Chapter 73

Probably because humans once lived in this area, even though the farmland has turned into a forest, there are still many fruit trees left behind. Without anyone to tend them, they grow wildly, but the fruits are still edible.

The fruits that the wild-growing trees bear in this season are not very appealing; many have marks from birds pecking at them, and quite a few are infested with insects.

Some branches have fresh breaks, possibly from animals in the mountains climbing and breaking them.

However, for Feng Yi, having something to eat is good enough. He doesn’t mind if the fruits have been pecked by birds or infested with insects.

Everything is for the sake of providing energy to his body.

After eating, his mood improved significantly, and he no longer felt the urgency. He could even flip a few more rocks to catch some reptiles hiding under the stones or in the crevices, like turtles.

Feng Yi found a small turtle by flipping a rock near a pond. He didn’t recognize what kind of turtle it was, but he could tell it looked different from the ones he usually saw, with two pairs of eye-like patterns on its head.

After catching it, he gave it to Professor Zhou for identification.

"Four-eyed spotted water turtle!" Professor Zhou was quite pleased. After asking Feng Yi about the specific location where he found it, he started sampling and recording.

"Feeling better?" Professor Zhou asked Feng Yi.

"Much better! You don’t need to worry," Feng Yi replied.

With more edible fruits, Feng Yi’s condition was slightly better than it had been a few days ago.

"That’s good. There are only a few more days left. If there’s no bad weather, I estimate we’ll be out in about three days," Professor Zhou said.

Hearing this, Feng Yi was even happier. In three days, he could eat meat again!

After getting out, he would eat meat to his heart’s content, making up for the nearly two months he had missed!

When he joined Team South 6 for the operation, Feng Yi didn’t plan to take the lead. The team members didn’t know each other well, and his movements were restricted, so he just played the role of a tool person, only stepping in when needed. Occasionally, he would help find snakes, but most of the time, he was passive. At that time, there was also Cheng Si and Steve, an experienced veteran, and the two worked well together.

Later, as everyone got to know each other better, Feng Yi had more freedom. Plus, he had to go out to find food to provide energy for his body, so the chances of finding targets naturally increased.

As the hunger became more severe and his body couldn’t keep up, he started to get lazy and reduced his activities. The team members thought Feng Yi wasn’t adapting well and were understanding, so they rarely assigned him tasks.

But now, as they approached the end, Feng Yi felt more relaxed. With more fruits to supplement his energy and the enhanced olfactory function from the contact lenses, he didn’t need to waste too much effort.

With the super-sensitive sense of smell, even if it was only one-third of its full function, it was still much better than an average person’s.

So now, Feng Yi was very efficient at finding fruits and catching targets.

The team members all thought that Feng Yi was just happy because the scientific expedition was coming to an end, similar to how students feel when they are about to have a holiday.

Indeed, Feng Yi’s mood was even stronger than that of students waiting for a holiday.

Feeling happy, Feng Yi worked even harder.

After handing over the four-eyed spotted turtle to Professor Zhou, he went back to flipping rocks and found another one.

In the evening.

The scientific expedition team also conducted night surveys because some nocturnal snakes only come out at night.

Feng Yi caught a small snake in the evening.

This small snake was a bit dazed and didn’t even try to run when he caught it.

Feng Yi didn’t pinch it; he just let it wrap around his hand and took it to Professor Zhou.

Professor Zhou took a look but didn’t immediately say what kind of snake it was. Instead, he asked Feng Yi.

"Do you know what kind of snake this is?"

"No," Feng Yi said.

"Don’t you know, and you still play with it?!"

Feng Yi: "… I’ve seen it before; it’s not venomous and not very aggressive."

Actually, he hadn’t seen it before, but he couldn’t say: I just knew it was a dazed type and posed no threat to me.

Professor Zhou didn’t know if he believed him. "It’s indeed not venomous. This is a blunt-headed snake, which eats snails and slugs."

He then looked at Feng Yi seriously. "Next time, be careful. Even if you don’t think it’s dangerous, don’t touch snakes you don’t recognize or understand! Even if they’re not venomous, wild snakes carry bacteria! If you get bitten and suffer a severe bacterial infection, that’s not good."

Feng Yi honestly replied, "Yes, I’ll remember."

A moment later, he found another dazed snake. The snake was stretching its front part, staring at him with big eyes, moving slowly and looking anxious.

Maybe it had eaten too many snails.

This time, Feng Yi didn’t catch it directly.

"Professor Zhou, there’s another dazed… blunt-headed snake over here! Should we catch it?"

Professor Zhou came over and took a look. "No need to catch it. Just leave it there; we’ll handle it."

Teacher Lei had already come over to take photos. Snakes in their natural environment look more ecological, and it’s always a bit awkward to take photos of them when they’re being held. It’s rare to find such a cooperative snake that doesn’t try to hide, so taking photos is great.

Steve observed the surroundings. "There should be more blunt-headed snakes nearby. If their numbers are high, they might attract some snake-eating snakes."

After a while, with Feng Yi’s intentional guidance, Steve caught a red-banded snake.

"Good luck! It’s a decent size," Steve said, looking at the red-banded snake.

After stabilizing, Steve explained to Feng Yi, "This guy eats a lot of things and is quite aggressive, even to its own kind. The pattern is really beautiful! Just a bit temperamental."

Although the scientific expedition was nearing its end, the harvest was good, and everyone was in high spirits.

With limited conditions at night, they couldn’t keep moving, and now that they had found a target, the team stayed put.

While Professor Zhou and the others were measuring and sampling, Feng Yi went to sleep. He couldn’t help much with those tasks, so he rested early to regain his energy and planned to get up early the next day to find food.

The next morning, while the others were still asleep, Feng Yi went to find food. He had smelled the fruit the night before but couldn’t move around conveniently.

It was just dawn, and the sun hadn’t come up yet. For most people, the light was insufficient, making movement difficult.

Feng Yi didn’t have such concerns. With the contact lenses, his vision wasn’t very good, so he mainly relied on his sense of smell.

He went out, found some wild fruits to supplement his energy, and then caught another snake.

He didn’t know what kind of snake it was, but it looked interesting, with horns above its eyes.

It was still dark, and after eating some fruit, Feng Yi returned to the team’s resting place with the snake.

By then, the sun had come up, and Professor Zhou and a few others had already woken up and were packing up.

"Feng Yi, you got up so early. Did you go to the bathroom? Be careful and don’t go too far… What’s that in your hand?!"

Professor Zhou dropped what he was holding and walked over quickly.

"Is it a horned one?!" Professor Zhou exclaimed in surprise. "It’s indeed a horned pit viper! There’s one here? These snakes are usually very secretive and hard to find. Where did you catch it?"

Feng Yi: "Just… nearby."

Feng Yi told him the location.

Professor Zhou’s smile faded. "The location you mentioned is not ‘nearby’!"

Since they needed to sample the discovery site, Feng Yi didn’t lie.

Judging by Professor Zhou’s expression, he would probably call Feng Yi over for a safety lesson when he had the chance.

Fortunately, Professor Zhou’s attention quickly shifted to the horned pit viper, and he didn’t have time to give Feng Yi a safety lecture.

In recent years, there has been little data on horned pit vipers in the Nanchong Mountains. After Professor Zhou contacted the research base, they took it very seriously.

Teacher Lei took some high-definition photos and sent them to the base.

Thus, when the Nanchong Research Base updated the expedition team’s progress on social media, it included photos from Team South 6.

These photos also included the blunt-headed snake and red-banded snake discovered the previous night, as well as the four-eyed spotted turtle found during the day.

People following the updates and those at the research base were all impressed: Team South 6 is becoming more productive as the expedition nears its end!

Cheng Si, who had been discharged from the hospital, felt a lump in his chest when he saw these updates in the morning.

Team South 6 had recently gained attention for catching a three-meter-long king cobra, and the Nanchong Base’s official account had gained many new followers.

Cheng Si’s live stream had indeed increased Team South 6’s popularity compared to other teams. After Cheng Si left the team, those who wanted to follow the reptile expedition updates could only follow the official account on social media.

Among those who followed the daily updates of Team South 6, a small group of people persistently left comments:

[Is the person in the photos who handles pythons and king cobras with bare hands the Snake Brother from Yueshan?]

The Nanchong Base did not respond to this directly.

However, the more they didn’t respond, the more people believed it was the Snake Brother!

Seeing these comments, Cheng Si felt even more frustrated.

He knew the truth but couldn’t say it. Originally, he planned to ride the Snake Brother’s popularity, but he was unexpectedly sent out before he could implement his plan!

When Cheng Si’s assistant brought breakfast and medicine, and saw Cheng Si browsing Team South 6’s updates with a bad expression, he comforted him, "Brother Cheng, don’t overthink it. A setback may turn out to be a blessing in disguise!"

This injury, under the team’s management, did bring Cheng Si some benefits.

However, Cheng Si still felt unsatisfied. He could have done better.

While Cheng Si was regretting his impulsiveness, the members of Team South 6, after collecting data and samples from the horned pit viper, began a new day of the expedition.

Feng Yi was counting down in his mind; in two days, he could go out and have a big meal!

At the edge of the protected area, there were already some signs of human activity. Logically, there should be fewer animals, but they still saw many animals.

Sometimes they would panic when they saw humans, while others remained calm or observed from a distance. The calm ones no longer saw humans as a threat.

With the strictest protection laws and environmental awareness campaigns, fewer people actively interfere with their lives. Their boldness has increased.

The sun was a bit strong today. At noon, Professor Zhou let the team rest in the forest and have some food.

After eating a biscuit, Feng Yi couldn’t sit still. He smelled the fragrance of wild fruits.

The food in his bag wasn’t enough, and what he had eaten in the morning had already been digested.

"Professor Zhou, I’m going for a walk."

"Don’t go too far!!" Professor Zhou said.

"Okay, I won’t go far this time."

The scent of the fruits was indeed not far away, so Feng Yi was confident in his response.

Following the scent, he picked some fruits, which immediately made him feel more energetic.

Feng Yi carefully sniffed the surrounding odors, looking for more edible things.

Suddenly, he caught a whiff of something.

This scent…

Feng Yi took a few steps forward and looked up.

The dense branches blocked his view, and with the contact lenses, he couldn’t see clearly. However, by the scent, he was sure there was something up there.

The tree trunk was thick enough to climb.

Putting down his backpack, Feng Yi easily climbed the tree and quickly found the object by following the scent.

A belt was securing a box to the tree.

Looking at the logo on the belt, it was a global luxury brand.

Under the strictest protection laws, global luxury brands no longer use real snake skin.

It was impossible for them to use real snake skin to make a belt!

So, it was definitely a fake!

However, Feng Yi didn’t immediately take the package down. Instead, he took a photo and went to find someone.

Professor Zhou and the others were discussing the project meeting after the expedition, and only Steve was nearby, looking for a small cute snake.

Just as he was searching, he heard Feng Yi’s shout:

"Ste—ve!"

Steve’s scalp tingled.

Since the last time Feng Yi dragged a python and shouted like that, Steve had become overly sensitive to Feng Yi’s calls.