After the meal, a group of people came with big bellies. Xiaojie took the two children to clean up the kitchen utensils, and several soldiers took out the tools they had hidden in the wooden house.

Ningxia discovered that there were actually two machetes. Li Gang chuckled at Ningxia's surprise and said, "Are you surprised? I even have a gun on my belt!"

“Why haven’t I seen it before!”

Lao Liao smiled obscenely, "How can I let you see that? We can't use it unless it's absolutely necessary."

Ningxia nodded in understanding. At this time, Li Gang took out a small crossbow from the worn Oxford cloth pocket. It was like a toy in Li Gang's rough big hands.

"Ningxia, take this. The crossbow made by Xiaojie is too small for us. I'll let Lao Liao teach you later."

Ningxia took it and said, "Thank you, Brother Li Gang." Although the crossbow was very dark in color, the fine workmanship could still be seen. "Brother, why don't you make a few larger ones?"

Li Gang smiled embarrassedly, "Isn't this... only the blueprints for making a small crossbow... Xiaojie doesn't know how to make a large one..."

Ningxia smiled knowingly, folding the crossbow in her palm and secretly thinking about giving it to Xiaojie. She also had a military-grade one. It was a good opportunity to have Xiaojie teach Lin Yi over the next couple of days. Her own marksmanship was pretty good, so she figured her crossbow accuracy wouldn't be much worse.

Lao Liao continued, "But this crossbow has a really good accuracy. Besides, homemade weapons are not allowed in the barracks, so we put it here.

I'll cut a few bamboo arrows and teach you how to use them. Shooting wild boars is definitely out of the question, but pheasants and rabbits are no problem. They can also be used for self-defense and shooting people."

Li Gang glanced at Lao Liao and asked, "Have you ever been shot?"

"No, why do you always argue with me?" Old Liao even showed a look of grievance on his old face.

Li Gang pretended to kick him and said, "You are always here, why don't you teach me something good?"

"Sergeant, are you all going to take us over?" Ningxia felt a little embarrassed looking at the five fully armed men. These men actually packed up all the remaining noodles.

Li Gang picked up Sangsang and said, "Let's go over and help you tidy up. Today is the only day. We have to patrol the mountain starting tomorrow. We don't have time. We'll come to see you after we finish patrolling."

"Don't you have to return to the barracks immediately after patrolling the mountain?"

"It's no problem to postpone it for a few days. The military camp doesn't provide dry food anyway. If we stay a few more days, they will have to prepare less pig feed for us." Lao Liao started to arrange the military camp canteen again.

The few of them went out in such a mighty manner. Influenced by the three siblings, several soldiers also became excited and started to introduce the nearby situation to Ningxia.

"Brother, I haven't been embarrassed to ask these days, what's the situation with the houses around here?"

Li Gang was puzzled, "Didn't Xiaojie tell you?"

Xiao Jie continued, "I thought Uncle Liao told me."

"These bastards, no one actually told us such an important thing." Li Gang patted his head, handed Sangsang to Lao Liao who had been staring at him with envy for a long time, and told the story.

"The houses here are very well preserved. Looking at the satellite map, it turns out to be called Tianjia Village. There aren't many residents, but we've never been inside. We've only seen it from a distance a few times, and it looks fine from the outside. There's a small building to the east, probably built by a wealthy family to escape the summer heat before the disaster. It's a two-story building. I think it's quite nice. This small area of ​​houses looks great, and after a bit of cleaning, it should be usable."

Ningxia frowned. "It's well-preserved? Isn't it dangerous? After all, it has experienced several earthquakes."

Li Gang shook his head. "No problem. Due to the terrain, this basin hasn't been affected. We've checked it with a detector, and it's just been exposed to the wind and sun. The outer wall of the house is a little mottled, and the corners are probably loose."

Ningxia was very excited. She thought they were some rotten, dilapidated houses that could only shelter from the wind, but she didn't expect them to be built with concrete and steel bars. This was much better than she had imagined.

"Anyway, it's hard to explain in a few words. Let's take a look together when we get there."

"There's a group of houses here. Squad leader, when you're patrolling the mountains, don't you ever think of searching for supplies in the houses?"

Li Gang smiled. "You settled here. To be honest, this place was only designated as a forest settlement last year. It's been five or six years now, so what supplies are there? Just some pots and pans. Besides, there are so many houses here, none of them have collapsed, but they're unoccupied. That means everyone left with their families, so what good things are there left? It would be more cost-effective to catch a few more chickens and exchange them for points. We don't have the chance to go out every day."

It's more than ten kilometers from their base to the foot of the opposite mountain. It's only a little after six o'clock now. If they work hard, they will definitely get there before lunch.

The entire area is quite flat, and there are no large forests. There are only sparse small trees. Judging from their appearance, they must have grown after the disaster year.

The road was relatively easy to follow, as the river stretched straight across from their destination. In other words, as long as they found the river and followed its edge, they would be able to reach the other side without having to worry about taking a detour.

Li Gang pointed at the river. "The source of this river comes from the big mountain opposite, the mountain behind the building I mentioned. We've surveyed it before, and it was probably a small stream before the disaster. After the disaster, as the earth's crust shifted, the springs grew larger, and the water source became more abundant. Gradually, the accumulated water formed this river."

Ningxia nodded. The river was not big, and she wouldn't drown even if she just splashed around in it. But that was not the case for Sangsang.

"The Sun Moon is coming soon. What will happen to this river?"

Li Gang shook his head. "Not likely. The spring is deep in the mountains. As long as the spring doesn't dry up, the river won't dry up. At least when we saw it after Lieyangyue, the water level just got shallower."

Listening to the gurgling sound of water, Ningxia couldn't help but sigh, "What a wonderful place!"

Li Gang rubbed his head. "Of course not! This is Mo Ning's first and only forest settlement. They surveyed it for a long time and confirmed it wouldn't be hit by earthquakes. It also had a water source and good roads. Plus, there's plenty of ready-made land here to grow crops, so we don't have to dig through the mountains to open up wasteland. We just need to take care of it."

"The only one? We're the only ones who settled in the forest area?"

"Aren't urban settlements full yet? With the military stationed there, who would want to live deep in the mountains? The decision to develop forest settlements was only made two years ago, mainly to encourage residents to grow more crops. After all, there's too little arable land in urban settlements, and the cost of reclaiming it is high."

At this point, Li Gang stroked the long fur beside Maomao's ears, looked at the luggage on its back, and spoke again, "How about a 50% discount on your grain purchases?"

Ningxia didn't understand and nodded.

"Forest residents get a 50% discount on their first grain purchase, and those in the city get a 20% discount. For those staying in the shelter, regardless of your first visit or where you're from, you'll get the full price. These are all incentives. It's been a year, and you're the first forest resident in Morning. There should be more preferential policies in the future."

Ningxia was stunned by Li Gang's string of words. So that was how it was. She'd asked how the food was so cheap. With so many people, how could the Chocobo handle it? It turned out the benefits were only available in the forest area. And right? They all lived in the forest area, so how could they afford to buy food? Like their family.