novelkee Chapter 163 Bamboo Bomb
Chapter 163 Bamboo Bomb
Knowing that Qin Su was deliberately causing trouble, Meng Fuqing didn't want to pay any more attention to him. But when she turned around and saw Xie Jin staring at her, she looked at him innocently.
He then looked at Yan He, who was huddled in the crowd.
Yan He had no choice but to step forward and said righteously, "Young Master Qin is clearly plotting revenge and damaging Qingqing's reputation. He is utterly vicious! Don't be fooled by him!"
It was obvious that Qin Su's words were unbelievable without much thought, and most people didn't take them seriously. The only ones who did take them seriously were Xie Jin's people.
Xie Jin himself did not delve into the matter further, but simply made a mental note of Qin Su, and said to Du Zhong and Meng Bochang, "It's getting late, let's set off."
Meng Bochang struck the gong again, and everyone began to move. Some drove their carriages, some walked, and some rode horses, all in perfect order.
As Meng Fuqing said, Chi Ye was taken there for two days and did not suffer too much. He exchanged a few words with Granny Su and the others, and when he saw that the caravan was about to set off, he hurriedly walked up to Meng Fuqing, who had already mounted his horse.
He looked up at Meng Fuqing and said, "I heard from Granny Su that Miss Meng has already had the grain moved to the cellar at the entrance of the village. Thank you for taking care of Granny and my younger siblings for me these past two days."
As he spoke, he knelt down and kowtowed three times very solemnly.
As soon as he knelt down, Granny Su and the others also knelt down.
Grandma Su wiped away her tears. "Miss Meng, the journey is long and arduous. Have a safe trip."
When she heard yesterday that the convoy would only stay for two days, she did consider going with the convoy, and even almost went to find Meng Fuqing.
After much thought, I realized they were too old and too young to be a burden. It's unreasonable for them to repay kindness with ingratitude after someone has offered help.
Not to mention, there's something else they're concerned about here—they haven't found the remains of the villagers yet.
Meng Fuqing was used to the habit of others kneeling at the drop of a hat, so she just went with the flow and didn't say anything.
"As long as you don't wander around under Qin's nose, they shouldn't do anything to you. Take care."
As he spoke, Meng Fuqing followed the convoy out of the village.
As Grandma Su had said before, it would take three days for the convoy to reach the Canglan River.
The number of refugees increased as they walked closer to the river. Even though they chose relatively remote routes, they were still conspicuous.
The advantages and disadvantages of traveling on the plains are fully demonstrated here. While they travel quickly, others can see them from afar and it is not impossible for them to keep up.
No one can ignore the extreme eagerness and longing in the eyes of refugees. If they are robbed by refugees, even if the refugees have weapons, they cannot protect the refugees.
Everyone was on edge, their vigilance at its highest point.
Meng Fuqing frowned slightly and rode his horse to the front of the caravan to find Xie Jin.
She wanted to make some gunpowder. She knew the formula for gunpowder and was also aware that such a secret was impossible for ordinary people to know. If she wanted to try to make it, she would have to rely on Xie Jin.
Thinking this, Meng Fuqing asked, "Is there anything that can make a big commotion to scare those refugees?"
Xie Jin slowed down and shook his head. "Right now, all I have are fireworks, which ordinary people can see, so they won't have a deterrent effect."
Then another thought came to mind: "I heard you found something that can make ice among the looted provisions last night? Was it saltpeter?"
So, making ice with saltpeter wasn't some top-secret recipe after all?
Thinking this, Meng Fuqing pretended to have just found out, "So that thing is called saltpeter?"
Xie Jin glanced at her and said, "Saltpeter can be used to make not only ice but also gunpowder. We have saltpeter, sulfur, and charcoal in our team, so we can give it a try. Ling Qi is quite familiar with this, so we can leave it to her."
“Let’s go to my carriage,” Meng Fuqing suggested. “Yan He knows alchemy, so he should be familiar with this kind of thing.”
As far as she knew, gunpowder was accidentally created by Taoist priests while refining elixirs, and Yan He's identity and expertise matched that. This way, she could also observe from the sidelines.
She knew the gunpowder ratio, but had never tried it herself. After watching it once, she should be able to give it a shot.
Xie Jin: ...
Xie Jin believed he had no prejudice against people, but he simply didn't trust Yan He.
“I’m worried she’ll blow up your carriage and hurt innocent people. Just leave it to Ling Qi alone.”
Meng Fuqing did not insist any further. Instead, he rode his horse to the carriage containing sulfur and asked the driver if there was any saltpeter on the carriage.
Upon learning that there was some left, she took some sulfur and saltpeter, and also took a red pine branch from the cart loaded with firewood.
Back at the carriage, Ling Qi was waiting there, and the two of them climbed into the carriage together.
Seeing that Meng Fuqing had also followed, Ling Qi said with difficulty, "This matter is dangerous, leave it to me, Miss Meng, you don't need to come up."
Meng Fuqing extinguished the fire with cold tea, then took out the prepared items and placed them on the small table in front of the two of them. "I'll help you out. I've heard it's a bit dangerous, but I trust the people under Young Master Xie."
Ling Qi didn't believe Meng Fuqing was stealing her skills, but she was concerned about one thing: "What about the young master..."
"Never mind him. Please, Miss Ling Qi."
Ling Qi: ……
The two fiddled around in the carriage for quite a while without any danger.
Looking at the very simple bomb in his hand, which contained gunpowder in a thin bamboo tube, Meng Fuqing couldn't help but doubt its power.
As if sensing Meng Fuqing's question, Ling Qi explained, "An iron shell would be more powerful, but I don't have one, so I can only use this as a substitute. The damage might not be great, but the deterrent effect is enough."
"Miss Ling Qi is truly remarkable," Meng Fuqing couldn't help but praise.
Ling Qi smiled sheepishly, "When we were learning things together before, my internal energy cultivation and martial arts skills were inferior to others, but this was the only thing I was good at."
As if realizing she had said too much, Ling Qi quickly said, "I'll go get the ingredients and make a few more."
Meng Fuqing also got involved in the bamboo bombing later.
The caravan did not stop after nightfall, until they had completely shaken off the refugees who had followed them all the way, and then they began to look for a place to rest.
Upon seeing a large village by the roadside, Du Zhong sent men to investigate. They discovered that the village had neither living nor dead people.
It looked like it had been tampered with; it was really strange.
They had not made contact with the refugees along the way, and did not want to ask them anything at the moment.
We drove straight through the village and turned into a grove of trees by the roadside, intending to rest there for the night.
Meng Fuqing calculated that at their current speed, they would arrive at the Canglan River by the afternoon of tomorrow.
She took off her face mask and towel, and when she touched her face, she found it was marked with indentations.
The journey was dusty, and unless you stayed in the carriage the whole time, the entire caravan was filled with dust. If you didn't tighten your face covering, you would have ingested a lot of dust.
The white wolf was already listless; its white fur had turned yellow, and it lay on the ground, looking dejected.
Seeing its condition, Meng Ali and Meng Ranran felt very sorry for it. They not only brushed the dust off its body, but also asked Meng Fuqing if they could leave Xiaobai untied the next day.
Meng Fuqing thought about it and decided it wasn't impossible. The white wolf was very obedient to her now, and she could call it back with a whistle.
"Alright, let it guard our convoy tomorrow."
Meng Ali immediately cheered loudly, and Meng Ranran's face lit up with a smile.
No sooner had Meng Fuqing finished speaking than the white wolf, which had been listless, whimpered and nuzzled against her legs.
He shuddered, and then looked energetic again.
Meng Ranran and Meng Ali were incredibly surprised, both thinking that Xiaobai was a divine dog that could understand human speech.