Chapter 961 Chapter 192. Shelter and Neighbors
Little Smoke, who hid in the mountains, was lucky enough to avoid the plague, but they still have to face other difficulties.
For example, a place where people like them can hide.
Because we still need to spread the concept of the Blade of Freedom, hiding in the mountains will become safer, but it will lose its meaning... Little Small asked the Orion miners to find a place not far from Eze Bay and sufficiently concealed. , a place where they can survive for a long time.
The Orion miner made a grimace and hesitated, saying that he had only followed him into the mountains a few times...
"Let's go to the water." Lame Babu said.
With water, it is difficult to starve, and Izawa Bay can be reached quickly by water.
Fortunately, the Orion miners remembered where the upstream was and led everyone over the mountains to escape the pursuers behind them.
Fortunately, the first snow did not come for a long time, so they would not reduce their numbers on the road... Even so, the thin miners still fell ill a lot on the road.
They had to lie on the cart to load the goods and have others carry them. It was okay at first, but as more and more people got sick, some people began to complain that the burden was slowing them down.
At this time Lame Babu stood up. Because of his status as a mage's apprentice and his stories, the miners respected him. He asked the complaining miners: If you were the one who got sick, would you be willing to leave the team and wait for death in the mountains?
The complaining miners said, Lame Babu continued to say to the people around him: "We are all brothers and sisters who support each other, and no one can abandon each other. Live and become a Free City citizen."
“Can we also become Free City people?”
The miners don’t believe it. They know that Free City is very good and is a floating city. How can mud-legged slaves like them qualify...
< br>"Uncle Babu didn't lie to you. I was just a miner more than ten days ago, but now, I can run to Yize Bay to rescue you and lead you to save more people." Little Small said, to the miners Inject hope.
No one is talking about abandoning patients, or even taking the initiative to take care of their companions.
The goddess of luck is also on their side. The weather has improved in the past few days, and it is even a little hot in the sun during the day.
They successfully arrived at the upper reaches of Eze Bay on the third day when the food was about to be exhausted.
The morning fog flows like milk in the valley. The miners walking in the fog have morning dew in their hair, their noses are red from the cold, and their hands are as cold as dead people.
This valley is too foggy and not suitable for camping. They moved outside the valley again and built a fire against the humidity.
These days, in order not to be discovered by the pursuers, they either did not light a fire or hid in a cave. Standing next to the flames, their frozen blood started to flow again, and they seemed to be alive.
The members of the Freedom Blade who were in the same mine as Little Small were sent out to find a suitable hiding place. No one complained, because Little Small followed him out.
In the morning, the morning fog gradually dissipated. Little Small and a few miners climbed to the top of a nearby low mountain and looked into the distance along the wide and churning river.
Clouds and mist surround the mountains, and nothing can be seen clearly.
This place is at least a hundred miles away from Izawa Bay. Even if the weather is clear, you can't see anything.
Soon, Little Smoke's attention fell on another low mountain by the river. There were lush trees around it, indicating that they had time to build a warm shelter camp before winter. And it's right by the river, with a good view. Even if the kingdom's soldiers catch up, they can jump into the river and escape. They returned to the foot of the mountain and told everyone the good news.
The excited miners extinguished the fire and rushed to the short mountain chosen by Little Small with the wounded and few remaining supplies.
Climbing up the mountain exhausted their remaining energy, but it was not time to rest yet. Little Smoke divided the people into three groups. One group cut down trees, and the other two groups went to the river and the forest to find food.
They were seriously short of food. If they wanted to feed this group of thin miners who were severely malnourished, they had to get a lot of food. Fortunately, there are no traces of humans here. You can pick a lot of pine cones and weeds, and you can also catch fish in the river. If it doesn't work, you can still hunt the weak wild races such as kobolds and goblins to satisfy your hunger.
"These bright mushrooms are poisonous, don't pick them, don't touch them... Use a branch to knock off the pine cones... Remember this kind of weed, you can dig out its rhizome, look, it's like a potato..."
Lame Babu followed everyone into the forest and taught them how to collect wild vegetables and mushrooms.
Another group of people were fishing by the river. The water in the river was very cold, but fortunately they had seen how to fish more or less. They collected grass to weave simple fish traps, or dug a low-lying land by the river to catch some fish and shrimp washed in by the current.
They were so hungry that they had to work for a while and rest. In the evening, when the miners who went out to collect food came back, they saw clearings that had been cut down and simple shacks made of tree branches.
The sick and wounded have already laid down inside to rest.
Lame Babu inspects the food they brought back. A large pile of wild vegetables and pine cones, a small pile of mushrooms, fish, shrimp and plant tubers. It's a little hard to keep everyone fed, but a bowl of hot soup for everyone to get through the night and a handful of pine nuts to nibble on isn't a problem.
As expected of a mage's apprentice, Lame Babu's vast knowledge also includes how to cook food. He asked someone to find a stone slab, put it on the fire to heat it, put the peeled pine nuts on it, and then put the ingredients together to make a large pot of mushroom, wild vegetable and fish soup.
Nothing warms the heart more than a bowl of hot soup on a cold night. The miners sat by the warm fire, nibbling pine nuts, looking at the stars, and listening to the story of Lame Babu. They had never felt that they were so close to freedom...
While everyone was listening to the story, , Little Small quietly counted the people who came with him.
Three hundred and fifty-three people followed, 39 of whom were injured and sick. Fortunately, the most difficult time has passed.
The next day, the miners who were divided into three groups worked harder to cut down trees, build larger fish cages, and go further to collect wild vegetables.
The shacks made of tree branches were replaced by real wooden houses, there were palm-sized fish in the fish cages, and wild vegetables could finally fill people's stomachs. Except for three people whose condition worsened and could not be saved, thirty-six people The wounded recovered more than half.
When their situation gradually improved, that day, several miners who went to collect food in the forest escaped back in embarrassment.
They found traces of the orcs more than ten miles upstream.
Orcs are easy to spot. In addition to their beast-like style of eating fur and drinking blood, they also like to erect totems around the tribe.
These miners discovered a standing totem and fled back quickly.
The miners were disturbed by the news. They didn't want to leave anymore, and they had nowhere to go... The orc tribe was upstream, and downstream it was too close to Eze Bay.
“Let’s go over and see who has the best skills.” Little Small said.
They at least need to know where the orcs are, and since the miners didn’t see the orcs, maybe the orc tribe has moved away.
(End of this chapter)