After Swallow left, Xu Lang looked at Huamei, who was lying on the kang with a pale complexion, and his mind began to race.
Xu Lang had a feeling in his heart that Huamei's illness was too coincidental. The yellow weasel had disappeared without a trace, making him suspect that Huamei might have been possessed, and that her condition was related to the yellow weasel.
Huamei's situation was different from Tian Xiaomeng. Xu Lang didn't care about the yellow weasel at all. Even if it had become a spirit, so what?
Thinking carefully, if Lao Hu hadn't discovered Huamei's condition, she might have actually frozen to death outside, and it would be too late to regret it.
After glancing at Swallow, who was busy in the kitchen, Xu Lang silently returned to the room.
He lifted the thick blanket covering Huamei, then took her slightly rough hand and slowly circulated the thin spiritual energy within his body. Following the running route of the Qingyuan Sword Art, he focused his energy to control the spiritual energy and slowly flowed it through Huamei's body.
Unable to see internally, Xu Lang could only rely on feeling and experience.
Soon, a few beads of sweat appeared on Xu Lang's forehead.
After a long time, the spiritual energy finally completed a large cycle within Huamei's body, and Xu Lang retracted the thin spiritual energy.
Looking up, Huamei's complexion had clearly improved, her breathing was steady and even. Although she was still a little pale, the sallowness on her face had disappeared, indicating that his actions were not in vain.
Wiping the sweat from his face, Xu Lang was overjoyed. He discovered that spiritual energy had other uses, which was a good find.
"I'm just soft-hearted. I'm definitely not using Huamei as a test subject, I just want to give her some benefits while she's sick!"
Xu Lang silently comforted himself. Although he was confident that the spiritual energy would definitely not harm ordinary people, he couldn't hide his joy after trying it. At least it worked on Huamei.
Previously, Xu Lang had tested the spiritual energy on animals, but the human body and animal bodies are different. The meridians and everything were completely unclear, but he came to the conclusion that the spiritual energy didn't harm any living beings.
It wasn't until close to noon that Wang Juan finally arrived with two other educated youths.
The two male educated youths were named Chen Kangmei and Feng Jian she, names with a strong sense of history. Just like Lao Hu's name was Ba Yi because his original name was too common. There were several classmates with the same name in his class, so he changed his name to Ba Yi.
The three educated youths arrived at the forest farm. Swallow arranged for Wang Juan to stay with Huamei and let the other two male educated youths guard the forest farm.
Huamei was pretty, so it wouldn't be safe to let male educated youths guard her. After all, you can't judge a person's heart. Young men are easily impulsive. If they did something inappropriate while taking advantage of her situation, it would be a very serious matter.
While there was still time, Swallow and Xu Lang followed the tracks and left the forest farm together.
They had already wasted a lot of time, and if Lao Hu's tracks disappeared, it would be almost impossible to find them. After all, this forest was so vast, even if they wanted to find people now, it would be difficult.
Unknowingly, the two had been following the tracks in the forest for nearly three hours.
Xu Lang looked at the surrounding environment, stopped, and said, "They've returned to the Yellow Weasel's Grave. Looking at the tracks they left behind, they should have gone deeper into the forest. The tracks ahead are getting blurrier. We only have two hunting knives. Do we continue to search for them?"
Swallow looked up at the sky and said, "It's still early. Let's follow the tracks inwards. If we can't find Fatso and the others within two hours, we'll return to the forest farm. It's too dangerous to enter the forest without guns or dogs. We must go back before dark."
The two continued to walk deeper into the forest. As they went further in, the forest became denser.
After about half an hour, a gunshot suddenly rang out from deep within the forest. The sound echoed from afar, causing the two to stop in their tracks.
"It's the sound of a shotgun. Maybe Fatso and the others have found a bear. Old Chief didn't hunt in this area. Stay close to me."
As soon as Swallow finished speaking, she quickly walked towards the direction from which the gunshot came. As an experienced hunter, she was naturally more accurate in judging which areas were passable compared to Xu Lang.
Xu Lang followed closely behind, trying to retrace Swallow's steps to avoid accidents.
After ten minutes, the two were stunned by what they saw before them.
They saw a towering tree, estimated to be at least a hundred years old, its branches reaching towards the sky, casting a wide shade. They were crisscrossed and covered in white frost and snow, but the tree was completely dead, and a huge hole had appeared on its trunk.
Beneath the main trunk of the tree, a large, thick-furred bear lay motionless in the snow. Beneath its massive body was a pool of blood. Lao Hu, Fatso, and the others sat beside it, gasping for breath. Wisps of white mist dissipated in the icy world.
From the traces on the scene, it seemed like they had been through a fierce battle. The three seemed to have exhausted their strength, their hair soaked in sweat, and wisps of white heat floated in the air.
Xu Lang examined the bear's body. From the wound on its head, it was clear that it had been shot at close range with a shotgun. He then saw a layer of sticky bean buns on the bear's face, and he immediately understood what had happened.
If he wasn't wrong, bears liked to eat sticky bean buns. Attracted by the sweet aroma of the bean buns, its eyelids were very large. When it lowered its head to pick up the bean buns, they would droop and block its eyes. Then, it would instinctively lift its eyelids.
Because the bear's paws were covered in millet flour, it got stuck on its face. The more it wiped, the more it got stuck, and the more it wiped, the more it stuck. Eventually, its vision became blocked.
Otherwise, it would have been impossible for Knocking Mountain Old Man to shoot it at close range.
Bears are stupid. Xu Lang knew this a long time ago. The bear he killed a few months ago died from blood loss. Even then, it didn't run away. He later specifically researched the habits of bears.
Xu Lang sighed in disappointment. He didn't get to see or participate in the battle. He was too late.
He picked up the leather hat that had fallen on the ground and put it on Lao Hu and Fatso's heads. Otherwise, if they stayed outside for too long, their hair would freeze solid, and their scalps could even be frostbitten. This was no joke.
Knocking Mountain Old Man got up to remove the gall bladder. As for things like bear paws, they would have to be transported back anyway. They would be processed back at the forest farm.
Due to his concern for Huamei, Knocking Mountain Old Man went back first with the gall bladder, leaving the shotgun behind.
It was very difficult for the few of them to transport the hundreds of kilograms of bear carcass back. They could only make a simple tool to drag it, but even then, it was still extremely tiring. They met the educated youths who came to pick them up along the way. By the time they arrived back at the forest farm, it was completely dark.
On the way back, Xu Lang even had the urge to abandon part of the bear carcass. It was simply too heavy. But he was scolded by everyone for being a "wasteful son." He could only abandon that idea.
After inquiring, Xu Lang learned about the hunting process of the bear. It was pretty much the same as his deduction, except he didn't get to participate in or witness the whole process.
Swallow went to help everyone cook dumplings. The dumplings they had wrapped during the day had already frozen solid. This was a natural refrigerator, and it would take a few extra minutes to cook them.
Knocking Mountain Old Man went to process the bear carcass. He was familiar with this process. Xu Lang didn't know if the bear gall bladder was actually useful.
The most valuable parts of a bear are the gall bladder and paws, followed by the fur. Others don't know how to process a bear carcass, so they have to wait for Knocking Mountain Old Man to do it. Hunting a bear, and handing over a portion of it, would be enough for them to secure their work points for at least half a year.
Everyone was in a good mood. Only Fatso kept mentioning the yellow weasel. It was ten pounds of fruit candy!
Two large bowls of steaming hot dumplings were brought to the table. Everyone closed their mouths, and only the sound of chewing could be heard. Lao Hu ate fifty or sixty dumplings in one go. Fatso, that guy, ate even more. He devoured the meat dumplings, one after another, causing Xu Lang's mouth to twitch. These two guys could really eat.
Everyone ate until their stomachs were round. Fatso laughed, "So delicious. Can we consider ourselves as having an early New Year's celebration, us hardworking people?"
Xu Lang scorned, "Why don't you go look in a mirror? What kind of hardworking person are you? How can there ever be a fat thief like you in our ranks of hardworking people? Your big belly has already exposed you. You don't need to ask. You're definitely the rat droppings that have infiltrated our ranks of hardworking people..."