Ultimately, four people chose to go into the mountains, and the production team sent three people to accompany them, just in case.
The team was led by a local mountain guardian. In the remote mountains, only the most experienced guardians could find the paths that had been there before by searching through the weeds.
"My ancestors were traditional Chinese medicine practitioners, and they used to collect herbs in the mountains. By my generation, they had stopped learning the trade, but I became a mountain guardian by following the clues left by the older generation." The speaker was a middle-aged woman with dark skin who spent most of her time in the mountains.
According to local tradition, women are not allowed to be mountain guardians. This job requires a lot of physical strength and mental fortitude, as well as familiarity with everything in the mountains and forests, wilderness survival skills, and the ability to identify wild animals by their droppings, food scraps, and footprints. But she was still chosen based on her own abilities.Department Store
The mountain guard held a homemade hunting rifle loaded with tranquilizer darts. It was equipment he had applied for, intended to deter those despicable poachers.
"Are there any rare plants or animals here?" Since they are poachers, they wouldn't be out hunting for ordinary cats and dogs.
The speaker was Chen Shen. She was dressed in camouflage, her hair was tied in a braid, she was carrying a military green bag, and she also had some tools on her body. She looked very clean and neat, and had a heroic air about her.
The guys and girls in the live stream are hoarse from shouting, it's so touching! I just want to lie down and let this older sister do it.
Also present were Crane, Peacock, Butterfly, and two staff members with first aid experience and expertise in wilderness exploration.
Crane Lord came to the deep mountains in search of 'beautiful scenery', and peacock accompanied him.
As for the butterfly, it simply couldn't stay still. Its feet had their own consciousness, and it said it wanted to go out for a walk and breathe some fresh air.
"The poacher we caught last time had several yellow-breasted buntings in his cage. But these birds should have gone back north by now and won't be back until autumn and winter, so don't worry," the mountain guard said, using a stick to probe the path and signaling to those behind him.
She had prepared herself to take care of the guests, but to her surprise, the people who came seemed to have experience in jungle trekking and did even better without her guidance.
"Have you all studied this?" the mountain guardian couldn't help but ask. Seeing how relaxed they all looked, she began to doubt who the real mountain guardian was.
Chen Shen adjusted his hat and said seriously, "I've studied it."
As the butterfly walked along, blowing bubbles, it heard this and popped its bubble, saying, "It comes from practice." If you stay alone in the dense forest for a month, as long as you don't die, you can learn most survival skills.
"I have a basic understanding." He Jun nodded, his expression softening, prompting the viewers in the live stream to once again fawn over him in respect.
Even while hiking in sportswear, He Jun still exudes an ethereal and carefree aura. I thought wearing sportswear would lower his sophistication, but he remains as ethereal as ever.
People who adore a cool and aloof persona will absolutely adore him.
The peacock honestly replied, "Isn't this simple? As an animal, we naturally have some survival instincts."
"Where did this rich kid come from? He's not humble at all. The standard answer should be, 'Yes, I've studied for a long time and worked very hard.'" Peacock's live stream attracted a large number of equally hypocritical and arrogant fans who both disliked her and followed her every second without fail.
"Wait a minute! Shh—" The mountain guardian who was scouting the way stopped. She carefully used a stick to gently part the grass and saw a pale gray snake skin, which was nearly two meters long.
The two staff members accompanying them were taken aback: "What kind of snake shed its skin? A venomous snake?"
The mountain keeper carefully identified it: "It's a local forest snake. It's venomous, but this type of snake mainly preys on small animals like birds, so it doesn't pose much of a threat to humans."
"Snakes? I've kept them before," the peacock muttered to itself.
"A pet snake? Is it a corn snake?" There aren't many snake species that can be kept as pets in China, but corn snakes are relatively common.
"...Similar." The peacock touched its nose, not telling the staff that it raised many rattlesnakes, generation after generation.
Peacocks eat rattlesnakes from a young age. Eating rattlesnakes is like humans eating spicy snacks; they crave them after a few days without them. So, they simply raised a whole flock of them.
To ensure the rattlesnake was well cared for, he also had the little demon raise white mice, keeping them clean, plump, and white, before feeding them to the rattlesnake.
Peacock wasn't the only one in this group who had kept snakes; Butterfly also said, "I used to keep snakes too, but I gave them away. Now I only have two lizards and two grass turtles left. To make sure they have a safe place to eat, I also kept cockroaches and shrimp."
Butterfly seemed to really like her reptile pet; a happy expression appeared on her face when she talked about it.
Although this 'happiness' is merely opening one's eyes a little wider and speaking a little faster.
"You keep cockroaches?" The mountain guard, who had seen the flying cockroaches of the south, said that he was still ignorant and didn't quite understand city people.
Cockroaches, those creatures that fly over and hug your face, are more than just ordinary horror or disgust; they are... a disgust and horror that defies description.
Butterfly turned her head and looked at the mountain guardian with her dark, somewhat listless eyes: "There's a species called cherry cockroach. We usually feed them fresh fruits like cherries and apples, but they're picky eaters and won't even eat carrots. A while ago, a few of them escaped and starved to death because of their picky eating."
"..."
"I have two baby lizards that just hatched here. I don't want to keep them anymore, so I'm transferring them to you for free. They'll come with cherry cockroaches (generation 3). Just feed them some fresh fruit regularly," Butterfly continued. "I want to focus on raising turtles lately."
The mountain keeper fell silent, then turned and walked forward: These days, even pets eat better food than she does!
After looking around, even Peacock, a fellow snake enthusiast, gave him a look that said, "Don't look at me, I don't know how to raise snakes."
The accompanying staff quickened their pace, leaving Butterfly standing still for a moment: "...Aren't cherry cockroaches that eat fruit cute? What about Dubia cockroaches? Or ghost-faced cockroaches?"
"Help!!!" The girls and guys in his live stream were losing sanity like crazy.
"Ah, I'll go ask the rabbit," the butterfly muttered to himself, thinking that he appreciated his pet.
"Achoo!" Ren Yifei sniffed. "I feel like something bad is about to happen to me."
He is now standing in the village's small handicraft workshop, which is a large courtyard with a rain shelter and some cut bamboo piled up there.
"The bamboo was selected by experienced craftsmen, not too old and not too young. Bamboo that's too old is too hard, and bamboo that's too young is too watery. You have to choose bamboo that's just right," the old village chief explained to him, introducing the village's bamboo product processing factory.
Saman wasn't with him. The village had excellent dried bamboo shoots, wild vegetables, and mushrooms. Saman said he would show off his skills so the audience could experience his cooking through the screen.
Hmm... they're probably still very concerned about Ren Yifei's fans' doubts about his cooking skills, which they believe led to their idol being a picky eater.
"That's good. If they buy dried goods and ingredients from here in the future, we can give them the same recipes used by the movie star." With a quick thought, Ren Yifei came up with a little promotional idea.Department Store
"Let's just call it 'Boyfriend Secret Recipe.' Learn my menu, and I guarantee you'll find a boyfriend," Saman boasted shamelessly.
"What if it doesn't work? Are you going to lose yourself?" Ren Yifei commented on behalf of netizens.
"If that doesn't work, then this person can consider getting a 'Boyfriend Secrets: The Heartwarming Edition,' which I'll write when I get back."
The audience in the live stream immediately booed, and Ren Yifei's boos were perfectly mixed in with them.
Therefore, the two of them are now splitting up. Ren Yifei is here to learn from a master, while Saman is there to give on-site teaching and start a culinary tutorial.
This small factory has been equipped with many convenient machines, but the old artisans inside seem to still prefer the pure handcrafting method. They use only a few simple tools, their rough hands holding bamboo poles, relying on their experience to judge what kind of product each bamboo pole is best suited for.
Ren Yifei squatted down beside him, and when the old craftsman had a moment to drink water, he stepped forward and asked, "May I try?"
The old man looked you up and down, then shook his head: "You don't look like someone who does this kind of work."
But Ren Yifei insisted, saying he wanted to try. The old man, probably giving the village chief face, said, "Alright, then I'll teach you how to make a cricket cage."
These days, nobody fights crickets anymore, and the old man still speaks of cricket cages with a nostalgic air.
"Okay."
The thin bamboo strips for making cricket cages are readily available; they just need to be polished, otherwise the thin bamboo strips will prick your hands.
Ren Yifei swiftly and skillfully scraped off the small thorns with his knife, just like the master craftsman. Seeing that he had some potential, the master craftsman's expression softened, and he began to teach Ren Yifei how to weave the cage bottom.
Meanwhile, Shanchuan, Kebei, and the other two were playing chess with an old man in the village.
As for Wenli, she has already set off for the old village ruins.
Leaving aside the two who were playing chess with an old man in the village cultural square and chatting with an old woman at the village entrance, Wenli had already arrived at the old village. The production crew, worried about her being alone, sent someone to accompany her.
The old village is located on a mountain, and most people would be out of breath after climbing it. Wenli, however, walked on flat ground and arrived at the old village without even breaking a sweat. On the other hand, the staff who followed behind him were covered in sweat because they were worried about him.
"Are you alright? Have some water." Wenli took good care of this sturdy young man who was a head taller than her, which made the young man's face turn as red as a ripe tomato.
"N-nothing, thank you."
"You're welcome. I exercise regularly and for a moment I forgot that it would be too physically demanding for an average person," Wenli said with a smile.
She's the type of cold, aloof beauty, and when she suddenly smiles, she's absolutely captivating. This young man couldn't handle it and started rambling incoherently.
"Exercise, exercise is great. Ms. Wen likes sports? No, no, I mean Ms. Wen is particularly suited to exercise, it's really great."
"Oh—" The live stream chat started to cheer. Wenli couldn't see it, but that didn't stop them from having a good time.
"My sister likes obedient and well-behaved men, not athletic types." They still remembered Wenli's preferences when she first arrived. If she met a sister like that, she should marry her!
Wenli looked at the staff member's light honey-colored skin and shook her head inwardly: The personality seemed alright, but the appearance did not meet her requirements.
Yes, Wenli is not only a player, but also a die-hard looks-obsessed person. For her, other qualities are secondary; she's always looking for something new and doesn't plan to stick with the same thing forever. But if someone's appearance doesn't meet her standards, she simply can't stand it.
"What a pity," she thought, silently retracting her outstretched 'little antennae'.
After catching their breath, the two entered the old village.
The old village has a history of two or three hundred years. Most of the buildings on the mountain are built with local mountain stones. Although they have many disadvantages such as poor ventilation, lack of air permeability, lack of cold protection and heat insulation, the buildings themselves are very durable and have been used for two or three hundred years, with repairs and maintenance to this day.
"This looks like the home of a wealthy family." Wenli looked at a two-story building, which was located on high ground and had a large garden. In the garden, there was a pond filled with spring water. Although the garden had long since withered, a black-backed grass turtle was still lying in the pond. He wondered if it was left by the original owner.
"This is Uncle He's old house, but no one lives there anymore. He himself..." The staff member hesitated, "Let's not go in."
"Why?" Wenli sensed that the NPC was giving her a hint, and she instinctively asked, even though she already had some guesses in her mind.
The staff member hesitated for a moment: "After everyone in the village moved away, Uncle He couldn't bear to leave his old house and stayed here. Who knew that one day, he... 'passed away' and collapsed in that yard. After that, there were some, well, rumors."
Before he could finish speaking, there was a loud crash from inside.
He shivered. It was broad daylight and so hot, yet the young man felt cold. He was sweating profusely and couldn't help but look around. "It's probably some kind of small animal. Haha, shall we go look somewhere else?"
Wenli's professional habits kicked in. Or rather, these people had never truly emerged from the desolate corner. So she immediately laughed and said, "Where are we going? Let's go in and take a look."