Lu Yun built city walls for battle with sand, along with soldiers and large sabers.
Lu Yu built steamed buns, bones, and meat patties.
The two played with great joy.
Suddenly, Lu Yu's eyes widened, and he pointed to the distance, exclaiming happily, "Second Brother, there's meat!"
Meat? Where did the meat come from?
Lu Yun followed his younger brother's small hand and suddenly cried out in surprise, "Wild camel! Xiao Yu, that's not meat, that's a wild camel!"
Lu Yu: That's meat, walking meat.
Everyone was awakened by the shouts.
They looked out of the thatched pavilion, and under the scorching sun, a half-grown camel was calmly approaching.
Everyone was surprised that there were wild camels in the desert after such a long drought!
However, why wasn't it afraid of people and was walking straight towards them?
Lu Ye, Feng Pingyuan, Lu Yun, and Lu Yu immediately ran towards it.
The camel had a long, scaly stick-like object in its mouth.
When it saw people running towards it, it showed no panic at all. It continued to walk unhurriedly in its intended direction, seemingly disregarding everyone else.
Lu Ye and the others saw that the camel's direction of travel was towards the thatched pavilion where they were lying, so they didn't try to catch it.
After all, something that comes to you willingly is sweeter than forcing a melon off its vine.
The four of them cautiously followed the camel from the sides and behind, lest it suddenly escape.
The little camel continued to move forward.
When it was still more than ten meters from the thatched pavilion, two people suddenly rushed out from behind a nearby sand dune, blocking the camel's path. They shouted at Lu Ye and Feng Pingyuan, "This camel belongs to our family! The halter broke this morning, and it ran away from home!"
Lu Ye recognized them as Zhang clansmen from Yellow Sand Village, Zhang Yijin and Zhang Youliang. The one speaking was Zhang Yijin.
"It's indeed Brother Jin's family. They caught this camel outside just two days ago and haven't tamed it yet!" Zhang Youliang's eyes darted around as he said, craning his neck.
"You Zhangs! You're talking nonsense! This is clearly a wild camel that my brother Lu Yu discovered first!" Lu Yun shouted angrily.
"Hey—I say, you little brat, you're too malicious! How can you claim other people's things as your own?" Zhang Youliang pointed at Lu Yun and scolded him.
Feng Pingyuan looked at Lu Ye and clenched his fists. He wanted to beat up these two, but as a subordinate, he dared not act without his master's permission, especially since these people were known to his masters.
Because the voices of their argument were quite loud, Bai Sheng and Du Min also quickly ran over.
The remaining dozen or so scattered villagers of Red Tree Slope also helped each other in twos and threes, standing aside to watch the commotion.
These people looked like skeletons, and it was unknown how many more days they would live, yet they still had the leisure to come out and watch the fun.
Bai Sheng glanced at them. There were a total of 4 women, 6 men, and 2 boys aged five or six.
The slightly older boy was so dirty that only his eyes were clearly visible; the younger one, being too thin, looked like he had a very large head.
Lu Ye looked at the two surnamed Zhang and sneered, "The fluff on this little camel's neck is perfectly intact, with no traces of being bound by a rope at all!"
"We... we didn't tie it, we just kept it at home!" Zhang Yijin's eyes flashed with panic, and he immediately spoke loudly to cover it up.
"Oh?" Lu Ye raised his eyebrows mockingly. "Since you say this camel is yours, let's see if it will go with you."
Zhang Yijin was overjoyed at this.
He immediately walked up to the camel and, feigning anger, reprimanded it, "You little beast, I've given you good food and drink, and yet you ran away! Come, go home with me!"
As he spoke, Zhang Yijin reached out to grab the little camel's ear. Unexpectedly, the little camel suddenly raised its head, sprayed a puff of snot directly into Zhang Yijin's face, and then lifted its front hoof to kick him fiercely.
"Ouch!"
Zhang Yijin was kicked in the lower body, and he immediately hunched over like a dried shrimp, curling up on the ground and crying out in pain.
Bai Sheng and the others burst into laughter.
Seeing this, Zhang Youliang's eyes widened with anger. He immediately used the wooden stick in his hand to hit the little camel. The little camel cleverly turned back and kicked Zhang Youliang to the ground with its hind legs.
Bai Sheng and the others roared with laughter again. Even the skeleton-like scattered villagers standing nearby had expressions resembling 'laughter' on their faces.
The little camel looked back, deliberately glancing at Bai Sheng. Seeing how happily she was laughing, it seemed to show off, proudly raising its head and making "ang unn ang unn" sounds. Then, carrying the short stick-like object in its mouth, it walked directly towards Bai Sheng.
To everyone's surprise, the little camel walked directly to Bai Sheng, placed the object in its mouth at her toes, then extended its tongue and licked her instep. It then lowered its head and nuzzled her calf. Finally, with its long-lashed eyes wide open, it stared intently at her.
Bai Sheng was almost overwhelmed with gratitude. Compared to many people present, she felt utterly plain and unremarkable. Why was this camel showering her with such exclusive favor?
After a moment of stunned silence, Bai Sheng picked up the wooden stick with scale-like patterns and examined it closely.
"Cistanche!" Bai Sheng exclaimed involuntarily!
"Rou Cong Rong? What is that?" Lu Ye asked.
Bai Sheng was extremely excited, but she couldn't say it in front of so many people. So, she pulled Lu Ye's arm and whispered to him, "Cistanche is also known as desert ginseng, a very precious medicinal herb!"
Du Min exclaimed, "Madam, it seems this little camel is very intelligent. It wants to give you this 'stick'."
"That must be it. It clearly came looking for my sister-in-law," Lu Yun said triumphantly, looking at the two people groaning in pain on the ground.
Lu Ye also nodded. "Indeed."
Bai Sheng was a little confused. But why did the little camel come to her? If this Cistanche was a gift from the little camel, it wouldn't give it to her for no reason. It must have a request.
Could it be—the spiritual spring water?
Bai Sheng suddenly realized! When she looked at Lu Ye, she found that Lu Ye was also looking at her intently.
Lu Ye now understood why the mother wolf had entrusted the wolf cub to him. It was because of Bai Sheng's spiritual spring water!
More precisely, he had been drinking spiritual spring water for those two days, and the mother wolf must have sensed something.
Animals possess extraordinary sensitivity. Perhaps they sensed Bai Sheng's unusual nature.
If this were the case, this camel would by no means be the last animal to seek refuge with Bai Sheng. Perhaps their home would become a zoo in the future...
"Little camel, do you want to follow me?" Bai Sheng deliberately raised her voice and asked.
To her surprise, the little camel responded with "ang unn" twice and knelt on its front legs towards Bai Sheng.
The camel knelt!
Witnessing this scene, everyone present was astonished.
"Then, let's go, we're going home! From now on, you'll be a member of our family!" Bai Sheng happily waved in the direction of home.
The little camel joyfully followed behind Bai Sheng. Lu Ye and the others cast cold glances at the two men on the ground and then followed.
The scattered villagers who had been watching also walked with unsteady steps towards their respective straw sheds.