As soon as Wang An finished speaking, Wang Shuai began scraping the gold eggs toward himself, saying with a chuckle
"Why wouldn't that work? You're the leader, you call the shots, hahaha..."
After speaking, Wang Shuai lowered his head and continued counting his gold eggs.
Wu Dong didn't even look up, managing to squeeze out a sentence while counting
"Whatever you say goes. No problem with that."
Feng Chengmin, Zhang Shuya, and the others didn't say a word, focusing entirely on counting.
Only Sun Nian was quick enough to finish first, adding
"I have no objections."
Once everyone had finished counting, Wang An packed the remaining 30 gold eggs into a burlap sack.
It must be said that although 30 gold eggs only filled the bottom of the sack—occupying only a small portion of the space—someone without strength would truly find it impossible to lift.
One must realize that 30 gold eggs weighed a full 150+ jin!
Fortunately, humans are strange creatures; they might not be able to move a 150-jin rock, but when moving 150 jin of gold—especially gold that belonged solely to them—every single one of them suddenly became a strongman. Not one person said, "I can't lift this!"
To put it bluntly, it was a very strange phenomenon.
Just as everyone had packed their gold eggs and were discussing what to eat, the short-tailed fox suddenly entered the tent.
The short-tailed fox walked in, scanned the area, and approached Wang An while barking.
After spending so much time together, Wang An knew exactly what the fox had discovered the moment he heard its voice.
Thus, Wang An hurriedly asked the short-tailed fox
"What is it, buddy? What did you find?"
Upon hearing Wang An's words, the short-tailed fox barked toward the northwest. After barking, the fox stood up on its two hind legs and took a couple of steps.
Watching the fox's movements, Wang An instinctively felt that someone might be approaching.
Because the northwest was the direction of that pitted area, and the short-tailed fox was mimicking a human's walk.
It must be said that foxes are truly intelligent; it was no wonder they ranked first among the four great immortals: Fox, Weasel, Badger, and Snake.
Actually, speaking of "immortals," in the early folk legends of Northeast China, there were said to be five great immortals. Besides the "Fox, Weasel, Badger, and Snake," there was also the Grey Immortal.
This "Grey Immortal" referred to the rat.
However, because rats are far too destructive to humans and people hate them beyond measure, no one mentions the "Grey Immortal" anymore.
Once Wang An realized what the short-tailed fox meant, he immediately pointed northwest and pressed the fox
"You're saying people are coming from over there, right buddy?"
The moment Wang An asked this, everyone's expressions changed instantly, and almost simultaneously, every eye turned toward the short-tailed fox.
Ten pairs of eyes stared at the fox. Ignoring them, the short-tailed fox barked at Wang An and nodded.
Seeing the fox's action, everyone instinctively grabbed their guns and immediately crouched low, scurrying out of the tent.
The reason they rushed out was that in this situation, the tent was the most dangerous place. If an intruder fired randomly into the tent, everyone would be in grave danger.
Just as they had done when attacking the tents in the pitted area, one only needed to fire toward the tent; there was no need to even aim.
By now, the sky had completely darkened, though visibility was slightly better than in total darkness.
Furthermore, the spot they had chosen was carefully selected, so the field of vision was relatively open.
Unfortunately, after coming out, they discovered nothing.
Yet the short-tailed fox, who had followed them out, continued to bark toward the northwest.
This indicated without a doubt that someone was approaching, or at least present, in a place they couldn't see.
At this moment, Sun Nian suddenly said to Zhang Shuya
"Big Sister, let them handle the cooking. Let's go take a look."
After Sun Nian spoke, Wang Shuai added
"Who knows what the other party is up to. Let's all three go together."
It must be said that anyone is extremely attentive and proactive when it comes to protecting their own property; whenever they encounter an unstable factor, they want to nip it in the bud.
As they spoke, the three of them began heading southwest.
It was clear they intended to slip into the woods first and then circle around.
Seeing this, Wang An immediately told the three
"Big Sister, Brother Wang, Sister Sun, if there are only a few of them, see if you can capture a live one to ask what's going on. I suspect it's those falconers."
Hearing this, the three nodded instinctively and ran together toward the southwest.
Glancing toward the northwest once more, Wang An told the rest
"Let's get the food ready. By the time they get back, we'll be ready to eat."
The group agreed and began to get busy.
Once Wang Shuai and the other two entered the woods, they ran rapidly toward the northwest.
As they neared their destination, they did not stay together but instead dispersed.
It was unclear what judgment they were using, but after searching the fifth thicket, Zhang Shuya spotted Big Eye hiding inside.
Fearing that the opponent had accomplices and that firing a gun would alert them, Zhang Shuya didn't use her weapon. Instead, she gripped her combat knife and crept closer.
It must be said that Zhang Shuya's footsteps were very light. Moreover, the mountain wind was blowing, and the nocturnal animals of the mountains had begun emerging from their dens to forage.
With various noises blending together, a normal person wouldn't be able to hear sounds nearby.
But Big Eye had a guilty conscience. Furthermore, back at the pitted area, Big Eye had clearly heard the report saying, "The sentries are all gone, and there are no signs of a struggle at the scene."
Therefore, although Big Eye didn't hear anyone approaching, he was scared to death.
In such a state of panic, a person unconsciously looks around frequently and rapidly, constantly worrying that someone will suddenly pop out from somewhere.
Just as Big Eye habitually looked back and then turned his head away, Zhang Shuya carefully closed in, preparing for a surprise attack.
Unfortunately, the frequency of Big Eye's scanning was simply too fast; he quickly looked back behind him again.
This resulted in Zhang Shuya, unable to dodge in time, locking eyes directly with Big Eye!
To be honest, both of them were stunned!
Big Eye was stunned by how Zhang Shuya had managed to get so close.
Zhang Shuya was stunned by how in this world, someone could have eyeballs that looked like peeled boiled eggs? Most importantly, what was the deal with those two black dots on them?
(End of Chapter)