Day Ninety-One: A New Discovery! (Seeking Recommendation Votes)

"What's wrong? Did something happen?" Brother Qian asked as he rushed toward Ye Qingchen.

"What about One-Thirty?" Seeing that Ye Qingchen was alone, he immediately asked in a loud, anxious voice. It seemed that Brother Qian's concern for them wasn't fake; this kind of genuine reaction, facial expression, and body language could not be faked.

"Hah... hah... He... he's over there...!" Ye Qingchen panted heavily, supporting his weight with his hands on his bent thighs. He must have sprinted over at maximum speed.

"Let's move!" Without even asking what had happened, the others grabbed their axes and knives and bolted. Naturally, I followed right behind them. Could something have happened to One-Thirty? If so, his chances of survival were probably slim now.

"Wait, Brother Qian!" Having caught his breath somewhat, Ye Qingchen quickly stopped them. Seeing that Brother Qian and the others had halted and turned back, Ye Qingchen continued, "Here's the thing—One-Thirty is fine. We found a whole bunch of turtles!"

"Turtles?" Brother Qian's expression shifted several times, and the others did the same—including myself, of course. Was it really necessary to run back in such a panic just for a few turtles? Couldn't they just be caught directly? But immediately, I realized something was off. I knew Ye Qingchen very well; he was a quick-witted guy. Normally, he wouldn't have rushed back in such a desperate sprint just for a few ordinary turtles.

"What on earth is going on? Spit it out." This was the first time I truly saw Brother Qian acting like the leader of their group—serious and decisive!

"Those turtles are huge..." Before Ye Qingchen could finish, Ying Yuefeng interrupted from the side: "How big?"

Brother Qian glanced at Ying Yuefeng, startling him so much that he instantly clamped his mouth shut. Then Brother Qian looked back at Ye Qingchen: "Go on..."

"Those turtles weigh at least dozens of pounds each, bigger than sea turtles, with really thick legs. If we all go and catch them, we can eat for a long time! The most important thing is, I saw them eating grass... I think if we catch enough of them, we can fence them in and keep them captive, then slaughter them whenever we want to eat..." Ye Qingchen not only explained the situation clearly, but also offered a proposal. That was the exact reason he had rushed back to get backup.

"So One-Thirty is still watching them over there?" Brother Qian asked again.

"Yes. I counted roughly, there are at least twelve of them. One-Thirty and I definitely couldn't catch that many by ourselves, and I wanted to capture the whole lot of them, so I came back first to get you guys to help." Ye Qingchen continued to explain.

"What are we waiting for? I'll go get all the fishing nets. Oh, and Ying Yuefeng, come with me and help carry the plastic crates." That was my suggestion. There were still quite a few fishing nets left in the treehouse, which would come in handy. Since we were short-handed, we could use the nets to cover the turtles first to keep them from escaping.

Moreover, I completely agreed with Ye Qingchen's idea. Turtles weren't that hard to raise; you just needed to fence off an area for them. Whenever you wanted to eat one, you just killed it. That way, the meat stayed fresh, and we had a constant supply.

Two minutes later, equipped with fishing nets and plastic crates, we set off led by Ye Qingchen. According to him, they had finished gathering most of the small branches. Since it was still early, the two of them decided to wander deeper into the woods, but other than encountering a snake and some small animals, they found nothing. It wasn't until they reached this spot that they suddenly spotted the turtles feeding... After consulting with each other, they decided to send Ye Qingchen back as quickly as possible to fetch the others.

Ye Qingchen hadn't gotten lost on his solo trip back, and the guy certainly could run fast. I still remembered the first time I met him—he had left me far behind in the dust, and if he hadn't hidden in the bushes and been spotted by me, he probably really would have gotten away.

However, because he was leading us back, our pace wasn't quite as fast. After nearly twenty minutes, Ye Qingchen suddenly raised a finger to his lips, signaling us to lower our voices. That was when we spotted One-Thirty squatting at the edge of the woods. The guy was being quite obedient, staring fixedly ahead without moving a muscle.

As we crept closer, those of us arriving just then were startled by the sight of these gigantic turtles. Suddenly, we heard Brother Qian exclaim: "Tortoises! There are actual tortoises here! Holy crap."

"What's a tortoise?" Ye Qingchen asked Brother Qian in confusion. In fact, let alone him, the rest of us wore blank expressions—myself included, as I had never seen such a creature before. The legs of these massive turtles were as thick as my calves and looked extremely powerful. If boiled, they would probably yield a ton of meat...

"Anyway, you just need to know that these tortoises can be farmed, their meat is delicious, and if we ration it, a single one is enough to feed all of us for two meals!" Brother Qian whispered from his hiding spot, explaining with excitement.

"How about this: everyone take a position and surround these tortoises from all sides so they don't get away. On Brother Qian's command, everyone charges forward with the fishing nets and swarms them. Let's try not to let a single one escape!" That was my suggestion.

After listening to me, Brother Qian nodded in strong agreement. "Brother Lobo is spot on. Everyone get to your assigned positions right now. Keep an eye on me in about five minutes. When I charge out, you all charge out together. I'll slow my pace just a bit so we can reach them simultaneously and prevent them from scattering. Don't underestimate these tortoises—they don't run as slowly as you'd think..." With that, Brother Qian grabbed the fishing nets I had laid on the ground and began distributing them, making sure everyone got a piece. Any nets that were too large, Brother Qian cut down with his knife.

"Alright, we only have five minutes, everyone hurry up. Figure out your respective directions right away. Let's move! If these tortoises get away, our loss will be massive."

"Got it, Brother Qian!" Ye Qingchen, forever Brother Qian's most loyal fan, immediately replied. At the same time, we had already chosen our positions. Leaving the remaining angles to Ye Qingchen, we set off.

Just seconds after arriving at my position, I saw Brother Qian charge out. Those five minutes went by so fast! The others and I quickly rushed out right behind him.

To our surprise, either because these tortoises hadn't seen humans in a very long time or for some other reason, they were still leisurely munching on little wild flowers...

The capture operation went exceptionally smoothly, with almost no resistance. The only minor hassle was that the tortoises were quite large, making them somewhat cumbersome to pack away. Each plastic crate could only hold two...

A total of thirteen tortoises, not a single one missed, all became our spoils of war. Aside from Brother Qian, who was dragging three tortoises in his net, everyone else had two...