Chapter 330: A Scoop of Cold Water
This way, once the chunks of meat were frozen, they could be loaded directly onto the sled and hauled home.
After a while, both the meat stewing in the pot and the roasted meat were cooked, and the steamed buns had been heated through.
Without needing a greeting from Wang An, Zhang Shuya automatically stopped running and proactively approached.
As she drew near, Zhang Shuya naturally picked up a skewer of roasted meat. Regardless of how hot it was, she impatiently shoved the meat into her mouth.
It was clear that Zhang Shuya was truly starving.
Watching Zhang Shuya gorge herself, Wang An felt more and more that this woman was truly unusual.
In the mountains, maintaining full physical strength at all times was a very important matter, and when it came to eating, there weren't many formalities; one simply ate until full.
Therefore, there was nothing inherently wrong with Zhang Shuya doing this.
However, normally speaking, since the owner of the food had not spoken, Zhang Shuya, as an outsider, should not have been so proactive.
After all, in the mountains, food was indispensable and extremely precious.
But the current situation of Wang An's trio was an exception, because with so many wild boars, how much could they possibly eat?
But what if the three of them hadn't caught anything?
Even putting that aside, from a standpoint of politeness, wasn't this a bit inappropriate?
Of course, Wang An only thought about these questions; he didn't actually care.
Zhang Shuya remained silent, but her speed of eating grew faster and faster, even slightly surpassing the speed of Wang An and the other two.
She kept stuffing meat into her mouth without a single break; her cheeks were practically deformed from being stuffed with meat.
Because of Zhang Shuya's arrival, Mu Xueli had cut quite a bit more meat earlier, increasing both the roasted and stewed portions significantly.
However, looking at Zhang Shuya's momentum, this meat certainly wouldn't be enough.
Consequently, the three grown men subconsciously stopped eating and, as if by unspoken agreement, began cutting and roasting more meat.
Then, another extremely bizarre scene unfolded in the great mountains.
Three grown men were dividing the labor to cut and roast meat, while one woman focused solely on eating.
The overall impression was like that dead woman from the Great Qing Dynasty being served by three eunuchs while she was fleeing.
While these four were eating...
In the Forbidden Zone several miles away, things had truly descended into chaos.
The two men who had been monitoring Wang An's trio had returned and entered a small dugout, and hadn't come out since, as the injured man needed to bandage his wounds.
But once the two had finished bandaging the wounds, smoked a pipe of local tobacco, and participated in a session of "chaos," they habitually went to check on Zhang Shuya.
They discovered that Zhang Shuya had actually escaped. Now, the two of them completely panicked.
If any other woman ran away, no one would care, even if she was a woman who had just been captured.
Because no matter who ran, sooner or later they would obediently return on their own.
Furthermore, any woman who ran and then returned of her own accord would suffer a beating.
Beyond that, they would have to undergo a "baptism" delivered by a group of men—a "baptism" that an ordinary person could not endure.
One must understand that this was a proper "herd of cattle plowing the field," plowing left and right; would you not be terrified?
Of course, even so, it wouldn't feel painful, because "local tobacco balls" would be prepared.
Once one smoked that, the entire world would instantly become beautiful.
From then on, such a woman would be considered completely tamed.
Stripped of dignity, stripped of shame, and even stripped of thought, she would exist in these mountains like a walking corpse.
Moreover, even if they chased her away in the future, she wouldn't leave; even if they sent her away, she would find a way to return on her own.
It had to be said that the malice of the human heart was terrifying.
Because only humans understand human nature best, and simultaneously, humans can be devoid of humanity.
But Zhang Shuya was different, because she had not yet been tamed.
Most crucially, Zhang Shuya was a spy and knew martial arts.
Once such a person escaped, it would bring an apocalyptic disaster to the entire Forbidden Zone.
Every single person here would absolutely ensure not a single living witness was left.
Thus, the two of them rushed back to the dugout where the "chaos" was still ongoing.
The uninjured man shouted in a panic and anxiety, "Boss, it's bad! That woman ran away! Boss, wake up, Boss!"
Because he had smoked too much, the Boss, who was currently drifting in a soul-trip, blearily opened his eyes.
From the Boss's gaze, one could tell he was currently completely stupified, devoid of any cognitive ability.
He just stared blankly at the uninjured man without even blinking.
Seeing the Boss in this state, the uninjured man turned and ran outside the dugout, crouched down, and scooped up a large handful of snow, then turned and returned to the dugout.
Ignoring rank and status, he slapped the snow directly onto the Boss's face.
The Boss let out a loud scream, sounding as if he had been castrated.
But surprisingly, among the nearly thirty people in the dugout, they acted as if they hadn't heard the scream; they continued doing whatever they were doing, showing no reaction at all.
Regardless of who smoked too many "local tobacco balls," as long as the drug's effect hadn't worn off, they would become completely mindless.
In fact, the "white powder" of later generations was refined from this stuff.
However, whether it was "local tobacco balls" or "white powder," too much of it tasted like the same damn thing.
But it must be said that the handful of snow was very effective.
At the very least, after the scream, the Boss instantly became much more lucid.
Seeing this, the uninjured man immediately repeated the news of Zhang Shuya's escape.
Upon hearing this, the Boss leaped off the kang bed instantly. Without even bothering to wipe the snow-water from his face, he roared urgently at the injured and uninjured pair
"Quick, quick! Wake them all up immediately!"
Before the two could act, the Boss, unable to contain his impatience, began slapping the men in the dugout across their faces one by one.
It was clear the Boss was truly anxious; the "slap, slap" sounds were so loud they made one's own face feel numb just listening.
In reality, slapping was useless at a time like this; "local tobacco balls" possessed a strong analgesic effect.
Thus, the Boss's palms were nearly swollen from slapping, yet not a single person woke up.
The two who had monitored Wang An were the most lucid people besides the Boss, but they didn't follow the Boss's example.
The uninjured man grabbed a wooden water bucket, and the injured man took a water scoop.
Following behind the Boss, they took a scoop of cold water and splashed it indiscriminately over every person the Boss had slapped.
One must remember that these people were currently stark naked.
When a human is warm, the thing they fear most is suddenly being splashed with cold water; that sensation is quite "refreshing."
Not only was it refreshing, but it also gave one a feeling of being unable to breathe, a suffocating sensation.
But it had to be said that this method was the simplest, most effective, and fastest way.