Escape From Danger

"You know its den? Where? Tell me quickly!" the Old Hunter asked again, surprised.

Lan Mu, however, suddenly closed his mouth and refused to speak, saying instead:

"There are no coordinates for this place, how can I tell you? Unless I take you there myself."

The Old Hunter sneered. He knew Lan Mu wanted to live, but what he said made sense. After thinking for a moment, he agreed.

"Alright, we'll spare your life. But if you can't lead us to the right place, you know the consequences."

Lan Mu breathed a sigh of relief, having temporarily fooled them. As for what to do next, he needed to think carefully.

The Old Hunter then gave his orders: "Xiao Hong, take your men and haul this wild boar away."

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

Huang Sheng readily agreed. He slung his Hunting Rifle over his shoulder, found some thick, rough rope, and tied Lan Mu up securely, making Lan Mu gasp for air.

Feeling how tightly the man was tying him, with knots that looked impossible to undo, Lan Mu's heart grew colder.

"Let's go!"

Huang Sheng shoved Lan Mu forward. They walked through the dense forest. Because he was tied up and often kicked, Lan Mu stumbled along.

After walking for an unknown amount of time, Lan Mu became dizzy and disoriented. Coupled with the stuffiness in his chest, he almost fainted.

Then he heard Huang Sheng call out, "We're here."

"Huh?" Lan Mu looked up. They had actually emerged from the dense forest. Before him lay a wide-open, gently sloping grassland. Not far away were cultivated fields, and several large trucks were parked a few meters away.

The truck beds were enclosed. He didn't know what was inside, but considering the identity of these people, it was probably meant for transporting prey.

Huang Sheng opened one of the truck beds and shoved Lan Mu inside, throwing him in with brute force.

As soon as he entered, he heard a roar. Lan Mu was horrified to see several iron cages in the truck bed. One of them contained a slender figure – it was a Leopard!

"Haha! Scared, kid? I caught this one myself! The anesthetic has worn off by now, and it's been starving all day. Don't you dare die on me!" Huang Sheng said with a wicked grin. He deliberately tied Lan Mu to the Leopard's cage, then closed the truck bed door and left him there.

At first, Lan Mu's heart pounded. But upon closer inspection, he saw the Leopard staring at him with wide eyes, its head lowered as it sniffed the scent on his clothes and pants.

"This..."

Lan Mu was stunned. He looked again at the Leopard's tail and saw a faint scratch mark on it – the very one he had made with his claws that afternoon.

"Kitty?"

Hearing this call, the Leopard flinched. Its whole body hid at the other end of the cage, its eyes fixed on him.

"No way... you got caught too?"

The Leopard couldn't understand his words, but it recognized the scent on him. No one else could possibly fake it – it was the scent of the White-haired Lion!

Lan Mu had transformed for seven days. Although he had changed back now, his clothes had been wrapped around his waist the entire time and were already covered in his scent.

This scent was too deeply ingrained in the Leopard's memory!

Thinking back now, Lan Mu finally understood why the insects hadn't bitten him.

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

Lan Mu was now in a desperate situation. Seeing himself locked up with his former pet, he was overjoyed, as if he had grasped a lifeline.

"What are you afraid of! You're my pet! Don't you remember?"

"Kitty is the name I gave you!"

"Hey! Why are you trembling even more?"

"You're a Leopard! A carnivorous hunter! Don't act like a little cat, okay?"

Now, Kitty was Lan Mu's only hope for survival. He patiently spoke to the Leopard, regardless of whether it understood. After much effort, he finally reduced the Leopard's fear and it slowly approached him.

Although the Leopard was fierce, it was very docile in front of him, perhaps because of the scent. Lan Mu held out his hand near its mouth, but it didn't dare to bite.

"Be good, help me bite the rope..."

"Just 'meow meow,' understand? Meow meow, bite! Crunch crunch, you get it?"

Lan Mu babbled on for a while longer, finally using onomatopoeia to make Kitty understand. The Leopard obediently opened its large mouth and began to tear at the rope.

The Leopard also knew that rope didn't taste good, but under the intimidating power of the White-haired Lion, it dared not disobey.

"Great! Kitty, you're so good!"

Lan Mu broke free from the ropes, flexing his hands. He was incredibly excited.

The ropes had been tied so tightly that they had almost ruined his hands!

But even after breaking free, it was still useless. He had no confidence that he could escape from these people.

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

Then the Old Hunter asked Huang Sheng where he was. Huang Sheng patted the side of the truck bed and said, "Here! He's in here!"

Lan Mu seized the opportunity and shouted, "Let me out! Let me out! There's a Leopard in here!"

Huang Sheng burst into laughter. "You little brat, just stay in there honestly! Hahaha!"

The Old Hunter also said, "Everyone take a break. Tomorrow morning, we'll have this kid lead the way. We'll scout ahead first."

After listening to the voices outside, there was no more movement after a while.

Lan Mu paced back and forth inside the carriage, contemplating a plan to escape.

He thought of a plan to turn their strategy against them: tomorrow, he would first lead them on a wild goose chase in the forest and find an opportunity to escape.

But he quickly dismissed it. First, his ropes had already been chewed through. They would discover it first thing in the morning, and he would definitely suffer a beating. His cat would also be separated from him, and the captors would tie him up even tighter, possibly to the point where he couldn't move at all, let alone seize an opportunity to escape.

Even if he managed to escape in the forest, he would get lost. Without these people to guide him, it would be difficult to escape the deep mountains and old forests.

"This terrible idea won't give me any extra chances. I'm free now, and the only thing I can use is the cat. It's a fierce beast, after all, and can barely help. They'll definitely open the door and let me out tomorrow morning. That's my only chance, and I absolutely cannot miss it!"

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

After realizing his only chance of escape, Lan Mu focused all his attention on the lock on the cage. However, the lock was too sturdy, and there were no tools around. He fumbled with it for a long time without success.

"Idiot! I've been watching movies for nothing!"

Lan Mu slapped his forehead, recalling a scene from a movie. Why did he need to unlock it? It was a cage! As long as he could bend the iron bars of the cage, he could create a large enough opening.

The cat was slender and could easily slip out!

"But I need wet clothes and a stick. I have clothes, but no water or stick!"

Lan Mu was unwilling to give up. He directly took off his long-sleeved T-shirt, twisted it into a rope, wrapped it around the iron bars, and twisted with all his might, trying to shake the two-finger-thick iron bars.

But he failed. Just having the clothes wasn't enough to twist them open.

At the critical moment of life and death, he thought hard, watching the seconds tick by.

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

If there was no water, urine would do!

He held it in for a long time and finally managed to produce some moisture, wetting his clothes. He twisted them into a rope.

Lan Mu no longer had the luxury of being disgusted by anything. His life had become too damn exciting.

"Still need a wooden stick... a wooden stick... Damn it, I have nothing on me, what can I use as a substitute!"

"Long... long... Huh?"

Lan Mu looked down at something beneath him and realized he did have a long object that could serve as a substitute.

He sat down and took off his worn-out athletic shoes.

He had a size 42 foot, so these shoes were quite long. They had been stretched out by his large feet during his transformation, but the soles were intact!

He placed the two shoes side by side, tied them to the iron bars with his wet clothes, and began to twist with all his might.

It worked. After five minutes, he had forcefully twisted two iron bars together, creating a large gap.

He reached his hands in and pulled out the peeking cat. The leopard was slender, so once its head was out, its entire body could follow.

"Nice! My precious! When dawn breaks, it's all up to you!"

Lan Mu didn't sleep for the rest of the night, fearing he would miss the optimal moment. He held the cat and kept brainwashing it, trying to train it with commands on the spot.

A few hours later, the sky seemed to be brightening, and there was some movement outside.

Lan Mu pressed himself against the cargo hold and soon heard Huang Sheng's familiar and detestable voice. His eyes darted around, and he slapped the cargo hold, shouting, "Huang Sheng! Huang Sheng!"

"Yo! What do you want your daddy for so early in the morning?" Huang Sheng's voice grew closer, filled with rage, and he had already reached the carriage door.

Lan Mu didn't want to wait for them to be fully prepared before letting him out, because that would greatly reduce his chances of escape, and he might be shot dead.

He had to make them open the carriage door in advance. Not everyone was awake yet, and the best time to escape was now!

Click, Huang Sheng, indeed enraged, opened the carriage door.

Lan Mu's eyes lit up, and he shouted, "Now! Cat!"

As the door opened and sunlight streamed in, Lan Mu couldn't help but close his eyes.

Then the cat leaped out.

"Ah!" Huang Sheng yelped and dodged to the side.

Lan Mu squinted and looked, his heart sinking.

Because the cat had dodged Huang Sheng's attack and leaped out, it didn't even look back, sprinting away and disappearing over ten meters away.

"No way... you ungrateful creature, you're just going to abandon me like this?"

Lan Mu was stunned. This wasn't how it was supposed to go. In his momentary hesitation, Huang Sheng had already reacted and was reaching for his gun.

"No time to think, damn it... I'll risk it!"

Lan Mu leaped from the carriage and tackled Huang Sheng, even trying to gouge his eyes with his fingers.

Huang Sheng hadn't expected Lan Mu to be so ferocious. Fortunately, he was strong and managed to block the blinding attack.

But Lan Mu had been transformed into a white lion for seven days and had learned many desperate hunting techniques of fierce beasts. If his fingers failed, he would use his teeth!

This was a life-or-death struggle, using any means necessary. In contrast, Huang Sheng was hesitant, focused on pushing Lan Mu away and then threatening him with his gun. In doing so, he lost the initiative.

Huang Sheng was in a sorry state, with his ears and neck bloody and torn, shouting in pain.

Lan Mu couldn't subdue Huang Sheng immediately. Seeing that the others were reacting, he knew he would die if he delayed any longer.

He couldn't help but despair. Still no good? I can't even win when I'm fighting with all my might?

"Roar!"

Just then, with a roar, Cat Cat made a surprise counterattack, leaping to Huang Sheng's head and biting his neck in one go.

The result was that Lan Mu and Cat Cat, one on each side, bit Huang Sheng. Huang Sheng's eyes rolled back from the pain, his body struggling wildly. The immense strength directly sent Lan Mu flying.

However, Cat Cat refused to let go, still having the strength to drag Huang Sheng and shake him around.

"Amazing! My bite isn't as good as yours, Cat Cat, you did brilliantly!"

But Lan Mu couldn't be happy for long. The other poachers had already rushed over with guns. The Old Hunter even fired a shot at him.

"Bang!"

The shot hit his left arm. Fortunately, he was lying on the ground, and Huang Sheng blocked his lower body. Moreover, the Old Hunter deliberately spared his life, aiming for his arm.

If he had stood up just now, this shot would have definitely hit his thigh, rendering him unable to escape.

"Damn it, that's ruthless!"

"Cat Cat, let go quickly! We're leaving!"

Lan Mu patted Cat Cat's head, got up, and ran. He even ran in a zigzag pattern, not knowing if the stuff from the movies actually worked.

As for Cat Cat, it obediently let go and bolted after him, running at an incredible speed, leaving Lan Mu in the dust.

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

Lan Mu didn't dare to look back, didn't dare to slow down, didn't dare to think too much, just focused on running fast.

The sound of gunshots echoed in his ears. He didn't know where these people were aiming, but not a single shot hit him.

Before long, he had run nearly two hundred meters and dropped into the rice paddies. The dense rice stalks there perfectly concealed his figure.

And so, the man and the cat, no, the man and the leopard, finally escaped, no longer in danger of being hit by bullets.

But even so, he didn't dare to stop. He ran past field after field, saw a highway, and still didn't dare to stop. He sped along the highway.

After running for a while, he thought, What if they chase me by car? Won't I be too obvious on this road?

So he jumped off the highway again and continued to run through the rice paddies. As he ran, he ended up on another highway.

By this time, the sky had completely brightened. He had run for a full hour, and he was panting like a dog, leaning on the roadside railing.

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

A wave of dizziness washed over him. It was then that he remembered he had been shot.

Before he completely lost consciousness, he saw a TV station interview van stop in front of him.

"Oh my god! I've finally found an organization..."