Siheyuan, integrating everything, cultivating the city

"Who is it?" He suddenly shouted in a low voice. Although his voice was low, it was trembling a little.

The only response he got was the sound of the wind and the swaying of the grass. Li Xiangqian gritted his teeth, took a deep breath, and tried to suppress his anxiety: "It's broad daylight, what should I be afraid of?" He muttered to himself, forcing himself to keep digging.

However, just as he dug out a small tuber and before he could put it into the bag, he heard a slight sound behind him, like a dead branch being stepped on and broken. He turned his head sharply, his pupils suddenly contracted, and his back was instantly soaked with cold sweat.

There seemed to be a black shadow flashing through the bushes. The shadow disappeared so quickly that he couldn't see clearly what it was, but it was there. He stood up, tightly grasping the tools in his hand, staring at the bushes, even holding his breath.

"Come out!" His voice was low and rapid, both a warning and a test.

No one responded, but the feeling of being watched grew stronger. His heart beat like a drum, and all kinds of possibilities emerged in his mind unconsciously - was someone following him? Or a wild animal? Or... was it just his own hallucination?

Just as he was hesitating whether to go forward to check, the shadow began to sway again, and with a sense of oppression, it slid past the edge of his vision. His breathing suddenly stagnated, and the grass under his feet seemed to have become a swamp, sticking to his footsteps and making it difficult for him to move.

"Calm down... Calm down..." He kept saying to himself in his heart, but his palms were full of sweat. He forced himself to stand firm, looking around, trying to find a way to escape. But this wasteland was usually sparsely populated and overgrown with grass and trees. He could only rely on himself.

At this moment, there was a rustling sound in the bushes, as if something was approaching him. His hands involuntarily clenched the tools, and his knuckles turned white. He knew he couldn't delay any longer. No matter what was in front of him, he had to react, otherwise it would only bring the danger closer.

He gritted his teeth and yelled at the bushes, "Stop playing tricks! Come out!"

He shouted at the top of his lungs, as if he had released all the fear that had been pent up for a long time. However, to his surprise, the shadow actually emerged from the bushes - it turned out to be a person.

"It's me! Stop shouting!" A familiar voice came from the shadows.

Li Xiangqian was stunned, and when he looked closely, he realized that the man was actually He Yuzhu. His heart was still beating wildly, but he seemed to have lost all his strength, and he sat down on the ground.

"He Yuzhu?! Why...why are you following me!" He gasped, his tone full of anger and fear.

He Yuzhu emerged from the bushes, brushed off the grass debris on his body, and looked a little uncomfortable: "Don't get excited, I just saw that you were acting mysterious these days, and I wanted to see what you were busy with."

"You..." Li Xiangqian stared at him, anger rising, "Do you know that you almost scared me to death just now?! Do you have a brain to come to a place like this in the middle of the night?!"

"Hey, don't be impatient!" He Yuzhu waved his hands, his tone a little guilty, "How would I know you were so timid? Besides, I didn't mean to really scare you, I was just... curious."

"Curious?" Li Xiangqian sneered, stood up, and patted the dirt off his body. "What do you think this place is? Are you here for fun? Do you know what I would do if I lost control of the tool in my hand and stabbed you?"

He Yuzhu was stunned by what he said, touched the back of his head, and laughed dryly twice: "Okay, okay, I'm wrong, isn't it okay? Don't be angry, Xiang Qian, I'm worried about you, I saw you always run out alone recently, so I followed you twice. Who knew you really have some tricks up your sleeve."

Li Xiangqian was alert when he heard this. He stared at He Yuzhu and his tone became cold and hard: "What do you mean?"

"Hey, don't get me wrong, I'm not here to cause trouble." He Yuzhu waved his hands quickly, but there was a hint of temptation in his eyes, "Look, we can find these things in this place, can we also..."

"Okay, stop talking!" Li Xiangqian interrupted him immediately, his eyes sharp, "I've already set my sights on this place, and I know how much I can dig. If you want to get involved, you have to follow my rules."

He Yuzhu was stunned for a moment, then nodded: "Okay, I'll listen to you. But Xiang Qian, don't keep people out. It's better for us to work together than for you to do it alone."

Li Xiangqian frowned, pondered for a moment, and finally sighed: "Okay, let's talk about this later. Don't tell anyone about what happened today, do you hear me?"

"I heard you. Don't worry!" He Yuzhu nodded repeatedly with a smug smile on his face.

Li Xiangqian squatted on the ground, digging the soil with a small iron shovel in his hand. His movements were neat and tidy. He shook off the dirt from the tubers he dug out and threw them into the bag. He looked up at He Yuzhu in the distance, but couldn't help frowning.

He Yuzhu bent over and searched in the grass for a long time before he barely picked up a thin wild grass root. He looked at it with disdain. His lazy movements made Li Xiangqian's anger grow. He thought that He Yuzhu's coming along would lighten his burden, but now it seems that he is holding him back.

"Yu Zhu!" Li Xiangqian finally couldn't help himself and stood up and shouted at him, his voice revealing a hint of suppressed annoyance, "What are you dawdling for? Can you move faster? It will be difficult for us to take action once the daylight comes up!"

He Yuzhu stood up, shook his waist, and put on a nonchalant smile on his face: "Why are you in such a hurry? This is just the beginning, there aren't many things, just take your time to look for them."

Li Xiangqian felt a tightness in his chest when he heard this. He pursed his lips tightly, trying to suppress his anger. He walked a few steps to He Yuzhu, snatched the grass roots from his hand, and said in a deep voice: "Look at what you dug up? They are so old that they can be used as firewood. They are not edible at all! You can only dig a few roots in a day. What's the use of them?"

He Yuzhu obviously didn't expect Li Xiangqian to get so angry. He was stunned for a moment, and a bit embarrassed appeared on his face. He touched his nose and said awkwardly: "This... This is my first time doing this, don't be so angry. Can't I learn a little bit?"

Li Xiangqian said nothing more. He raised his hand and pointed to the place where he had just dug: "Look carefully. Before digging, pull away the grass and find the soft soil under the ground. Only then can tubers be found. Don't dig randomly. Not only will it waste your energy, but it will also easily ruin the good stuff."

He Yuzhu nodded and muttered in a low voice: "Okay, okay, I'll listen to you." As he said that, he squatted down and started digging in the same way as Li Xiangqian.