Chapter Twenty-Four: Life and Death Before the Precipice

The last few centimeters took more than ten seconds to traverse.

Contact! Capture selected.

The entire giant snake finally dissolved into light and vanished.

Notification: Capture successful. Material obtained: Female Green Anaconda.

...

His whole body felt as though he'd just bathed—soaked through with sweat, limbs drained of strength. Wu You knew he had to find somewhere to rest; in his current state, it would be reckless to continue exploring.

In this jungle, the only place that offered Wu You a relative sense of safety was up in the trees.

About a dozen meters from where he'd caught the python, Wu You found a wild fruit tree. He drank half a bottle of sports drink, ate an energy bar and a small piece of compressed biscuit, then lay comfortably along the trunk to recover.

After the danger he’d just faced, being eight or nine meters above the ground no longer felt intimidating. He reclined on a branch barely the width of a palm, his left leg dangling in the air.

It was clear that people adapt far more quickly than they imagine.

He’d hung his backpack on a branch three meters above the ground—it was too heavy and cumbersome to haul up to where he was lying.

Beneath the dense canopy, Wu You had no idea whether it was morning or afternoon in Beast Mountain. He didn’t want to waste too much time resting; dusk would bring greater danger, and it was best to finish everything before dark.

...

About an hour later, Wu You trudged on, each step laborious.

A torrential rain pounded down from the sky, drumming against the dense foliage until it seemed the whole jungle was consumed by that single sound.

Damn it! Not bringing a raincoat was pure folly, he cursed. Wasn’t this jacket supposed to be waterproof? Yet everything felt sticky and damp against his skin.

He grumbled inwardly, but kept moving. In the jungle, rain reduced visibility almost to nothing, but at least it seemed to drive predatory animals into hiding.

Yet now, what had weighed less than ten kilograms felt closer to twenty-five. Wu You wished desperately to fling his backpack away.

He pressed on, following the system’s navigation, the area explored on his three-dimensional map slowly expanding.

Marching toward the giant swamp monitor, he repeated his mantra of determination.

But after another half hour, exhaustion overwhelmed him.

No, to say he was “dog-tired” was an insult to dogs—he felt more like trampled dogweed.

It seemed the distance on the system’s 3D map hadn’t shrunk at all. On closer inspection—

Damn it, is this some kind of joke? The marker was moving. No wonder he was half-dead and still hadn’t caught up.

Not every animal was as sluggish as a giant python, nor did they all avoid the rain.

The giant swamp monitor happened to possess the two qualities Wu You now hated most.

What was the point? Better find shelter from the rain!

...

Huddled beneath a massive boulder that jutted out nearly two meters, Wu You clung to his backpack, shivering.

His clothes were soaked through, and his body rapidly losing heat. The moment he stopped, chills wracked him, though a little emergency food helped.

Not far away, he could see countless rivulets pouring down from higher ground, converging and rushing off into the distance—there must be a river threading through the forest.

Gazing out at the rain and the strange, alien surroundings, Wu You was seized by a profound loneliness, as if he’d been forgotten by the world.

The rain continued for another half hour before ending as abruptly as it had begun.

Wu You sat for two more minutes, ensuring the rain had truly stopped.

He had just started to rise when he froze.

From one side came the sharp slap of paws pressing into the mud.

Wu You had already spotted it—a brown bear, its massive frame filling him with despair. It sniffed constantly, nostrils twitching.

Suddenly, it noticed Wu You.

Man and bear stared at each other, less than twenty meters apart.

A deep scar marred the bear’s left cheek, leaving that eye half the size of the other—an old battle wound from fighting some other beast.

Wu You’s heart hammered above 180 beats per minute, his peripheral vision catching something on the ground.

Damn it, what an idiot—chocolate wrappers!

He had completely underestimated a bear’s craving for sweets. This bear had probably tracked him before the rain even stopped, led here by a sense of smell Wu You could hardly imagine.

As Wu You hesitated, unsure what to do—

With a roar, the bear charged.

There was no time to hesitate. Wu You kicked the food wrappers away, abandoned his backpack, and sprinted into the forest with every ounce of strength.

He could only hope the sweets would buy him a few precious seconds. He prayed fervently as he ran.

Vegetation whipped past, branches and vines slashing at his body, but he had no time to care. There was only one thought: escape.

Behind him, the sound of crashing undergrowth grew steadily closer. The bear had no intention of letting him go.

Hey, all the chocolate’s in the backpack—why not stop and check?

But no matter how he lamented, the distance between Wu You and the bear kept shrinking.

Suddenly, the forest opened up—he’d reached the river cutting through the woods.

A thunderous roar from the bear behind.

Almost on instinct, Wu You hurled himself forward.

There was a ripping sound as claws tore the back of his jacket.

With a burning sensation across his back, Wu You plunged into the river.

The bear hesitated for a moment, then leapt in after him.

Its roar was now terrifyingly close.

But almost immediately, the bear paddled desperately for the shore.

A torrential rain had just ended—the river was now a furious, churning torrent, too swift even for a bear.

Wu You struggled to keep afloat, relieved to see the bear had given up the chase.

From the bank, the brown bear roared in frustration, pacing for several hundred meters before finally giving up. Wu You would never forget the scar around its eye.

But his own predicament had not improved. He no longer had the strength to fight the current, which swept him downstream.

The dense forest on either bank sped by, the sound of the river ahead growing louder and louder.

Wu You was nearly spent. He could only see foaming water ahead, but he knew—a waterfall waited.

In the final moment, just before the river hurled him over the edge, Wu You summoned every last bit of strength and roared skyward.

“Just wait! I swear I’ll get you for this!!”

Somehow, his voice thundered out, echoing like a great bell.

With a splash, his body plunged from the falls, the sound swallowed by the roar of water.

...

The waterfall was more than ten meters high. Wu You lost consciousness the instant he hit the water.

His body tumbled along the riverbed, battered by rocks, before buoyancy finally turned him face-up on the surface.

Drawn by the faint blood seeping from his back, several slender, dark shapes glided from crevices below, drifting toward Wu You.

But as soon as they touched him, they vanished into light.

Even in his stupor, Wu You’s desperate will to live raged on, subconsciously commanding the capture of any creature that brushed against him.