Qiangzi said goodbye and left after finishing his meal, and Du Ruo did not try to keep him.
Du Ruo had a very good impression of Qiangzi. Although he was not that likable when they first met, he was at least not annoying.
In the afternoon, Du Ruo was lazily lying on the lounge chair on the balcony as usual, squinting his eyes and studying how to hide his aura. The weather was a little hot, and only Xiang Yuanyuan was by his side to accompany him.
Li Qiyao was still practicing hard on the first floor, while Yaya was already taking a nap in the room.
The years are peaceful and the village is quite quiet.
After confirming that Xiang Yuanyuan didn't need their care for the time being, Du Ruo's parents went out for a trip by themselves.
Recently, my parents occasionally secretly let the two of them absorb spiritual energy in Du Ruo, and it seems that they are getting younger and younger.
"Husband~"
Xiang Yuanyuan originally held a mobile phone in one hand and a fan in the other, fanning herself occasionally, but suddenly, she put down the mobile phone, and fanned Du Ruo a few times with the fan, calling out softly.
"Ok?"
Du Ruo's eyelids twitched, and he turned his head slightly towards Xiang Yuanyuan before responding.
"The clouded leopard hasn't returned home for a long time, and I don't know how it is doing in the mountains."
Xiang Yuanyuan came close to Du Ruo, laughing, but talking about clouded leopards.
"You want to go up the mountain, right? The sun is still very hot now. I'll take you to the mountain later."
Du Ruo smiled gently, then hugged Xiang Yuanyuan in his arms. As soon as she opened her mouth, he immediately knew what she was thinking.
There is no need to use any magical powers, this is a sign of understanding and tacit understanding between each other.
"Hey, my husband is so nice."
While Xiang Yuanyuan was talking, she kissed Du Ruo on the face, leaned her upper body on Du Ruo, and then took out her cell phone.
The content played on the mobile phone is some knowledge about parenting.
When the sun was not so hot, Du Ruo took Xiang Yuanyuan and said something to Li Qiyao, then walked towards the village.
Xiang Yuanyuan is already in her fourth month of pregnancy and has passed the most dangerous first three months of pregnancy, so this time Du Ruo did not take Xiang Yuanyuan directly into the mountains.
Instead, they started walking up the mountain from a small path in the village, just like they had done before when they went up the mountain. Du Ruo and Xiang Yuanyuan had walked this path before, so they were quite familiar with it.
"Du Ruo, where are you going?"
Just as the two of them passed through the village, before they reached the path up the mountain, someone greeted Du Ruo.
"Oh, Uncle Tie, we're walking around the village, where are you going?"
Du Ruo turned around and saw a middle-aged man riding an electric bike. This man was the current village chief of Dujia Village.
"What else can we do? A few days ago, there were animal attacks in several villages around Huangshan. We have issued a notice to prevent further attacks. We need to do more publicity in the villages."
As he spoke, the village chief took out a plate of promotional papers from the front basket of his electric bicycle, took out a piece of paper and handed it to Du Ruo:
"I just happened to meet you, so I won't send it to your house. Take one and have a look."
"Animals hurt people? Is it serious?"
Du Ruo took the list, glanced at it and handed it to Xiang Yuanyuan, while continuing to ask questions.
“I don’t know, but we haven’t seen any in the villages near us. It is said that other villages have imposed martial law and do not allow people to go up the mountain without permission. Only the villages near us have loose management and are only persuading people.
Okay, you guys go shopping by yourselves, I still have to go hand out flyers. By the way, your parents aren’t home these days, so I guess you don’t have many vegetables at home. I’ll ask your aunt to send some vegetables to your house later.”
As the village chief said this, he put the flyers back into the basket in front of him and prepared to continue on his journey.
"Okay, thank you first."
Du Ruo smiled and waved, and prepared to continue walking towards the back mountain with Xiang Yuanyuan.
"What are you thanking me for? It's not worth anything. Remember not to go up the mountain!"
The village chief waved his hand, then rode away on his bike without looking back.
"Hubby, are we still going to the mountain?"
Xiang Yuanyuan is a good kid. She looked at the flyer in her hand and thought about going back first.
"It's okay. Besides, you won't be in danger as long as I'm here. And I also want to see what the mountain has become."
Du Ruo just smiled, then hugged Xiang Yuanyuan and continued walking.
"Well... okay, but is there really an animal that could hurt someone? Could it be a clouded leopard?"
As soon as Du Ruo said that, Xiang Yuanyuan stopped hesitating. She had said before that she couldn't go up just to avoid causing trouble for others. Besides, she was actually quite curious about what kind of changes there would be on the mountain, and she was even more worried that it might be a clouded leopard that would hurt someone.
"Clouded leopards are medium-sized animals after all. They pose no threat to humans. They are agile and their first reaction when they see humans is to run away. There is no need to worry about them.
Du Ruo just smiled and explained to Xiang Yuanyuan:
"Only bears and wild boars can hurt people in the mountains, but bears are not common. If there is an animal that hurts people, wild boars are more likely to be the cause."
This is how Du Ruo explained it, but in fact, he still remained skeptical about animals hurting people.
It has only been more than a month since the spiritual energy began to recover. Du Ruo doesn't believe that it will cause a big mess.
Because although the spiritual energy seeping out of the Tianmen now is several times more than it was a month ago, in Du Ruo's eyes, the difference is actually not that big.
Even though Huangshan is right under Tianmen, it is a tourist area after all, and the wild animals there will be affected, so it is impossible for them to be so ferocious.
Therefore, under various circumstances, the possibility of wild beasts injuring people is not high.
Du Ruo suspected that the main purpose was to reduce the number of people entering the mountain.
"Yeah, then let's go quickly. I don't know what the clouded leopard is doing in the mountains. Why hasn't he come home for so long?"
Xiang Yuanyuan held Du Ruo's arm and was already feeling a little excited.
As soon as the two entered the forest, they could no longer feel the scorching sun, but the heat in the forest was inevitable.
"Phew~ I'm a little tired. I haven't climbed a mountain like this in a long time."
Xiang Yuanyuan put one hand on her waist and fanned herself with the other. As soon as they reached the first hillside after going up the mountain, she could hardly walk anymore.
This is normal. After all, I still have a big belly. Although my lower abdomen is only slightly bulging, it is completely different from before.
"Okay, now that we have experienced mountain climbing, which we haven't experienced for a long time, shall I take you up next?"
Du Ruo stood aside and waved his hand gently, which immediately brought up a gust of wind, making the forest no longer so stuffy.
"Well, that's enough experience. Now you can carry me on your back."
Xiang Yuanyuan stretched out her hands, ready to climb onto Du Ruo's back as she did before and let Du Ruo carry her up the mountain.
"Do you think it's appropriate to carry it now?"
Du Ruo glanced at Xiang Yuanyuan's belly, and then a ball of water quickly condensed in front of the two of them, forming a wide water sword.
"Hey, I'm used to it."
Xiang Yuanyuan smiled, then stepped forward, holding Du Ruo with one hand to prevent her from falling.
She behaves very rationally in front of outsiders, but when she is alone with Du Ruo, she always behaves like a girl.
Du Ruo didn't say anything. He hugged Xiang Yuanyuan from behind, and without raising the water sword into the air, he just controlled the water sword to shuttle through the woods.
The speed of the water sword was not too fast, but the feeling it brought to Xiang Yuanyuan was completely different.
It does not require any physical effort, and the wind will quickly dispel the stuffiness.
"Honey, there are so many more animals, and even the plants seem to be more lush."
Xiang Yuanyuan kept looking around, feeling a little overwhelmed. The changes in the mountains were great. As they walked through the forest, they occasionally attracted the attention of some animals.
Because of Duruo, these animals were not afraid. They would just stop and look when Duruo flew by, and then continue doing their original things.
In fact, there were not only more animals and plants, but Du Ruo also discovered that there were many more cameras used for filming in the mountains. However, these cameras seemed to deliberately avoid the area behind the mountain of Dujia Village.
Du Ruo took Xiang Yuanyuan through the woods at a very fast speed, and soon they arrived at the huge rock where they had often seen clouded leopards before.
"Huh?" The boulder was still very conspicuous, even though the surrounding vegetation had become much more lush. Xiang Yuanyuan called out in confusion, then looked at Du Ruo.
Du Ruo hasn't come here much since the last time she saw the clouded leopard mother eat the familiar short-tailed macaque. But she didn't expect that Du Ruo would bring her here again.
"The clouded leopard mother has not been here for quite a while."
Du Ruo stood on the boulder without much expression on his face, but he did not forget to explain to Xiang Yuanyuan.
"So is this road occupied by other animals now?"
Xiang Yuanyuan looked at the familiar bush beside the boulder. The bush was still separated and looked like a small nest. It was obviously not abandoned.
"Look, the real boss is here."
Du Ruo looked to the side with a smile on her face, and Xiang Yuanyuan quickly looked over.
Under a big pine tree nearby, a clouded leopard with a body nearly one meter long and a tail more than one meter long ran out.
"Woo~~"
The clouded leopard was holding a very long snake in its mouth at this time. After seeing Du Ruo and Xiang Yuanyuan, it immediately ran over happily.
"Don't come over here!"
Xiang Yuanyuan looked at the clouded leopard biting a snake, which seemed to be about to pounce on her. She showed a resisting expression, especially since the snake was obviously not dead yet and was entangled in the clouded leopard, seeming to be still exerting force.
"Kacha! Meow~~"
Seeing that Xiang Yuanyuan was resisting, the clouded leopard came directly to Du Ruo's feet and bit the snake's head in its mouth into pieces. Then, without pulling the snake off, it rubbed its head against Du Ruo.
"You've grown up a lot. It seems like you've been doing well lately."
Du Ruo squatted down and touched the clouded leopard's head.
The clouded leopard at this time is as big as the mother clouded leopard seen at the beginning.
Its height has increased by more than ten centimeters, and it seems that its weight has also increased a lot. It has grown to this size at less than one year old. It can be seen that the revival of spiritual energy has had the greatest impact on animals and plants.
"No wonder you didn't go home. It turns out life here is so comfortable."
Xiang Yuanyuan also squatted down and looked at the clouded leopard. She was not averse to snakes. She was just worried that the clouded leopard would pounce on her with the snake.
Now that she saw the snake was dead, she even tried to help the clouded leopard untie the snake that was wrapped around it.
"Meow~~"
When the clouded leopard saw Xiang Yuanyuan trying to grab the snake on its body, it thought Xiang Yuanyuan wanted its prey, so it used its claws to push the snake's head towards Xiang Yuanyuan, as if to say, "Don't be polite, let Xiang Yuanyuan take it all."
"You should eat it yourself. I only drink snake wine."
Xiang Yuanyuan was very happy to see that the clouded leopard did not show any shyness. After rubbing the clouded leopard's head, she let the clouded leopard eat by itself.
The clouded leopard was not polite either. Seeing that Du Ruo and Xiang Yuanyuan had no intention of eating the snake, it held down the snake with its claws, and then started eating it in front of Xiang Yuanyuan with a "crunch crunch" sound.
Xiang Yuanyuan didn't mind. She just squatted on the ground and watched the clouded leopard eat with interest.
Du Ruo turned around and sat down on the boulder, then slowly closed his eyes.
Seeing Du Ruo's actions, Xiang Yuanyuan just glanced at him and didn't care too much. She often saw Du Ruo closing his eyes like this. Anyway, she was not worried that Du Ruo would be in danger. After taking a look, she retracted her gaze and continued to watch the clouded leopard eat the snake.
The moment Du Ruo closed his eyes, his soul had already driven his mind to fly out of his body, and then began to fly in all directions with himself as the center.
For a moment, Du Ruo had a clear idea of the situations on several surrounding hilltops.
The total area of Huangshan is about 1200 square kilometers, of which the scenic area only accounts for 160 kilometers, 40 kilometers long from north to south and about 30 kilometers long from east to west.
Du Ruo currently cannot use his mind to fully explore such a large area, but Du Ruo discovers that if he can receive spiritual energy, Du Ruo's mind can "go" very far.
Previously, it could only explore the area within a few kilometers centered on itself, but now it has expanded a lot.
In just a few moments, Du Ruo understood the situation around him clearly. He opened his eyes and couldn't help but frowning.
"What's wrong? Husband."
Although Xiang Yuanyuan was looking at the clouded leopard, she immediately noticed Du Ruo's frown and turned around to ask.
"There were very few large animals in Huangshan before, and wild boars were the most powerful of them. The only thing that could pose a threat to wild boars was an adult bear."
Du Ruo began to explain, while Xiang Yuanyuan listened quietly.
"But the bears in Huangshan are relatively docile and mostly feed on plants. They basically won't hunt wild boars, so wild boars have almost no natural enemies in Huangshan.
In the past, the number of wild boars was limited by the environment of Huangshan. After all, the scenic area has been developed, and Huangshan is rocky and the vegetation is mainly pine trees, so there is not enough food for wild boars to grow. "
Du Ruo explained for a while, and finally told the current situation of Huangshan:
"But recently, the vegetation has become more lush, which means there is more food for the wild boars to survive.
I just checked and found a lot of wild boars with groups of piglets foraging everywhere. In this situation where they have no natural enemies, it may take less than half a year for the wild boars to wreak havoc. Moreover, these wild boars may be affected by the spiritual energy, and their bodies may become larger and their fighting power stronger. "
These certainly could not have any impact on Du Ruo, but this was his hometown. Wild boars were rampant and would inevitably come down the mountain to destroy farmers' crops. After coming into contact with humans, injuries might be inevitable.
Du Ruo can solve the problem, but we can't ask him to go to a fixed location every year to eliminate wild boars.
"...What should we do?"
Xiang Yuanyuan blinked and looked at Du Ruo. She could understand what Du Ruo was thinking, but she couldn't let Du Ruo go around the mountains and kill wild boars.
"It's okay, let the higher-ups take action."
Du Ruo smiled and his brows relaxed. These were just small things, and it would take a long time for those little wild boars to grow up.
It’s just that... Du Ruo just investigated Huangshan. Looking at the entire country or even the world, there is no telling how many similar things there will be.
"Especially in the deep sea, there are more diverse creatures, and there are many places that humans have not been able to explore. I don't know what kind of monsters will appear under the influence of spiritual energy. I don't know if they are ready."
Du Ruo thought silently in his heart.
It has been more than a month since the spiritual energy began to recover.
The impact has gradually appeared. At present, everything is fine, but I believe that it will not be long before various problems will arise.
Firearms can solve these problems, but if physical fitness does not keep up, the investment will inevitably become greater.
One step slow, every step slow. Du Ruo knew that it might not take long before the comprehensive promotion of martial arts would be imperative, regardless of whether those people were willing or not.
Thinking of this, Du Ruo felt calm. The real test for the group of people above was about to come.
Du Ruo and Xiang Yuanyuan sat on a huge rock while a clouded leopard lay beside them, eating snake meat with a "crunch, crunch" sound. For a moment, the two felt like they had returned to the past.
It’s just that Du Ruo at that time was still enjoying the improvement of martial arts, while now Du Ruo is only one step away from becoming an immortal.
But this step may be more difficult than the previous ones, and even the time is completely unknown.
Xiang Yuanyuan was still a young girl at that time, and now she is about to become a mother.
"Ah, the sun is about to set, and I haven't cooked yet. Qiqi is practicing martial arts, I don't know if she has cooked yet. Husband, let's go back quickly."
It was not until the sun was about to set that Xiang Yuanyuan reacted.
"Okay, I'll be back now."
Du Ruo smiled, stood up, patted his butt and prepared to leave.
"Clouded Leopard, be careful out there and don't provoke those wild boars and bears. Be good and we'll come back to see you in a few days."
Xiang Yuanyuan touched the clouded leopard's head and then stood up.
Du Ruo put his arms around Xiang Yuanyuan's waist and this time he didn't summon the water sword. He just walked in the air holding Xiang Yuanyuan in his arms.
Flying towards the new house at a very fast speed.
Just when Du Ruo and Xiang Yuanyuan were on the mountain.
Far away in the jungle of Lesser Khingan Mountains, a tiger quietly groped its way out of the Lesser Khingan Mountains and towards a village nearby.
The tiger was the tiger vanguard that Du Ruo was familiar with, but the current tiger vanguard had become more majestic and taller than before.
(End of this chapter)
