Chapter 1194: Grass Is Bountiful

"...Amazing!"

"We're saved!"

"Thank the heavens!"

The villagers huddled around the place one after another, exclaiming in joy. The wells in their village were almost dry, barely having any water for them to drink, not to mention watering their crops.

And now, seeing the water gushing out, a lot of them could not help but cry.

"Village head! We're finally shown mercy!" some of them cried, saying in response.

A villager gently scooped out some water and drank it, exclaiming, "It's really fresh!"

A couple of villagers soon brought some containers from their house, intending to scoop out water from it for their uses, when the village head stopped them from doing so.

"Village head! What's the meaning of this?"

"It seems you misunderstand something." The village head shook his head, saying, "This land is Old Wang's property. So, before you use the water, you must get his permission."

"What? Old Wang? This patch of land has been unclaimed from the start. Why are you telling us this?" Some of the villagers refused to believe it.

Right at this time, Krune arrived, watching the restless gazes of everyone trail on him as he calmly pointed at the basin. "See the carving at this place. It's something I have been doing for the past two years."

Only now did everyone divert their gazes from the water and look at the border of the basin, looking at the words carved there.

[Property of the Wang Family]

Based on the depth of the inscription, it wasn't something that could be done overnight. Since they had arrived the moment they smelled the water, it couldn't have been done on the spot to claim unjust ownership.

"I experienced a dream once," Krune said after showing the relevant document that stated he had bought this piece of land two years ago. "It showed that if I diligently carved into the rock here, our village would be saved. For two years, I have been doing it nonstop. And today, I finished the process, and fortunately, there's indeed water here."

"Old Wang! Are you going to charge us for this water?" One of the healthier villagers came forward, glaring at him.

All Krune did was smile in response before shouting, "In troubled times, we must help each other to survive. Otherwise, our village would be annihilated. Everyone can use the water here. There is enough supply to barely meet our needs. But..."

He said, pausing for a moment, watching everyone gulp in response. He then laughed as he continued, "I don't ask for much in return for using my water. Just give me enough food for me and Hao'er to eat. That's all!"

Upon seeing his demand, the villagers visibly relaxed. With enough water supply, they would be able to somehow grow enough food soon enough.

"Alright, I'll take charge to provide your family enough food." A middle-aged man walked forward to say before turning around to face everyone. "Since I'm taking charge of this, do help a little on my farm, please."

"That's fine."

"We don't have much work to do here anyway."

As everyone echoed in response, Krune suddenly spoke, "Also, even though we have enough water now, our life is still hard. We don't have enough food. Think of our past. Even during the times when we had enough water, our produce was still insufficient."

Upon his words, the atmosphere became gloomy once again, causing them to recall the fact that the land they were upon wasn't bountiful.

"But..." Krune smiled. "Grass can still grow here plenty. Old Stem and Old Root have been living off of grass for a decade now. And they're quite healthy for their age. It's time we shatter our preconceived bias and adapt to our situation better."

"Eating grass is..."

A lot of the villagers muttered. It wasn't that they thought of eating grass as beneath them or anything. They were only worried that it wasn't nutritional and fulfilling enough compared to rice and the rest.

"Trust me, it's pretty fulfilling enough." Old Root slowly walked forward, hunched as she said with a weak voice. "As long as you follow my recipes, you'll be able to eat your fill without worrying. There are more than thirty varieties of grass that grow here, and most of them finish maturing within 4-5 days."

"Fine, let's try it." One of the villagers nodded, clenching his hand into a fist before saying, "Please lead the way, Old Root."

"Of course," Old Root chuckled weakly before shooting a deep glance at Krune. Soon, five days passed by in such a fashion. Krune hadn't seen any Yin Beast after the first two encounters. It seemed that eating five bandits seemed enough for the time being that they hadn't arrived at the village.

Or maybe the bandits began to track them to seek revenge. The village wasn't bothered by anything external for the past five days as all the villagers worked with enthusiasm, clearing the dried crops to use them as manure as they planted the seeds of the various grass varieties that Old Root had been collecting.

On the evening of the fifth day, everyone had congregated at the center of the village as the women of the village cooked in the open, following the recipe as instructed by Old Root and Old Stem.

Eventually, they created four varieties. The first seemed like a grain of sorts that had been achieved by immersing a special grass root in water to boil after it was dissolved. And once it was cooled, it condensed into a substance similar to grains.

The second was a paste that was created by grinding three different types of grass before adding some potatoes and tomatoes into it as pieces.

There was something that resembled noodles, mysteriously made from grass. As for the final dish, they were shaped into dumplings. Krune ate them, grinning widely from one end to another. 'They aren't too tasty, but they aren't bad either. And best of all, this grass would always be in surplus.'

'Our food shortage is now resolved.' Krune smiled, saying, "This is pretty great."

"Hahaha! It seems with a good recipe and a skilled cook, even grass could be turned into a variety of satisfactory and fulfilling dishes." The village head roared in laughter, stuffing his face full.

The other villagers also laughed in response, enjoying the very first time their village ever had a feast.