Chapter 9: A Different Kind of Prey

It was summer now. Before technology developed, people often sought cool shade in dense forests to escape the scorching heat.

The more trees there were, the cooler the place felt—this was the only thing people could understand back then.

It’s the same now, especially around Fuxing Town, where the forest ecosystem has remained like an ancient jungle from centuries ago. The climate here can only be described as bizarre.

Sichuan is a basin, and geographically it benefits from a warm, humid, and rain-rich environment. The dense trees trap the moisture, preventing it from fully evaporating. During the day, the trees absorb a huge amount of sunlight, pushing temperatures up to 32°C. But at night, the temperature can drop as low as 5°C.

Such extreme and harsh temperature differences between day and night mean very few people can enter the forest and survive for more than two days.

Of course, Kiana didn’t know any of this. All she knew was that if she didn’t get out now, things would be terrible for her. To be precise, things were already terrible.

“Someone, please save me!!”

She was trapped deep inside the forest in a pitfall trap. Covered in dirt and grime, Kiana’s orange climbing suit was half-soaked with mud, and her pure white hair was clumped together in patches, resembling the fish bladders fishermen use for catching fish.

The pitfall trap was about three meters deep—high enough to keep any creature from escaping except wolves or big cats. The top was camouflaged with a cover weighing about seven kilograms and baited with crushed crab and wild berries.

No wild fox in this area weighs over seven kilograms, so even if a fox came, it wouldn’t trigger the trap. Moreover, there were no foxes here—only wild boars.

In other words, this trap was specially designed for medium and small-sized wild boars. The person who dug and set the trap clearly understood the weight and desperate behavior of wild boars. Around the inside of the pit, many sharp spikes were set—causing Kiana’s agony.

Although she used her training and skills to avoid most of the spikes during the fall, the trapper was ruthless, intending to kill the prey by the fall. Because of this, three wooden stakes pierced her thighs and right calf, and even her arms were badly wounded by spikes.

She was immobilized. The severe pain and blood loss left the Valkyrie unable to do anything about the three-meter-deep pit.

How long had it been? She didn’t know. She’d lost all sense of time after fainting from blood loss. She only knew night had fallen.

Both blood loss and the cold made Kiana’s body weak and struggling.

“Someone… please save me.”

Dizziness and fatigue hit her again. This time, she didn’t have the strength or energy to resist, and unwillingly, her eyelids began to close slowly.

Her vision darkened, and even her hearing blurred.

In that fuzzy world, she saw a figure appear at the edge of the trap—a person who immediately jumped down from above.

The ground trembled faintly, and the sound of landing could be heard, but the girl, now barely conscious, couldn’t tell if it was real or a hallucination. She used her last bit of strength to raise her hand, trying to grab that person.

But like trying to hold a weight with a burnt matchstick that breaks silently, Kiana’s raised hand fell after barely half a meter.

Just like suddenly finding a campfire in the freezing cold, warm and reassuring—just like her hand felt at that moment.

Another hand grasped hers.

Real warmth, real touch, and the real him.

———————————

“Well, another one didn’t trigger.”

It was natural. No hunter expected rabbits or other animals to fall into a pit trap after just a few hours.

But his expression showed some frustration. If he didn’t catch food tonight, he’d have to go back to gather roots or pick mushrooms.

He’d been living like this for several days now, and his body desperately needed protein.

“Alright, there are still two traps left: a bamboo cage trap and a pitfall trap… Let’s skip the pitfall one.”

Thinking of the pitfall trap made him frown. He’d dug that one last year when he had time and plenty of energy. Worth noting, it had been there for a year and hadn’t caught a single prey.

With this in mind, he subconsciously changed his walking route, heading toward the bamboo cage trap.

The two traps weren’t far apart, just at different points on different paths. There were some old animal traces near the bamboo trap, but they were long gone. The path to the pitfall trap had a steep downhill section, safe to walk during the day but best avoided at night.

About half an hour later, he arrived about a hundred meters from the bamboo cage. Even in the dim light, he could see the green bamboo cage and a restless creature inside reacting to his approach.

“Today’s a lucky day.”

He said, and instantly his movements became agile and sharp, like a sleek black panther. Even at night, he could see clearly and sprint swiftly.

“Wow, wow! That’s a big one!”

The bamboo cage measured two meters long and 60 centimeters high—enough to lock up a full-grown adult. Inside, the black figure of the animal was restless and aggressive.

The thudding noise resembled two strong thigh bones clashing rapidly, but it was the sound of the wild boar biting and grinding its jaws in warning. He could even see the two tusks protruding from its lips shaking aggressively.

This boar was clearly warning him: it was no easy target.

“Buddy, I’m tougher.”

He approached the cage, each step provoking violent thrashing inside, shaking the cage.

But he wasn’t worried. The bamboo’s toughness and his weaving skill made the cage so strong that even a trained soldier couldn’t escape without tools.

Unless the boar had the intelligence to gnaw the bamboo away bit by bit.

Obviously, it didn’t.

“Quiet.”

As soon as he said this, he lunged at the cage. The boar sensed the predator’s intense aura and roared fiercely, shaking its head wildly and attempting to attack with its dagger-like tusks.

But the narrow cage prevented wide head swings, so he ignored the boar’s thrashing entirely.

The moment his hand touched the cage, it felt like a mechanical arm took control, and the shaking stopped instantly, despite the boar’s threatening sounds.

The next second, the boar fell silent.

Before the fog fully rose, under the faint moonlight, he plunged a short knife into the boar’s body, deep to the hilt.

A clean and quick stab to the heart. The boar didn’t even manage a death howl.

“Thank you.”

After wiping the blood from the boar’s fur, he pulled it out and said this to the corpse.

Soon, a smile appeared on his face. When he lifted the boar, he realized this big guy wouldn’t just fill him up tonight but would provide enough food for the next four days—enough for three full meals a day.

His happiness seemed a bit silly, but for someone who hadn’t eaten properly for nearly four days, it was pure joy.

Then a thought popped into his head: now that he had food, he didn’t need to conserve energy. It was time to check the pitfall trap that hadn’t been disturbed for a year.

“Let’s see. Today’s a lucky day. Maybe there’s something there too.”

With this thought, he headed to that spot. As usual, the downhill path almost made him fall while carrying the boar, but when he reached the trap, he was stunned.

From afar, he saw the triggered trap and felt moved—but when he got closer and saw what was inside, he gasped sharply.

“…Help me…”

The girl in the trap spoke.