Survival in the Ruins: I can make everything evolve infinitely - Chapter 9

Chapter 9: I Don’t Know What “Full” Feels Like

Evening.

Mu Liang and Mino returned to the camp’s wooden shelter.

“Today’s haul was really plentiful.” Mino squatted by the fire pit, happily playing with the little lizard.

Today, they caught a total of forty-five little lizards. Of these, twenty-three were caught by the Tricolor Lizard, and the rest were caught by the two of them.

In addition to the little lizards, they also caught three palm-sized rats.

Mu Liang was sharpening his military knife and asked, “Do you always eat little lizards?”

“Yeah, occasionally if I’m lucky, I get to eat some wild rabbit meat.” Mino replied without lifting her head.

Today had been a real harvest. Normally, she could only catch two or three little lizards.

“Are you full?” Mu Liang paused his sharpening.

“Full?” Mino tilted her head, thinking hard before saying, “I don’t know what being full feels like.”

She had never been full, so how would she know what it felt like?

“…” Mu Liang listened to the girl’s words, which were so heart-wrenching. When he met her confused and searching gaze, he felt inexplicably irritated. He tossed the stone he had been using to sharpen the knife aside.

“What’s wrong?” Mino blinked her blue eyes in confusion.

“Nothing, I’m just going to take a walk around the camp.” Mu Liang sheathed his military knife at his waist.

He wanted to check out the situation around the camp and then spread the word about the thieves’ attack.

Hmm, and maybe clear his head a bit.

“Be careful.” Mino reminded.

She was going to stay behind to process the little lizards, drying them to make jerky so they could be preserved for longer.

“Got it.” Mu Liang grabbed his backpack and ducked into the shadows of the nearby wooden houses after closing the shelter door.

It was evening, but the sky had already turned dark.

There was no moonlight shining down.

In this pitch-black environment, it was just right for Mu Liang to move around.

The air was filled with the scent of grilled meat, and a little flicker of firelight escaped through the cracks of the wooden houses.

But mostly, it was quiet. Some of the houses had the sounds of people breathing as they slept.

After all, if you’re not full, it’s better to rest and sleep than to do too much.

From what Mino had told him, the camp had a hunting team responsible for hunting wild beasts in distant areas, like wild rabbits, land tortoises, wild dogs, and so on.

The food the hunting team brought back was given to those working for the camp leader. As for the rest of the people, the leader wouldn’t care about them.

Living in the camp meant paying taxes, a deal where the leader and the hunting team protected everyone.

Living alone in the wild was very dangerous, as one could be attacked by wolves or encounter dangerous beasts.

But in Mu Liang’s view, the real reason people were willing to pay taxes in the camp was that the leader controlled the water supply.

Only those who paid taxes could receive a portion of water—a share enough to prevent them from dying of thirst.

One of the main reasons Mu Liang came out at night was to prepare more water for their trip the day after tomorrow.

The camp wasn’t large, but it was divided into two layers: an inner and an outer area.

The inner layer had a fence made of wood and stone, where the leader and the hunting team lived.

The outer layer was where people like Mino, who paid taxes, lived.

Mu Liang easily climbed over the two-meter-high fence, avoiding the patrolling people.

The air in the inner layer was filled with the strong smell of roasted meat, and the firewood was burning well.

As he occasionally passed by some wooden houses, he heard sounds that sparked one’s imagination.

“In this kind of environment, they’re not afraid of getting sick.”

Mu Liang muttered to himself as he stuffed the stone back into place.

The leader’s house was in the center of the camp.

Mu Liang circled the house and was surprised to find that it was over four hundred square meters in size.

It was already about the size of a basketball court.

“How extravagant.” Mu Liang sighed.

He now understood what the people working for the leader in the camp were doing.

Mu Liang chose a secluded corner and easily climbed into the leader’s house.

He landed without a sound, and the room was lit by a burning fire. The light wasn’t too dim.

“This should be the side room.” Mu Liang muttered quietly.

He listened carefully to the discussions coming from deeper inside the house, trying to figure out his location.

After observing for a while, Mu Liang noticed there were seven or eight maids.

He followed one of the maids holding a ceramic jar and came to a room guarded by someone.

Mu Liang stayed quietly in the shadow of the corner, using his “Mimicry” ability to avoid detection, even from a few meters away.

Looking around, he saw that the room didn’t have any windows. The only entrance was the door.

Before long, the maid came out, carrying a ceramic jar full of water. She avoided the doorman’s mischievous hand and left with a scolding glance.

Mu Liang temporarily memorized the location of the water storage room, and followed the maid again to a brightly lit hall.

There were four people in the hall, and they were having dinner.

The maid placed the ceramic jar on the table but didn’t immediately serve water to the others. Instead, she grabbed a wild rabbit, cut its throat with a dining knife, and let its blood drip into the ceramic jar.

At that moment, Mu Liang lost all interest in the jar of water. He was about to leave and explore other rooms when the conversation of the four people caught his attention.

“Go downstairs.”

The middle-aged man sitting at the head of the table waved his hand toward the maid.

He scooped up some blood-water from the ceramic jar with a ceramic bowl and gulped it down.

The maid bent slightly and walked out of the hall.

“Leader, are we really leaving here?”

“As long as we stop watering those vegetables, we can last for several more months.”

“Watering those vegetables is a waste.”

After the maid left, the other three spoke up.

The vegetables were for the leader’s enjoyment, and they were only occasionally given out in small amounts. Of course, the three of them were unhappy about it.

“Bang!”

The leader slammed the table and coldly said, “If we don’t leave, will we just stay here and wait to die?”

He poured another bowl of blood-water and gulped it down. His voice was deep as he added, “The water in the underground well will last for at most ten more days. If we don’t leave by then, everyone will die of thirst.”

“Finding a new water source is too difficult.” One of them complained softly.

“We can move to the Yue Tan Tribe. They should take us in.” Another said.

The last one agreed, “I agree to go to the Yue Tan Tribe. We can join their hunting team.”

The leader’s face darkened as he rejected, “Impossible. I won’t agree to go to the Yue Tan Tribe.”

A leader of a camp going to another tribe would probably not even be able to become a small leader there.

Having gotten used to being above others, he was unwilling to be a subordinate.

“Then where are we going?”

“I don’t want to die of thirst.”

“If we can’t find a water source, I’ll take my family to the Yue Tan Tribe.”

The three of them spoke unhappily.

“I’ve already sent people to find a water source. If there’s no result in five days, we’ll go to the Yue Tan Tribe.” The leader’s eyes flashed with killing intent as he looked at the three.

“Fine, we’ll wait for another five days.”

The three of them ate their roast meat, drank several bowls of blood-water, and then left.

“…” Mu Liang quietly stayed in the corner, coldly watching the whole process.

He never expected that the camp was almost out of water.

And the fact that they grew vegetables was something that surprised him.