That reason is acceptable, but something still feels off. I always feel that people who like to study poisons aren't good people.

"You used to be very good at chemistry?" Song Tantan said.

"I'm good at everything." As long as he wants to, nothing can stump him, including learning sculpture. But the more he knows, the more work he has to do, and he doesn't want to be exhausted.

No, how did this get into chemistry? What's the connection between the two?

Because they weren't interested in using poison, neither Song Tantan nor Song Zhuiyan took Ye Moxun's confession too seriously.

As evening approached, Song Zhuiyan noticed Ye Moxun's increasingly grave expression. Since Zhong Qingyi had not yet returned, she could no longer sit still. If she hadn't suddenly fainted, Zhong Qingyi wouldn't have needed to return to the deep mountains to retrieve the prey. With darkness falling and him still not back, she had to go and check on him.

"Auntie, let's go together. If there's any danger, I can help. Ah Xun, don't come along." Song Tantan tugged at Song Zhuiyan's clothes as if she might run away.

Finally, Ye Moxun was forced to stay behind to guard the house. Song Zhuiyan pulled Song Tantan and ran quickly towards the deep mountains. After running out of the village, Song Zhuiyan let her hide in her space. Now that Song Zhuiyan could also control space, she didn't have to worry about Song Tantan coming out still in the same place. Song Zhuiyan could take her to her destination.

Just as Song Tantan was about to enter the space, she suddenly heard a dark shadow approaching from not far away. "Auntie, what does that look like?"

Because it was dark, they couldn't see clearly, but they felt that a huge creature was walking towards them. Song Zhuiyan held her knife in her hand, and Song Tantan also drew a large knife from her spatial storage. The cold light of the blade flashed, and the huge creature spoke.

"Is that Miss Song and Tantan?" It was Zhong Qingyi's voice.

"Brother Zhong, it's you." Song Zhuiyan walked over with her knife in hand, only then realizing that he was carrying the black bear.

"It's so heavy, and you actually carried it all back." And there were other small prey hanging on your body too; you didn't want to leave any behind. You're so thrifty.

"It's alright, just a bit tiring." Zhong Qingyi took a breath, then suddenly threw the bear aside and collapsed to the ground.

Along the way, he had to carry heavy loads and be wary of attacks from wild beasts. He was exhausted both mentally and physically. He gritted his teeth and persevered until he saw Song Zhuiyan, but he finally couldn't take it anymore and had to stop and rest for a while.

"I'll go get some people to carry this big guy back," Song Tantan said, then turned and ran back.

"Brother Zhong, are you alright?" Song Zhuiyan sat down next to him and looked him up and down through the darkness.

"I'm fine, are you alright?" She was still unconscious when he left.

"Don't worry, I'm fine now. I feel ashamed that you went through all that trouble."

“Miss Song, you’re being too formal,” Zhong Qingyi interrupted her, pausing before continuing, “On my way back, I think I heard the howling of wolves. There must be a pack of wolves in the deep mountains. I don’t know how many there are. I hope they don’t come to the village.”

It's hard to say. A pack of wolves might suddenly break into the village one day. After all, their village is located in the mountains, and the consequences of a wolf attack are unimaginable.

We must do something, like set up traps or something, to at least hold them off for a while and to detect anything unusual before the wolves enter the village.

After discussing it, the two first thought of building a wall with bricks, and then inserting sharpened wood or bamboo into the top of the wall. However, this project was quite huge. First, they had to fire enough bricks to surround the village. After that, they still had to build the wall, which was time-consuming and laborious.

It cannot be completed in a short time, but preventative measures are urgent and cannot be delayed. We must find other ways to deal with it first.

"Dig trenches around the village, the deeper the better, and insert sharpened wood and bamboo into the bottom of the trenches. However, digging trenches is not easy." There are only about thirty strong laborers in the village, and the tools are limited.

There weren't many farm tools to begin with, and many were thrown away or stolen during the escape. They were more than enough when we were clearing land before, and it would take a lot of time to dig deep pits over a large area.

After comparing the two options, Song Zhuiyan and Zhong Qingyi both felt that digging a deep pit was faster than building a wall. Therefore, they decided to dig the trench first and build the wall later, so that the wall would be built within the trench area, thus providing two layers of protection.

At this moment, Song Tantan called people over. Lin Fuhai arrived quickly with seven or eight men. He held up a torch and first checked on Zhong Qingyi's condition. Seeing that he was alright, he shifted his gaze to the ground and was horrified to see such a large black bear.

It seems there are indeed many large wild animals in the deep mountains. Villagers should not only be careful when going into the mountains, but also remain vigilant when staying in the village.

Three men carried the black bear together, while the others carried the small game. After returning to the village, Zhong Qingyi and Song Zhuiyan did not go straight home, but went to Lin Fuhai's house first. Zhong Qingyi and Song Zhuiyan were not allowed to share the small game; they kept it for themselves.

The black bear let the villagers kill it and divide the meat. They wanted the bear skin and bear paws, and how they divided those two items was their own business.

"Dig trenches? But these days everyone is still worried about finding food." Lin Fuhai looked distressed. Life was hard for everyone. The crops they planted would take two or three years to harvest. Moreover, they had never planted sweet potatoes and corn before, and they didn't know if they were really as high-yielding as Miss Song had said.

“During the digging of the deep pit, Brother Zhong and I can cover some of the food expenses. We will go into the mountains every day to hunt some game to make sure everyone is not hungry,” said Song Zhuiyan.

Lin Fuhai looked at Zhong Qingyi, who sat upright and nodded calmly. "Miss Song's idea is also my idea. Once you've thought it through, let us know, and then we'll divide the tasks."

So it was decided. When they got home, Zhong Qingyi gave her the bear skin, bear paws, and five catties of meat, keeping only ten catties of meat for herself.

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