They couldn’t hunt rabbits, couldn’t hunt foxes, and couldn’t hunt birds either.

Since they couldn’t hunt anything, they could only honestly “patrol” the mountain.

While White Moon Mountain’s paths were rugged, the scenery was exceptionally beautiful. Misty white fog rose from the mountain streams, and looking out, they were surrounded by emerald colors. Spring water and clouds intertwined around their clothes, with peaks coiling together and towering upward, creating an almost fairyland-like atmosphere.

Droopy Eyes was clever, carrying several sheets of yellow paper with him, roughly sketching a few steps with charcoal at each stop to record the path. The group made marks on trees at regular intervals to prevent getting lost and ensure they could find their way back down.

Since no one had brought bows, the journey was quite peaceful. Setting out in the early morning, they finally reached the summit by early afternoon.

Everyone tied their horses to trees. There was a small stream nearby where they rested. After eating their dry rations and regaining strength, they could head down, reaching the garrison before sunset.

The recruit who had greeted He Yan earlier wasn’t in great physical condition, collapsing on the ground upon reaching the summit. He hastily pulled out his dry rations to fill his stomach, mumbling, “Finally made it to the top. I couldn’t walk another step.”

He Yan washed her hands by the stream and sat down on a rock beside him, also taking out her rations.

The rations were dry biscuits distributed in the morning, both dry and hard. The recruit moved closer, pulled out a small handful of pine nuts from his pocket, and offered them to He Yan, saying, “Here.”

He Yan was surprised, “Where did these come from?”

“My mother packed them for me before I came to Liangzhou Guard. I couldn’t bear to eat them all at once, so I saved them,” he said somewhat reluctantly while pretending to be generous, “Try some!”

He Yan picked one from his palm, peeled it, and popped it in her mouth, saying, “Very fragrant.”

“Right, right?” The boy seemed pleased, “I’m Shen Hong. I know you, He Yan, the one who was so impressive at the training ground before, no one could beat you.”

“Just luck, that’s all,” He Yan smiled.

Shen Hong looked into the distance, somewhat regretfully, “It’s a pity I didn’t bring a bow. I didn’t know you’d be coming with us. If I had known, I definitely would have brought one. With your archery skills, we could have shot some rabbits and roasted rabbits.”

Could he and Xiao Mai be long-lost brothers? He Yan thought, and casually asked, “What weapon did you bring?”

Shen Hong scratched the back of his head embarrassedly, “Me? My archery isn’t good, so bringing a bow would be useless. My sword skills are average, and my spear skills are… I figured I wouldn’t be much use, so I just brought…” he pulled out a long staff from behind him, “this.”

He Yan was speechless.

He had brought a stick, and not even an iron-tipped staff, but a long staff carved from bamboo. Did the training ground’s weapon rack even have such weapons? He Yan doubted it. With just a stick, Shen Hong truly wouldn’t be much use, oh, unless there was a jujube tree here and he could use the long staff to knock down dates.

Seemingly noticing He Yan’s speechlessness, Shen Hong quickly added, “It’s not like we’ll be fighting anyone anyway.”

He Yan nodded: “You’re right.”

While she and Shen Hong sat there, Droopy Eyes and the other two sat a bit further away. After finishing their food, He Yan leaned against a tree to rest, and Shen Hong cautiously asked her, “Um, He Yan, could I borrow your blade?”

“What for?”

“See that over there?” Shen Hong pointed to some green vegetation by the stream, with long, thin leaves that were unidentifiable. He explained, “My family runs an herbal medicine shop. That’s called Ribbon Grass, it looks like ‘Xie’ but isn’t ‘Xie’, it can refresh the eyes and calm the spirit. I want to pick some to take back since we’re here daily, we might need it. But Ribbon Grass is unusually tough and not easy to gather. The others have either long swords or spears, which aren’t as useful as your small blade.”

So he was planning to use her blade as a sickle.

He Yan: “…Alright.” She drew the Mandarin Duck Blade from her waist and handed it to Shen Hong, saying, “Be careful.”

Shen Hong put down his staff and happily took the blade, telling He Yan, “Thank you! I’ll cut extra and give you some.”

He Yan was about to say it wasn’t necessary but then thought Hong Shan might find it useful, as he’d mentioned having trouble sleeping lately due to restlessness. Moreover, it was Shen Hong’s goodwill, so she swallowed her refusal.

She leaned against the tree, watching Shen Hong busy at work.

As she watched, she suddenly heard movement behind her. Looking back, she saw Droopy Eyes and the other two untying their horses. He Yan was startled and asked, “Are we leaving already? Don’t you want to rest a bit longer?”

They had been there for less than half an hour. It was still early, with plenty of time to descend the mountain.

Droopy Eyes seemed to dislike He Yan, speaking to her impatiently, “We’re not going down, we’re just going to walk ahead a bit.”

He Yan glanced ahead – they were already at the summit, and going forward meant crossing over the mountain peak. She frowned, “The instructor said we can’t cross the peak.”

“We’re just walking a few steps, not crossing,” Droopy Eyes said, “We didn’t ask you to come along. Just stay here, we’ll be back soon.”

“I think,” He Yan stood up, “it’s better to follow the instructor’s orders. There might be dangers.”

“Zheng Yuan, are you coming or not?” Another person had already untied his horse and mounted, urging impatiently.

Droopy Eyes – that is, Zheng Yuan – looked at He Yan and said, “If you’re scared of danger, don’t come. Besides, heaven knows, earth knows, you know, I know – as long as you don’t tell, who will know? Stop worrying needlessly and stay here playing cutting grass with that fool! We’re going ahead.” With that, he ignored He Yan, mounted his horse, and rode into the deep forest with the other two.

He Yan wanted to chase after them but couldn’t leave Shen Hong alone. While she was deliberating, the three had already gone far. She sighed and sat back down under the tree. Well, they hadn’t encountered anything unusual on their way up. The mountain was sparsely populated with no large predators, at most a few raccoon dogs and wildcats that would hide away at the sight of people.

After about the time it took to drink a cup of tea, Shen Hong came back from the stream, carrying a bundle of grass in each hand. The grass truly resembled ribbons, long and soft, with a fresh fragrance when sniffed closely. Shen Hong found the longest piece to tie the two large bundles of Ribbon Grass together, and handed one bundle to He Yan, “This is it. Dry it in the sun when you get back, put it in a cloth bag, and place it under your pillow. Guaranteed to help you sleep well.”

He Yan said, “Thank you.”

“No problem,” Shen Hong waved his hand, then noticed the others were gone. He asked curiously, “Where did they go?”

“They went for a walk ahead,” He Yan shrugged, “Let’s wait here for them to return.”

Shen Hong was confused and about to ask more when suddenly, a scream came from deep in the forest – it was one of the recruits who had been with them.

He Yan froze, her brows furrowing, and in the next moment, she untied her horse and rode straight toward the sound.