Some people are even considering taking their family members to have a look in the deep mountains, after all, there are people there these days, and there must be a lot of things inside the mountains, so they plan to bring more people along.

Xu Mumu wasn’t aware of these plans. While waiting at home, Xu Mumu and the others welcomed the investigation team from the Imperial City. Seeing familiar faces in the team, Xu Mumu couldn’t help but twitch her mouth.

"Mumu, so your hometown is here," Duan Yunkai curiously looked around Xu Mumu’s yard. Is this how all rural courtyards are? He didn’t expect Xu Mumu’s home to be in such a remote place.

"Yes, have some walnuts. How come you’re here as well?" Xu Mumu asked with a smile. To be honest, she was quite surprised to see Duan Yunkai.

"I came along with my mentor to gain some experience." Duan Yunkai happily munched on the walnuts. These were left over from what Xu Mumu had shelled earlier.

"Tell me about the situation over there, is it far from your home?" It was Duan Yunkai’s first time traveling so far.

Xu Mumu shared everything she knew with Duan Yunkai, and a few easy-going mentors listened carefully, hoping to learn more about the ancient tomb in the area.

They had a lavish lunch at Xu Mumu’s home. Madam Chen had met Duan Yunkai a few times and was quite fond of the young man.

Thanks to Madam Chen’s special care, Duan Yunkai got to eat plenty of mountain mushrooms and the wild chicken Xu Mumu had caught earlier in the day.

After lunch, the archaeological team prepared to set off again, this time with Xu Mumu and Yin Yang leading, along with Xu Jiang and Xu Po. There were lots of good things on the mountain, so they planned to gather some more.

For the past couple of days, many people headed to the mountains. Since no one had ventured into the deep mountains before, if the team leader hadn’t addressed everyone, telling them that they must go in bigger groups and not wander off alone—what if they encountered wild animals? The team leadership certainly couldn’t be held responsible.

Zhao Guodong was quite authoritative within the team, and everyone listened to him. Those going into the mountains found a few people to go with them.

They went through areas the archaeological team had already explored. There was activity in the area, so wild animals generally wouldn’t come near.

Xu Mumu learned all this from Liu Cuixia; she knows everything about what goes on with the team, down to the smallest of matters.

Xu Mumu wasn’t bothered. If there were more people, that was fine. Anyway, the part they were traveling to wasn’t too dangerous. The wolf pack had already moved on from this area.

If they encountered real danger, it would only be due to their bad luck.

As the archaeological team set off again, a few kids still tried to join, but Madam Chen sternly scolded them, shattering their enthusiasm—and they all gave up on the idea.

Along the way, Duan Yunkai was full of curiosity about the mountains, looking here and there energetically.

Luckily, he managed to keep up with the main group, and his mentor didn’t say much.

On the way, they encountered a wild boar. It was quite large, and the archaeological team nearly panicked.

Then Xu Mumu stepped in and saved the day, leaving Duan Yunkai and the others stunned.

Duan Yunkai stared at the blood on Xu Mumu’s fist in disbelief. She had punched a large wild boar to death in one blow. What kind of strength was that? His gaze at Xu Mumu changed entirely.

It wasn’t only Duan Yunkai whose gaze changed; the other members of the archaeological team couldn’t help but give the beautiful girl a few more looks. If that fist hit a person, wouldn’t it turn them into a pulp?

"What are you looking at?" Xu Mumu asked Duan Yunkai nonchalantly. Not far away, there was a deep mountain stream. It was a perfect place to deal with the wild boar. With so many people here, they’d probably finish the boar within two or three days. Xu Mumu wasn’t planning to have her uncles carry the boar back home to process it slowly.

"How are you so strong?" Duan Yunkai hesitated but eventually asked what was on his mind.

"Born with great strength, why? Are you envious?" Xu Mumu raised an eyebrow.

"I am quite envious. You’re really something, taking down a wild boar; its skull is cracked open." Duan Yunkai couldn’t help but click his tongue. This was brutal. He glanced at Yin Yang; no wonder they got along so well. With Xu Mumu’s temper, ordinary people probably couldn’t handle it.

"Hurry over and help dress this wild boar. You’re lucky; you’ll have meat to eat for the next few days," Xu Mumu said with a twitch of her mouth. What kind of look was Duan Yunkai giving her? Looking for trouble?

With so many people helping, the wild boar was quickly handled. All the tools were ready, and Xu Mumu helped them marinate it. The weather was hot, and it would probably spoil by the afternoon if not preserved properly.

With the wild boar, Xu Mumu ate a pig’s trotter for lunch. Although it wasn’t as tasty as domestic pork, fresh meat was still good. The others also ate quite a bit. In these days, it was hard to buy meat, and having meat to eat was certainly a joy.

With everyone having such good appetites, and pairing with dry food, they ate about a quarter of the pig. The team leader then divided the remaining meat, allowing each person to take a bit, leaving it up to them how to eat it.

Xu Mumu and the others were lucky enough to get a whole leg, which made Xu Mumu quite satisfied. The meat from the back leg was quite substantial, and they planned to roast it that night.

On the way to the ancient tomb, Xu Mumu encountered two groups organized by the team running into the mountains. Fortunately, they stayed in the area and didn’t wander off, and she hadn’t heard of anyone getting hurt.

After dropping off Duan Yunkai and the others, Xu Mumu then went with Yin Yang and the others to look for more mushrooms. The mountain walnuts were all gone, so they planned to see if there were other wild fruits in the vicinity.

Duan Yunkai and his group brought a lot of tools and were more interested in exploring the tomb, so they didn’t follow Xu Mumu to wander around everywhere.

Xu Mumu felt lucky, finding a few persimmon trees with ripe, yellowed persimmons. The sun perfectly shone on them in this area.

"There’s plenty of good stuff in these mountains," Xu Jiang remarked with admiration. Along the way, they gathered plenty of items, picking a lot of mushrooms and wood ears, and they also collected some wild fruits. With so many persimmons, they could press them into dried persimmons to enjoy later.

"Let’s hurry. There’s a lot to handle here," Xu Mumu said, noticing many fallen persimmons that were bad, though some were still edible.

They worked quickly, but it took over an hour to handle the persimmons here, filling up the snakeskin bags they brought along.

"I brought two extra bags, and they’re still full. There’s no room for anything else now," Xu Jiang noted, looking at the full bags. There were a lot of mushrooms around that they could still collect, but there was no more space.