Chapter 25: Wild Fruit
The seawater in the stainless steel mug still needed a while to boil, so taking this time, Su Ran got up and walked toward the woods behind her.
Just now while picking up branches, she had spotted some wild fruit over there, some fallen on the ground with clear marks of being nibbled by animals, which should be edible, so she planned to pick some and bring them back.
The trees growing in this dense forest were very similar to the trees in the forests on Earth that Su Ran had seen before, but Su Ran felt that the size of the trees here was closer to the jungle in the northern hemisphere on Earth.
There weren’t many shrubs underfoot inside the woods, so the ground underfoot could be seen very clearly.
The fallen leaves underfoot were mostly heart-shaped leaves, somewhat like the leaves of poplar trees on Earth.
But the black, rough tree trunks growing around them were not the same as the white-gray tree trunks of poplar trees.
Because it was spring, most of the fallen leaves on the ground had fallen during the previous autumn, presenting a dry, dark brown color.
Su Ran walked in following the path she had taken earlier when searching for branches for the campfire, and when her figure completely disappeared into the woods, the werewolf who had been guarding by the campfire immediately perked up its ears, stood up, and followed with a few leaps.
After walking not far into the woods, Su Ran soon found the wild fruit she had seen earlier.
The wild fruit was a particularly vibrant red color, the fruits round, with very smooth skin that even reflected light under the sunlight.
The plants on which the fruit grew were very similar to strawberry plants on Earth, with large patches of green vines sprawling on the ground, blooming with small white flowers.
These fruits here surrounded a tree that had already died, growing in a large patch around it.
Su Ran guessed that perhaps because this tree had died, without the shade of its leaves, the sunlight from above the woods could shine down, allowing these fruits to grow and mature.
And on a tree not far from this patch of red fruit, there were also another kind of very large fruit growing.
These fruits were green, each as big as a coconut, and Su Ran was very doubtful how these fruits could grow so large in spring.
Moreover, these fruits should already be edible.
Walking under the tree, she could clearly see that some of the deep green fruits had already been nibbled halfway on the branches by some unknown animal.
And on the remaining half of the fruit, the flesh inside could be seen to be white, with a chestnut-sized black fruit pit in the middle.
The green fruit tree wasn’t very tall, and some of the lower fruits she could reach with her hand raised.
Su Ran used the tactical knife to cut down a few green fruits, handed them to the werewolf beside her, then continued walking deeper into the woods.
The woods were very quiet, with occasional glimpses of small animals leaping and running away between the grass and leaves.
Regarding the noises made by these small animals, the werewolf beside her remained very calm, which also indicated that these animals were not dangerous creatures.
After walking another five minutes or so ahead, the view in front gradually widened. Su Ran quickened her pace a few steps, pushed aside the branches in front, and discovered that ahead was actually a lake.
This was a freshwater lake, because there were a few four-legged animals drinking water at the lakeshore.
The distance was a bit far and she couldn’t see clearly what these animals looked like, but these animals’ body sizes were much larger than white-headed sheep, visually about the size of cows.
Su Ran noticed that after seeing these animals, the werewolf beside her started to get a bit restless.
The most obvious was its large tail hanging behind, which had begun to twitch restlessly.
So she silently took over the few fruits from the werewolf’s embrace, and under the werewolf’s doubtful gaze, raised her chin toward the animals at the lakeshore, signaling to the werewolf.
Receiving her meaning, the werewolf’s twitching tail suddenly froze in place, and then, Su Ran saw the werewolf hunting for the first time.
It was a complete overpowering battle of strength!
The werewolf didn’t even use the wings on its back, and from dozens of meters away, in just two or three seconds, it rushed to the back of the group of animals at the lake.
Even from a distance, Su Ran could still see the shape of the muscles bulging on the werewolf’s wheat-colored skin under the sunlight, fit, solid, and smooth. Compared to the exaggerated muscles on the bodybuilders she had seen before, the muscle contours on the werewolf were clearly more beautiful, each part perfectly proportioned.
The werewolf’s attack perfectly exemplified what is meant by “in the face of absolute strength, any technique is just flashy nonsense.”
The power hidden under those muscles made it look very effortless when it took down that four-legged animal.
Su Ran only heard that animal let out an extremely miserable cry—
That cry really sounded a bit like a cow’s moo.
Then she saw the werewolf press one leg firmly on the animal’s neck, making the animal struggle with its four hooves unable to move.
Then the werewolf raised its other hand and quickly slashed across the animal’s neck, and after a short while, the animal that couldn’t escape from under the werewolf’s leg slowly stopped moving.
Seeing that things had quieted down over there, Su Ran walked over holding a few green fruits.
Upon getting closer, she found that this animal couldn’t be said to just resemble a cow—it was almost exactly like one. The only difference was that this cow had no horns on its head, but instead had two slightly smaller ears behind its ears.
Seeing Su Ran walk over, the werewolf released the cow that was already dead from its grasp, stood up, looked at her with a smile and “wu wu”ed twice, its tail behind happily swishing.
Clearly covered in frightening bloodstains, but paired with the werewolf’s handsome face grinning at that moment, it inexplicably gave a silly and cute feeling.
After hunting this cow, the werewolf seemed to be in particularly good spirits.
After finishing its silly grin at Su Ran, it walked to the lakeshore and suddenly dove into the water.
Su Ran stood on the shore watching the werewolf’s actions; the blood on its body was washed clean by the lake water in no time.
However, she looked down at the green fruits in her hand and the thermos hanging at her waist, and silently stepped a couple paces to the side.
The lake water here had been dyed red by the blood from the werewolf’s body; she could only walk a bit further along the edge. She filled the thermos with some lake water, then washed the green fruits in her embrace clean.
By now the werewolf had also washed the bloodstains off its body and walked up from the lake.
It walked to the nearby open space, spread its wings behind, straightened its ears on top of its head, even raised its tail behind a bit, then suddenly shook its whole body violently a few times.
“Ah!”
Su Ran was startled by the water droplets falling from above, quickly dodging back.
She wiped the water droplets from her face, looking at the werewolf who turned to her with a puzzled expression upon hearing the sound, speechless.
Who could have thought that standing two meters away would still get her caught in the crossfire!
