Wu Yong stepped forward and kicked Gu Mili and the other two once each, "What are you standing there for? Hurry up and shoot a couple more arrows, or you'll lose your chance once they struggle free."

Gu Mili and the others then came to their senses and simultaneously fired the arrows from the emplacement.

"Are you here to make a fool of yourself?" Yun Jianying burst out laughing. "Couldn't you spread your guns out a bit? Look how many porcupines you've shot them up."

In their excitement, the group simultaneously aimed at a leopard and transformed it into a hedgehog.

Before the others could join in the mockery, the other leopards, provoked, forcefully pulled their legs out of the trap and lunged forward in retaliation.

Si Cheng and Wu Shan had already taken precautions, and taking advantage of the creatures' slow movements, they quickly dealt with them.

"Look at you guys, you almost ruined everything. With your impetuous and restless attitude, you still want to come into the mountains with us? You should practice more!" Yun Jianying turned to scold them after seeing that the danger had passed.

Gu Mili and the others obediently lowered their heads and listened to the reprimand. This time they really made a mistake. Fortunately, the village chief had set a trap and taken precautions beforehand, otherwise it would have really been a bad thing.

"You learn from your mistakes. Don't be so eager for quick success in the future. You should follow along and learn more. You can't master something so easily." Yun Sanman, as an elder who had come along, quickly stepped in to criticize him, but why did his words sound so unpleasant?

Yun Xun said, "Uncle Sanman, don't take their side. They've seen enough and learned enough, but they're too confident and think it's nothing difficult, which is why they made a mistake."

Yun Sanman nodded in agreement, "When we get back to the village, let them train more and strengthen their regular training. Otherwise, I won't feel at ease letting these hotheads go out."

These words, which sounded like a plea but weren't quite a plea, left the others speechless. They could only think to themselves that they would definitely have to tidy themselves up properly when they got back, so as not to let them get too cocky.

Gu Mili and the others were unaware that even more arduous training awaited them. They secretly patted their chests, feeling that this ordeal was finally over.

After they returned, they were trained under the watchful eyes of the villagers for several months. At that time, they truly had unspeakable suffering, but that's another story.

By the firelight, everyone quickly got rid of the smell of blood and added mugwort to the fire, filling the air with its fragrance.

The night grew completely quiet, and as we waited anxiously, the sky finally began to lighten.

The villagers, eager to escape, packed their belongings early, even preparing their rations for the next day overnight, without any delay.

"If only everyone could be this self-disciplined every day from now on," Yun Qi remarked, watching the procession move forward.

Leading such a long group, not everything went smoothly. The constant urging to set off was exhausting, and there were always unexpected events.

Even though each person now carries dozens of kilograms on their backs, they all walk briskly without a single complaint.

After these two days of experience, as long as everyone avoids causing trouble, management should be easier going forward.

"We've reached the original Gaozhuang village. Should we go down there to rest, or find another campsite?" Wu Yong asked, at the request of Mi Li and the others.

Si Cheng looked at the few households that had moved from Gaozhuang and said, "Let's go to Gaozhuang to rest. At least they have easier access to water there. Although there are some water sources nearby, the amount is not much and cannot supply so many of us."

Having received confirmation, Mili and the others rushed ahead to lead the way, eager to see the place where they originally lived.

However, after the drought and the rainy season, the small wooden houses they had built had long since collapsed and were covered with all kinds of wild mushrooms, and the original appearance of the village could no longer be found.

The families who had left Gaozhuang felt a mix of emotions as they watched their homes, which they had built from scratch, vanish completely. They could only sigh and turn back to help the others pack up their campsite.

When Grandpa Gao came out, he kept reminding them to check if the crops they had planted before would yield any harvest. After all, the crops they had planted were drought-resistant sweet potatoes and the like. Even if they hadn't harvested before, they should have continued to grow after the rainy season.

After Gao Baiyun, Gu Mili, and the others finished setting up the camp, they called to a few of their friends and headed towards their own fields.

Everyone was tired of eating wild mushrooms and vegetables along the way and wanted to change things up, so they put a lot of effort into finding them.

The fields are different after the seeds have been sown. Although I don't know how these seeds can hide in the mud during the dry season and wait for the rainy season, they really do happen.

"There's even perilla here! If only there were a cucumber, it would be delicious in a cold salad." Looking at the large patch of perilla, Yun Qiao couldn't resist tearing off a handful to smell.

"Never mind that for now, we can pick them when we get back. Let's keep looking ahead, maybe there are others waiting for us." Gu Mili remembered that her grandfather had planted a field of sweet potatoes. If the perilla could survive, then the sweet potatoes should be just as good.

"Look, aren't there sweet potato leaves over there?" Because of the weeds covering them, Yun Heng couldn't see them very clearly.

Upon hearing his call, everyone rushed in the direction he pointed.

Pushing aside the weeds, lush green sweet potato leaves appeared before everyone's eyes, and there were quite a few of them, covering an area of ​​about one square meter.

"Now we'll have vegetables to eat! Let's dig around and see if there are any sweet potatoes growing underneath. If there are, we can roast sweet potatoes tonight." Thinking of the sweet and delicious sweet potatoes, Yun Qiao even thought that eating them raw would be quite nice.

Gu Mili pulled out the machete she always carried, disregarding how much she usually cherished it, and used the blade as a hoe to dig away the soil bit by bit.

As they dug into the soil, everyone was disappointed. "Why aren't there any sweet potatoes? The sweet potato vines are growing so lushly, yet there isn't a single sweet potato?"

"It's not harvest season yet, but with these sweet potato seedlings, we can improve our meals. Let's quickly look around here and see if we can find anything else." Yun Heng wasn't discouraged. They had already found two kinds of vegetables, so maybe there would be other finds.

"I remember there used to be a lot of wild rabbits here. I wonder if they still are after the drought?" Looking at the mountains not far away, Zhao Dongwei thought of the roasted wild rabbit he had last time. Although he had eaten a lot of pheasants and rabbits along the way, it was not as satisfying as the game he had caught with a snare last time.

"What are we waiting for? Let's quickly look for rabbit holes. If we find any, we can set some traps. Even if we don't eat them ourselves, we can still exchange them for more salt." Yun Heng wasn't interested in wild rabbits right now, but that didn't stop him from thinking about catching them to exchange for more salt.