Almost Enchanted by You

As it turned out, Feng Jun had been overthinking things; the ape and the hedgehog were no ordinary creatures.

Both possessed a certain level of intelligence, and whenever they fought to the point of exhaustion, they would separate to rest.

Compared to the brawls of mixed martial artists on Blue Star, their combat was only missing a referee.

During their rest, the hedgehog would attempt to leave, but the ape wouldn't let it go, roaring and provoking it all the while.

However, whenever the ape retreated too far, the hedgehog would roll forward a few times, the meaning clear enough—Damn it, you think you can just walk away? Did you ask me first?

Overall, Feng Jun could sense that the hedgehog was at a slight disadvantage, yet the ape truly had no guarantee of victory.

The hedgehog not letting the ape leave couldn't rule out a strategy of advancing to retreat, while the ape's concessions were likely a search for an opening—given the ape's agility, if it truly wanted to leave, the hedgehog shouldn't have been able to stop it.

Their massive battle attracted a few birds, somewhat resembling hawks or falcons, but they were at least three years old... no, that's wrong, they were at least three meters in size, incredibly massive.

Of course, compared to the two below, their size was a bit underwhelming, so they could only circle above, hoping to scavenge some leftovers.

However, the two fighting below were clearly annoyed by the guys overhead—I'm not dead yet, and you're already waiting to eat my meat?

What to do if annoyed? Suddenly, the ape and the hedgehog stopped their standoff and launched a simultaneous attack, targeting the raptors above.

The ape fiercely hurled a large rock, roughly the size of a basketball, while the hedgehog directly launched its long quills.

The birds fled rapidly, but one that flew too low was struck by the rock.

However, the birds and beasts in this space were not easily killed; it took a heavy hit but still struggled, trying to fly away.

Just then, the hedgehog's long quills arrived, ruthlessly piercing the bird's chest.

As it fell, the ape swept at it with a tree trunk, wanting it for itself, but the hedgehog curled into a ball, bounced off the ground, and slammed into it hard.

The two fought another round, eventually each grabbing half the carcass and retreating to the side to devour it raw.

While eating, they kept eyeing their opponent; clearly, the battle was far from over.

Seeing this, Feng Jun broke into a cold sweat: Could trying to pick up scraps cost me my life?

Seeing the fight dragging on endlessly, he didn't want to lose his own life here.

Thinking that he had already planned to exit the space in half a day, Feng Jun simply crept down the mountain, pushed his motorcycle four or five miles away, and found a hidden spot to stash the bike and his remaining supplies.

"See ya!"

The next moment, Feng Jun arrived back in his rental room, carrying only his harvest from the wilderness and a change of clothes.

He quickly changed into summer clothes, grabbed the backpack containing the jade, pushed open the door, and walked out.

He had chosen to enter the space at nine o'clock at night, just as the old man was about to go to sleep.

Seeing him head toward the gate, the old man spoke from behind the glass window, "Remember to lock the door behind you. Are you coming back?"

"A friend is going through a breakup, he called me to drink," Feng Jun replied with a smile. "I'll come back whenever he feels better."

This answer was flexible enough, but the old man didn't find anything amiss; he had been young once, too. It was normal to comfort someone for a day, or even for ten days or so.

However, he still felt something was off. After the other man disappeared into the night, he frowned and muttered to himself, "Why does it feel like... this kid has changed a bit?"

Feng Jun hadn't just changed a bit; he had changed a lot. He had grown taller, lost weight, and his face was etched with the undeniable wear of the elements. It was precisely because he had considered these things that he chose to enter the wilderness space at night.

He didn't go anywhere else but straight to Newman Bathhouse. This was a famous establishment in Yang City—a bathhouse that was incredibly luxurious, offering all kinds of services at a high price, with hourly rooms costing 368 yuan for six hours.

The current Feng Jun no longer cared about such small change. The place protected guest privacy well; no one cared how dirty he was when he arrived, and no one dared to touch his belongings.

He opened an hourly room—he still couldn't bring himself to pay for twenty-four hours.

Once inside, he called a waiter to take his clothes for cleaning—even though he hadn't worn them long, he suspected they had a heavy odor and wanted them washed clean.

Then he walked into the bathroom and discovered it was larger than the room outside. The bathtub was a circular double-sized tub that could easily fit three people, and there was also a sauna, a massage bed, and a shower stall.

He filled the tub to take a soak, but once he sat in, he realized one tub... wasn't enough!

He filled the tub three times until the water didn't look so dirty, then flipped the switch for the sauna and went in to steam.

Between soaking and steaming, he spent two hours, then walked into the shower stall to shave and rinse off.

Wrapped in a bath towel, he walked out of the bathroom and looked at himself in the vanity mirror, nodding with satisfaction, "The young man is looking handsome again... I wonder how tall I am now."

Just then, someone rang the doorbell; it was the waiter returning his clothes, which had been washed and ironed.

It was already past eleven, but since he had only opened the hourly room at nine-thirty and had to leave by three-thirty in the morning, the staff didn't care about interrupting his rest.

In fact, right after the staff left, someone else rang the doorbell, "Sir, would you like any services?"

However, thinking of the package on the shoe rack, he snorted and replied loudly, "No need, just send me a barber."

By the time he left at one in the morning, his hair had been cut, and he felt refreshed. Seeing a scale by the door, he stepped on it to check his weight and measure his height.

Height: 1.78 meters; weight: 68 kilograms... hmm, this physique was quite good, fairly standard.

After leaving, he chose a trash can and threw away his tattered clothes from the wilderness space. In a big city, scavengers were everywhere and would make reasonable use of whatever they found, effectively destroying the evidence.

Then he chose a budget hotel, checked in, and slept soundly until he was woken up by hunger at ten-thirty the next morning.

Walking to the full-length mirror by the door, he looked at himself again and nodded with satisfaction, "Not bad, kid... I'm almost mesmerized by you."

This was, of course, narcissism, but in all honesty, ever since being struck by lightning, his changes had been significant. He had transformed from a slightly chubby, 150-pound, 1.73-meter-tall man into a standard, handsome guy at 1.78 meters and over 130 pounds.

His facial features hadn't changed much, just thinned out slightly, but when it came to appearance, as long as the features were balanced, it often just came down to one's spirit and vitality.

The same face, when destitute versus when brimming with high spirits, gives people completely different impressions.

Feng Jun could not be called devastatingly handsome, but he used to be a good-looking guy; with thick eyebrows, large eyes, and sharp features, he was definitely worthy of being called handsome.

After this wilderness expedition, his skin, which was not particularly fair to begin with, had darkened a little more, but between his brows, there was now an added sense of composure and weight, as well as... indifference and detachment.

It was precisely because of this that he went straight to a hotel after returning; he was worried that the old man who watched the door would notice something was off.

The only regret was that his pants were a bit short; should he buy a couple more pairs?

After thinking about it, he decided not to buy any for now—what if he was still growing, and they became short again in a couple of days?

Now, what he needed to consider was how to offload the jade and stones he had brought back.

The antique shop next to Li Dafu's place was a decent choice, but then again... that person knew he didn't understand jade.

Alternatively, he could ask Wang Haifeng for help; that guy had wide connections in Yang City.

However, Feng Jun didn't want to do that. Wang Haifeng was too familiar with him and would definitely be able to sense the obvious changes in him.

Moreover, he wouldn't be able to explain where he had gotten the jade—they knew each other's backgrounds inside and out.

How about... selling a few of the strange stones first?

Feng Jun pulled a stone the size of a goose egg from his bag, fiddling with it in his hand while walking aimlessly.

As he walked, he saw a "fast food restaurant," and his stomach couldn't help but growl.

He didn't have much interest in Western fast food, but it was eleven o'clock now; breakfast was finished, and lunch hadn't started yet, so this kind of Western fast food place was the only option for ordering a meal.

Furthermore, the foot traffic here was quite high; if he ordered a bit more and ordered a few times, it wouldn't attract anyone's attention.

So, he walked in, stood in line to order two burger combos, carried his tray, found a spot to sit, and buried his head in eating.

Sitting across from him was a young man and woman who had been whispering to each other, but upon noticing that the guy across from them was eating with such gusto, they couldn't help but look up.

Feng Jun ignored the pair. He felt his table manners were quite refined; he stared at his food without looking around, chewed without making noise, kept his mouth closed, and didn't make a sound when swallowing his cola.

Of course, he ate a bit fast, finishing one burger combo in five minutes, but... that didn't count as having poor manners, right?

In just ten minutes, he had polished off two burger combos, leaving only a cup of cola and a small bag of fries to hold his seat.

He stood up to buy more, feeling that carrying his bag on his shoulder was already conspicuous enough, and there was no need to hold a stone in his hand as well.

Thus, he placed the stone on the table.

When he returned with another two burger combos, he couldn't help but pause slightly: the young man across from him was fiddling with the strange stone he had left on the table.

However, the next moment, he felt relieved. Although the other party was a bit rude, he hadn't put the stone away and had just left it there, so it was normal for someone else to want to play with it.

Of course, he didn't feel very comfortable about it, which was inevitable, so he didn't greet them and just sat down to continue eating with focus.

However, before he had even taken two bites, he heard a clear voice ring out, "This stone is quite interesting. I want it; name your price."