Chapter 58: After All, The Heart Remains Uneasy
Tonight, the full moon shone with a silvery brilliance, dressing the winter mountains in a shimmering cloak.
In the open space beneath its glow, three camping tents had already been pitched.
On the clearing before the tents, a poacher was adding spices to a suspended iron pot. Flames roared beneath, soon releasing a tempting aroma into the night air.
For Lu Chen, hidden in the dark woods, this was a long-lost scent, one that awakened dormant memories from his previous life: it smelled of braised beef.
Yet, he personally felt the flavor of pickled mustard was richer.
Inside the tents came a constant, low, hoarse growl, as if some animal’s mouth had been sealed.
Soon, two poachers emerged, their bodies steeped in a strong smell of blood. Lu Chen recognized the scent: it was from the clouded leopard.
One of them carried a massive golden eagle—it must have been its cries heard earlier.
This former king of the skies looked pitiful. Its proud talons and wings, which once soared above the clouds, were tightly bound with rope, stripped of all power to resist.
Its reddish-brown eyes were filled with confusion and terror.
The creature did not understand what these two humans intended to do with it.
Lu Chen saw clearly: the other poacher held a slender steel needle to the eagle's head in his left hand, while his right brandished a hammer.
Thud, thud, thud!
The sound was heavy as a drum.
The steel needle pierced through the feathers, into the muscle, into the skull, drilling into the brain…
The creature screamed in agony, unable to break free from the poacher’s grasp.
A few seconds later, the bald man pulled out the steel needle, a satisfied smile spreading across his face, as if he had just completed a perfect masterpiece.
Far off in the darkness, Lu Chen felt his limbs and body turn cold.
For some reason, the image of the suitcase at the bottom of Willow Lake resurfaced in his mind.
Animals kill for food and survival, but humans—their desires are nearly limitless…
“Bring me the knife.” The bald man spoke again.
“What are you doing, Brother Jiang?” the young man asked, puzzled.
“I’m going to cut out its crop. This thing’s a miraculous cure for stomach ailments. The buyer specifically asked, offering ten thousand for one.”
“That really is valuable, but won’t it ruin the eagle’s appearance? We mustn’t lose big for small. If we make a specimen and send it to the city, it could fetch hundreds of thousands.”
The young man added, worry flickering on his face.
“Relax. My skill is flawless,” the bald man replied, swiftly slicing the eagle’s throat with the knife and pulling out the crop, then began skinning…
His movements were deft, clearly practiced from many similar acts before.
Lu Chen’s original intention was simply to confirm whether he’d been caught by the drone. Now, anger had consumed him, a fire burning inside.
These men were utterly unforgivable!
He had always set himself a rule: to avoid encounters with humans as much as possible.
But now, that rule was broken…
After all, some grievances cannot be resolved.
Lu Chen moved his limbs, using the dark grass to conceal his approach, crawling silently toward the tents.
“Jingle-jingle…”
Less than twenty meters from the three poachers, his forelimb suddenly touched a fine, transparent wire.
Immediately, a swinging bell sounded.
Careless!
Upon hearing the noise, Lu Chen knew things had taken a turn for the worse. He never expected the poachers to be so vigilant, setting up warning devices around their camp.
The transparent wire was hidden in the grass, nearly invisible in the pitch-black night; he hadn’t noticed it at all.
“What was that?!” Almost instantly, the young man grabbed a powerful flashlight and shone it over.
He then shouted in astonishment, “What the hell is that thing?!”
The other two spun around, eyes wide.
In the harsh, blinding light, they saw a reptile clad in black scales, with sturdy limbs.
Its mouth was slightly open, revealing rows of dagger-sharp teeth. Its beastly eyes glowed crimson under the lamp, and in them—they seemed to see murderous intent.
Was it a crocodile?
Was it really a crocodile?
The moment the monstrous beast appeared from the darkness, they could scarcely believe it was real.
How could there be a crocodile in the mountains? It made no sense—too absurd!
Though they’d never hunted crocodiles, they knew such creatures lived by water. Deep in these mountains, they shouldn’t exist.
On this moonlit night, the cold wind blew.
Terror and disbelief contorted the poachers’ faces.
“Whatever it is, just shoot it dead!” The bald man was the first to react, urgently grabbing the shotgun by the fire.
They moved first, so Lu Chen could not be blamed.
In truth, up until the moment he was discovered, Lu Chen hadn’t really decided how to deal with the three poachers.
He knew that once he acted, it would mean breaking some kind of shackle, or some kind of resolve.
Seeing the bald man raise the gun to aim, Lu Chen moved.
Claws dug into the earth, he flashed forward, covering nearly ten meters in an instant.
The bald man fancied himself a crack shot—he’d hunted South China tigers, leopards, even bears in these woods, never missing, earning clients’ highest praise.
But firing at prey at such close range was a first.
Over two meters long, over a hundred kilos—a predator of this size charging at nine meters per second brought a crushing pressure that could break a man instantly.
He didn’t even have time to squeeze the trigger before a gaping maw appeared before him, the stench washing over…
His mind went blank, and then—there was nothing more.
***
The campfire slowly died out, the moon slipped behind clouds, and darkness reclaimed the forest.
The stench of blood spread on the cold wind.
Lu Chen checked carefully for anything left behind, then turned and vanished.
But he didn’t go far; instead, he hid in a tree within the woods, quietly watching the scene a hundred meters away.
An hour later, a lone wolf, drawn by the scent, appeared near the camp.
Cautiously investigating, it finally crept to the fire.
Then, it left again.
Lu Chen was not disappointed… If his guess was right, that was the elite scout wolf from the pack, responsible for finding prey within their territory.
Once it made a discovery, it would immediately return to report to the alpha. The wolf king would then gather its subjects for an assault.
A dozen minutes later, the grass opposite rustled, dozens of glowing eyes appearing in the night…
The stench of blood filled the darkness once more.
Seeing all traces he left being destroyed, Lu Chen finally relaxed.
He silently dropped to the ground, picked up the drone and phone hidden in the grass, and slipped away to a more distant spot.
At the riverbank, Lu Chen immediately smashed the drone and buried it in the river mud.
Next, he tried to unlock the phone, but luck wasn’t with him this time.
After several attempts, he gave up.
There was no signal here anyway; it was no different from a brick in his hands. He simply threw it into the river as well.