Red wild fruits? Where could they possibly be?
Nan Feng cautiously made his way deeper into the mountain, scanning his surroundings as he walked.
The old Nan Feng, lacking intelligence, would have charged mindlessly into the mountain. Thus, he could never have pinpointed the location of wild fruits.
Moreover, could these wild fruits be available all year round, or could it be that the plants are merely flowering at the moment with no fruits yet?
Looking deeper into the mountain range, the expanse was dense with trees and unknown thickets. Although it had started with a path, the deeper he ventured the more desolate it became, with only barely navigable ways through the thickets.
Furthermore, he had to be cautious of the traps laid by hunters. A slight misstep could lead to being impaled on sharpened bamboo sticks.
Back when Nan Feng was at the Special Agent School, there were two to three wilderness survival trainings every year. The instructor would essentially leave them in the wilderness without food or a compass. They had to navigate using the vegetation around them.
On trees, the more lush side faced south while the sparse side faced north. On rocks, the southern side was generally drier while the northern side was often moist and covered in moss. Also, the tree rings on the northern side of the stump were denser compared to the ones on the southern side.
At the Special Agent School, Nan Feng had learned about various types of plants; which could be eaten, and which were poisonous. He had a vague idea of these distinctions.
Fortunately, he hadn't had a full meal in the morning, so he nibbled on the wild edibles while exploring.
Those four-leaved plants on the ground were edible, offering a sweet flavor within their sourness that was quite appetizing. A type of plant resembling a yellow orchid was also edible, and there were certain types of mushrooms too.
The villagers from the Da Ping village dared only to consume the black mushrooms and wood ear fungus as they didn't know how to differentiate between the poisonous and non-poisonous mushrooms. However, Nan Feng had scientific knowledge regarding this.
The fluid from a fresh mushroom stem, when torn apart, was clear like water and didn't change color if the mushroom was non-toxic. However, the discharge from a toxic mushroom was much thicker and changed color when exposed to air.
Nan Feng had quickly collected a handful of mushrooms, eager for a fulfilling meal that evening.
While he was busy foraging, he suddenly heard a rustling sound coming from the underbrush in front of him.
He was immediately alert.
They were deep within the mountain, and it was unlikely for villagers to be present at this time. The noise was more likely to be from aggressively dangerous animals such as wild boars or wolves.
Nan Feng had brought a short knife with him. With his previous body, he could have easily handled a wild boar, but with his current frail body, he had no confidence whatsoever.
He stealthily hid behind a big tree.
After hiding a while, the sound gradually came closer, much to his alarm, seeming to head in his direction.
Nan Feng carefully peeked out from behind the tree.
That moment, he could barely contain his excitement!
What he saw was a huge grey rabbit weighing almost three tael!
The sight of the rabbit made him savor the thought of delicious, gleaming rabbit meat on the table. Would he cook it braised? Cold? Steamed? or Hotpot?
He drooled at the thought of eating the rabbit today!
But in an instant, the rabbit noticed him as well. They both froze in surprise, the rabbit alarmingly scurried off, and Nan Feng immediately gave chase.
The rabbit was insanely fast, diving into the undergrowth at every opportunity, while Nan Feng stubbornly pursued. Unknowingly he had run quite a distance and hurt his arm on passing thorns several times.
Just when he was about to catch up with the rabbit, he lost his footing due to moss and tumbled to the ground.
"Ouch!"
He watched helplessly as the rabbit ran off with lightning speed, twisting his ankle, and spilling his collected mushrooms in the process. Panting heavily on the moss-covered floor, he felt utterly dispirited.
If only his body wasn't so weak, he would have caught that rabbit.
Nan Feng forced himself to gather the scattered mushrooms. Just as he was about to get up, he heard rustling sounds again from the bushes in front of him.