Although Grandma had faith in Li Xiang, she was still worried. Before he left, she fussed over him, reminding him again and again to be safe.

Jiang Cai’Er and her mother also came to see her father off, waving from the crowd.

Li Yucheng’s family came as well, of course. But they were mostly women, children, and the elderly, so not many of them could join in.

Er Huang chased after them for a long way. It only turned back home, tail wagging, after Li Xiang shouted at it to go back.

Er Huang was, after all, a guard dog. It only knew how to stand its ground and never let an intruder take a single step onto its territory. It wasn’t like Li Yucheng’s dogs, which he had at least taken into the mountains a few times to get some real-world experience.

"This snow is never-ending!" Jiang Jianguo complained as the wind and snow interfered with his drone’s flight. "Good thing there’s no thunder in winter, or it’d get struck by lightning."

The group braved the wind and snow, trekking over mountains and ridges. Truth be told, everyone except Li Xiang—the other two men and all three dogs—was struggling a bit. The dogs had to pull the sleds, and whenever they couldn’t make it up a slope, Jiang Jianguo and Li Yucheng would have to step in and help.

’This blizzard will probably last for about another ten days,’ Li Xiang estimated. ’The skies won’t truly clear until a few days before Christmas.’

The snow had been falling on and off for a while now. There were occasional sunny breaks, but they were always brief.

In fact, the blizzards had already ended in many other regions, like Singapore. Being so close to the equator, they only got heavy snow for two or three days—more of a token gesture than anything. Within five days, all the ice and snow had melted without a trace.

As for the northern regions, it was no big deal; people there were used to central heating and hibernating through the winter. The only real shame was that there were almost no southern tourists flocking north to see the snow this year.

The south had its own snow, so why would anyone go north? Besides, travel was a hassle now. Though the railways and some highways had reopened, the high-speed trains were running at reduced speeds for safety.

"Uncle Yucheng, Uncle Jiang, how about we find a spot out of the wind to rest for a bit? We can eat something and get our strength back," Li Xiang suggested.

Jiang Jianguo and Li Yucheng readily agreed. They had been full of energy and high spirits when they set out, but after walking for so long, they were exhausted. Li Yucheng, in particular, was completely drained.

So, the three of them found a slope sheltered from the wind. Li Yucheng used a shovel to dig a pit in the snow, piling what he dug out behind them to form a protective wall. They all sat down to eat their self-heating meals.

Neither Jiang Jianguo nor Li Yucheng had ever eaten something so "fancy" before, so Li Xiang showed them how it worked. He pointed out the rice pouch, the main course pouch, and the heating pack, and explained how to add the water and up to which line. Soon, their meals were steaming hot and smelled delicious.

Eating a hot meal in the middle of a snowy landscape was its own special kind of bliss.

They were all eating the same meal: braised pork ribs with rice. The ribs were fragrant and plenty spicy, but the texture of the rice left something to be desired.

Li Yucheng smacked his lips and muttered, "There’s something a little off about this rice."

Li Xiang chuckled. "Well, it’s convenience food, so you can’t set your expectations too high. The rice in these is definitely different from what we eat at home. If you look at the ingredients, the main component is starch. It’s a type of processed ’instant rice.’ They grind up regular rice, add starch and other things, then extrude and cook the mixture before ’reforming’ it back into grains. Think about it—at home, even making porridge takes half an hour. How else could we be eating this in just five minutes?"

"Oh, I see." Li Yucheng chuckled. "I’ve never had it before. It’s taking some getting used to, but it does smell awfully good."

Of course, some self-heating meals do use natural rice; Li Xiang and the others had just grabbed these ones in a hurry and didn’t get that kind. But even the ones with natural rice were pre-cooked, so the texture could never compare to a fresh, home-cooked bowl.

Li Xiang had his Mutant Creature Identification Function active the whole way, but he hadn’t detected any Mutated Creatures. This was likely because he had already thoroughly searched this part of the mountains. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

They were currently trekking through an area where he often used to forage for mushrooms. Another kilometer or two, and they would be entering the "deep mountains."

Jiang Jianguo was quite dedicated; even while eating, he was still piloting the drone on patrol. Suddenly, he cried out, "Wild boars!"

"Where? Where?" Li Xiang and Li Yucheng hurried over.

"Look. They’re about two or three kilometers from us and on the move. Judging by their direction, they’re most likely headed for Li Family Village."

"Good thing we came. We can intercept them out here. We absolutely cannot let them reach the village."

All three men were relieved.

Jiang Jianguo adjusted the drone’s altitude and camera angle, giving them a clearer view. It was a sounder of ten boars in total: one male, three sows, and six piglets.

Judging by its size, the male boar was at least 440 pounds. The three sows were around 220 pounds each, and the six piglets ranged from 40 to 100 pounds. This group was even more formidable than the one that had invaded Lei Family Gully.

A 440-pound boar was an incredibly powerful animal. For comparison, a full-grown Northeast Tiger at a zoo weighs around 440 pounds.

Li Xiang only weighed 176 pounds. Uncle Yucheng, being older, had slimmed down to just over 140 pounds from his youthful 176. Jiang Jianguo was about 154 pounds. In other words, the three of them combined weighed about as much as that one male boar.

"Hey, everyone, it’s your rural life blogger, Li Xiang. I’m currently taking part in the ’2024 Great Boar Hunt,’ a Bounty Hunter event sponsored by the provincial Forestry and Grassland Bureau. And right now, we’ve just spotted a huge sounder of wild boars on our drone..." Li Xiang flicked on the head-mounted camera, connected it to his phone, and went live.