He started by killing his abusive father, and from then on, he embarked on the road to wealth.

Chapter 168 Looking for Water 2

A thought suddenly flashed through Meng Fuqing's mind, and his body stiffened.

Two days ago, Shan Qiyu reminded her that they had already spent the New Year on the road of fleeing famine, and it was already the beginning of January.

This body will turn fifteen in a month.

It seems an old friend has arrived.

Lately, it seems like everything's going wrong at once, Meng Fuqing said, banging his head against the carriage in frustration.

After telling Meng Ranran, she got off the carriage and was immediately followed by a pack of wolves. One of them led the pack of wolves into the dense forest.

Those behind him, seeing this scene, were already used to it.

"Niu Er, have you ever touched your boss's white wolf? Can I touch it?" someone asked Niu Er.

Niu Er's chin was practically pointing to the sky. "Of course I've touched it! But you should save your breath. Look at your hands, they're filthy. If you touched Little White, would it still look good?"

The man gave an awkward smile, "Well, we're short of water..."

Meng Fuqing went into her spatial dimension and came out. A wolf threw her a big chicken leg. As it threw it, it thought to itself that even she, the master, didn't eat as well as these wolves on a regular basis.

After feeding the wolves, she returned to the carriage and began to feel drowsy again. She had this problem in the apocalypse as well. After her menstrual cramps were cured and her superpowers helped her recover, she was always sleepy.

I was awakened again by the sound of someone knocking on the train carriage.

Xie Jin pulled back the carriage curtain and stood beside it, holding two books in his hands.

Still feeling sleepy, Meng Fuqing was a little dazed. She asked, "Were you looking for me?"

Xie Jin's gaze fell on her face, and his heart suddenly raced.

Having grown accustomed to Meng Fuqing's clear-headed and rational demeanor, he had never seen her like this before, even her voice sounded somewhat soft.

His ears inexplicably felt hot. He knew he shouldn't be staring, but he didn't look away immediately. Seeing that her face was rosy and her lips weren't pale, he turned to the side and handed the two books in his hand to Meng Fuqing.

"Didn't you want to learn internal martial arts techniques before? Here, there's a basic introductory manual and a manual from my Xie family. Both are suitable for you. Learn slowly and don't rush it."

Upon hearing this, Meng Fuqing's vision gradually cleared. He took the two books, flipped through them briefly, and his eyes became brighter than ever before, a smile appearing on his face.

"Thank you," Meng Fuqing said sincerely. "May I ask how Young Master Xie wishes to repay you?"

He met Sheng Manman's smiling eyes for a moment, then quickly looked away and said in a low voice, "It's just a trivial matter, not worth mentioning."

Just as he was about to leave, he heard Meng Fuqing speak again.

"Didn't you say before that I'm too old to practice internal energy cultivation techniques? And can I practice your family's internal energy cultivation techniques?"

Based on her limited understanding, it seems that exclusive techniques are not meant to be passed on to outsiders.

Xie Jin stopped in his tracks. "You have good aptitude, so the basic cultivation techniques won't be difficult for you. As for the Xie family cultivation techniques, I've written annotations on them. You can ask me anytime if you don't understand anything."

Meng Fuqing was flipping through the Xie family's mental cultivation manual. The blue cover and paper were very new, and even the ink was recent. Both the content of the manual and the annotations were in the same handwriting.

This mental cultivation manual was clearly something Xie Jin had recently memorized and copied.

Realizing this, Meng Fuqing couldn't help but look up at the person in front of her.

At first, she always thought that Xie Jin deliberately approached her in order to get something from her, but it seems that she has gotten more from him along the way.

Although she initially wanted to travel with Xie Jin with this purpose in mind.

Meng Fuqing said solemnly again, "Thank you, Xie Jin."

Xie Jin didn't respond, but hesitated for a moment before asking in a low voice, "Are you sick or injured?"

Meng Fuqing was taken aback. "No."

"Why is there a bloody smell?" Xie Jin frowned slightly, then looked at Meng Fuqing with concern.

Meng Fuqing: ...

Without changing her expression, she asked another question, "You must have smelled something wrong. Is the water from the pond in the county town safe to buy? Is it unusual?"

Seeing that she didn't want to talk about it, Xie Jin didn't ask any more questions. "It's strange, but there's nothing unusual. The water in the pool does keep gushing out, and the water that comes up is warm."

Upon hearing this, Meng Fuqing continued, "Are there mountains in Ningyuan County?"

Xie Jin nodded. "Located on the west side of Ningyuan County, the mountain is not high, only fifty or sixty zhang high, and the deep pool where the water gushes out is located at the foot of the mountain."

After frowning and pondering for a moment, Meng Fuqing said bluntly, "I have a bad feeling. If you want to stockpile water, tell everyone to do it as soon as possible."

As soon as she spoke, Xie Jin understood what she was worried about, nodded, and turned to leave.

Immediately afterwards, Du Zhong gathered people to enter the city to stockpile water, and the group, fully armed, went to the city gate to queue up.

The line stretched all the way to midnight. Xie Jin and the others had already found out the water price. For three taels of silver, one person could go in to fetch water, and how much they could fetch depended entirely on their own ability.

So Du Chong and his son went in together, drank their fill first, and then fetched water. They were able to carry out a large wooden bucket full of water without spilling a drop.

After the large wooden buckets were filled with water, they no longer used the small wooden buckets and basins. Instead, they carried water bags strung together with hemp rope while queuing, and when they came out, their bodies were covered with jingling water bags.

This feat not only amazed the guards at the edge of the pool, but also those queuing behind them, who wished they had that kind of strength.

After making two more trips, the guards finally couldn't stand it anymore and chased the people away.

"No way, don't you two get tired? Hurry up, hurry up, the people in line behind us are getting impatient!"

Qi Liang felt that he had paid the money according to the rules and shouldn't be treated this way, so he simply said, "We paid the money!"

No matter how the guards tried to persuade him, he kept repeating the same sentence, and while they were trying to convince them, he used ordinary wooden buckets to fetch four more buckets of water.

Finally, they were stopped from entering, and the two sides almost came to blows.

Du Zhong, as the elderly father, did not want to cause any further trouble, and tried to persuade him for a long time, but to no avail.

Finally, Niu Er roared, "If you dare to fight, I'll tell the boss!"

Qi Liang finally calmed down. Just as they were walking back, a jet of water suddenly shot out of the pool. As the water jet fell, the pool water began to overflow and bubble continuously.

Sensing something was wrong, the group quickly drove away.

Behind them, atop a small mountain, fifty or sixty feet high, suddenly spewed out fiery red lava, which, along with the sunset on the horizon, dyed the sky blood red.

The group fled for their lives so quickly that they were not affected. After the initial shock, they finally managed to escape the city, and everyone was filled with lingering fear.

"What is that? Has the heavens become angry?"

"It's all red, it looks like it's going to burn people alive!"

"I was wondering why the water was hot; it turns out it was scalding hot from the bottom..."

Du Zhong, the old father, felt that escaping was all that mattered and didn't find it strange. He just kept shaking his head, saying, "I, as your father, am not as good as you, my eldest son. You are truly my good son."

"Do you think I want a father figure?" Qi Liang said coolly.

Du Zhong choked and fell silent.

The group returned after half a year – in their haste to escape, they spilled a lot of water besides the water in their water bags.

Without time to say much, Du Zhong quickly told everyone to pack their things and find a new place to stay before it got completely dark.