Chapter 59: Section 60: Food


    Bai Ya collapsed, and everyone was worried and angry, not only because Bai Ya was well-liked but also because of a greater sense of panic.


    People were terrified they might become the next Bai Ya, fainting and left to fate.


    But Zhenjin’s actions now made everyone understand: this young knight possessed true knightly virtues!


    The dunes stretched endlessly, rising and falling.


    Without a stretcher, Bai Ya was carried on someone’s back in turns.


    Soon, everyone moved to the other side of another dune.


    ...


    The scorpion horde noticed the movement and emerged from the ground, following the people to the new location before burrowing back into the sand.


    “They seem unable to move directly underground after burrowing into the sand,” Cang Xu analyzed.


    This was good news, but not by much.


    If everyone had mounts and moved fast enough, perhaps they could shake off the scorpions and escape them.


    The current situation, however, was that the group was utterly exhausted, and their speed couldn’t match the scorpions’. Moreover, there was an unconscious, injured comrade, significantly hindering their pace.


    Past noon and before evening arrived, Zhenjin once again led the team on their way.


    The scorpion horde quickly appeared behind the team.


    Silver Spear Scorpions swarmed once more and engaged in a fierce battle with Zhenjin. After a moment, they retreated on their own.


    Zhenjin watched helplessly as they retreated, without any way to stop them.


    The cracks on the Spider Blade grew larger, and Zhenjin didn’t know how much longer this weapon could last.


    Without it, the situation would become very bad. Ordinary iron-made blades and swords posed no threat to the scorpion shells.


    Such battles occurred several more times, and the team went from terror to gradually becoming numb.


    Dusk arrived; the sun neared the horizon, dimming the sky, and the mood of the people darkened along with it.


    “Is there really no way out?”


    “Lady Zi Di, is there no potion that can kill these damned scorpions?”


    Zi Di shook her head. If there were, she would have used it by now.


    “Let’s just stop moving and die together with these damned scorpions!” someone said irritably.


    “I feel the same way,” another agreed.


    Others sarcastically opposed, “Die together? You’re dreaming. If we charge at them, we’ll just be cut in half by that Silver Magical Beast.”


    “What do you mean?”


    “And what do you mean?!”


    The tempers of the exploration team members flared up, and they looked at each other with dissatisfaction.


    Someone set Bai Ya down on the ground, then sat down with a thud, complaining, “Hey, instead of having the time and energy to argue, you could help by giving me a hand, helping me carry this guy.”


    “This kid is too heavy.”


    “He’s lucky, fainting away like this, not having to walk himself, truly saving energy.”


    The two arguing turned their gaze to the person on the ground, one of them scoffed, “I’ve carried him more than enough, even more than you—already can’t stand it after just this short while?”


    The other looked askance at Cang Xu, making a snide remark, “Frankly, I think a certain old man should carry Bai Ya the most. After all, Bai Ya got seriously injured trying to save someone. Without that injury, he would still be hopping around lively.”


    Disturbance within the team spread from the squabbling of the two.


    Under normal circumstances, they would have a lot of respect for Cang Xu. After all, Cang Xu’s knowledge had helped them significantly.


    But now, facing a desperate situation, everyone was agitated and fearful. They didn’t dare to target Zhenjin or Zi Di and subconsciously turned their anger, panic, and other emotions into words and looks, directing them at the weakest old man in the team.


    Most importantly, Bai Ya indeed ended up in this state trying to save Cang Xu.


    “`


    According to morality, Cang Xu indeed deserved to be criticized.


    Thus, as everyone argued and argued, they focused their fire on Cang Xu.


    Amid the cold sneers and the malicious gazes, Cang Xu remained expressionless.


    “Hey, old man, what’s on your mind? Let’s hear it.” Cang Xu’s silence made him seem even more weak, until finally someone pursued him relentlessly, provoking Cang Xu.


    Cang Xu’s mouth corner lifted, revealing a cold smile, then he scanned those who challenged him with a mocking gaze, “Bai Ya falling unconscious is actually a good thing.”


    Everyone was stunned in unison.


    Cang Xu continued, “At a critical moment, he is food, we can eat him.”


    In an instant, the air seemed to solidify.


    Those surrounding Cang Xu widened their eyes, showing expressions of shock.


    “What, what did you say?” someone yelled. Sёarch* The N?vel(F)ire.ηet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Zhenjin and Zi Di were also in disbelief.


    But Cang Xu remained very calm, his eyes, aged by the years, now appeared profound and icy cold, “Heh heh, why do you all look at me like that? Bai Ya is already done for, anyone can see that. He is food, perfectly edible.”


    “How can you say such a thing!”


    “Yes, he is our teammate.”


    “How can we eat people?!”


    Everyone shouted, their voices shrill.


    “Old man, are you a devil in human skin?” someone even walked up to Cang Xu, looked down at him, and tried to intimidate him with their gaze.


    “Why can’t humans be eaten?” Cang Xu counter-asked, utterly unafraid.


    “The fierce monsters we encounter on this island, don’t they all see us as food?”


    “Our current situation is that we are severely lacking food. Without food, we have no physical strength. Without physical strength, we will definitely get killed by the scorpion swarm in the end.”


    “By then, Bai Ya would be doomed too.”


    “In fact, he’s already finished. This is a desert, we have no Priest, no potions. Even if we had a Priest, this island strictly prohibits low-level magic and fighting energy. Where are we supposed to find a high-level Priest?”


    “So, rather than that, it’s better to let us eat him. By eating him, we have a greater chance of survival.”


    The exploration team member who had been staring down Cang Xu was utterly furious and grabbed the old man’s collar, lifting him up, “You’re still talking!”


    Cang Xu snorted coldly, and with a swift movement of his arm,


    with a slap, the exploration team member’s hand was knocked away.


    Caught off guard, the team member stepped back two paces. He looked at Cang Xu in surprise, the strength of the man before him seemingly beyond his expectations.


    While straightening his collar, Cang Xu spoke deliberately, “You have read too little, now let me tell you a principle—members of the same species can eat each other.”


    “There’s an insect called the mantis. After mating, the female mantis will eat the male mantis that very night to replenish her nutrition, to ensure a more successful birth of the progeny.”


    “In the years past, when famine struck, the people in the Empire’s northwest were also exchanging their children to cook and eat.”


    “Do not be bound by morality or law. These things are only there to maintain our everyday lives.”


    “For any life form, the most basic thing is to survive and reproduce. If we can’t even ensure our own survival, what’s the point of discussing the law or morality?”


    “Moreover, what kind of people are you all? Do you not know yourselves, even if others do not?”


    “Our ship was headed to the Beast Race Continent. That place is about to go to war. What kind of people would go there at such a time?”


    Cang Xu let out a sneer, concluding with one sentence, “Survival is more important than anything else, isn’t it?”


    No one spoke; the whole team fell into a deathly silence.


    Many still glared at Cang Xu, but their gazes were no longer as angry or hateful as before.


    “Cang Xu, I ask you to take back your words. Bai Ya is not food, but our teammate. I will never allow such a tragedy of cannibalism among teammates to occur.” Zhenjin’s brows were tightly furrowed, his expression stern.


    “`


    “As you wish, my knight,” Cang Xu said as he straightened his collar. He bowed to Zhenjin with such impeccable manners that not a single fault could be found, true to his life of serving nobles.


    The intense dry heat forced Huang Zao to open his eyes.


    His eyes were bloodshot, his mind in disarray. It took him a while after waking up to gradually come to his senses.


    He lay at the foot of a dune, with an unconscious man by his side, his own brother, Lan Zao.


    Lan Zao was motionless, still in a comatose state. His condition was worsening; his lips, already cracked, now had skin that was peeling from the sun. Although he was still breathing, the rise and fall of his chest was visibly weaker than the day before by more than half.


    Huang Zao tried to sit up.


    He immediately felt an intense dizziness and quickly supported himself with his hands behind him.


    “I have a fever too,” he said touching his forehead, his heart sinking instantly.


    He remembered.


    The desert nights were bitterly cold, and he was so exhausted he could only sleep right where he fell. He huddled close to Lan Zao, using his brother’s feverish heat to fend off the freezing cold.


    But he had failed.


    He had fallen into a deep sleep, and when he woke up, it was already noon.


    Huang Zao felt waves of fear wash over him. He was extremely grateful that during his sleep, he hadn’t encountered any predatory beasts.


    “But what now?”


    Huang Zao still had some dry food on him, but he had no water left!


    He had used most of his water to wash Lan Zao’s wounds, and the rest he had already drunk.


    He wasn’t just fighting for one life; he had to carry an adult man who was heavier than himself.


    After sitting in the sand for a while, Huang Zao slowly lifted Lan Zao onto his back and continued on their journey.


    However, the feelings of confusion, panic, regret, and despair in Huang Zao’s heart couldn’t be resolved, and they accumulated more and more inside him.


    Exhaustion, hunger, and dizziness wrapped around him like thorny vines, their sharp spikes digging deep into his flesh and bones, making every step forward pull at these numerous wounds.


    “Water… water…”


    Lan Zao began to murmur unconsciously again from behind.


    Huang Zao abruptly stopped, not understanding why, but a strong wave of irritation and hatred surged within him.


    “Stop it, will you? Annoying!”


    “If you hadn’t gotten hurt, we’d definitely have water by now!”


    “With things like this, where am I supposed to find water for you?”


    “I want to drink too, I do!!”


    Ignoring his dry throat that felt like smoking, Huang Zao roared out his frustration.


    But Lan Zao couldn’t hear him, still murmuring incessantly, craving water.


    Huang Zao’s eyes bulged out, a fierce and hostile energy rising within him to his brows, then swiftly spreading across his face.


    All of a sudden, he let go, dropping Lan Zao onto the ground.


    “Shut up!”


    He yelled at Lan Zao, his gaze filled with anger and a brutal, icy ferocity.


    His chest heaved rapidly, his breathing becoming heavier.


    The intent to kill grew strangely fast within Huang Zao’s heart.


    Huang Zao stared at Lan Zao, his Adam’s apple involuntarily bobbing, his eyes flashing a wolf-like green in his hunger.


    The feeling of starvation filled his heart and mind, rendering him incapable of thought.


    The instinct to survive kept reminding him, to disregard who Lan Zao was, to “see clearly” each piece of flesh on his body, every stream of fresh blood flowing within him.


    “This is…”


    “Food!!”


    Huang Zao approached slowly, bent over gradually, then knelt halfway to the ground, reaching out with his hands.


    His hands reached towards Lan Zao, but the movements were very slow, as if carrying heavy iron weights.


    His hands still trembled.


    At first, they shook slightly, but the closer they came to Lan Zao, the greater the trembling became.


    Suddenly, Huang Zao noticed Lan Zao’s eyelids quivered slightly.


    Shortly after, Lan Zao slowly opened his eyes a sliver.


    “Brother, you’re awake!!” Huang Zao shouted, joy flooding in, towering over him like a tsunami, engulfing his entire being.


    All of the prior hunger, brutality, despair, and madness, seemed like a mirage, merely an illusion.


    Lan Zao’s expression was bewildered, the pupils within his partially opened eyes shifting minutely as he saw Huang Zao kneeling before him.


    The glaring sunlight was blocked by Huang Zao’s figure, and Lan Zao’s head was right in the shadow cast by Huang Zao.


    Lan Zao’s lips moved.


    “Brother, what did you say?” Huang Zao shuddered all over, immediately leaning into Lan Zao’s face, his ear close to Lan Zao’s mouth.


    Then he heard a voice, weak to the extreme.


    “I… I can’t go on.”


    “Don’t… burden yourself for me.”


    “Without food and water…”


    “Brother… you… just…”


    “Eat me.”


    These words exhausted all of Lan Zao’s strength, and he fainted once again.


    Upon hearing this, Huang Zao felt as if struck by lightning, his pupils shrinking to the size of needle points, and his entire being froze.


    He became like a stone statue.


    He stretched his neck, strained his ears, knelt on the ground, his hands pressed into the sand, maintaining this twisted and strange posture for quite some time.


    At last, his blank mind began to work again slowly.


    He pulled back his neck, still half-kneeling but sat up straight.


    Looking down at Lan Zao lying on the sand, his vision rapidly blurred.


    Tears welled up in his eyes and then streamed out in great torrents, trailing down his dusty face, leaving two dark streaks.


    “Brother, brother!”


    He called out loudly, his guilt, regret, and self-reproach clogging up his nose and throat, making it difficult to breathe.


    “You’re my only family!”


    “How could I see you as food?”


    “I won’t do it.”


    “I will never do it!”


    He shouted, as if making a vow.


    Then he hoisted Lan Zao onto his back and staggered on once more.


    On his face, a look of sheer determination.