Although everyone was nervous to varying degrees, Xu Jiaming and Wen Fei's words stimulated each other and boosted everyone's morale.
It was still afternoon, and there was still some time before sunset, making it the perfect time to explore the unknown.
At night, the forest is pitch black, which will amplify the hidden dangers and make it difficult for everyone to move forward.
After a moment's hesitation, everyone put the dogs on leashes again, and even the seven small hunting dogs were called to Old Fu's side.
If there really are savages in the houses ahead, these hunting dogs will surely anger them if they rashly intrude.
Before fully understanding the situation, everyone must remain vigilant, but neither should they be prepared to be hostile from the outset.
Legends about wild men circulating in the mountains are mostly negative, but are wild men really opposed to humans?
This is also an unsolved mystery.
Although they could see the outline of a house ahead, they were still several miles away from it.
As the saying goes, "Looking at a mountain makes a horse run itself to death." After a tense, exciting, thrilling, and nerve-wracking walk, the group finally began to gradually reach a flat area after more than half an hour.
As they got closer, the group gradually relaxed, which brought with it countless disappointments.
On the overgrown ground, there were indeed a few houses, but they were so dilapidated that they were beyond repair.
The entire structure of the wooden house has been almost completely eroded by wind and rain, leaving only a frame covered with dense spider webs.
Below, although there were some signs of wild animal activity, it was definitely not left by some savages; it was just a few abandoned houses.
"Damn it, what the hell? You scared me!"
Xu Jiaming was somewhat annoyed and cursed a few times as he looked at the broken roof frame.
"Holy crap, this must have been inhabited! What the hell, living in these mountains?"
Liao Bin also angrily cursed a few times.
"This house is quite old."
Chen Chongshan looked at the house and said calmly.
Although such wooden houses are not common in the city, there are still many houses with this structure in Meishan County, so Chen Chongshan was able to roughly figure out what it was.
"It must have been mountain people who sought refuge here during the war years. Later they moved out, and the house was abandoned."
Zhou Cong nodded and replied, "These pieces of wood are all high-quality timber that is sturdy and resistant to decay, which is why they have been preserved to this day."
"Yes, that should be the case."
Wu Kai stepped forward, looked around, and then nodded in reply.
The hounds rushed out again, and after circling the ruins of the house a few times, they actually managed to drive out a few pheasants.
With quick reflexes, Wu Kai pulled out the slingshot he had been carrying at his waist, picked up a few small stones, and aimed and fired directly at the pheasant.
As Wu Kai moved, the pheasant let out several miserable cries and flapped its wings to the ground.
"Wow, impressive skills."
Upon seeing this, Xu Jiaming was extremely surprised and exclaimed repeatedly, "Wu Kai, you're amazing! You have to teach me this trick!"
Wu Kai smiled, walked forward, picked up the pheasant, and said, "There's no special way to teach this. It's just a matter of practice makes perfect. Just practice more and you'll get the hang of it."
"Your unit trains this?"
Xu Jiaming asked in confusion.
"When I was serving in the Tianshan Mountains, I would go out with my comrades to look for pheasants in the snow during my free time."
"The soldiers couldn't use guns to hunt, so they got used to using this thing."
"At first, I couldn't hit them, but after using it a lot, it became easy. If you're on a snowy plain, once you find a pheasant, you're unlikely to miss."
Wu Kai replied with a smile.
"The military produces talented people."
Liao Bin smiled and then said, "Young Master Xu, let's set up camp here tonight. It's getting late. If we spend the night here, we can cross the deepest part of Shennongjia tomorrow."
"Alright, let's set up camp."
Xu Jiaming nodded, looked at the surrounding mountains, and sighed, "If there really are wild men in these mountains, I'm afraid we'll have a hard time finding them. They wouldn't be so stupid as to run right into our guns, would they?"
"This depends on fate."
Liao Bin smiled and replied.
"Too."
Xu Jiaming nodded.
The group began to set up camp. Zhou Cong and Wu Kai used long knives to clear away the grass and thorns on a spacious open area, creating a large clearing.
As everyone set up their tents, the hunting dogs also began to disperse.
Next to the flat area is a stream flowing down from the mountains. The stream is clear, and you can clearly see small groups of grouper swimming back and forth.
On afternoons like this, many wild animals come here to drink or hunt.
Although the arrival of humans disrupts the lives of wild animals, many ignorant and fearless little creatures still come here out of curiosity and become prey for the hunting dogs.
The Asura is the first to capture its prey; it is always the most active creature.
Ashura found a civet cat in the grove on the other side of the stream, then bit off its neck and brought it back.
Immediately afterwards, Ah Huang and several other Xia Si dogs surrounded a muntjac that was already on alert, but before it could escape, it was already encircled by the hunting dogs.
The muntjac was fast and had a strong jumping ability, but the pack of hunting dogs were extremely experienced. With their cooperation, Ah Huang easily bit off the muntjac's neck.
Neither the Demon King nor the Mastiff King Sengge moved; they remained at the edge of the camp to guard the group.
Among all the hunting dogs, these two share the most similar arrogance; without their master's command, they are too lazy to hunt these small prey.
It felt there was no need to intervene unless faced with a significant challenge.
The Demon King was still obsessed with that blurry figure. He had come here to find it and have a fair fight with it.
The hunting dogs brought back all the prey, and the campsite was set up, the tents were pitched, and the fire was lit.
Before it got dark, Chen Chongshan caught the muntjac that Ah Huang had dragged back and prepared to go to the stream to deal with it.
This is a muntjac weighing over 30 kilograms. Once it's cleaned and placed on the grill, it'll be enough for everyone to have a good meal.
As for the civet cat that Ashura brought back, Liao Bin skinned it and fed it directly to the hunting dogs.
This stuff has a very strong gamey smell, and without much seasoning, it doesn't taste very good.
However, the pheasants that Wu Kai shot down can be stewed into a pot of delicious soup.
Muntjac meat is one of the best delicacies in the mountains, and Zhou Cong's barbecue skills are also quite good. In addition, Liao Bin had the foresight to bring some barbecue seasonings, and soon the camp was filled with the aroma of barbecue.
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