Chapter 60: A False Alarm

When it came to roasting a chicken, Qin Yun didn't need to go through so much trouble — he could simply skewer it and prop it over the fire.

But to get a hot bowl of mountain-delicacy soup, he found a thick, even slab of stone and started smashing away. With his skill, every strike's force and angle was deliberate, so the viewers in the livestream soon saw a hollowed-out stone pot.

"666, no complaints about the streamer's craft."

"Qin Ye's hands-on skills — unmatched."

"Watching the streamer it looks easy, but I can barely sharpen a pencil. Compared to him, I'm trash."

"Don't put yourself down like that — compared to Qin Ye, we're all trash."

With the pot ready, Qin Yun made use of local materials and picked some edible mushrooms.

"In the wild, mushrooms are the most common edible plant, but there's no absolute way to tell whether a mushroom is safe to eat. Precisely because of that, if you're out in the wild, it's best not to touch any mushroom you don't recognize."

"Because many of them are lethally toxic — you'd be gone before there was any time to save you."

While washing the mushrooms, he explained: "Look at the few kinds in my hand — they're actually fairly common. For instance, this Slippery Mushroom, you can find it at the market too; this Red Pine Mushroom, especially plentiful after rain; and this Purple-faced Mushroom — if you didn't know it, you definitely wouldn't dare eat it, but this mushroom has a tender texture and a really distinctive flavor."

"The streamer really knows his stuff — a walking encyclopedia."

"These past few days I've seen the streamer's vast wilderness knowledge — plants, animals, he pulls them out effortlessly."

"Awesome, I respect knowledgeable people the most."

Once the mushrooms were ready, he put them into the stone pot, then placed the crab, used the wild chicken to weigh it down, and added water.

After all that, Qin Yun began to get the fire going.

With the bow in hand, starting a fire was a cinch — in no time flames rose beneath the stone pot.

Qin Yun sat before the hearth, adding firewood from time to time while answering viewers' questions. As dusk fell and the temperature dropped, the warmth of the flames began to wrap around him.

"The streamer looks so cozy — I want to go experience it too."

"You'd better go experience it in your own backyard."

"Other people doing wilderness survival end up a mess, but the streamer still looks full of energy."

"That's not the main thing — the main thing is the dangers the streamer runs into are life-threatening; one careless slip and he could be done for."

Qin Yun waited for about an hour, and gradually the aroma of the mountain-delicacy soup began to drift outward. The mingled fragrance of chicken, river produce, and mushrooms made his stomach start to churn and his mouth water.

He took a deep sniff: "Smells amazing — should be about ready to eat."

Then he simply carried the stone pot over to a stone platform he'd prepared earlier, added more firewood, let it cool a bit, and used chopsticks made from wooden twigs to pick up a piece of mushroom and pop it into his mouth.

On camera, the viewers watched Qin Yun close his eyes and savor it carefully, each one waiting for his verdict.

"Very fragrant, very fresh — if only there were salt."

A person can't live without salt — not just the body needs it, the taste buds do too. With salt and without salt, the taste is worlds apart. This pot of wild-chicken-and-crab mountain-delicacy soup was delicious, but it just lacked the salty note.

"Still, the flavor is great — brothers, I'll eat first as a sign of respect."

"The streamer can get a 'chicken dinner' all alone in the wilderness, yet I've been wiped a hundred and eight times in a row on this island."

"Welcome to Qin Ye's Wilderness Food Show."

"So jealous — I'm drooling. Even though I know without salt it can't taste that great, just watching Qin Ye eat makes it look delicious."

"Couldn't hold back — just ordered a KFC family bucket."

Qin Yun glanced at the comment section, let out a chuckle, and went on eating on his own, replying to a comment now and then.

Once he'd grown used to the lack of salt, the freshness of the mountain delicacies went straight from his tongue to his heart. Every sip of soup felt like his whole body was warming up. Of course, the main reason was — he was hungry.

At a time like this, forget a whole pot of chicken soup — even sweet potatoes would taste like the ultimate delicacy.

By now the sky had gone completely dark, and because such a large living person was there, mosquitoes slowly began to gather, their buzzing annoying.

He ladled himself another bowl of soup, had just taken a sip, when suddenly — *thud* — a sound came from the direction of the boulder behind him.

"What was that sound?"

"Holy crap, please tell me it's not a snake?"

"A fierce beast is approaching — player, please be careful."

Something's there! Qin Yun reacted fast, snatched up a fire-hardened stick from in front of the fire, spun around, and dropped into a fighting stance.

But the next second, when he saw clearly the animal crouching atop the boulder, his expression shifted slightly.

The drone's current angle couldn't see the top of the boulder, so the comment section was going wild.

"Streamer, adjust the angle quick."

"I want to see what it is!"

"Qin Ye looks a bit tense — is it wolves again?"

"Finally a chance to put those jungle skills to use."

"Looks like it came to steal the food."

Qin Yun couldn't see the drone's display, but he seemed to guess what the comment section looked like. He carefully reached out and adjusted the drone's angle, aiming it at the boulder.

When the viewers got a blurry look at that dark shape—

"Wow, so cute — what kind of cat is that?"

"Looks kinda majestic — I've never really seen this breed of cat before."

"It's way bigger than a cat — are you sure that's a cat?"

Qin Yun, fire-hardened stick in hand, said in a low voice into the livestream: "This isn't a cat — it's a lynx, a feline. Although it looks like a cat, it's much bigger — at least four or five times the size. You should know this is the lynx, also called the wolf-cat. It's a carnivore — roe deer, wild deer, birds, foxes, mountain goats, they're all on its menu."

It was a lynx with yellow-and-black coloring, ears pricked up, eyes cold and glinting, the long fur drooping from its cheeks somewhat like a lion's mane — overall it did look both majestic and imposing.

"Lynx? Never heard of it."

"Holy shit, so that's a lynx — I've seen it on Douyin. They say this thing is extremely aggressive."

"Judging by the size, it's bigger than a dog — no wonder its menu is all meat."

"Qin Ye, be careful — stay safe."

"The lynx is a top-tier predator," Qin Yun said. His eyes stayed fixed on the lynx on the boulder, not daring to look away — one bite and he'd be done for.

"But everyone don't worry, lynx usually don't actively attack humans. It probably smelled the chicken soup—you should know pheasant is also on the lynx's menu. And she's cautious by nature; she won't fight back without being sure of herself."

Qin Yun said as he took the pheasant's rear from the stone pot and tossed it onto the boulder. The lynx, as if startled, leapt back a big step.

Until it could no longer resist the tempting aroma of the meat, it edged closer step by step, then opened its mouth and in three quick bites devoured it clean.

After finishing, it licked its lips, a pair of eyes still eerily fixed on the stone pot—clearly not satisfied.

Qin Yun gave a wry laugh: "Looks like this lynx wants to steal my chicken. I could chase it off, but to avoid revenge, I decided to share half with it—better than being disturbed while sleeping tonight."

He tore another half of the chicken from the stone pot and flung it onto the boulder.

This time, the lynx actually lay right down and began eating the meat. Qin Yun, seeing this, could do nothing but shift his position and continue eating, though he kept part of his attention on the lynx.

"False alarm. Hopefully this lynx will leave once it's full."

Qin Yun picked up a small crab and crunched away nonstop, occasionally locking eyes with the lynx—the two of them didn't bother each other.

"Can lynx be kept as pets? It looks so majestic, I want to raise one."

"Dream on. Not afraid of being eaten in your sleep?"

"The streamer already said it's a carnivore, a wild predator, and you still want to keep one? Keep dreaming."

Qin Yun saw the comments and laughed: "Of course you can't keep one. In our country, apart from cats and dogs, keeping wild animals is prohibited. Besides, this lynx is a Class II protected animal in our country—keeping one privately is illegal. Unless you can get a wild animal domestication and breeding permit, stop dreaming."

"But abroad you can—especially in the Middle East region. I remember they seem to keep everything: black panthers, tigers, lions, all fine. The prerequisite is you have to be rich, otherwise you can't afford it."

"Anyone who's raised dogs or cats knows good cat food or dog food isn't something ordinary people can afford. And a lynx, a strict carnivore, you'd need to prepare fresh meat—at least five jin a day."

"The streamer really knows a lot."

"Qin Ye is truly an outdoor encyclopedia, knows everything."

Qin Yun laughed heartily: "Just read more books. Knowledge is in books."

At this point, Qin Yun looked up and saw that the lynx had finished all the chicken, but hadn't left—though it didn't seem to crave more chicken either.

"I need to chase it away, otherwise if it latches onto me, I can't take it."

Qin Yun took the fire stick in hand, put on a fierce expression, let out a roar, and leapt forward a step.

The lynx was startled for a moment, but… that was all. It even tilted its head and kept watching him.

"Haha, lynx: what the hell is this idiot thing?"

"The lynx probably hasn't seen a human before and didn't know how to react for a moment."

"Streamer, you need to be fiercer."

Qin Yun looked at the mockery in the comments and smiled: "No worries, a few more times will do it."

The next second, he contorted his face again, roaring while waving the fire stick, and leapt forward several steps, approaching the boulder.

The lynx was startled once more—this time retreating a few steps.

Seeing Qin Yun getting closer and closer, the lynx, under the pressure, turned and ran, vanishing from the camera in no time.

Seeing success, Qin Yun reappeared in the frame: "Done. Let's continue our dinner."

By the time he finished off the whole pot of dinner, it was already 7:30 PM. He didn't put out the fire, kept it burning, added a few more large pieces, and only then squeezed into the gap of the boulder.

"Alright, today's stream ends here. Friends who haven't followed, please hit that follow button so you'll get a notification when I go live tomorrow."

"Qin Ye, no way, it's only just past seven. Why sleep so early? Keep chatting."

"Yeah, Qin Ye."

"Streamer keep going, love watching your stream."

"One Shot Ten Billion gifted the streamer a pair of glasses—streamer keep going."

"Heaven Earth Great I Am Greatest gifted the streamer a sports car—Qin Ye don't end the stream so early."

"……"

Watching gift after gift roll in, Qin Yun had no choice but to bow for a living.

But by 8:30 PM, he still ended the stream. After all, he had to get up early tomorrow, and the encounter with the Siberian tiger had actually put enormous pressure on him.

You feel strong pressure just seeing a tiger at the zoo, let alone in the wild.

Although he hadn't faced it head-on, knowing a Siberian tiger was charging at you—the psychological pressure was imaginable.

……

At this moment, in an office building in Beijing.

Several computer screens were playing clips of key moments from Qin Yun's streams. A leader was saying something to several people who clearly looked like executives.

"This is an outdoor streamer who's been on the platform recently. I had the market analyze his situation—he's a potential stock who could become a top-tier streamer."

"Director Liu, what are you trying to say?"

Liu Wei said: "Aren't we partnering with the American wilderness survival show to produce a program? I plan to nominate this person."

One executive frowned: "Although this guy looks decent, you have to know the entire China region only has two slots, and that's only because we're also a producer."

Another executive added: "Right, this guy is far behind Luo Jiahai."

Luo Jiahai was a top-tier outdoor streamer on Douyin, with a whopping thirty million followers—the platform's most badass outdoor streamer. However, compared with Qin Yun, he focused more on outdoor exploration than survival.

Liu Wei said: "I think a streamer who fits the theme so well can serve as a backup. After all, although his follower base is small, his fan stickiness is very high."

If it was just as a backup, the executives immediately had no objections. After all, the final decision was theirs anyway, so they agreed one after another.