When the Cattle Went Up, They Could Never Come Down

When the Cattle Went Up, They Could Never Come Down

When Jiang You left Lanwan Base, Xu Rizhao stood on the defensive wall with the little white cat in his arms, actually finding it somewhat unbelievable.

He had originally thought that Jiang You's visit to Lanwan Base would certainly stir up quite a commotion. She might even leave only after inflicting serious damage on Lanwan Base.

After all, when the kings fought, it was always the little demons who suffered.

But who would have thought that she would leave after staying only a few short days?

She came quietly and left quietly, without causing any trouble.

She had even obediently lined up when entering the city, and lined up to leave as well. She was nothing like the envoys from the Three Great Bases, who never lined up whenever they came.

They always insisted on cutting in line and abusing their privileges.

Thinking about it this way, she was actually quite polite!

Not only had she left, but before going, she had also taken away his greatest headache—the sticky candy from Longshan Town that they could never get rid of.

She had arrived with only a few people, but was leaving with a long procession.

For some reason, Xu Rizhao suddenly felt that the lean figure riding atop the mutant calico cat had transformed into a sharp sword, cleaving through the sunlight.

Xu Rizhao did not know what she wanted with Longshan Town.

However, judging from everything she had done at Lanwan Base over the past few days, she was not the kind of murderous villain described by the rumors outside.

Even when she beat up those people from Longshan, she had held back. Although it had looked frightening, none of their injuries were fatal.

With someone like this, he could not stop her from doing what she wanted.

He could only count himself lucky that she was not a vicious criminal.

He had watched the young rascals from Longshan grow up. They were a little rough, a little wild, a little unruly, and a little shameless, but they could not be considered bad people.

After all, there were only a few dozen young, able-bodied people on all of Longshan. They bore responsibility for everyone else's lives. If they did not grow wildly, they would rot beneath the shade of the trees.

The laws of survival in the mountains had always been cruel.

Seeing those cheeky monkeys obediently following behind the mutant calico cat, as well-behaved as lambs, Xu Rizhao's eyes unexpectedly grew sore. He had just pulled a handkerchief from his trouser pocket to wave goodbye when a fair, plump hand reached out from behind and grabbed his ear.

A tearing pain shot through the base of his ear, instantly dragging him back from his melancholy.

"Ah! Ow, ow, ow! It hurts, it hurts!"

"Xu, my second brother says you don't sleep at night and call young girls to your room to discuss 'serious matters,' is that right? You even deliberately chased him out. What's this? Were you afraid he'd see something?"

Xu Rizhao hurriedly held his ear. "Wife, wife, how can you believe that little bastard? Listen to my explanation!"

The woman had a plump figure and looked to be in her early forties. One hand gripped his ear while the other rested on her hip, making her look extremely fierce.

But in Xu Rizhao's eyes, that round face was as beautiful as the moon. Even her freckles resembled an exquisite arrangement by a Michelin chef.

Every spot was just right. One more would have been too many, while one less would have robbed it of some charm.

"Oh, wife, don't you know me? In this life, aside from you, when have I ever opened my eyes to look at anyone else?! That girl is as skinny as a rack of ribs. How could she possibly be as beautiful as you?"

"Really?!"

"Really. Little Eighteen was there too. Nothing happened! I couldn't possibly go crazy and fool around in front of our grandson, could I?"

"That's true. With your third-rate Kung Fu, you'd better avoid going out and embarrassing yourself!"

"Ew~"

Xu Rizhao hugged his plump wife, his face full of bashful delight.

The white cat had long since vanished.

The guards nearby had seen this scene so often that they were unfazed. They all tactfully looked away.

Elsewhere.

Nabar had a simple wooden crutch wedged beneath his armpit and followed step by step behind Da Zhuang.

Adou was the least seriously injured. Jiang You had always been gentler with girls.

She had only given Adou two black eyes.

At that moment, Adou was supporting the badly injured Nabar while drawing circles in her heart around the woman riding on the cat's back.

She whispered into Nabar's ear, "Are we really taking her to Longshan? Dad and the others haven't seen anyone from outside for a very long time. Grandma said that the people on Longshan were all abandoned.

"She likes people from outside..."

The left side of Nabar's cheek was swollen as if he had a ping-pong ball stuffed inside it, making his speech somewhat unclear.

"Dad's illness has been getting worse lately, and several of the elders are almost at death's door. Lanwan doesn't have enough medicine for itself, and they won't give us any. But this woman has medicine!

"She also has salt. She said she would give us three hundred jin of salt.

"The stockade has run out of salt. Without salt, everyone will lose their strength. Without strength, we can't resist the beasts, and that would be very dangerous.

"...Besides...apart from us abandoned people, what else is there on Longshan worth anyone coveting?"

Nabar stared straight at the upright figure on the back of the mutant calico cat. "We can only gamble this once."

He did not know whether his choice was right.

But at present, he seemed to have no choice at all.

That woman had said that if he obediently took her to the village, she would give them antibiotics and three hundred jin of salt.

If he refused to lead the way, she would kill everyone and even skin them, hanging their hides on the walls as flags.

If the people he had brought out died, the old, weak, sick, and disabled on Longshan would have even less hope of survival.

The choice she had given him had never really been a choice.

And judging solely from that woman's methods, he could not escape anyway.

As the sun slanted toward the west, Zhang Shuhui entered these mountains once again after many days.

Her constant unease seemed to gradually settle with every step. The answer had already been decided.

No matter how much she agonized or panicked, it would not help. All she could do now was keep pace and continue forward.

After entering the mountains, Nabar limped ahead of Da Zhuang.

"The road farther in is difficult to navigate. I'll lead the way!"

Under Nabar's guidance, they walked until midnight before crossing two mountains.

Jiang You could not help asking, "How much farther is Longshan?"

Nabar pointed toward a broken mountain peak in the distance.

"Do you see that broken mountain peak ahead?"

Jiang You thought that was Longshan, but in the next second, Nabar continued, "That's Camel Peak. After crossing Camel Peak, there are still four mountains before we reach Longshan!"

Back then, to prevent the sick mountain villagers from leaving, they had chosen the steepest, deepest, and highest mountain.

Every time Nabar went to town to exchange for daily necessities, he had to travel for several days and nights before he could return home. He had long grown used to such roads.

Before the apocalypse, there had been no zombies or mutated beasts, but the mountains were still dangerous at night.

After exchanging for supplies, he could only travel during the day. When night approached, he had to find a place to rest.

Walking through the mountains at night was an extremely unwise choice.

Longshan was very high. When Nabar was little, he could lie at the edge of the mountaintop and scoop up the white mist and clouds with his hand.

He had always believed that he lived atop the clouds.

Dad said that theirs was a settlement in the clouds, a one-of-a-kind settlement.

He had believed that until he was ten.

Jiang You had always been patient. She did not urge them, instead following leisurely behind Nabar.

When these people left Lanwan, they had all taken some things with them.

Some had old salt blocks stuffed into their pockets, some carried needles, thread, and cloth on their backs, while others had baskets filled with food they had no idea where they had found or stolen.

The road to Longshan was not easy to travel. The nearest route they had opened followed the streams and ravines.

But the ravines were steep, and the stones were covered with damp, slippery moss. One careless step could send someone rolling down the slope into the stream below.

Jiang You could have gone faster, but she did not.

She also wanted to walk the path these young people had taken, so she could understand how they traveled back and forth between Longshan and Lanwan Base.

That night, they lit a bonfire.

The young people from Longshan Town hunted in the forest. Before long, they caught a nest of mutant rabbits, a medium-sized wild boar, and several piglets.

They skillfully threw the rabbits and the large wild boar into the fire, burned off their fur, and then used daggers to cut them into small pieces.

They placed the large chunks on the fire to roast. Once the meat was cooked, they ground the damp, caked salt from their clothes and carefully sprinkled it over the meat before digging in.

"Don't you eat these piglets?" Jiang You asked them.

Adou shook her head while gnawing on a half-raw roasted rabbit. She did not want to deal with this pale woman who looked like a moldy steamed bun, but she would definitely be beaten if she did not answer.

"The piglets are still small. We can carry them up the mountain in baskets. Once they grow up, everyone in the settlement can eat them. They can grow to three or four hundred jin!"

Zhang Shuhui stared at these young people who still lived by eating raw meat and drinking blood, suddenly feeling that Longshan might be different from what she had imagined.

After Jiang You agreed, she took out several jars of chili sauce she had made herself and let everyone dip their food in it.

Her chili sauce was fragrant, spicy, and appetizing, adding considerable flavor to the bland meat.

People drew closer through eating and drinking together. With the chili sauce's help, the young people of Longshan remained wary on the surface, but they began eating it despite themselves.

The atmosphere grew lively, and quite a few people began speaking of their own accord.

Nabar used the tip of his knife to scoop up a little chili sauce and spread it over the roasted pork. After taking a bite, his eyes immediately lit up.

He first glanced around, then went to chop down a section of bamboo under the pretext of relieving himself.

While Jiang You was not looking, he secretly used the tip of his knife to scoop the chili sauce from the jar into the bamboo tube.

Another young man spoke up. "The road up the mountain is difficult. You have to climb most of the way with your hands. Only things that can fit into a basket can be carried up! We've even brought up calves before. Once a calf grows up on the mountain, it can plow the fields!

"Once cattle go up, they can never come back down for the rest of their lives..."

Nabar added, "The same goes for people..."