The sun gradually sank in the west, painting the horizon with shades of gold and crimson. Trees stood erect in the gray-black wilderness, appearing intermittently.

Long Yuehong watched the several figures heading north in the distance and asked, puzzled:

"Why do some ruin hunters rely solely on walking?

"Won't they fall behind the previous group?"

Since separating from Wu Shoushi and others, they had encountered several groups of ruin hunters heading north of Yue Lu Station on their way to Black Rat Town.

Some of these hunters drove modified vehicles, some used roaring motorcycles, some relied on bicycles, and some rode domesticated horses. Although the means of transportation varied, at least they had something.

Bai Chen, who was driving, glanced over and said simply:

"They're all trying to get a bargain."

"How so?" Long Yuehong pressed.

Jiang Baimian, who was in the passenger seat, was maintaining her pistol, without even looking up, and said:

"They deliberately walk, not wanting to be among the first to arrive at that city ruin.

"That way, the ruin hunters ahead can help them step on mines and eliminate many dangers.

"Although this also deprives them of the right to obtain first-hand information and select valuable materials, it's safer. As long as they don't venture into the city center, their chances of survival are not small. Anyway, the city is so large that even the leading powerful teams can't clear out all the peripheral areas at once, and can't guard all the roads."

Long Yuehong first understood, and then became puzzled again:

"But they can't carry much stuff this way. They can only bear so much by carrying it on their shoulders and in their hands. It's better not to go."

Jiang Baimian raised her head and sneered:

"It seems you really don't have a concept of city ruins.

"There are plenty of abandoned vehicles and various parts there. As long as you know how to repair, you can 'prepare' your means of transportation after you get there. Heh, that itself is a gain.

"In fact, compared to those who drive there themselves, they gain more, more in quantity."

Long Yuehong thought carefully and found that this was indeed the case:

The previous ruin hunter team of Wu Shoushi had four people and drove a gray SUV. After arriving at the city ruins, if they could avoid or solve the dangers, they could at most get three vehicles and four vehicles of supplies. They couldn't carry any more.

If four ruin hunters relied solely on walking, only carrying tents and weapons, then they could get up to four vehicles and four vehicles of supplies.

Shang Jianyao thought for a while and said to himself:

"Isn't the biggest benefit of driving saving time and preserving stamina?"

"Yes, so these people will definitely have to rest for more than a day at Yue Lu Station anyway, since they don't need to rush." Jiang Baimian hung the "Joint 202" pistol back on her equipment belt and pointed to the group of people in the distance.

She then looked around left and right:

"It's almost evening. It seems we won't be able to reach Black Rat Town today.

"Let's find a hill or something to camp on and leave when it gets light."

"Okay." "Alright." Shang Jianyao, Long Yuehong, and others responded in succession.

Before long, they found a small hill in the gray-black wilderness and set up their tent in a sheltered spot.

Jiang Baimian watched the rising bonfire, clapped her hands, and her eyes flickered slightly, saying:

"Shang Jianyao, Long Yuehong, your mission from noon is not yet complete!"

"Ah?" Long Yuehong was a little dazed.

It took him a few seconds to remember that there was still a mission to be completed at the steel mill ruins—one was to find some food on his own, and the other was to draw a map of the steel mill ruins.

"But our exploration was interrupted by Jingfa, and we can't go back now, we have to get to Black Rat Town," he quickly defended.

Shang Jianyao beside him didn't speak, just smiled at Jiang Baimian, as if he understood that the team leader was "deliberately making trouble."

Jiang Baimian glanced around left and right, and said with a smile:

"So, I have to give you a task that you can complete now."

She then looked down at the black electronic watch on her wrist:

"Before dark, complete a hunt, no matter how big the prey is."

After saying that, she raised her head and said to Shang Jianyao and Long Yuehong:

"Show me the part of the map you've already drawn."

Shang Jianyao immediately handed over the page that only had the hospital and radio station areas drawn.

Jiang Baimian reached out and took it, unfolding it. Her expression immediately became a little strange:

"Why mark a toilet? It can't be used anymore."

Team Leader, that sentence is also very strange... Long Yuehong didn't dare to say what he was thinking.

Shang Jianyao replied seriously:

"Detailed and realistic are my requirements for drawing maps."

"Have you drawn maps before?" Jiang Baimian was a little curious.

"No." Shang Jianyao shook his head frankly.

"Then say a..." Jiang Baimian forcibly swallowed the last word back into her stomach, waved her hand and said, "Go hunting."

Shang Jianyao and Long Yuehong didn't delay. Each slung an assault rifle and walked to the top of the small hill, looking around.

The weeds in the wilderness gently swayed in the evening breeze, reflecting each other with the gray-black mud and various stones.

At first glance, there were only a few dozen or a hundred trees, let alone active animals.

This meant that Shang Jianyao and Long Yuehong couldn't even find a target.

"Which way to go?" Long Yuehong asked habitually.

Shang Jianyao looked at the small stream around the hill:

"Follow it and find the river. There should be fish there."

"That's right." Long Yuehong's expression relaxed.

He hesitated for a moment and then said:

"But can this be considered hunting?"

"From the point of view of the purpose, it definitely counts." Shang Jianyao replied indifferently, "The only problem is how far we have to go to find fish."

"...Why don't we hunt other animals while we're at it?" Long Yuehong suddenly came up with a strange idea, "Shang Jianyao, do you think you can use the 'Reasoning Clown' ability to directly trick the prey back?"

Shang Jianyao looked Long Yuehong up and down:

"First of all, you have to make them understand what I'm saying. Secondly, you have to make them stop and listen to me."

"...That's true." Long Yuehong opened his mouth, as if he still wanted to ask something, but in the end he didn't say anything.

He thought for a while and said:

"We can't go hunting so blindly. Let's ask Bai Chen for advice first."

"Okay." Shang Jianyao didn't mind, and turned around directly, walking towards the jeep near the bonfire.

Long Yuehong looked at his back, remained silent for two seconds, and sighed softly.

"Bai Chen, where are there likely to be prey nearby?" After approaching the jeep, Shang Jianyao asked directly.

Bai Chen pointed to the place with sparse trees:

"You can go over there and take a look. There should be rabbits.

"You have to be careful to distinguish footprints, droppings..."

She briefly talked about the techniques of hunting rabbits, and finally said:

"If it were ordinary people, I would suggest setting traps and using tools, but your marksmanship is good enough, as long as you can remain calm and not panic."

"Yeah." Long Yuehong and Shang Jianyao immediately felt a little excited.

…………

An hour later, as the afterglow of the sun was still struggling to slide down, Shang Jianyao and Long Yuehong returned to the bonfire, covered in dust.

The former was holding a gray-white wild rabbit in his hand, with blood dripping down.

"You guys took so long, and only caught one rabbit?" Jiang Baimian, who was comfortably roasting by the fire, stood up.

"Rabbits are too sensitive, they run fast, and there are many burrows..." Long Yuehong gave reasons for the difficulty.

Jiang Baimian smiled and helped him add:

"And there were too many people passing by today, those rabbits were frightened, making them even harder to catch."

"Yes, yes, yes!" Long Yuehong responded quickly.

Shang Jianyao thought for a while and said:

"We still underestimated the rabbits, thinking we could get them easily."

"Not bad, now that we have experience, it will be easier in the future." Jiang Baimian pointed to the bonfire, "Pluck the fur, clean the blood, and roast it."

Soon, the rabbit was skewered on a thick branch, rolling around at the top of the red flames.

Bai Chen occasionally sprinkled salt on the rabbit, causing the surface to gradually turn golden brown, and a fragrance that Shang Jianyao and Long Yuehong seemed to have never smelled before permeated the air.

"It seems like it will be delicious..." Long Yuehong and Shang Jianyao said in unison.

Jiang Baimian shook her head with a smile:

"I can only say it's passable.

"There's no oil to brush on, no spices to sprinkle, and the rabbit meat is relatively tough. It's barely edible."

"How extravagant." Shang Jianyao and Long Yuehong responded subconsciously.

Roasting meat requires brushing oil while roasting it, what a waste!

Jiang Baimian kept staring at the small rabbit, without looking up:

"Sometimes, there's no container to hold the rendered oil, so you have to solve part of it on the spot.

"In the wild, you have to know how to adapt to the environment."

As soon as Jiang Baimian finished speaking, she suddenly raised her head and looked to the side of the small hill:

"Two people are coming over."

Long Yuehong, who was already guarding the surroundings, immediately raised the muzzle of the Berserker "Assault Rifle." Shang Jianyao and Bai Chen also followed suit.

A few minutes later, they saw the two people.

This was also a combination of a man and a woman. The former was less than 1.8 meters tall, in his forties, with long black hair, a circle of very elegant mustache around his mouth. Even though he was middle-aged, one could easily tell that he used to be a handsome man.

The woman was over 1.7 meters tall, with blonde hair and blue eyes, deep features, and very beautiful.

What they both had in common was that they were wearing loose, uncommon robes, one deep black and one gray-blue. The latter had various strange, abstract symbols on the surface.

Jiang Baimian twitched her eyebrows and asked loudly:

"What are you two here for?"

The blonde, blue-eyed woman wearing the gray-blue robe immediately stopped, covered her right hand with her left hand, raised it to her eyebrows, bowed, and said:

"Blessings without end, Heavenly Venerate."

She spoke in perfect Ashlands language, not the Red River language she looked like she should use.

The middle-aged man smiled:

"She and I are not familiar. I just met her not long ago and smelled the fragrance over here, thinking of coming over to try my luck and see if anyone is generous."

"You may not be able to be generous." Jiang Baimian pointed calmly at the small rabbit on the bonfire.

"Since we've met, wouldn't it be nice for everyone to chat?" The middle-aged man maintained his smile, "Not to brag, everyone I've met has praised me for being knowledgeable and well-informed."

Hearing this, Jiang Baimian gave Shang Jianyao and the others a hidden gesture, telling them not to let their guard down.

She then laughed:

"Okay."

ps: Two updates today, asking for recommendation tickets~