that the giant hyena's claws were larger than a human head.

One slap and his head would probably be smashed like a watermelon.

Chen Pi was invited down by Qin Ziwu, and his eyes lit up when he looked at the corpse of the Giant Hyena King.

He exclaimed that being able to skin this beast would make his life worthwhile! He said that even his great-great-great-great-grandfather probably had never seen such a large wild beast!
"Captain, I'll lead them over first," Zhao Pu said in a low voice.

Qin Ziwen waved his hand.

Meanwhile, Chen Pi's skillful peeling technique attracted a crowd of onlookers.

He held a willow-leaf-shaped skinning knife, skillfully yet unfamiliarly peeling away the animal hide, as if removing a layer of clothing, creating a unique aesthetic.

A plastic film was laid under the body, and blood dripped from the exposed flesh, pooling into a pool of blood.

A middle-aged man with a large mole on his eyebrow walked over, carrying a small bowl, and approached Chen Pi. "Brother, can I have some blood drawn?"

Chen Pi glanced at him, said nothing, and turned to look at Qin Ziwen.

Li Yue asked in confusion, "What do you need the blood for?"

The man said, "It's incredibly nourishing! Tiger blood and deer blood are both highly aphrodisiacs, and this one is the king of beasts, so it must be even more nourishing."

Wang Jun said, "There may be parasites, bacteria, and viruses in the blood. We finally managed to contain the infectious disease, and you want to come again?"

Upon hearing these words, the onlookers began to criticize him.

The middle-aged man quickly slunk away.

After peeling off the skin, the next step is to cut the flesh. I thought that Chenpi could only peel the skin, but I didn't expect that he was also quite skilled at cutting the flesh.

The meat was cut into pieces: head, four legs, belly meat, shoulder meat.
As Chen Pi cut the meat, he said, "The texture of this meat looks a bit like a dog, and a bit like a bear."

"Boss Zhang, here's your meat. This investment wasn't a loss, was it?" Qin Ziwen handed Zhang Bo a large chunk of lean meat, weighing about twenty pounds.

Zhang Bo took the meat with a bright smile on his face, "It's a good deal, not a bad deal at all."

In less than an hour, the price of the meat he took out doubled! If this kind of business were still available, he hoped there would be more of it!
"Okay, now I have another business opportunity, Mr. Zhang, would you like to do it?"

"what business?"

"Lend me 100 jin of salt, for two days, with an interest rate of 5%."

Zhang Bo's smile froze. He tentatively asked, "What kind of salt do you want? From my salt well?"

"From your salt well."

"."

Zhang Bo had gradually gotten used to it, and nodded helplessly, "Alright, have someone come to my house to get it."

Borrowing salt was out of necessity. Yesterday, buying fish almost used up all the salt we had at home. With the meat of this giant hyena king, the salt we had at home simply wasn't enough.

Meat spoils easily if left outside for too long, especially in this warm environment.

After cutting the meat, Qin Ziwen distributed some to the team members, but they didn't want the cards.

"Captain, we didn't participate in anything. This meat is already too hot to handle, and we really have no face to take this card."

"Yes, there's no need to divide contributions."

Several team members spoke up.

Wang Jun said, "Only a team that has a proper system of rewards and punishments, and a clear distinction between them, can go far."

Seeing that everyone was saying the same thing, Qin Ziwen nodded.

This giant hyena king alone yielded a thousand pounds of meat, most of which was lean. Its bones were very thick, especially its skull, which was large and thick.

The arrow was embedded in its skull, the arrowhead halfway in, the thick skull extremely hard.

Its entire skeleton weighs nearly 200 pounds.

It weighs far more than the average person.

On a nearby building, Luo Gang stood on the rooftop, quietly watching the lively crowd below.

Cao Biansheng stood beside him and said, "Old Luo, is it really necessary to force everyone to live in the residential area?"

Luo Gang said, "I didn't kick them out. This will always be their home. It's just that the teaching building isn't really suitable for living. The living environment in the community is better, and there won't be dozens of people crammed into one room." Cao Biansheng didn't comment on Luo Gang's decision, "You decide. I'm too lazy to think about it."

Luo Gang said dejectedly, "I'm not a qualified leader. Teacher Yang is more suitable than me. It's a pity."

"Sister Yang is very capable, but you did a great job too!" Cao Biansheng said.

Luo Gang shook his head. "The students trusted me and chose me, but now out of more than 800, only 539 remain."

Luo Gang rubbed his temples. "Recently, I've been waking up in pain frequently in the middle of the night. Sometimes, if I use my brain too much, my head hurts. I can finally understand why Cao Cao was in so much pain that he wanted to kill someone."

"Why didn't you say so earlier? I would have given you the internal injury treatment card!"

"It's nothing, just a migraine, an old problem, I had it before I transmigrated." Luo Gang said, looking at Cao Biansheng, "You should take care of your health first. You are the backbone of the hunting team, you can't afford to collapse."

After a pause, Luo Gang continued, "If I were to pass away someday and a new leader had to be chosen, Pan Congning, Wang Sheng, and you would all be suitable candidates."

"Where is Zhou Xiaqing?" Cao Biansheng asked.

Luo Gang said, "She's too soft-hearted and lacks assertiveness. She can't manage people. She's only suitable for logistics."

After bringing the meat home, everyone divided the work in an orderly manner: some marinated the meat, others forged iron, and so on.

Only then did Qin Ziwen have time to check the daily settlement.

"You have successfully survived in the wilderness for 31 days and traded some supplies. Overall score: 42 points"

Rewards: Blank Expansion Card (Micro) *1, Sun Hat *4, Stainless Steel Water Bottle *2, Vehicle-Mounted Crossbow Blueprint *1

Hunting the Megalodon King and obtaining cards were not included in the statistics because these two events occurred after midnight.

This achievement will be settled tomorrow.

Besides that, I did receive some miscellaneous items as a reward; it's been a long time since I've received any.

Sun hats and stainless steel water bottles are quite useful in the Gobi Desert.

But what attracted his attention the most was the blueprint.

Vehicle-mounted crossbow?
I took out the drawings, and my palm felt a weight; a thin, blue-covered booklet had appeared.

The front is inscribed with the five large characters "Illustrated Catalogue of Cart Crossbows" in small seal script.

Once opened, it contains detailed records of how to make a portable crossbow with wheels using wood and iron.

"This is good stuff!"

Qin Ziwen's eyes lit up.

If we could make this, even if it doesn't guarantee one kill per arrow, it would at least provide a reliable means of attack against those colossal beasts.

They then approached Li Tieshan, handed him the catalog, and asked if it could be produced.

Li Tieshan examined it carefully, then said definitively, "Sir, I cannot do it!"

"You can't do it, yet you're so loud."

"I can manage to do the ironwork on this object. But there are a few crucial parts that I haven't done before, so I'll have to try, and I'm afraid I'll waste some materials. The rest of the woodwork will require a professional carpenter."

"Okay, I understand." Qin Ziwen nodded, then thought about how to find a few skilled carpenters.

The first person he thought of was the old carpenter at Huang Tao's woodworking hut.

Modern people are not necessarily inferior to their ancient counterparts. A master craftsman like this is certainly skilled, and it might be difficult for him to innovate out of thin air.

But if you give him the blueprints and let him follow them, it would be easy.

The only problem is that we don't know if we can dig it up.

……

The sun was scorching hot.

The next day.

Qin Ziwen and Qin Ziwu, wearing two sun hats, set off southward along the residential area.

Actually, the terrain to the east is relatively complex, and there is a good chance that there is water.

But last night, that group of giant hyenas ran in the northeast direction.

Therefore, heading south is the best option.

This can help avoid encountering herds of megalodon in open areas.

The harpy eagle flew above the crowd. It was not well adapted to the Gobi Desert environment, and every few minutes it would quickly find a shady spot to rest.

Its thick feathers make it look like it's wearing a heavy down jacket here.

"It's only morning and it's already this hot. By the way, what do those giant hyenas usually eat?" Li Yue looked around.

“If food were so easy to find in the Gobi Desert, they wouldn’t need to attack our neighborhood in the middle of the night,” Zhao Pu said.

"Hey, there seems to be an animal over there!" Qin Ziwu pointed to the west. In the direction he was pointing, there were several scorched yellow saxaul trees. At the foot of the trees, a yellowish-brown creature that looked like a lizard scurried past quickly.

It crawls very fast, as if flying on flat ground, and disappears into the ground in the blink of an eye.

As you continue south, the vegetation along the way becomes increasingly abundant.

Besides the saxaul tree, there are also camel thorn and white thorn.

Occasionally, there are a few yellowish-green pheasants.

Along the way, the most common species we saw was that yellowish-brown, lizard-like creature.

"Dr. Wang, you're very knowledgeable, do you know what kind of animal that is?" Yuan Ming asked, leaning closer.

Wang Jun looked away. "I don't recognize it, but I know that one. It's a gerbil, and you can eat its meat."

Following the direction Wang Jun pointed, a small mouse with a yellow back and white belly, standing upright with its two little paws held to its chest, stood on a small mound, looking around.

(Photo: Gerbil)
Upon hearing that it was edible, everyone turned to look at it.

The gerbil was a little scared, took two steps back, and quickly scurried back into its sand burrow.

A warm breeze blew across the scorching Gobi Desert, and in the distance, on the horizon, a black object hopped and skipped closer.

At first, everyone thought it was some kind of animal, but when they got closer, they realized it was a tumbleweed.

"I've seen this on TV, but this is the first time I've seen it in real life." Qin Ziwu glanced at it twice and then looked away, finding nothing special about it.

Wang Jun's eyes lit up, and he smiled, "I have something good to show you all."

After saying that, he took a few steps to the right, came to the front of the tumbleweed, raised the spear in his hand, and said, "Everyone be careful."

Having said that, he went to the side of the tumbleweed, thrust his spear into the dry, spherical pile of grass.

The tumbleweed was forced to stop.

Then, with great effort, he used a spear to lift up the tumbleweed and gave it a hard shake.

Just like when equipment drops, some small bugs were shaken out.

There was even a lizard.

(End of this chapter)