The sky collapsed, and in the blink of an eye, I found myself transported to Nanluoguxiang.

At the entrance to the back mountain, many villagers, carrying guns, had divided into several groups and gathered together, talking in hushed tones.

Without delay, Li Yong led Li Kaixin straight to one of the teams.

This team consists of four people, including Li Yong, and they are all young people like Li Yong.

When the three saw Li Yong leading Li Kaixin over, they all went forward to greet them.

One of them was taller and noticeably more talkative than the other two.

Upon approaching, he greeted her with a smile, "Brother Yong, you really brought me joy!"

"Of course, Shunzi! Didn't I tell you that yesterday?"

Li Yong smiled and then pulled Li Kaixin in front of the three of them:

"You three should get to know Kaixin better. He's often not in the village, so he might not recognize some of you."

Because of the time Li Kaixin distributed wild boar meat to the village, the tall young man had a good impression of him.

He immediately extended his hand warmly, with a smile on his face:

"Kaixin, do you recognize me? My name is Li Shun. By seniority, you have to call me cousin."

"Hello, Brother Shun!" Upon seeing this, Li Kaixin quickly extended his hand and shook hands with him with a smile.

Then, the two people behind Li Shun also stepped forward and introduced themselves.

The shortest one is called Li Wei, and the burly one is called Li Tieniu.

Li Kaixin shook hands with each of them and introduced them to each other.

After waiting there for a while, Li Kaixin looked around and saw that no one was willing to leave.

He then turned to Li Yong with some confusion and asked, "Brother Yong, I think most of the people have arrived, why aren't we going up the mountain yet?"

Li Yong pointed to the earthen slope not far away:

"Kaixin, look over there are some people who are going up the mountain for the first time. My old man is assigning them to teams."

"Once the assignments are complete and the headcount is accurate, we'll set off."

After hearing this, Li Kaixin looked in the direction Li Yong pointed.

Sure enough, some younger people were standing there, and Third Grandfather was arranging them into groups of older, more experienced people.

This puzzled him even more, and he turned to ask again, "Brother Yong, why are we letting these newbies come up the mountain together?"

Upon hearing Li Kaixin's question, Li Yong recalled that his grandfather had mentioned yesterday that Li Kaixin should have experience going into the mountains.

He guessed that perhaps his father had stopped Li Kaixin on the grounds that he lacked experience.

Thinking of the reason, he sighed and slowly explained:

"It's not that my grandfather insisted on sending them up the mountain, it's just that we really had no other choice."

"This year's harvest was poor, and the village is short of food. Although my father managed to procure some from somewhere, barely managing to fill this year's gap, what if it's the same next year?"

He paused, his gaze fixed on the busy figures in the distance, and continued:

"My old man has no choice but to use this method to teach these people some skills to get into the mountains. If things are like this again next year, at least they can still find a way to make a living in the mountains."

Upon hearing this, Li Kaixin suddenly realized the truth and couldn't help but admire his third grandfather's foresight.

He also understood why his third grandfather had been so reluctant to let him go up the mountain at first yesterday.

It seems that my third grandfather felt that he had enough to eat and wear in the city, so there was no need for him to risk going to the mountains.

Seeing that Li Kaixin seemed to know what was going on, Li Yong didn't say anything more and turned to look at his old man.

In no time, Third Grandfather had assigned everyone who was going into the mountains for the first time to their places.

He stood on the earthen slope, cleared his throat, and addressed the crowd loudly, "The primary objective after you enter the mountains is to ensure your safety; hunting is only the second priority!"

He then looked at the young faces, his tone becoming more forceful:

"Also, newcomers to the mountain must listen to the experienced hunters, follow their instructions, and don't wander off!"

"Everyone, did you all understand?"

"Understood!" the crowd below the earthen slope responded in unison.

Seeing that everyone had listened, Third Grandfather nodded:

"Alright, enough with the chit-chat. Teams, set off now! Meet back here on your way down!"

After saying that, he waved his hand and walked down the slope, heading straight towards Li Kaixin.

Upon approaching, the third grandfather didn't say much, but pulled Li Yong aside and whispered a few words to him.

When Li Yong returned, he didn't say anything, but simply waved his hand and led Li Kaixin and the others to follow the main group into the mountains.

At first, because it was on the outskirts of the mountain, there were few wild animals and many people, so everyone was quite relaxed.

Many people walked along chatting and laughing, and the sounds of conversation and laughter could be heard from time to time in the woods.

Needless to say, Li Kaixin had been here several times and was quite familiar with many places.

However, the situation changed when they entered the border area of ​​the inner mountain area.

Many teams parted ways here, each heading off along familiar mountain paths.

Li Kaixin stopped and slowly took out some insect-repelling herbs from his pocket.

Next, carefully apply the herbal juice to exposed skin such as hands, face, and neck.

His actions left Li Yong and the other three people watching in awe.

Li Shun moved closer to Li Kaixin and couldn't help but ask, "Kaixin, what were you putting on just now?"

"For deworming!" Li Kaixin looked up, somewhat surprised, and asked, "You didn't prepare these?"

Upon hearing Li Kaixin's question, all four of them showed some embarrassment and shook their heads.

Little did they know there were herbs that could repel insects.

However, the awkwardness lasted only a moment before the group immediately gathered around Li Kaixin.

Li Shun leaned in first, a fawning smile on his face: "Kaixin, can you put some on for Brother Shun too?"

Li Yong and the other two quickly followed suit, afraid of falling behind:

"Happy, give me some too!"

"And me!"

No wonder they were in such a hurry.

In the past, when they went into the mountains, they had to endure the mosquito bites. Now that there are herbs that can prevent them, who wouldn't want to give it a try?

Let's not worry about whether it works or not; what if it actually works?

Besides, the older generation in the village often says that some people have been bitten by poisonous insects in the mountains, developed high fevers, and some of them didn't make it through.

Seeing this, Li Kaixin was not stingy and took out some herbs from his pocket and handed them to the four people.

After all four of them carefully applied the ointment to their exposed areas, their five-person team finally stepped into the inner perimeter of the forest.

As they ventured deeper into the dense forest, Li Kaixin began to feel unfamiliar with the area, as Li Yong was leading the way instead of following the familiar stream.

After wandering around the inner edge of the forest for almost an hour, and with the sky already bright, we hadn't seen a single wild animal.

Li Kaixin finally couldn't help but ask, "Brother Yong, how come we haven't caught a single prey?"

When Li Yong heard the question, he turned around, looking somewhat embarrassed.

"Well... Kaixin, prey isn't everywhere, it takes luck, don't rush."

"Brother Yong, stop trying to make yourself happy."

Li Shun immediately exposed Li Kaixin's mistake, then turned to Li Kaixin and told him the truth:

"We're so happy! We haven't been to the mountains for over half a year. We've long forgotten where the wild animals roam. Now we're just trying our luck."

He paused again, then patted his chest and said:

"Don't worry about safety. Our marksmanship is among the best in the village. As long as we don't run into a herd of wild boars, we'll definitely be able to protect ourselves."

Upon hearing this, Li Kaixin was both amused and exasperated; his third grandfather had essentially hired a few bodyguards for him.

He still doesn't believe what he said earlier.

......