Zhou Tian built a kang by himself inside the cave, burning some firewood and homemade charcoal in the winter, making the whole cave warm and cozy. When Beisitian came in, Zhou Tian was tinkering with the charcoal. It was still very cold in the mountains at this time, while some households in the village had stopped heating, they still had to burn the kang early and late here. "Entering the mountains at this time?" Zhou Tian was taken aback, "This is when the beasts are foraging, it’s too dangerous!" Beisitian explained Luo Anguo’s condition. If they missed the opportunity now, it might be impossible to recover in the future. Zhou Tian pondered for a moment before saying, "Alright, at this time, even hunters don’t dare to go in the mountains, but my wolf-dogs dare. Let them accompany you on a round trip. However, it’s just the start of spring, is there anything to gather?" Beisitian smiled and nodded, of course there is. The great mountain is a treasure trove, where precious herbs can be found all year round, only some seasons have more variety and quantity. "You take ten of them, I’ll keep three, that will be enough. Dahuai will go with you; she can lead the bunch." Zhou Tian stated. Dahuai is the female wolf-dog. This trip into the mountains would probably take one or two, maybe two or three days, Zhou Tian also prepared a lot of jerky for her, all made by him. With this, Beisitian had plenty of rations, while water would have to come from the mountain streams. Beisitian had a good constitution, not afraid of stomach upsets from drinking raw water. One person and ten dogs headed into the mountains lively. With the female wolf-dog Dahuai leading, the ten wolf-dogs were not always clustered around Beisitian, yet they were very organized and disciplined. Some formed teams to scout ahead, some protected from the sides, and others foraged for food, catching small wild animals to fill their bellies. Thus, Beisitian didn’t need to worry about their food, sometimes even getting to eat a meal of freshly roasted meat. Get full chapters from 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓵※𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮※𝓷𝓮𝓽 By walking and pausing , Beisitian still reaped some benefits over a whole day’s time. Though, just the beginning of spring, so the yield would naturally not compare to summer and autumn seasons. However, the harvested herbs had different medicinal effects. Beisitian, experienced in gathering herbs deep in the mountains, wouldn’t be disheartened by this. After filling a large bottle with mountain spring water, in her leisure moment, Beisitian nevertheless boiled the water and drank it cooled down. This season drinking warm water was good for the digestive system. Seeing that it was getting late, Beisitian chose a slightly higher ground to set up her tent, dragged a lot of old tree roots from around and piled them up over a person’s height, enough to burn for the whole night. With the bonfire, she and the wolf-dogs could keep warm, and it also deterred some wild animals from coming close. Mountain nights were pitch black and silent, with occasional animal noises adding an eerie and sinister touch while lurking in the dark woods. The wolf-dogs split into two groups, one scattered around to keep an ear out for any movements, while the other rested around the tent. Beisitian admired this, not knowing how Zhou Tian trained these wolf-dogs, they were truly well-trained! Beisitian went into the tent to sleep after nine, even with the wolf-dogs safeguarding outside, she didn’t dare to sleep too deeply, keeping the medicine powder close at hand to prepare for any imminent danger. Slept until dawn, come morning, Beisitian stepped out of the tent, stretched, and with the sunlight spreading across the land, she showed a faint smile. After finishing her bathroom routine and eating some simple rations, she packed the tent and left. The mountain was indeed vast, without travel experience, one could easily get lost inside, so Beisitian made marks as she walked. After walking for most of the day, planning to stop and rest a while, as soon as she laid down her backpack, the surrounding wolf-dogs stirred. All ten wolf-dogs perked up their ears, each pair of eyes staring wide with an eerie glow. Beisitian knew something was up, she held the talisman powder tightly, listened quietly to the surroundings, calming her heart, and then she heard a rumbling sound, like something running. Beisitian’s face went a bit pale, from the sound, it seemed there were quite a few of them. At this moment, the large wolf-dogs began baring their teeth, each bowing, ready to attack. The disturbance grew louder, and wanting to leave, Beisitian found it was already too late. She wasn’t a person to resign herself to fate, hearing that the sound was coming from the north, she quickly moved past the wolf-dogs and opened the talisman powder, sprinkling it to form a large circle. The mother wolf-dog, Dahuai, didn’t need her instruction, with a howl, she led the wolf-dogs retreating into the center of the circle. They didn’t like the scent emitted by the talisman powder! Just after throwing it, Beisitian looked up to see creatures with eyes gleaming green in the woods. Startled, she hurried back to the circle of wolf-dogs. Even having known there were wolves in the mountains, seeing them still made her jump. There were about ten wolves, not many in number, but starved fierce-looking ones at that, a deadly battle seemed inevitable today! Beisitian secretly worried. Wolf-dogs were ultimately just that, wolf-dogs, not real wolves; no matter how fierce, they were domestic compared to the genuinely ferocious wolves of the mountains, and they were outnumbered today, this battle promised to be tough! In total, fifteen large wolves, starved and eyeing them, though it was almost breeding season, their primal need was food, so they didn’t care that these wolf-dogs shared some of their blood. Because of the talisman powder sprinkled around by Beisitian, even though those wolves were famished, they didn’t dare rush forward immediately. But the talisman powder would only hold them off temporarily, faced with time, it wouldn’t stop them. Each of the wolf-dogs hummed lowly in a warning, their fur standing rigid; the incoming wolves were formidable opponents! Beisitian quickly thought of countermeasures, but unfortunately, in the face of the wolves with starving sterile green eyes, she couldn’t devise a better solution. The pack seemed restless, and soon, the talisman powder wouldn’t hold them back! At this moment, a touch of helplessness crept into Beisitian’s heart, a feeling rare for quite some time now! The large wolves seemed unable to hold back, some already began probing closer, and once one broke the talisman powder’s barrier, the others would quickly follow. The talisman powder greatly harmed the wolves, albeit just a little, but the scent held them back. Just as a wolf was being daring enough to test the way, a few deer suddenly darted out from the forest! The commotion startled the wolf pack, and soon noticing the deer, they got excited, swiftly letting go of Beisitian and the wolf-dogs, and gave chase to the wildly fleeing deer! Compared with a drawn-out fight with the wolf-dogs, they apparently preferred the easier catch of the deer. The precarious situation instantly overturned with such a significant turn! Beisitian, staring in awe at where the deer departed, they may be called the foolish deer, but they weren’t stupid, given they could sense the presence of wolves and wolf-dogs here, yet they dashed right into this spot. What on earth was happening? "What are you standing around for? Hurry up and go!" a bright and crisp voice echoed.