It took me nearly ten days to build this set of equipment.

However, I think this time was worthwhile, and now I want to test its performance.

Of course, I couldn't possibly go find a real tiger to test how strong my armor was. The idea I came up with was to put the armor under a poplar tree and then throw a stone weighing about two pounds down from a height of ten meters.

This type of gravity-based falling object test is generally used to test the sturdiness of safety helmets on construction sites. For the same mass, the force generated increases with height.

A distance of ten meters is enough for a falling stone to generate a force of over ten thousand Newtons, which is equivalent to more than a ton.

This force is only greater than the force of a tiger's paw, so as long as I can withstand such a high impact force, my armor is safe.

I found a poplar tree, climbed about ten meters up, and threw the stone, which weighed about two pounds, onto the vines below.

The stone fell very fast, and at the moment of contact with the rattan armor, due to the enormous impact and the elasticity of the rattan armor itself, it was directly smashed and bounced up two meters high.

I climbed down the tree to check the extent of the damage to the vine armor, and I found that it was actually quite sturdy. Apart from some broken outer vines, the two inner layers of vines were still intact.

This only considers the rattan armor itself bearing the force of one ton. In reality, if those spikes were pulled up, the tiger might not even dare to exert the force of two hundred pounds out of fear.

I'm quite satisfied with this rattan armor. Now I can confidently explore the mountains east of the lake.

After I got back, I made a golden spearhead and attached it to my wooden spear. This made the spear, which was now heavier, even more lethal.

To increase the spearhead's sturdiness and lethality, I made it into a triangular shape with three blood grooves. Once it pierces the opponent's body, the triangular spearhead will drain their blood in the shortest possible time.

Those wild beasts had better be sensible and not mess with me, or I wouldn't mind killing them one by one.

My desire to explore those mountains grew stronger and stronger, and in the following days I began to prepare the necessary supplies.

A bamboo basket, finely woven from bamboo strips, is like my treasure chest. I have to use this to carry all my supplies. Bamboo baskets are lighter and can hold more supplies when carried.

A set of chopsticks and a bowl, a small gold jar, a razor, a bundle of woven hemp rope, dry tinder, a fire-starting goggles, and my leopard-skin raincoat.

Naturally, he also brought five or six water bottles, three of which were filled with fresh water.

I also brought a lot of dried fish and meat into my basket. To protect it from the rain, I even tied my leopard-skin raincoat to the opening of the basket.

After doing all that, I put on my tortoise-shell-like armor. I slung the basket over my left shoulder and picked up my upgraded spear in my right hand.

After taking one last look at my lodgings, I headed towards the mountains to the east of the lake.

Looking at the towering peaks, I sighed, "Finally, I can walk this path again..."

More than three months later, as I embark on this journey again, I can't help but feel a mix of emotions.

I walked very cautiously on the first day. The trees here were much bigger than the trees where I was staying.

I looked up at the dense, impenetrable canopy of trees, dozens of meters high, where only a few rays of golden sunlight could penetrate.

Because there are so many ancient trees that are so big that it takes several people to encircle them, there are hardly any weeds growing under the trees, and it is quite shady.

The forest felt eerie to me, and it's not easy to walk alone in such a place without a bit of courage. Luckily, I don't have claustrophobia.

However, this terrain further confirms my theory that tigers might be present here. Tigers are different from other large animals. They generally don't like to live together, except during the breeding season.

But I think their breeding season is over by now, which is one of the reasons why I waited almost three months before deciding to come and explore.

Tigers prefer to live in shady places with few obstacles, such as dimly lit primeval forests.

In this environment, their success rate in ambushing prey becomes higher.

Of course, besides tigers, you might also encounter vampire bats. In these dark forests, these bats may come out even during the day.

These bats themselves are not very dangerous, but they are hosts for several viruses, including rabies. Getting bitten by one and infected with these viruses is more troublesome than dealing with wild animals.

To be precise, I have virtually no chance against these viruses. If I get infected, there's almost only one outcome for me: death.

The dreams I had before seemed to be coming true one by one. On the first day, I arrived at the foot of the mountain, which can be considered the starting point of the mountain.

I didn't really notice it from a distance, but now that I'm up close, I understand what it means to "look at a mountain and run a horse to death."

This mountain was much larger than I had imagined, its towering peaks piercing the clouds. Although I didn't see any snow, I felt that the mountain must be at least two thousand meters high.

Because this is a primeval forest, there are no existing paths. So I have to explore everything on my own, which increases the time required.

However, I still plan to travel as quickly as possible. If all goes well, two days should be enough for me to travel back and forth through this mountain.

I soon realized how ridiculous my thoughts were. The danger here was far beyond my imagination, not as simple as I thought. This was not my peaceful home.

Compared to my home, this place was like hell, so much so that I didn't dare go near it for a long time afterward.

On the first day, I planned to find a tree to spend the night under. But the trees were all too big, and it was very difficult to climb them.

Even a ferocious beast like a tiger couldn't possibly hug and climb such a large tree.

Unfortunately, I could only find a relatively dry, low-lying rocky cave. This cave was an extension of a rock ledge, probably formed by wild boars or other animals digging through it.

I plan to light a campfire in front of this cave and then sleep in my armor tonight.

I thought that as long as I tucked my head and hands completely into my armor, those large beasts wouldn't be able to do anything to me for a while, but I was still naive.

I lit a campfire, then used that golden jar as a pot to cook some dried fish and wild vegetables, which I ate together.

Perhaps due to the day's trek, I quickly fell asleep in front of the warm fire, so much so that I didn't even realize when the fire went out.