Escape from Death

"You know where its den is? Where? Tell me!" Old Hunter pressed excitedly.

Lan Mu suddenly clammed up and changed the subject.

"There are no coordinates out here. How am I supposed to explain it? Unless I take you there myself."

Old Hunter sneered. He knew Lan Mu wanted to live, but what he said made sense. After thinking it over, he agreed.

"Fine, I'll spare your life. But if you can't lead us the right way, you know what will happen."

Lan Mu let out a breath. He had muddled through for now. As for what came next, he needed to think carefully.

Old Hunter began giving orders. "Xiao Hong, take some men and haul this wild boar away."

"Huang Sheng, this kid is your responsibility. Don't let him run."

Huang Sheng readily agreed. He slung the hunting rifle over his back, found a coarse, stiff hemp rope, and tied Lan Mu up tightly enough to make him gasp.

Feeling the way he had been tied, Lan Mu's heart sank even further. They were dead knots!

"Move!"

Huang Sheng shoved Lan Mu ahead through layers of dense forest. Bound as he was and frequently kicked, he stumbled with every step.

He had no idea how long they walked. Lan Mu was so exhausted that his vision blurred, and the tightness in his chest nearly made him pass out.

Then Huang Sheng called, "We're here."

"Huh?" Lan Mu looked up and discovered that they had left the forest. Before him stretched open, level grassland, with field ridges in the distance and several large trucks parked a few meters away.

The cargo compartments were sealed, and he had no idea what was inside. But considering who these people were, they were probably specially used to store prey.

Huang Sheng opened a cargo compartment, shoved Lan Mu inside, and threw him in with brute force.

The moment he entered, he heard a roar. Lan Mu stared in horror at the many iron cages inside the truck. One of them held a sleek figure—a clouded leopard!

"Haha! Scared, kid? I caught this one myself! The anesthetic has worn off, and it's been hungry all day. Don't die of fright, all right?" Huang Sheng grinned maliciously and deliberately tied him to the clouded leopard's cage before shutting the cargo door and leaving him there.

At first, Lan Mu's heart pounded wildly. But on closer inspection, he saw the clouded leopard staring at him with wide eyes, lowering its head to sniff the scent on his clothes and pants.

"This..."

Lan Mu froze. Then he looked at the clouded leopard's tail and saw a faint scratch on it, exactly where he had clawed it that afternoon.

"Kitty?"

At that call, the clouded leopard shrank its neck and hid at the other end of the cage, staring at him with wide eyes.

"Damn... you got caught too?"

The clouded leopard could not understand him, but it recognized the scent on him. No one could imitate it—the scent of the White-haired Lion!

Lan Mu had been transformed for seven days. Though he had changed back now, his clothes had been wrapped around his waist before and were long since saturated with his scent.

That scent had left an incredibly deep impression on the clouded leopard!

Thinking back on it now, Lan Mu finally understood why mosquitoes and other insects had not bitten him.

"Kitty! Kitty! Don't be scared! Come over here!"

Lan Mu was already trapped in a hopeless situation. Seeing himself locked up with his former pet, he was overjoyed, as though he had grasped a lifeline.

"What are you scared of? You're my pet! Have you forgotten?"

"I'm the one who gave you the name Kitty!"

"Hey! Why are you shaking even harder?"

"You're a clouded leopard! A carnivorous hunter! Don't act like an actual house cat, okay?"

Kitty was now Lan Mu's only hope of survival. He patiently spoke to the clouded leopard, not caring whether it understood. After talking himself hoarse, he finally eased its fear enough for it to slowly approach him.

Though the clouded leopard was fierce, it remained docile before him. Perhaps because of that scent, Lan Mu could even hold his hand before its mouth without it daring to bite.

"Be good. Help me chew through the rope..."

"Just go chomp chomp, understand? Awoo, awoo, bite! Crunch, crunch. You get it?"

Lan Mu babbled on for a while longer before finally using sound effects to make Kitty understand. Obediently, it opened its jaws and began tearing at the rope.

The clouded leopard knew the rope did not taste good, but under the terrifying authority of the White-haired Lion, it did not dare refuse.

"Awesome! Kitty, you're such a good girl!"

Lan Mu broke free of the rope and rubbed feeling back into his hands, too excited to contain himself.

The rope had been tied so tightly that it had nearly ruined both his hands!

But even though he had escaped the ropes, it was still useless. He had no confidence that he could escape from these people.

Just then, he heard a huge commotion outside. It seemed the main group had returned, and judging by their voices, they had brought back the giant wild boar.

Then Old Hunter asked Huang Sheng where he was. Huang Sheng patted the cargo compartment and said, "Here! He's staying right in here!"

Lan Mu took the chance to shout, "Let me out! Let me out! There's a leopard in here!"

Huang Sheng burst out laughing. "You just stay in there and behave, kid! Hahaha!"

Old Hunter also said, "Everyone, rest up. Tomorrow morning, have this kid lead the way. We'll scout the place first."

After hearing the voices outside, the noise soon died down.

Lan Mu paced inside the cargo compartment, thinking of a way out.

He came up with a plan to play along. Tomorrow, he would lead them around the forest aimlessly and find a chance to escape.

But he quickly rejected it. First, the rope had already been chewed through, and they would notice first thing tomorrow morning. Then he would definitely get a brutal beating, Kitty would certainly be separated from him, and they would tie him up even tighter. He might not even be able to move, much less escape when the chance came.

Even if he managed to escape in the forest, he would get lost. Without these people to lead the way, it would be hard to get out of the deep mountains and ancient woods.

"What a stupid idea. I don't have any extra chances. Now that I'm untied, the only thing I can use is Kitty. She's a fierce beast, at least. She can barely be of some help. Tomorrow morning, they'll definitely open the door and let me out. That's my only chance. I absolutely can't miss it!"

"But Kitty is locked in a cage. What I need to think about now is how to get her out."

Having found his only chance of escape, Lan Mu focused completely on studying the lock on the cage. But it was too sturdy, and there were no tools around. After fumbling with it for ages, he still could not open it.

"Idiot! You watched all those movies for nothing!"

Lan Mu slapped his forehead, remembering a scene from a movie. Why did he need to unlock it? This was a cage! He only needed to bend the iron bars apart and make a bigger opening.

Kitty had a slim body. She could easily squeeze out!

"But I need a soaked shirt and a stick. I have a shirt, but there's no water and no stick!"

Unwilling to give up, Lan Mu stripped off his long-sleeved T-shirt, twisted it into a rope, wrapped it around the iron bars, and twisted with all his strength, trying to move the bars, each as thick as two fingers.

But he failed. A shirt alone was not enough to twist them apart.

At this life-or-death moment, he racked his brains as the seconds ticked away.

Finally, driven by his sense of crisis, he thought of an alternative.

No water? Urine would do!

He held it in for half the day before finally managing to wet the shirt and twist it into a rope.

Lan Mu had no mind left to be picky about this or that. This life of his was too fucking exciting.

"I still need a wooden stick... a wooden stick... damn it, I don't have anything on me. What can I use instead?"

"Something long... something long... huh?"

Lan Mu lowered his head and looked at something beneath him. He realized he really did have something long he could use instead.

He sat down and took off his already tattered sneakers.

His feet were size forty-two, so the shoes were long enough. They had been stretched apart by his huge paws during his transformation, but the soles were fine!

He put the two shoes together, tied them to the wet shirt and the iron bars, and began twisting with all his strength.

It worked. Five minutes later, he had forcibly twisted two iron bars together, opening up a large gap.

He reached both hands inside and pulled out the peeking Kitty. The clouded leopard was slim; once her head got out, the rest of her body could follow.

"Nice! My baby, once daylight comes, it's all up to you!"

Lan Mu did not sleep for the rest of the night, afraid of missing the best moment. He held Kitty and kept trying to brainwash her, attempting to teach her a few commands at the last minute.

A few hours later, dawn seemed to break, and there were sounds outside.

Lan Mu pressed himself against the cargo compartment. Soon, he heard Huang Sheng's familiar and hateful voice. His eyes shifted, and he began pounding on the compartment. "Huang Sheng! Huang Sheng!"

"Oh? What do you want from your daddy so early in the morning?" Huang Sheng's voice drew closer, thick with anger, until he reached the cargo door.

Lan Mu did not intend to wait until they were fully prepared before letting him out. That would drastically lower his odds of escape. One shot might cripple him.

He had to make someone open the cargo door early. Not everyone was awake yet. Right now was the best time to run!

Click. Huang Sheng really did fling open the cargo door in a fury.

Lan Mu's eyes lit up. "Now, Kitty!"

The moment the door opened, sunlight poured inside, and Lan Mu could not help closing his eyes.

Then Kitty sprang out.

"Ah!" Huang Sheng cried out and dodged aside.

Lan Mu squinted and looked over, his heart turning cold.

After Kitty pounced and missed, she did not even look back. She bolted, already more than ten meters away.

"No way... you ungrateful thing, you're just leaving me behind like that?"

Lan Mu was stunned. This was not part of his plan. And in that brief hesitation, Huang Sheng had already reacted and was about to draw his gun.

"No time to think. Damn it... I'm going for it!"

Lan Mu leaped down from the truck and tackled Huang Sheng, even clawing his fingers toward Huang Sheng's eyes.

Huang Sheng had not expected Lan Mu to be so vicious. Fortunately, he was strong and sturdy enough to block the blinding strike.

But Lan Mu had spent seven days transformed into a White Lion and had learned many life-or-death methods used by predators. If his fingers would not work, then he would use his teeth!

This was a desperate fight, and he used every means possible. Huang Sheng, on the other hand, held back, focused on pushing Lan Mu away before threatening him with the gun. In doing so, he lost the initiative.

Lan Mu left Huang Sheng in a miserable state, his ears and neck torn bloody and mangled as he screamed in pain.

Lan Mu could not take Huang Sheng down quickly, and the others were already reacting. If this dragged on, he would definitely die.

Despair welled up inside him. Was it still not enough? Could he not even win by fighting for his life?

"Awoo!"

At that moment, with a roar, Kitty came charging back. She pounced beside Huang Sheng's head and clamped her jaws around his neck.

The result was that Lan Mu and Kitty each bit Huang Sheng from one side. The pain made Huang Sheng roll his eyes as he struggled wildly, his tremendous strength flinging Lan Mu away.

Yet Kitty held on without letting go, still strong enough to drag Huang Sheng around and shake him violently.

"Amazing. My bite really can't compare to yours. Kitty, well done!"

But Lan Mu could not celebrate for long. The other poachers had already rushed over with guns, and Old Hunter even fired a shot at him.

"Bang!"

The shot hit his left arm. Fortunately, he was lying on the ground, with Huang Sheng shielding his lower body, and Old Hunter had deliberately spared his life, which was why he had aimed for the arm.

If Lan Mu had stood up just then, the bullet would have struck his thigh and taken away his ability to run.

"Fuck, that was ruthless!"

"Kitty, let go! We're leaving!"

Lan Mu patted Kitty on the head, got up, and ran. He even deliberately zigzagged in an S-shaped path, though he had no idea whether that movie trick worked.

Kitty obediently released her bite and bolted after him. She was incredibly fast, streaking past Lan Mu in an instant.

"Run, run, run! You can't hit me! You can't hit me!"

Lan Mu did not dare look back, slow down, or think too much. All he could think was to run faster.

Gunshots rang beside his ears. He had no idea where those people were aiming, but not a single bullet hit him.

Before long, he had run nearly two hundred meters and reached the field ridges, where rice grew densely enough to conceal him.

Thus, one man and one cat—no, one man and one leopard—finally escaped alive, beyond the reach of the bullets.

Even so, he did not dare stop. He ran across one field ridge after another, then spotted a highway and still did not slow down, sprinting along it at full speed.

After running for a while, he realized that if they chased him by car, would he not be incredibly obvious on the road?

So he jumped off the highway and continued running across the field ridges. As he ran, he somehow ended up on another highway.

By then, the sky was fully bright. He had run for a full hour and collapsed against the roadside guardrail, exhausted as a dog.

His mouth was dry, his body weak, his face pale, and his lips utterly bloodless.

A wave of dizziness struck him, and only then did he remember that he had been shot.

Before completely losing consciousness, he saw a television station's interview van stop in front of him.

"Thank God... I finally found my people..."