Chapter 108 (continued)

Everyone then fell silent.

Shi Wen while sitting in the passenger seat, propped his head up with a neck pillow, cleared his mind, and went to catch up on some sleep.

In preparation for his trip, he made arrangements for the ranch in advance, stayed up very late last night, and got up exceptionally early today. Now he even has faint dark circles under his eyes.

Yan Kexing told them to be quiet, and he leaned back in his chair and quickly fell asleep.

Around 10 a. m., their car reached the mountainside.

They wanted to go into the mountains, so they parked their car by the roadside, carried their instruments and various equipment, and hiked up the mountain.

The wildfire burned away most of the fallen leaves in the mountains, and even the soil was scorched and hardened. Small shrubs were burned black, and only the large trees fared somewhat better.

The trunks of the large trees were charred black; the bottom two or three meters of the trunk of almost every tree were severely carbonized. However, their crowns were still in good condition, remaining green and lush. Although the leaves were somewhat curled, there was no major problem.

The wildfire may have only scorched part of the tree bark, without damaging its roots.

Compared to other plants, the damage to these large trees was relatively minor.

Yan Kexing and his team documented the flora and fauna in the mountains and actively collected samples.

Shi Wen could clearly distinguish the animal trails, he led the way, taking Yan Kexing and the others to observe the losses of the animals in the mountains.

Such a large wildfire has killed many wild animals.

They wandered halfway up the mountain and found many wild birds, rabbits, and mountain rats that had been burned to death; the scene looked quite tragic.

However, judging from the fresh footprints left on the ash, there are quite a few living animals.

They went up and down the mountain, conducting research along the way.

Gong Jiang would occasionally raise his camera to record the aftermath of the wildfires and to capture footage for their social media accounts.

Shi Wen is very careful to avoid appearing on camera as much as possible.

In the afternoon, they discovered a small natural pond in a valley.

Judging from the various footprints on the edge of the pond, this should be a drinking pond for wild animals.

Lin Chengqian and Ge Yue set up two infrared cameras on a nearby tree trunk at a good angle, intending to film the condition of the wildlife in this area.

Yan Kexing then took out a large bag of animal salt bricks, which were wrapped tightly in plastic bags, from his backpack and placed one on each side of the pond.

Shi Wen curiously, "Why put this there?"

Yan Kexing: "Let's build a small artificial salt field to supplement the nutrition of wild animals and improve their malnutrition."

Shi Wen curiously, "Wouldn't that be considered interfering with the lives of wild animals?"

"Yes," Yan Kexing answered affirmatively. "However, this is a method of artificially protecting wild animals. After a wildfire, the number of plants and animals decreases, making it more difficult for various wild animals to replenish the appropriate minerals, so artificial intervention is necessary."

Shi Wen, "What if we don't intervene?"

Yan Kexing: "Then they will be more susceptible to illness and weakness due to reduced food and malnutrition, and will have a lower chance of survival."

Shi Wen nodded understandingly. "That's definitely necessary."

After setting up the pond, they continued walking forward with their bags on their backs.

Shi Wen by Shi Wen, they quickly found the second water pond.

There were many footprints around the watering hole, indicating that many wild animals come here to drink. However, there were salt bricks placed next to it, and it's unclear who put them there.

Yan Kexing examined the salt bricks. "They must have been placed there by the forest rangers."

Shi Wen, "Do people usually set them off?"

"We'll release them occasionally, mainly depending on the condition of the wild animals." Yan Kexing noted down the salt bricks. "If the wild animals in this area are doing well, then there's no need to release salt bricks. There's plenty of saline-alkali land here, and they know to lick the salt themselves."

As dusk fell, the mountain wind howled, and they trudged through the forest, exhausted and hungry, their faces and bodies covered in black marks from the mountain dust, which clung to them with sweat.

Shi Wen looked at the sky and said, "No, we can't keep going. We need to find a place to camp, eat something, and rest as soon as possible."

Yan Kexing had no objections. "Let's continue forward and see if there's a suitable place to set up camp."

Five people walked forward, each carrying a bag.

Shi Wen and Yan Kexing were too strong; they carried most of the public supplies on their backs, Gong Jiang and the other two mainly carried their personal supplies.

Just as they were looking for a campsite, a flashlight beam suddenly shone on them.

Shi Wen squinted and looked ahead; there was a team of forest rangers.

After exchanging greetings, the forest ranger, knowing they were there for an inspection, invited them, "Why don't you stay in the mountains and spend the night in our dormitory?"

Yan Kexing: "Where is your dormitory? Is it convenient?"

"What's so inconvenient about that? We'll just split it up and make three dorm rooms for you, won't that be a problem?" The lead forest ranger smiled, revealing a set of neat white teeth. "Come on, let's have a hot meal in our dorm."

The forest rangers were all young men, and when they saw that the rangers were carrying large and small bags, they came up to offer to help them carry their loads.

Especially Ge Yue, a young man actually carried her backpack on his back, and she couldn't catch up with him no matter how hard she tried.

Perhaps because few outsiders come to the mountains, everyone is very hospitable.

The squad leader looked at them with great admiration. "You came up the mountain to conduct research as soon as the wildfire was extinguished? You're working even harder than us!"

Gong Jiang: "You've all worked hard, patrolling so late."

The squad leader showed the several 1.5-liter bottles of mineral water in his backpack. "The mountain just burned, and we're worried there might still be embers trapped under the ash. We're coming out to keep an eye out, and if there are any embers, we'll put them out with water."

The two groups merged into one and walked together toward the rangers' quarters, exchanging information about the mountains as they went.

Shi Wen realized it was a small forest ranger station in the mountains.

The courtyard was brightly lit, much better than the pitch-black mountains.