1345 Battle of the Beas (1/2)

Zhang Zian found that Little White had a different look on its face. It was obvious that the stray dogs were thirsty after eating dog food. It was time for them to drink water, but it did not order them to drink water.

”What's wrong? Something up?” he asked.

Little White said, ”...I can't really say what it is. Follow me.”

”Be careful, he could be out to trick you! The dog cannot come up with anything good!” Vladimir reminded him.

Little White's lips parted, and it said, ”Do you have spit in your mouth? Try to spit and let me see, will you?”

”Alright, alright. Don't quarrel. I believe that Little White is not being malicious toward me.” Zhang Zian was actually worried, so he used the chance to smother Little White. This was in case he had other plans. He should at least consider being polite to Zhang Zian.

Little White left the dogs where they were and led Zhang Zian into the artificial woods.

Vladimir did not trust him. He also left the cats with the dogs and followed Zhang Zian.

This artificial forest was dominated by tall poplar trees and supplemented by other low-lying trees. They might have been planted to act as a wind and sand barrier. This was to prevent the wind from blowing the smell of the garbage dump to the coastal city and neighboring cities.

There was no natural spring or freshwater source on the seashore, so there was an artificial ditch in the artificial wood to irrigate the trees.

The cross-section of the artificial ditch was an inverted trapezoidal shape. It was wide at the top and narrow at the bottom and made of cement and masonry. The main body extended several branches out. The fresh water from the raft flowed through the ditch, and the water was still clear, albeit with some fallen leaves in it.

None of the above was the main point. The point was that this artificial forest was also occupied by a large number of caterpillars.

When Zhang Zian walked into the woods, he found that out. Even when there was no wind, the woods echoed with a low rustling sound. Just as poets described the melodious sound of spring silkworms munching the mulberry leaves, the actual experience of hearing it seemed rather far off from imagination.

He stared up and saw a caterpillar creeping on the back of almost every leaf. At least half of the leaves were eaten with many holes on them.

”My brothers are all ironclad men, not as spoiled as cats,” Little White said in a low voice.

Vladimir sneered disdainfully, but there was no rebuttal from him this time around.

”We can survive in harsh environments such as garbage dumps. Everywhere we land, there may be sharp glass and wire, and they will scratch our bodies and limbs... So even if the trees are full of caterpillars, we will not be bothered very much,” Little White continued. ”It's good to say that we can survive through thick and thin, but...”

Zhang Zian listened.

Little White went to the artificial ditch and looked down. ”But to drink the water and have it in our mouths, we really cannot bear that...”

Zhang Zian heard what it was saying and followed it to the ditch.

In the waters in the ditch, there were not only leaves but also a lot of fat caterpillars crawling and bobbing up and down on the surface.

Apparently, the caterpillars on the tree had fallen into the ditch.

”Seawater can only induce vomiting, and we cannot drink it. In this neighborhood, the only source of fresh water that can be drunk is here. However, now...there is no way to drink this,” Little White said. ”When some of my brothers drink water, their tongues and mouths catch the caterpillars, and their mouths get swollen—so swollen that they can just barely open up a tiny slit. They can't eat anything for a few days, and they finally starve to death... Even if we then take precautions and try to avoid the caterpillars floating in the water, many of them are transparent. They are like invisible poisons. Once consumed, they flow straight into our throats and stomachs. The pain inside is worse than having them on our tongues...”