Gu Jianghai froze in place, his eyes widened.
Not a hallucination?
"Jiang Hai, the folks from Chenjiazhai appear to be beckoning us to turn around?" the man beside him asked cautiously.
"I heard it too. It seems they want to return the prey to us."
"Really? Could something so good actually happen?" Several people displayed disbelief on their faces.
Gu Ze remained silent but swallowed hard.
If that were the case, it couldn't get any better.
At that very moment, the shouting from behind echoed again, filled with urgency.
Now, the small group of people grasped the truth. After exchanging glances, they turned around nervously to face forward.
They saw the people from Chenjiazhai standing where Gujiazhai and others had been, inspecting the spoils. Chen Guodong grinned and waved at them.
"Jiang Hai, why don't we approach and take a look? What if it's true?" someone suggested.
"Yes, we bear no grudges against them. If they intended to harm us, they would've done it by now."
"Let's give it a shot. We've got nothing to lose."
"Alright, let's go see."
Gu Jianghai felt tempted; he clenched his teeth and agreed.
Several individuals cautiously approached, and when they were about 20 or 30 meters away, Gu Jianghai smiled and asked, "Brother Chen, did you call us just now?"
As he spoke, his gaze intentionally or unintentionally fixed on Chen Fan, who stood nearby with a composed expression.
He vividly remembered that this young man had single-handedly wiped out the entire hunting team in Lijiazhai earlier, displaying terrifying strength.
Chen Guodong nodded with a smile and pointed at the half-wildebeest on the ground. "If I recall correctly, this should be your prey, right?"
"Yes, it's ours."
A man impatiently affirmed.
Gu Jianghai nodded, his heart in his throat.
"Then take it away," Chen Guodong said without hesitation.
The people of Gujiazhai instantly felt as if they had been granted a pie from the sky.
This... was it really this easy?
"Brother Chen, are you serious? Are you pulling our legs?" Gu Jianghai remained a little wary. Even if Chen Guodong asked for half, he would have accepted it, considering that the prey wouldn't have been brought back without their help.
"Why?" Liu Yong on the side couldn't help but laugh. "Old Gu, you're quite interesting. Do you think we'd deceive you?"
"That's right. If you don't want it, we'll take it."
"I want it, I want it," Gu Jianghai seemed a bit indecisive.
"Then what's with the dilly-dallying?"
"Alright," Chen Guodong smiled and turned to Gu Jianghai. "Old Gu, I understand your concerns. Don't worry; there are no additional conditions. Whoever owns this prey should take it away."
Hearing this, several people welled up with tears of excitement.
From Chen Guodong's tone, they could sense his sincerity in wanting to return the prey to them.
"Brother Chen, thank you, thank you!"
"Thanks! If not for your generous help, we'd have returned with so little, and we wouldn't know how to face our village."
"Yeah, this is great. Now everyone has something to eat." Several men spoke while wiping their tears.
Chen Fan observed this scene quietly, somewhat amused but also touched. The adult world was far from simple.
"Old Gu, don't say that," Chen Guodong waved his hand and sighed softly. "To be honest, I should thank all of you."
"Huh?" The men, who had been wiping away their tears, looked up dumbfounded.
Chen Guodong elaborated:
"When we encountered you earlier, we didn't lend a hand, not because we feared trouble, but because we were concerned about accidentally harming you. So, we pretended to flee and lured Li Xiong into chasing us.
This likely left you with a sense of abandonment, but you still followed us, probably out of goodwill, hoping to assist us, right?"
Liu Yong and the others nodded slightly upon hearing this.
Even Chen Fan had been surprised back then.
They hadn't anticipated that the people of Gujiazhai would have the courage to chase after them.
From this perspective, these people were worthy of deep friendship.
Among the Gujiazhai group, aside from Gu Jianghai, the others felt ashamed.
It turned out everything had unfolded like this. No wonder, despite their evident strength, they had chosen to retreat out of fear of stray arrows causing accidental harm.
And what about themselves?
They had held grudges and secretly wished that the people of Chenjiazhai would face the same fate. If Jiang Hai hadn't stood up and led the pursuit, they would never have followed.
If this is the case, it is conceivable that they will never recover this prey.
Not only that, but every time you hunt in the future, you'll have to be worried.
I don't know how to understand Chen Guodong and the others; their effort is commendable.
"Brother Chen, I'm ashamed."
Gu Jianghai's eye sockets were also moist. "Speaking of which, we didn't help at all. Why do you need to thank us?"
"Yeah, we are really damned! Initially, I misunderstood you and thought you were hard-hearted. Now that I think about it, alas!"
"It's okay; isn't this all over?"
Chen Guodong shook his head and looked at the people across from him. "It's not easy for everyone to make a living in the wilderness. It's also right to help each other when we meet."
"Yeah."
"It is to help each other."
Gu Jianghai and the others nodded repeatedly.
"Okay, let's stop here today; there's still a long way to go back, so be careful."
Chen Guodong glanced around as he spoke. Essentially, everything in Li Jiazhai and the others had been looted, so they might not have left much behind.
As for these corpses, they don't need to linger here overnight; they're gone.
"Xiaofan, what are you thinking? It's time to go."
Liu Yong said with a smile.
"Um."
Chen Fan nodded, his gaze fell on the people in Gujiazhai.
He was thinking that maybe now is a good opportunity to recruit the other party? Although there is also the possibility of being declined, the probability should not be high.
At this moment, Gu Jianghai's voice sounded.
"That, Brother Chen."
"Um?"
Chen Guodong, who had just turned around, turned back again and asked with a smile, "Brother Gu, is there anything else?"
Several people from Gujiazhai instinctively looked at him.
Could it be that Jiang Hai still wants to say a few words of thanks?
However, the next sentence from the other party left them stunned.
"Well, Brother Chen, can we join your Chen family village?"
At this moment, the surroundings fell completely silent, as if time had come to a halt.
The people in Chenjiazhai never expected the other party to make such a request.
Chen Fan was overjoyed. Unexpectedly, the development of the situation was even smoother than he had imagined.
With these people from Gujiazhai joining, it would be much safer to go to Songjiabao to exchange supplies, not to mention the increased manpower.
After a while, Chen Guodong asked tentatively, "Brother Gu, did you just say that you, from Gu Family Village, want to join our village?"
"No, that's right."
Gu Jianghai was a little nervous but also hopeful. "Our village is too small, and winter is coming soon. Life will be even more difficult. You don't seem to have many people. Of course, you are very strong, much stronger than us, but if we join forces, we should be able to live better."