Shen Feng and his people arrived at the steel mill through the sewers and then sealed the gate. Counting the numbers, there were over a hundred people, and half of them had voluntarily followed him to the steel mill.
Mutated beasts were still rampaging through the city. The beast tides formed by these mutated beasts were too powerful. Wherever there was a potential source of food, the mutated beasts would swarm in, even breaking through iron gates. Shen Feng also saw rats scurrying around the streets, some of which were gnawing on bones, as if using them to sharpen their teeth.
Hiding in the steel mill, Shen Feng began to observe the beast tides. The crisis faced by Qiou Ming was now too severe for ordinary people to handle. Consequently, a large city with a population of fifty thousand had been breached by the combined forces of beast tides and mutated birds.
Speaking of which, even Ulaanbaatar, with a population of hundreds of thousands, had been breached by eagles and wolf packs. Qiou Ming, with its smaller population, was even less able to evade the attacks of mutated birds and beast tides. However, even though most people in the city were dead, the beast tides still frequently entered the city, and they shouldn't be finding any food.
It was certain that the dead in the city had all been eaten by mutated beasts or mutated crows, and even their bones were being used by rats as tools for sharpening their teeth. There was almost no food to be found in the city, yet the beast tides still visited the city every day. This was something that couldn't be understood.
Just then, Lu Xian saw a dark shadow in the distance and quickly said, "City Lord, the Black Dragon is coming. Let's hide."
Shen Feng looked towards the horizon and indeed saw a black dragon flying towards them. However, this "black dragon" was not a black dragon in the true sense. It was an illusion created by tens of thousands of mutated crows flying in flocks. From a distance, it looked like a winding giant dragon flying towards them, and it was truly spectacular.
Crows are very intelligent and hold grudges. Foreigners have conducted experiments where they captured crows and then released them, and years later, the crows could still remember the person's face.
And the mutated crows had learned to unite. Quantity leads to a qualitative change. One crow could not cause harm, but more crows gathered together meant disaster. Furthermore, many crows do not migrate; they are not migratory birds. These crows store food and rely on their stored food to survive the winter. Their diet is also very broad; they eat seeds if there are seeds, and fruits if there are fruits. If they see a corpse, they will also eat meat.
Shen Feng and his group quickly hid inside the steel mill. As long as they were not seen by the crows in the sky, there would be no danger. Moreover, hiding here meant that even mutated beasts could not charge in.
After sitting down, Xu Xing couldn't help but ask, "City Lord, are there really prophets in this world?"
Hearing this question, Shen Feng frowned and said, "Why do you ask? I don't believe there are prophets in this world. If they could truly predict, why has no one ever predicted the arrival of the apocalypse? As far as I can see, it's all fake, all done in the name of prophecy to deceive people."
After Shen Feng stated his opinion, Xu Xing quickly explained, "But I heard that someone had already said that the end of the world would come, but at that time, people generally thought it was 2012. But now, the end of the world has truly arrived. Could it be that the predicted time was slightly off, but someone had predicted the arrival of the end of the world!"
Hearing this, Shen Feng was at a loss for words and could only look at Lu Xian and Qi Ling Shan beside him, signaling them to explain why such a situation had occurred.
Lu Xian didn't know how to explain. He didn't believe in these metaphysical matters and hadn't researched them, so he couldn't provide an answer in a debate. However, Qi Ling Shan had lived abroad and had more exposure to such things. Qi Ling Shan immediately began to answer.
"The so-called end of the world is just a bunch of liars misleading the public. To make money, they first need to make people afraid. How do they make people afraid? By fabricating dangers, such as future bloodshed, disturbances in the household, or great calamities. In short, the worse the situation is described, the easier it is to achieve their goals. Then they can say how to avoid disaster, but it requires sincerity, so buy indulgences, or give incense money, or take a statue home to worship," Qi Ling Shan explained.
"So, the end of the world is a lie to cheat for money? It was created to make people afraid?" Xu Xing gradually understood Qi Ling Shan's meaning.
Qi Ling Shan quickly nodded and said, "Egypt, Greece, Norse mythology, Mayan civilization, even Buddhism and the White Lotus Society have all predicted the end of the world. Some are myths, some are religions, but in the end, they are all for profit, fabricating baseless things. Just think, thousands of years ago, people didn't even know the world was round. How could they accurately predict the world thousands of years later? It's a deception."
"Then didn't Jerominy say that the bishop predicted the appearance of the world-destroying black dragon? And in the winter of this year, mutated crows really appeared. Isn't this a prophecy?" Xu Xing continued to ask.
"Such prophecies are just for listening. They make vague predictions, saying that heavenly secrets cannot be revealed, but that's like shooting an arrow and then drawing a target around it. Take the black dragon, for example. What if the crows hadn't appeared? Then they would have found other black animals, such as snakes, or even the beast tide. You could say the beast tide is also black, and that could be called a black dragon. No one could refute it, because the bishop only said the black dragon would destroy the world, not what the black dragon was," Shen Feng interjected at this point.
"Yes, yes, it's like shooting an arrow and then drawing a target around it. The City Lord has a keen insight," Qi Ling Shan quickly flattered him.
The so-called prophecies in this world are actually used to deceive people. They never accurately state what specific events will occur. If you ask what kind of bloodshed it is, fortune tellers will mostly answer: "Heavenly secrets cannot be revealed."
Thus, the prophecy is successful, and it becomes their credit. If they are right, even if they are wrong, they can force an interpretation. The right to interpret lies with the fortune teller, so they can shoot arrows randomly, and the target can be drawn afterward.
At this moment, Shen Feng also remembered the "Tuibei Tu" (Pushing Hands Chart) that had been passed down in China for a long time, which claimed to contain the country's destiny for thousands of years. Therefore, many major events and political incidents were artificially added to all the prophecies in it, giving the "Tuibei Tu" a mysterious aura.
But in the end, this so-called "Tuibei Tu" was modified several times. Whatever the rulers wanted it to be, it became. It was merely a tool for better rule.
After figuring this out, Xu Xing also understood that prophecies were fundamentally unreliable things. Believing them would be too foolish. There are truths in this world, and truth is science. No matter how the world changes, science will not change.
"It seems I need to study harder in the future, otherwise, I'll be easily deceived," Xu Xing said helplessly.
Among everyone present, Xu Xing had the lowest education level; she hadn't even graduated from junior high school. Shen Feng had at least studied in university for over a year, and Lu Xian was also a university graduate. Although Qi Ling Shan was a high school student, she had returned from overseas and was more experienced and knowledgeable than Xu Xing.
Just then, Evans and Jerominy found Shen Feng and said, "We're running out of food here. There's a river nearby, so water isn't a problem, but without food, we can't last."
Shen Feng nodded and said to Xu Xing and Qi Ling Shan, "You two go hunting. Be quick and come back soon. Be careful not to expose our base."
As esper, they basically didn't need to worry about food problems because as long as there was something edible, espers could find a way to get it. They weren't worried about the surrounding mutated beasts being too numerous; they were worried about not being able to find mutated beasts in their location. As long as there were mutated beasts, they could go and eat them.
Xu Xing and Qi Ling Shan then began their mission. Hunting with firearms was definitely out of the question due to the loud noise. Therefore, to avoid attracting too many mutated beasts, they could only use cold weapons for combat.
However, even with cold weapons, hunting was a simple matter for these two espers.
Shen Feng urgently needed a map of the area outside the city, especially a map leading to the forest where treasures were located. It was said that the place where treants were discovered was in the great forest, which meant that to find these treants, they had to go to the great forest.
"Um, have there been any white mists appearing in the forest recently? The kind of white mist that never dissipates?" Shen Feng asked Jerominy.
Jerominy immediately shook her head. She hadn't kept up with external affairs for a long time and naturally couldn't know at this moment.
"We haven't dared to leave the city recently, so we naturally don't know anything about the situation outside the city. Besides, it's winter now, and there are often mists in the forest," Jerominy said seriously.
In winter, mists often appeared in the forest, and even when daylight arrived, the mist would not dissipate. It was easy to get lost in the forest. Therefore, if they couldn't know the terrain and roads in the forest, it would be almost impossible to find Xiao Sheng and his group who were searching for treasure.
"Look on the bright side, mutated plants are not that easy to deal with. Perhaps Xiao Sheng and the others have already died in the forest!" Lu Xian whispered to Shen Feng.
"Don't talk nonsense. We don't know what happened to others yet. We'll only know the specific situation after entering the forest. Don't casually curse others to death!" Shen Feng quickly said.
No matter what, Xiao Sheng was also someone Shen Yu liked. Shen Feng couldn't just watch his sister fall into despair, so he was prepared to go and save Xiao Sheng.
Lu Xian wasn't talking nonsense; he was explaining seriously, "I'm not talking nonsense, City Lord. Think carefully. Xiao Sheng and his group have been out of contact for over a month, with no news. Even if they were trapped, they would always carry a satellite phone, wouldn't they? Wouldn't they call for help?"
"That makes sense, but it's also possible that they couldn't contact the outside world due to the mist. You know, when we were in Fish Town, it was impossible for us to transmit electromagnetic waves. Only after leaving the mist did communication become normal," Shen Feng explained.
"If that's the case, it's even more dangerous. It's winter now, and the ground is frozen three feet deep. The rivers are all frozen. Where can we find food? Where can we keep warm?" Lu Xian continued to ask.
Shen Feng did not answer. After a moment of thought, he finally made a decision: "I'll go to the forest early tomorrow morning to scout the terrain. We have to try something. It would be best if we could find these people. If not, we'll observe the situation for a while and then return."
Shen Feng certainly wouldn't stand by and do nothing. After all, the purpose of coming to Siberia was to find Xiao Sheng and his group. Now that he had also learned about the treants, he couldn't help but investigate carefully. If Xiao Sheng and the others truly found the plant heart, Yuzhou would lose its unique advantage.
Xu Xing and Qi Ling Shan returned quickly after hunting. Qi Ling Shan dragged a huge snow leopard back, and Xu Xing carried a bag of potatoes on her shoulder. It was evident that tonight's dinner would be potatoes stewed with meat. Although the taste was simple, it was definitely filling.