Night without Borders

Chapter 4: Wild World
When the early night came, the tranquility was broken and every household was busy going to the fire spring to get the sun stone.

Qin Ming was ready to go at any time, fully armed with hunting fork, dagger, bow and arrow, etc.

He had already eaten the bread that Lu Ze had sent him, but he did not tell him that he was going out, for fear of being dissuaded.

Qin Ming didn't want to put himself in danger, so he planned to try his luck in a relatively safe area.

He thought about it for a long time and remembered a trace he saw in the mountains and forests in autumn. According to the habits of that creature, it should live nearby.

“I hope it’s still there and can surprise me.”

It gradually became quiet outside and no one went to get the sunstone anymore.

Qin Ming set off and met two villagers on the way. He greeted them with a smile and quickly walked away before the other party could react.

He passed by the fire spring and entered the dark world.

The environment in the wild was extremely harsh. Qin Ming walked through the snow with only the area above his chest exposed, and most of his body could not be seen.

The weather was extremely cold, and the white mist he exhaled formed frost on his eyebrows and hair ends.

Even in the early night, the sky and the earth were rather dim and objects in the distance could not be seen.

Qin Ming was holding a hunting fork and trudging along. It was not easy for him to move forward.

Finally, after walking about four miles, he approached his destination.

There was a dark mass in front of us; it was dense forest. Although there was still some distance away, the outline could already be seen.

Qin Ming's target is the edge of the forest and he will not go too deep.

He walked into the dense forest, one step deep and one step shallow. Except for a few species, most of the trees were bare and their branches were covered with snow.

Qin Ming stopped and carefully recalled the activity trajectory of the creature he had seen at the beginning.

He had spotted tree holes in the area, perhaps one of its nests.

"It's larger than its peers, and most likely mutated. If we can find its main nest, we should be able to reap a lot."

After a short pause, Qin Ming continued to move forward.

The forest was pitch black, with the occasional sudden cry of a strange bird making this uninhabited area seem particularly eerie.

Suddenly, Qin Ming's body tensed up, and he smelled a faint stench of decay, which was very abnormal.

He held the hunting fork in both hands, looked around, and was ready for battle.

Suddenly, he stabbed the sharp steel fork in his hand above his head!

He heard an unusual sound of wind and located the source of the smell, and at the same time he looked up and saw what it was.

A black shadow was hanging upside down on a tree branch more than ten meters high. It had a pale old man's face and swooped down and attacked Qin Ming's head fiercely.

It was truly terrifying to see such a scene suddenly appear in this lifeless jungle.

Fortunately, Qin Ming reacted quickly and noticed something was wrong in advance. He quickly used the steel fork in his hand to attack the creature in mid-air.

A sharp cry echoed through the forest, making people shudder. The creature did not rush down, but slid to the side when it was still several meters away.

As the cold wind blew, it spread its powerful wings and rushed into the night sky from the gaps in the woods. After circling for a while, it flew away and disappeared.

Although it was not very clear, Qin Ming still determined its roots.

The human-faced vulture is a scavenger bird of prey with a gray-black body. Except for the beak, its face is no different from that of an old man with wrinkles. Its weight generally does not exceed 40 kilograms.

Normally it would not actively attack living adults, only eating corpses. Is it because prey is hard to find at this stage that it is acting so abnormally?

Qin Ming was on guard cautiously and waited for a long time but it did not reappear.

The destination was not far away, so he couldn't just give up. He took a short rest and then set off again.

"It should be right here."

This area is dominated by larch, broad-leaved trees and white birch. Qin Ming was sure that he had found the right place. He found the tree hole he had seen before.

Although it was dark in the forest, he could still clearly see from a distance of several meters that the edge of the tree hole was very clean, which was not a good sign.

If that creature was dormant in a tree hole, in such severe cold, the water vapor it exhaled would definitely form some frost at the entrance of the hole.

It was impossible to say that he was not disappointed. Qin Ming frowned slightly. Could it be that the creature did not live in this area at all?

He took a deep breath and prepared to search carefully nearby.

He held the hunting fork tightly in his right hand and the dagger in his left hand, always maintaining a defensive state. After all, no one could predict the dangers in the wild.

Qin Ming explored and searched slowly, but didn't make any noise.

Half a quarter of an hour later, he saw traces of some animal on the snow, and he immediately felt that there was something going on!

Suddenly, a large patch of light rushed up from the mountains ahead, instantly illuminating the dense forest.

Qin Ming was startled, and then became very alert. He took this opportunity to carefully observe the surroundings to see if there were any large beasts lurking.

At the same time, he was quickly scanning the vicinity to see if there were any suspicious tree holes.

Soon, the bright glow disappeared, and the sky and earth returned to dark black again.

That is the "ground light" that evaporates from the fire spring deep in the earth. It appears occasionally. It is more common when the weather is warm, especially in summer. Sometimes the evaporation of ground light can last for one or two days, triggering celestial phenomena or bringing large rain clouds.

At that time, the dense raindrops accompanied by the haze made the sky and the earth look exceptionally gorgeous and beautiful.

For people living without daylight, that is the most beautiful sight.

The dense forest returned to darkness, and Qin Ming showed a bright smile from the heart, because he had just discovered another tree hole covered with ice flowers.

He moved slowly in the snow, and the slight sound was drowned out by the rising cold wind.

He tiptoed to a big tree as thick as a bucket, looked at the tree hole which was some height from the ground, raised his hunting fork and got close enough.

Qin Ming put down the hunting fork, then suddenly jumped out of the snow. He hugged the tree trunk and climbed hard. With his agility and speed, he came directly to the tree hole.

He swung the dagger in his right hand and hit the entrance of the cave, making a dull thud.

At the same time, a creature that was about to rush out quickly shrank back and was almost hit by the sharp blade.

Qin Ming didn't expect that he could really trap this creature in a tree hole. It was a pleasant surprise.

In his expectation, if he could find its main nest and take out all its stored food, it would be considered a success and would be a considerable gain.

There was constant movement in the tree hole, accompanied by urgent calls.

The entrance to the hole was not very big, and Qin Ming had a hard time reaching his hand in. He swung the knife repeatedly. This section of tree trunk had already dried up, and the hole in the tree became bigger after just a few swings.

He quickly took out a hide bag, put it on his hands, and started hunting animals.

Panic cries were heard from the dark hole in the tree.

Qin Ming put his entire arm in and felt it was bumped around. Fortunately, the animal skin bag was thick enough, otherwise he would have been bitten.

He grabbed the prey and quickly pulled it out.

He took out a piece of sunstone from his arms, shone it into the depths of the tree hole, and immediately showed a look of joy. There were wild walnuts, chestnuts, red dates, etc. inside, full of dry goods.

These are his main goals.

Being hungry is a very uncomfortable feeling. These dried fruits are enough to fill your stomach and are life-saving items. They make Qin Ming's clear eyes glow with a fiery brilliance.

He tilted his head and looked at the little animal in his hand. Its fiery red fur was silkier than satin under the shining sunstone.

This is a red squirrel. A normal individual weighs no more than one kilogram, but this one weighs more than two kilograms, and is obviously mutated.

It was gnawing at the animal-skin bag on Qin Ming's hand and wanted to escape but couldn't.

Its fiery red, crystal-clear fur is glowing all over its body, and its value is definitely not low.

Qin Ming took out a piece of wire, tied it up quickly, tightened it, and then hung it on the tree.

What followed was the joy of harvest. He took out handfuls of various dried fruits from the tree hole, and soon the shriveled animal skin bag began to swell.

Finally he weighed it and found it weighed more than eight kilograms.

Next to it, a mutant red squirrel was hanging upside down, its black gemstone eyes wide open, squeaking non-stop, as if it was extremely angry.

Qin Ming felt that it was insulting.

"You are so heavy. How can more than 8 kilograms of food be enough for you to eat during the winter?" Qin Ming hung it on the hunting fork and searched nearby with the sunstone in his hand.

The snow is very thick every winter, and these mutant creatures generally do not bury their food underground, otherwise they will not be able to find it themselves.

Sure enough, Qin Ming found a second tree hole nearby, and then a third one. Together with the first tree hole he discovered without frost flowers, they all contained "stored food".

He peeled a pile of wild walnuts and ate a handful of chestnuts. They smelled so good. Then he rubbed red dates with snow and ate five in a row. His mouth was full of sweetness.

Qin Ming was no longer hungry, and his delicate face was filled with a happy smile. These dried fruits were delicious and could solve his current predicament.

A cunning rabbit has three burrows, and this red squirrel with glowing fur has four nests, storing more than 30 kilograms of food. It is indeed a mutant creature.

Qin Ming filled half of the animal skin bag.

"Squeak..." The mutant red squirrel was struggling violently at first, screaming continuously. However, when it saw that all four nests had been found and emptied, it actually froze there straight and then stopped moving.

Qin Ming was surprised and shook it. Is this a corpse?
He had heard before that this mutated mountain beast had a physique far superior to its peers and was very intelligent, but it also had a bad temper. He had never expected that it could directly anger someone to death.

"It's just right. Little Wenrui said he wanted to eat meat. I can cook a pot of broth." He said to himself that he could fulfill the child's wish so quickly.

In Shuangshu Village, some villagers were discussing.

Someone mentioned that Qin Ming went to the wild fully armed. Looking at his posture, it felt like he was going to hunt large beasts!

Lu Ze also got the news and frowned. How could that kid risk going out alone? Could he be going bear hunting?
……

Qin Ming stood on the high ground and found that he was very close to the top of the mountain, which was a low mountain in the outermost area of ​​the dense forest.

Unfortunately, he searched for a long time but did not find any other squirrel holes.

He reached the top of the mountain and looked ahead. The forest was pitch black, and the towering mountains were only partially visible as blurry shadows.

There is actually a very bright area deep in the mountains, but it is blocked by the vast night fog, with only a little hazy light showing.

Qin Ming knew that it was a place of unknown, mystery and danger, and it was not a place he could set foot in.

(End of this chapter)