Never Truly Tame
The wind has completely stopped.
After that brief battle, the entire forest was completely silent. The blood-soaked mud on the ground was flattened, and the Dark-Spotted Leopard's massive body lay prone in the mud, not yet completely stiff and cold.
Its nerves aren't completely dead yet.
Every few seconds, the back muscles would twitch suddenly, the limbs would unconsciously twitch slightly, and the fur would tremble slightly. The reactions of a dying animal's remains were rough, realistic, and completely devoid of any semblance of order.
Lu Heng stood two steps away, watching quietly.
Only now did he clearly realize his long-standing problem.
His body was no longer the same. With the Tiger Potion, the Flesh Core, and numerous life-and-death trials, his strength, reaction, and explosive power were more than enough to withstand the attacks of Black Iron Tier ferocious beast head-on, and even crush and kill it.
But my brain couldn't keep up.
Having survived alone for so long, his instincts have never changed.
When encountering a wild beast, the first reaction is always to retreat, hide, take a detour, and avoid conflict. Seven-tenths of one's mind is focused on how to run away, leaving only three-tenths of one's fighting spirit. One will only be forced to fight when one can no longer escape or is cornered.
To put it bluntly, it's cowardice.
It's not weakness, it's a habitual fear and timidity in one's mindset.
The beasts of the wilderness understand this best. The more you yield, the more they press down; the more you retreat, the more they dare to pounce.
Lu Heng let out a breath, finally feeling completely at ease.
This must not happen again.
If you have the strength, you should dare to confront and take action, instead of blindly avoiding war and being bound by old ways of thinking.
Having figured this out, he stopped and stepped forward.
The snow and mud underfoot were soft and slippery, and my shoes sank into the damp soil, making a soft squelching sound.
He walked to the leopard carcass and gripped the Bronze Hunting Blade tightly.
There was no unnecessary build-up of strength, no deliberate hype.
The blade landed steadily, edge down, delivering a final blow.
The movements were decisive and swift.
The convulsing body instantly stiffened and fell completely still. All remaining nerve twitches and dying instincts ceased.
Lu Heng glanced down at the cleanly severed life force, confirming that the creature was completely dead, then reached out and pulled the entire body of the Dark-Spotted Leopard into his Wristband storage.
After cleaning up the ground, leaving no bloody remains, he turned and walked deeper into the valley.
Having walked a short distance into the valley, before even reaching its core, the chilling aura around us suddenly underwent a subtle change.
It's not windy, it's not a change in weather.
The ambient temperature itself is slowly rising.
At the same time, the Geothermal Talisman on his chest showed a noticeable change for the first time.
This strange object has changed.
Since I got it, the Geothermal Talisman has been in a semi-dormant state. It slowly absorbs the surrounding free energy on its own, at a speed so slow that it is almost imperceptible to the naked eye. The energy bar is always empty and never fills up, and its inherent abilities can never be activated.
Normally, it stays quietly inside the body, and apart from the occasional slight warming effect, it has no other reaction.
But things are different now.
The further into the valley you go, the clearer the warmth of the Geothermal Talisman becomes.
The rate of energy absorption increases visibly.
Lu Heng paused, subconsciously glancing at the surrounding landscape.
Large patches of dark-colored mineral rock, iron ore, are exposed on the roadside slope. The ore layers are embedded in the soil, the rocks are rough and sharp, and a thin layer of frost and dampness has formed on their surfaces.
He didn't stop.
Iron ore can be mined anytime, there's no rush. Let's first explore the environment in the middle of the valley and figure out the reason for the Geothermal Talisman anomalies.
Let's delve deeper.
The closer you get to the center of the valley, the more different the surrounding atmosphere becomes.
The damp chill of the forest no longer seeped into the bones; a faint, warm aura floated in the air, not hot, but consistently stable. The magnetic field and Geothermal energy in the middle section of the valley were clearly on a different level from those in the surrounding woodlands.
It was precisely this unique environment that continuously nourished the Geothermal Talisman within his body.
The previously slow, almost stagnant progress of energy storage has now surged dramatically.
Lu Heng simply stopped his journey, slowed down, and wandered around the middle section of the valley to explore.
He carefully surveyed the surrounding trees, soil structure, and the patterns of Geothermal airflow.
The forest here is denser, but the Withered Branch leaves and branches are piled up thicker, the ground is soft, and it makes no sound when you step on it. The tree trunks are thicker, blocking most of the sunlight, making the forest darker, but the temperature is consistently warm.
During the ten-minute exploration, the Geothermal Talisman continuously absorbed heat.
A continuous stream of Geothermal energy and free environmental factors are extracted, precipitated, and condensed by the talisman.
The previously depleted energy reserves were gradually filled until they were completely saturated.
The moment the Geothermal Talisman was fully charged, a steady, warm tremor came from my chest, and the state was fully unlocked.
Just as the Geothermal Talisman was fully formed, a faint rustling sound suddenly came from a cave in the mountain not far away.
The sound was very soft, blending into the faint wind noise, and could not be heard at all unless you listened carefully.
Lu Heng instantly snapped back to reality and went on high alert.
He tiptoed and slowly approached the source of the sound.
The cave is not deep; it is an abandoned animal den with rough, dry rock walls. The entrance is covered by half-withered vines, and the entire interior can be seen at a glance.
It is an old lair left behind by Forest Rock Tiger.
There were no adult ferocious beasts or menacing auras inside the cave; only a small, dark shadow huddled in the deepest part of the cave.
A Dark-Spotted Leopard cub.
It was extremely small, covered in soft, downy fur, and its eyes were not yet open.
It clung weakly to the rock face, its head swaying slightly, emitting faint, intermittent howls. The sounds were immature and weak, utterly harmless, merely a primal instinct for survival.
Lu Heng suddenly understood everything.
Why did that adult Dark-Spotted Leopard at the valley entrance disregard its own life and forcefully launch a desperate attack on him?
It was neither a case of hunting out of extreme hunger nor a provocation without cause.
It's about protecting the offspring.
This nest is its nursery, where the cubs hide. It guards the outer edge of the valley entrance, and will desperately stop any outsiders from entering its territory.
After figuring out the cause and effect, Lu Heng stared at the cubs inside the cave, a strange emptiness rising in his heart.
He had been without any kindred spirits or Companionship for too long.
Day after day, I wander alone in the wilderness, fighting, traveling, and surviving, always by myself. Occasionally, when I see such a small, weak animal, a thought will involuntarily pop into my mind—if I had a companion, a living creature to follow me, perhaps it could alleviate some of the extreme loneliness.
But the thought only flashed through his mind for a moment before he forcibly suppressed it.
Reason is far more important than emotion.
In the past, short videos from around the world have explained that Leopard are wild by nature and can never be tamed.
Even if raised from a young age, their inherent bloodlust and wildness will always remain. During daily play and affectionate moments, a single mishap or a fright can result in scratching or biting their owner.
Even in peacetime, this would be risky.
In this post-apocalyptic world, it poses an even more deadly threat.
The most realistic point is that there is no rabies vaccine in this world, and no effective preventative measures.
What if I get scratched and infected by a ferocious beast cub? I don't want to gamble on whether it has rabies.
The risk is so great that it's completely unnecessary to gamble.
Furthermore, he knew in his heart that he simply did not have the extra patience to spend time and energy day after day taming a naturally bloodthirsty beast.
The pros and cons are obvious.
Lu Heng looked at the cubs still weakly calling out inside the cave, his gaze gradually hardening.
They cannot be kept.
Even if he softens and lets her go today, the mother leopard has already died in his hands. There will be no one to hunt and feed her, no one to protect and shelter her. Such a small cub can't even open its eyes, and it can't even walk or forage for food. If left in the wild, its only fate will be to starve to death, freeze to death, or be eaten by other beasts.
Releasing animals is not an act of kindness; it is letting them slowly and tragically die.
Rather than doing that, it's better to end it directly, leaving no future troubles and not giving it a chance to suffer.
Without further hesitation, Lu Heng gripped his Hunting Blade and ducked into the low entrance of the beast's den.
The movements were swift and decisive, without the slightest hesitation.
A few seconds later, the cave became completely silent.
The cubs' faint chirping ceased completely.
Lu Heng stood up, his expression calm and unwavering.
He did not collect the cub's body.
First, they are too small; their flesh, bones, and fur have no value whatsoever, making them not worth keeping.
Secondly, I still have that bottom line in my heart.
He may kill for survival or to eliminate threats, but he will not deliberately exploit the remains of the weak, nor will he scheme to use the corpses of defenseless young beasts as resources.
They can be killed, and deserve to be killed, but they are not despicable or greedy.
After cleaning everything up, he turned and left the nest, returning to the middle of the valley.
The warm air currents still surrounded him, and the full, warm sensation from the Geothermal Talisman his body settled steadily in his chest, putting him in an excellent state.
Lu Heng looked up and gazed deeper into the valley.