After dinner, as night fell and a cool breeze picked up in the early autumn night, many disciples quickly returned to their rooms to rest after finishing their dinner and taking a bath.

In the yard.

The moonlight poured down from the sky, shrouding the earth in a silvery-white veil.

Bai Hao sat on a rock, quietly watching the bright moon in the sky. His thoughts were at peace, and the chirping of insects could be heard in the courtyard. He enjoyed this tranquility.

A short while later, another person came into the courtyard—Zhao Lin.

When Zhao Lin saw Bai Hao in the courtyard, she paused for a moment, then walked over and sat on a rattan chair, silently looking at the moon in the sky.

Neither of them spoke; they simply sat quietly, watching each other without disturbing one another.

As the night breeze grew cooler, Bai Hao got up and walked towards his room. As he passed Zhao Lin, he hesitated for a moment before saying, "Senior Sister, it's late. Be careful not to catch a cold. Get some rest."

Zhao Lin looked at him with a gentle smile and said, "Well, you should get some rest too."

...

Autumn is deepening, the chill is becoming more pronounced, and winter is just around the corner.

In the next few days, Chen Xuan and his group will also begin to go into the mountains to hunt monsters and obtain food for the winter.

In the courtyard, Chen Xuan brought along the only four late-stage Foundation Establishment disciples of the Divine Profound Sect, including Zhao Lin.

The remaining disciples were not strong enough to go to the deep mountains with Chen Xuan, but they were not without things to do.

"Winter is coming again. I'll take them to hunt monsters in the deep mountains. The rest of you will be assigned to two supply teams of ten men each, set up every ten miles along the back mountain, as arranged last year. You must promptly send the monsters we hunt back to the kitchen staff for processing. Understand?" Chen Xuan shouted.

Everyone responded excitedly, "We know!"

For most people, although they couldn't go into the mountains with Chen Xuan to hunt monsters, the fact that they didn't have to cultivate every day was a very happy thing.

Of all the seasons, only in late autumn and early winter can one openly refrain from practicing martial arts.

"Alright, let's go!"

At his command, all the assigned disciples followed Chen Xuan and marched in a grand procession toward the back mountain. Their imposing manner was astonishing; anyone who didn't know better would have thought they were bandits invading a village.

Bai Hao, who was in the kitchen, couldn't go with them and had to stay in the kitchen with Xiao Qi and the others. They didn't have any work to do yet, but they would be busy once Chen Xuan and the others hunted the monsters.

The Divine Profound Sect only had thirty-five disciples. Chen Xuan took four of them with him, two supply teams left twenty, and eleven remained in the sect. One group was responsible for the overall process and would fill in wherever needed, while the other group, including Bai Hao, stayed in the kitchen.

It can be said that everyone in the entire sect was involved.

...

"This winter might be very cold," Xiaoqi said, leaning against the door and looking at a tree in the yard that was covered in withered yellow leaves.

"That's right. A few days ago, when Lao Ping and I went to town to buy supplies, we heard people in town saying that this winter might be the coldest in recent years." The speaker was a chubby young man named Yuan Xingtian, who was usually responsible for odd jobs and going to the town, which was fifty miles away from Shenxuan Sect, to buy daily necessities.

There was another man with him named Chuan Yiping. They were about the same age, but Chuan Yiping looked simple and honest. He was usually a bit introverted and rarely spoke. He would only talk more when he was with Yuan Xingtian and the others.

This is similar to Xiao Qi.

"So I heard from the sect leader that they are going to hunt more monsters this time, and we'll be busy then," Chuan Yiping said, already starting to complain. "Didn't Bai Hao catch a big tiger when he went to the mountains with Senior Sister to gather firewood last time? I think the monsters must have sensed it too, so they're coming out to hunt for food and store up food for winter."

Hearing this, Bai Hao raised an eyebrow and asked, "Old Ping, how do you know that the monster is coming out early to prepare food for winter? Couldn't it just be out looking for dinner as usual?"

"Of course I have my reasons for saying this. My old man told me before that mountain monsters rarely come to human activity areas unless they have no other choice. That day you and your senior sister encountered them not far from the back mountain, and normally there shouldn't be any monsters there."

"And in the last few days, I don't know if you've noticed, but I've seen a lot more signs of monster activity in the back mountain," Chuan Yiping said earnestly.

"I often go to the back mountain to collect firewood and I've never found any trace of monster activity. Lao Ping, how did you figure it out?" Bai Hao asked in surprise.

At this point, Chuan Yiping couldn't help but become proud and snorted, "That's because I, Old Ping, have an exceptional sense of smell. I used to go hunting in the mountains with my old man. Although I don't have the chance to go with the sect leader now, I haven't lost any of my skills."

Even the old man standing nearby couldn't help but speak up: "Old Ping means that he smelled the excrement and urine of the demon beast."

"Hahaha!"

Xiao Qi's words immediately drew laughter from the group.

Chuan Yiping glared at him irritably, "Go away, Xiao Qi, can you please stop saying such nasty things?"

"Hahaha, I believe Lao Ping has a keen sense of smell; he'll definitely be able to find out." Yuan Xingtian's chubby belly jiggled with laughter.

"Go away, Lao Tian, ​​what nonsense are you spouting!"

The four of them chatted and laughed.

However, this atmosphere was soon broken—the monsters that Chen Xuan and his group had hunted were returned.

The first trip brought back three demonic beasts, including two wild boars, each weighing four or five hundred catties, and a black bear, weighing six or seven hundred catties.

"Wow, this time it's so fast? Less than two hours!" Yuan Xingtian said in surprise.

In previous years, Chen Xuan and his group would usually not gain much on the first day of their mountain expedition, and would only make progress on the second day.

This time, only two hours have passed, and they've already hunted down three demonic beasts. That speed is incredible.

"Enough talk, let's get to work. Bai Hao, boil the water. Lao Tian and Lao Ping, you two prepare the seasonings."

Once they started working seriously, Xiao Qi was undoubtedly the one in charge.

Without saying much, the others immediately got to work, each doing their own job: some boiled water, others prepared seasonings.

Next, they really had to get busy. Once they got started, the captured monsters would be brought back one after another. They had to process them as quickly as possible, otherwise, as the number of monsters brought back piled up, they would start to rot.

There are only four of them, and it would take them at least half an hour to deal with a single monster; they would have to go all out.