Chapter 21: Pig Farm

A wary eye appeared behind the slit at the gate, staring at Chen Yining and his brother’s summoned beasts in the distance.

Seeing that the brothers were going to leave, the chains behind the gates of the farm could be heard unlocking.

The noise was rather conspicuous amidst the silent environment.

Chen Yining paused, turning to find the gates of the farm opened, just as a head poked out.

She had pale cheeks and large round eyes.

“Thank you! I knew you were the good guys!”

“…”

The brothers shared a look, a little unsure as to what she meant.

“Brother, she has just put you in the friend zone.”

“I think she was talking to you.” Chen Yining shrugged.

“There’s many dangerous monsters out there, come in.” The girl behind the gates waved to Chen Yining then.

After considering it for a moment, Chen Yining made his way to her with his brother and summoned beasts.

Green Skin walked ahead, staring cautiously at the girl, its right hand clenching tightly on its rebar.

At the same time, Chen Yining studied the inside of the farm from the outside, and only entered after ensuring that there was no danger inside.

“I’m really grateful for your help just now… I really don’t know what would have happened if not for you.”

The girl behind the gates was around 1.65 meters tall, and wore an apron along with two arm gloves, and she was quite young at around eighteen.

After a little chat, Chen Yining found out that the girl’s name was Gao Qian and the farm belonged to her family. Though it was not exactly huge, there were over a thousand pigs reared there. Her parents were always busy, and to ease their burden, she had always helped out at the farm during holidays since she was a kid.

In the morning, her parents would send a batch of pigs to the next city while having her stay at the farm. They would return on the same day since the next city was not very far off.

However, after the skies suddenly turned dark two days ago, it was fortunate that there were still some noodles and rice left at the farm. With that, she tended to the pigs at the farm and waited for her parents’ return.

But there were no signs of them ever coming back.

Then, in the morning, she heard the loud noises out in the courtyard, and saw the goblins standing outside the gates through the slit.

Startled, she cried out since she had never seen goblins before, which in turn caught their attention.

Chen Yining and his brother knew what had happened next.

***

The odor in the farm was strong and the stench from the pigs’ pens stung noses, which was why there were not many people living nearby, keeping this location rather isolated.

“I don’t know when my parents would come back.” Gao Qian’s gaze darkened.

Be that as it may, Chen Yining was convinced that they would never return because their entire city had transmigrated… unless her parents had transmigrated too.

On another note, the farm was average in scale, with over five hundred adult pigs and more than a thousand piglets.

In this city where food source decreased by the day, this many livestock were undoubtedly an invaluable treasure.

And to tell the truth, Chen Yining would be lying to himself if he said he was not interested in the pigs.

If they could get suitable food for the pigs in the forest, the piglets would keep breeding… and they might be able to set up a monopoly over the pig’s market in this area.

“Thank you.” Gao Qian thanked them again, and it was obvious that she was an earnest person. Pursing her lips, she then cautiously said, “If you don’t mind, I’ll give you each a piglet.”

Chen Jing did a double take and scratched his head, clearly interested in the offer.

Chen Yining, however, took a long look at Gao Qian and smiled meaningfully.

Normally, gratitude would be conveyed with money or other gifts—who would go so far as to gift piglets?

It also shows that she understood that the piglets were the most precious things there were right now.

While it does not actually mean much, this proved from a different angle that she was not completely obvious, and that she understood the current situation.

“Do you know how to kill pigs?” Chen Yining suddenly asked.

Gao Qian appeared taken aback, but she nodded.

“I’ve helped my parents kill some pigs before.”

Having killed a pig meant seeing pig—and a person who had done that meant seeing blood. Moreover, such mental fortitude already made her better than eighty-percent of the city’s population.

“Alright… how about this? We’ll have a piglet for now, but we’ll leave it here so you could raise it, and get it from you later. That is because we still have a lot of food back home that would expire if we don’t eat them, and you can’t leave fresh meat around for long either.” Chen Yining grinned.

Gao Qian nodded.

With that, she led Chen Yining and the others to the pig’s pen to pick a piglet.

Chen Yining ended up picking a piglet with a heart shaped mark over its back, and it grunted away when he picked it up.

Gao Qian then told them that she would take care of the piglet and provide it additional portions of its meal, ensuring that it would be fat and round.

After the brothers left the farm, Chen Jing could not help saying, “There were a lot of pigs in there, Brother.”

“Indeed.”

“My goodness… with that many pigs and every chance that her parents are not coming back, can a young girl like her watch over such a huge farm?” Chen Jing muttered, shaking his head.

“Are you worried about here?” Chen Yining smiled.

“No, I’m just worried that our pig would be stolen,” Chen Jing replied.

“Isn’t that what we want? That way, we have a reason to be involved.” Chen Yining’s eyes twinkled at that—Green Skin had granted him some confidence in their strength, and it might surprise Chen Yining further with a little strengthening.

As for the piglet, they would have finished it in two meals or so, and it was more ideal to have backup while they were not lacking food for now.

Staying at the farm to protect Gao Qian was unnecessary as well, since anything else could wait after self-preservation after the city was reduced to this state.

It was a straight path to the forest past the farm. The ruins of the ring road around the city could vaguely be seen from the edge of the forest.

The ring road appeared as if it had been cut in two by a gigantic farm.

Though farm was very close to the forest and had been the city’s borders before the whole city transmigrated, the farm was built there because of the strong smell and the isolated location.

On another note, only two more goblins were needed for Green Skin to evolve, and Chen Yining was hoping to meet some wild goblins as they ventured on.

Nonetheless, there was a rustling at the ticket at the forest border, just as Chen Yining was going to keep exploring the suburbs by moving along another road.

The bushes shook violently, and judging from the movement, something big was hiding behind it.

Seconds later, a blue-green head poked out.

It resembled a chicken—the feathers on its head and neck were orange-green and a little loose like a lion’s mane, the bright colors making it stand out from the forest.

Indeed, the giant chicken was around the height of an average adult human, and it was sharply studying its surroundings with its big, round eyes.