Chapter 55: The Drought (Part II)

While I know that the drought is halfway over, the rest of the days are even more difficult.

In the spring, the troll caravan did not come, the village did not accumulate any goods, and the food that was hunted in the rain and snow was already very small, and in the early spring, all the wild grasses and vegetables in the vicinity were dug up, and the food that could be found was even scarcer.

The river has completely dried up, and even the big river on the side of Beizu Village has only a thin stream, and even for a while, the river has completely stopped, leaving only large and small pools of water, and people from nearby villages have come to fight for water, and they almost fight.

Later, elders were sent from each village to discuss the distribution of the muddy stagnant water according to the population.

So, this year, we spent a summer that was barely well fed and drunk.

The ale wine, which could have been drunk as water, was buried by my father.

The only ones in the village who are alive and well are the Kodo beasts.

They are not picky about food, they can eat dry weeds and tiny branches, and they can drink muddy water, so they are the only ones in the village who can eat and drink.

However, a small half of them were also killed and made into food.

Because of the divination beforehand, we all knew that the drought was about to pass, so the people in the village still held on, and there was no major panic.

It is said that there were already people fleeing the famine in the villages farther away, who had eaten all the food and fled north with the last clothes and weapons left in their families.

At the hottest time of summer, there was a first food shortage in the village, and there was no food at all.

It occurred to me that during a meeting of the hunting party, I asked my father, "Why don't we go to the forest and get something to eat?" ”

The elder brother immediately said strangely: That is the territory of the centaur, why do you want to go? We're not robbers! ”

I said, "But we don't have any food!" They don't have food to invade our territory, why can't we? ”

The elder brother said, "Then what is the difference between us and the robbers?" ”

My father agreed with me, but asked me, "We don't have food, do they have it?" Droughts don't just happen on the grasslands, do they? The woods over there have also withered, and we may not find food, and besides, we ourselves have not eaten enough for a long time, and our combat effectiveness is not as good as before, and if we encounter centaurs, I am afraid that we will ......."

I looked at my father's slimming figure, thought for a moment, and said, "We haven't eaten enough, and they may not have eaten enough, so don't be afraid of them!" Besides, I can do divination, at least I know in advance if I will run into them......"

Dad was a little hesitant, and the rest of the hunting party said, "Village Chief, little Bihong, you have ideas, we listen to you!" ”

Uncle Sanji said, "Let's ask Elder Thal......

Someone immediately retorted: "Isn't it the same to ask Elder Tal as to ask the captain?" He would have agreed! ”

Soon, they called Grandpa, who hesitated for a moment and said, "You can try it first......

With that, he took me home and did a divination.

He threw a leftover piece of lamb bone into the fire, and I waited with Pacharti and Ian.

Strange to say, even though everyone was hungry, Ian and I hadn't lost much weight.

Dad, brother, grandfather, mother, sister, and brother Patser all lost some weight, and poor brother Alan, who often did not drink enough milk, could only drink a little wheat batter.

Ian watched the flames intently, as if he was carefully memorizing every movement of the divination.

He had awakened to elemental vision, but after a long time, there was no more progress. Pachel could only vaguely feel the change in the concentration of elemental energy.

There was not much firewood burning in the fire, and the flames were not very strong.

The fire in Grandpa's room was perennial, and every day there was some kind of decoction boiling, burning some bones and stones, and now, even the decoction for Patu and Ian was broken.

After burning for a long time, the sheep bones finally cracked.

I couldn't wait to take out the lamb bones and throw them on the ground, taking a closer look at the cracks on them.

The crack shows that there is no danger in going to the forest.

Grandpa looked at the crack and said, "This time, the whole village will win together." ”

I said, "It's already counted." ”

Grandpa said, "Go ahead!" ”

I nodded and walked out.

When I came to the altar, I said to the hunting party waiting there, "Divination indicates that there will be no danger!" ”

Everyone was excited.

Everyone began to prepare, and Dad suddenly said, "It's better to leave half of the people to protect the village!" ”

Uncle Sanji said, "You don't need so much, it's enough to keep a third, right?" ”

At this time, Brother Patu came running again and said, "Uncle Rook! Grandpa asked you to keep half of the people! ”

Everyone looked at Uncle Sanchi.

As we set out, Uncle Sanchi, with Kate and the rest of the hunting party, stood on the fence and watched us leave.

On this trip, we didn't bring anything.

Halfway through, we came across a nest of tree rats hiding in a tree hollow.

Tree rats make holes in the trunk of the tree to make a nest, usually the most favorite food is leaves, grass and insects in the soil, drought makes the woods and meadows wither, they can only eat the heart of the tree, knotted, the whole tree is eaten empty, when we pass by, the dead tree is slightly thicker than the arm suddenly "click" down.

The nearest uncle was startled, and then we saw the fleshy tree mouse rolling down from the hollow of the tree.

Ten hunters, surrounded by four tree rats the size of a fist, stared wide-eyed.

Dad took a look, swallowed his saliva, and said, "What else can I do?" Eat first, then have the strength to hurry! ”

So, we lit the rest of the dead tree trunks, cooked the four tree rats, and ate less than half a roast of meat each.

The hot food was in our stomachs, and despite the hot and dry weather, we had some strength and kept going.

Slowly, we approached the forest on the edge of the prairie.

Just as my father said, this side of the forest has not escaped the ravages of drought, and the forest that I had seen from afar before, like a thick green wall, has become a large area of dry branches, like thorny bushes that used to grow in the barren meadow, but these thorn bushes are connected to form an endless wall.

We approached the forest cautiously, and did not encounter a single centaur or boar man.

Even if we do, we can see them from a long distance, so we don't need to worry.

In the forest, we finally found something to eat.

Some very drought-tolerant vines and thorny trees.

The lower half of these trees showed signs of gnawing, which had been done by the boar people.

Centaurs don't eat these things, and boar-men are hungry for everything, but they're too short to reach the bark of trees in high places.

We sprang into action and gathered away the still tender bark and the few leaves left on it—which could also be counted as our food.

Next, we encountered a lot of burrowing bugs, rats, and birds in the forest, barely scraping together enough food to eat half-full.

We didn't go deeper, but took advantage of the fact that it was still early and returned to the village.

When I returned to the village, I found that the village was fenced.

Surrounding the village were people from the village of Wana and two villages further away.

Uncle Sanji and the others guarded the gate into the village and did not let them approach.

The people in the besieged village shouted: "You can't do this, everyone is a minotaur!" You can't watch us starve to death! "Divide that boar in half of us!" "Hurry up! Divide it in half! "Uncle, let's go in!"

They were noisy and didn't see us come back.

Uncle Sanji could see it, and he shouted happily, "Captain, you are finally back!" ”

When the people in the besieging village heard this, they were so frightened that they quickly parted.

Then they saw the food I was carrying and cried out, "They've found food!" ”

Immediately, someone shouted, "Village Chief Luke, save us!" ”

Someone else said, "Chief Luke, we haven't eaten in days!" ”

Some even said, "Village Chief Luke, quickly distribute the food to us!" Otherwise, we'll rush away! ”

Dad yelled, "Don't make any noise!" ”

The men were so frightened that they took a few steps back.

Some of them were also armed with weapons.

However, the total number of them is less than fifty, and even if they want to break in, it is impossible.

We followed Dad and walked past them.

Uncle Sanji carefully stepped out of the way, and we walked in.

They looked at what we were carrying, and their eyes widened, and their black eyes were about to turn green.

My dad and brother and I walked at the end and waited until they were all in.

In the end, Dad said, "We don't have any more, we just got these today, but we have to feed our old people and children, right?" ”

Immediately someone shouted: "We also have old people and children!" ”

Dad looked at him and said, "We won't die without help, but only if we ourselves are saved!" ”