Malai Crocodile

While everyone was dealing with the bamboo rat and otter-like creature, Fang Moqi returned.

He came down from a tree holding a piece of honeycomb in his hands.

"Fuck!" Everyone hurriedly scattered in fright.

Lan Mu was nervous too, but he did not dodge. He figured Fang Moqi would not be so reckless.

Sure enough, it was an empty honeycomb. The bees inside had disappeared somewhere.

"Yo, not bad."

Fang Moqi picked up the otter-like creature and noticed it was still alive. Just then, it woke up. Seeing that it had fallen into human hands, it struggled violently.

Fang Moqi merely smiled, walked to the side, and set the otter-like creature down.

The otter-like creature bared its teeth, putting on a fierce expression, then nimbly fled.

"Ah! Brother Fang, why'd you let it go?"

"Yeah! Otter-like creature meat is delicious!"

Fang Moqi waved a hand and smiled. "Since it's still alive, don't eat it. We have enough food anyway. Even if you killed it, you couldn't finish it, and the remaining hide and meat would just be dead weight. We still have to keep moving."

"As compensation, this honeycomb is for you. Who caught the otter-like creature alive?"

Everyone looked at Lan Mu. Fang Moqi wore an unsurprised expression.

"Looks like you can do more than shoot arrows. Catching an otter-like creature alive means you've got some skills."

Lan Mu smiled. "Just luck. I picked it up casually."

Everyone looked at him as if to say, Are you fucking kidding me?

Fang Moqi broke the honeycomb in half and handed one half to Lan Mu, dividing the other half among everyone else.

He said to Lan Mu, "Eat it. A honeycomb this size can replenish quite a lot of calories."

Lan Mu looked at the honeycomb, about the size of two palms, filled with nearly solidified amber honey. He scooped some out with his hand and ate it.

The moment he tasted it, Lan Mu's eyebrows jumped. The flavor was truly surprising—far more delicious than any honey he had eaten before.

Du Yu received a little too. As he ate, he asked, "Brother Fang, did you use fire to drive the bees out of the honeycomb before bringing it back?"

"No." Fang Moqi said, "I found a honeycomb about the size of a car. I reached in and dug out several pieces from the center. I tasted some myself and brought the rest back for you."

"Huh? Damn! Are you okay? Didn't you get stung?" Everyone was astonished. He had reached directly into a honeycomb?

"Ah, I did piss them off, but I ran away. I also caught a few on the way to fill my stomach." Fang Moqi spoke as though it were nothing.

Lan Mu was curious this time too. He could not imagine how Fang Moqi had escaped. Faced with a sky-filling swarm of bees, even if he transformed, he feared he would have trouble dealing with them.

Fang Moqi was happy to answer Lan Mu's question. He said, "After finding the honeycomb, I scouted the area first. In the end, I found a patch about a kilometer away that was covered in Bee-eating Grass, so I went back and raided the honeycomb."

"Bees have plenty of natural enemies, and there are many conflicts between bee colonies too. For a honeycomb as large as a car, there must be many predators nearby. Otherwise, they would definitely build nests everywhere and spread out."

"Since they were forced to band together, that naturally doesn't mean they're strong. It means they're weak. After all, supporting such a massive hive while foraging in only one area is already a huge problem. Those bees have to work themselves to death every day... Hehe."

After hearing Fang Moqi's words, Lan Mu understood. He quickly licked the honey clean.

When Fang Moqi saw Lan Mu casually toss the honeycomb onto the ground, he froze for a moment, then smiled and picked it up.

Breaking off a bite and stuffing it into his mouth, he said, "You really are picky. You threw away something this good."

"Wild honeycomb is a precious medicinal ingredient. Though it's a bee secretion, it doesn't taste bad at all."

"For bears, it's an exceptionally rare delicacy—something they'd risk their lives to eat!"

After saying that, he broke off another piece and chewed it.

Lan Mu was stunned and realized how ignorant he had been. He had only known that honey was edible, never imagining the honeycomb itself could be eaten too.

Zheng Hui chewed on the honeycomb as well and said, "An amateur is an amateur. Every part of a honeycomb is treasure. Whether it's honey, bee larvae, the bees themselves, or the hive itself, all of it can be eaten."

"For hunters surviving in the wilderness, this is an immensely generous gift from nature. Every hunter has several ways to deal with bees. Finding a hive is practically the same as being saved."

Lan Mu rubbed his nose, somewhat embarrassed. He truly had not known that.

Zheng Hui looked down on him, but Fang Moqi did not care in the slightest. Seeing that everyone had eaten their fill, he had them light their torches and continue onward.

Animals and insects could be seen everywhere along the way.

At one point, Fang Moqi suddenly sprang into action and reached up toward a branch, as though grabbing something.

With a forceful shake, he yanked down a patterned snake. With a series of cracking sounds, it was shaken half to death.

Then he gripped the snake by the neck, bit off its head, pulled out its black gallbladder—only about the size of the tip of a little finger—and swallowed it whole.

He casually tossed the patterned snake behind him, and Zheng Hui immediately caught it and put it away.

"Mm, tastes good. Just too small." Fang Moqi swallowed the gallbladder and muttered to himself.

It was only a minor incident on the road. Very few animals attacked humans, and this jungle was relatively friendly to people. Many of the terrifying creatures they had expected never appeared.

"So boring! Didn't they say the depths of the tropical rainforest were dangerous?" At last, someone complained. Walking through the rainforest was practically torture. Everything was damp, and one careless step could send them slipping.

Insects bit them from time to time, while the hot climate left them stuffy and uncomfortable, as though a heavy stone had been pressing on their chests.

"Soon. Look! We've passed several sets of large animal tracks along the way. Judging from their direction, there should be a water source not far ahead."

About three minutes later, everyone indeed heard the sound of trickling water.

"Wow!"

At the sound of water, everyone perked up and quickened their pace.

Before long, they reached a river. On the other side lay an even denser jungle, roots tangled tightly together and giant trees joined into a continuous canopy that blocked out the sky and sun. It was pitch-black inside, and the trees averaged as much as sixty meters in height.

"This is a forest formed from single trees. Many tropical rainforest trees grow like this. Sometimes it's practically a dead end for humans, because the jungle is too dense. Unless you cut the trees down, they're no different from prison bars. It's hard for people to get through."

Zheng Hui showed off his knowledge, then walked over to the stream to observe it for a while before preparing to drink.

After taking a few gulps, he cried out, "There are so many fish in the water!"

After shouting that, he rushed into the river, wanting to catch fish.

"Wait! Come back!" Fang Moqi shouted.

Zheng Hui froze. Seeing that Fang Moqi had called out, he hurriedly ran back. He made it all the way to shore without encountering any danger.

"What is it?"

Everyone was baffled, unable to figure out what Fang Moqi had noticed.

The camera was now back in Lan Mu's hands, and he aimed the lens at Fang Moqi.

Fang Moqi chuckled. "Didn't you see that muddy log by the shore?"

Lan Mu turned the camera. There was indeed a muddy log at the riverbank, looking like a piece of wood that had decayed long ago. It was covered in mud and moss, with even some water plants growing on it.

That piece of wood was only four or five meters from where Zheng Hui had just entered the water.

"What's wrong with that log?"

Everyone was confused, but Zheng Hui suddenly understood. Embarrassed, he said, "I was careless. I really didn't recognize it just now. There were so many fish in the river that I never expected a crocodile to be lying in ambush."

"A crocodile?" Everyone cried out in alarm and looked again, but no matter how they looked at it, it was still just a log!

Fang Moqi smiled. "The fish were deliberately left by this Malai Crocodile near the shore as bait."

"Didn't you notice that the small animals in the forest have been too afraid to approach the river to drink? They have far more experience than you."

"But this crocodile is too crafty. Driving so many little fish to the riverbank is a deadly temptation to certain animals. Soon, something will be unable to resist, such as a salamander... Hehe."

"But I don't have time to waste..."

With that, Fang Moqi tossed the corpse of the patterned snake he had caught earlier into the water. It landed right in front of the "log," but the "log" did not move.

"Heh... it's got some nerve!"

Fang Moqi directly chopped down a bamboo stalk, then carried the pole toward the "log."