There are indeed people in Fengcheng County.
As Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei drove toward the entrance of Fengcheng County, they noticed a large roundabout.
A statue stood on the roundabout, at least five stories tall, narrow at the top and wide at the bottom, with bizarre curves, its original features blurred by time.
A huge, tattered white cloth was draped over it, flapping fiercely in the wind like a giant flag.
On the flag were crude, ugly black characters: Fengcheng New Gang, Prosperous and Beautiful, Welcome to Join Us.
Both of them observed from a distance through binoculars and were silent for a moment.
After a long while, Lu Xi'an snarked, "Whoever made this flag is quite the talent."
Yao Wei: "..."
She put away the binoculars, held the steering wheel, and prepared to set off.
Lu Xi'an said, "We don't know if we can trust the people inside, should we bypass it?"
"Yeah."
Yao Wei nodded, agreeing with Lu Xi'an's suggestion.
There were clearly many people in the town, and they weren't sure if entering it would be walking into danger.
The residents of the county town hung a white flag, seemingly as a gesture of goodwill. But who knew if it was genuine or a trap?
Moreover, they had already gathered enough resources, so there was no need to enter the town.
Entering now would be like flaunting riches in a bustling market—no benefits, just a host of troubles.
Thus, Yao Wei took another road, still careful all the way.
Lu Xi'an sat in the passenger seat, occasionally using binoculars to look ahead and to the sides, checking for safety.
They chose a route shielded by forests and hills.
This road was hard to navigate and bumpy, making them uncomfortable, but it kept them away from the county and provided cover from prying eyes that might be watching from the town.
"I haven't encountered this kind of situation before; the north is scarcely populated, let alone having such clusters of people."
As they trudged over a bumpy dirt road, dust flew, obscuring the view, forcing Lu Xi'an to lower his binoculars. With nothing to do, he spoke up.
After saying that, he curiously asked Yao Wei, "Is it the same in the south? Do people just gather up like this and raise flags?"
"No."
Yao Wei replied concisely.
But she didn't elaborate on the people in the south. Mentioning the south seemed to upset her, and she drove faster, as if looking for someone to hit.
Lu Xi'an speculated it might be related to the death of Yao Wei's mother, causing her to hold a grudge against the southerners.
Doesn't matter, as long as she doesn't have a grudge against him and kick him out of the car.
It's good to have a ride.
The car traveled a long distance, but Yao Wei's vehicle had a large fuel tank, and the fuel gauge barely moved.
The Fengcheng County town left far behind was no longer visible, and no one came after them, perhaps thanks to the route they chose that provided visual concealment.
It was afternoon now, with some time until dark, but Yao Wei decided to stop first.
Lighting a fire after dark might attract unwanted attention, so they planned to have supper before sundown.
The road ahead converged with a river. This river was so small and shallow that it didn't even have a name on the map.
After some discussion, they left the road here and went upstream along the small river, finding a hidden spot where they could speed away in the car if needed.
After ensuring safety, Lu Xi'an started working.
"Gou, keep watch!"
He instructed the mechanical dog, and Gou began patrolling around the perimeter, ensuring safety.
Lu Xi'an washed the skillet and spoon by the river, then found a smooth, wide stone, washed it, and used it as a chopping board.
While he prepared, Yao Wei chopped some wood and started a fire.
They had some firewood stored in the car, but those were just newly stocked, so there was no need to replace them laboriously.
Since they could gather new firewood nearby, there was no need to waste their car's supplies.
That task previously was Lu Xi'an's, but now it was Yao Wei's turn.
When Yao Wei got the firewood ready, she saw that Lu Xi'an had put pork on the smooth, clean stone slab, but wasn't doing anything, instead staring into the river.
She walked over too, following Lu Xi'an's gaze into the river, but puzzled over what he was looking at.
"How about we skip the pork for this meal? Let's save it for the next one."
Lu Xi'an suddenly said, his eyes still fixed on the river.
Yao Wei had no objections to that. As long as she could maintain her energy intake, she was always one to save whenever possible, but she was curious about what Lu Xi'an was focused on.
The river was extremely shallow and thus crystal clear. No fish were visible, but there were some shrimps.
The shrimps were too small, insufficient for a meal.
Moreover, she didn't know how to handle them.
Hmm...
Could Lu Xi'an?
This guy seemed capable of everything...
"Gou, come here."
Lu Xi'an called Gou over.
Yao Wei decided not to comment and let Lu Xi'an handle it.
Then she watched as Lu Xi'an quickly scooped into the river with a spoon, catching a surprising number of shrimp that didn't have time to escape.
Might makes miracles, indeed.
"See if they're edible."
Lu Xi'an held the spoon in front of the mechanical dog.
Yao Wei pursed her lips; the guy really intended to eat the shrimp.
The dog's eyes scanned them, then lit up.
With that, Lu Xi'an felt assured and began using the spoon to scoop shrimp, draining the water and placing them in the skillet.
It was more like an ambush than scooping, relying on his great strength and speed to catch the shrimp off guard.
So he had to keep changing places to ambush the startled shrimp.
Without a proper net at hand, he could only manage it this way.
After several scoops, he said to Yao Wei, "How about you take over this task? I'll go cook the rice."
"Okay."
Yao Wei readily agreed. She understood what needed to be done and, as a fellow Neo-Human, she could handle it.
Now she was curious to see how Lu Xi'an planned to prepare these shrimp.
If Lu Xi'an could really manage it, she would love to try them.
This meant she'd have another energy source in the future.
Then Lu Xi'an delegated the task to Yao Wei and went to the car to retrieve Yao Wei's pot.
The pot was originally full of water, but Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei chose to use the water in the pot for hydration, so the bottle was full, while some water had been used from the pot.
The remaining water was just enough to cook the rice.
Lu Xi'an opened a bag of vacuum-packed rice, poured in a portion for two, and placed it in the pot. The water level was just right, covering the rice by two fingers' width, neither too much nor too little.
Then he started the fire and set it to cook.