Su Fan’s attention wasn’t on the middle-aged female director, nor did he care at all what she was thinking.
What he was really focused on was the situation in these mountain forests.
【No trace of the bat demon…】
The whole way here, his spiritual sense had been spread out, yet he hadn’t found a single sign of the bat demon’s movements.
The creature hadn’t fully taken human form yet, and since it fed on human flesh and blood, it would stir up a foul, stinking demonic wind whenever it moved.
Last night, when he was ambushed on the river, Su Fan had caught that stench.
Given that thing’s regeneration speed, one night would have been more than enough for it to rebuild its body.
Even if it hadn’t returned to its peak, it would have been more than capable of hunting other animals to fill its belly.
But there had been no activity at all, which made Su Fan couldn’t help but speculate.
Could the divine power of Demon Slayer have slowed down its regeneration?
No, that wasn’t right.
Anything touched by Demon Slayer would have necrotized before it could even be spat out.
The only reasonable explanation was that the wretched beast was worried Su Fan would track it down and wipe it out completely, so it had deliberately gone into hiding.
Clever enough, but that was as far as it went.
A cold sneer appeared at the corner of Su Fan’s mouth.
To recover from its injuries, it needed blood and flesh as sustenance.
The number of wild animals in the mountains would inevitably plummet because of the bat demon’s hunting.
And to a demon, human flesh and blood was far superior to that of dim-witted animals with no developed intelligence.
He didn’t believe this bat demon could really resist the urge to go after humans.
With that thought, Su Fan’s gaze shifted to Megan and the production crew behind her, and he spoke.
“Jacob?”
“I’m here. What’s up?”
“You mentioned earlier that the whole mountain forest has been used by them for filming recently, right?”
“That’s right.”
“Then we’ll camp near them tonight.”
Su Fan’s decision left Jacob a little stunned.
But he quickly came up with a reason for Su Fan’s choice.
Humans are social creatures — there’s always a bit of a reliance on the group.
Add to that the recent bear attacks that had everyone on edge.
There was nothing strange about Su Fan wanting to set up camp in the same spot as everyone else.
With more people around, they could at least look out for each other.
But before Jacob could agree, he heard Megan’s startled gasp in front of him.
“Master Su Fan, is something wrong with our production crew?”
The young, pretty actress looked at Su Fan with surprise in her eyes — and a hint of panic as well.
Su Fan was her savior, and Megan was certainly happy to run into him here while he was traveling.
But the moment they met, he suddenly asked to camp nearby, which inevitably made her overthink.
“Don’t read too much into it. There’s nothing wrong with your crew.”
Su Fan didn’t give a full explanation.
Megan would believe what he said, sure — but the rest of the crew definitely wouldn’t.
By then, she’d probably be ostracized by the others for acting strangely.
Hearing this, Megan finally let out a sigh of relief. She wanted to say something more, but the female director’s impatient urging came from not far away.
“Alright, that’s about enough catching up.”
“Don’t hold up the filming schedule!”
Helpless, Megan could only give Su Fan an apologetic smile and hurry to catch up with the group.
“Let’s go.”
Jacob spoke up at the right moment.
“Their filming spot should be just ahead.”
“That’s one of the few decent clearings in this mountain range, and there’s a small stream nearby.”
“If they want to film a wilderness survival show, that’s the best location.”
“We can move a little faster and get there before them.”
If they were a step late, the other party might come over and try to drive them off.
He couldn’t be bothered to look at that old woman’s face.
She’d taken over the mountain forest that belonged to the town’s residents without paying a single cent, and on top of that, she acted like she owned the place.
More importantly, he’d noticed the obvious hostility in the woman’s eyes when she looked at Su Fan.
What was that supposed to mean? She dared to give their honored guest attitude?
This made Jacob even more irritated with the middle-aged female director.
Understanding what Jacob meant, Su Fan didn’t say much and quickened his pace alongside him.
Setting Su Fan aside, Jacob himself was quite nimble.
The two of them moved at a speed that the large production crew couldn’t possibly match.
By the time the crew arrived at the clearing, Su Fan and Jacob had already set up their tent there.
Seeing this, the female director’s crow’s feet nearly disappeared from how wide she glared. She was about to march over and drive Su Fan and Jacob away, but a staff member beside her held her back.
“Calm down, Director… Don’t get into an argument with him. Did you forget about the man who was sent to the hospital?”
Hearing this, the female director immediately remembered the old man who had nearly passed out that day. She took a few deep breaths and held herself back.
“Then you tell me — the best spot in the whole mountain range has been taken by them. What are the contestants supposed to do?”
“This…”
The staff member was at a loss for words.
“Maybe I could go talk to him…”
Megan stepped forward and cautiously offered her opinion.
“Don’t even think about it!”
The director’s voice suddenly rose, sharp and piercing.
She leaned in close to Megan, as if trying to press her old face against the latter’s cheek.
“I know you’re acquainted with him, and I know exactly what he’s scheming. Let me tell you — dream on!”
Megan looked completely bewildered, having no idea what the director was talking about, but she was still frightened by the other woman’s expression — as if she wanted to devour her alive — and stepped back again and again.
None of the contestants nearby stepped in to help, either. Every one of them was just watching the spectacle.
In the end, the production crew chose a spot at the edge of the clearing.
Because the space was smaller, the filming results were less than ideal, which made the director resent Su Fan and Jacob even more for taking the best spot.
Su Fan didn’t pay the slightest attention to that kind of hostility. He simply boiled water and made tea.
Of course, he didn’t forget to pour a cup for Jacob, who had worked hard carrying the luggage the whole way.
After taking a sip, Jacob couldn’t help but sigh.
“Such fragrant tea… Where did you buy it?”
“Brought it from home.”
Su Fan drank his tea while keeping an eye on the activity nearby.
With filming officially underway, they naturally couldn’t eat snacks on camera, so the contestants had already begun heading out one by one to forage.
Megan was the same — except because she’d offended the director, many people were deliberately or inadvertently avoiding her, unwilling to be associated with her.
As a result, Megan became the slowest one in the group.
When it came time to tally the day’s results, she was eliminated without any surprise.
But Megan wasn’t particularly upset.
Ignoring the contestants who were chatting and laughing around the campfire not far away, she picked up her gear and headed straight toward where Su Fan and Jacob were, setting up her tent a short distance from them.
So what if she was eliminated? Out here in the wilderness, the sense of security those people gave her was less than a ten-thousandth of what Master Su Fan gave her.
During all this, Su Fan didn’t come out to check. He sat inside the tent and, under Jacob’s curious gaze, closed his eyes.
As winter set in, daylight grew short — especially in these mist-shrouded mountains.
Su Fan had only been cultivating for a shichen before night had fully fallen.
Fortunately, the weather at night seemed decent. The dark clouds in the sky dispersed, allowing the pale white moonlight to shine down.
“Were you practicing internal energy just now?”
Su Fan had just opened his eyes when Jacob, beside him, eagerly asked.
The perfectly pronounced “neigong” pinyin popped out of his mouth, which surprised Su Fan quite a bit.
“You know about internal energy?”
“Of course. Besides modifying cars, I like watching Bruce Lee’s kung fu movies.”
At this point, Jacob paused.
“Wait — you didn’t deny it? You really know kung fu!”
“More or less.”
Su Fan’s bland reply only made Jacob more excited.
“I knew it! The movies say people who know internal energy and lightness skill are agile, have great stamina, and can walk rugged mountain paths like flat ground!”
As Jacob spoke, his expression suddenly changed.
A talent from deep within his bloodline made him sense a change in the environment.
He sniffed twice and caught a beast’s stench hidden in the wind.
His ears automatically filtered out the laughter and chatter of the people nearby, picking up some different sounds.
Something was coming…
“Su, something’s off.”
Jacob lowered his voice and turned to look at Su Fan.
But he saw that the latter showed no sign of tension at all.
“I know.”
Jacob blinked.
“You know?”
“They’ve been eating and tossing food the whole way. The leftovers will attract foraging beasts.”
“I remember you mentioned there have been several bear attacks in your town recently, so…”
Su Fan’s words made Jacob’s expression change abruptly.
—
Beside the campfire, among the group chatting happily, a young man suddenly stood up.
“Where are you going?”
“Taking a piss.”
“Can you even hold your liquor? One little drink and you need the bathroom? Dude, maybe you should get your bladder checked.”
“Go to hell!”
After a quick curse at the guy who’d mouthed off, the young man went straight to a tree not far away to relieve himself.
He undid his belt and was about to go when, out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of a dark shape moving.
Through his drunken haze, the young man finally made out what it was in the moonlight.
In that instant, whatever urge he’d had completely vanished. He didn’t even bother pulling up his pants — he scrambled and howled as he ran back toward the campfire where everyone was gathered!
“A bear! There’s a bear!”
Hearing this, the others sobered up quite a bit and immediately got to their feet, on guard.
By the time the young man who’d gone to relieve himself rejoined the group, there was finally some movement in the bushes.
A brown bear — not particularly large — wobbled out from within, sniffing here and there.
Seeing this, some people relaxed.
Judging by its size, this brown bear was just a cub.
Most likely it hadn’t fully learned hunting techniques yet, making it far less dangerous than an adult brown bear.
After seeing the crowd gathered around the campfire, the little brown bear seemed a bit hesitant and retreated a few steps.
Finally, it stood up on its hind legs in an endearing manner and actually waved its paws at the people.
This gesture made them completely relax, and they returned to their previous chatting and laughing.
Some of the girls even found the cub cute and took out a bit of the canned food they had on them, tossing it over.
After eating the canned food, the cub was no longer as wary as before and gradually began approaching the group.
Its cautious demeanor and fluffy appearance won over what seemed like every woman present.
One after another, they started cooing in baby voices.
“I kind of want to go feed it.”
“Me too.”
“It’s so cute.”
“I’ve only ever seen them in zoos before, but that was through a fence.”
“This is my first time getting this close to a brown bear too. Honestly, it’s pretty adorable.”
The little brown bear seemed to sense everyone’s goodwill and raised its front paws again, waving at the people.
The earlier tension completely dissolved amid all the chatter.
The men boldly stepped forward, even stuffing their half-empty liquor bottles into the upright cub’s mouth.
When they saw it actually hold the bottle with both paws and start drinking, they immediately burst out laughing and egging it on.
“What are you doing?!”
It was at this moment that the director, not far from the campfire, suddenly noticed what they were up to and scolded them sternly.
But soon, she spotted the little brown bear hiding behind the crowd.
In that instant, the director was overjoyed.
Wilderness survival shows weren’t unheard of.
But encountering a large predator like a brown bear during a survival scenario? Absolutely unprecedented!
Sure, this was just an underage cub — but who cares?
With post-production video processing and editing, the cub could become a full-grown bear. The otherwise bland wilderness survival show would instantly transform into a thrilling program of wits and courage against a fierce beast!
This was a godsend of a highlight!
With that thought, she immediately snatched the camera from the cameraman and, ignoring his shouts behind her, hoisted it onto her shoulder and jogged forward.
And the cub indeed showed no sign of aggression.
But this scene made Jacob, watching from the tent entrance, extremely anxious.
“Are these guys out of their minds from drinking?!”
Where there’s a cub, there’s bound to be a mother bear nearby.
And a mother bear with a cub has the strongest urge to attack — extremely dangerous!
“You guys!”
Jacob finally couldn’t hold back anymore. He shouted loudly, trying to make those people realize how stupid they were being.
“Get away from there! It’s too dangerous!”
But before the words even landed, a stream of drunken curses came from not far away.
“None of your damn business!”
“Long-haired punk, I’ve been sick of you for a while. Who the hell do you think you are, bossing us around!”
“Hair like a girl and no balls — probably pissed your pants when you saw the cub, huh? Hahahaha…”
A stream of filth poured over from the other side, and Jacob’s tanned face flushed red with anger.
These bastards — they were courting death and wouldn’t listen to reason. Not only that, but they turned around and insulted him. Absolutely ungrateful!
Just then, a voice came from inside the tent.
“I told you, it’s useless.
A dog eating shit — don’t try to stop it. Otherwise, it’ll think you’re trying to steal its shit and bare its fangs at you.”
Jacob had to admit there was no more vivid way to describe the situation, but he was still visibly anxious.
They were bastards, sure, but he couldn’t just watch them die.
“Some things have to wait until they come begging on their own.”
The calm voice came again.
“Just wait. Soon they’ll come crying and pleading for help.”
