Wild World

After Shallow Night arrived, the peace was broken. Every household bustled about, hurrying to Fire Spring to collect Sun Stones.

Qin Ming was ready to set out at any moment. He carried a hunting fork, short blade, bow and arrows, fully armed.

He had already eaten the flatbread Lu Ze had sent over, but he had not told him that he planned to go out, afraid Lu Ze would try to stop him.

Qin Ming had no desire to risk his life. He intended to try his luck in a relatively safe area.

He had thought about it for a long time and recalled a fleeting glimpse he had caught in the mountains during autumn. Based on that creature's habits, it should have been living nearby.

"I hope it's still there and can bring me a pleasant surprise."

Outside gradually fell quiet. No one else was going to collect Sun Stones.

Qin Ming set off. Along the way, he ran into two villagers in succession. He smiled and greeted them, then swiftly vanished into the distance before they could react.

He passed the place where Fire Spring was located and entered the pitch-black world.

The wilderness was extremely harsh. Qin Ming trudged through the snow, with only the part above his chest exposed; most of his body had disappeared beneath it.

The weather was bitterly cold. The white mist he exhaled froze into frost on his brows and the tips of his hair.

Even during Shallow Night, heaven and earth were dim, and distant scenery could not be seen.

Holding his hunting fork, Qin Ming struggled onward. Every step of the journey was difficult.

At last, after walking roughly four li, he neared his destination.

Ahead lay a vast black mass: dense woods. Though there was still some distance between them, he could already make out their outlines.

Qin Ming's target was the edge of the mountain forest. He would not venture too deeply inside.

He stumbled into the dense forest, one foot deep and the next shallow. Aside from a few types of trees, most were already bare, their branches laden with snow.

Qin Ming stopped and carefully recalled the movements of the creature he had seen before.

He had discovered tree hollows in that area. Perhaps one of them had been its nest.

"It was larger than others of its kind. There's an eighty-percent chance it mutated. If I can find its main nest, I should gain quite a harvest."

After pausing briefly, Qin Ming continued onward.

The forest was dark as ink. From time to time, Strange Birds shrieked abruptly, making this uninhabited place especially eerie.

Suddenly, Qin Ming's body tensed. Amid something faint and indistinct, he caught a whiff of light rot. That was highly abnormal.

He gripped the hunting fork with both hands, sweeping his gaze around as he stood ready for battle.

All at once, he thrust the sharp steel fork in his hand toward the space above his head!

He had heard an unusual rush of wind and pinpointed the source of the smell. At the same time, he looked up and saw what it was.

A black shadow hung upside down from a branch more than ten meters high. It had the deathly pale face of an old man. Diving down, it viciously attacked Qin Ming's head.

In this deathly still forest, such a scene appearing out of nowhere was truly terrifying.

Fortunately, Qin Ming's reactions were sharp. He had noticed in advance that something was wrong, and the steel fork in his hand swiftly struck at the creature in midair.

A piercing cry rang through the mountain forest, making one's hair stand on end. The creature did not charge straight down. When it was still several meters away, it glided aside.

The cold wind howled. It spread its strong, powerful wings and shot through a gap in the trees into the night sky. After circling briefly, it flew away and disappeared.

Though he had not seen it very clearly, Qin Ming still identified its origins.

A Human-faced Vulture, a carrion-eating bird of prey. It had the gray-black body of an eagle, and aside from its beak, its entire face was no different from the wrinkled, deathly pale face of an old man. It generally weighed no more than forty jin.

Under normal circumstances, it would not actively attack a living adult and only ate corpses. Was it behaving so abnormally now because prey was hard to find at this stage?

Qin Ming remained cautiously on guard, but even after waiting a long time, it did not reappear.

His destination was not far away. He could not possibly give up now, so after resting briefly, he set out again.

"It should be here."

This area was mainly filled with Red Pines, broadleaf trees, and white birches. Qin Ming was certain he had not come to the wrong place. He found the tree hollow he had seen before.

Although the forest was dark, he could still clearly see from several meters away that the edge of the hollow was very clean. That was not a good sign.

If that creature had been dormant in the tree hollow, then in such bitter cold, the moisture from its breath would certainly have formed some frost around the entrance.

It would have been a lie to say he was not disappointed. Qin Ming frowned slightly. Could that creature not have lived in this area at all?

He took a deep breath and prepared to search the vicinity carefully.

His right hand tightly gripped the hunting fork, while his left clenched the short blade. He remained on guard at all times; after all, no one could predict the dangers of the wilderness.

Qin Ming slowly explored and searched without making any noise.

A quarter of an hour later, he saw traces left by some animal in the snow and immediately felt there was hope!

Suddenly, vast swathes of rosy light surged from the mountain ground ahead, illuminating the dense forest in an instant.

Qin Ming was startled, then became extremely vigilant. Taking advantage of the light, he carefully observed all directions to see whether any large predators lay hidden in wait.

At the same time, he rapidly swept his gaze over the nearby area, searching for suspicious tree hollows.

Very soon, the brilliant rosy light vanished, and heaven and earth returned to an inky hue.

That was the "Earth Light" released by Fire Springs deep underground. It occasionally appeared.

It was generally more common once the weather turned warm, especially in summer. At times, Earth Light could billow up for one or two days, stirring the Heavenly Elephant and perhaps bringing vast rain clouds.

Then dense raindrops would fall amid smoky clouds and rosy haze, making heaven and earth extraordinarily resplendent and beautiful.

For people who lived without daylight, that was the most beautiful sight.

The dense forest returned to darkness, but Qin Ming revealed a brilliant smile from the bottom of his heart. He had spotted another tree hollow just now, one rimmed with frost flowers.

He slowly shifted his feet through the snow, the faint sounds concealed by the rising cold wind.

Moving stealthily, he came before a tree as thick as a water barrel. Looking at the tree hollow some distance above the ground, he raised his hunting fork and barely reached it.

Qin Ming put down the hunting fork, then suddenly leaped, bursting out of the snow. He grabbed the trunk and climbed with force, his body agile and swift as he arrived directly before the tree hollow.

The short blade in his right hand flashed out and chopped at the entrance, producing a dull thump.

At the same time, a creature that had just been about to rush out swiftly retreated, narrowly avoiding being cleaved by the sharp blade.

Qin Ming had not expected that he would truly trap this creature inside the tree hollow. It was an unexpected delight.

In his original plan, finding its main nest and taking all its stored food would already count as success. That would bring him quite a harvest.

Constant movement came from within the tree hollow, accompanied by frantic cries.

The entrance was not very large, and it was somewhat difficult for Qin Ming to reach inside. He swung his blade repeatedly. This part of the tree had long since dried out, and after only a few strikes, the hollow became larger.

He quickly took out a beast-hide bag, slipped it over his hand, and began catching the animal.

Panicked cries came from the pitch-black tree hollow.

Qin Ming thrust his entire arm inside and felt something battering against it wildly. Fortunately, the beast-hide bag was thick enough, or he would certainly have been bitten.

He seized the prey in one grab and swiftly yanked it out.

He took a Sun Stone from his chest and shone it into the depths of the tree hollow. Delight immediately appeared on his face. Inside were wild walnuts, chestnuts, red dates, and other dried goods, packed to the brim.

These were his main target.

The taste of hunger was awful. These dried fruits were enough to stave off hunger and were life-saving supplies. Fiery light shone in Qin Ming's clear eyes.

He turned his head and looked at the small animal in his grasp. Its fiery-red fur, illuminated by the Sun Stone, was smoother than satin.

It was a Red Squirrel. A normal specimen weighed no more than one jin, but this one weighed over two jin. It had clearly mutated.

It gnawed at the beast-hide bag over Qin Ming's hand, trying to escape but unable to do so.

Its fiery-red, crystalline fur glowed, and it was definitely worth no small amount.

Qin Ming took out a length of iron wire, deftly tied it up tight, and then hung it from the tree.

Next came the joy of harvesting. He scooped handful after handful of dried fruits from the tree hollow, and the shriveled beast-hide bag soon gradually swelled.

Finally, he weighed it. It was over eight jin.

Beside him, the Mutant Red Squirrel hanging upside down stared with eyes as round as black gemstones, squeaking nonstop as if it were incomparably furious.

Qin Ming felt that it was cursing him.

"You're so heavy. How can a little over eight jin of winter food be enough for you to eat?" Qin Ming hung it from his hunting fork and searched nearby with the Sun Stone in hand.

Every winter, the snow accumulated very thickly. Under normal circumstances, such mutant creatures would not bury their food underground, or they themselves would not be able to find it.

Sure enough, Qin Ming discovered a second tree hollow nearby, then a third. Including the first hollow he had found, the one without frost flowers, all of them actually contained "stored food."

He cracked open a pile of wild walnuts and ate another handful of chestnuts. They tasted wonderfully fragrant. Then he scrubbed red dates clean with snow and ate five in a row, his mouth filled with sweetness.

Qin Ming was no longer hungry. His delicate face was covered in happy smiles. These dried fruits were delicious, and more importantly, they could resolve his current predicament.

A crafty rabbit had three burrows, yet this glowing-furred Red Squirrel had four nests and had stored over thirty jin of food. It truly deserved to be called a mutant creature.

Qin Ming filled more than half a beast-hide bag.

"Squeak, squeak..." At first, the Mutant Red Squirrel had struggled violently and cried without end. But when it saw that all four nests had been found and emptied, it actually went rigidly straight, then stopped moving.

Qin Ming was astonished and shook it. Was it playing dead?

He had long heard that these mutant mountain beasts had physiques far beyond those of their kind and were extremely intelligent, but also hot-tempered. He had not expected one could be angered to death outright.

"Perfect. Xiao Wenrui said he wanted meat. I can cook a pot of meat soup." He muttered to himself. He could satisfy that child's wish so quickly.

In Double Tree Village, some villagers were discussing something.

Someone mentioned that Qin Ming had gone into the wilderness fully armed. Judging by that posture, it looked as though he was going to hunt a large predator!

Lu Ze also received the news, his brows tightly furrowed. How could that kid risk going out alone? Surely he was not going to hunt a bear?

Qin Ming stood on high ground and discovered that he was very close to the mountaintop. This was a low mountain at the outermost edge of the dense forest.

Unfortunately, after searching for a long time, he found no more squirrel hollows.

He came to the mountaintop and looked ahead. The trees formed a vast black mass, while boundless mountains rose in the distance, though he could only see portions of their blurry shadows.

Deep in the mountains were actually areas of great brightness, but they were obscured by the vast night mist. Only faint traces of light rippled out.

Qin Ming knew that place represented the unknown, mystery, and danger. It was not a land he could set foot in.