Chapter 3: Poacher
Chapter 3: Poacher
Thanks to Yang Qi’s help, he actually used money to buy a hundred sausages for Lan Mu.
Lan Mu was so moved that he was all teary, and insisted on giving Yang Qi the only hundred bucks he had left on him.
Yang Qi had gone in and out of the bathroom several times, and now he didn’t stand on ceremony. He took the money and laughed.
“Have you never eaten sausages or something? Over a hundred of them, and you just shoved them all into your stomach here in the bathroom?”
Lan Mu said awkwardly, “I had no choice. Thank you.”
Seeing that Lan Mu didn’t want to say more, Yang Qi didn’t ask further. He took the money, said goodbye, and left.
By now, nearly an hour had been wasted. Even though he was kind-hearted and had been curious about Lan Mu, the bathroom oddball, he had lost interest now.
He left Lan Mu alone in the bathroom, still crowded.
But Lan Mu didn’t try to keep him. He was grateful to Yang Qi, but he had also given extra money—it was a transaction. After all, he didn’t know if he could ever turn back into a human in this lifetime. It was better to settle any ties right then and there; who knew if he could ever fulfill them later.
After waiting a few more minutes, Lan Mu activated Hunting Rhythm again. The movements of all living beings around him couldn’t escape his perception.
He turned invisible, escaped the bathroom, took three steps in one, hurriedly dashed toward the railing, leaped up, and jumped directly down from the mountainside.
Every cell in his body trembled with excitement as he fell from this small hill, crashing heavily against the cliff face.
With a boom, his limbs pierced into the rock, and he hung halfway down the cliff.
Rocks flew everywhere, but he was extremely thrilled. His body was tough and thick-skinned; bumping against hard rock was no big deal.
Here, he no longer needed to hide his tracks. It felt so good to be free. He descended wildly and soon reached the bottom of the cliff, disappearing into the dense mountain forest.
After eating over a hundred sausages, he barely recovered a tiny bit of strength, allowing him to turn invisible for a few seconds. He had finally escaped human sight.
Returning to nature, he felt how wonderful freedom was—to run and jump to his heart’s content, to do whatever he wanted!
He ran to the pond where he lived, found the wild rabbit he had hunted not long ago, and saw that the meat was still good. He immediately used a lighter to start a fire, then skinned and cleaned the rabbit. He built a campfire, roasted the wild rabbit, and ate it with great relish.
After all that had happened, he was both starving and exhausted. This body consumed energy so massively; strong as it was, it still needed nutrition.
He roasted the rabbit meat. Before long, watching the rabbit meat sizzle and drip with oil, Lan Mu drooled all over the place and ate heartily.
One wasn’t enough. He put down the branch, flashed out, and soon returned with a small animal in each hand, continuing to roast and eat.
And so, he ate, then caught more, caught, then ate. He kept eating until night fell and the moon rose above the treetops.
He had eaten all the nearby animals he could catch. He patted his belly, surrounded by bone scraps, and was only half-full.
He counted how much he had eaten and was startled—he had actually eaten over thirty small animals in this one meal. Snakes, rats, chickens, dogs—he didn’t refuse any—and he was still only half-full.
If he kept eating like this, he’d probably empty this entire mountain!
Lan Mu still had a sense of ecological protection. He knew his existence had already exceeded what this ecosystem’s food chain could bear.
“Tsk!”
“Being half-full is enough. I can’t eat anymore… This mountain can hardly support me!”
Becoming a glutton out of nowhere troubled Lan Mu greatly.
It was ironic. He had come to investigate poachers, but ended up feasting wildly in the mountains himself.
Fortunately, he hadn’t eaten any rare animals, just common mountain game. Besides, he wasn’t an environmentalist; he was literally starving—wasn’t he allowed to eat?
But his very existence exceeded the ecological capacity. From now on, he’d have to move around to eat, not hunting in just one area.
He tidied up the campfire, dug some soil around it, and buried the fire to extinguish it. After all, he had a lighter; he could start a fire anytime.
As the flames died, the forest plunged into darkness. He lay down casually on the ground and fell asleep right away.
Deep in the mountains and old forests, he wasn’t worried about danger at all.
What a joke—with such a powerful beastly body, what foolish beast would dare approach him? Did they think the king of the jungle didn’t eat meat?
Full and satisfied, he slept soundly.
The next day, when the sun was high, he woke up instinctively. The sunlight stung his eyes, but his eyes—who knew what they were made of—could stare directly at the Sun without any problem.
Upon waking, the first thing he noticed was a Leopard, right in front of him.
“Well, well! This is a rare animal.”
Lan Mu woke up feeling a bit hungry, but his stamina had recovered well. It seemed yesterday’s food had all been converted into energy and absorbed.
He certainly wouldn’t eat this Leopard. There were plenty of wild animals in the mountains; no need to eat rare protected ones.
“Shoo, shoo…”
Lan Mu bared his teeth, waved his claws, trying to scare the Leopard away.
Unexpectedly, the Leopard was startled at first, wandered nearby for a couple of circles, then came closer again.
“Hah! You’re not afraid of me?”
Lan Mu had been transformed for six days now and knew this body fairly well.
It was like he was a born Monarch-level being. Usually, animals ran at the sight of him; his scent radiated the aura of a hunter. This was the first time an animal dared to approach him. Animals usually trusted their instincts—this Leopard was really bold.
Lan Mu clapped his hands, teasing the Leopard like a dog, coaxing it to come closer.
The Leopard was bold, but not that bold. It approached cautiously, walking with cat-like steps, following closely.
Although Lan Mu could easily hunt the Leopard, he naturally wouldn’t. Lonely in the mountains, with no one to talk to for who knew how many years, now that there was an animal not too afraid of him, he started thinking about keeping it as a pet—at least some company.
The Leopard’s cat-walk was extremely slow. Lan Mu grew impatient, stood up directly from the ground, and called out, “Hurry up!”
His shout had the opposite effect, frightening the Leopard into a look of terror. It twisted its body and ran, its front legs even slipping from the sudden movement—it looked quite comical.
Watching his chosen pet run away, Lan Mu laughed, pushed off with both legs, and shot out like lightning.
If there was any land-dwelling reptile in the world that could match his speed, it was probably only the leopard.
Although the mountain Leopard wasn’t as fast as the cheetahs on the plains, in this mountain area, it was still the speed king.
Lan Mu and the Leopard chased one after the other, purely for fun to scare it, or perhaps out of boredom in the deep mountains.
Or maybe it was another form of training—he wanted to tame this Leopard.
They chased deep into the forest. Who knew how far they ran? The Leopard was panting heavily, its body hunched over.
Lan Mu jumped down from a tree, landing in front of it. His tall, terrifying body even blocked the sunlight.
The Leopard shrank against a tree trunk, trembling. Where was the mountain hunter now? It was just a pitiful little kitten.
“This little leopard is pitiful too, chased by me for so long. It’s probably scared to death inside, right? Such a silly cat! It doesn’t even know I’m just scaring it.”
“Wait, my monster body looks a lot like a lion. Even though it’s white-furred, it might be a type of feline. Oh, I shouldn’t call it a silly cat anymore.”
Lan Mu picked up the Leopard, patted its head, teased its chin and soft belly, smoothed its patterned fur. It seemed he really planned to keep the Leopard as a cat-like pet.
“From now on, your name is Mao Mao. Come on! What do you want to eat? Let’s eat!”
Lan Mu was truly lonely to the point of being quirky. Holding the Leopard like a pet, he leaped and bounded through the mountain forest.
He casually caught a few pheasants and immediately started a fire to roast them.
He ate himself and also fed Mao Mao. This was cooked food, without the smell of blood. At first, Mao Mao refused to eat.
But under Lan Mu’s bullying, it took one bite and immediately couldn’t stop, starting to fight with Lan Mu for the food.
After one pheasant, Mao Mao was almost full. Lan Mu finished the rest and was still hungry.
“Sigh, not enough to even fill the gaps between my teeth… But I can’t eat anymore. Have to control my appetite.”
Thinking long-term, Lan Mu didn’t dare hunt excessively. After all, until he found a way to turn back, he had to rely on this mountain for food.
After that, he was bored and played with Mao Mao. The poor Leopard was tormented by his large hands until its eyes welled up with tears. Lan Mu even used his sharp claws to make a mark on its tail as a sign of his pet.
But awed by Lan Mu’s imposing presence, the Leopard didn’t dare resist, acting just like a little kitten.
Playing for a while, Lan Mu lost interest and leaned against a rock to sleep. Over the past six days, sleeping was what he did most in the mountains.
After his nap, he woke up to find that Mao Mao had already disappeared, probably having slipped away while he slept.
“Tsk tsk, can’t be tamed!”
Lan Mu didn’t mind. It was impossible for there to be only one Leopard in the mountains; it had its own den, and there was no need to force it to stay.
He checked the sky—the sun was leaning west, probably around four or five in the afternoon.
He stretched his body and began searching for prey.
Having eaten too many small wild animals, he wanted to find a larger animal for dinner to avoid hunting repeatedly.
After activating Hunting Rhythm, his vision turned crimson, and dense clusters of animals, near and far, appeared before his eyes, ignoring all obstacles.
“Found a big one…”
About a kilometer away from Lan Mu, there were several large creatures.
He licked his sharp teeth and quickly darted through the jungle.
But the closer he got, the more something felt off—the creature walking upright on the ground…
Then he realized: “Those are people!”
Lan Mu didn’t know how he felt. On one hand, he wanted to avoid contact with humans; on the other, he wanted to approach them and communicate with his former kind.
“About seven people, huh? Not just people—there’s a big creature too, looks like a wild boar. Maybe they’re in trouble. I’ll go take a look!”
From a distance, Lan Mu saw that this group seemed to be chased by a wild boar, so he immediately picked up speed.
When he stopped on a big tree, he saw seven strong men wearing leather jackets, each holding a long hunting rifle—the kind that looked handmade at first glance.
They were being attacked by an astonishingly huge wild boar. The reckless boar charged like a Kaiju, wildly crashing into their formation.
“Shoot! Shoot!”
“It’s no use! I must’ve hit it at least three times, and it’s still fine!”
The group frantically dodged, weaving around tree trunks in the jungle to avoid the boar’s charges.
But even though they had several chances to escape, they didn’t. Instead, they dodged the boar’s attacks, stayed in place, and aimed at the boar’s head.
“Hiss… these people seem like… Poachers!”
Lan Mu frowned and immediately withdrew his initial thought of secretly helping them.
Looking at the wild boar again, it was in a frenzy. It stood about one point six meters tall, almost as tall as a horse. The bristles all over its body stood on end like terrifying steel needles. Its bulky, stout body resembled a small elephant, and its sturdy limbs were full of explosive power. It had churned the ground into a mess, and its terrifying weight made every charge fearsome.
Not to mention its thick, long tusks, which added to its lethality.
If Lan Mu hadn’t seen it with his own eyes, he wouldn’t have believed such a monstrous wild boar existed in the world. Was this even a wild boar? It was practically a tank!
With sharp eyes, Lan Mu noticed several bullets hidden in the boar’s bristles, as if lodged in its muscles.
He figured these Poachers had provoked this ancient boar, causing its frenzy—they had brought it upon themselves.
Since they were Poachers, it served them right to be taught a lesson by the boar. Lan Mu wouldn’t lift a finger to help.
He’d rather side with the boar than with those people.
But humans were still humans, especially experienced Poachers who knew how to deal with beasts.
Even though their rifles were useless, they didn’t give up hunting this shockingly large wild boar.
What could its thick skin and tough flesh do? Two agile hunters circled behind the boar and fired at its rear. Two others shot at its head from the side, while the rest kept distracting it from the front.
Coordinating like this, taking turns drawing its aggression, Lan Mu stared in amazement—it was like pulling aggro in an online game. Were these hunters treating the boar like a boss?
The flesh on the boar’s rear was soft and couldn’t withstand many shots. Soon, it staggered, its rear covered in blood, and its originally crimson eyes grew dim and weak.
“Oh no, the Giant Wild Boar can’t hold on much longer!”
Lan Mu watched anxiously, itching to jump into the fray and subdue these Poachers one by one.
But he was full of concerns and couldn’t make up his mind to reveal himself.
The wild boar had lost a lot of blood and charged for a long time until its strength was exhausted. It finally stopped, trembling all over.
“It’s done for!”
“Great! I’ve never seen such a huge wild boar in all these years!”
“Quick! Don’t damage the fur. Stick the gun into its mouth and blow its brains out.”
The group cheered and stepped closer to the boar. Though at the end of its rope, it still refused to fall, glaring fiercely at the seven men.
The seven men hesitated, shuffling their feet, afraid the boar might still have the strength for a desperate counterattack.
This was no joke—wild boars were formidable creatures. Even tigers, leopards, and wolves in the mountains didn’t dare provoke them. When they went mad, even tigers would flee.
Experienced Poachers knew that a wild boar’s final counterattack was the most terrifying, especially one this enormous—unheard of. A single touch could mean death; a graze could cripple. No one dared to be the first to test it, and a stalemate ensued.
Lan Mu looked pitifully at the Giant Wild Boar and sighed. As a natural hunter, he could tell it had reached its limit.
Finally making up his mind, he took off his tattered clothes and shoes tied around his waist on the tree, hid them, and then leapt naked to the ground.
Mid-air, he let out a loud lion’s roar that deafened the nearby men, making their hearts skip a beat and their legs go weak.
Terrified, they looked toward the source of the sound and immediately turned pale.
A powerfully built White-maned Lion landed on all fours, glaring at them with crimson eyes. It approached step by step with a cat-like gait.
Never mind its bulging muscles and terrifying claws—just the majestic appearance of the White-maned Lion was enough to frighten the group.
They had never seen such a huge lion before; its wild mane spread out boldly, radiating dominance.
“Hiss…”
The White-maned Lion merely bared its teeth and let out a faint hiss of breath from between them.
One young Poacher’s legs gave way, and he sat on the ground.
It seemed he had been scared out of his wits.