Ah Huang had already gone back and forth several times, sniffing around with a stone in his mouth to scout the terrain. Monkey frowned and shook his head. "No way. How big is this mountain supposed to be? How can there not be a single living thing here?"
Jing Shu frowned too. The real problem was that several of the poison bees she'd sent out hadn't flown far before their signals vanished. She could feel that they'd been flying normally when something suddenly ate them. The road they were walking on might look quiet enough to be eerie, but there were unknown creatures lurking here.
"If we don't eat something soon, we're seriously gonna starve to death!" Xiao Hei groaned and sprawled flat on the ground, refusing to move.
"Let's rest for a bit," Tank said grimly. "Bad news, everyone. Our phones are out of battery and there's no signal. If we can't get out of this mountain within two days, we won't be able to contact Old Yang, and that means we might not complete the next mission." He pulled out a compass. "Don't know if we can rely on this alone."
Ling Ling peered into the darkness through her night vision goggles, while Snake Spirit leaned against a rock and hissed, "Let's tally what we've got left. My little Thai python circled the area and found nothing edible. There's not even bark or wild grass here. Worst case, we'll have to eat algae."
"Don't look at me," Xiao Hei said miserably. "I ran too fast earlier. Lost all my supplies and food."
"I've only got a blanket, a few guns, and some high-energy chocolate," Ling Ling said quietly. "It'll keep me going for maybe three days."
Snake Spirit flicked his tongue and said, "I usually stash some emergency rations inside my little snake's body. That'll let me hang on for three to five days. Besides that, I only have poisons and weapons."
Monkey kept digging at a rock with his knife and muttered, "I never carry food. My pack's full of weapons and survival tools. Me and Ah Huang have made it through worse places. We'll find something to eat here too."
Tank rummaged through his pile of weapons and finally pulled out a few patties and some food he'd bought off the black market. "I've got a big appetite, so I didn't bother exchanging all my black market credits for food before we left. Kept a bit for myself, but it'll only last three or four days. Let's just pray we find supplies soon."
Jing Shu patted her pack. "I've got food and water, but I eat a lot, and you all know it. I don't know how long my stash will last, so unless it's life or death, I'm not sharing. And the old rule still stands: one meal costs 100 contribution points."
"Should've listened when I told you not to take this route. Now you're gonna learn the hard way."
"100 contribution points for a meal that saves your life isn't even that expensive," someone muttered. Honestly, it was generous of Jing Shu to even offer.
After all, these so-called elites were all too proud to "freeload" off her. Still, when they looked at her mountain-sized pack filled with food, no one could think of anything to say.
At least water wasn't a problem. The flood from last year had only recently receded, leaving plenty of algae trapped between rocks. Monkey and Snake Spirit got to work quickly, digging a pit to collect water.
The liquid was murky green-black, with tiny bugs floating inside. They lit a fire by rubbing sticks together and used a helmet as a pot to boil it after filtering it several times.
Xiao Hei took a sip and immediately spat it out, coughing. "Ugh, this water tastes like a damn sewer!"
Snake Spirit grinned, tongue flicking. "The bitterer it is, the more it means there's creature waste in it. That proves there's life in this mountain. We'll find something to eat soon."
Jing Shu shook her head. "Or it's zombie excrement."
Xiao Dou the hen was excited at first, scratching the ground and pecking up a few bugs. She wasn't picky, not after eating red nematodes before. But after a few bites, she started squawking in disgust and refused to eat. Apparently, the bugs here tasted just like corpse worms from the sewers, same as those zombie hippos. Xiao Dou had had enough of that flavor to last a lifetime.
Oh, and she'd grown even bigger. Her armor was getting tight.
"I found them! Bugs we can eat!" Monkey suddenly shouted, thrilled. He pried open a rock crevice and pulled out flat black insects, each about the size of a fingernail but barely a millimeter thick, with pale white flesh inside.
Snake Spirit nodded. "A bit of protein. Cut off the heads and they're edible."
Monkey found two or three types of bugs they could eat. Xiao Hei gathered dry wood for the fire, Tank contributed some patties, and Snake Spirit collected edible algae. After a while, they'd managed to make a pot of protein-rich soup.
Ling Ling sat on a rock, nibbling chocolate and refusing to touch the strange stew.
Jing Shu, though, lit up some disposable solid alcohol. She had boxes of the stuff, scavenged back in the second year of the apocalypse. Perfect for times like this.
She dropped in beef tallow from an earlier batch, simmered bones for broth, and added sliced chicken sausages, ham, and preserved meats for flavor. Then she tore off chunks of beef rib and slices of pork leg, tossed in dried scallops, shrimp, crab, mushrooms, kelp, and daylilies.
She even picked a few fresh lettuce leaves from her stash to blanch. Finally, she cracked four or five fresh eggs from Xiao Dou, dropped in a block of instant noodles, and sprinkled shredded cheese on top.
The rich aroma of hotpot spread far and wide. The savory scent wrapped around everyone, and the rhythmic sound of her chopping garlic echoed in the still mountain air. Jing Shu mixed the minced garlic with cilantro and chopped green onions, poured in sesame oil and a bit of vinegar, and stirred up a perfect dipping sauce.
Only then did they realize that all those vegetables she'd been growing were for hotpot sides.
That woman was downright cruel.
Ah Huang wagged his tail, inching closer but too scared to get near. He finally got hold of a bone, only for Xiao Dou to swoop in and swallow it whole.
The sound of Jing Shu slurping noodles had never been so pleasant. A few minutes later, she even lifted the pot and finished every last drop of broth.
"Burp~." She let out a satisfied hiccup, cleaned up quickly, and got ready to move again.
"Once we cross this mountain, we'll finally get a real meal," Xiao Hei said, trying to cheer himself up, though drool was already soaking his shirt.
Once everyone was fed, their pace picked up noticeably.
Ling Ling's bird scouted from above, while Ah Huang and the little python guarded the flanks. The area stayed eerily silent, like a dead mountain frozen in time.
"Wait. Don't go forward," Jing Shu suddenly said.
Everyone turned to her.
"There's danger ahead. That path could collapse at any moment, and there are unknown creatures nearby." She pointed toward the gap between two cliffs. "We should climb over instead."
"This mountain's practically a cliff! You want us to climb that when we could just walk through? Ah Huang already scouted it! Tell me, who's the scout here, you or me? You really think think you are so great, don't you? Always gotta go against me!" Monkey snapped, his voice thick with irritation.