Chapter 149: Going Out To Collect Firewood (2)
Chapter 149: Going Out To Collect Firewood (2)
Yao Ran noticed that everyone was walking toward the nearest mountain and knew why Long Yu wanted to change the destination. If they went to the same mountain as those people, it's hard to say whether they could cut down the tree and bring it back safely.
Most of the mountain was buried in snow, and there were not many trees left. With so many people cutting down trees, not everyone could get a share, and if there weren't enough trees to share, fights would occur.
Instead of fighting with those people, they can just go a little further and collect firewood peacefully.
After thinking about it, Yao Ran took out a map of Juncheng City from her backpack, showed it to the others, and pointed to a mountain twenty kilometers away.
"Let's go to this mountain."
This mountain is the highest one around Juncheng City, but it is too far to walk. Therefore, Yao Ran guessed that not many people would go there.
Long Yu and others studied the map for a moment and agreed.
It took a long time to walk to the mountain. Yao Ran opened her backpack again and took out seven pairs of snowshoes from the space, using the backpack as a cover. She handed out snowshoes to the others, then took off her crampons and put on her snowshoes.
After leaving the suburbs, the view becomes wider. As far as the eye can see, the ground is covered with snow.
Fortunately, when Yao Ran purchased the Arctic equipment, the seller also included sunglasses to prevent snow blindness. Otherwise, it would be difficult for them to see after walking in this snow for a while.
Wearing snowshoes, they can walk faster, and they reach the mountain in four hours.
When they arrived, they saw groups of men and women armed with hoes, sickles, fire axes, hammers, and even kitchen knives cutting down trees and branches. Two men with murderous looks stood on the side guarding the wood collected by others, preventing anyone from getting close.
Yao Ran and her friends ignored those people and climbed up the mountain to find a secluded place.
After climbing for ten minutes, they found a deserted place and began chopping down trees with fire axes. The trees were frozen, and it took a lot of effort to cut them down.
Long Yu, Huang Qian, Shi Xuan, and Jia Xiang were responsible for cutting down trees. At the same time, Yao Ran, Huang Zhihui, and Deng Qiqi were responsible for cutting the trees into small pieces.
They worked together for two hours and collected enough firewood to last several days. Seeing that they had collected enough for today, Long Yu and Huang Qian tied the firewood tightly with ropes.
Looking at the big bundle of firewood, Yao Ran thought for a while and said, "Let's cut down five more trees and tie them up. We can put the firewood on top of the logs and use it to transport the firewood."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
It's easier to drag logs over the snow than to walk while carrying heavy firewood on their back.
After listening to her idea of using logs to transport the firewood, the others hurriedly cut down five more trees. When they return home later, they can cut the logs into smaller pieces, which will increase their firewood inventory.
Just as they were tying up the logs into a simple raft, a man who was cutting the tree down there climbed up the mountain and saw them.
Looking at Yao Ran's clothes and equipment, the man's eyes lit up, and he quickly shouted at his teammates, "Brothers, come and see what I found!"
As soon as these words were spoken, Yao Ran's expression changed. She reached into her backpack and took out a nail gun.
Soon, a group of people rushed over. Their eyes lit up when they saw a pile of firewood on top of five large logs. Moreover, when they looked at Yao Ran and others, the greed in their eyes almost overflowed.
When those people looked at Yao Ran and her friends like weak prey, Yao Ran was also observing them.
Except for the three burly men, everyone looked emaciated and malnourished. However, when Yao Ran looked into their eyes, she frowned slightly. There was a small green dot in those three burly men's pupils.
Seeing this, her face darkened, and she tightened her grip on the nail gun.
Then she approached Long Yu and others and whispered, "Be careful with these people. They are not ordinary people."
Except for Yao Ran and Long Yu, no one else noticed the green dots in those people's eyes. As she warned her friend, a burly man took a step forward.
He stared at Yao Ran for a long time, then smiled, showing his yellow teeth, and said, "Little sister, you have worked hard chopping firewood for your brother. Take this kitchen knife and leave."
Yao Ran took a look at the kitchen knife and found that it was too blunt to even cut vegetables. Seeing this, she sneered, "Do you think I lack weapons?"
When the man heard this, his eyes flickered, and he chuckled, "Little sister, you should be
glad that I am in a good mood today and not hungry. Otherwise..."
Yao Ran raised her eyebrows slightly and provocatively asked, "What else? Do you want to eat me?"
As soon as she finished speaking, Huang Zhihui and Deng Qiqi were stunned.
They looked at those people again and finally discovered that the three burly men exuded a corpse-like smell. Even in this cold weather, they couldn't hide the smell, which seemed to come from inside their bodies.
When those people heard this, they looked at each other in confusion and then at their leader. The man's smile disappeared, and he became wary.
As temperatures plummeted, they were trapped and forced to eat corpses found in their communities, or they would be starved to death. However, no one except him and his two younger brothers knew about it.