Chapter 35: Tropical Rainforest
Chapter 35: Tropical Rainforest
On the morning of August 21st, Lan Mu had already turned back into a human.
Just as he expected, around three o’clock in the early morning, he changed back right on time, exactly seven full days later.
Moreover, after changing back, he could switch between his elf and human forms with just a thought.
Not only that, the White-maned Lion was not overwritten either.
This discovery made Lan Mu overjoyed, because it meant that as time passed, more and more forms would be added to his transformations.
An infinitely growing transformation ability—this was his true superpower.
“I just don’t know exactly how long it takes for a new transformation to appear. Last time, it was only a little over seven days. After a few more changes, I could probably figure out the interval cycle.”
Lan Mu tested his ability briefly, then quickly put it out of his mind, happily washing up while looking in the mirror.
It had been seven days since he properly washed up. The elf was basically spotless; a body wrapped in Natural Force hardly ever got dirty.
“It feels so nostalgic to be human again!”
Lan Mu ate Su Yue’s cooked porridge and her simple pancakes with big mouthfuls, his face glowing with delight.
“Races without good food are so pitiful! Su Yue, I want more.”
After seven days of living off wind and dew, Lan Mu’s first reaction upon returning to human form was hunger. For some reason, his appetite was shockingly large. He devoured three large bowls of porridge and ten pancakes all by himself. Su Yue had been busy for an entire hour and only managed to drink a little porridge.
After that, Lan Mu packed some clean clothes and his bow and arrows, then waited for Du Yu to pick him up.
They were supposed to gather in the afternoon. Lan Mu quietly searched for information online, watched a few wilderness survival videos, and tried to cram at the last minute.
Soon, Du Yu came to pick him up. As expected, he had changed cars again. This time, it was a fiery red Porsche.
Sitting in the passenger seat, Lan Mu finally couldn’t help but ask, “Are you really that rich? Every time I see you, you’re in a different car.”
Du Yu laughed heartily. “I didn’t buy them all. I only buy the ones I really like. As for today’s car, I just borrowed it from the dealership. Consider it a test drive! If I don’t like it, I’ll return it and get another one! Hahaha.”
Lan Mu understood. Du Yu’s family must be extremely wealthy and influential. With that kind of face, what car couldn’t he borrow? The dealership owner probably specifically gave it to him for a test drive. If he pleased Du Yu enough to make him happy and buy it, the dealership would make a huge profit.
“Huh? Did you remove your makeup? I finally get to see your true face, Brother Mu!” Du Yu noticed the difference in Lan Mu’s human form. Though he could still recognize him, his image and aura were completely different. It was a strange feeling, hard to describe.
Lan Mu, of course, knew why, but he just brushed it off. “Just think of it as removing makeup.”
“Oh… right! Brother Mu, this card has four million on it. I promised you.”
Lan Mu looked at the bank card in Du Yu’s hand. Hearing the words “four million” made him feel dazed for a moment, but he quickly steadied himself and pushed it back.
“You promised, but I didn’t agree.”
Lan Mu added, “Xiao Yu, if you think you’re hiring me, then I’ll get out of the car right now.”
Du Yu casually tossed the card in front of the steering wheel and laughed awkwardly. “Don’t be like that, Brother Mu. You even beat Fang Moqi. Your appearance fee can’t be lower than his, right?”
Lan Mu said, “Alright, stop. If you give me four million, I’m afraid I’ll get a big head.”
This was Lan Mu’s honest feeling. With his transformation ability, making money would be quite easy. If he broke the law without restraint, he could even amass a huge fortune in a short time.
However, he didn’t want to do that. Instead, making modest use of his ability while working hard to earn wealth through his career was much more interesting.
“If you really have too much money burning a hole in your pocket, just support my business more in the future. Also, my studio will soon launch on H-site. I’ll record this wilderness survival experience live and post it there. Your support would mean a lot.”
Du Yu drove while saying, “No problem, I know what to do. Brother Mu, you have to make sure I look good on camera!”
“Heh…”
…
At the Forest Club gathering, people trickled in until about 5 p.m., with twelve people in total.
Wang Ling didn’t rush back until 6 p.m., informing everyone that the visas were fine. After arriving in Malay, they would rest for half a day before entering the Dahan Mountain Nature Reserve in the afternoon.
At 9 p.m., everyone boarded the plane from Metropolis. After over five hours, they arrived in southeastern Malay.
They then rested at a hotel in Kuala Lumpur, setting off again at 10 a.m. They took a boat to Kuala Besut Harbor and soon arrived at Taman Negara National Park.
Although everyone from the club who came this time was a practical archer, most were mainly there for fun. So, they lingered in the national park’s scenic area until 4 p.m. before officially entering the depths of the tropical rainforest.
While passing through the outer scenic area, Fang Moqi and Zheng Hui showed the local management authorities their club and Hunter Association certificates and signed an agreement to protect the ecology.
The local management even specially arranged for a local guide to accompany them deep into the tropical rainforest.
He was both a supervisor and a guide. However, the one actually leading the way soon became Fang Moqi himself.
Because Fang Moqi knew this jungle better than the local guide.
After leaving the scenic area and trekking deep into the jungle for about an hour, Fang Moqi led everyone to a primitive tribe.
This was home to the indigenous Senoi people. To this day, they still primarily lived by hunting, though they also communicated with the outside world. The Malay government protected their culture and customs.
From leaving Metropolis until now, a whole day had passed, and they had only just entered the depths of the tropical rainforest. The real wilderness training hadn’t even begun yet.
Lan Mu noticed Fang Moqi communicating with the locals in the Senoi dialect, and it was clear he was familiar with the tribe’s chief.
“How many times has this guy been here? He even knows their local dialect?”
Lan Mu wasn’t interested in Fang Moqi’s past. He held his camera and carefully filmed everything he saw.
No one knew what Fang Moqi was discussing with them. Afterward, Fang Moqi told everyone to leave all their luggage behind and switch to traditional Senoi tools.
Of course, everyone kept their bows and arrows.
After they finished their preparations in the tribal village and enjoyed the local traditional food, Fang Moqi informed everyone that they would enter the most remote, least visited, and most primitive area of the tropical rainforest that very night. That place was a Heaven for wildlife!
Lan Mu noticed that no one objected to Fang Moqi’s decision. It seemed everyone was mentally prepared for this kind of behavior from Fang Moqi.
“Brother Fang! We’ll follow you! I don’t believe this is more dangerous than Africa!”
“Yeah! With our bows in hand, what is there to fear?”
“But what about this guide? He definitely won’t let us hunt wildlife.”
Hearing this, Fang Moqi smiled slightly and pulled the Malay guide aside.
Lan Mu quickly followed with his camera. He then saw Fang Moqi hand the guide a wad of cash, roughly over ten thousand, and in U.S. dollars.
“I know the way. You can wait here for us to return. When the time comes, just say you followed us the whole time. Thank you.”
The guide was initially very hesitant, but upon seeing so much U.S. money, he immediately beamed and said in clumsy Chinese, “No problem! No problem! I wait here for you!”
After settling the guide, Fang Moqi returned and gave Lan Mu a knowing smile when he saw him.
Lan Mu smiled back. Once everyone had finished preparing, they began truly entering the most primitive tropical rainforest.
With no outsider guide around, everyone could finally relax and boldly play the role of hunters.
Fang Moqi held a torch and led the way at the front. After about half an hour, they were far from the village. Their surroundings were completely dark; aside from the light from Fang Moqi’s torch, there wasn’t a single glimmer.
The climate here was warm, with very high humidity and oxygen production. As one of the oldest primary tropical rainforests, all kinds of plants covered the entire ground. Everyone’s feet stepped on slippery large tree roots and vines, or moss and grass, with humus soil underneath. In short, it was hard to feel like they were on solid ground.
The trees averaged about sixty meters tall, and ten-meter-tall bamboo could often be seen. Insects were everywhere, swarming around Fang Moqi’s torch.
“Let’s make camp here for the first night. Everyone should know how to make a bamboo bed, right? Hurry up and make them. I’m going to put out the torch soon.”
Hearing this, everyone quickly started cutting bamboo using the Senoi tools. It took a lot of effort to cut enough bamboo.
Lan Mu diligently filmed everything. If he didn’t recognize a plant or was unsure about a common practice for camping in the wild, he directly asked Fang Moqi and requested that he answer on camera.
Fang Moqi was very accommodating to Lan Mu, answering almost every question in detail. Regarding the bamboo bed, he personally demonstrated the making process right in front of the camera.
Watching a bamboo pole being split open and spread into a hammock-like shape—in Fang Moqi’s hands, using only the ubiquitous vines and the bamboo’s own properties, he created a simple suspended hammock between two trees.
“This area is completely pristine. Poisonous insects and fierce ants are everywhere. Keeping yourself off the ground while sleeping is the safest.”
Lan Mu handed the camera to Fang Moqi and tried to make one himself. The method was quite simple, and Lan Mu easily succeeded.
“Okay.”
Seeing that everyone was done, Fang Moqi clapped his hands and said, “This tropical rainforest has quite a few nocturnal wildlife, most of which are carnivorous.”
“Though they won’t necessarily attack humans, I’ll put out the torch soon. Everyone should stay alert while sleeping.”
“I won’t set up traps nearby or give you any early warnings. I’ll only step in after you’re attacked. So, rely on yourselves, stay vigilant, and definitely don’t sleep like logs.”
After saying this, regardless of what anyone thought, he directly smothered the simple, handmade torch with his hands, extinguishing it.
Their surroundings instantly plunged into darkness. Having relied on the torchlight until now, without a light source, their night vision was even worse than usual, almost like being blind.
Lan Mu resisted the urge to transform. Instead, he tried to let his eyes adjust to the dark. He turned on the camera’s night vision function, placed it on the hammock, and lay down himself, holding the camera as he rested. But he wasn’t actually resting; he kept observing their surroundings.
Being in the most primitive tropical rainforest made everyone feel restless. However, no one dared to speak loudly. They all silently lay on their homemade bamboo beds, trying to rest.
Soon, several hours passed. It was already past 2 a.m., and Lan Mu’s eyelids were heavy. He was really sleepy.
He finally scanned the area with his camera and suddenly felt a chill. In the camera’s night vision, he thought he saw something flash by in the distance.
“…”
Lan Mu didn’t make a sound. He quietly put on his hat, transformed into an elf, and observed carefully.
The elf’s night vision far surpassed that of a human, especially in the jungle. He just needed to cleanse a nearby tree with Natural Force to communicate with it and gather information.
The forest told him that right near where they were sleeping, about six meters away, a creature resembling a leopard was climbing and leaping among the trees.
Silent, graceful in form, and petite in size.
It looked both like a leopard and like a cat!