On a highway outside a dense jungle, a minivan was overturned. The vehicle was covered in dents and traces of animal trampling, its doors ajar, with clear beast claw marks around the locks. The bloodstains near the car indicated that the minivan had a terrible encounter prior.
After a long silence, the minivan's trunk was opened, and a young girl with a ponytail, dressed in sportswear, crawled out with lingering fear.
Her name was Fu Xuerou. She was traveling with friends when she encountered this situation. They were walking along this mountain road when, suddenly, countless wild beasts rushed out from the jungle. A disproportionately large gorilla casually flipped the minivan, and then the powerful beasts devoured everyone inside. The scene was unbearable to look at. If she hadn't reacted quickly and hidden in the trunk, holding her breath and remaining undiscovered, she would have already become beast dung.
"Those weren't just animals... they were monsters!" Fu Xuerou was a person with higher education. In her understanding, no gorilla could flip a minivan with one hand! "What should I do now? There's no human habitation for tens of kilometers around. Walking back alone might lead me to encounter those monsters again, and my phone was broken by them."
Fu Xuerou bit her lip, her mind in turmoil, thinking about what to do. If all else failed, she would have to risk walking to the nearest city.
"Oh dear, what happened here, did you get into trouble?"
A man wearing a ranger's uniform and carrying a saw emerged from the forest, looking at Fu Xuerou in surprise. The ranger had dark, greasy skin that seemed to reflect light.
Seeing a human appear, Fu Xuerou's tears immediately flowed. She had thought she was doomed. When she told the ranger about her experience, he wasn't surprised; instead, he acted as if it were normal.
"This is Mount Qiling. There have been legends of monsters since ancient times. Legends often stem from reality. There are indeed mutated animals here, but they generally don't attack humans. Perhaps you did something to provoke them."
Fu Xuerou said with disbelief, "How could that be? We were just driving normally."
The ranger thought for a moment and said, "Perhaps they don't like driving... Anyway, if they weren't provoked, they would never attack humans."
"Young lady, what are your plans now?"
After thinking, Fu Xuerou said, "Could you take me to a nearby town, or contact someone to pick me up..."
The ranger shook his head, turned around, and showed Fu Xuerou his back, which was covered in bloodstains. He then took out a broken walkie-talkie.
"I accidentally injured myself earlier, so I can't contact anyone outside. Someone will come to relieve me tomorrow morning at eight. You can return to town then."
"Tomorrow morning at eight..."
Fu Xuerou's face fell. She truly lacked the courage to stay here until eight the next morning. How could she endure the long night?
The ranger smiled and said, "There's a ranger's cabin not far from here. You can stay there for the night; mutated creatures don't appear there."
"Ranger's cabin..."
Following a stranger into an unfamiliar place to spend the night, Fu Xuerou would never have agreed under normal circumstances. But compared to staying in the wilderness overnight, risking being eaten by monsters, she chose to go with the ranger. At least the ranger was always smiling, giving her a kind impression.
"The paths in the forest are a bit difficult, please bear with it." After speaking, the ranger led Fu Xuerou into the forest.
Following behind him, Fu Xuerou asked, "By the way, I haven't asked your name yet."
"No need to know my name. I am a great benefactor," the ranger said casually.
A great benefactor, why not say you're Comrade Lei? However, Fu Xuerou was too dejected at the moment to bother criticizing others.
Following the ranger, Fu Xuerou grew increasingly suspicious. The ranger's back looked bloody and torn, yet he walked with such vigor that she could barely keep up. Driven by curiosity, she wanted to lift his clothes to see how badly he was injured. But as soon as her hand touched his clothes, the ranger nimbly dodged, preventing her from touching him. His expression also turned slightly cold.
Fu Xuerou then gave up on looking at his back. After all, she was going to stay at his place for the night and needed to get along.
As they walked, they arrived outside a pond about ten meters in diameter. The greenish water was clear, with faint fish swimming within. The ranger turned around and said to Fu Xuerou, "Alright, we're here."
"We're here? There's no ranger's cabin..." Fu Xuerou's words stopped abruptly, and her face turned to one of terror. The ranger bringing her to this place indicated that the story about the ranger's cabin was a lie.
So, was this the only thing he lied about? If the bloodstains on his back were real injuries, he probably wouldn't be able to stand. Yet, this person was still walking with such vigor... Perhaps this person wasn't a ranger at all but had killed the ranger and stolen his clothes!
"I'm so foolish. How could I have blindly followed a man deep into the forest? Now I can't even find my way back," Fu Xuerou thought with despair.
"Who are you, and what do you want?"
"Who am I..." The man's expression turned strange, and he spoke in a peculiar tone, "Didn't I tell you? I'm a great eel man!"
After saying this, his skin became oily and slick, turning yellowish-brown. He transformed into a giant eel as thick as a water barrel. Seeing this horrifying sight, Fu Xuerou couldn't help but scream and turn to flee. But after only two steps, she was dragged into the pond by a slippery eel tail. Two bubbles emerged from the pond, and it became calm again...
...
More than half a month passed in the blink of an eye. The outside of the window was pale; winter had arrived. Ten days prior, an express package from the Hunter Association had arrived for Wen Wen. Most of the contents of this package were bombs and firearms, enough to level nearby city blocks. If Wen Wen were not a wandering hunter, merely possessing these items would have led to his arrest by the federal government. After receiving these items, Wen Wen had them properly stored and then began studying the three secret manuals he had purchased.