Chapter 358: After Three Days Chapter 358: After Three Days “Taotie, go kill that bait, and everyone else quickly clean up the battlefield. Load all usable supplies onto the carts, and take the cals too. Drilling Mouse, dig a hole and bury the bodies.”
After the battle ended, Fang Xiaocao imdiately issued orders, directing everyone in their tasks.
“Yes!”
Taotie responded, mounted a cal, and chased after the bait.
Fang Xiaocao had thought of the gunfire that had likely alerted the bait, which is why she had sent Taotie, as she didn’t trust anyone else for the task.
This raid on the bandits had been very fruitful.
They had acquired eight cals alone.
That didn’t even include the dead cals.
The food, weapons, and ammunition carried by the bandits made Fang Xiaocao feel like they had struck it rich.
Drilling Mouse didn’t neglect the cals’ bodies either. He took out the dagger he carried and began cutting them up. This was pri protein, and curing it with salt to make jerky ant having a satisfying and filling al in the desert, which was a welco change from just compressed biscuits and canned food.
The only downside was that it was sowhat ti-consuming; they were likely to be delayed in their travels today. However, Fang Xiaocao did not stop Drilling Mouse’s actions.
In the desert, food and water are the most critical, and being able to prepare extra jerky to carry with them made Fang Xiaocao feel that arriving a day late was acceptable.
After Drilling Mouse had cut the cal at, he ignited so compressed fuel to start a fire. He tasked Liu Yishou and Little Luban with grilling the at while he dealt with the bodies.
Fang Xiaocao also joined in grilling the at.
Before long, Taotie returned on a cal.
“Done?”
Fang Xiaocao asked.
“Absolutely!”
Taotie said with a smile as he dismounted the cal.
He helped Drilling Mouse bury the bodies.
Taotie, too, joined in grilling the at.
The five of them grilled cal at for over two hours. They had a satisfying al, then packed up the grilled at and cal hides and continued on their journey.
—-
Traveling by night and resting by day, they trekked through the desert for three days. The faces of Fang Xiaocao and her four companions clearly showed signs of fatigue.
It was not due to lack of rest but purely because of the harsh environnt.
As it neared noon, Fang Xiaocao’s team once again stopped traveling. They chose a spot shielded from the wind to set up camp. Liu Yishou took Drilling Mouse, riding cals to scout the area to check the terrain and ensure they hadn’t deviated from their planned route.
Taotie and Little Luban set up tents while Fang Xiaocao skillfully started a fire to boil at soup with cal at.
The group didn’t speak a word throughout, but they cooperated seamlessly, each focusing on their tasks.
This was the result of three days of coordination.
Half an hour later!
Liu Yishou and Drilling Mouse returned!
Before even reaching the camp, Drilling Mouse called out, “Princess Your Highness, there’s sothing ahead!”
Hearing this, Fang Xiaocao and the others imdiately beca alert and pulled out their weapons.
“What did you find?”
Taotie asked in a deep voice.
“Just now, Liu Yishou and I were scouting the terrain. Five hundred ters from our camp, we found fresh cal dung.”
“Following the trail from there, we found a camp about two kiloters ahead of us. There are ten people, two off-road vehicles, twelve cals, and the vehicles are pockmarked with bullet holes. There are also wounded individuals. It seems they recently had an encounter,” Drilling Mouse quickly recounted everything he had seen.
Listening to Drilling Mouse’s report, images of the bandits they had wiped out three days ago surfaced in Fang Xiaocao’s mind.
“Could it be a conflict with the bandits?”
Fang Xiaocao blurted out the question.
Drilling Mouse shook his head, “That’s unlikely. Bandits never leave survivors nor do they pick uncertain battles. Their approach is simple; if they can swallow it in one gulp, they will; if not, they will trail it, waiting for reinforcents to arrive and consu the prey together.”
Hearing this, Fang Xiaocao closed her mouth.
Not understanding, she just listened with her ears.
“Was there any distinguishing mark on the vehicle?”
“Can you tell which fleet it belonged to?”
Taotie, wiping his dagger, asked in a deep voice.
After pondering for a mont, Drilling Mouse spoke, “There were no marks from Jianghu on the vehicle; it likely isn’t soone from our line of work or others in Jianghu, nor are there any marks from officials. It’s also probably not a scientific expedition team. I guess it’s likely so civilian exploration team.”
Taotie squinted, “Coming here for an exploration?”
“Would a civilian exploration team carry guns?”
“It’s either officials or people from Jianghu!”
Drilling Mouse nodded, “Son-in-law has a point, I didn’t consider that thoroughly.”
Fang Xiaocao, now understanding, asked, “Taotie, what should we do?”
“Should we make contact with them?”
“Or should we bypass them?”
Taotie, seemingly deep in thought and fiddling with his dagger, fell silent.
Seeing that Taotie wasn’t speaking, everyone naturally shut their mouths, waiting for him to speak.
Fang Xiaocao was indifferent; with an unclear origin, she thought it best to avoid trouble and simply bypass them.
“Little Luban, you and Drilling Mouse take so supplies and make contact with them, find out their origin and experiences,”
at this ti, the silent Taotie finally spoke.
Fang Xiaocao was surprised that Taotie chose to make direct contact with those people and looked at him questioningly.
Understanding Fang Xiaocao’s look, Taotie explained, “Their position is directly ahead of us. Even if we detour now, we can’t ensure we won’t encounter them again.”
“It’s better to directly find out their intentions. I have a feeling their goal might be the sa as ours.”
After hearing Taotie’s explanation, Fang Xiaocao nodded, “Let’s do as Taotie suggested.”
Fang Xiaocao felt that Taotie’s concerns were valid.
Even if we bypass them now, we might still et them eventually. If they are fast, it’s fine; they could unknowingly act as scouts for us since we’ll be in the dark and they’ll be exposed. However, if they are slow and end up behind our team, that switches our roles. If they aren’t decent folks, an ambush would be easy.”
“Yes!”
At Fang Xiaocao’s command, Little Luban and Drilling Mouse acknowledged and began preparing for action.
“No matter what happens, don’t be afraid, you two. I’ll be watching from the sand dunes. If any danger arises, I’ll teach them a lesson,”
Taotie said, chuckling.
Although Taotie’s face looked fierce, his words inexplicably provided comfort.
“Yes, Son-in-law!”
The two nodded in agreent.
Little Luban and Drilling Mouse didn’t take a vehicle but instead each took so supplies and set off on cals.
After they left, Fang Xiaocao’s group imdiately began packing up the tents, getting ready to move.
When they finished, Fang Xiaocao asked Liu Yishou to drive the vehicle around to the other side of that group, so that if they captured Little Luban and the others, they wouldn’t trace back to them.
By the ti Fang Xiaocao successfully navigated around the camp and found the best vantage point, Little Luban and others on cals had just appeared on the outskirts of that camp…
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