Mountain Looting: Targeted by a Leopard at the Start
Chapter 153 - 152: Special Mission, Strange Creatures!

Chapter 153: Chapter 152: Special Mission, Strange Creatures!

The place where Xu Yang was now was truly deep in the primeval forest.

He planned to stay there for three hours before he would quickly descend the mountain.

After all, he had traveled light, carrying only some weapons for defense and two bottles of sheep’s milk.

It wasn’t feasible to stay in the forest at night.

Xu Yang remembered that this area also had a pack of jackals.

These creatures were not strong individually, but together they could be quite frightening.

In any case, the pack of jackals was not afraid of leopards nor were they afraid of tigers.

There is strength in numbers for jackals.

Actually, it was also because the tigers couldn’t be bothered with them; otherwise, they could take them down easily, one by one.

Deep in the autumn woods, the fallen leaves were incredibly thick, already covering above the ankles in many places.

Xu Yang walked into an area with maple trees.

The trees seemed ablaze, with everything in sight red and orange, like a scene out of an animated movie.

Walking among them, Xu Yang felt an even more surreal sensation.

[This scene is so beautiful! It’s my first time watching a live stream with such scenery!]

[Yeah, Old Xu’s live streams are also characterized by beautiful scenes, very soothing to watch!]

[It looks great, gives me the feel of watching a martial arts film, he is just like a hero!]

[He really pulls off the hero look well!]

The audience in the live stream commented one after another.

Xu Yang saw it was about time and decided to use the Treasure Compass to initiate the treasure hunting task.

[Treasure Hunting Task activated: Protect the Little Black Kite.]

[Mission Description: A cuckoo has been born in the Black Kite’s nest and is about to push the Black Kite eggs out. Please protect them.]

[Mission Reward: Affinity with Black Kite. The newborn Little Black Kite will grow attached to its host and will fly to the host’s side when it grows up.]

[The mission location has been marked.]

The mission details appeared in front of Xu Yang.

Protect the Black Kite.

Xu Yang’s gaze subtly changed.

He knew the behavior of cuckoos.

The cuckoo is a notoriously notorious bird in nature.

Its main characteristic is to usurp another bird’s nest, where it likes to lay its eggs.

Moreover, as soon as the cuckoo chick hatches, it starts to push other chicks or eggs out of the nest using its back.

It forces the chicks to fall to their deaths alive so that it can enjoy the care of the bird mother alone.

Many bird mothers don’t realize what happened; they only know to nurture the chick they have hatched, which they will do wholeheartedly.

Sometimes, even when the cuckoo chick grows bigger than the bird mother, it still demands food.

It’s one thing for them to lay their eggs in other birds’ nests and have other birds rear them.

The key is that a cuckoo is wicked from birth, aiming to push all the other chicks out and enjoy motherly love alone.

Killing someone else’s children, yet enjoying the nurturing of the bird mother.

From a human perspective, this is indeed "utterly unforgivable."

But that is nature, very harsh; cuckoos have survived generations in this way, finding a way to reproduce suitable for themselves.

Xu Yang also knew about Black Kites, which people generally call "eagles."

"Eagle" is a popular term that includes falcons, kites, eagles, etc., broadly referring to raptors.

Black Kites belong particularly to the category of such "eagles."

In the Northeast, there are many types of raptors, including Spear Falcons, Red Kestrels, Golden Eagles, White-headed Sea Eagles, and others, all of which are present here.

Black Kites are among them and are relatively common.

Xu Yang didn’t expect the cuckoo to be so bold as to secretly lay its egg in a Black Kite’s nest while the Black Kite was away.

And it seemed from the task’s wording that the little cuckoo was even planning to push the Black Kite eggs out.

This was indeed somewhat cruel.

Since it was a task, Xu Yang naturally chose to accept it.

He was a bit worried that he might not make it in time, so he quickened his pace considerably this time.

The audience was not aware of what was happening.

[Why is Old Xu walking so fast?]

[Did he see something?]

[Oh no, don’t scare me, I feel like everywhere in this deep forest is dangerous!]

[That’s so true, just worried some fierce beast will jump out!]

The audience frenziedly posted comments asking questions.

Xu Yang then explained, "I just heard a sound over there, very faint, like a wolf howling."

"It’s been many years since any wolves were seen on Changbai Mountain, but in the depths of the forest, there could still be some."

"Da Xing’an Mountain connects to the grasslands, and there certainly are wolves in Da Xing’an Mountain, quite a lot of them actually."

"Da Xing’an Mountain to the north connects to Xiao Xing’an Mountain, which then connects to Changbai Mountain."

"It is normal for wolves to live in the forest and to appear here."

Xu Yang was just making conversation, after all, he needed a reason for his hastened pace.

The audience, however, grew more tense.

Wolves in the forest?

Going into the deep woods alone, with wolves around, that’s too dangerous!

Everyone immediately became nervous.

Xu Yang continued walking towards the inside, and in about ten minutes, he arrived at the designated mission location.

It was a very tall tree.

If everything went as expected, the cuckoo bird should be pushing the eggs right then.

Xu Yang paused to think for a moment, then said, "Look at that tree, there’s a nest there."

"The nest is built so high, it’s likely a raptor’s."

"Let’s take a look, see if there are any chicks inside."

Xu Yang maneuvered the drone to rise higher.

The audience’s view ascended along with it.

Soon enough, everyone could clearly see inside the nest.

As expected, at that very moment, a bald, featherless chick was stretching its wings, straining with its feet, and putting all its efforts into pushing an egg out with its back.

The chick’s eyes weren’t even open yet, but it had already learned to compete.

Seeing this scene, a look of shock appeared on everyone’s faces.

[What is that chick doing? Is it pushing the egg? Is it trying to kill the other chicks?]

[Oh, that’s so cruel!]

[What kind of bird is that?]

While everyone was stunned, Xu Yang’s voice came through the live stream:

"That’s a cuckoo, this bird does exactly this: it lays its eggs in the nest of another bird, and then its chick will push out the other chicks to their death."

Hearing this, the audience was even more shocked.

What?

This little creature is so cruel?

Many people knew the nature of the cuckoo and immediately started cursing in the live stream.

If this scene were in a documentary, there wouldn’t be such a huge reaction since nature is simply that way.

But now that it’s happening in a live stream, people simply won’t tolerate it.

Xu Yang also felt a bit troubled at this time.

Firstly, if a bird egg falls from such a high tree, even if he catches it, the egg will still break, as the laws of physics dictate.

Secondly, if he catches it, then what? He can’t just eliminate the little cuckoo; that would really be interfering with nature.

Xu Yang looked at the footage captured by the drone on his phone.

The black kite’s egg was now in a precarious state.

Just then, a loud cry rang out from the sky, and surprisingly, an adult black kite was speeding towards the nest.

The vision of birds of prey is quite fearsome.

They are the sovereigns of the skies, soaring at great heights, easily spotting rabbits and mice on the ground and preying on small birds.

Clearly, the adult black kite had noticed the situation in the nest.

Everything happened so suddenly.

"An adult black kite has arrived, it must have noticed what’s happening in the nest!"

"This is a black kite’s nest!"

Xu Yang’s slightly anxious voice was heard again.

Then, he began to rapidly climb the tree.

This was a large tree over a dozen meters high, with many branches.

Climbing it meant being continuously scraped by branches.

Xu Yang didn’t care about that anymore; he found a thick branch, stood on it, and gauged that this position would allow him to catch the egg.

The netizens noticed Xu Yang’s movements.

They were all full of surprise again.

[What is Brother Yang doing?]

[Old Xu is trying to catch the egg, he must catch it!]

[Old Xu, come on, it’s all up to you!]

[Will he make it in time?]

People were stupefied.

At this moment, three things were happening simultaneously from different directions.

In the nest, the little cuckoo was pushing the black kite’s egg back with all its might, and if you looked closely, you could see a smashed egg on the ground, indicating the young cuckoo’s success on one occasion.

Now it was exerting force on the second one.

Up in the tree, Xu Yang reached a height, stood on a branch, and was unsteadily positioning himself to catch the egg.

This position was just right to catch the egg.

In the distant sky, the black kite was rapidly flying back to the nest.

It saw the cuckoo chick pushing the egg and understood what was happening.

After all, some smart bird mothers can recognize that the cuckoo chicks are not their own and will retaliate.

In fact, cuckoo birds also have a trait, where if there are other bird’s chicks present at the time they lay their eggs, the cuckoo will eat the chicks.

The whole species engages in taking over nests.

Everything happened very fast.

The netizens watched this scene nervously.

Under the drone’s view, the black kite egg was dangerously close to falling, with Xu Yang teetering in the tree.

Nobody knew what would happen next.

The adult black kite in the sky was still flying rapidly.

Just then, with all its might, the cuckoo chick pushed the black kite’s egg to the highest point, stopping at the edge of the nest.

The netizens instantly covered their mouths in horror, daring not to even breathe heavily.

The next second, the black kite egg slid from the edge of the nest and fell straight down.

The black kite mother in the sky was nearly frantic.

But it was no use, as birds cannot catch falling eggs.

Xu Yang swiftly realized that the falling egg was beyond the reach of his arm.

Seeing it about to drop right in front of him, he made a daring move the next moment.

He suddenly leaped forward, grabbing the egg with one hand.

This leap brought a cold sweat to the viewers.

What was he doing?

Climbing so high and then jumping down?

While everyone was stupefied, Xu Yang’s other hand grabbed a branch in front of him, and he managed to anchor his position with one hand on the branch.

Everything was part of his plan.

"Good thing I reacted quickly!"

Xu Yang quickly stepped up, placed his foot on two protrusions of the tree trunks, and, grabbing onto the trunk with one hand, he finally relaxed.

Just then, an incredible scene took place inside the nest.

As soon as the black kite returned, it immediately began pecking fiercely at the little cuckoo.

The scene was somewhat gruesome; just a few pecks, and the little cuckoo was dead.

One steals a nest, both suffer.

All for survival.

If Xu Yang hadn’t been there, this would definitely have been a very sad story.

All the chicks would have died.

But Xu Yang managed to save one.

[OMG! Brother Yang!]

[From now on, call him Giant Yang!]

[What? Yang’s tool? Don’t give Old Xu silly nicknames, okay!]

[So awesome, he dared to jump!]

[He caught the bird egg?]

[This is the skill of Changbai Mountain’s number one slippery guy!]

The comments were bursting with activity!

People were completely excited.

Everything happened very suddenly.

This made the live stream incredibly thrilling.

The black kite mother above the nest, wailing sadly, looked around the nest, seemingly trying to find her egg.

But the nest was empty.

At this time, Xu Yang carefully placed the egg in his pocket, then began to slowly climb down the tree.

His descent was slow, making sure not to damage the egg.

This way, Xu Yang climbed to the top of the tree, startling the black kite, which hurriedly flew away.

The netizens, watching this scene, were again astounded by Xu Yang’s actions.

Then, Xu Yang placed the egg back into the nest.

Returning it to its rightful owner.