Lu Xian and Qi Lingshan brought the arctic foxes to the edge of the camp, only to see Shen Feng grinding something with a stone pestle and mortar. Xu Xing had already woken up, but her eyes were blood red, her body was burning hot, and her hands were constantly fumbling for something.
Seeing this situation, Lu Xian was greatly surprised and rushed to Xu Xing, saying, "Xu Xing, what's wrong with you? Are you blind?"
Xu Xing was much more normal now. Her swollen belly had also subsided, but her eyes were red, and she seemed unable to see anything clearly. It was a good thing that Xu Xing woke up safely, as she did not seem to be affected by the side effects of the century plant seeds. However, seeing Xu Xing like this, Lu Xian and Qi Lingshan became worried. Had Xu Xing gone blind?
Hearing Lu Xian's voice, Xu Xing quickly replied, "I can't see anything now. I feel very uncomfortable all over. My stomach feels very hot."
Hearing this answer, Qi Lingshan couldn't help but ask Shen Feng, "City Lord, Xu Xing is almost blind now. Should we take her to see a doctor?"
Shen Feng replied without looking up, "Am I not preparing the medicine? What's the rush?"
Seeing that the thing Shen Feng was grinding was a yellowish-black object, Qi Lingshan immediately became confused, "What kind of medicine is this? Can it be eaten?"
Shen Feng finally looked up and said, "This is bear bile. After grinding it into powder, take it. I've examined Xu Xing. Her eyes are congested, and her liver fire is strong. Her body is fine, but she needs long-term recuperation. Bear bile is good for clearing the liver and improving vision. You guys go find some rice to make porridge and take it with the bear bile powder. No more fatty meat. Xu Xing, don't act rashly next time."
Xu Xing was already a fifth-tier ability user. Although her strength was not comparable to Shen Feng's, she was already very powerful, even stronger than Meng Weichang, who had been killed before. As long as she could recover, she would be a capable subordinate with an immeasurable future. As for the side effect of the century plant seeds consuming the body's stored energy substances, it did not appear.
Shen Feng speculated that the reason Xu Xing did not have her fat and glycogen consumed was because she had been injected with a large amount of evolution base. The evolution base itself contained immense energy. With this energy, Xu Xing's fat was not consumed in large quantities.
The main site for drug absorption and metabolism in the human body is the liver. After a night and a morning, the liver was metabolizing, and the final result was that the liver's load was too great, and liver fire naturally appeared. Fortunately, they had killed a black bear on the way to Qiuming, so Shen Feng had a bear gall, which could be used at this time.
After hearing Shen Feng's instructions, Xu Xing quickly said in a low voice, "I know I was wrong. I implicated the City Lord to save me, but I wanted to atone for my mistakes. I didn't expect that the City Lord would bring me up in the end."
Xu Xing thought she was doomed, as she was caught between two forces underground. With treants blocking the way, someone had to make a sacrifice. So, Xu Xing wanted to sacrifice her life to delay the retreat of Shen Feng and the others, but she did not expect that it would eventually trigger a major earthquake.
Seeing Xu Xing's self-blame, Shen Feng couldn't help but soften his heart. After all, she was a young girl who had just started out and was a bit impulsive when encountering things. This was not a problem. He continued, "Then you should recuperate well. When things are sorted out, we will prepare to return to Yuzhou."
Xu Xing nodded with a smile, but it was a pity that she could not see Shen Feng's appearance now.
Lu Xian also brought the four foxes to Xu Xing's side and said, "The foxes are back too. You can let them accompany you wherever you want to go these days."
Seeing Lu Xian and Qi Lingshan return empty-handed, Shen Feng couldn't help but ask, "Didn't I ask you to catch marmots? Why did you come back empty-handed? Are they that difficult to catch?"
"City Lord, you don't know. These marmots are very cunning. As soon as they see humans around, they immediately burrow into the ground. If they were the marmots of the past, we would have caught them even if we had to dig three feet deep. But times have changed. Now, marmots have stronger burrowing abilities, and we can't catch them even if we dig. I think only you, City Lord, can catch marmots," Qi Lingshan complained.
Killing marmots would not be difficult for two ability users, but Shen Feng's order was to capture them alive. This requirement made the two of them feel troubled. Dead marmots were easy to obtain, but live marmots were not so easy to get.
After receiving this answer, Shen Feng could only sigh helplessly. Clearly, he did not expect his subordinates to be so useless that they couldn't even catch a few marmots and needed him to do it himself.
"Alright, I know. I'll catch them later. You guys stay here at the camp and do what you can," Shen Feng said calmly.
Seeing Shen Feng's reply, Lu Xian and Qi Lingshan knew that the City Lord was disappointed in them and that to regain his image, they should try their best to perform well.
"City Lord, I think it's about to snow. Let's build shelters. We can't keep sleeping on the ground," Lu Xian said quickly.
Shen Feng nodded, and Qi Lingshan chose to make porridge. There were still two taels of rice in the provisions they carried, so they made a full pot of rice porridge and gave it to Xu Xing. Shen Feng scooped two spoonfuls of the ground bear bile powder into the rice porridge. Xu Xing thought that the rice porridge with bear bile powder was something good and quickly started eating it.
As soon as she put the porridge in her mouth, she felt a strong bitterness and immediately frowned, "It's too bitter!"
"Nonsense, bile is bitter. Besides, this is bear bile that ordinary people can't get, so the bitterness is naturally more pronounced," Shen Feng replied helplessly.
As the saying goes, good medicine tastes bitter. It is natural for bear bile to be bitter, but as long as it works, it's fine.
Xu Xing had no choice but to force herself to eat the rice porridge mixed with bear bile powder. Shen Feng looked at the weather, knowing that it was likely to snow again. It was already winter, and the snow on the ground had not completely melted. If it snowed again, the ground would surely be covered in white again, and it would be impossible to catch marmots.
So, Shen Feng immediately began to act and went to catch marmots. Marmots are best at burrowing and usually do not leave their holes when active. Therefore, as soon as they sensed danger, they would immediately burrow into their holes. Lu Xian and Qi Lingshan suffered a disadvantage in this regard because their speed was not fast enough.
In the plains, there were marmot holes everywhere. The entire plain had been dug through by marmots, making it completely exposed. Marmots could detect enemies from a long distance and would immediately hide in their holes if they sensed any.
Mutated marmots had a stronger advantage in burrowing. As the saying goes, a cunning rabbit has three burrows, but marmots are even more cunning than rabbits because marmots have burrows all over the plains, making it very easy for them to hide.
Fortunately, Shen Feng's speed was effective. When Shen Feng used "As the Wind Follows," his speed reached a level that even ability users could hardly see. Marmots were even less likely to see Shen Feng's movements. Thus, marmots were often still foraging on the grass. Even in winter, there was still food to be found in the grasslands, and marmots could find some tender grass roots to eat.
Shen Feng used his ability, and his speed instantly reached a level that marmots could not see. Then, catching marmots became simple for Shen Feng. He could almost catch a marmot just by walking over to it. If Lu Xian and Qi Lingshan had seen Shen Feng's catching method, they would have been stunned.
As a result, Siberia's winter was unpredictable. Although the sky was clear in the morning, it became overcast in the afternoon. Upon noticing this change, Shen Feng could only quickly return with the five marmots he had caught. The marmots were tied with ropes and were still struggling, but the effect was not significant. The ropes could not be broken at all.
When Shen Feng returned to the camp with the marmots, the four arctic foxes saw the marmots and immediately rushed forward to tear them apart.
However, Shen Feng then reprimanded them, and the arctic foxes sheepishly walked away, clearly knowing that this was not food for them.
Without food, the arctic foxes had to choose to hunt in the surroundings. In fact, foxes and marmots could be considered neighbors. Foxes were not talented at burrowing, but they needed burrows to survive in the wild. A suitable burrow could provide protection. Therefore, the foxes eventually set their sights on the burrows dug by the marmots, driving the marmots away and living in the marmots' homes. If they killed them, they could also eat some meat.
Xu Xing could now see a little better. Although everything in front of her was still hazy, it was much better than when she woke up at noon and could see nothing.
Then, at five o'clock in the afternoon, the sky suddenly darkened, and snowflakes began to fall. The temperature in the air dropped rapidly. Fortunately, in the afternoon, Lu Xian and Qi Lingshan, having nothing to do, built shelters. They were conical dwellings built with tree branches and covered with pine branches. Although they were a bit ugly, they were habitable.
They built four shelters in one go, so now each person had one, which was barely usable. More than that could not be expected.
After it started snowing, Xiao Sheng also returned with his men. In just over ten minutes, the ground had turned white again. Calculating the time, it was already November. After the snow, the temperature would continue to drop. It was estimated that the snow would not melt until spring.
"Zhang Zi, it's up to you. Our accommodation for today depends on you!" Xiao Sheng said to Zhang Zi as it started snowing. In this terrain, Zhang Zi's ability could be well utilized.
Xiao Sheng and his men had been scouting the terrain all day, so they naturally had no time to build houses. Therefore, Shen Feng and his group could now live in shelters, but Xiao Sheng's group couldn't even find a place to shelter from the wind.
Fortunately, Zhang Zi could display his strength in this situation. When Zhang Zi used his ability, ice houses immediately formed on the ground. They were in the style of the Inuit ice houses in the Arctic region. The Inuit people lived in the Arctic region, basically living in these ice houses. Although they were ice houses, they were not cold inside. After lighting a fire, the ice surface would reflect the firelight and also provide warmth.
Seeing this scene before him, Shen Feng couldn't help but sigh and say, "Look at them. They've built houses in such a short time, and they're so magnificent. But you guys spent an afternoon and only built a shelter."
"City Lord, you don't understand. Although the houses we built are simple, they are filled with our hard work. They are natural and pollution-free. Look at the houses opposite, they are all round-topped, like looking at graves, not auspicious at all," Lu Xian quickly defended his work, but anyone could hear the sourness in Lu Xian's words at this moment.
How could simple conical shelters made of branches compare to luxurious ice houses? Lu Xian was just putting on a brave face now.