Yan Zheng unconditionally supported her decision. Since she wanted to raise them, Yan Zheng found a basket, put two layers inside, and loaded the two rabbits into the car.

Yan Jing'an watched the two of them work so well together.

Well, I'm just an extra person again today.

On the way back, Jiang Xi was worried about leaving the little guy in the car. She returned the cloak to Yan Zheng and simply took Xiao Hei into her arms, carrying him all the way back.

Feeling the warmth of her embrace, Xiao Hei snuggled closer to her and became more obedient, not barking much.

Along the way, Yan Jing'an searched for the anesthetic herbs on the ground, but all he could find now were last year's withered grass.

Jiang Xi asked him to describe what it looked like, and the three of them searched together, but he couldn't give a clear answer even after talking for a long time.

Once she actually held it in her hands, Jiang Xi realized that it wasn't that he couldn't tell the difference; it was because this thing looked too much like weeds. Unless someone truly knew about it, they wouldn't be able to distinguish it from foxtail grass.

Perhaps the biggest difference is that the leaves of the dog's tail are pointed, while those of this one are oval.

After arriving at the house, Yan Zhenghe and Yan Jing'an unloaded the things from the car, and then Yan Jing'an found a pot and started brewing medicine.

Two bowls of water were added, and in the end, only a small amount remained at the bottom of the pot. Yan Jing'an carefully packed the broth into a container and repeatedly told Jiang Xi not to touch it.

Then he packed his rope and backpack, added a few pieces of boiled sweet potato, and went out to look for goats.

Jiang Xi found a clean cloth, laid it in the basket, put Xiao Hei inside, and covered it with another layer.

He stroked its head and said, "Be a good boy, I'll come back to feed you at noon."

Then she followed Yan Zheng to the northeast corner where the hunters used to live.

The courtyard wall is fairly intact, and there's nothing that needs major repairs.

Yan Zheng chose a corner of four square meters. Then he took out a shovel and removed about ten centimeters of soil from the four square meters. They had leftover bricks from when they renovated the brick house. Yan Zheng and Jiang Xi carefully and neatly embedded these bricks into the ground.

This step is to prevent the rabbits from digging burrows.

Then Yan Zheng used the remaining clay to mix with sand and soil. He used the stones that had been knocked down when the wall was demolished to build two walls for the rabbit hutch.

I also found some wood and built a small nest of about one square meter against the wall.

After finishing everything, he patted the dirt off his hands and said, "Alright, we can put them in tomorrow when they're dry."

In the evening, feeling they had some time, the two made another wooden door, removing the old, rotten one and replacing it with the new one.

Once the mountain catches it, we'll just throw it into this yard.

Thinking about this, Jiang Xi felt a little hopeful.

Actually, she wasn't very interested in mutton. No matter how she ate it, she felt that mutton had a bit of a gamey smell. She could eat a few pieces when she lived in the Northwest, but she couldn't stand it at all when she left the Northwest.

She was hoping it would be for goat milk and wool; she wondered how warm sweaters and jackets made from wool would be.

Thinking about it, she glanced at the sky; only a faint glimmer of light remained on the edge of the clouds. The entire forest was pitch black. The dark, looming mountain shadows in the distance resembled ferocious beasts that devoured people, and just looking at them made Jiang Xi feel oppressed.

As a friend, she was somewhat worried. Logically speaking, Yan Jing'an was a rather cautious person and would not usually come back this late.

Even the usually composed Yan Zheng had his brows furrowed from time to time.

This is indeed somewhat unusual.

He would wander around the yard for a while, then say he was going next door to get something. In short, he couldn't stay inside the house.

Yan Zheng couldn't sit still any longer until the moon and stars were sparse. He saw Jiang Xi and said, "I'll go look around. You stay home alone and lock the door."

Jiang Xi nodded and handed her the cloak from the clothes rack.

Yan Zheng's eyes lit up, and with a burst of strength, he pulled her close, leaned down and kissed her lips twice, saying fiercely, "Come back right now."

Then he put on his cloak and walked into the night.

Jiang Xi's eyes welled up with tears, but the heat didn't last more than two seconds before they lit up again. Yan Jing'an was back.

He came back safe and sound.

Yan Zheng immediately asked, "Are you alright?"

Yan Jing'an waved his hand weakly.

Jiang Xi quickly opened the door and let them in, then poured Yan Jing'an a glass of water.

I was out all day, and by mid-afternoon I was out of water and I was incredibly thirsty. I gulped down a glass of water in two quick gulps.

Jiang Xi quickly continued to serve him the next batch.

Yan Jing'an took a breath before saying to Yan Zheng, "I think you'll have to handle this. I've found their tracks, but my tracking skills aren't very good, and I haven't found them after searching for several hours."

He actually discovered goat droppings around mid-afternoon; they were appearing in large patches. He was quite excited that he found them so quickly.

But he was too optimistic. He only saw the goat droppings and assumed they were nearby. As a result, he wandered around the forest for hours, but the goat tracks were always intermittent. He had no experience in tracking goats and always managed to circle back to where he started.

It got dark after wandering around for a while, but luckily it was easy for him to climb the tree, otherwise he might have gotten lost.

Yan Zheng nodded after hearing his words: "Okay, I'll go with you tomorrow. Prepare the wooden arrows in advance, and take action as soon as we find them."

Yan Jing'an quickly poured himself another glass of water and nodded in agreement.

So in the evening, Xiao Hei could only drink some thin rice porridge. Jiang Xi felt that it had already lost a lot of weight in just one day. Although it kept eating, its barks were always weak and listless.

The next day, the weather was clear and cloudless.

Early in the morning, Jiang Xi prepared smoked rabbit meat and sweet potato cakes for the two of them, filled two bottles with cooled boiled water, and also prepared a small pot for them to boil water.

Yan Jing'an took out the wooden arrowhead he had made earlier and carefully applied the anesthetic medicine he had prepared yesterday to the arrow.

He was cautious about using the medicine, afraid that if he used too much, the medicine would enter his internal organs through the wound, and all his efforts over the past two days would be in vain. Before the sheep even fainted, they had already lost track of him.

After everything was tidied up, the two of them went out.

They drove eastward, crossing nearly two mountains. On a mudflat, Yan Jing'an led Yan Zheng to the spot where he had found goat droppings the day before.

Yan Zheng squatted down on the ground to inspect the area, and then checked every single one within a radius of more than ten meters.

Fortunately, the forest wasn't too dense yet, so he was somewhat confident.

He gestured to Yan Jing'an, and the two walked in the same direction.

However, just over an hour later, the two heard the bleating of sheep ahead.

Yan Jing'an thought to himself, "He really does have some skills."

Just as he was about to take a few more steps closer, Yan Zheng quickly gestured for him to stop.