52 Face bugs (1/2)

To Liu Bu, Luo Xinyu, and the others who lived in the stronghold, a rat was synonymous with dirtiness. Traditionally, they were creatures that scuttled around in the sewers and represented plague, disease, miasma, and so on.

Although Ren Xiaosu also did not eat rats, it was only because he had seen them feeding on carrion before. It left a terrible impression on him. But to the other refugees in town, their natural mindset was that rats in the wilderness were food all the same. These rats stole food from humans and even preyed on other living creatures, so there was no difference between them and any other wild animals.

Since there was a shortage of food in town, they would even turn to eating termites, not to mention rats. This rat would look just like a walking piece of meat to them.

Compared to those in the stronghold, the refugees' perception of food was different. The refugees felt that anything could be eaten as long as it didn't kill them.

The pickup was now destroyed, and the provisions had been shot to smithereens by the soldiers. Even if there were still food left, no one would dare retrieve it at the risk of being attacked by the wolves. As such, they would have to bear with the hunger and starvation that was to come.

However, Ren Xiaosu was not afraid. Anyone but him could starve in this wilderness.

At this moment, Ren Xiaosu was looking at Yang Xiaojin. Earlier, he thought that she wanted to save him when she pointed a gun at the driver. But when she pointed the gun at him as well, he realized she only needed a guide who was familiar with the environment.

Or maybe Yang Xiaojin had realized it would get more difficult to find food from now on, while Ren Xiaosu had displayed skill in this aspect. That was why she had to bring along someone who could find food for her.

As persons specialized in different professions, being skilled with firearms did not necessarily mean that they would be skilled at wilderness survival as well. But as it happened, Ren Xiaosu was also skilled at wilderness survival.

Ren Xiaosu wondered what his wilderness survival proficiency would be if it were classified as a skill.

He asked in his mind, ”What's the proficiency of my wilderness survival?”

”It can be evaluated. You're at master level,” the voice from the palace crisply answered.

Ren Xiaosu was momentarily stunned as he did not expect that it could be assessed. He had never thought that his wilderness survival skill would be at master level. It felt amazing.

For some reason, Ren Xiaosu was getting suspicious of Yang Xiaojin's identity. As someone living in the stronghold, she acted too decisively and never did anything sloppily.

It was still the middle of the night, so everyone was extremely tired. Since the wolves did not dare to enter the canyon, they stopped to rest after walking several kilometers in.

They stopped because they had to discuss the countermeasures to adopt. On top of that, they were afraid of what was beyond the canyon. They wanted to delay walking through the canyon for as long as they could.

”We can only keep going forward,” Xu Xianchu said as he stood in the canyon. ”This canyon is called the Howling Canyon. It looks calm now, but all of you have seen how strong the wind can get around here. I wouldn't be surprised if someone's been blown out of this canyon before.”

”But there doesn't seem to be any wind here at night,” Liu Bu wondered. ”From the evening until now, there hasn't been much wind. By parking the vehicles side by side to act as a shield, the wind shouldn't be much of a problem for us.”

”That won't do. We can rest here for now but we have to leave before dawn,” Xu Xianchu refuted. ”And we don't have any food left. Our top priority is to make it out of the canyon so that we can look for food. It doesn't seem like there's any food in this canyon.”

”Now that you mention it, I'm getting a little hungry,” Liu Bu murmured.

During the night, everyone sat around the campfire that was set up. Because of their fear, they did not have much appetite. But it was five to six hours past dinnertime, and everyone had expended a great deal of stamina and energy while making their escape, so they were all a little hungry.

”If I had known, I would have gone to get the food supplies first,” someone complained. ”Although the pickup was shot beyond recognition, the food was still edible.”

”What can we do now? We still have almost a fortnight's journey ahead of us. What can we eat and drink?” Liu Bu asked.

With this question, everyone turned their eyes to Ren Xiaosu. In everyone's opinion, Ren Xiaosu was amazing at surviving in the wilderness. Didn't Ren Xiaosu catch a large fish?