Chapter 4 Seeking Food

  Yang Bo took a glance at the corpse and turned his head to ask Tie Niu, who was busy, "Tie Niu, what is this thing?"

  "Field mouse!" Tiedou didn't even lift his head: "Field mouse, I caught one a few days ago, it was really delicious... Heaven is pitiful, brother, we're still quite lucky."

  "Hamster?" Yang Bo furrowed his brow, where in this environment could there be any hamsters? Probably only some corpse-eating rats could survive here. But with hunger pangs unbearable in his stomach, he couldn't care about these things for now.

  Tie Niu was obviously an old hand, he glanced at it a few times and quickly picked up the yellow mud to tightly seal several nearby holes. He then took out a broken pot from his backpack and began digging along the hole opening. Yang Bo also came over with his walking stick to help.

  "Brother", Tie Niu pointed to the hole and made a pinching motion, Yang Bo nodded in understanding. They were almost digging up the mouse, he threw away his crutch and prepared to guard the entrance and wait for the rabbit.

  The mouse in the hole was frightened and started squeaking, trying to peek out several times but being scared back. Finally, Iron Bull enlarged the entrance a bit and reached inside to feel around for a moment. When he withdrew his hand, a huge mouse had been firmly pinched in his hand.

  The two let out a cheer and Iron Bull picked up a rock and smashed the rat's head with several heavy blows, killing it cleanly.

  "Brother, should we peel it?" Tie Niu asked Yang Bo with some hesitation.

  "How can you eat it without peeling?" Yang Bo was startled.

  Under Yang Bo's persuasion, Tie Niu gave up the idea of using this mouse to make soup. Looking at the discarded internal organs and skin, Tie Niu reluctantly sighed, these things are also a meal? But his brother said these things were not clean, so Tie Niu believed him.

  Yang Bo had just happily hugged some withered branches and was about to light a fire when he was stopped by Tie Niu.

  "Brother, absolutely don't start a fire here." Tie Niu threw away the withered branch in Yang Bo's hand and pointed to the side of the road: "We'd better go behind that earth slope and hide."

  Yang Bo quickly understood Tie Niu's meaning. At this time, the person with food in his hand was simply the focus of everyone's attention.

  "Don't forget, this is now the most cruel era of survival of the fittest!" Yang Bo followed behind Tie Niu, reminding himself in his heart.

  "Brother doesn't know, a few days ago, many people were killed in a fight over a dead wild dog." Tie Niu feared that Yang Bo still hadn't realized the severity of the situation, and Yang Bo lowered his head, silent.

  To avoid drawing attention, Yang Bo deliberately chose a small mound that was sheltered from the wind and lit a fire. Tie Niu stood at a high point, looking around cautiously, eating something more carefully than stealing. Yang Bo didn't dare to show off his skills, so he just roasted it casually, while Tie Niu had been pitifully staring at the mouse in his hand for some time.

  Yang Bo smiled and handed over more than half of the roasted mouse to Tie Niu, keeping only a small part with the tail for himself. He took a big bite, and although half of the oily roasted mouse entered his stomach, the feeling of hunger became even harder to bear. When he saw Tie Niu carefully chewing and swallowing all the bones, Yang Bo was truly stunned.

  Fortunately, the strength in his body had increased significantly, to counteract the strong desire to continue eating, Yang Bo urged Tie Niu to set off again. But he still didn't have the courage to look back at the remaining fur and internal organs, even for a glance, fearing that his rationality couldn't overcome his hunger.

  "The flavor is really good" Yang Bo savored the taste, licking his lips. The mouse meat was even more delicious than rabbit meat, and although it was roasted, not a bit of its natural freshness and smoothness was lost. Plus, the slightly salty taste of the mouse meat itself made it even more palatable. Of course, it's best not to think about what they eat to survive.

  "How I miss the lamb skewers from the old barbecue stall!" Yang Bo sighed inwardly, "It's strange, the roasted mouse and roasted lamb taste about the same."

  Tie Niu didn't notice Yang Bo's barbecue skills at all, but instead disapproved of his extravagance and waste.

  Relying on this half a mouse, the two of them walked an extra day's journey, but in the following days, no matter how hard they tried to find something to fill their stomachs, they still couldn't find anything.

  Yang Bo limped along with his crutch, walking shoulder to shoulder with Tie Niu on the yellow earth road. He began to regret throwing away that old mouse's entrails.

  "Tie Niu, how much longer until we reach the Shandong border?" Yang Bo's mood was somewhat heavy. No matter what abilities he had, in such an extreme environment, it was all useless. He wasn't some kind of special forces soldier, after all.

  Tie Niu rubbed his head and hesitated: "Didn't brother ask just yesterday? Shouldn't it be arriving soon?"

  Yang Bo was speechless. At the speed of less than ten miles a day, it would take at least a few more days to leave Henan Prefecture. The question was how long they could persist in this way?

  It seems that there aren't many people who starved to death after crossing over; could it be that I'll become the first one?

  Just then, the sound of horseshoes echoed in front, the sound came from afar and approached quickly, soon a military-looking man appeared from behind the hill.

  Yang Bo and Tie Niu were startled, stopping in their tracks as they stared at this unexpected guest.

  This man had a bow and arrow on his back, with a waist knife hanging from his waist. On a hot day, he was still wearing a kind of conical hat that looked like Lin Chong's. Yang Bo had never seen the dress of an ordinary soldier in the late Ming dynasty before. He remembered that Lin Chong should be a figure of the Song Dynasty, why did the soldiers of the late Ming dynasty also wear this kind of military cap?

  That soldier came too quickly, Yang Bo hadn't even reacted from his thoughts, the horse rushed straight to his face, and its two iron hooves were about to kick his face!

  Damn it! So ancient people didn't follow traffic rules either? Yang Bo scolded angrily.

  Yang Bo seemed to have not realized the severity of the situation, Tie Niu saw that things were taking a turn for the worse and made a mighty lunge, both people rolled like tumbleweeds onto the side of the road. The four horse hooves heavily trampled the spot where they had just been standing. If Tie Niu was any slower, Yang Bo would have already become mush!

  That soldier found the two men's appearance amusing and couldn't help but burst out laughing, but when their horses crossed paths, the soldier's laughter suddenly stopped, and the two clearly heard a "huh" sound.

  Yang Bo suddenly became furious, but Ma Su's horse was faster and in a flash he had passed by. Far away, Yang Bo could still see the soldier on horseback frequently turning his head to look back...

  "What a world... is there still king's law? Is there still heavenly justice?" Yang Bo pointed at Jun Han's back and scolded for a few sentences, seeing Tie Niu's numb expression, he could only shut his mouth with a humph.

  "I heard that these soldiers are even more brutal than the Tartars outside the pass, and if you encounter them, you can only admit defeat. Brother, be careful next time..." Tie Niu shook his head, feeling a bit puzzled in his heart. This Yang Bo brother doesn't know anything, not even the most basic common sense?

  The two of them groaned and struggled for half a day before they finally got up. Yang Bo thought for a moment, then suddenly showed a joyful expression, saying "Tie Niu, we might be close to the Shandong border already? Otherwise, why would we run into government soldiers out of nowhere?"

  "Maybe... maybe it's a relay station?" Tie Niu also didn't dare to confirm

  "Anyway, at least there's hope now, right?" Yang Bo stood up with a sigh, supporting Tie Niu's shoulder.

  "Let's hurry up and get to Shandong Prefecture as soon as possible, I heard the imperial court has relief grain waiting for us there." Tie Niu had a look of longing again.

  Yang Bo felt a sense of absurdity when he heard Tie Niu's words, why did the tone of this sentence sound so familiar?

  "Who said that?" Yang Bo turned his head and asked back.

  "Our county lord said" Iron Bull nodded definitely

  "Hehe" Yang Bo smiled awkwardly, unsure of what to say. Although he had only been in the late Ming dynasty for two days, there was no one who understood certain aspects better than him.

  He didn't plan on telling Tie Niu now, after all, shattering someone's illusions was a very cruel thing to do.