CHAPTER 38: CHAPTER 38: THE DISAPPEARED BLACK PANTHER HIDE

Twisting and turning.

Following the previous marks, Chen Wen ventured deep into the rainforest.

"Still here, and undamaged!"

Seeing the Black Panther hanging on the tree branch, Chen Wen’s face lit up with joy.

He walked up, glanced at the Black Panther’s body.

Quite a few bugs had crawled on the parts cut open yesterday.

Feeling disgusted, Chen Wen quickly took the Black Panther down and soaked it in water.

"Let’s quickly gut and skin it, take it back to the camp, the sun’s already out, if we leave it any longer it might just stink!"

Chen Wen said disdainfully as he cleaned off the bugs.

The Black Panther had been hanging all night, drenched by rain, and had bled a lot.

When Chen Wen skinned the Black Panther with a knife, not much blood came out.

The Black Panther’s skin, Chen Wen tossed onto the riverbank.

He felt it was useful, but didn’t know how to process it.

It would be a shame to toss it away.

As for the Black Panther’s innards, Chen Wen just took them out and tossed them into the river, letting them drift downstream.

Leaving them to rot on the bank, Chen Wen worried it might attract other carnivores.

Skinning and gutting took Chen Wen quite some time.

...

Downstream.

The group of men arrived at the spot where they fetched water yesterday.

"Let’s follow this path up, we’ll go in order, and be careful, stay alert to your surroundings!"

Yan Bian took on a leadership role.

Under his assignment.

The strong Zhang Hu led the way, Yan Bian was in the middle, followed by the sturdy Gan Tieshan at the rear.

The three were arguably the strongest fighters.

And with no one holding them back this time, their pace was swift.

Just as the three were walking briskly, Zhang Hu at the front suddenly stopped.

"What’s wrong?"

Yan Bian was puzzled but saw Zhang Hu pointing at the stream.

Following his finger, Yan Bian opened his mouth in astonishment.

"This is... you two stay still, keep an eye out around you!"

Yan Bian saw the clear water, sensed no danger.

Then with a splash, he jumped into the water and scooped up what was floating on the surface.

"Seems to be... some creature’s intestines!"

Back on the shore, Yan Bian ignored the disgust and showed it to the two men.

"Could this be human innards?"

Zhang Hu asked in his broken Mandarin, shocked.

"I don’t know, but if it were human intestines, they wouldn’t be this small."

Gan Tieshan, being slightly older and visibly more experienced: "It should be from an animal, and if it were human intestines, a Black Panther wouldn’t let them drift downstream."

"You should know, animals don’t waste food, especially on an island like this."

Yan Bian nodded, saying: "It’s highly possible that they both suffered injuries, and the group killed this Black Panther at the cost of getting wounded!"

"They’re probably processing the Black Panther by the water now."

"Let’s go! Let’s speed up, those who killed the Black Panther are likely still by the stream!"

...

After dealing with the Black Panther, Chen Wen hoisted the butchered meat over his shoulder.

No choice, holding it in his hands was too inconvenient.

Chen Wen carried the meat, slowly making his way into the rainforest.

Did he forget something?

Chen Wen patted his pocket, the Swiss Army knife was still there.

Seems like I was overthinking.

"Damn, this cold is really bothersome, my head’s not clear at all."

Chen Wen mumbled, shaking his head.

...

"This path is really long!"

The three men searching for the wildman never thought the stream would be this long!

"How long have we been walking?"

Gan Tieshan asked.

Yan Bian thought for a moment, said: "Probably about an hour, we took too many detours!"

This stream twisted and turned in the rainforest, making the trio suffer.

"However... we seem to be there."

Zhang Hu at the front halted.

He looked across the stream.

"The Black Panther’s head! And its skin! Seems like we are late."

Even though they expected the Black Panther’s death.

Seeing the Black Panther’s head shocked the three still.

"Isn’t that a Black Panther, why does it look like a tiger?"

Gan Tieshan curiously eyed the Black Panther’s head: "I thought panthers have small heads? To reduce wind resistance, run faster?"

"You’re talking about cheetahs, let’s go over."

Yan Bian jumped into the water, explaining to Gan Tieshan: "There are many types of panthers, this Black Panther is a melanistic Indian leopard, called a South China leopard, also known as a clouded leopard in our country, its head indeed looks like a tiger’s, but smaller."

Hearing Yan Bian’s words, Zhang Hu showed an expression untainted by knowledge: "Brother Yan is amazing, knows everything!"

"Hehe, I only know because of the information the program crew sent."

The three talked as they crossed the stream.

Checking around, they found an oddity.

"Here, seems to be a footprint, and only one person’s!"

Hearing Yan Bian, the other two quickly gathered around.

Beside the Black Panther’s head, the footprint on the ground was clear.

"Indeed it’s one person, the size of the footprint, the pattern is the same, this person seems to be wearing modern shoes, definitely not a primitive person."

Gan Tieshan analyzed: "Judging by those shoes, they seem like work boots? The pattern looks a lot like the non-slip shoes I bought before!"

Yan Bian was surprised: "Brother Shan, you remember the pattern?"

"It’s just from working on construction sites when bored, but these kinds of shoes are worn a lot by fishermen; they’re non-slip, waterproof, and quite cheap, just not very comfortable to wear."

Gan Tieshan said: "It’s likely as the program crew suspected, probably local fishermen came ashore to replenish fresh water or something, then encountered the Black Panther, killed it to get meat."

"Foreign fishermen sure are tough."

Zhang Hu couldn’t help but say: "One person can take down a Black Panther!"

Yan Bian chuckled: "That’s impossible, it’s just one person dealing with the Black Panther, last night it was probably a group of fishermen encountering the Black Panther, likely someone got injured, so they left immediately, and came back today to handle it."

"Whatever, in any case, there are indeed others on the island, just not sure from what country, communicate in English with them when the time comes."

Yan Bian shook his head, keeping it in mind.

"As for the Black Panther’s head and skin, let’s take them, the others discarded them here, probably didn’t want them."

Letting Zhang Hu and Gan Tieshan collect the Black Panther’s head and skin, the three started heading back.

...

"Damn, I knew it, I forgot the Black Panther’s head and skin!"

Chen Wen stopped in frustration.

After almost ten minutes of walking, he finally remembered.

"This damn cold... better drink plenty of hot water when I get back, hope I can make it through."

Chen Wen felt a bit anxious.

Getting sick in the wild is tough to recover from.

"If the Black Panther’s skin can be processed, it could be used as a blanket at night for comfort, and the head, its teeth can be made into a spear, I should go back."

Chen Wen turned back, figuring it wasn’t far, a few dozen more minutes of walking was manageable.

But when Chen Wen returned to the stream side.

His pupils narrowed sharply: the Black Panther’s head and skin were gone!