"Hmm… the east of the forest is so deep," Yang Zhang commented as he swung from one tall branch to another. It had been almost an hour since he left the Katarang and the dark lake, and he was yet to find the end of this lust forest full of tall trees.
If he used his hut as pinpointed location, he was probably around the southwest of this big forest. Since it was fast for him to find the highway and the mini-market on the west side, it took a while to reach Xi Feng and the Bronze cow village, probably not that far from his previous shelter on the south.
'So my hut is not really in the middle of the forest,' Yang Zhang thought. Because it took a while from his hut until he discovered that dark lake, and now it was even longer to reach the end of this long trip to the east.
'That dark lake is probably the middle of the forest,' he mumbled. He looked up and saw the sun wasn't on top of his head anymore. So he predicted that it was already around 3 P.M in the afternoon.
"We can't do this. We need to find a target location first," Yang Zhang said. "Ivy! Going up!"
"Vii!"
Yang Zhang went up with the help of Little Ivy and stood at the tallest tree branch they could find.
He squinted his eyes, looking to the east, trying to find a target location. Whether it was a town, village, or even a small hut, as long as he could stop for a while, that would be fine.
He continued looking around from the top of the branch and couldn't find anything, "Should we return now? But that means our journey would be a waste! What do you think, gang?"
"Vii!"
"Squeak!"
"Chirp! Chirp!"
"All of you want to continue adventuring? Hmm… let's just continue to the east. I hope we can find something," Yang Zhang said. He marked the tall tree to avoid going in a circle and then continued swinging for another hour to no avail until Little Ivy complained.
"Vii…"
"You're tired?"
"Vii… Vii…"
"Aish, at least let's find a place to rest first. It's about to go dark soon, and we're in the middle of nowhere. We cannot stay in the middle of a deep forest when the dark comes."
Honestly, Yang Zhang was just afraid there would be an unseen danger that he couldn't predict, like a wild animal, or even worse, mutated wild animals.
Zombies were the least of his worry for now because no zombies would be stupid enough to get strayed in such a deep forest.
Little Ivy continued swinging until they spotted a small cave, "Stop there, Ivy! We can hide inside that cave!" Yang Zhang said as he pointed at the cave.
"Vii!"
They stopped in front of the cave. Yang Zhang looked around and found the small cave, enough for them to rest for the day. But he still had to make sure, "Spicy Wing, ran inside and see what you could find."
"Chirp!" Lt. Spicy Wing bravely charged inside the cave, and its body regulated fire, making the little chick act like a small torch. Yang Zhang quietly entered the cave guided by the fire from Lt. Spicy Wing's body.
The cave was surprisingly not damp, and it could fit about three adults to sleep inside.
"Ohh, this cave is quite nice. It's definitely livable for the night—"
"Squeak!" Chestnut pointed at the deepest part of the cave and seemed to have noticed something.
"What?" Yang Zhang frowned when Chestnut continued pointing. He walked carefully, and he finally saw something.
A stack of dry branches and leaves created a comfortable big bed. It looked like it was recently used since there was a shape of the previous creature that slept on it. It showed Yang Zhang that the creature was probably twice his size. A fresh carcass of two birds and two squirrels bitten in half told him that the creature was a carnivore or omnivore.
Yang Zhang's eyes widened instantly. He knew the animal living in this place.
"We need to leave now," Yang Zhang said urgently.
"Squeak?"
"Chirp?"
"Y—Yeah, we seriously can't stay here for long. The animal living in this cave might return soon, and it is very dangerous," Yang Zhang warned. He grabbed Spicy Wing on the ground and quickly turned his body 180°. He rushed outside to leave as soon as possible before that wild animal came.
But when he finally emerged from the cave, he saw a big black bear growling at him right in front of his face, "Grrrrrr!"
"AHH!" Yang Zhang fell backward due to shock. The black bear found Yang Zhang's position to be that of prey, so it stood with two legs and growled even fiercer, "GRRRRR!"
"Ah, damn this!" Yang Zhang cursed as the big black bear twice his size attacked him with its claw. Yang Zhang quickly opened his palm and yelled, "IVY!"
"Vii!"
Little Ivy stretched her vines to grab a nearby tree trunk. She pulled Yang Zhang to avoid the bear attack, but the black bear realized that its prey was about to run away. So it growled and…
SNAP!
"VII! VII!"
The big black bear scratched the vines, and Little Ivy's vines were cut in half, sending Yang Zhang rolling on the ground, alongside Lt. Spicy Wing and Chestnut.
"Ouch! Ack! Ah!"
"Squeak! Squeak!"
"Chirp! Chirp!"
Yang Zhang felt his body hit the rock behind. The first thing he checked was Little Ivy.
"Ivy! Are you okay?!"
"Vii… Vii…" Little Ivy looked like she was in pain.
"You can't create new vines for a while? That's fine, Ivy. Rest for now."
"Vii…"
Yang Zhang looked at the black bear who shadowed him with its big figure, "GRRRR!"
Yang Zhang gritted his teeth, "Spicy Wing, Chestnut, gather to me!"
"Squeak!"
"Chirp!"
Lt. Spicy Wing and Chestnut returned to Yang Zhang despite a few cuts when they got thrown away, "Little Ivy has been injured. We cannot run this time, my friends. We need to win this, or else we all would be a bear snack!"