Narrowly Escaping Death

Lan Mu was deep in the mountains and forests. It was getting late, and night had fallen. He didn't dare wander around even after transforming back into a human.

He could only lean against the body of a giant wild boar, fiddling with his phone, hoping someone would come to rescue him.

But then he desperately discovered that his phone had no signal!

"Damn it! No way!"

No matter how Lan Mu fiddled with his phone, there was no signal here.

He couldn't make a distress call. Did he have to walk out himself?

Lan Mu looked dejectedly at the dark forest, giving up on the idea of walking at night. He decided to make do here for the night.

For him, besides the moonlight, his phone's light was the only illumination, and the battery was only at one-third.

Based on his experience, keeping the screen on could only last for two hours.

With no other option, he decided to read his text messages first.

There were 21 text messages, 19 of which were from his boss, Editor-in-Chief Liang.

The other two were from his good friend and colleague, Cheng Ming.

He read Editor-in-Chief Liang's first. Although there were many messages, they all basically said the same thing: ...

Where the hell are you!

"Sigh... I've been missing for a full seven days! Didn't the editor-in-chief think to call the police?"

Lan Mu looked at the angry messages one by one. Editor-in-Chief Liang had basically called him an irresponsible, arrogant, short-sighted, and utterly wicked employee who deliberately went missing.

Reading the last message, Editor-in-Chief Liang said that he had been absent from work for four days without reason and hadn't even gone to the designated department for an interview as arranged. With no explanation, he had reported it and processed his termination.

"Oh, my Editor-in-Chief Liang, you're so good to me. Didn't you ever consider I might be in a special situation?"

"Sigh... I can't lose this job."

Lan Mu really liked his job at the newspaper agency. It was stable, the pay was good, it was exciting, and it suited his temperament and tastes. In short, the job was very important, and he didn't want to lose it.

For this, he wrote a long reply, full of emotion and tears, using all the writing skills he had learned in his journalism major, determined to keep his job.

The reason he gave was that he had been attacked by dark forces while investigating poachers, fell down a cliff, miraculously survived, and discovered a poaching gang within the nature reserve. He personally witnessed them hunt and kill a precious giant wild boar.

To increase credibility, he even took photos of the wild boar from multiple angles and narrated the events.

Of course, he concealed his seven-day experience of transforming into a white-haired lion, which would be the most memorable secret memory of his life.

However, this extremely long text message failed to send, as expected, due to the lack of signal. He could only save it to his drafts with resignation.

As for the text messages from his good friend Cheng Ming, they were simple. One was to tell him that another good friend, Ma Xiang, was getting engaged.

The other was to ask where he had gone, why he wasn't contacting the newspaper agency, why he wasn't completing his assigned work tasks, and why he had gone missing.

Lan Mu found it both funny and sad. "Well, my deep friendship with him is not as valued as the editor-in-chief's concern for me!"

Editor-in-Chief Liang had sent a total of 19 messages, as anxious as a rabbit.

Lan Mu wasn't in a hurry to reply to Cheng Ming's messages; he would do it when he got home.

He checked the battery level, which was at 10%. He quickly turned off the phone, and the surroundings plunged into darkness.

"Good thing it's summer, otherwise I'd get seriously ill spending a night here!"

Lan Mu leaned against the wild boar, wanting to sleep, but he couldn't. The area was full of all sorts of insects. The dead boar's carcass had attracted many poisonous insects and ants.

Although he didn't know why, these insects didn't land on him, but their buzzing around was annoying enough.

Unable to bear it any longer, Lan Mu decided to leave this place and find a better spot to spend the night.

But as soon as he stood up, he saw lights approaching in the distance, and a group of people seemed to be walking over.

"People? That's great!"

Lan Mu's joy didn't last long. When he saw the group of people approaching, his heart sank.

There were twelve people in total, and seven of them were the poachers he had encountered that afternoon!

Five of them were injured, with white bandages wrapped around them, their wounds already treated.

"Why did they come back? Right, they can't bear to leave this giant wild boar carcass. After so long, they must think the White Lion has already left."

"I'm an idiot for staying here... but maybe this isn't a bad thing. I've already turned back into a human. Maybe I can use them to get me out of this damn jungle?"

Lan Mu narrowed his eyes, calculating. The light shone on his face, stinging his eyes.

"Boss! There's someone here!"

"Who are you?"

Hearing the poachers' question, Lan Mu answered naturally, "I'm incredibly unlucky. I fell from the viewing platform and almost died. Look at my clothes, they're torn and unwearable! I've been walking all day, it's dark, and my phone has no signal. I thought I was going to die out here!"

"You guys finally came to save me! The rescue team from Fuzhou is so timely!"

After hearing his words, the poachers looked at each other, understanding his meaning. He had mistaken them for rescuers.

But what did you just say? Fell from the viewing platform?

A burly man, broad and tall, held a flashlight and leaned in for a closer look. He pointed at Lan Mu and shouted, "Boss, it's him! He's that reporter!"

"Huh?" Lan Mu was bewildered. What was going on? I've already turned into a human, and you still recognize me?

But then he realized they even knew his profession!

"Ah! You guys..." A chill ran down Lan Mu's spine.

The burly man grinned sinisterly, "What 'you guys'? Heh heh."

"Uh, nothing. You guys know me? Did a friend send you to save me? No, wait, I'm not a reporter! I'm just a waiter," Lan Mu said, feigning calmness, not daring to identify these people.

But he was now 100% sure: these poachers were the same maniacs who attacked him and threw him off the observation deck seven nights ago!

"Stop pretending. Here, isn't this your ID? Urban Editor for the Morning Light Newspaper Agency, beat reporter Lan Mu. Heh heh, quite the title... I was the one who threw you down myself!" The burly man pulled out Lan Mu's work ID and slapped it onto his face.

Lan Mu's face turned ashen. He remained silent, forcing himself to calm down. He bent down and picked up his ID.

"Damn it, you're not dead yet? You've got some nerve!" The burly man kicked Lan Mu in the stomach. The immense force made him stumble backward, nearly falling.

Lan Mu, hit in the gut, steadied himself. Gritting his teeth against the searing pain, he said coldly, "You're completely lawless..."

"I just asked the observation deck staff about poaching, and you wanted to kill me? How dare you disregard human life so carelessly?"

The burly man slapped Lan Mu across the face, the sound sharp and clear. He reeked of foul breath as he said, "Human life?"

"How many lives do we brothers have on our hands? We fled Lingnan and finally found a good spot like this. No forest rangers, lax management. Even though there aren't many valuable wild animals, it'll do. You kid insisted on cutting off our income?"

"Damn it, you're quite clever, suspecting the forest rangers were our people. It's only thanks to Little Tang letting us use a backdoor that we can hunt so openly in the reserve every week. If we let a dead reporter like you ruin this, we'd be begging for scraps!"

Lan Mu listened, utterly confused. After a moment of thought, he understood. The "Little Tang" these people were talking about must be the scenic area staff member he had repeatedly interrogated seven days ago.

Damn it! You guys can't be serious? I just asked a few more questions because his answers were vague.

His psychological fortitude isn't that bad, is it? He hasn't seen a reporter's professional interrogation? He actually told you I suspected him... Heavens! What a wrongful accusation!

"You... you're trying to silence me for such a ridiculous reason...?"

The burly man impatiently raised his hunting rifle, pointing it at Lan Mu's head. He said cruelly, "Ridiculous reason? What reason do you think it is? The point is, we can't let you live!"

"It's late and quiet here, the perfect place to kill and hide a body. One shot and no one will know!"

"In a few decades, your bones will likely have decomposed, and no one will ever find you. Hahaha!"

With that, the burly man tightened his grip, about to pull the trigger. Lan Mu felt death approaching, the same feeling he had seven days ago when he fell off the cliff, lying crippled on the ground, waiting to die.

No! Screw your whole family! You're going to kill me just like that?

"Wait... wait a moment!"

Lan Mu trembled uncontrollably, his teeth clenched so hard they felt like they would shatter.

At this moment, he craved power more than ever, the terrifying power of the White-haired Lion, power so immense that these people would be like ants!

"Right! The White-haired Lion!"

"Don't you want to know the whereabouts of the White Lion?"

The burly man sneered, "What White Lion, Black Lion?"

"Wait! Huang Sheng, put the gun down!" The speaker was the Old Hunter Lan Mu had met that afternoon. He rushed forward anxiously and pushed the burly man aside.

Huang Sheng, confused, lowered his gun and asked, "Boss, what is it?"

The Old Hunter ignored him, his eyes gleaming as he asked Lan Mu, "You just mentioned the White Lion? The male lion with completely white fur?"

Seeing Huang Sheng lower his gun, Lan Mu's taut nerves relaxed slightly. He let out a breath, knowing he was safe for the moment.

"Yes, a male lion with white fur!"

The Old Hunter suddenly smiled and reached out to grab Lan Mu's collar. As he raised his hand, a sharp pain shot through him. Both his shoulders were severely injured, and blood seeped through the bandages.

Enduring the intense pain, the Old Hunter's eyes flashed with ferocity and resentment.

Huang Sheng finally realized and exclaimed, "Boss, the White Lion he's talking about... isn't it the one you encountered...?"

The Old Hunter sneered, "There wouldn't be many white male lions like that in the whole world..."

"Little reporter, did you see our fight with that White Lion this afternoon?"

Lan Mu shook his head, "I don't know. I only arrived at night..."

"Don't lie, kid!" The Old Hunter interrupted Lan Mu with a look of knowing all.

"When you had a gun to your head just now, you revealed everything. You were definitely there, you saw it with your own eyes!"

"Otherwise, you wouldn't have confidently asked, 'Don't you want to know the whereabouts of the White Lion?'!"

Hearing this, Huang Sheng also hit Lan Mu with his rifle butt and said fiercely, "Damn it, I knew you weren't being honest. Speak up!"

Lan Mu swallowed, thinking to himself that he was still too naive. "Yes. I saw everything."

"I was nearby at the time. I heard gunshots and walked this way. I saw a majestic white male lion tackle one of you and scratch him."

"I hid behind a tree in the distance and watched. You guys couldn't defeat the White Lion and fled."

Huang Sheng angrily retorted, "Fled? What do you know, kid!"

"Hey." The Old Hunter stopped Huang Sheng from continuing his assault and said with a cold smile, "Fled is fled. There's no shame in admitting it."

"Tell us, where did the White Lion go after we left?"

Lan Mu opened his mouth, then closed it again as he looked at the group of people surrounding him, all holding hunting rifles.

"Hmph, kid, if you don't talk, you die. If you do talk, you might have a sliver of a chance," the Old Hunter said grimly.

Lan Mu wasn't stupid. He knew he would die if he spoke, and that not speaking offered a slim chance of survival.

Besides, he couldn't tell them the truth. He'd have to make something up. He himself was the White-haired Lion. Where was he supposed to find a White Lion for these people?

Seeing Huang Sheng about to hit him with his rifle stock again, Lan Mu said indifferently, "I know the White-haired Lion's den."