Chapter 67

Chapter 67

Kitty Snowball dove into the ocean and caught mutant crabs, squids, and eels...

The bonfire roared to life, with Bai Bin accompanied by quite a few people.

Bai Bin turned to Qi Mo and asked, "My memory’s pretty spotty—I don’t remember much. When are you going after the mutant bees?"

"At dawn. Mutant bees are nocturnal—they regroup at dawn," Qi Mo explained.

Bai Bin took out some grilling spices.

The mutant crabs had their legs removed and were cut into chunks, then roasted over the fire. The mutant squids were killed, sliced into pieces, skewered on sticks, and grilled by hand.

The mutant eel was massive—thicker than a forearm—with plump, tender flesh.

Dusted with chili flakes, it was skewered on sticks and roasted.

Bai Bin’s crew cracked open beers.

Huo Liangzhou grabbed a can, while Qi Mo got a bottle of plain milk...

It was only then that Qi Mo realized Bai Bin hadn’t died after being captured.

Chou Hu’s gang had grabbed him, but among them was a healer Psychic. They’d slice Bai Bin’s flesh off, only to heal him afterward.

Chou Hu kept Bai Bin alive—since he was the one Chou Yun loved, Chou Hu wanted to torture him.

Eventually, Bai Bin was rescued.

So Bai Bin outlived Qi Mo.

After finishing the barbecue, Bai Bin and Chou Yun passed the mission off to Qi Mo and Huo Liangzhou before heading back with their team.

The country had now organized many bike couriers for deliveries and messages.

Society was slowly rebuilding, though the process would inevitably involve many casualties.

Ocean breeze, sandy shore—Qi Mo rested with his head on Huo Liangzhou’s lap...

As dawn broke, Huo Liangzhou woke the young master.

Qi Mo leaned into Huo Liangzhou’s embrace as a crimson sun rose above the horizon, banishing the night in a blaze of color.

After watching the sunrise, Huo Liangzhou said, "Let’s go. We’re wiping out the mutant bees."

The two returned to the cliff. Qi Mo stared at the gaping black cave—not a single mutant bee flew in or out now, all having returned to their nest to rest.

They teleported a raging bonfire from their space and plugged every crevice at the cave entrance, leaving no gap.

The mutant bees inside went into a frenzy—their buzzing loud enough to be heard outside.

But the cave was blocked by logs, and the mutant bees, still small, couldn’t move the barricade...

The fire grew fiercer, and the buzzing gradually faded. No matter how they mutated, they were still Earth’s creatures—dependent on oxygen, vulnerable to suffocation.

Half an hour later, Qi Mo pulled away the burning coals.

The cave was scorching hot, and countless mutant bees at the entrance had become ashen carcasses.

The deeper they went, the more mutant bees they found killed by smoke.

"Can we even eat these?" Qi Mo asked with some concern.

Huo Liangzhou replied, "Whether they're edible or not, these mutant bees make excellent fertilizer. Didn't you plant some vegetables?"

Qi Mo realized, "Right, I still have land to cultivate. I could use the fertilizer."

As they ventured further in, Qi Mo discovered the smoke-dazed queen bee, which Huo Liangzhou quickly finished off with a pickaxe.

These mutant bees no longer produced honey—instead, they oozed something like edible bird's nest, semi-transparent in appearance, which they used to build their hives.

The bee larvae were enormous, about the size of silkworm pupae, fat and white, not nearly as scary-looking.

Whether smoked unconscious or dead, they took everything, cleaning out the hive completely.

After dealing with the mutant bees, Huo Liangzhou took Qi Mo home.

"What’s for breakfast?" Huo Liangzhou asked.

Qi Mo rested his chin on his hand. "Let’s cook some snow fungus—it’s delicious chilled."

After last night’s barbecue, they wanted something lighter.

As the snow fungus simmered in a large pot, Qi Mo said, "We should distribute the compensation for the villagers today."

Huo Liangzhou nodded. "Tell me what to get, and I’ll grab it."

Soon, three portions of meat sauce, three cans of peaches, three smoked hens, and three smoked fish were prepared. After a moment’s thought, Qi Mo added a bag of salt to each bundle.

He then packed a few extra bags of salt and cans of peaches.

Huo Liangzhou called for Huo Jingxuan, fresh off his shift guarding the village’s rear watchtower.

There wasn’t much, but all the items were valuable.

These days, you couldn’t find fruit anywhere.

As for salt, Yuncheng wasn’t near the coast—it was inland. Getting salt was tough, and even if available, the prices were sky-high.

Huo Liangzhou personally delivered supplies to everyone who had helped Qi Mo that night to thank them.

After Huo Liangzhou left, Qi Mo ducked into his storage space and carried out the chubby baby, who was snoring away with little bubbles forming...

Poking the little one’s chubby cheeks, Qi Mo turned his attention to his planting space.

The area had expanded again, the outer area bare and empty, while the pond had grown larger.

Looked like planting time was coming.

Thinking about the work ahead, he mused, "Hmm, better let the man handle it."

He also wanted to build a small wooden cabin—that’s the man’s job. Much better to watch than to do it himself.

Qi Mo put his hands on his hips and threw his head back laughing. "I’m a genius!"

He realized he was growing lazier.

When Huo Liangzhou returned after delivering the goods, he checked on the simmering snow fungus soup and let it continue to cook.

Then he went to look for the young sir, only to find him gone—no clue where he wandered off to.

Huo Liangzhou called for his youngest daughter, Snowball.

Snowball popped up, blinking her big eyes at her father. "Sorry, Daddy didn't tell me, so I can't say."

Huo Liangzhou looked at the hesitant child. "I won’t ask where he is—just tell me if he’s home and safe with your brother."

Snowball the kitten meowed.

She assured him, "Father's safe, totally safe."

Huo Liangzhou felt relieved.

Qi Mo went to check on the piglets. The moment they saw their owner, they squealed hungrily.

The pigpen had a lot of mess, so Qi Mo hosed it down after fetching water.

Then he took out a few cabbages, tossing the outer leaves to the pigs and keeping the tender hearts for himself.

Finally, he filled their troughs with feed and water. All set.

Next were the chickens, ducks, geese, and fish. Qi Mo was thinking of planting sweet potatoes—the vines could feed the pigs, ducks, geese, and fish.

There were also some banana plants he dug up last night; he wasn’t sure they’d take root, but they’d make good feed too.

For all his planning, Qi Mo didn’t actually do any of it. Instead, he went back for a snooze with the little one.

Huo Liangzhou washed the household’s dirty clothes, tidied up the house, and basically took inventory of the supplies the young sir had stored in the basement.

It looked like they could last three months.

Qi Mo was woken up by Chubby Baby squishing him—the little one wasn’t light.

Carrying the baby out of the space, Qi Mo called, "Husband, heat water for bottles."

Huo Liangzhou watched the young sir reappear and guessed he might have a safe space of his own. He was glad—at least he wouldn’t have to worry too much about the young sir’s safety.

Huo Liangzhou started boiling water.

Qi Mo pulled out a pile of unwashed bottles.

Huo Liangzhou got to work without complaint.

Qi Mo placed Chubby Baby on the living room mat. The morning hadn’t heated up yet, so they’d stay in the living room for now.

Taking out the ant eggs, Qi Mo began peeling them—they were delicious.

Chubby Baby gobbled them up, and so did Snowball and Ball.

After washing twenty bottles and setting them aside, Huo Liangzhou took the white fungus soup off the stove and left it to cool before packing it into lunch boxes.

A big bowl waited on the table. Huo Liangzhou called to the young sir on the mat, "The white fungus soup is ready. I’ve already scooped a small bowl for you."

Qi Mo nodded. "Come help me peel these."

The two sat on the mat as the sun scorched outside, the temperature rising higher.

The villagers had brought in the rice crop last night.

Though it’s not quite ripe yet and a bit lacking in plumpness, no one’s picky these days—food is food.

The boiled water had cooled to just the right temperature. Huo Liangzhou washed his hands, poured in the milk powder, then added the hot water, gave it a shake, then poured it into a storage box.

The milk bottles were ready, along with thirty-some small bottles, all filled with warm water.

After finishing this, Huo Liangzhou asked the little lord to put away the milk bottles and water bottles. Then he tasted the tremella soup—it was just the right temperature.

“It’s cooled down. Momo, come have breakfast,” Huo Liangzhou called out.

Qi Mo brought over a dozen shelled ant eggs and started sipping the tremella soup. Sure enough, it was silky and soothing.

Chubby baby ate plain congee.

The kitty had the same as Daddy—the tremella soup.

After the meal, Qi Mo looked at Huo Liangzhou and said, “Honey, I’ve got something to tell you.”

Putting down his spoon, Huo Liangzhou saw the little lord blinking those big eyes expectantly—clearly setting him up for something.

But she was his wife—he spoiled her rotten. Even if he knew there was a pit ahead, he’d jump in blindly, pretending not to notice.

So Huo Liangzhou was led into Qi Mo’s growing space.

Listening to the little lord talk about planting sweet potatoes, planting potatoes, building a little log cabin… Yep, totally a setup! There was clearly a lot of work waiting for him.

“That’s great. We won’t have to worry about fresh vegetables anymore. The fruit trees look healthy too. You even raised chickens, ducks, pigs—and rabbits and fish too? Momo, you’re amazing,” Huo Liangzhou said in his usual way.

Qi Mo quickly blushed.

And then… that was it for the day. Chubby baby was handed over to little sister Snowball again.

Daddy and Papa sneaked off to do grown-up stuff.

These past two days, Huo Liangzhou had been pretty busy. He went to check on his younger brother—everything looked good, no problems.

The rest of the time, he dug holes to plant sweet potatoes and potatoes, then went off to chop wood to build the little lord’s cabin.

A group of people had arrived in the village these past couple days.

All distant kin or city friends—the kind who never visited before and hardly ever bothered with them.

Now that times were tough, they suddenly remembered their poor country relatives.

Things got rowdy.

Some villagers had their grain stolen.

Others came to Qi Mo’s house asking for milk powder. But Qi Mo made it clear: supplies only, nothing for free. His things didn’t grow on trees.

Giving stuff away carelessly would only bring trouble.

He knew the saying well: “Give them an inch, and they’ll take a mile—as the saying goes.”

The whole village was in a tizzy. Those who had left Huo Village long ago had started hollowing out caves at the foot of the mountain…

Chen Feng showed up at Huo Village with White Falcon.

Under the moonlight, Third Master Bai lit a cigarette and gazed at the village before him. “So this is Huo Liangzhou’s hometown?”

“Yeah, this is it,” Chen Feng replied. “Qi Mo fled here in the early days of the crisis. I’ve got solid intel.”

Third Master Bai tapped his cigarette, blowing out a ring that quickly enveloped the group of over thirty men in smoke.

In the darkness, no one could spot them unless they were up close.

As they reached the tail end of the village, Chen Feng added, “Huo Liangzhou invited Qi Huai to his wedding—I happened to see the photos Qi Huai took. Otherwise, I wouldn’t even know where he lived.”

Standing outside the courtyard gate, Third Master Bai turned to Chen Feng. “You knock, or should I?”

“Sneak in! You really think we should announce ourselves?” Chen Feng shot back, staring at Third Master Bai in disbelief.

Third Master Bai shook his head. “That wouldn’t be right. I’m a man of principle—always courtesy before force. If you don’t like it, have your guys climb over.”

Chen Feng was speechless. *Principles? You’re a damn gangster!*

He waved a hand, and his guy Monkey swiftly scaled the wall and unlocked the gate.

The group crept inside without a sound.

Then, as Third Master Bai—who had been hanging back—raised his hand, Chen Feng’s dozen men were suddenly pinned down.

Before Chen Feng could protest, Third Master Bai called out, “Hey kid, home? Third Master’s got a little proposition for you!”

Chen Feng, his mouth gagged, stared in shock. *Bai, what are you doing? This is dirty play…*