Chapter 1692: Clearing the Mudslide
Chapter 1692: Clearing the Mudslide
Ning arrived at the front where a lot of men and some women were already gathered. Hey looked at the mudslide and frowned.
The dark mud was mostly just dirt and water, but it had also brought with it some rock and dead trees with branches reaching out.
Ning looked at the trail up the hill where the mudslide had come from and saw a dead tree up there. Those could be used for firewood at night had it not been raining the whole time.
“Someone needs to go up there and check if there is any chance of another mudslide. This place seems like it happens here all the time,” one of the men said.
“I will head on over and see what is up,” another man said. “Who will come with me?”
“Take him,” the husband spoke up, bringing Ning before him. “He only has one arm, so he is better off doing scout work.”
Ning was about to argue as he needed to help clear the mudslide, but he supposed this was in a way a help as well. Besides, he could go up there, check, and come back in time to clear a few things for the quest to accept it.
“I can do that,” Ning said. Two more people accepted the task, and the four of them began making their way up the hill.
They climbed at a steady pace, staying away from the trail as they made their way up. From time to time, Ning turned around to see blow at the dozens of carts and carriages with people working in the cold rain.
He continued climbing and made notice of each step he took, each part he climbed. He checked the firmness of the ground, the amount of roots that held the dirt together, and the sparseness of the trees.
Water continued to seep into the ground but Ning didn’t feel the soil move as he walked. That was good. If the soil here moved, there was a chance there could be another landslide at this very place. That could be life-threatening.
The others confirmed that the land was in no immediate threat of a landslide despite the rain, and since the rain was already beginning to clear up, the chances would be even less.
They arrived at the top of the hill, beyond which was another hill. Around the base of the second hill was a large reservoir which seemed to be what spilled out and caused the mudslide.
They checked the water level and concluded there was no danger of another mudslide just yet. Unless it rained the entire night long, they would be no danger.
They looked twice over to see if there was more danger and quickly climbed back down the mountain to tell everyone the news.
“Good. If we can get rid of this mud within the next hour, we should be able to make it to the meadow ahead where we can set up the tent. Let’s all get to work!”
They had already got rid of most of them, creating a small pathway for the carriages to go through. They didn’t need to clear everything, just enough for the horses to trudge through.
Ning helped as well, but there weren’t enough shovels, so he simply dragged away the trees and rolled away the larger stones, leaving the rest for the others to clear up.
With his single arm, no one complained for him to do anything else. In fact, they wanted him to stop working, but Ning was too stubborn for them to let him stop working.
Finally, Ning rolled one large rock to the side and looked back. The path ahead had been more or less clear. By then, the rain had stopped falling as well, but the sun had yet to show. It likely wouldn’t show.
Everyone began washing themselves of all the mud they had stepped on and moved around while working there.
“Get back into your carriages. It’s time to get moving!” one of the men shouted and everyone walked back.
Ning and the husband returned to the cart at the back where Shara stood by the horse, slowly petting the side of its neck. “Is it clear?” she asked.
“Yes, it’s clear,” Ning said, getting back into the cart.
Shara got in behind him. The young child was asleep with his head in his mother’s lap while the woman seemed tired from waiting all day too.
“Finally, we can get moving again,” she said.
The caravan slowly trudged forward, one carriage at a time, making their way past the mudslide region. Shara looked out to the top. “It won’t come again, right?”
They made their way past where any landslides could affect them, into an open area a few hours later where they began setting up tents. Since the land was wet with the day’s rain, they could only get fires started in a few places with the firewood they had stocked up in the carriages.
Everyone brought food to be cooked in a single place. Once Ning and Shara handed over their portion of the food to be cooked into a large stew, they headed over to the side to train.
Dema, the bald guy, walked up to them and began training with them. The spear training lasted for a few hours before the sky got dark. They went back to the camp to eat the hot stew. With the cold wind blowing in the evening time, the stew hit just right. The warmth from it all all that they needed after a long day.
There was no song or dance that night. It was colder than yesterday and most men were tired from working at the mudslide, so they all went back to their carriages once they were done eating and cleaning.
The family of 3 had returned to their own tent as well, so Ning and Shara could finally stretch freely in their cart and fall asleep with their warm blankets on top in the cold weather.
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