Hunting

This is a leopard cat, one of the jungle hunters, skilled at climbing trees.

However, it only preys on small animals like mice, rabbits, chickens, and birds.

As for creatures as large as humans, even if they lay completely defenseless in front of a leopard cat, it wouldn't dare attack.

Lan Mu noticed that everyone was completely still, not sensing the leopard cat's approach at all. Even Fang Moqi was oblivious.

"This guy really isn't going to help us."

Lan Mu didn't believe Fang Moqi hadn't noticed the leopard cat's approach. If even he could detect it, Fang Moqi must have known long ago.

"Poof!"

Lan Mu was diligently filming the leopard cat. The leopard cat arrived on a tree above Fang Moqi's head, instantly pounced, crossing two meters to land on a small animal on the opposite tree. The small animal only had time to let out a croak before being bitten to death by the leopard cat.

Under the high-definition lens, the leopard cat's pouncing posture was perfectly captured. Its muscles were fully extended, its small body stretched long in mid-air. Its target was a tree frog, which, before being attacked, had been intently focused on attacking a grasshopper, completely unaware that it had already been sentenced to death by the leopard cat.

"What? A wild beast!" The sound of the leopard cat's hunt startled everyone. The commotion caused the leopard cat to quickly leave, carrying the tree frog.

Everyone heard the sounds fade into the distance, and in the darkness, they felt an unusual sense of dread. Only Fang Moqi and Lan Mu lay there leisurely.

With this incident, many people were too scared to sleep soundly and took turns keeping watch for the rest of the night, vigilant of their surroundings.

In contrast, Lan Mu slept soundly, feeling no need to force himself to stay awake since so many others were on guard.

He only slept for about four hours before it was bright daylight. The rainforest was misty, and Lan Mu was drenched as soon as he woke up.

Looking at the group of people, they were all slumped over asleep. Only Zheng Hui and he woke up at the same time.

As for Fang Moqi, he had somehow climbed to the top of a tree and was plucking leaves one by one, sucking the water from each before putting it in his mouth. He had already drunk quite a bit of dew this way.

"We need to find a real water source next. Until then, we must replenish our fluids and food."

"Zheng Hui, whether you can have breakfast depends on yourselves. I'll go scout ahead. We'll set off as soon as I get back."

Lan Mu watched Fang Moqi leave and then began to consider how to get food.

All the modern items they had brought were basically exchanged with the Senuai people, leaving them like savages. Even their only torch had been extinguished by Fang Moqi yesterday. With the jungle being so damp now, starting a fire would be extremely difficult.

Zheng Hui also realized the situation. Every time they went out with Fang Moqi, it was a high-difficulty challenge, and even he, a hunter ranked 19th, found it difficult.

He struggled to wake the sleeping group and told them Fang Moqi's parting words. Everyone was speechless.

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

"Last time in Africa, we could all share the prey Fang Ge shot. Why isn't Brother Fang helping us this time?"

"Stop talking. Aren't we hunters? Can't we rely on ourselves?"

The group had grown accustomed to their reliance on Fang Moqi over the years, so Fang Moqi suddenly not helping them made them feel unaccustomed.

At this point, Zheng Hui said, "Yu Xiao, come with me to find food nearby. The rest of you figure out how to start a fire."

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

So, Zheng Hui and Yu Xiao shouldered their bows and arrows and left, heading in Fang Moqi's direction.

The remaining nine people looked at each other. The jungle was so damp, starting a fire was incredibly difficult.

However, these people had participated in outdoor activities several times, and they had experience starting fires. So, one by one, they began to gather dry materials.

Lan Mu couldn't help with this. His only experience with wild survival was back on Fanli Mountain, where he relied on the White-haired Lion for hunting, and he used a lighter to start fires.

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

"I'll be right back. Starting the fire is up to you."

Without waiting for Du Yu to protest, Lan Mu plunged into the jungle and disappeared.

After running a few dozen meters and seeing no one nearby, he instantly transformed behind a large tree.

A robust White-haired Lion stood on its hind legs. With an easy leap, it perched on a tree more than thirty meters high.

The Hunting Rhythm made all creatures within a kilometer unable to escape its scarlet eyes.

"So many animals!"

This jungle was incredibly rich in species, with far more varieties of creatures than on Fanli Mountain. They were densely packed everywhere, each red dot representing an animal.

"I'll just pick a small one."

Lan Mu, transformed into a hunter, rushed out with a whoosh, rapidly approaching a reptile not far away.

It was a reptile that looked like an otter. It appeared harmless, but when Lan Mu attacked, it suddenly became ferocious, baring its teeth.

Lan Mu swatted it casually, pinning the otter to the ground as it struggled desperately.

Seeing its fierce struggles, he simply delivered a heavy blow to the back of its head, knocking it unconscious.

Carrying the otter's body, Lan Mu returned to the campsite in a few leaps. He transformed back into a human behind a tree and reappeared, holding the otter.

At this moment, Du Yu and the others were trying to start a fire. They had shaved bamboo into a pile of fibrous strands and placed wood shavings, which they had polished, on top. Then, they used the flint from the Senuai people to strike sparks.

However, the air was too humid. The sparks that flew out quickly disappeared, unable to ignite the wood shavings.

Just then, Lan Mu walked over. Du Yu exclaimed, "Brother Mu, you've already caught prey? My goodness, that was fast!"

Lan Mu had only been gone for less than five minutes, and that was after deliberately delaying himself on the way. Otherwise, it would have been too fast to explain.

"Good luck, I saw this guy and brought it back alive."

Lan Mu threw the otter-like creature on the ground. Du Yu didn't recognize it, but the others were knowledgeable and immediately identified it.

"Isn't this an otter-like creature? Alive?"

"Huh? It's really alive! It was knocked unconscious."

"Impossible, right? Otter-like creatures are very fierce and extremely good at hiding themselves."

Hearing the explanations from the crowd, Du Yu excitedly kept filming.

Only then did Lan Mu understand what a fierce animal this was. It was extremely aggressive. Although it was a herbivore, it had sharp teeth and claws, was very fast, was amphibious, and not unintelligent. It was very good at hiding itself in the rainforest, making it difficult to shoot down from a distance, let alone capture it alive.

It was likely that as soon as a human approached it, it would be detected and escape. Whether running through the forest, climbing trees, or going into the water, this little guy was very agile.

When hunters hunted otter-like creatures, they usually used traps to have a chance of capturing them.

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

Du Yu, however, said, "I remember it seems to be an endangered precious animal here, right?"

The person scoffed, "Tch, little Yu, any wild animal here is a so-called rare animal. Do you want us to eat rats?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Zheng Hui and Yu Xiao returned. They were each carrying several rodents, looking like they had caught the whole family.

"Hahaha, good luck. I found a bamboo rat nest under a tree and took the whole litter."

As soon as he finished speaking, Zheng Hui saw the otter-like creature. He was stunned for a moment, then said.

"Brother Fang is back?"

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

Du Yu said, "Brother Mu just went to catch it."

"How is that possible? Do you know how cunning otter-like creatures 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 capture an otter-like creature alive.

Zheng Hui put away his smile, grunted, and changed the subject, "Why isn't the fire lit yet?"

"How can we start a fire? It's wet everywhere here."

"Watch me!" Zheng Hui seemed to want to downplay the incident with the otter-like creature.

He personally took action, and indeed had some skill. He mixed bamboo rat fur with wood shavings, and found a small piece of dry cloth from his close-fitting clothing. He tore it off, wrapped the fur and shavings in it, and after blowing on it a few times to dry it slightly.

Then he found a stone and smashed it, choosing a sharp one to strike sparks.

He continuously struck the flint. The sparks that flew landed in the rat fur. He repeated this for several minutes until smoke finally appeared and it began to ignite.

Under Zheng Hui's constant care, it finally turned into an open flame. With the addition of many bamboo strips, the fire was officially started.

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