Making Bait to Catch pangolins

Lu Zhe quickly broke off a gold ingot, preparing to smash it on the pangolin's head.

But at that moment, the thing in the bag had just finished absorbing, and the pangolin turned around satisfactorily and crawled into the cave.

The two hurried over to see what the pangolin had bitten through.

"This is..."

Shen Bing picked up the small bag, its contents already eaten clean, with only a drop dripping down.

"Lu Zhe, it ate your offspring!"

"What do you mean by saying it's mine, not yours?"

Shen Bing deliberately said with a tinge of sourness: "Hey, don't play the victim! This has nothing to do with me, at most it's yours and Ning Shu's!"

Lu Zhe was also helpless.

Not only was his and Ning Shu's TT livestreamed, but it was also a curiosity for various wild animals.

"But I don't quite understand why both gorillas and pangolins are interested in this sort of thing."

Lu Zhe sighed: "For gorillas, it may just be a curiosity about the unknown, but for pangolins, it's a craving for protein!"

"Yeah, too bad it ran away again."

"I should have used it as bait..."

At that moment, the two's gaze swept over the remaining supplies, and they simultaneously saw a few more small bags, and then unconsciously converged together.

"Will this method... work?"

"Hmm... at the cost of some physical exertion and protein, we can get a meal that will fill our stomachs..."

Shen Bing brushed a lock of hair aside: "Then... this is for the sake of survival, right?"

Lu Zhe nodded: "No other explanation!"

...

Three hours later, Shen Bing caught her breath and placed her finger on Lu Zhe's lips: "This is our little secret, don't tell anyone!"

Lu Zhe lay on the pile of gold and checked his watch: "Yeah, it's already past 12 o'clock, does this count as betraying Yao Yao?"

The two adjusted their emotions, and Shen Bing sorted out a small bag, smiling thinly: "To be honest, I'm a little reluctant to part with it, theoretically this is also protein, isn't it?"

"True, but it's too little, no different from an egg."

"Yeah, can't catch a pangolin with something so precious."

The two tied up the small bag and placed it not far from the small cave.

Then, the two lay in ambush at a distance.

Soon enough, the pangolin stuck its head out and crept towards the small bag!

Lu Zhe and Shen Bing exchanged a glance and nodded at each other.

Shen Bing picked up the gun, and Lu Zhe covered his ears.

"Bang!"

The gunshot sounded particularly loud in the enclosed space, and the bullet accurately hit the pangolin's armor. It cried out in pain, quickly curling up into a ball like a pine cone the size of a basketball.

Lu Zhe hurried over, took a rope, and bound the "pine cone" like tying up a big crab.

Upon touching it, the information "Malayan pangolin" entered Lu Zhe's mind.

Picking it up, however, was somewhat disappointing.

Over a meter long, yet only six or seven pounds, and who knows how much meat could be obtained from it.

Shen Bing coolly blew on the gun barrel: "Alright, we've got food, want to eat it raw?"

Lu Zhe took out a portable candle from a plastic bag: "Roasted pangolin with wax."

Three minutes later, another gunshot rang out, and the candle was lit.

Although they could only roast a small piece of meat at a time, it was already quite difficult given the circumstances.

"The key is how to open it up!"

Now, the pangolin had curled up into a ball, with its soft, vulnerable belly tucked in the middle, and its scales standing outwards, immediately reminding Lu Zhe of the Absolute Defense from Naruto.

Lu Zhe nodded: "No wonder it's a legend of nature. With no offensive power, yet such delicious meat, it has still managed to survive through natural selection in this cruel world! You see, this bullet only damaged half a scale, without being able to inflict a fatal wound on it!"

Shen Bing looked: "True, this thing's skin is so hard! Ah... how did you know it's delicious?"

"In the early years, when wildlife protection laws were not yet well-established, I heard that many wild game restaurants served pangolin meat."

"It seems that in the entire natural world, humans are its greatest enemy." Shen Bing sighed: "Should we use brute force to open it up?"

Lu Zhe shook his head: "Without specific tools, forcibly opening a pangolin would not only risk injuring ourselves but also be disrespectful to the pangolin."

"Then what would be considered respectful?"

"To let it open up willingly!"

"Do you have a way?"

"I don't know if it will work, but we can try!" Lu Zhe nodded: "Stand back a little."

Shen Bing stepped back slightly.

Lu Zhe waved his arms and began swinging the "pine cone" in circles, using the rope.

Like swinging a basketball in a net bag.

Shen Bing stared wide-eyed, realizing for the first time that this was what "respect" meant!

She watched as Lu Zhe swung faster and faster, causing the surrounding air to swirl and giving Shen Bing a slight sense of coolness.

After a good seven or eight minutes, roughly estimating about a thousand circles, Lu Zhe finally stopped.

He then untied the rope.

The pangolin quickly opened up its body, stumbling unsteadily, and began violently vomiting.

Its appearance seemed somewhat painful.

"Alright, now!"

Lu Zhe took his knife and swiftly stabbed it in the heart, then gently stroked its eyelids, helping it close its eyes peacefully.

Ten minutes later, Lu Zhe had sliced the pangolin meat into pieces and placed them on the blade to roast, and the aroma of meat soon wafted out.

And by this time, all their clothes had accumulated about half a bottle of water.

Although it looked a bit cloudy and had a slight salty taste upon sipping, it was ultimately drinkable fresh water.

"Let's eat the meat first, then let the water settle before drinking."

"Yeah!"

"We've accumulated some fresh water already, want to put our clothes back on? Looking at us, we kind of look like uncivilized wild people."

"The clothes can continue to collect fresh water, think about it - when you wring out a washed piece of clothing, it still drips a puddle of water! Since we can't go out now and can't find any other sources of fresh water, we'll have to make do with this for the time being and ensure drinking water first. We can figure out the rest once we escape."

Shen Bing thought about it, and that made sense.

After all, being frank with Lu Zhe, she didn't lose anything, did she?

"But we need to control ourselves, and neither of us is allowed to hit on the other. We should conserve our remaining energy for escaping, and not waste it on meaningless activities."

Lu Zhe nodded: "I agree!"

Because the roasting was slow, the two ate slowly as well. It took a full hour, using up an entire candle, before they finished the meal.

After replenishing their fluids and continuing on, Lu Zhe was soon delighted to discover new supplies.

An iron rod about fifty centimeters long, with a square hole in the middle, was stuck in a stone crevice.

The handle must have rotted away, leaving the hole.

This was an ancient pickaxe.

Next, he found a rotted shovel.

Lu Zhe was overjoyed; these were definitely more useful than gold, silver, or jewels.

According to his judgment, these must have been left behind by Emperor Jianwen's guards while digging tunnels.

Lu Zhe suddenly understood.

It wasn't that Emperor Jianwen was trapped here and unable to escape, but rather he had lost hope, deliberately blocked the cave entrance, and then chosen to die here.