Hunting

This was a leopard cat, one of the jungle's hunters, adept at climbing trees.

However, it only pounced on small animals such as rats, rabbits, chickens, and birds.

As for a creature as large as a human, even if someone lay defenseless right in front of it, it would not dare attack.

Lan Mu noticed that no one reacted at all. They had not discovered the leopard cat's approach, and even Fang Moqi seemed completely unaware.

"This guy really isn't going to look after us."

Lan Mu did not believe Fang Moqi had failed to notice the leopard cat. Even he had spotted it, so Fang Moqi must have noticed it long ago.

"Pfft!"

Lan Mu diligently filmed the leopard cat. It climbed onto the tree above Fang Moqi, then instantly leaped across two meters and pounced on a small animal in the opposite tree. The little creature only had time to croak once before the leopard cat bit it to death.

Under the high-definition lens, the leopard cat's pouncing posture was captured perfectly. Every muscle in its body stretched taut, its small frame elongating through the air. Its target was a tree frog. Before being attacked, the tree frog had been poised to attack a grasshopper, completely unaware that the leopard cat had already sentenced it to death.

"What? There's a wild animal!" The sound of the leopard cat feeding woke everyone up. Their noisy commotion made the leopard cat quickly leave with the tree frog in its mouth.

They could only hear the rustling fade into the distance. In the darkness, they felt terribly afraid, while Fang Moqi and Lan Mu alone lay there leisurely.

After that incident, many of them no longer dared sleep soundly. For the rest of the night, they mostly kept watch, warily observing their surroundings.

In contrast, Lan Mu slept peacefully. With so many people standing guard, there was no need for him to force himself to stay awake.

He had only slept around four hours when daylight had fully arrived. The rainforest was shrouded in mist, and Lan Mu woke up soaked all over.

Looking at the others, they were all sleeping sprawled about. Only Zheng Hui woke up at the same time as him.

As for Fang Moqi, he had somehow already climbed to the top of a tree. He was plucking leaves one by one, putting each into his mouth to suck out the moisture. Little by little, he had already drunk quite a bit of dew.

"We need to find a real water source next. Before then, we have to replenish our water and food."

"Zheng Hui, whether you can get some breakfast depends on yourselves. I'll scout ahead. We'll set off immediately once I return."

Watching Fang Moqi leave, Lan Mu began thinking about how to obtain food as well.

They had traded away nearly all of their modern belongings to the Senuai people, leaving them like savages. Even their only torch had been put out by Fang Moqi yesterday. With the jungle so damp now, starting a fire would be extremely difficult.

Zheng Hui realized the situation too. Every time he went out with Fang Moqi, they had to take on such high-difficulty challenges. Even he, the nineteenth-ranked Hunter, found it troublesome.

He struggled to wake the sleeping group and relayed Fang Moqi's words. One after another, they were left speechless.

"Brother Fang isn't helping us hunt this time?"

"Back in Africa, we could all share the prey Brother Fang killed. Why isn't he looking after us this time?"

"Enough. Aren't we Hunters too? Can't we rely on ourselves?"

Everyone had grown accustomed to relying on Fang Moqi in the past, so when Fang Moqi suddenly stopped looking after them, they found it hard to adjust.

At that moment, Zheng Hui said, "Yu Xiao and I will search nearby for food. The rest of you figure out how to start a fire."

"Our clothes are too wet. If we don't dry them, their weight will become a burden on our bodies."

Thus, Zheng Hui and Yu Xiao left with bows and arrows on their backs, heading in the same direction Fang Moqi had gone.

The remaining nine people looked at one another. With the jungle so damp, starting a fire was truly difficult.

Still, this group had participated in several wilderness expeditions. They had made fires many times before, so they all began gathering dry materials.

Lan Mu could not help with this. His only wilderness survival experience had been back at Fanli Mountain, where he relied on the White-haired Lion for hunting and used a lighter to start fires.

Thinking of the White-haired Lion, Lan Mu smiled faintly and handed the camera to Du Yu.

"I'll be back soon. Leave the fire to you."

Without waiting for Du Yu to pester him, Lan Mu darted straight into the jungle and vanished from sight.

After running several dozen meters and confirming no one was nearby, he instantly transformed behind a large tree.

A burly White-haired Lion rose onto his hind legs, then easily leaped up and crouched atop a tree more than thirty meters high.

Hunting Rhythm ensured that every living creature within a kilometer could not escape his scarlet eyes.

"So many animals!"

The species in this jungle were incredibly abundant. Compared with Fanli Mountain, there were countless more kinds of creatures. Red shadows filled the area densely, each one representing an animal.

"I'll just pick a small one."

Lan Mu transformed into a Hunter and shot forward with a whoosh, rapidly closing in on a reptile not far away.

It was an otter-like reptile with a harmless appearance, but when Lan Mu attacked it, it suddenly turned vicious and bared its teeth.

Lan Mu casually slapped it down, pinning the otter-like creature to the ground as it struggled desperately.

Seeing how fiercely it struggled, he simply struck the back of its head with a heavy blow and knocked it unconscious.

Carrying the otter-like creature's body, Lan Mu bounded back to their previous camp in a few leaps. He transformed back into a human behind a tree, then emerged carrying it.

At this time, Du Yu and the others were trying to start a fire. They had shaved bamboo into a pile of fibrous strands, placed polished wood shavings on top, and struck flint from the Senuai people against it.

However, the air was too damp. The sparks quickly disappeared as they flew out, unable to ignite the wood shavings at all.

When Lan Mu walked over, Du Yu cried out, "Brother Mu, you caught prey already? My god, that was so fast!"

Lan Mu had been gone for less than five minutes. He had even deliberately delayed on the way, otherwise it would have been too fast to explain.

"Good luck. I saw this guy and captured it alive."

Lan Mu tossed the otter-like creature onto the ground. Du Yu did not recognize it, but the others were knowledgeable enough to identify it immediately.

"Isn't this an otter-like creature? Captured alive?"

"Huh? It really is alive! It was knocked unconscious."

"No way. Otter-like creatures are extremely fierce and very good at hiding themselves."

Listening to their explanation, Du Yu excitedly kept filming.

Only then did Lan Mu learn how fierce this animal was. It was highly aggressive. Though herbivorous, it had sharp teeth and claws, was fast, amphibious, and fairly intelligent. It was excellent at concealing itself in the rainforest. Even killing one from afar was difficult, let alone capturing one alive.

Humans might be detected and chased away the moment they approached it. Whether running through the forest, climbing trees, or entering the water, the little creature was extremely agile.

When Hunters killed otter-like creatures, they usually used traps. Only then did they have a chance of catching one.

"Its meat is delicious. I was lucky enough to eat it once." One person pulled out a knife, preparing to kill it.

But Du Yu said, "I remember it's supposed to be an endangered protected animal here, right?"

The man said dismissively, "Tch, Xiao Yu, every wild animal here is supposedly protected. Are you saying we should eat rats instead?"

Just as he finished speaking, Zheng Hui and Yu Xiao returned. Each carried several rodents, and it looked as though they had caught an entire family.

"Hahaha, we got lucky! We found a bamboo rat nest beneath a tree and wiped out the whole nest."

As soon as he finished, Zheng Hui saw the otter-like creature. He froze for a moment before saying,

"Brother Fang came back?"

He looked around, but there was no sign of Fang Moqi.

Du Yu said, "Brother Mu caught it just now."

"How is that possible? Do you know how cunning otter-like creatures are?"

"Hey, would I lie to you?"

When Zheng Hui saw everyone nodding to confirm that Lan Mu had indeed caught it, he was momentarily speechless.

This guy has some skill. Even I might not be able to capture an otter-like creature alive.

Zheng Hui wiped the smile from his face, gave a hum, and changed the subject. "Why hasn't the fire been started yet?"

"How are we supposed to start one? Everything here is wet."

"Watch me!" Zheng Hui seemed eager to downplay the matter of the otter-like creature.

He personally stepped in, and he truly had some skill. He mixed bamboo rat fur into the wood shavings, found a small piece of still-dry cloth among his clothes, tore it off, wrapped the rat fur and wood shavings inside, then blew on it several times to dry it out a little.

Then he smashed a stone and selected a sharp piece to use for striking flint.

He continuously struck the flint, letting the scattered sparks fall into the rat fur. After repeating this for several minutes, smoke finally rose, and it began to catch.

Under Zheng Hui's careful tending, it eventually turned into an open flame. With plenty of bamboo fibers added, they had officially started a fire.

Du Yu helped film the entire process. Zheng Hui truly was highly skilled.