After traveling for several days, Hou Yunhai and his group finally arrived at Xin San Village as it was getting dark. They did not linger there but headed straight for Pinghe Village.

By the time they arrived at Pinghe Village, it was already completely dark.

Today, Sun Shaolei and Wu Tiancheng were on guard at this lookout tower. When they saw someone carrying a torch slowly moving towards this place, they immediately kept a watchful eye on the direction of the village entrance.

"Who could be coming so late?" Sun Shaolei asked nervously. "Should we ring the gong to let the village know?"

"Wait a little longer," Wu Tiancheng said, becoming more composed at this point. "Maybe the person who went to pick up the parts has returned."

"It's quite possible. My grandpa was talking about my older brother yesterday. Everyone was a little worried because Cheng didn't go out with us this time." Sun Shaolei started looking ahead intently, trying to make out the outline of a familiar face, when he heard that it might be someone who had gone to Yaojia Village returning.

"It should be, look at those people holding torches, they're all shaking them." Although Wu Tiancheng believed in his older brother's abilities, he was also very happy to see that the people had returned.

"Should we notify the village or not?" Sun Shaolei was unsure.

"Knock! Knock according to the instructions from your own people." According to the village rules, if someone from your own village returns, they should knock once every two seconds. Three knocks will let everyone know.

This was the first time Sun Shaolei had struck the gong above, and fearing that some villagers might not hear it, he made the sound especially loud.

After knocking on the ground, Sun Shaolei realized, "What if it wasn't them? I'm doomed. If it wasn't them, I'll be incredibly embarrassed."

"I won't let you down. Look, they're all here." After saying this, Wu Tiancheng shouted down the wall, "Uncle, Big Brother, are you back?"

"You're back! Hurry up and open the door for us, we're exhausted!" Wu Tao took over the conversation and shouted towards the lookout tower.

"Brother Tao, I'll come down right away and open the door for you." As soon as Sun Shaolei heard the familiar voice, he quickly grabbed the long bamboo pole on the edge of the observation platform and slid down in one go.

When it was time to open the door, I realized I couldn't lift the bolt on top.

"Hurry up! I've been telling you to learn how to slide on that bamboo pole for ages, but you never learn properly. Isn't this just delaying things?" Sun Shaolei couldn't help but complain as he watched Wu Tiancheng slowly descend the steps.

“It’s because we haven’t gotten used to it yet. We’ll definitely get it after a few more practices.” Wu Tiancheng wasn’t annoyed. He went down to the ground and together they lifted the bolt on the door.

"We've finally arrived. It's good to rest less on the way, look how close we are." Once inside the village, everyone collapsed onto the flat ground at the village entrance, not caring about their image.

After everyone had entered the village, Sun Shaolei and his men sealed the village gate again.

"You two have pretty good eyesight, buddies. You could tell it was ours from this far away." Before they even arrived, they heard the sound of them striking a gong. Wu Yong gave them a thumbs up.

Sun Shaolei and Wu Tiancheng exchanged a glance but neither of them offered an explanation; this would remain a secret between the two of them.

Soon, several families living nearby came out with torches. As soon as they heard the gong, they guessed that Monkey and his group had returned.

Many anxious villagers rushed to the village entrance with torches, wanting to confirm whether their family members were safe.

The village entrance quickly became lively, with many people cuddling their families and exchanging pleasantries. Soon, even their voices rose in unison, making it impossible to understand what they were saying.

"Go back and rest, we can talk about it tomorrow." Seeing the mess, Si Cheng asked the monkeys, who knew that apart from a few minor incidents, the trip had gone relatively smoothly, so he simply told everyone to go back first.

"Finally home, Dad. Can you kill a chicken and make some chicken soup? I've been wanting to drink this for days." Yun Jianying saw his father acting like a spoiled child.

"Okay, I'll have your mom make it for you when we get back." Yun Le's family felt a pang of heartache seeing their son's thin face, and they were thinking of stir-frying the leftover cured meat to give their child an extra meal.

Soon, the villagers at the village entrance dispersed, and Si Cheng and the others noticed a young man who had been following Monkey and Liu Fengya. Upon closer inspection, they realized he was an acquaintance.

“Brother, Yao Lie was sent by Yaojia Village to learn medicine from our master. He came with us this time.” Liu Fengya hadn’t left with his family and was waiting to introduce them to each other.

"So, you sent me here this time to clear the snake venom from my body?" Si Cheng naturally still remembered this young man.

When Yaojia Village was leaving, they mentioned sending someone to come and learn medicine before returning home. Otherwise, the distance is too far, and if someone has a headache or gets injured, there's no doctor to treat them in the village. Besides, Yunnan Medicine itself agreed to this.

"It's all cleaned up. I'll have to trouble you all again this time." Yao Lie was a little shy, and he habitually touched his bald head before answering Si Cheng.

When the village announced that a villager would be coming to learn medicine, many villagers signed up. To secure this spot, he had been working hard to improve his physical condition and had finally regained his former strength. In addition, he also had to pass various exams and use his uncle's connections to snatch the spot.

"Let's go, stay at my place for the night, and I'll take you to Uncle Nanyao's place tomorrow." Si Cheng figured that Yunnan Yao should be resting by now, so he decided not to bother him.

"Brother, no need to trouble yourself. Let him come home with me. They're probably preparing food at home, and it wouldn't be good to disturb Uncle Ming and the others at this time." Liu Fengya didn't leave first for this reason. After all, they would all be fellow disciples in the future, and it would be perfectly legitimate for him to take care of them.

"Alright, take it back and settle it down first. We'll send it to Uncle Nanyao's place tomorrow, and then we'll move another prefab house from the square so he can make do for now." Si Cheng didn't refuse him for such a small matter anymore, but thinking about how the prefab houses near Uncle Nanyao's place were all piled with medicinal herbs, he could only clear one more from the square.

Because they were going to stay for a relatively long time, and the journey was quite long, Yao Lie from Yaojia Village brought nearly two years' worth of food rations. Fortunately, the people from Pinghe Village didn't have much luggage, so each of them helped him carry some, and he managed to bring it back.

Looking at the pile of grain on the ground, Liu Fengya slapped his forehead, realizing he had forgotten about it.

"Brother, let's put these at the village office first, otherwise it will be dawn by the time we finish dealing with them."

"Just leave it there. I'll move it to the room and lock it up later." Si Cheng noticed the pile of grain behind them at this moment. He waved for them to go back and rest, and said he would handle it himself later.