There are many more murals, and some of the images are like horns, each a mystery, requiring me to find the corresponding answers myself within these paintings.

That day, as usual, I was studying the patterns on the mural with a glow stick in my hand when Top came running into the cave from afar, squeaking and making strange noises, and came up to me.

"What's wrong, Top?"

Seeing Top's anxious look, I asked him a question with some doubt.

Top, however, didn't care about anything else and grabbed my hand, wanting to run outside. Seeing how anxious Top was, I followed it to the outside of the cave.

As soon as Top emerged from the cave, he pointed to the sky and then mimed a bird flying with his arms.

I knew Top wouldn't do these meaningless things for no reason. My mind went blank for a moment, and the first person I thought of was Pat!

“Top, you mean Pat?!” I asked in surprise.

Top immediately nodded to me, then pointed in the direction of a hill and squeaked.

I realized things might be a bit serious, so I've been holed up in the cave studying the murals lately.

Because of the rain, Top and Pat stayed around the cave and didn't go far. Plus, with so many locals around, I didn't pay attention to their whereabouts.

At that moment, I realized that Pat was not nearby, so I quickly called out to him twice, but there was no response. I don't know where Pat went.

Seeing Top pointing to a hill and shouting, I figured Pat had probably run up there.

Due to the heavy rains of the past few days, the tribe has no plans to go hunting. So we've been eating dried cave bear meat that's been soaked and then roasted.

Pat was already averse to dried meat, and having not had any fresh meat to eat for the past few days, he was probably hungry and wanted to grab something to eat from the neighborhood.

The situation is urgent; Top wouldn't come to me jokingly for no reason. They usually play together, so Top coming to me now must mean he's encountered some unsolvable problem.

Without a moment's hesitation, I quickly ran back into the cave, slung my own set of weapons and equipment over my shoulder, and then rushed out of the cave to Top, saying to it,

"Top, take me there quickly!"

At this moment, the young tribesman noticed that I looked visibly panicked and was holding a weapon. He greeted the people in the tribe, then grabbed his spear and ran after me.

The young indigenous people ran very fast and soon caught up with me.

When he saw that I was still running in one direction, he came to my side and gestured with sign language to indicate what had happened and why I was in such a hurry.

I didn't mince words and immediately pointed to the sky. I even made a circling motion with my arms to indicate that I was looking for the harpy eagle that had scouted the way for us.

Seeing this, the native immediately understood and nodded at me. Then he patted his chest and grinned at me, indicating that he was willing to help me find Pat.

I had no reason to refuse this indigenous person's kindness. The more people there were, the greater the chance of finding Pat.

Led by Top, we ran for about twenty minutes and arrived at a densely vegetated forest.

The trees here are mainly eucalyptus and some shrubs. Because the vegetation is quite dense, there are not many weeds and thorns under the trees, which makes our progress much faster.

Top, who was running in front of us, has now stopped. It is surveying the surrounding terrain, as if confirming something.

Top raised his head again, his movements somewhat like a hunting dog sniffing the forest, its nostrils twitching as it probed for scents.

Soon Top seemed to have discovered something and ran off in one direction. We didn't dare hesitate and quickly followed.

As I passed by Top's sniffing path, I noticed a touch of crimson on the leaves of a nearby bush.

My expression immediately changed. I quickly dipped my finger in the blood, smelled it, and then rubbed it away with my hand.

He breathed a sigh of relief; the blood was still fresh and had only recently congealed. Moreover, it had a strong, pungent odor, likely left by some wild animal.

Now I can at least be sure that this blood isn't from Pat, because I know that bird blood has a strong, rusty smell, not this gamey smell.

Perhaps Pat injured some animal during a fight, leaving behind the blood.

Harpy eagles, like golden eagles, are large birds of prey. At their limit, they can sometimes use the terrain to their advantage to hunt prey that is more than twice their own size.

For example, argali sheep weighing around 80 or 90 pounds that live on cliffs are not usually on their menu, since the prey is too big and their flying ability is simply not enough to carry it back to their den.

However, under extreme conditions, such as when food is scarce, they will risk attacking argali sheep that are foraging on the edge of cliffs.

Eagles and other birds of prey can reach speeds of over 120 miles per hour when they dive, generating a terrifying force upon impact.

If an animal like a blue sheep happens to be on the edge of a cliff at this time, it is very likely to be pulled off the cliff and killed by a high-speed swooping eagle.

I now feel that the injured animal in front of me is most likely a sheep or a deer. Pat hasn't been eating properly these past few days, so it's normal for him to risk attacking prey that is larger than himself.

With that in mind, I took out the survival whistle that summoned Pat.

If Pat is alright and nearby, I just need to blow the whistle I usually use to train him, and Pat should come running towards me immediately.

But this time I miscalculated. No matter how hard I whistled, only the sound echoed through the mountains. Patte said the shadow didn't even respond.

The young native standing nearby was clearly hearing such a shrill sound for the first time, and he was so frightened that he quickly covered his ears.

The sound that just now made my eardrums vibrate was more terrifying than the cry of any animal in this rainforest.

"No! There isn't any. Damn it, how is this possible!"

I turned around, surveying the surrounding terrain. But Pat seemed to have vanished into thin air, disappearing without a trace.

Just then, Top, who was also searching nearby, let out a sharp squeaking sound.

Upon hearing the shout, we quickly rushed towards the direction where Top was, and soon arrived at Top's side.

Seeing that Top had stopped, I looked ahead in confusion. What I saw almost made my heart stop.

I was so focused on getting there that I didn't notice where I was stepping.

Through the grass in front of me, I could see that less than half a meter away was an extremely deep sinkhole, and I was just one step away from stepping into it!