Chapter 292: A Warehouse Full of Salt
At this moment, Xiong Jie and Feihu and the others had already walked quite a distance.
Their steps were somewhat unsteady, yet they didn’t rush to find water to flush their stomachs distressed by the excessive salt.
You should know, after consuming so much salt, the intense salty and bitter sensation had already deepened in their stomachs, and a few sips of water wouldn’t easily wash it away.
They trudged with difficulty, finally finding a flat patch of grass, and eagerly lay down on it.
The starry sky overhead was bright and brilliant, like a wide, endless Milky Way spread across the horizon.
The densely packed stars twinkled like countless translucent jewels embedded in the dark blue sky.
They hadn’t seen such a clear and pure night sky in ages.
Ever since the nightmarish Dark Forest began its unchecked expansion globally, most city dwellers moved away, and factories were forced to cease operations.
The originally noisy, smoke-filled industrial scenes gradually disappeared, as if the world was suddenly paused.
If there was any advantage to the merging of spirits and the Human Realm, it was that the blue skies once shrouded in smog now once again appeared before people.
It was a tiny comfort for humanity in this scarred world.
The three of them lay on the ground gazing at the stars, and after a long time, Xiong Jie was the first to speak.
His voice was hoarse and heavy, as if every word cost him great effort, and he spoke with much difficulty.
"The special training was useful." He chuckled with a cough.
"Cough, cough, yes, luckily we did a warm-up exercise beforehand." Zhou Ang spoke hoarsely, each word accompanied by a severe bout of coughing.
This afternoon’s arrangement by Feihu was very appropriate. According to Feihu, after their special training, no matter what Ding Ning cooked, they could accept it with unchanging expressions.
At first, they thought Feihu had pushed their mental and physical limits.
But they didn’t expect that the afternoon’s training was just a small appetizer for tonight’s dinner.
The impact of the excessively salty dishes far exceeded their imagination and expectations.
For the first time, they truly understood what taste and flavor were all about.
For the first time, they so clearly felt what taste and flavor were all about.
"Though I don’t really care, I truly don’t know where she found so much salt."
Feihu sighed, her voice full of helplessness. "It feels like each dish consumed a few bags of salt, they’re crystallizing."
Given the current scarcity of resources, although there’s a lot in storage, Ding Ning said they would never lack salt when visiting her home.
She really didn’t know where Ding Ning managed to find so much.
"If we cook every day, shouldn’t this quantity in our territory’s warehouse run out quickly?" Zhou Ang wondered.
Because besides Ding Ning, other residents also lived here.
Today, he noticed Ding Ning wasn’t someone who ignored others’ feelings and only cared for herself.
If salt were running low in the territory, she certainly wouldn’t add it so recklessly again.
Feihu nodded in agreement, saying, "Such consumption will run out eventually."
She hadn’t seen Jiang Che go out searching for salt either?
After hearing them, Xiong Jie started coughing violently, his face turning red, nearly choking as he inhaled.
"Are you alright? Did something go wrong with the food? Do you need some water?" Feihu quickly stepped forward, concernedly patting his back.
Xiong Jie waved his hand, a pained expression on his face, his brows furrowed, yet a slight bitter smile hung at the corner of his mouth.
"Uncle, better have some water." Zhou Ang took a deep breath, having grown accustomed to the numb mouth, drinking or withholding water seemed irrelevant.
"It’s not that." Xiong Jie finally caught his breath and said with difficulty.
He looked at the two with a complicated expression, his gaze mingling with helplessness, then got up and walked towards a side.
"Follow me." His voice was low and serious.
The two were stunned, faces full of confusion, yet they quickly rose, following behind him.
Zhou Ang couldn’t help but mutter softly, "What’s going on?"
The warehouse wasn’t far, and it didn’t take long to reach outside.
This warehouse was specially prepared for Ding Ning, not built alongside the territory warehouse.
Ding Ning had a key, and so did Xiong Jie.
Because he needed to replenish supplies constantly into the warehouse to ensure Ding Ning had adequate provisions when needed.
The two looked at the square warehouse in the darkness, its walls appearing somewhat mottled under the moonlight.
Surrounding weeds grew thickly, occasionally a few insect calls sounded, making it especially quiet and eerie.
An ominous feeling flashed in the eyes of the two, they saw Xiong Jie take out a key.
The key gleamed faintly in the dim moonlight, then he inserted it into the lock, with a gentle twist, a "click" sounded, and the warehouse door slowly opened.
The creaking door sound emerged, Xiong Jie gently pushed, and the slightly heavy door slowly opened.
Just as the door opened, the two immediately saw the neatly stacked cartons, one after the other, densely filling the entire warehouse, leaving almost no space.
Moonlight fell like water, through the open warehouse door, illuminating the words on the cartons, appearing very clear.
"Iodized Table Salt"
"Ah?" Feihu was stunned, her eyes instantly widened, her face etched with astonishment.
"Ah?" Zhou Ang was also stunned, his mouth slightly open, gazing incredulously at the scene before him.
Looking at the warehouse full of salt, the two stood dumbfounded, unable to react for a long while.
Walking further back, thinking maybe some other supplies were stored behind, reaching the end, they found it was still all table salt stored till the warehouse’s end.
"Ah?" Feihu gaped, eyes full of confusion, she truly couldn’t figure out why there was so much salt.
"Um... maybe this is it, these things were prepared earlier by the Lord for me, and it probably won’t run out in the future." He sheepishly scratched his head, a little shyly.
"I put in some effort recently, collecting from various abandoned cities." Xiong Jie’s voice echoed in the quiet warehouse.
"You know, collecting this stuff is easier than the others..."
Zhou Ang took a deep breath, stepping back two steps, his gaze turning towards the Dark Forest, his expression solemn.
They had just received the news today that from now on, the territory’s people could freely enter and exit the Dark Forest.
"This probably means collecting resources will become easier in the future."
He laughed awkwardly, thinking this meal was just a mistake, since Jiang Che said Ding Ning had no sense of taste.
Occasional unsteady hands pouring excess didn’t matter.
Turns out, it wasn’t unsteady hands at all!