Before leaving, Jiang Xi specially took out the clothes the two of them had worn when they came to the forest: her knitted sweater and fleece pants, and Yan Zheng's black sweater and sweatpants. These clothes were tattered and worn out, and had long lost their original appearance, but they were indeed the two most comfortable clothes to wear at the moment.

These clothes were much more comfortable and close-fitting than the ones she had made of rattan fibers. They allowed for easy movement, and she even changed into the sneakers they had worn on the way there, so that she could move freely in the woods.

Yan Zheng observed the remaining footprints nearby and currently speculates that they were from the river upstream of the cave entrance.

Going upstream, the first thing they encountered was a mountaintop, and then they descended into a dense jungle, meaning they were heading deep into the heart of the mountains, into an area they had never been before.

Yan Zheng tied thick banana leaves around both of their legs, from their ankles up to their thighs, partly to keep out the forest dew and partly to protect them from snakes, insects, and ants.

As before, Yan Zheng carried a backpack and quiver, and walked at the front with an axe in his hand. He was responsible for tracking and clearing the way.

Jiang Xi carried a light down jacket on her back. She held a long sword in her right hand and used her left hand to guide her way with a tall wooden stick, on which hung a bamboo basket she had brought from the cave.

In late autumn, the most striking impression of the jungle is the sheer thickness of fallen leaves, layer upon layer, piled high. In fact, tracking is very difficult at this time; a gust of wind can easily cover up any traces left behind.

Fortunately, it had just rained for two days, and the mountain road was still a bit slippery. Any traces of large animals were quite noticeable in the mud.

Yan Zheng would occasionally squat down to carefully observe the footprints on the road, and sometimes he would suddenly call Jiang Xi to stop so he could listen carefully to the sounds in the forest.

Jiang Xi was also puzzled before, because she couldn't see anything, but Yan Zheng could clearly point out the direction.

As she observed more, Jiang Xi gradually noticed something amiss. Around noon, the mist and dew in the forest began to dissipate, and Yan Zheng suddenly stopped, using a branch to clear away the thick layer of leaves on the ground. Jiang Xi finally saw footprints longer than a human foot.

The four footprints, judging from the spacing, indicate the animal's size. The front and hind feet were about 1.67 meters long, and the four toes had four sharp hooks, deeply embedding four dark holes in the ground.

Just looking at it made Jiang Xi feel a chill run down her spine.

Yan Zheng examined the traces within a radius of about ten meters, and listened to the sounds silently for a while, but still found nothing unusual. Suppressing the strange feeling in his heart, Yan Zheng led Jiang Xi to continue walking forward along the traces.

Just a few dozen meters away, a dark figure emerged from behind the tree.

**

The two walked through the jungle until afternoon. The sunlight in the forest dimmed, and the entire forest appeared shadowy, adding to its eeriness and mystery.

Jiang Xi was already at her limit. Although her physical strength was better than before, she was still a little exhausted after walking in the mountains all day.

Considering that it was getting dark, there was no point in continuing to walk. If we were to unfortunately encounter that beast in the dark, things would only get worse.

Yan Zheng carefully examined the surrounding environment. This place should be on the edge of a mountain. They could see the opposite mountain from their position. About ten meters down from here, there was a mountain stream that was only one person wide. The view was open, there was a water source, and there was moonlight at night. It was a good place to set up camp.

Yan Zheng said, "Let's set up camp here. Tomorrow morning, we'll walk another three miles into the deeper area. If we still don't find anything, we'll turn back."

Jiang Xi finally relaxed and put down the down jacket she was carrying.

Yan Zheng looked up at the trees overhead, chose the thickest one, and took off his backpack.

He made several notches in the tree with an axe. After a day of running around, he was still struggling a bit in the tree. Fortunately, he was physically strong, with bulging muscles in his arms. The notches in the tree provided support, which saved him a lot of effort.

The tree is about one meter in diameter and about three meters from the base to the crown. The crown is dense, and many leaves have fallen in autumn, so it doesn't feel crowded when people go up there.

After Yan Zheng went up, he stomped on a few thick, horizontal branches to make sure there was no rotten wood before jumping down again and saying, "I'll sleep in the tree tonight. It's not safe in the forest. I'm afraid I might encounter some animals at night."

Jiang Xi looked at it for a long time: "Sleeping on a tree branch? Won't you fall off?"

"No, I'll make two beds out of vines."

Yan Zheng asked Jiang Xi to gather some branches from under the tree to start a fire and cook, while he took an axe to collect vines.

Most of the vine's leaves have withered and fallen, but their outer skin has begun to turn golden yellow. It becomes increasingly tough when pulled by hand, making it a good material for making hammocks.

He cut down about ten vines, climbed the tree, selected a few adjacent branches, and strung the vines across the branches. In just over ten minutes, two vine hammocks were made.

Most of the branches under the tree were soaked by the rain, so Jiang Xi could only pluck some dried leaves.

Their trip wasn't entirely fruitless; they traversed areas they had never set foot in before. Yan Zheng was in charge of tracking, while Jiang Xi was responsible for recording the terrain and vegetation.

Along the way, her basket already contained several kinds of red and black raspberries. There were also some wild mushrooms and wild vegetables, and she even found an octagonal tree.

Dinner was root and sweet potato porridge with some salt, wild mushrooms, wild vegetables, and raspberries as fruit. She also took out a bag of rabbit meat, lit some embers, and put the whole bag of rabbit meat on it to heat it up.

After the two had a simple dinner, it was already completely dark in the forest, and the dense jungle looked even more gloomy and eerie.

With Yan Zheng's help, Jiang Xi finally managed to climb onto the hammock after a lot of effort. Not to mention how messy and agonizing the process was, it was indeed quite difficult for her, since she had never climbed a tree since leaving her grandmother.

The view from the treetop is completely different from that from the ground. She initially thought the hammock would sway, but to her surprise, the vines on both sides were pulled very tightly, and there were also many vines used. Not only was it not dangerous, but even if she turned over, the tree wouldn't move.

Once Yan Zheng confirmed that she was safe, he took the backpack and the down jacket that Jiang Xi was carrying and climbed up the tree. He then took out the down jacket and covered her with it before lying down on the vine hammock next to her.

The woods were extremely quiet, with only Yan Zheng's breathing and the occasional birdsong in their ears. Both of them were exhausted.

Jiang Xi asked breathlessly, "Do you think if we can't find it, our house will be ransacked when we get back?"

Yan Zheng laughed: "It took so much of our meat, it probably won't be going out anytime soon. It's probably gnawing on our ribs in its den."

Jiang Xi felt a pang of regret at the thought, as it represented money they had saved up over the entire summer.

Yan Zheng, afraid she would overthink things, said, "Alright, go to sleep."

Jiang Xi lay on her back in the hammock, looking at the few bright stars in the sky through the shadowy tree canopy.

"Yan Zheng, I'm scared."

That's how people are. When they first arrive, they're afraid of him, and their attention is all on him, so they don't realize how gloomy and terrifying the jungle is.

Even though Yan Zheng was right beside her, lying alone on the tree made her feel a little scared.

Just as he feared, Yan Zheng reached out and grasped her fingertips, slowly stroking them together to intertwine their fingers: "Jiang Xi, will you marry me?"

He used to be reluctant to say these things, only thinking about being nicer to her, and even nicer. Promises are never as reassuring as actions.

For some reason, the closer we were together today, the tighter we hugged, the more afraid I became of losing her.

It seems that if we can make a few more promises at this moment, it means that the two of us still have a future.

Jiang Xi turned her head to look at him: "Oh no, your proposal is so insincere."

He laughed and replied, "Well, if I can get out of here, I'll buy ninety-nine roses, set up a circle of candles, invite my friends and family, and clap my hands as I ask you to marry me. Wouldn't that be much more sincere?"

Jiang Xi laughed and scolded him, "How vulgar!"

As she laughed, tears suddenly welled up in her eyes: "The mountain wind is my witness, the sun and moon are my proof, you can't go back on your word."

**

The next morning, just as dawn was breaking, Yan Zheng woke Jiang Xi up. The two climbed down from the tree, ate a quick breakfast, and continued their pursuit.

This time, Yan Zheng didn't just keep going downhill. He changed direction and walked two or three miles to the side of the mountain, but still couldn't find any trace. So he had no choice but to take Jiang Xi back the way they came.

On their way back, just as they passed the campsite where they had slept the night before, Yan Zheng suddenly stopped and made a shushing gesture to Jiang Xi, signaling her to be quiet.

Yan Zheng searched around for a few minutes before stopping in front of a pile of excrement and using a branch to clear it away.

"The footprints look like it, the feces are whitish, and it has eaten a lot of bones, so it should be it."

"Walk"

Sure enough, before they had gone a hundred meters, the two heard the roar of a wild beast.

Yan Zheng quickly hid Jiang Xi behind a tree, put down his backpack and handed it to her, instructing Jiang Xi: "Stay here and don't come out. If a fight breaks out, stay here no matter what."

Jiang Xi wanted to say something more, but seeing Yan Zheng glaring at her, she swallowed her words.

After saying that, Yan Zheng switched his right hand to a longsword, carried a quiver and a crossbow on his left, and walked towards the direction of the sound with a bent back.

You have to get closer to see clearly that the beast looks like a bear, with brown fur all over its body and four legs that are as thick as pillars.

Yan Zheng was too far away to see its claws clearly, but thinking of the footprints he had seen earlier, he felt a little uneasy.

Crouching low, Yan Zheng walked a short distance and picked up a few pebbles. He then climbed a meter-wide tree and observed the brown bear from above. Fortunately, he did not see any trace of another bear.

Yan Zheng aimed his bow and arrow at the bear's head, intending to shoot it in the eyes. Once the bear was blinded, dealing with it later would be no problem.

No, it's too far.

Putting aside his archery skills, just watching him aim makes it impossible for him to aim accurately.

You must hit it with one shot, otherwise, if you anger that thing, it will be troublesome to shoot it from a distance.

He threw a stone in front of the beast, which unexpectedly caught its attention, and the bear took a few steps forward.

Yan Zheng used the same trick again, throwing it once more, this time even closer, but fortunately the bear hadn't noticed him yet.

He had his arrow ready, his gaze fixed on the bear's eyes.

It's time.

call out.

Then the bear howled, and the arrow struck it directly in the eye, turning its face blood red.

Success! Yan Zheng breathed a sigh of relief.

This completely enraged the black bear, and its howls echoed throughout the forest, causing birds and beasts to scatter in all directions.

Jiang Xi hid behind a tree, and the sound made her teeth ache.

Seeing that the bear had lost its way, Yan Zheng knew he couldn't miss this opportunity. He raised his bow and fired several more arrows, but the brown bear struggled fiercely, and most of the arrows grazed past him. Only two arrows hit its leg and abdomen.

Just when Yan Zheng thought he had a chance, Xiong moved, and the two arrows on his body were easily shaken off like feathers.

He cursed under his breath, thinking that these stone arrowheads were really no good; they probably couldn't even fit a bear skin in them.

Not wanting to miss this opportunity, he drew his sword, climbed down the tree, and charged straight at the brown bear's neck.

However, the bear also sensed the danger. Despite Yan Zheng's agility, he failed to land a blow on the first strike, and instead, the bear's paw struck down directly at his vital point.

Everything happened too fast. Yan Zheng made a slight mistake despite his best efforts, but even so, his entire right upper arm was still cut twice.

The pain made his vision go black. Before he could react, a stench assaulted his senses, and the bear pounced on him again.

He could only hold his sword horizontally in front of him. Just as he had said before, this bear could punch through an iron plate. No matter how capable he was, he was helpless in the face of absolute power.

The black bear's attack lacked finesse. With an arrow stuck in its eye, it tried to bite the arrow but the arrow kept twitching back and forth, causing it pain. It could only attack with its claws. Yan Zheng was hit on the head, and his mind went blank. He must have been injured.

In the struggle, his hand touched the fallen arrow on the ground. Yan Zheng glanced at the bear's belly. It was grayish-white with not much fur.

He used all his strength to break the arrow, and holding the arrowhead in his hand, he thrust it straight into the bear's belly.

The bear was seriously injured and fell to the side. Yan Zheng seized the opportunity, mounted the bear, and plunged his sword into the bear's belly from the side. Then, with a swift stroke, Yan Zheng felt as if his hand was about to shatter. The bear's entire body was ripped open from the side.

The bear struggled a few more times before stopping.

Yan Zheng was riding on the bear, blood streaming down his head, arms and legs. Just as he was letting out a sigh of relief, he suddenly heard a scream from Jiang Xi's location.

Yan Zheng covered his arm and quickly ran to the tree where she was hiding.

No, there was no one there, and the backpack disappeared too.

He called out urgently a few times, but there was no response; there were drag marks on the ground.

Blood flowed down and smeared his right eye. Yan Zheng didn't bother to wipe it away. He picked up his sword and limped after him. He walked for an unknown amount of time until he reached a steep cliff where all traces disappeared.

He called Jiang Xi's name a few times, but there was nothing, only his own echo in the valley.

Yan Zheng knelt on the ground, his arms feeling as if they weighed a thousand pounds, his heart filled with grief.

Why let her out? What if we move? What if we run away? It's all better than this.

Who was it? Beast or human, they must have left a trace.

**

When Jiang Xi woke up, she was in a cave. The cave was small, only about ten square meters, and it was empty.

She felt a sharp pain in her head and touched something wet—it was blood.

Where is this?