If it weren’t for how fast Matthias was running, Heather would have definitely not let him get away. Right now, she could only stare angrily at his back.
When they had finally arrived in the wild, they felt absolutely relaxed and free—which was the opposite of their usual selves—especially Matthias, who was now practically swinging from tree to tree.
In fact, the ladies of Bradfort City would be appalled to see him like this. Soon enough, Heather could no longer find any trace of him. She felt alone, but she was not at all worried about Matthias; she was only afraid that Leon would lose his way in this huge forest.
The sun was slowly setting, so it wasn’t as bright as it was at noon. Since it was also during wintertime, daytime was also much shorter than usual. Heather glanced at the time and estimated in her heart that the sun would completely set in a short while.
It was inevitable that they would have to drive in the night when they decided to go back. Heather got back into the car again as she noticed that the surrounding was horribly quiet, completely void of even the sounds of birds chirping or flapping their wings. She guessed that the birds might have already flown to the south during this time of year, and dusk was about to come.
It had been a long day today, and it was getting late. Around this time, the wilderness was a dangerous place to be. No one could tell where the ferocious beasts that hid deep in the forest and their whereabouts were. As soon as this thought crossed her mind, Heather couldn’t help but worry for Leon and Matthias.
Sigh. They’re too childish and stubborn to come to a place like this at this time. It was already getting darker when we arrived. Besides, they even wanted to go deep into the forest—did they really think they were hunters? Heather thought to herself while heaving a sigh.
The air around her seemed to have stagnated. Heather put the earphones into her ears, trying to distract herself from any unnecessary worries with music. She knew that in the face of the wilderness, there wasn’t much she could do anyway, so she prayed silently in her heart that Matthias and Leon would be safe.
Time passed by quickly; she still hadn’t seen either of them return, but the sky was getting darker every passing moment, especially since the sun rays were blocked by the tall trees in the forest, darkening the surroundings much quicker.
Seeing that it was indeed getting darker, to the point that it was hard to see the ground in front of her as dusk approached, Heather felt that this feeling was rather strange. After all, she was always busy with work, so she naturally would not notice these things. However, she happened to witness the entire gradual transition of light to dark of a day; no words could describe the feeling she had right now.
She held her breath to listen for any possible movements in the forest, but she still did not hear anything from them. Could it be that they have gone too far? she thought.
At this point, she could only stay where she was and wait for them to return. Heather couldn’t go anywhere in case they returned and didn’t see her, but the waiting process was unbearable. By now, she was almost counting the time for them to return. The sky had gotten completely dark, but there were still no signs of either of them.
As a matter of fact, she would have felt a little more at ease if either one of them had just returned. However, to her dismay, no one did, causing her to palpitate from worry.
Occasionally, the wind would blow at the grass and make a rustling sound, whereupon Heather would immediately cast her eyes out of the window when she heard the sound, in hopes that she’d see either of them.
Meanwhile, Leon had gone to look for food before Matthias, but in this vast forest, he didn’t manage to find anything to eat.
After all, Leon knew little about food ingredients, and he would only chase small animals around in an attempt to hunt them. Little did he know, there were many wild fruits and mushrooms that were also edible.
Matthias, on the other hand, was better in this respect. However, the wild fruit could only be eaten raw after washing. As for the wild mushrooms, they wouldn’t have much taste to it even after being grilled.
To roast a delicious meal, he would need to catch living animals. That being the case, there were certain skills needed in order to successfully hunt animals—he also knew that some animals couldn’t be hunted.
He wasn’t able to find anything suitable along the way. The two of them finally met in the forest and found that they were both empty-handed after taking a look at each other. Immediately, they let out a chuckle in unison.
“Did you manage to find anything?” Leon asked first. It seemed like he was not the only one who was embarrassed from not finding any food.
Matthias calmly replied, “I couldn’t catch any animals, but I saw a lot of wild fruits and some wild mushrooms along the way. If we really can’t catch any animals in the end, I guess we would have to settle our hunger with those…”
Although he did see a lot of things that could be eaten along the way, Matthias didn’t pick them up immediately, but instead simply made a mark.
“It took us so long to set up the temporary barbecue pit. If we really couldn’t catch anything to eat, I wouldn’t have the face to go back. And I can already foresee Heather laughing at us,” Leon said helplessly. By then, Heather would have a reason to tease and taunt them, so he had to catch something that could be barbecued no matter what.
“Did you see any small animals on the way here?” Matthias asked. There were even fewer animals during winter, and he wouldn’t know where they were hiding. Could it be that they’ve all gone into hibernation? Matthias thought.
“I did. But they ran faster than rabbits, and I couldn’t get close to them at all. Do you reckon we should set up a trap?” Leon suggested, since he obviously couldn’t catch them with his bare hands.
“That’s not necessary. The animals I saw on my way here are protected at the national level, so I couldn’t do anything. As long as I see animals that can be hunted, I will definitely be able to catch them.” Matthias was quite confident in his skills. Unfortunately, his luck was not so good, as he didn’t encounter any animals that could be hunted at all.
“What? There are protected animals here? So does that mean what we are doing here is illegal?” If Leon had known that this would be the case, he would definitely not have agreed to come here. He didn’t recognize those national-protected animals and could have very well killed them by mistake—that wouldʼve been bad news.
“No. Most animals here can be hunted. You’d better follow me to avoid making any mistakes,” Matthias thought for a while and said. Since Leon had no idea about such things, it was better for the both of them to stick together—this way, they would be able to take care of each other as well.
“Alright, then. I will follow you and hopefully bring you some luck!” Leon said with a smile. He saw many small animals running around a while ago, including several rabbits. Thinking back to what Matthias said about protected animals, Leon thought, We can hunt rabbits at least, right?
As soon as he said that, Matthias held his hand up immediately, as if he noticed something. “Don’t move. There is a rabbit right in front,” Matthias whispered, fearing that he would scare the rabbit away if he was too loud.
Leon immediately stood frozen and motionless, also fearing that he would scare today’s dinner away. “Stay right there. I’ll catch it.” Matthias didn’t plan to capture the rabbit with Leon, as he thought it would be enough for him to catch the rabbit all by himself.
Seeing that Leon nodded, Matthias started the hunting, and he flew straight in the direction of the rabbit like a sharp sword.
Leon looked at Matthias’ explosive power in amazement. He didn’t expect him to be so agile, and his speed was staggering. It was the first time he ever saw someone running faster than a rabbit; that was when Leon finally believed that Matthias was indeed more agile than Heather after all.
Soon after, Matthias returned with a rabbit in his hand, a triumphant smile hanging at the corner of his lips. Leon looked at Matthias admiringly. He sure is amazing! Leon thought to himself.
“Awesome. I am really impressed,” Leon said sincerely.
Matthias held the rabbit by its ears and replied with a smile, “It seems we’ve gotten our dinner sorted.”
Leon nodded vigorously. The rabbit that was in Matthias’ hand was really fat; it was enough for at least three people.
The next step was to get back. Leon had lost all sense of direction, so Matthias said calmly, “We will go to the left and walk straight forward. I left marks along the way, and we can pick up some wild fruits on the way back.”
Hearing that, Leon immediately agreed as his admiration of Matthias grew a little more. He didn’t expect Matthias’ survival skills in the wild to be so advanced.
“Have you had to survive in the wild before? It seems that you are very experienced,” Leon remarked casually, but it indirectly reminded Matthias of the training he had done in the Locke Family. There was indeed a program about survival in the jungle in the training before.
The reason why such a training was arranged was because, should they become an important figure in the family and face any danger in the future, they would be able to survive in the wilderness.
After all, Matthias had undergone much cruel training in order to climb to his current position. He once thought that the Locke Family was actually training him to be a special forces officer.
However, even if he was proficient in all survival and martial arts skills, accidents weren’t completely avoidable. Hence, Matthias didn’t think those training sessions were completely useful.
Upon hearing Leon’s words, Matthias only smiled and looked at Leon without answering his question. He had indeed undergone a special training, so the latter’s guess was correct after all.
“Well, it seems that I’ve guessed right.” Leon was even more certain. Although he usually acted ignorant, it was undeniable that he still had a keen observation.
“Did you see the shrub ten meters away from here?” Matthias changed the subject without a trace and pointed in a direction to show Leon.
Leon looked over curiously and saw many small red fruits growing on it. Meanwhile, Matthias continued to explain, “Those wild fruits are edible, and they taste a little sour and sweet.”
“Cool.” Leon nodded. “Will it be too sour? I don’t really do well with sour food.”
“You can go pick a few.” What Matthias said a while ago was to signal Leon to pick some fruits, but he didn’t expect Leon to be so clueless about his suggestion, so he explained it clearer this time.
“Huh? Why me?” Puzzled, Leon asked.
Hearing that, Matthias brought the rabbit in his hand over to Leon and said, “It’s not convenient for me. I have to carry the rabbit, you see.”
How could he not get what I’m trying to say? Matthias looked at Leon helplessly and thought. Why do I suddenly feel like he’s kind of dumb? Matthias began to question Leon’s IQ.
“Okay, I got it. Alright. Wait for me here.” Leon finally regained his senses, and he ran happily to the bushes to pick some wild fruits.
At the same time, Matthias reminded Leon behind him, “Be careful of the thorns in the bushes!”
As Matthias was speaking, Leon had already let out a wailing. It seemed that the thorns had gotten him as soon as Matthias warned him. At once, Leon’s face grimaced in pain and hatred.
Matthias couldn’t help but laugh at how clumsy Leon was. Compared to him, it seemed that Leon really lacked common sense in life.
On the other hand, Heather was still waiting anxiously in the car; it was her rationale that made her glue her bottom in the vehicle. Aside from that, she would occasionally get out of the car and get some air to calm herself down.
In her heart, she was complaining about how Matthias and Leon went straight ahead without bringing their mobile phones. Their phones were just lying in the car ever since they arrived, meaning they couldn’t be contacted now.
When Heather got out of the car once again and was walking in circles, Leon’s voice rang from the forest.
“I can’t hold them in my hand anymore. You still have an empty hand there; come and help me!” Leon had picked a lot of wild fruits and vegetables along the way. He looked very happy.
“I told you to pick less, but you didn’t listen. So, you are now responsible for what you picked.” Matthias obviously didn’t want to help.
Hearing their voices, Heather immediately followed and looked in their direction. Soon, Matthias and Leon walked over from the bushes, which made Heather overjoyed. There they are. Finally! she thought. She was looking forward to this for so long.
However, Heather didn’t greet them immediately. Instead, she only said contemptuously, “You guys took so long that it’s dark now—are you planning to camp here?”
