Chapter 1774
Hurriedly on the Road
After walking safely for more than three hours, the sun couldn't wait to set. Although Wang An and his three companions didn't want to stop, they had no choice but to find a place to set up camp for the night before continuing their journey.
There was no other way; not setting up camp for the night was absolutely out of the question, because the danger of traveling at night in these deep mountains and forests was even greater than the danger of dealing with those people.
This time, Wang An and his three companions did not choose to set up their tents in a relatively open area, but instead chose a ravine between two mountains.
Anyway, Wang An and his three companions only stayed one night and then left, so there was no need to worry about natural disasters such as heavy rain or flash floods.
At Wang An's request, the four men also cut down a large number of pine branches to cover the entire tent.
In this way, even if someone passes by from afar, they can only see the horses grazing in the woods, and will absolutely not be able to discover the location of Wang An and his companions immediately.
If they are passing by at close range, there is even less to worry about, because Xiaobai and Xiaohei will spot them in advance.
They ate lunch rather late, so Wang An and the other three weren't very hungry after setting up the tent.
However, in order to avoid having to stop to start a fire and cook when traveling tomorrow, and mainly because starting a fire and cooking in broad daylight would easily expose the whereabouts of Wang An and his companions, Wang An decided to prepare all the dry rations that the four of them would need for the next day.
After nearly a month of consumption, Wang An and his companions had very limited food supplies, but they were not short of grain.
Rice and wheat flour together should be enough to feed Wang An and his three companions for at least ten days.
So Wang An decided to make a lot of pancakes that evening, and also cook dinner.
The reason for making potstickers is that they are simple and straightforward to make, and they save a lot of time. Also, the weather is quite cold at night this season, so potstickers are easy to preserve and won't spoil.
Soon, the pots and pans were ready, and Wang Li and Mu Xueli returned each carrying a small basket of washed wild vegetables.
Wang An and his three companions didn't stew any meat; instead, they simply boiled soybean paste and rolled wild vegetables in a pot and ate it like that.
However, Xiaobai and Xiaohei's meals were quite good. The dehydrated venison they dug out of the ash heap was their dinner, and they ate it properly and happily.
After a simple dinner, Wang An and the other three extinguished the fire and went to sleep in their tents, covered with bear skins.
With Xiaobai and Xiaohei keeping watch, Wang An and his companions were not worried at all about wild animals or strangers suddenly barging in.
For the past month or so, Wang An and his three companions had been living like this in the mountains.
As it turns out, although Little White Wolf was raised by humans from a young age and no longer resembled a wolf, its unique wolf aura still intimidated most of the wild animals in the mountains, preventing them from approaching.
Nothing was said that night, and dawn broke in the blink of an eye.
As dawn broke, Wang An and his three companions, without even practicing their martial arts or eating breakfast, hurriedly strapped their belongings onto their horses at Wang An's urging and set off.
The reason for setting off so early was partly because Wang An didn't want to confront those people, but mainly because he was afraid he wouldn't be able to win.
If any of the four of them were to suffer further casualties, that would be something Wang An absolutely could not accept.
On the other hand, Wang An was homesick, mainly because he missed his two little babies.
Last night, Wang An had a dream where Happiness and Joy were happily calling him "Daddy" in his arms. Just as Wang An was about to hug his two little darlings tightly, the dream abruptly ended. After waking up, Wang An couldn't fall back asleep. His mind was filled with images of his two little ones, of them playing and frolicking in his arms, of them clinging to his neck and affectionately calling him "Daddy."
That feeling was absolutely awful and incredibly agonizing!
As dawn broke, Wang An impatiently woke up Mu Xueli and the other two, who were fast asleep.
There was no other way; Wang An was both the leader and the eldest brother of the four, so even though Mu Xueli and the other two were reluctant to get out of bed, they had no choice but to listen to Wang An.
What was unexpected was that nearly four hours after Wang An and his three companions left, around 9 a.m., a group of five people on horseback caught up with them at the place where they had pitched their tents the night before.
If you look closely, you'll notice that each of the horses ridden by these five people has a branding mark on its left hind leg.
It's easy to tell from their conversation that they are looking for the two people from yesterday.
In other words, these five people are all in cahoots with the two people that Wang An and his group killed yesterday.
Unfortunately, Wang An and his four companions had already vanished, and the five of them had found absolutely no clues about the two men.
Of course, the five men found the path that Wang An and his companions had taken, and quickly mounted their horses and chased after them.
However, Wang An and his companions, who had already gone far away, were unaware of these things and were still hurrying on their way.
It wasn't until noon that Wang An and his three companions ate and rested by a small river.
It wasn't that Wang An and his companions wanted to rest, but if they continued on their journey, the horses, which had already been carrying heavy loads all morning, would not be able to keep up.
To be fair, the eight Oroqen horses performed quite well. It's hard to tell what was so special about them, after all, the Oroqen horses are known for their endurance and perseverance as mountain horses.
However, the four horses seized from the TS were starting to give out.
After carrying their loads all morning, the four horses were drenched in sweat and snorting incessantly.
To be honest, if Wang An and his companions hadn't been carrying so much stuff, they would have abandoned those four horses long ago.
The reason these four horses performed so poorly was not because of their breed, but because they were all too thin.
It's important to know that while local horses may not have the same endurance as Oroqen horses, they are a robust and durable breed, making them a truly economical and practical breed.
Unfortunately, when Wang An and his three companions captured them, they were already very thin. It was clear that they hadn't been well-fed by the TS people, and probably hadn't even had a single bite of food.
It's important to know that any horse, regardless of type, will become very weak if it doesn't eat for a long time.
Famous horses in ancient times, such as Xiang Yu's Wuzhui, Guan Yu's Chitu, and Liu Bei's Dilu, were known for their endurance and speed mainly because they were well-fed. It is said that they could eat dozens of kilograms of soybeans and drink dozens of kilograms of rice wine in one meal.
These four horses, however, have never received proper care. Although Wang An and his companions feed them some coarse salt after they come into their possession, they are never given any grain. There's nothing they can do; where in these mountains can they find any grain to feed horses? So they can only eat grass every day.
Just as Wang An and his companions were lying in the shade of a tree, waiting for the horses to graze and rest, Little White and Little Black suddenly neighed. (End of Chapter)