Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
A fleet of four cars traveled along the highway, leaving Durban behind and heading northwest. After about a day, the highway disappeared, but they had to continue northwest. After another twelve hours on the road, Li Du and his company were stunned by what they saw. A piece of primal rainforest was before them. There was not even a dirt road, let alone a highway. Entering the rainforest in their car was impossible. Li Du said helplessly, “Musa, is your tribe so far away? How did you get to the Golden Grass tribe?” Musa replied, somewhat unintelligibly, “Some people stayed, or walking all the way.” “How much further is your tribe from where we are?” Musa shook his head, “I hab not been through dis road, hmm, hab to got in for look.” Chewing a piece of gum, Big Ivan said, “Boss, are we really going in? What about the car?” Li Du turned back to evaluate the situation. The place was deserted, and there was nowhere they could safely leave the car. Given the level of security in South Africa, there would not be so much as a trace of a tire when they returned. However, there was no other way. They had to search for the diamond crater that might be there. After some hesitation, Li Du said decisively, “Let’s try going in. Give it one day. If we go in for a day and still can’t find the pygmies’ tribe, we will go back!” “Leave someone behind to stand guard here?” Big Ivan suggested. Shaking his head, Li Du said, “Forget it, just drive the car into the rainforest and camouflage it somewhere. We will not leave someone behind. If someone wants to steal the car, then let them steal it, we would only lose some money. We won’t put anyone in danger because of money.” They drove the car into the rainforest. Brother Wolf, together with Big Ivan and Godzilla, started to camouflage the vehicle.
Wolf Brother chopped some small trees and vines. Then he secured the vines onto the net that they had brought along in the car, making what looked like an outer covering for the vehicles to stay in disguise. After that was done, no one would be able to see the cars unless they stood right next to them. After tidying up, each of them brought out a large backpack and a huge duffel bag. The contents were some daily necessities that would be their survival kit for their 24-hour long trip into the rainforest. As they went deeper inside from the borders of the lush rainforest, tall trees appeared by their side. Some were about ten meters tall, others twenty or even thirty. That area was isolated from the world outside and was primal and untouched. There were birds constantly flying above the group, and from time to time, they would startle some small animals. Brother Wolf and Ah Meow led the group up front while Big Ivan and Ah Ow brought up the rear. There were snakes and dangerous insects within the forest. Hence, every thirty minutes to one hour, they had to stop to apply a fresh layer of insect repellent all over themselves. Lu Guan was big sized, and yet a mosquito left a bite that swelled as big as a dumpling on his arm just because he had not applied the insect repellent in time. The mosquito bite was initially bearable, but after some time, it became incredibly itchy. Brother Wolf forbade him from scratching and sterilized his army knife before drawing an X with it on Lu Guan’s swelling. Some thick yellowish substance oozed out from the bite. “Malaria-carrying mosquitoes. Everyone be careful, keep the repellent on, don’t let the mosquitoes near you,” Brother Wolf said severely as he cleaned Lu Guan’s wound. It was challenging to trek through the primitive rainforest. Brother Wolf had to slash away the shrubs and vines and to scare away the insects and venomous snakes. He did it to the best of his ability to create an easier path for those walking behind him. At noon, Brother Wolf suggested that they take a break. They found a flat barren space in the rainforest. The land there was rather dry and there was a clear river running beside it. It was a pretty good place to put up their tent. Li Du and Sophie could no longer keep on their feet and sat down to rest at once. Picking up a strand of grass, Big Ivan laughed and walked over. “Very tired? This path is considered pretty smooth. The trek is tough, but at least there is a perfect site to set up the tents.”
Lu Guan, who was drained from all the walking, said as he panted, “Oh God, please let the rest of the road be better than this.” Musa did not rest. Upon entering the rainforest, his demeanor had changed. He was no longer fearful and timid, but had become confident and relaxed. Short and skinny, he was as agile as a monkey, expending little effort as he walked through the forest. While everyone else was taking a break, he did not rest but said, “I go see see, little bit familiar, I see before.” Li Du nodded, handing him a short knife, “Be careful.” Musa did not take the knife but looked at the Black Mamba crossbow that Li Du was holding. Li Du passed the bow to him and Musa took it cheerfully. He also took a couple of short arrows before leaving in light steps. Brother Wolf was in the midst of preparing food, combing through his backpack, when he suddenly stopped, motionless. “What’s up?” Li Du saw that he did not look right. Brother Wolf said, “I’ve made a huge mistake.” Anxious, Li Du stood up immediately. “What happened?” “I didn’t take the tinder!” Li Du was relieved. “I thought something really bad happened. Who has the tinder?” The group glanced at each other. Nobody had brought any tinder. Big Ivan said helplessly, “Brother Wolf, I see that you’ve led a comfortable life too long. You didn’t even bring the tinder?” Brother Wolf’s face darkened. Consoling him, Li Du said, “No biggie, at the very most, we can stop going further. Besides, we brought dry rations, we will be okay even without a fire.” “I have another way to start a fire, it’s just that I felt I shouldn’t have made such a mistake,” Brother Wolf did not lighten up. To him, this was a lowly mistake. Li Du had never considered the issue of tinder. There were diamonds, cash, pearls, various goods, water, and medicine in the black hole, but there was no tinder.
Brother Wolf looked up at the sky, and then he went to gather some dead tree bark and weed. After that, he started to grind the tree back using stone and dagger. Li Du said, “You are going to use friction to start a fire?” Shaking his head, Brother Wolf said, “No, there’s a simpler way.” After grinding the dead tree bark into powder, he took out a clean Ziploc bag and left to collect some clean water. Returning with the Ziploc bag, Brother Wolf found a suitable angle and rolled the Ziploc into a flat round shape, placing it above the tree bark powder. Seeing that, Sophie smiled. “You’re making a magnifying glass? That’s a good idea.” “What about night time? You can’t do that by moonlight,” Lu Guan said. Brother Wolf replied, “It’s even easier at night.” Not long after, the tree bark powder emitted some white steam. As the amount of white steam increased, suddenly there was a small flame. Upon seeing that, Brother Wolf quickly added some dried grass. Just like that, the small flame turned into a fire. Then they were able to use the fire for cooking. As they brought sufficient food, they did not have to hunt. Brother Wolf had been concerned that the blood from fresh game would attract predators. However, Big Ivan managed to catch a small edible freshwater fish. They used the seasoning that Li Du brought along to make a pot of soup with the fish. The soup made with the fresh wild catch was very delicious. Eating dry cake with the hot, steamy fish soup was even tastier than having canned meat. However, from the time they started preparing dinner to the time they finished eating, and even when they were prepared to go on, Musa never returned.
