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Chapter 14: The Human Market

The two siblings laughed and played for a while before Lu Wei remembered the important matter at hand.

“Kid, do you want to eat meat?”

Upon hearing this, Lu Xiaoxiao tilted her head: “Meat? Human meat? I could try it.”

Lu Wei was speechless; he hadn’t expected that this girl had such peculiar tastes.

“Not human meat, this kind.”

As Lu Wei spoke, he pulled out two large rats from beside the sled.

Speaking of which, the field mice in this world were extraordinarily large, with these one or two catty-sized ones being quite common.

“Wow! Field mice? Brother, where did you get them?” Lu Xiaoxiao’s eyes lit up when she saw the two big field mice.

She had eaten them before—her brother had caught some for her in the past, and the taste was still fresh in her memory.

Thinking about it, Lu Xiaoxiao’s tears involuntarily flowed down from the corner of her mouth.

“Do you want to eat them?”

“Mm-hmm, mm-hmm, mm-hmm.” Lu Xiaoxiao nodded her head repeatedly, almost creating an afterimage.

“In that case, they’re yours.” As Lu Wei spoke, he handed the two large rats into Lu Xiaoxiao’s arms.

Lu Xiaoxiao looked at Lu Wei in confusion, her mind filled with a single thought: Why does this scene feel so familiar?

Before she could react, her hands were suddenly empty as Lu Wei took the two rats back.

“Alright, I’ll go stew them for you. Get up and tidy up. We’ll eat and then set off.”

After saying this, Lu Wei left with the two rats.

Outside, Lu Wei shook his head helplessly. This system didn’t leave any loopholes to exploit.

Only one could be sent at a time, and if the other wasn’t effective, he wouldn’t receive a reward.

Because Lu Wei had sent one rat, the other couldn’t be given to Lu Xiaoxiao anymore. If he wanted to return it, he’d have to send it to the next bound target.

Lu Wei placed the unreturned rat behind the sled, thinking he might find someone else to return it to later.

He then took out all ten returned rats, hiding nine and leaving two for breakfast.

Sigh, this system space was frustrating—once taken out, they couldn’t be stored back, and they couldn’t be retrieved in batches.

It was deep winter now; otherwise, all this meat would spoil.

Stewing two large field mice at once was no small luxury.

However, they both needed to train in martial arts now, and their consumption was high—they had to eat well to keep up.

Especially for Essence Blood recovery, it was hard to recover without meat.

Moreover, Lu Wei now had the means to afford such luxury.

With ten stored field mice and steamed buns yet to be returned, surviving for a month was no problem.

Most importantly, the master had said that food wouldn’t be an issue going forward. With his critical hits, even supporting a few more people wouldn’t be a problem.

Soon, Lu Wei boiled the water and threw the field mice in whole.

First, he scalded them with boiling water, then plucked them bit by bit.

Normally, skinning would be the easiest method, but removing the skin would mean losing a lot of protein, collagen, and fat.

These things were crucial for Lu Wei and Lu Xiaoxiao, so naturally, they couldn’t be discarded.

If not for the fact that feathers and droppings couldn’t be eaten, Lu Wei wouldn’t have thrown away even a single bit.

Only those who had truly experienced starvation understood the value of food.

By the time Lu Wei finished cooking, the large caravan had already set off.

But Lu Wei wasn’t in a rush. With his current stamina, catching up with the caravan wouldn’t take long.

While the meat was stewing, Lu Wei practiced his technique once.

After finishing one round, he felt unusually hungry. His stamina, which had fully recovered overnight, dropped by two points.

Just as the meat finished stewing, Lu Wei quickly called Lu Xiaoxiao to eat.

Each of them got a large steamed bun and a full clay pot of stewed meat. The two siblings devoured it ravenously.

The meat was simply boiled in plain water, without even salt, and carried a strong earthy smell.

In his past life, this would’ve been unfit even to feed dogs.

But now, Lu Wei found it extraordinarily delicious, almost wanting to eat the entire pot.

After eating, feeling slightly full, Lu Wei didn’t rush to continue traveling.

Instead, he first took Lu Xiaoxiao to the spot where they had set traps the day before.

Unfortunately, there was nothing today, and the millet was still lying on the ground.

Lu Wei and Lu Xiaoxiao carefully picked up the millet, not wasting a single grain.

After tidying up, the two resumed their journey.

As Lu Wei traveled, he contemplated returning the steamed buns tonight.

The master had sent twelve steamed buns, which should be enough for a day’s consumption.

They had eaten two in the morning, would eat two at noon, and another two in the evening.

That left six. Returning them tomorrow morning would bring the total back to sixteen.

At this rate, they could save up some food.

Or perhaps… should he visit the market at noon and sell a few buns?

Nowadays, a single bun could easily fetch one silver tael—a perfect opportunity to make money.

A month later, when they reach Yunzhou, such opportunities would be scarce.

Thinking of this, Lu Wei decided to visit the market at noon.

He might as well earn more now since spending would be inevitable once they reached the city.

Both he and his younger sister required money for their martial arts cultivation—without it, progress would be impossible.

Unknowingly, Lu Wei caught up with the main group of refugees just before noon.

Looking across the vast landscape, all the refugees appeared malnourished.

After two months of fleeing, most of the food they had brought was nearly depleted.

Those who remained likely came from relatively affluent families.

Poorer households couldn’t have traveled this far—they either perished along the way or stopped moving altogether.

Now, everyone scavenged for wild vegetables and grasses buried under the snow.

But in this icy world, how much could they find? Many collapsed in the snow, never to rise again.

And those who fell would mysteriously vanish after a while.

Where they went was self-explanatory.

Lu Wei stayed behind the caravan, not rushing to catch up with the trading group.

At noon, the caravan slowly halted. Those digging for wild vegetables began shoveling snow, while others stripped tree bark.

Removing the outer hard layer, they crushed the softer inner layer bit by bit.

Finding moss was considered a bonus meal.

Everyone’s faces were expressionless, their eyes dull, silent as if they were walking corpses.

Their only thought now might be survival.

Some lay by the roadside during rest periods, too afraid to move, fearing to waste precious energy.

Those with wives and children kept them close, though most had a withered grass or tree branch stuck in their hair.

This grass marker signified they had become commodities, available for sale.

In these chaotic times, women and children were the cheapest and most easily abandoned.

“Master, come take a look! A beauty from Yingchun Pavilion, such a beauty, for just ten jin of rice, you can take her home.”

“Master Lu, take a look at my wife. Look how pretty she is, fertile too. Just three jin of grain, and she’s yours.”

“Master Lu, take a look at my daughter. She just turned fifteen, at the perfect age. For five jin of grain, she’s yours.”

As Lu Wei entered the market, many people eagerly recommended their “goods” to him. Their enthusiasm left Lu Wei momentarily stunned.

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