Qin Ziwen frowned. "I'm not familiar with you. You have all your limbs intact. What does your husband being gone have to do with you not being able to go out to find food?"
Qin Ziwu chimed in, "My brother is right!"
After saying this, Qin Ziwen walked away directly, with his younger brother and Deng Guang following closely behind.
Watching his retreating back, Wang Juan's expression was complex. She clenched her fists, then weakly released them, finally lowering her head. After coming here and experiencing repeated setbacks, she had come to realize that the knowledge and social operating rules she had mastered in society seemed completely useless here. The rules here were more primitive, rougher, and more naked.
From beginning to end, Deng Guang hadn't voiced any opinion. Although he was kind-hearted, he wouldn't abuse his kindness. He only extended his goodwill to those close to him.
Leaving through the east gate, Qin Ziwen walked downstream along the riverbank. Out of respect for the crocodiles, they maintained a safe distance of at least ten meters from the riverbank.
Throughout the journey, his younger brother Qin Ziwu remained active.
"Brother, there are wild vegetables over there."
"I think I just heard monkeys calling."
"Be careful, there's a pit here."
"Wait, let me leave a mark on this tree."
Qin Ziwen looked up. Through the gaps between the trees overhead, he could see a dark gray figure slowly gliding.
He wasn't sure if it was his imagination, but he felt the Crowned Eagle seemed quite suited to the forest environment. Except for making some noise during takeoff, once it got into its flight rhythm, it was almost completely silent. Moreover, it moved quite skillfully through the trees.
Deng Guang took a power bank out of his bag. "My wife said you needed to take photos and would need a power bank. This one still has some charge left, you can use it first."
"Thanks, Brother Deng."
Deng Guang smiled warmly. "You're welcome."
After plugging the power bank into his phone, Qin Ziwen took photos at spots he deemed necessary along the way, then added notes to each photo.
The closer they got to the downstream area, the wider the river channel became and the calmer the water flowed.
On the river surface, a long black shadow passed by, which Deng Guang happened to notice.
He quietly warned, "There are crocodiles in the river."
Qin Ziwen nodded to acknowledge. "Mm."
Having crocodiles here was normal. Although they had killed some crocodiles over the past few days, it was almost impossible to make crocodiles extinct in this river section.
Qin Ziwen said, "The terrain here is gentle, and the water flows slower. This should be more suitable for crocodiles to hunt and survive."
"There are monkeys over there."
Qin Ziwu pointed to the opposite riverbank.
On the other side of the river, there was a banana grove with several long-armed monkeys wandering around. They had also spotted the people across the river but didn't seem frightened. Instead, they chattered loudly.
Qin Ziwu wondered, "What are they calling?"
Qin Ziwen said seriously, "They're called monkeys."
Qin Ziwu: "..."
"Thwack."
His head stung with pain. Above them, a monkey sat on a tree branch, holding a fruit in its hand, emitting sharp, short sounds. "Chitter! Chitter! Chitter!"
"Thwack!"
Another monkey from a diagonal angle also threw something.
Qin Ziwen dodged quickly. When the object landed, he saw it was a small twig.
Qin Ziwu cursed angrily, "Damn, these monkeys are driving us away."
Qin Ziwen looked at the monkeys overhead. "The monkeys across the river spotted us and sounded the alarm. The monkeys here received it. They're warning each other. Quite interesting."
The dense canopy overhead blocked the sunlight, which meant most of the forest floor was relatively dim. Fortunately, they were in an area close to the river, allowing sunlight to enter from the side.
"Big brother, let's go. These plague-ridden monkeys seem even more arrogant than the ones at Mount Emei."
Before Qin Ziwen could respond, the canopy above suddenly fell silent for a moment.
He instinctively looked up. A gray shadow carrying killing intent shot through the gaps between leaves, moving so fast it left only an afterimage.
The most arrogant monkey from before had vanished from its spot. Only a shrill, desperate shriek remained in the air above the forest.
The Crowned Eagle's claws clamped down like iron pincers, precisely gripping the monkey's shoulder blades and spine.
The tremendous impact sent the monkey plummeting downward, breaking through large swathes of leaves.
Using the momentum of the descent, the Crowned Eagle beat its powerful wings fiercely, made a sharp turn mid-air, and landed on a thick branch not far away. Its originally cute, goofy-looking eyes had turned cold and stern. Wherever its gaze swept, monkeys panicked and fled.
The monkey pinned beneath its feet weakly lowered its head, becoming a dying creature without a trace of its former arrogance.
"Screech—!"
The monkey troop exploded into chaos, leaping and scrambling through the branches, their cries filled with terror.
This was their first encounter with the Crowned Eagle, and they felt the kind of fear mischievous children feel when meeting a strict father.
"Plink."
A few drops of warm blood dripped down from the tree.
Qin Ziwu's eyes burned with excitement. He clenched his fist and pumped his arm. "Holy crap, that's so cool!"
He looked at his big brother. "This dumb eagle, no, this awesome eagle is too fierce!"
Deng Guang, looking up at the Crowned Eagle, instinctively prepared to run. Seeing Qin Ziwen and Qin Ziwu staying put, he urgently urged, "Run quickly! This bird is so fierce, don't let it target us!"
Seeing Deng Guang's reaction seemed genuine, Qin Ziwen asked, "Brother Deng, didn't Sister-in-law... tell you?"
"Tell me what?" Deng Guang was stunned, then suddenly realized. "Wait, was the one Xiao Mei went downstairs to help sew a backpack for this bird?!"
He had thought it was a small bird they'd picked up, like a sparrow or parrot. At the time, he found it quite amusing that they'd picked up a little bird from the forest to keep as a pet, even sewing a little backpack for it—so childlike.
Turns out it was this big guy.
Deng Guang marveled, "Your bird is quite big."
Qin Ziwu coughed violently, nearly choking on his own saliva.
Deng Guang realized his verbal slip and quickly corrected himself, "Not bird, eagle."
A moment of silence passed.
The three men looked at each other, then burst out laughing simultaneously. Sometimes, a bit of crude humor made their tense brains relax and their weary spirits feel relieved.
Containing his laughter, Qin Ziwen said, "Alright, it will help us observe if there are any large animals around. If there are, it will also help restrain them. Let's continue walking along the river for now."
After walking for another half hour or so, another Backwater Eddy appeared ahead.
This Backwater Eddy was quite large, with the river curving inward significantly.
The terrain here was gentle, with sparse trees along the riverbank.
In the Backwater Eddy, multiple large gray-brown backs were visible above the water surface, most of them submerged in the river.
Qin Ziwen became alert. "A hippo pod."
He took out his phone and took photos of the hippos.
Only these thick-skinned, chubby creatures could leisurely soak in this section of the river so fearlessly.
On the water surface, one hippo seemed to notice the humans not far away. It slowly began swimming toward them.
"Let's go."
Qin Ziwen decisively led the other two back. Hippos were irritable creatures with strong territorial instincts, posing no less threat than crocodiles.
"Let's stop exploring the downstream riverbanks here for now. Going further wouldn't be very meaningful at the moment."
Walking from the residential complex to this point had taken nearly over three hours.
The round trip alone would take at least seven hours on foot. Adding the time needed for hunting and gathering supplies, this was pretty much the maximum range for a day's hunting expedition.
On the way back, Qin Ziwen focused his main attention on the plants along the route.
Soon, on a gentle slope near the riverbank, he found three Gray Sweet Potato plants.