Chapter 40: Man Proposes, God Disposes

When hunting a black bear, even if it falls, you must put another bullet into its head and wait ten minutes before approaching. That creature is cunning; it will play dead!

Lin Yang thought to himself that if a bear is this clever, this lynx, having lived so long, must surely possess a high level of intelligence. Furthermore, he had carefully observed the bloodstains left by the lynx and, based on his experience, judged that the blood loss was not yet enough to be fatal.

"So it really was playing dead!" Lin Yang cursed silently. He suppressed his inner impulse and remained motionless, his eyes locked on the lynx lying on the ground. After waiting quietly for four or five minutes, the lynx suddenly moved! It struggled slowly to its feet, swaying as it began to head toward the depths of the mountain. Every few steps, it would wobble, sometimes even collapsing back onto the ground, only to struggle up again and continue its staggering journey. It was a clear sign of excessive blood loss.

Lin Yang remained prone, watching the lynx silently. Even as it passed within a hundred meters of him, he did not make a move. Only when the lynx was about to enter the dense forest did Lin Yang crawl up cautiously and follow it in silence.

"Is this lynx trying to leave its territory?" Lin Yang frowned. He wanted a complete lynx pelt, which was why he had been reluctant to pull the trigger. But if the creature was truly planning to leave, he would have no choice but to act.

Thump.

The lynx seemed to have reached its limit. Struggling to leap onto a massive boulder, it failed, slammed into the rock, and fell heavily to the ground. It tried several times to get up but could not, letting out a series of mournful whimpers that sounded heart-wrenching.

Lin Yang let out a long breath and a relaxed smile appeared on his face. "Nearly an hour, and you can still hold on? You old fellow, you really have some grit! I want to see just how long you can last."

He felt confident now, yet he kept his gun raised, remaining vigilant. They were only a few hundred meters from the deep mountain with its towering trees. Once inside, the danger would increase exponentially, as fierce beasts often used such dense cover for ambushes.

Just as Lin Yang was focused entirely on the lynx, his expression shifted, and he turned sharply to the right. Simultaneously, a clear voice rang out in his mind:

[Target detected: Northeast Wild Boar. Do you wish to use Target Lock?]

Out of caution, he had kept the Target Lock skill active while monitoring the lynx. Lin Yang had been extremely careful while tracking, terrified of being discovered, yet he had never expected a wild boar to suddenly appear. This boar was massive—Lin Yang estimated it to be at least four hundred pounds. It had burst out of the bushes and come face-to-face with him.

Lin Yang felt his scalp tingle, and cold sweat instantly drenched his forehead. The boar was only ten meters away; its massive tusks, catching the sunlight, glinted with a chilling, hair-raising light.

*This is it!*

If it charged, he wouldn't even have a chance to hide! Lin Yang cursed his luck. With a boar, the standard procedure is to run around a tree or climb it. But at ten meters, given the boar's explosive speed, it would reach him in barely a second. In that second, what could he do? He would likely be gored by those sharp tusks before he could even turn around or get a foot on a tree.

In his previous life, Lin Yang had roamed these mountains and knew the habits of these beasts well. If one were to rank the danger of large predators here, the saying "First the boar, second the tiger, third the bear" was no exaggeration. The "bear" mentioned usually referred to black bears, but there were also more terrifying brown bears, known as man-eaters. Though he had never encountered a brown bear in his past life, he had faced black bears, and that sense of danger remained etched in his memory. As the saying goes, if a bear circles you, your chances of survival are slim. Bears are nearsighted but incredibly intelligent, and during the autumn fattening season, they will actively hunt humans. If you find yourself being circled, you are already the prey.

He never imagined that instead of being targeted by a bear, he would be cornered by a wild boar!

Lin Yang forced himself to stay calm, held his breath, and began to back away slowly. When encountering a boar, one must never make sudden movements; retreating slowly is the wisest choice. If the boar hasn't been provoked, it usually won't attack humans. Most incidents occur because humans provoke them first, triggering their ferocity.

As Lin Yang retreated, the boar seemed not to sense a threat and turned to bolt into the dense forest. Lin Yang had just let out a sigh of relief when he looked back and realized the lynx was gone.

"Oh no!"

The hair on his back stood on end. He realized the lynx must have spotted him when the boar appeared, given the commotion.

"Damn it!" Lin Yang cursed under his breath, filled with frustration. Man proposes, but heaven disposes. Who could have foreseen a boar ruining everything at this critical moment? He guessed the boar wasn't afraid of him, but had likely caught the scent of the lynx—the "second king" of the mountains, a predator that occasionally preyed on piglet litters. The boar had a natural fear of the lynx.

Lin Yang scanned the terrain. He had unknowingly neared the edge of the dense forest. The ground was sparse with grass but thick with trees, completely obstructing his view. Since the lynx had spotted him, there was no point in hiding. With the Target Lock active, the system would alert him within ten meters. The lynx was severely weakened by blood loss, so he decided to take a gamble.

He took a deep breath and bolted toward the open ground. As he ran, a noise erupted from the bushes on his right. The system hadn't triggered yet, meaning the creature was still more than ten meters away. Lin Yang ran frantically, intending to exhaust the lynx's remaining strength. His heart was in his throat, and a surge of adrenaline made him feel immensely powerful.

He didn't dare look back, but he could clearly hear the roars behind him—a sound like the call of death.

*Damn it!*

My luck is truly terrible today. I haven't caught any real prey, and after finally trapping the lynx, the wily creature is trying to drag me down with it even as it dies!

As he complained internally, the sounds behind him grew closer. Each roar felt like a hammer striking his heart. His chest burned as if it were on fire. He knew he couldn't stop, for the lethal danger was right behind him. He had to force the lynx to burn its last reserves, or he would be the one to die.

Just then, the system’s Target Lock alert sounded in his mind.