As the tents were being pitched, Long Cheng returned with several other people. Accompanying him was a man in his sixties, who was currently speaking and smiling with Long Cheng, with three young men trailing behind them.

"Town Head Wang has arrived!" Li Ya, Huang Hai, and Chang Feng all greeted the man in his sixties. The three of them had accompanied Long Cheng once before and knew the Town Head here.

"Please rest assured, sirs, anything left here will be safe. Er Hu, from now on, you will personally lead the team to look after the belongings of these esteemed guests.

If a single item goes missing, I will hold you accountable!" Town Head Wang said cheerfully, also giving instructions to the men following him. Er Hu was the tallest among the men following him, clearly a mountain man, appearing to be in his early twenties, with dark skin and a very sturdy build.

He nodded, and the three men stood nearby. Huang Hai stepped forward and offered each of them a pack of cigarettes.

The three men still seemed somewhat apprehensive; only after Town Head Wang nodded did they happily accept the cigarettes, which appeared incredibly high-class to them. The three carefully tucked the cigarettes close to their bodies, their faces showing deep satisfaction.

These were truly simple mountain folk, the kind that were hard to find outside these days, only appearing in such isolated and remote mountains. "Mountain people are truly sincere," Li Ya sighed softly.

Compared to the city, these mountain people possessed a certain endearing straightforwardness. For just a few cigarettes, they would wholeheartedly guard their things.

This time, all of them would be heading into the mountains, leaving no one to watch their substantial supplies outside, which was worrying. With these few men here, at least their belongings would be without issue; leaving them in charge was even more reassuring than watching the items themselves.

Town Head Wang chatted for a while longer before leaving, only leaving Er Hu and the two others behind. Huang Hai and the others were still setting up the tents.

Er Hu and his companions did not understand how to assemble these types of tents; though they wanted to help, they didn't know how, so they settled for helping carry things. With more hands, the work went quickly, and soon all eight tents were erected.

Though small, the tents were fully equipped, complete with everything needed, including a small water dispenser. Additionally, they brought along a small-capacity generator.

The generator’s power output was insufficient for high-end appliances, but it was perfectly fine for providing light, playing music, or charging mobile phones. After the tents were set up, Wu Zhiguo brought out the food they had prepared in advance.

Most of it was cooked provisions, some brought from Chang Jing and some purchased later. The most conspicuous items were the ten roast chickens Wu Zhiguo had bought right before their departure.

This fellow truly had an obsession with food; he had even gotten into a fight over a roast chicken previously, suffered a loss, yet still remembered to fetch more. Lunch was lavish.

They could only eat this before entering the mountains; upon emerging, their greatest feast would be their spoils—the mountains held many excellent wild game. This wild game would be far more satisfying than what they ate at the De Yi Restaurant in Shanghai; these were hunted by their own hands, a completely different feeling from buying them.

Er Hu and the other two were given two roast chickens, two packs of beef jerky, and a large bag of sausage, plus two bottles of fine Maotai. The three men had hearty appetites, but the portions of chicken and beef were generous enough to fill them up.

These three were now considered their people; they would continuously guard their belongings. They had brought a lot of gear this time and couldn't carry everything into the mountains; someone had to stay behind.

Since their own people couldn't remain, they had to seek help from the locals, and they trusted the mountain people more. The three men were visibly thrilled holding these gifts.

After consulting amongst themselves, they only shared one roast chicken, leaving the rest untouched. This wasn't because they refused the generosity, but because the items were too fine, and they were reluctant to consume them all at once.

Another reason was that they all wished to take some home for their families to taste. The thoughts of the mountain people were simple, and thus, pure.

What they didn't know was that Long Cheng had already prepared gifts for them; if they guarded the belongings well over these next few days, Long Cheng certainly wouldn't treat them unfairly. They drank little during lunch as they planned to enter the mountains in the afternoon.

Even though they were only exploring the periphery of the mountains that afternoon, everyone was incredibly excited. This included Huang Hai and Li Ya, who had been here before; their last visit was over a year ago, and who knew when they might return after this trip.

After packing, changing clothes, gathering sufficient gear, shouldering their hunting rifles, the eight people set off directly. Ahead lay the Wild Man Mountain Range; there was no need for a vehicle, and moreover, vehicles couldn't travel there.

Long Cheng still held the leashes of two hunting dogs. He had entrusted these dogs to be kept here by someone during his last visit.

They remembered Long Cheng as their master and affectionately gathered around him. The affection of animals was sometimes truly better than that of humans.

The outer mountains held almost nothing of interest. Zhang Yang held a crossbow, while Lightning followed them slowly, perched on his shoulder.

He hadn't planned on venturing off alone today; he wasn't familiar with this mountain and could use this time to familiarize himself before venturing in and potentially getting lost. Lightning had suppressed all of its aura, observing the surroundings with some excitement.

Wuying also poked its little head out of the canvas bag, constantly sniffing the air with its nose. The environment here was not unfamiliar to Lightning and Wuying; they had grown up in the deep mountains.

Although this wasn't exactly where they lived, a sense of familiarity always lingered, very different from the city. Lightning had already concealed its entire presence, yet the two hunting dogs occasionally glanced their way unnaturally.

Lightning was, after all, a spirit beast, possessing a unique aura that could cover a radius of over ten meters. If he were to unleash it fully, no other small animals nearby would dare approach.

Spirit beasts, and venomous ones at that, not only frightened humans but also triggered the innate danger-sensing instinct in other animals. "Rabbit, rabbit!" Yang Ling, walking ahead, suddenly shouted.

Su Zhantao hastily raised the crossbow in his hands, but before he could even fire, the rabbit had vanished without a trace. With Yang Ling shouting so loudly, any rabbit, unless deaf, certainly would have heard it.

Let alone a rabbit, even a person’s instinctive reaction upon hearing a sudden shout nearby is to move away first. "Shoot when you see prey, it doesn't matter if you hit it or not, but don't make noise.

Shouting can easily scare them away!" Huang Hai said with a smile to Yang Ling. Yang Ling had known them for a long time, but this was her first time hunting.

In the past, she never participated in such activities. This time, she only came because Su Zhantao was coming; girls are generally less enthusiastic than boys about thrill-seeking pursuits.

"I know!" Yang Ling lowered her head, her face slightly flushed. Su Zhantao casually put his arm around her shoulder, heartily assuring her.

Su Zhantao boasted that he would definitely bag some decent large game today for a proper meal later, even claiming he could take down a bear if one showed up. "Bang!" As Su Zhantao was speaking, Long Cheng’s hunting rifle suddenly discharged, and at the same time, he released the leashes of the two hunting dogs, which bounded forward like they were playing.

Soon, one of the dogs returned carrying a vividly colored wild pheasant, which had a clear bullet hole. Long Cheng's shot was very accurate.

The hunting dog only held the pheasant, not biting it with its teeth—these were well-trained hounds that knew how to retrieve the quarry; everyone could safely consume this pheasant later. "Not bad, Brother Cheng, you've gotten an opening success!" Chang Feng called out with a smile.

To bag game so soon after setting out brought joy to everyone. "Haha, luck, pure luck!" Long Cheng grinned widely, shaking the blood off the pheasant before tying the now completely dead bird with a rope and hoisting it onto his shoulder.

His pheasant stood out conspicuously and spurred everyone else on. Each person held a rifle or crossbow, constantly scanning their surroundings.

After walking for a while, Huang Hai managed to shoot a small deer. The deer's blood was not wasted; Huang Hai carefully collected it.

Long Cheng and Chang Feng, along with a few others, even drank some fresh deer blood on the spot. Though small, this deer was much better than the pheasant from earlier.

Seeing that Huang Hai had also secured game made the eyes of the others redden slightly. The group gradually spread out a bit, but everyone had walkie-talkies and was forbidden from straying too far; they needed to maintain contact via the radios for any situation.

Thanks to the radios, everyone could keep track of each other’s progress. As everyone slowly separated, Zhang Yang and Long Feng walked together.

Once separated, Zhang Yang lowered his crossbow; he didn't need such a weapon here. Long Feng hadn't produced anything since they started; he had been empty-handed the entire time.

"Are you really just here to hunt?" When only the two of them remained, Long Feng suddenly asked. Zhang Yang lifted his head in surprise, then shook his head again.

"No, you should know I'm a doctor. Some medicinal herbs can only be found deep in the mountains!" Zhang Yang replied with a smile, which wasn't a lie; he did indeed intend to collect some mountain medicinal herbs this time.

"Ordinary herbs probably wouldn't catch your eye. Are you looking for a heavenly treasure?" Long Feng said again.

Zhang Yang whipped his head around abruptly, frowning, and stared intently at him. "You don't need to look at me like that.

I actually discovered it long ago. Wuying is the legendary Spirit Beast Treasure-Seeking Mouse.

With a Treasure-Seeking Mouse, how could you possibly be satisfied with just collecting some common medicine? I also understand why you possess so many spiritual elixirs!" Long Feng slowly shook his head, speaking softly.

As he spoke, there was a hint of envy in his eyes. Having two spirit beasts accompany Zhang Yang was a matter of his luck and destiny; it was impossible to be jealous of such a thing.

First chapter, dedicated to a friend. I returned a bit late; it wouldn't be right not to give a gift to a junior high classmate and friend of over ten years.

Please forgive the slightly late update. We are still 18 votes short of breaking one hundred single-day votes.

There are a little over four hours left. Xiao Yu believes this wish can be achieved today.

I humbly request the support of those 18 friends again. Next chapter update time, around ten-thirty.