This was the first time Xia Lunong had heard Kong Zhi say this since she had known him. She looked at him sideways and was stunned for a moment.

Kong Zhi turned his head and met his gaze.

Xia Lunong turned his head back and coughed lightly to cover up.

Kong Zhi led him forward.

The two of them walked dozens of meters in the grass, one foot deep and one foot shallow, and finally arrived near the bamboo forest.

The bamboo outside and the bamboo in the base are not of the same species.

The surface of the bamboo in the base is very smooth, and it grows thick and straight, while the bamboo outside is covered with fine hairs. The bamboo branches are very short, and they extend horizontally and obliquely, and they will poke people's heads and faces if they are not careful.

The two men bent down and entered the bamboo forest. Xia Lunong's eyes turned around and soon found the target. "I saw bamboo shoots."

Kong Zhi also saw it and said to him, "Be careful."

Xia Lunong nodded, looked at him again, and volunteered, "I'll go over and dig, you stay here."

The bamboo forest was full of branches and weeds. Kong Zhi, who was so tall, would not have room to move if he got in.

Xia Lunong thought about it and felt that this was not something to be happy about. He felt a little depressed.

Kong Zhi saw him going in with a hoe and reminded him from behind, "Be careful of ants."

"Where are they?" Xia Lunong suddenly became nervous. She turned her head and looked around. After looking for a long time, she didn't find the ants.

"On the bamboo shoots." Kong Zhi said, "You have to dig with your socks on, don't take them off."

"Oh, OK."

Xia Lunong found a good position, bent down and pointed to the place where he was going to put the hoe. When he put the hoe down, he found that the soil was all hardened. The hoeing made his hand hurt.

Kong Zhi reminded, "Dig down a little bit, there is not much meat on the top of the bamboo shoot."

"Got it."

Xia Lunong changed his position and dug slowly.

Digging bamboo shoots is not an easy task.

Xia Lunong dug for a long time, but only dug most of the root. There was still a small part left where he dug it off. He failed to dig it out successfully.

Kong Zhi saw him bending over and panting, and said, "Throw the bamboo shoots to me first."

"Okay, you catch it." Xia Lunong raised her hand and threw it not far from Kong Zhi, but it was blocked by bamboo branches and vines.

Kong Zhi squatted down and stretched out his hand to grab it.

He was tall, with long arms and legs, so he could reach it in one go without having to crawl in to pick it up.

Xia Lunong dug the bamboo shoots, and Kong Zhi peeled the bamboo shoot shells on the side, leaving only the edible bamboo shoot meat in his backpack.

Originally a large bamboo shoot, after peeling the shells, only a small ball was left, and it didn't take up much space in the backpack.

Xia Lunong poked her head and saw it, and continued to look around for bamboo shoots.

A lot of bamboo shoots grew after the rain a few days ago. They just came today, and many of them are old and cannot be eaten at all.

Xia Lunong walked past one old bamboo shoot after another, feeling very regretful.

The bamboo forest was full of bamboo branches, which made it very difficult to walk. In addition, they had to be careful of insects and snakes, so they walked even slower.

After most of the morning, they only dug more than ten pounds of clean bamboo shoots.

At noon, they crawled out of the bamboo forest and sat down to rest. Xia Lunong lifted up his clothes and fanned himself, panting and said, "It's really not easy to dig bamboo shoots."

His face was all red, and there were marks of sweat on his face and neck.

Kong Zhi took out a handkerchief for him, and took out a lunch box, "Rest for a while."

Lunch was simple, with only rice and the bacon and pickled cabbage from the morning.

Xia Lunong was very hungry, so he took one of the lunch boxes, picked up the chopsticks and started to eat.

Kong Zhi sat next to him, looked around first, and made sure there were no dangerous creatures nearby before he started to eat.

Xia Lunong was stunned when he saw his actions, and felt that he had learned something.

After eating, Xia Lunong stuffed the lunch box into his backpack, sat in the shade, and felt the cool breeze. He couldn't help but sigh, "It's so comfortable." Kong

Zhi's meal was bigger, and he hadn't finished it yet. Seeing Xia Lunong's expression, he stopped eating with chopsticks, "Go back early in the afternoon?"

"No, fill your backpack first."

"We'll go back if we're tired. There's a long way to go, so there's no need to force ourselves."

Xia Lunong nodded, and made up her mind that she had finally come out for this trip, so she had to fill her backpack before going back.

Bamboo shoots are so easy to store, so it’s okay to dig more. Whether you make them into dried bamboo shoots or pickled bamboo shoots, they can be stored for a long time. It

’s not suitable to rest outdoors, so the two of them sat for a while after lunch and continued to look for bamboo shoots.

Xia Lunong has gained experience in digging, and can now dig one in half a minute.

For those bamboo shoots that are a little old, just chop them diagonally, and don’t dig them all out. The roots of the bamboo shoots will be too old to eat.

Xia Lunong’s sense of accomplishment and excitement increased as he dug more. It was estimated that at around three o’clock, the backpack was almost full.

Xia Lunong stood up and pounded his lower back, then continued to drill deeper into the bamboo forest. "If we had known, we would have brought an extra backpack."

Kong Zhi followed him with a hunched back, very calmly, "It's useless to dig too much, I can't carry it."

"Hahaha, no problem, if you dig too much, I'll turn into a cat shape and not take up weight."

Kong Zhi said, "I'm afraid we can't finish eating too much."

"How is that possible? There's no such thing as endless food these days. If you're really tired of it, you can send it to the market to exchange for something else. So, what do you like to eat?"

"Vegetables?"

"Yes, whatever vegetables or meat you like to eat. For example, I particularly like sweet and sour spare ribs and chicken wings."

Kong Zhi said, "Anything is fine."

"Hey, this is the most annoying thing to say." Xia Lunong was halfway through his words when a white shadow flashed before his eyes, scaring him. "...What is that?!"

Xia Lunong took a few steps back and patted his chest with a lingering fear.

Kong Zhi held his shoulders from behind him and looked ahead. "It's a sheep."

"It really is." Xia Lunong looked closely and found that it was a sheep in front of him. The degree of mutation of this sheep was not serious. It just had a horn on its head. Otherwise, it was the same as an ordinary sheep.

Xia Lunong was excited all of a sudden. She pulled at the bamboo branches and vines, and urged in a low voice, "Hurry, hurry, hurry, chase it!"

"I can't catch up." Kong Zhi grabbed Xia Lunong's arm and whispered, "There are too many bushes here. We can't get through. We can't use the beast form either. We can't use it."

Xia Lunong said anxiously, "What should we do? Just let it go?"

Kong Zhi had no other choice but to hold him and repeat, "There are bamboo branches everywhere here. Be careful not to hurt your eyes."

"Hey--" Xia Lunong was firmly grasped by him by the arm and couldn't move at all. She had to say, "Okay, okay, let me go. I won't chase you anymore."

Kong Zhi looked at him, as if he was trying to gauge the credibility of his words.

Xia Lunong looked helpless.

The two looked at each other for a moment, and Kong Zhi finally let him go.

Xia Lunong watched the sheep running farther and farther away, and her heart ached. "Such a big sheep."

Kong Zhi said, "Let's go, continue digging bamboo shoots."

Xia Lunong muttered, "Why are you so calm, not greedy at all?"

"It's destined to be uncatching, why waste your efforts?"

Xia Lunong pursed her lips, looked at Kong Zhi's back, and then looked at the sheep only five or six meters away, and suddenly stretched out her hand and threw the hatchet in her hand fiercely.

Kong Zhi heard the movement and turned around suddenly.

Xia Lunong's hatchet had been thrown out, and the hatchet flew forward like a stone, and all the bamboo branches, vines, and shrubs in front were opened by the flying hatchet.

The hatchet went straight to the sheep's head.

The sheep in front heard the noise and tried to run away, but before it could move even one step, the hatchet hit its head hard.

The sheep's head immediately bleeds, and it runs forward two steps and falls to the ground.

However, the hatchet is still going strong, and after hitting the ground, it slides a few meters outward and falls into the bamboo leaves.

It happened in a flash.

Xia Lunong stared blankly ahead, and then subconsciously glanced at his hands. When did his skills become so good?

Kong Zhi also saw the scene in front of him, and the two looked at each other in surprise.

Kong Zhi was surprised, then he calmly praised, "You did a good job."

"It was just luck." Xia Lunong stretched her neck, still with an expression of disbelief, "Did I kill the sheep?"

"Go and see." Kong Zhi took the hoe from him and used it to open the bamboo branches on both sides, "Follow me."

"Oh." Xia Lunong followed him, still looking forward.

The sheep fell to the ground, its legs still twitching, and it looked like it would not survive even if it didn't die for a while.

It took the two of them three or four minutes to walk this five or six meter road.

After finally getting out, Xia Lunong had no time to catch her breath. Kong Zhi finished checking and said, "It's dead."

"Ah?" Xia Lunong looked at the dead sheep on the ground and murmured, "It's really like a god's help."

Kong Zhi walked forward a few steps, stretched out his hand to take back the hatchet from the gap between the bamboo branches, "The blood smell is too strong here, let's go back first."

"Okay." Xia Lunong took the big backpack from Kong Zhi and turned her head to look left and right, "How should we go next?"

They had already walked into the depths of the dense forest. There were bamboo branches and vines everywhere, and there were also many thorny bushes. It was not easy to retreat.

Kong Zhi stood up and observed for a while, "Go in this direction, follow me."

Kong Zhi exerted force with his arms, his muscles bulged, and "bang" threw the sheep onto his back.

Xia Lunong looked at the size of the sheep and estimated that it must be at least 50 or 60 kilograms.

Normally, it is not difficult to carry fifty or sixty kilograms of things, but it is not so easy to carry such a heavy weight in such a dangerous place.

Xia Lunong observed for a while and took the initiative to say: "Let me lead the way. I am also quite skilled. If we encounter any danger, you can just remind me from behind."

Kong Zhi did not expect him to say this on his own initiative. He looked at him a few more times and nodded to make way.

Xia Lunong tightened her backpack and walked in front, holding the hatchet tightly in her hand, just in case.

This was the first time that Xia Lunong explored as a pioneer rather than a follower.

He walked in front, and his whole person exuded a sense of caution, and he did not look very good.

Kong Zhi looked at his figure from behind, but there was a smile in his eyes.