"Crash!"—with a sudden noise, a soldier draped in a camouflage net sprang up from the ground beside the group of children. At the same time, another soldier swooped down from a large tree to the north.

The two of them quickly rushed toward the southern rainforest, searching for the children chasing the little tiger.

Chapter 0010: The Hundred-Thousand Great Mountains

In the northeastern forests, it’s easy for two people gathering wild goods together to lose sight of each other—sometimes just by turning around or crouching down. The terrain is extremely complex, and the tall trees and undergrowth can easily hide a full-grown adult completely.

But the terrain of the subtropical rainforest is far more complicated than that of the northeastern forests. In addition to towering trees, there are countless vines and thickets. An adult who barges in will be swallowed up immediately; as for two seven-year-old children just over a meter tall, they’ll vanish without a trace.

The two soldiers entered the southern rainforest, but after advancing just a dozen meters, they could no longer find any trace of the two children.

Here, it’s all thickets and vines, with the thickets alone standing over a meter high. The vines are so dense that there’s no path to walk through at all.

Of course, that’s for adults. For two small, skinny seven-year-olds, they can easily slip through the gaps between the vines, getting farther and farther away.

"Baby Duke! Edward Baldwin!" one of the soldiers roared in a voice like a lion.

The rainforest stirred; countless birds flapped away in a frenzy, and startled small animals scattered everywhere.

The sound traveled through the dense woods, echoing far into the distance, then faded away without a trace.

Deep in the rainforest, after running who knows how far, Edward Baldwin heard the voice and shouted to Baby Duke, "Baby Duke, stop chasing, someone’s looking for us!"

"None of your business." Baby Duke spun in place, muttering, "Kitty? Where did the kitty go?"

Edward Baldwin stepped forward and grabbed Baby Duke's hand, pleading, "Baby Duke, stop looking, that’s not a kitty, it’s a tiger."

"Tiger?" Baby Duke pouted disdainfully, "Crybaby, coward, you’re scared of even a kitty. That’s not a tiger, it’s a kitty!"

"It really is a tiger, I’ve seen one before." Edward Baldwin glanced anxiously at the towering trees around them and said, "Baby Duke, let’s hurry back. If we get lost, we’re in big trouble."

"I’m not going back, I want to catch my little kitty!"

Baby Duke shook off Edward Baldwin's hand and continued chasing ahead.

Unable to persuade Baby Duke, Edward Baldwin could only follow closely, gripping his military knife tightly. He knew that wasn’t a kitty at all—he’d seen tiger cubs before, even on nature shows.

The two children went farther and deeper, but unfortunately, they never saw any sign of the little tiger again.

"Awooo!..."

A piercing wolf howl echoed from afar, as if right beside their ears. The crowns of trees, over ten meters high, almost completely blocked out the sunlight, casting a gloomy, chilling atmosphere.

The calls from behind had long faded away; the two of them seemed to be in a world of unfathomable depth.

"Hissss..." A venomous snake, flicking its bright red tongue, slowly slithered down from a vine, staring intently at Baby Duke standing in front.

"Whack!"—a stick came crashing down, smashing the snake to the ground. Immediately after, a military knife stabbed into the snake’s head, killing it completely.

Pulling the knife out of the snake’s head, Edward Baldwin said anxiously, "Baby Duke, let’s go, this place is really scary."

With wolf howls in their ears, darkness all around, snakes in the trees, and scorpions, ants, and other crawling creatures on the ground, Edward Baldwin couldn’t help but feel a deep sense of unease.

"I’m not leaving, just not!" Baby Duke waved her little hand angrily and shouted, "It’s all your fault, all your fault, you scared my kitty away!"

Not catching the "kitty" put Baby Duke in a terrible mood. She pouted, cheeks puffed out, and snapped at Edward Baldwin in frustration.

"Baby Duke, how about I buy you one if we go back?" Edward Baldwin took a couple of steps forward, holding Baby Duke's hand and pleading, "Or two? Even three! Let’s just go back first, everyone must be worried."

Baby Duke turned around, hands on her hips, glaring at Edward Baldwin and shouted, "Who wants your kitty? I just want my little kitty, just that one! The ones you buy are stinky, I don’t want them. Even if you buy a thousand or ten thousand, I don’t want them, hmph!"

Suddenly, terror filled Edward Baldwin's eyes, and his whole body began to tremble.

"If you want to leave, go by yourself. You scared my kitty away. I hate you, you’re just a crybaby, a coward!" Baby Duke angrily kicked Edward Baldwin, acting completely unreasonable.

"Baby Duke..." Edward Baldwin stared with terrified eyes, swallowed hard, and said in a trembling voice, "Don’t move... whatever you do, don’t move... there’s something behind you..."

"What’s behind me?" Baby Duke asked curiously, but then grew even angrier, "Edward Baldwin, how dare you trick me, I’m really going to beat you up!"

"Oooh... oooh..."

A whimpering sound came from behind, followed by a waft of rotten stench.