Volume 1: Reincarnation Cycle First...

  The strong wind passed down Lu Qi's order, but the several team leaders did not bring over empty water bags, instead they brought a batch of zealous slaves.

  From a distance, he heard a noisy sound, and Lu Qi already understood what was going on. At the moment when Lu Kang's expression was worried, he pinched his nose slightly and smiled secretly, with a clever plan in mind.

  "Hu Tou leads the team, Big Wind says you want everyone to continue hunting, completely disregarding the fact that there's almost no water left? Aren't you trying to get everyone killed?" The speaker, Ze Nu, was called Da Shun. He had excellent archery skills and could accurately hit a wild animal's eyes within fifty steps, earning him some prestige in the Northwest Hut.

  Lu Qi gazed coldly at the flustered Da Feng, who trembled and hastily replied: "Tiger Head Leader, please don't misunderstand me. I didn't add any embellishments or exaggerations. I only spoke the truth. And what I said was that the leader had a way to get drinking water, but they just didn't believe it."

  Seeing the big wind like this, I know he doesn't dare to make trouble. Lu Qi then looked at Da Shun and others, asking calmly: "Do you all think I want to kill you?"

  "There's no water yet and you're still hunting, what are you trying to do? Kill everyone? You said you could get some drinking water for a few people, I believed you." Another squad leader named Da Lin responded: "But now it's water for hundreds of people, several large bags per day, where can you find that? Don't think just because you're the leader, you can treat us like we're not human. We're all Ze slaves, no high or low, noble or humble..."

  Everyone responded in unison, after all, each of them had a lot of hunting experience on average, and sometimes the last one or two days on the way back without water to drink, that kind of discomfort would absolutely make people collapse, no one wanted to experience that feeling.

  This big Lin has been quite noisy lately, Xiao Qiang hasn't stopped reporting to him, Lu Qi pinched the tip of his nose, and his tiger eyes slightly sank: "Big Lin, I don't need to report to you wherever I go to fetch water, but now I'd like to know, if I can get a few bags of water in one day, what will you do?"

  Lu Qi's gaze was somewhat frightening, and Da Lin's heart trembled slightly. He thought of the corpse of Da Gu that had not been used yet, and he didn't dare to speak recklessly: "What can I do? You're the leader, if you can get so much water, I'll honestly follow your orders and go hunting with you!"

  "You're really good at calculating!" Lu Qi said coldly: "Do you want to question my orders? Do you want to lead everyone to rebel against me? I went through great efforts to verify the evidence, but you act as if nothing happened and it doesn't concern you. Does that mean from now on, everyone will question every one of my decisions? Where should I put my face as the leader?"

  "Hmm... Tiger Head, what do you think?" Da Lin didn't expect that Lu Qi was so young, yet he was such a perceptive person. This didn't seem like the same foolish kid who only had a few wisps of strength?

  He glanced at the crowd and said, "You all go back first, bring me all the empty water bags. We'll see who's right tomorrow morning! If I can find enough water, then I'll have enough reason to punish you!"

  "What if you can't find enough water?" Da Shun's eyes shone brightly as he stared at Lu Qi.

  Lu Qi said calmly: "That means I was wrong, and when the time comes, I will naturally withdraw my incorrect order, punish me with three days of rations, and apologize to everyone, how about that?"

  Everyone was shocked, to know that Lu Qi's identity at this time is undoubtedly equivalent to a big household head. In the past, even if the big household head made mistakes, no one would care about it, and going to care about it wouldn't be self-inflicted? But Lu Qi took the lead by example, indicating that he wanted to punish himself for making mistakes, and the punishment was not light, a day without eating would make him hungry, let alone three days' worth of rations?

  But Lu Qi's very masculine attitude has undoubtedly won the respect of the crowd. Knowing that Lu Qi might have another stunning move, Da Feng said on the side: "Since the Tiger Head Leader has already explained clearly, why don't you go back and get the water bag? Do you want the Tiger Head Leader to personally come to your place?"

  The crowd naturally did not dare to respond, and they hastily retreated. Soon, Da Shun, Da Lin, and the other four team leaders brought over several dozen empty water bags, then left with an expression that seemed to say "wait and see the show tomorrow".

  Looking at the water bags piled up like a small mountain in front of him, Lu Kang anxiously looked at Lu Qi: "Son, do you really have a way?"

  "Of course! Although it's not possible to collect so much in one night, a day's worth of drinking water is absolutely enough." Lu Qi was confident and as an excellent master of animal ecology, he wasn't just staying in the zoo all day researching animals. Lu Qi's wilderness survival skills were absolutely comparable to any special forces soldier.

  The next morning, Zhong Ze Nu, who was not in a good mental state, arrived at Lu Qi's temporary headquarters, but was stunned by the scene before his eyes!

  Most of the water bags were hung in mid-air by people using vines, and at the opening of each water bag, a simple funnel made from one or two large palm leaves was inserted.

  And some of the water bags were tied to the tall palm trees around, with their mouths facing the "wounds" where the palm fronds had been broken off. Standing at the base of the tree, you could faintly hear a soft dripping sound.

  "Take them all down, be careful not to spill!" Lu Qi instructed several agile Zelan slaves who were skilled at climbing trees to take down the water bags: "Also, the water bags tied to the tree and hung on the vines must be stored separately. Drink the sap first, don't get it wrong, branches that have been there for more than a day can't be drunk!"

  It seemed as if heaven was helping Lu Qi, the winter forest's fruit trees didn't have much rainwater, but that night it rained a little, so those water bags originally used to collect dew also became "rain and dew together", with an even better effect.

  Looking at the two piles of water bags, both in a "half-full" state, everyone was shocked and puzzled. Da Shun looked at Lu Qi: "Tiger Head, can these waters... be drunk?"

  Lu Ji picked up a water bag from the smaller pile, opened it and took a sip: "The palm tree sap tastes not bad, although it's a bit astringent, but also has a hint of fragrance..."

  Then, under the gaze of everyone's astonishment, Lu Qi picked up one from the big pile of water bags beside him, took a sip, and his eyes lit up: "Not bad, this rainwater mixture tastes extremely good, sweet and refreshing, not inferior to spring water at all, haha..."

  "Yes..." The strong wind echoed beside him, "Tiger Head, I've also tried it, and it's really not bad. Moreover, looking at the water collected tonight, it should be enough for us few hundred people to drink for two or three days."

  "Ah, last night's luck was pretty good!" Lu Qi nodded: "If it hadn't rained, the effect wouldn't have been so good, but collecting in this way, a day's drinking water is still sufficient!"

  Dalin swallowed his saliva, not daring to believe that he picked up a water bag and tried to take a sip. Indeed, there was no uncomfortable feeling, but he was somewhat unwilling to admit defeat: "This...water, will it cause stomach trouble later?"

  Lu Qi looked at him coldly: "Later on, if you don't get a stomachache, are you going to say again that it might be poisonous in a few days?"

  Dalin's face suddenly changed: "Tiger Head Leader, I didn't mean it that way, I just had some doubts..."

  "I can guarantee that this water is safe to drink, I haven't been drinking less over the years, and I'm not any weaker than you guys?" Lu Qi hummed: "Dalin, what you should be thinking about now isn't this, but how I will punish you guys."

  The four team leaders' faces changed again, and Dashun was also very reckless, with the blood of Ze Nu's bones: "Tiger Head, we are willing to bet and admit defeat. We were wrong to question your decision. You just say it, how to punish us, twenty lashes or forty whips? If you don't make a sound, you won't be considered a leader!"

  Dà Shùn said that, the other three people also couldn't show weakness, otherwise how could they be leaders in the future? Moreover, actively admitting mistakes is better than provoking the tiger's great anger.

  Lu Kang worried that Lu Qi would offend too many people at once, and intervened to mediate: "Tiger Head, in my opinion, Da Shun and the others are also thinking of everyone's lives, they didn't intentionally want to disobey your orders, why don't we just let it go this time?"

  "No way!" Lu Quitiger said with a straight face: "A man of his word, must do what he says, and bear the consequences. Since they have done something wrong, they naturally need to be punished, otherwise how can they convince others?"

  He paused, and at the moment when Lu Kang was speechless, Lu Qi continued: "However, things have their priorities, now is the winter hunting season, for everyone to spend this winter a little better, I decided to hunt for a few more days. If you get hurt, it will only drag everyone's legs! So the punishment will be temporarily postponed until we return to the village, and if anyone makes rumors or troubles in the remaining days, I will not let them off lightly!"

  After finishing speaking, Lu Qi's beheading knife suddenly chopped down on the nearby palm tree that was as thick as a small leg. The blade flashed by, and the tree fell with a loud crash, revealing its flat cut surface!

  Lu Qi's ruthless and fierce swordsmanship was even more impressive than An Ze's, leaving the crowd of slaves stunned. Da Lin and others were so intimidated that they repeatedly bowed their heads to Lu Qi, indicating that they would never dare to offend again.

  It seems that he didn't notice the fear of the crowd, but Lu Qi was calmly pointing to various palm trees and vines, introducing some methods for finding water sources to the Ze slaves, such as collecting dew and tree sap, and taboos. The breadth of his knowledge undoubtedly made all the Ze slaves, including Lu Kang, admire him.

  "Hu Tou is absolutely a genius, to think of such a method! From now on, the efficiency of hunting outside will increase by at least half!" Every Zelan with a bit of brains can understand this truth.

  It's not that no one had any doubts, how could a twelve-year-old boy understand so much, but such suspicions only lasted for a moment, after all, Lu Qi also said that when he was young and practicing in various corners, he once drank tree sap because he was too lazy to fetch spring water.

  The hunt continued, and this time the slaves were all energetic as there was no worry about water sources. They worked hard to return with a full load, after all, Lu Qi had spoken up, once the harvest is abundant, he would propose to increase everyone's rations.

  It seems that this state has affected the work efficiency. After the entire team changed camps again, Dashan's small team found traces of large ferocious beasts in one place, but no one knew that the large ferocious beast they were about to encounter was not an ordinary wild animal.