Chapter 36: The Hunt
Chapter 36: The Hunt
It was a leopard cat, one of the jungle hunters, skilled at climbing trees.
However, it only pounced on small animals, like mice, rabbits, chickens, and birds.
As for a creature as large as a human, even if it lay defenseless right in front of the leopard cat, the cat would not dare to attack.
Lan Mu noticed that everyone remained completely still, completely unaware of the leopard cat’s approach. Even Fang Moqi seemed oblivious.
“This guy, he really isn’t going to do anything about us.”
Lan Mu didn’t believe for a second that Fang Moqi hadn’t noticed the leopard cat. If he himself could spot it, Fang Moqi must have noticed long ago.
“Pfft!”
Lan Mu focused intently on filming the leopard cat. He saw it reach the tree above Fang Moqi’s head, then in an instant, it leaped through the air, covering two meters to pounce on a small animal on a tree opposite. That small animal only had time to let out a single croak before the leopard cat bit it to death.
Through the high-definition lens, the leopard cat’s flying pounce was completely captured. Its whole body stretched out, its small frame elongating in mid-air. Its target was a tree frog. Before being attacked, the tree frog had been poised to strike at a grasshopper, completely unaware it had already been sentenced to death by the leopard cat.
“What? There’s a wild beast!” The sound of the leopard cat’s hunt woke everyone up. The commotion they made caused the leopard cat to dart away quickly, the tree frog in its mouth.
Everyone heard the rustling fade into the distance. In the darkness, they felt exceptionally fearful. Only Fang Moqi and Lan Mu lay there at ease.
After this incident, many people didn’t dare sleep soundly. For most of the latter half of the night, they kept watch, alert to their surroundings.
In contrast, Lan Mu slept soundly. With so many people on alert, there was no need for him to force himself to stay awake.
He only slept for about four hours before the sky grew bright. The rainforest was misty. When Lan Mu woke up, he was completely soaked.
Looking at the group, he saw they had all fallen asleep in disarray. Only Zheng Hui woke up at the same time as him.
As for Fang Moqi, he had somehow already made his way to the treetop. He was picking leaves one by one. Each leaf he picked, he would put in his mouth to suck the moisture. Little by little, he had already drunk quite a bit of dew.
“We need to find a real water source next. Before that, we must replenish our water and food.”
“Zheng Hui, whether you get an early meal is up to you all. I’ll go scout ahead. We’ll set off immediately when I return.”
Lan Mu watched Fang Moqi leave and then began thinking about how to get food.
They had traded almost all their modern items with the Xianu people, leaving them practically like savages. Their only torch had also been extinguished by Fang Moqi the day before. With the jungle so damp now, making a fire would be extremely difficult.
Zheng Hui was aware of this situation too. Every time he went out with Fang Moqi, they faced such high challenges. Even he, a hunter ranked 19, found it somewhat daunting.
He laboriously woke the sleeping group. After telling them Fang Moqi’s parting words, they were all speechless.
“Brother Fang isn’t helping us hunt this time?”
“Last time in Africa, we all shared the game Brother Fang shot. Why’s he leaving us to ourselves now?”
“Stop talking. Aren’t we hunters too? Can’t we rely on ourselves?”
They had grown so accustomed to depending on Fang Moqi in the past that his sudden withdrawal of help felt unfamiliar.
Then Zheng Hui spoke. “Yu Xiao, come with me to look for food nearby. The rest of you, figure out how to make a fire.”
“Our clothes are too wet. If we don’t dry them, the extra weight will be a burden on our bodies.”
So Zheng Hui and Yu Xiao, carrying their bows and arrows, left, heading in the same direction Fang Moqi had gone.
The remaining nine people looked at each other. With the jungle so damp, starting a fire seemed incredibly hard.
But these people had, after all, participated in several outdoor activities before. They had made fires many times. So, one by one, they began gathering dry materials.
Lan Mu couldn’t help with this. His only real wilderness survival experience was back at Fanli Mountain, relying on the White-maned Lion for hunting, and he had used a lighter to make fire.
Speaking of the White-maned Lion, Lan Mu smiled slightly and handed the camera to Du Yu.
“I’ll be right back. Making the fire is up to you all.”
Before Du Yu could pester him, Lan Mu plunged into the jungle and disappeared from sight.
He ran for several dozen meters until he saw no one around. Behind a large tree, he instantly transformed.
A robust White-maned Lion stood up on its hind legs. With an easy leap, it perched on a tree over thirty meters high.
The Hunting Rhythm meant no creature within a square kilometer could escape its crimson eyes.
“So many animals!”
This jungle was teeming with species, far more diverse than Fanli Mountain. Red silhouettes were everywhere, each representing an animal.
“Just a small one will do.”
Lan Mu, transformed into the Predator, rushed out with a whoosh, swiftly closing in on a nearby reptile.
It was a reptile that looked like an otter, appearing quite harmless. But when Lan Mu attacked, it suddenly turned ferocious, baring its teeth.
Lan Mu casually swatted it, pinning the otter-creature to the ground. It struggled desperately.
Seeing it struggle so fiercely, he simply gave its head a heavy slap, knocking it unconscious.
Carrying the otter’s body, Lan Mu bounded back to the previous campsite in a few leaps. Behind a tree, he transformed back into a human and emerged carrying the otter.
At that moment, Du Yu and the others were trying to make fire. They had shaved bamboo into a pile of fibrous strands and placed wood shavings they had scraped on top. Then they used the Xianu people’s flint to strike sparks.
But the air was too humid. The sparks that flew out quickly died, unable to ignite the wood shavings.
Just then, Lan Mu walked over. Du Yu gasped in surprise. “Brother Mu, you caught prey already? My goodness, that was fast?”
Lan Mu had been gone for less than five minutes, and he had deliberately delayed a bit on the way. Otherwise, it would have been too fast to explain.
“Got lucky. Saw this fellow and managed to catch it alive.”
Lan Mu tossed the otter on the ground. Du Yu didn’t recognize it, but the others were more knowledgeable and identified it immediately.
“Isn’t that an otter-fox? Alive?”
“Eh? It really is alive! It’s been knocked out.”
“Impossible, right? Otter-foxes are very fierce and excellent at hiding.”
Listening to their explanations, Du Yu excitedly kept filming.
Lan Mu now understood what a ferocious animal this was—highly aggressive. Although it was a herbivore, it had sharp teeth and claws, was very fast, was amphibious, and was quite intelligent. In the rainforest, it was excellent at hiding. Even shooting it from a distance was difficult, let alone capturing it alive.
A human would likely be detected and it would flee as soon as they got close. Whether running through the forest, climbing trees, or entering water, this little creature was very agile.
When hunters caught otter-foxes, they usually used traps to have any chance of success.
“Its meat is quite tasty. I was fortunate enough to have it once.” One person pulled out a knife, ready to kill it.
But Du Yu said, “I remember it’s a rare and endangered animal here, isn’t it?”
That person scoffed. “Bah, Xiao Yu, every wild animal here is a so-called rare animal. Do you want us to eat mice instead?”
No sooner had he spoken than Zheng Hui and Yu Xiao returned. Each held several rodents; it looked like they had caught a whole family.
“Haha, good luck! Found a bamboo rat nest under a tree and took the whole lot.”
As he finished speaking, Zheng Hui saw the otter-fox. He was stunned for a moment, then said, “Is Brother Fang back?”
He looked around, but there was no sign of Fang Moqi.
Du Yu said, “Brother Mu went and caught it just now.”
“How is that possible? Do you know how cunning otter-foxes are?”
“Hey, would I lie to you?”
Seeing everyone nod in agreement that Lan Mu had indeed caught it, Zheng Hui was momentarily speechless.
He thought: This guy has some skills. I might not even be able to catch an otter-fox alive.
Zheng Hui suppressed his smile, grunted, and changed the subject. “Why isn’t the fire lit yet?”
“How can we light a fire? Everything here is wet.”
“Watch me!” Zheng Hui seemed to want to downplay the otter-fox matter.
He took charge personally and really knew what he was doing. He mixed bamboo rat fur into the wood shavings. From his inner clothing, he found a small piece of cloth that was still dry, tore it off, and wrapped it around the rat fur and wood shavings. After blowing on it several times, he managed to dry it out a little.
Then he found a stone and smashed it, selecting a sharp piece to use for striking sparks.
He struck the flint repeatedly. Sparks flew into the rat fur. He kept at it for several minutes until finally, smoke appeared and signs of ignition showed.
With Zheng Hui’s constant care, it eventually turned into a proper flame. Adding many bamboo strands, they officially had a fire.
Du Yu helped film the entire process. Zheng Hui was indeed skilled.