Early the next morning, Qi Yun, who was still asleep, was suddenly nudged.

He opened his eyes drowsily and saw Chen Wei making a gesture for silence towards him and pointing outside.

Qi Yun immediately woke up, perked his ears to listen carefully, and besides the faint sound of the wind, he seemed to hear the crunching sound of snow being trampled, getting closer to the cabin.

He subconsciously sat up and turned to look outside, only to remember that there were no windows in the cabin.

Chen Wei pointed at Cao Yufei and Huzi, who were sleeping inside, and gestured for Qi Yun to wake them up. He himself quietly moved to the wooden door, tightly holding a dagger in his hand, his expression alert.

There are large animals in Changbai Mountain, not to mention bears and leopards, and even Siberian tigers.

It's not clear what exactly was outside now, but the sound of its heavy breathing was audible.

Qi Yun hurriedly woke up the two beside him, also making a gesture for silence.

The two woke up, looking at him confusedly, then at Chen Wei's solemn face behind the door, and immediately realized something.

At that moment, the heavy footsteps had already approached beside the cabin, followed by the sound of sniffing; it seemed the thing outside was smelling something.

Chen Wei's arm muscles tensed behind the door, the dagger gleaming coldly, ready to strike.

The other three stared intensely at the doorway, their hearts in their throats, hardly daring to breathe.

Just when Qi Yun thought the big thing outside was about to break in, the noise outside suddenly stopped, followed by the sound of footsteps gradually moving away.

"Gone... has it left?" Cao Yufei swallowed, speaking softly.

Qi Yun perked his ears and nodded.

Chen Wei waited for a while behind the door, then gently opened it a crack, peering outside. After confirming the creature had left, he opened the door and went outside.

Qi Yun and the other two followed him out.

Looking at the snowy ground outside, there was a series of large footprints, deeply imprinted in the snow, indicating the creature was quite large.

Huzi squatted down, carefully examining the prints, and said, "These footprints look like a bear's, but if they're this large, it must be a fully-grown big bear."

Qi Yun looked at the footprints on the ground, letting out a long sigh of relief inside.

"Let's leave this place for now. There's not much to eat in the mountains during winter; maybe the creature smelled food from the cabin, and it might come back later," Huzi continued.

The others nodded, went back inside to pack their things, and started walking eastward.

The group moved cautiously on the snowy ground, their steps making crunching sounds.

Chen Wei was constantly attentive to the surroundings, clutching the dagger tightly in his hand.

"Huzi, how much further until we reach those households?" Cao Yufei asked.

Huzi took out the map from his pocket, looked around, and said, "Once we get over that small hill ahead, we should be able to see them."

The group continued on silently, trudging along for more than an hour, until finally, a household appeared within their sight.

They slowly approached the cluster of wooden huts, and as they reached the doorway, a dark-skinned middle-aged man came out of the house, eyeing them cautiously, holding a hunting rifle.

"What are you guys up to?" The middle-aged man frowned and asked.

Seeing this, Huzi hurriedly waved his hand and replied, "Big brother, don't misunderstand, I'm a friend of Liu Dana from Hundred Herbs Gully, here specifically to collect medicinal herbs from you."

On hearing the name Liu Dana, the middle-aged man's wary expression slightly eased, but he still didn't completely let down his guard.

He scrutinized the group up and down, saying, "So you're Dana's friends. I heard his old man was hospitalized a while ago, how's he now?"

Upon hearing this, Huzi showed a wry smile: "Big brother, no need to test me. Liu Dana's old man passed away many years ago, the grass on his grave is already two meters high."

"We're really not bad people; we came specifically to collect medicinal herbs."

Only then did the middle-aged man fully believe in their identity, laughed heartily, and lowered his hunting rifle.

"Can't help it, once this season arrives, mountain poachers become plenty, hope you don't mind."

"Come on, come inside and warm up."

With that, the middle-aged man ushered them into the house.

Inside, a wooden stove was burning, making it much warmer than outside.

The group rubbed their hands together and sat down on the wooden stools.

The middle-aged man filled the teacups with boiling water, saying, "The mountains aren't like outside, facilities are simple. Hope you don't find it too rough."

Qi Yun replied with a smile, "You're too kind, brother. Having a place to warm up is already quite nice."

Huzi took the hot water, took a sip, and asked, "Elder brother, I heard from Liu Dana that you have wild ginseng over 50 years old?"

The middle-aged man was slightly taken aback hearing this: "You're looking for that stuff?"

Huzi smiled and nodded: "That's right, we're here just for that. If you have it, we're willing to pay a high price."

The middle-aged man frowned slightly, pondered for a moment, and said, "Wild ginseng over fifty years is a treasure and not easy to find. I do have some that are of good age, but not yet fifty years."

"If you really want something over fifty years, you'd have to try your luck with Old Zhao—he's an experienced medicine gatherer and might have some."

Qi Yun nodded and politely asked, "Does Old Zhao also live around here?"

The middle-aged man walked to the wall, picked up a stick, and began drawing on the ground.

While drawing, he said, "Follow this path, go straight, when you get to the fork, take the left, you'll see a coniferous forest, pass through it, and there's a small hill, Old Zhao's house is at the foot of the hill."

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