I Received Messages From Future Self!
Chapter 358 - Chapter 358 After Three Days

Chapter 358: After Three Days Chapter 358: After Three Days “Taotie, go kill that bait, and everyone else quickly clean up the battlefield. Load all usable supplies onto the carts, and take the camels too. Drilling Mouse, dig a hole and bury the bodies.”

After the battle ended, Fang Xiaocao immediately issued orders, directing everyone in their tasks.

“Yes!”

Taotie responded, mounted a camel, and chased after the bait.

Fang Xiaocao had thought of the gunfire that had likely alerted the bait, which is why she had sent Taotie, as she didn’t trust anyone else for the task.

This raid on the bandits had been very fruitful.

They had acquired eight camels alone.

That didn’t even include the dead camels.

The food, weapons, and ammunition carried by the bandits made Fang Xiaocao feel like they had struck it rich.

Drilling Mouse didn’t neglect the camels’ bodies either. He took out the dagger he carried and began cutting them up. This was prime protein, and curing it with salt to make jerky meant having a satisfying and filling meal in the desert, which was a welcome change from just compressed biscuits and canned food.

The only downside was that it was somewhat time-consuming; they were likely to be delayed in their travels today. However, Fang Xiaocao did not stop Drilling Mouse’s actions.

In the desert, food and water are the most critical, and being able to prepare extra jerky to carry with them made Fang Xiaocao feel that arriving a day late was acceptable.

After Drilling Mouse had cut the camel meat, he ignited some compressed fuel to start a fire. He tasked Liu Yishou and Little Luban with grilling the meat while he dealt with the bodies.

Fang Xiaocao also joined in grilling the meat.

Before long, Taotie returned on a camel.

“Done?”

Fang Xiaocao asked.

“Absolutely!”

Taotie said with a smile as he dismounted the camel.

He helped Drilling Mouse bury the bodies.

Taotie, too, joined in grilling the meat.

The five of them grilled camel meat for over two hours. They had a satisfying meal, then packed up the grilled meat and camel hides and continued on their journey.

—

Traveling by night and resting by day, they trekked through the desert for three days. The faces of Fang Xiaocao and her four companions clearly showed signs of fatigue.

It was not due to lack of rest but purely because of the harsh environment.

As it neared noon, Fang Xiaocao’s team once again stopped traveling. They chose a spot shielded from the wind to set up camp. Liu Yishou took Drilling Mouse, riding camels to scout the area to check the terrain and ensure they hadn’t deviated from their planned route.

Taotie and Little Luban set up tents while Fang Xiaocao skillfully started a fire to boil meat soup with camel meat.

The group didn’t speak a word throughout, but they cooperated seamlessly, each focusing on their tasks.

This was the result of three days of coordination.

Half an hour later!

Liu Yishou and Drilling Mouse returned!

Before even reaching the camp, Drilling Mouse called out, “Princess Your Highness, there’s something ahead!”

Hearing this, Fang Xiaocao and the others immediately became alert and pulled out their weapons.

“What did you find?”

Taotie asked in a deep voice.

“Just now, Liu Yishou and I were scouting the terrain. Five hundred meters from our camp, we found fresh camel dung.”

“Following the trail from there, we found a camp about two kilometers ahead of us. There are ten people, two off-road vehicles, twelve camels, and the vehicles are pockmarked with bullet holes. There are also wounded individuals. It seems they recently had an encounter,” Drilling Mouse quickly recounted everything he had seen.

Listening to Drilling Mouse’s report, images of the bandits they had wiped out three days ago surfaced in Fang Xiaocao’s mind.

“Could it be a conflict with the bandits?”

Fang Xiaocao blurted out the question.

Drilling Mouse shook his head, “That’s unlikely. Bandits never leave survivors nor do they pick uncertain battles. Their approach is simple; if they can swallow it in one gulp, they will; if not, they will trail it, waiting for reinforcements to arrive and consume the prey together.”

Hearing this, Fang Xiaocao closed her mouth.

Not understanding, she just listened with her ears.

“Was there any distinguishing mark on the vehicle?”

“Can you tell which fleet it belonged to?”

Taotie, wiping his dagger, asked in a deep voice.

After pondering for a moment, Drilling Mouse spoke, “There were no marks from Jianghu on the vehicle; it likely isn’t someone from our line of work or others in Jianghu, nor are there any marks from officials. It’s also probably not a scientific expedition team. I guess it’s likely some civilian exploration team.”

Taotie squinted, “Coming here for an exploration?”

“Would a civilian exploration team carry guns?”

“It’s either officials or people from Jianghu!”

Drilling Mouse nodded, “Son-in-law has a point, I didn’t consider that thoroughly.”

Fang Xiaocao, now understanding, asked, “Taotie, what should we do?”

“Should we make contact with them?”

“Or should we bypass them?”

Taotie, seemingly deep in thought and fiddling with his dagger, fell silent.

Seeing that Taotie wasn’t speaking, everyone naturally shut their mouths, waiting for him to speak.

Fang Xiaocao was indifferent; with an unclear origin, she thought it best to avoid trouble and simply bypass them.

“Little Luban, you and Drilling Mouse take some supplies and make contact with them, find out their origin and experiences,”

at this time, the silent Taotie finally spoke.

Fang Xiaocao was surprised that Taotie chose to make direct contact with those people and looked at him questioningly.

Understanding Fang Xiaocao’s look, Taotie explained, “Their position is directly ahead of us. Even if we detour now, we can’t ensure we won’t encounter them again.”

“It’s better to directly find out their intentions. I have a feeling their goal might be the same as ours.”

After hearing Taotie’s explanation, Fang Xiaocao nodded, “Let’s do as Taotie suggested.”

Fang Xiaocao felt that Taotie’s concerns were valid.

Even if we bypass them now, we might still meet them eventually. If they are fast, it’s fine; they could unknowingly act as scouts for us since we’ll be in the dark and they’ll be exposed. However, if they are slow and end up behind our team, that switches our roles. If they aren’t decent folks, an ambush would be easy.”

“Yes!”

At Fang Xiaocao’s command, Little Luban and Drilling Mouse acknowledged and began preparing for action.

“No matter what happens, don’t be afraid, you two. I’ll be watching from the sand dunes. If any danger arises, I’ll teach them a lesson,”

Taotie said, chuckling.

Although Taotie’s face looked fierce, his words inexplicably provided comfort.

“Yes, Son-in-law!”

The two nodded in agreement.

Little Luban and Drilling Mouse didn’t take a vehicle but instead each took some supplies and set off on camels.

After they left, Fang Xiaocao’s group immediately began packing up the tents, getting ready to move.

When they finished, Fang Xiaocao asked Liu Yishou to drive the vehicle around to the other side of that group, so that if they captured Little Luban and the others, they wouldn’t trace back to them.

By the time Fang Xiaocao successfully navigated around the camp and found the best vantage point, Little Luban and others on camels had just appeared on the outskirts of that camp…