Chapter 6: Escape to Safety

Chapter 6: Escape to Safety

“You know its lair? Where? Tell me quickly!” the Old Hunter asked eagerly in surprise.

Lan Mu suddenly fell silent and instead said,

“This place doesn’t have coordinates, how can I describe it? Unless I take you there myself.”

The Old Hunter sneered. He knew Lan Mu wanted to live, but what he said also made sense. After thinking for a moment, he agreed.

“Fine, we’ll spare your life. But if you can’t lead us the right way, you know the consequences.”

Lan Mu sighed in relief. He had managed to fool them for now. As for what to do next, he needed to think carefully.

The Old Hunter then gave orders. “Xiao Hong, you and your men take this wild boar away.”

“Huang Sheng, this kid is your responsibility. Don’t let him run.”

Huang Sheng agreed readily. He slung his hunting rifle over his back, found some coarse, sturdy rope, and tied Lan Mu up tightly, cinching it so hard that Lan Mu gasped for air.

Feeling the way he was tied, it was clearly a knot that couldn’t be undone! Lan Mu’s heart sank further.

“Move!”

Huang Sheng shoved Lan Mu to go first. They passed through layer after layer of dense forest. Because he was tied up and often kicked a couple of times, Lan Mu stumbled along.

He didn’t know how long they walked. Lan Mu was exhausted and dizzy, and with the tightness in his chest, he almost fainted.

Then he heard Huang Sheng shout, “We’re here.”

“Huh?” Lan Mu looked up. He had actually left the dense forest. The view opened up into gentle grassy fields. Not far away were field ridges, and a few large trucks were parked just a few meters away.

The cargo containers were enclosed. He couldn’t tell what was inside, but thinking about this group’s identity, they were probably specifically for holding prey.

Huang Sheng opened a container door, pushed Lan Mu inside, and roughly threw him in with brute force.

As soon as he entered, he heard a roar. Lan Mu was horrified to see many iron cages inside the container. One of them held a slender figure—it was a Leopard!

“Haha! Scared, kid? This was caught by Laozi himself! The anesthetic has worn off by now, and it’s been hungry for a day. Don’t you go and die of fright, alright?” Huang Sheng laughed maliciously. He deliberately tied Lan Mu to the Leopard’s cage, then shut the container door, leaving him there.

At first, Lan Mu was a bit terrified. But upon closer look, he saw the Leopard staring at him with wide eyes, lowering its head to sniff the scent on his clothes and pants.

“This…”

Lan Mu froze, then looked at the Leopard’s tail. Sure enough, there was a faint scratch mark—the very one he had made with his claw that afternoon.

“Mao Mao?”

Hearing this call, the Leopard pulled its neck back, its whole body retreating to the other end of the cage, staring at him with wide eyes.

“Wow… you got caught too?”

The Leopard couldn’t understand his words, but it recognized the scent on him—the scent of the White-maned Lion, something no one could fake!

Lan Mu had been transformed for seven days. Although he had changed back now, his clothes had been wrapped around his waist the whole time and were thoroughly soaked with his scent.

This scent was far too memorable for the Leopard!

Thinking back now, Lan Mu realized why mosquitoes hadn’t bitten him.

“Mao Mao! Mao Mao! Don’t be afraid! Come here!”

Lan Mu was now in a desperate situation. Seeing himself locked up with his former pet, he was overjoyed, as if he had grasped a lifeline.

“What are you afraid of? You’re my pet! Don’t you remember?”

“I was the one who gave you the name Mao Mao!”

“Hey! Why are you shaking even more?”

“You’re a Leopard! A carnivorous hunter! Don’t actually act like a cat, okay?”

Right now, Mao Mao was Lan Mu’s only hope for survival. He patiently talked to the Leopard, not caring if it understood, wasting his breath until he finally reduced the Leopard’s fear enough for it to slowly approach him.

Although the Leopard was fierce, it was quite tame in front of him, perhaps because of that scent. Lan Mu put his hand near its mouth, and it didn’t dare bite.

“Be good, bite the rope for me…”

“It’s like this, got it? Gnaw gnaw, bite! Crunch crunch, do you understand?”

Lan Mu rattled off more nonsense, finally using onomatopoeia to make Mao Mao understand. He saw it obediently open its big mouth and start gnawing on the rope.

The Leopard also knew the rope wasn’t tasty, but intimidated by the White-maned Lion’s might, it didn’t dare disobey.

“Excellent! Mao Mao, you’re so good!”

Lan Mu broke free from the rope, flexing his hands to get the blood flowing. He was incredibly excited.

The rope had been tied too tightly; it almost ruined his hands!

But even though he was free from the rope now, it was still useless. He had no confidence he could escape from these people’s hands.

Just then, he heard a big commotion outside. It seemed the main group had returned. From the voices, they had brought back that Giant Wild Boar.

Then the Old Hunter asked Huang Sheng where he was. Huang Sheng patted the container and said, “Right here! He’s staying in here!”

Lan Mu seized the chance to yell, “Let me out! Let me out! There’s a leopard in here!”

Huang Sheng laughed heartily. “You just stay put in there, kid! Hahaha!”

The Old Hunter also said, “Everyone, rest up quickly. We’ll have this kid lead the way first thing tomorrow morning. We’ll go scout the location first.”

After hearing the talk outside, it wasn’t long before things fell silent.

Lan Mu paced back and forth inside the container, thinking of a plan to escape.

He thought of a plan to turn their scheme against them: tomorrow, he would first lead them wandering around the forest, then find a chance to run.

But he quickly rejected it. First, his ropes were already chewed up. They would definitely be discovered tomorrow morning. Then he would surely get a severe beating, Mao Mao would definitely be separated from him, and they would tie him up even tighter. He might not even be able to move, let alone seize a chance to escape.

Taking a step back, even if he escaped into the forest, he would get lost. Without these people leading the way, it would be hard to escape the deep mountains and old forests.

“This is a terrible plan. I don’t have extra chances. Now that I’m untied, the only thing I can use is Mao Mao. It’s still a beast of prey; it can barely help. Tomorrow morning they will definitely open the door to let me out. That’s my only chance. I absolutely cannot miss it!”

“But Mao Mao is locked in a cage. What I need to think about now is how to get Mao Mao out.”

After thinking of his only chance to escape, Lan Mu focused entirely on studying the lock on the cage. But the lock was too sturdy. There were no tools around. He tried for a long time but couldn’t figure out how to open it.

“Idiot! Those movies were a waste!”

Lan Mu slapped his forehead, remembering a movie scene. Why did he need to pick the lock? It was a cage! He just needed to bend the iron bars and make a big enough opening.

Mao Mao’s body was slender; it could easily squeeze out!

“But I need soaking wet clothes and a stick. I have the clothes, but no water, no stick!”

Unwilling to give up, Lan Mu directly took off his long-sleeved T-shirt, twisted it into a rope shape, wrapped it around an iron bar, and tried to twist it forcefully, trying to move the finger-thick iron bar.

But he failed. The clothes alone couldn’t twist it open.

In this life-or-death moment, he racked his brains, watching time pass minute by minute.

Finally, under the pressure of the crisis, he thought of an alternative.

No water? Urine would work too!

He strained for a long time, finally producing some results, wetting the clothes, and twisting them into a rope.

Lan Mu had no mind to be disgusted by this or that now. This life was way too thrilling.

“Still need a stick… a stick… Damn it, I have absolutely nothing. What can I use instead?”

“Something long… long… Huh?”

Lan Mu looked down and saw something below him. He realized he really did have something long he could use.

He sat down and took off his already tattered sneakers.

He had size forty-two feet. These shoes were long enough. They had just been stretched out by his big feet during the transformation, but the soles were fine!

He placed two shoes together and tied them to the iron bars with wet clothes, then began twisting them with great effort.

It worked. After five minutes, he managed to twist the two iron bars together, creating a large gap.

He reached his hands inside and pulled out the curious, peeking cat. With a leopard’s slender body, once the head was out, the whole body could slip through.

“Nice! My baby! It’s up to you at daybreak!”

Lan Mu didn’t sleep all night after that, afraid he would miss the best opportunity. He held Mao Mao and constantly brainwashed it, trying to train it with some last-minute commands.

A few hours later, it seemed like dawn. There was some activity outside.

Lan Mu pressed against the cargo hold and soon heard Huang Sheng’s familiar, detestable voice. With a quick thought, he began pounding on the cargo hold and shouted, “Huang Sheng! Huang Sheng!”

“Hey! What are you calling your father for so early in the morning?” Huang Sheng’s voice grew closer, filled with rising anger, as he arrived at the carriage door.

Lan Mu didn’t plan to wait until they were fully prepared to let himself out because that would greatly reduce his chance of escape—one shot could easily take him down.

He had to have someone open the carriage door early. Not everyone was awake yet, and this was the perfect time to escape.

Click. Huang Sheng indeed angrily opened the carriage door.

Lan Mu’s eyes lit up as he shouted, “Now! Mao Mao!”

As the door opened, sunlight poured in, forcing Lan Mu to shut his eyes.

Then Mao Mao leaped forward and pounced.

“Ah!” Huang Sheng screamed, dodging to the side.

Lan Mu squinted and felt his heart sink.

Because after Mao Mao’s pounce was dodged, it didn’t even look back. It just bolted, already more than ten meters away.

“No way… are you just abandoning me like that, you ungrateful thing?”

Lan Mu was stunned. This wasn’t part of his plan. In that brief moment of hesitation, Huang Sheng had already reacted and was about to pull out his gun.

“No time to think more, damn it… I’m going for it!”

Lan Mu leaped from the carriage and knocked Huang Sheng down, his fingers aiming for Huang Sheng’s eyes.

Huang Sheng hadn’t expected Lan Mu to be so fierce. Luckily, he was strong and blocked the blinding attack.

But Lan Mu had spent seven days transformed into a white lion and learned many desperate hunting methods of wild beasts. If fingers didn’t work, he’d use his teeth!

This was a fight for survival, using every trick in the book. In contrast, Huang Sheng was restrained, focused on pushing Lan Mu away to threaten him with the gun, losing the advantage.

Huang Sheng was left in a sorry state by Lan Mu, with his ears and neck bloodied and torn, howling in pain.

Lan Mu couldn’t take down Huang Sheng quickly. Seeing the others starting to react, he knew he’d be dead if this dragged on.

He felt hopeless. Was it still not enough? Could he not even win when fighting for his life?

“Roar!”

Just then, a loud growl sounded. Mao Mao made a surprise return, pouncing next to Huang Sheng’s head and biting his neck firmly.

As a result, Lan Mu and Mao Mao each bit into Huang Sheng from one side. The pain made Huang Sheng’s eyes roll back as he struggled wildly, the force of it throwing Lan Mu off.

But Mao Mao refused to let go, even dragging Huang Sheng around with its strength.

“Amazing! My teeth are no match for yours. Good job, Mao Mao!”

But Lan Mu’s joy didn’t last long. The other poachers were already rushing over with guns, and Old Hunter fired a shot at him.

“Bang!”

The bullet hit his left arm. Luckily, he was lying on the ground, and Huang Sheng blocked his lower body. Old Hunter had deliberately spared his life, aiming for the arm.

If he had stood up, the bullet would’ve hit his thigh, robbing him of his ability to escape.

“Damn, that’s brutal!”

“Mao Mao, let go! Let’s go!”

Lan Mu patted Mao Mao’s head, got up, and ran, intentionally zigzagging in an S-shaped pattern, though he wasn’t sure if the trick from movies actually worked.

As for Mao Mao, it obediently let go and bolted after him, moving so fast it quickly overtook Lan Mu.

“Run, run, run! You can’t hit me! You can’t hit me!”

Lan Mu didn’t dare look back, slow down, or think too much. He just focused on running as fast as he could.

Gunshots echoed in his ears. He didn’t know where they were aiming, but not a single bullet hit him.

Soon, he had run nearly two hundred meters and dropped into the ridges of a field, where dense rice plants perfectly hid his figure.

So, one person and one cat—no, one person and one leopard—finally escaped, no longer at risk of being shot.

But even so, he didn’t dare stop. He ran across field after field until he saw a highway but still didn’t pause, sprinting along the road instead.

After running for a while, he thought, what if they chased him in a car? Wouldn’t he stand out on the road?

So he jumped off the highway and kept running along the field ridges until he reached another highway.

By then, dawn had fully broken. He’d been running for a full hour and was exhausted, leaning against the roadside railing like a dog.

His mouth was dry, his body weak, his face pale, and his lips colorless.

Feeling dizzy, he remembered he’d been shot.

Just before losing consciousness, he saw a TV news van stopping in front of him.

“Oh my god! Finally, I’ve found help…”