Stunning Check-in: A Carefree Life Begins in the Countryside

But when he got within five meters, the snake raised its neck and flicked its tongue at Xia An, seemingly trying to intimidate him.

"A snake in its egg-laying period?"

Xia An's eyes brightened slightly, and she looked at the brown and black serpent in front of her with a smile.

The brown-black rat snake is non-venomous and generally docile, usually avoiding humans.

It will only actively deter and attack hunters during the egg-rearing or egg-guarding period.

It's only early July, which is a crucial period for brown and black rat snakes to lay their eggs.

Xia An's eyes narrowed slightly, and he suddenly strode forward towards the brown-black serpent.

It hissed and, instead of retreating, advanced, attacking Xia An first.

Xia An chuckled softly, stared at it, and directly put it into his spatial storage.

"How lonely it is to be invincible!"

He chuckled softly, then quickly left, carrying the white fox whose eyes flashed with a hint of confusion.

Along the way

Xia An was lucky; he encountered a flying dragon, a wild rabbit, and two pheasants again.

Considering the situation with the previous hare, Xia An switched to using tranquilizer darts this time.

Unexpectedly, it turned out to be a pregnant female rabbit, a pleasant surprise.

As for the wyverns and pheasants, they weren't so lucky and were hunted down.

Everyone says not to hunt birds in spring or raid their nests in summer, but Xia An did exactly that.

It's not that he has no bottom line, it's just that he hunts a lot at first, but then he hunts very little after a few months.

Two or three months later, meat will be available in the space. Why bother with all that effort?

With this mindset, he naturally doesn't have much psychological burden when hunting.

What surprised him more than this was the little white fox's reaction.

It's unclear whether it's due to the spiritual spring water or its innate ability.

Surprisingly, after smelling the scents of dragons and pheasants, they led Xia An to two nests.

In this way, Xia An harvested six flying dragon cubs and eight pheasant chicks.

While it's not yet possible to tell the sex of a pheasant's chicks, they hatch early enough that their young can already be distinguished as male or female.

Among them were three male offspring.

This made Xia An feel that taking in the little white fox might be a good decision.

Xia An accepted the pheasant chicks, then stroked the white fox's fur and chuckled softly:

"good!"

"From now on, you'll be with me. I'll name you Bai Ling, okay?"

The little white fox seemed to understand but not quite, nestled in Xia An's arms and purring softly.

Xia An smiled, picked it up and left quickly, soon arriving at the edge of the forest.

As he neared the end of the forest, he took out a full basket of firewood and carried it on his back, while hanging a portable medicine basket around his waist.

After a slight hesitation, I placed the twenty-year-old ginseng at the bottom of the medicine basket and covered it with other medicinal herbs.

Immediately, he scooped the little white fox into his arms and picked up forty pounds of thin firewood.

He used his other hand to hold the carrying pole and quickly walked out of the forest.

Upon seeing him return, Uncle Luo and the others breathed a slight sigh of relief and smiled from afar:

"Xia, you've had quite a harvest today. You must have cut this firewood from a fallen tree. It's very good."

Xia An smiled and replied, "I was lucky; I ran into them yesterday."

"The road was smooth today, and I collected a bit more herbs, so it was a decent harvest."

Everyone smiled.

At this moment, Aunt Guihua suddenly noticed the little white fox in Xia An's arms, and her expression changed slightly.

"Xia Zhiqing, what's this in your arms?"

The others saw it too, and they all looked over curiously.

Several older team members' expressions changed slightly, and a strange light flashed in their eyes.

Xia An smiled and said:

"I encountered him in the mountains; he was caught in a snare by some unknown hunter."

"I happened to be there and chased away the honey badger that was getting close."

"Seeing that it was young, we originally planned to let it go, but we didn't expect it to follow us on its own."

As he spoke, Xia An walked to the makeshift stove and put down the firewood.

Uncle Luo came over, helped him put down the basket, and looked at Bai Ling with surprise.

"This white...fox is quite docile."

"If Xia Zhiqing has any spare food, he can feed it and raise it, since I've heard that this kind of white fox is very rare."

"According to the old hunter, it's probably because its survival skills aren't very good, and it's prone to..."

He stopped abruptly, smiled, and said nothing more, seemingly unwilling to elaborate.

Xia An shook his head and chuckled. Seeing the many subtle glances in his eyes, he had already guessed what was going on.

There are five immortals in Northeast China.

The older people seemed a little superstitious, probably because they didn't want to talk about how white foxes were prone to dying young.

He smiled and said, "This kind of white fox is born from a red fox. It's a mutant; its pure white fur makes it easy for hunters to catch."

"Furthermore, the white fox's pupils are different from other foxes; it is photophobic, has poor eyesight, and is also very weak in disease resistance."

"Therefore, this type of white fox is more likely to die young than white foxes with amber or golden-brown eyes."

Luo Shutong smiled and said, "That's roughly how it was said, but I can't quite remember."

"Since it's willing to follow you, then it's fate between you. You can take good care of it and make sure it doesn't get hurt or hungry."

Xia An gave him a meaningful look, shook her head and chuckled softly:

"Don't worry, since it's going to come with me, I won't let it starve to death."

Uncle Luo nodded. "That makes sense. You've been busy in the mountains all day; you must be tired. Go back and rest."

"We'll get back to work."

Xia An nodded, looking at the house which was almost completely topped out, somewhat surprised.

"Third Uncle, this doesn't seem slow at all!"

Uncle Luo laughed and said, "It's not slow, considering it's over thirty people working together."

"The initial bricklaying will be a little slow, but the roof construction and finishing will be quick. We should be able to finish by tomorrow."

"If nothing unexpected happens, you can heat up the kang (heated brick bed) later and then you can officially move in."

"That's great!"

Xia An smiled and said,

I've been in Anping Village for ten days now, and this house only took eight days to build. Finally, I'll be able to move in soon!

"Uncle, you must be tired after a long day. I'll go back and rest for a while."

"Go back quickly."

Luo Shutong smiled and waved his hand.

Xia An smiled, slung the empty basket over his shoulder, and turned to leave with Bai Ling in his arms.

Seeing him walk away, Aunt Guihua came over and whispered:

"Third Brother, what's going on with Bai Xian'er?"

Upon hearing this, Luo Shutong glared at her and warned her in a low voice:

"Don't talk nonsense, everyone be careful."

As he spoke, his gaze lingered:

"It seemed to be nestled obediently in Xia Zhiqing's arms, but when I approached, its eyes already held a hint of wariness and rejection."

"That's...it's a spirit!"

Aunt Guihua looked surprised. "It looks like a cub to me. How could it have developed a spirit so quickly?"

"Who knows?" Uncle Luo shook his head and chuckled, his words carrying a profound meaning.

"Perhaps, Xia, the educated youth, is fortunate."

……