Sun Shenger said, "Let's build a fire in the middle of our three tents. Animals are afraid of fire, so they won't dare to come near if we have one."
Long Chen and Fatty were finally relieved upon hearing this. They quickly started looking for branches everywhere and soon gathered a large pile, which they used to start a campfire.
Sun Shenger said, "Each of us will take turns for two or three hours to keep the fire going. If you get sleepy, switch with someone else."
Long Chen and Fatty replied, "Okay."
Since it was only 8 PM, everyone was still awake and chatted around the campfire. By around 10 o'clock, Fatty and Sun Shenger went to sleep first, leaving Long Chen to keep watch.
As there was no signal in the deep mountains, they couldn't even scroll through their phones. Long Chen thought, "Next time, I should buy a satellite phone. At least there's signal in the deep mountains."
Long Chen continuously added branches to the campfire. After about an hour, Long Chen checked his phone; it was already past midnight. Suddenly, he heard the sound of someone stepping on branches in the distance. Judging by the sound, the person must have been tall to make such a loud noise.
"How can there be someone walking around in these deep mountains and old forests?" As he thought this, Long Chen couldn't help but feel a bit frightened. He quickly went into the tent and retrieved his hunting knife, gripping it tightly.
The footsteps got closer and closer, and they were very heavy. By now, Long Chen was 300% sure it wasn't a person. With such heavy footsteps, only a giant weighing 400-500 kilograms could possibly make them.
Because Long Chen's hearing was far superior to that of ordinary people, if he heard it was a 400-500 kilogram creature, it was definitely a 400-500 kilogram creature.
"This thing was attracted by the campfire, so it's not afraid of fire. Animals are generally afraid of fire."
"What kind of ghost isn't afraid of fire?" Long Chen mused. (Long Chen's use of 'ghost' here didn't refer to a spirit, but rather to a 'thing'.)
The footsteps grew nearer, and Long Chen could feel the thing was only about ten meters away. Since it was deep night, the campfire's light didn't reach very far, and there were too many trees, obstructing his view even further.
Long Chen's heart was in his throat, and his hand gripping the hunting knife was slick with sweat from nervousness. He quickly went to wake Fatty.
"Fatty, wake up, wake up! There's a ghost, a ghost!"
"A ghost!" Hearing the word 'ghost', Fatty immediately woke up, thinking he had encountered a spirit.
"Where, where?" Fatty asked in terror.
If it were truly a spirit, Long Chen wouldn't have been so scared. After all, spirits have no physical form and cannot cause physical death. But this thing was like a giant; one punch could shatter a person's ribcage.
At this moment, Sun Shenger was also awakened and emerged from his tent, also holding a hunting knife.
The thing moved a few meters closer to the tents. Long Chen's hearing told him it was now hiding behind the tree closest to them. Beyond that was open ground. The thing was observing them, indicating it was an intelligent creature.
Long Chen was now glad that Sun Shenger had chosen an open space to set up the tents. If they had set them up near the trees, this thing could have easily reached them and attacked.
Fatty, also gripping his hunting knife, looked fearfully at the tree. He too had heard the footsteps and knew it was hiding behind that tree.
"Brother Chen, what is this thing?" Fatty asked, his voice trembling.
"I don't know either, just that it's huge and probably very strong. That's why I woke you up," Long Chen replied, also fearfully.
Another minute of silence passed, and the thing was likely observing.
Then, Long Chen, Fatty, and Sun Shenger all saw a dark, furry, giant head slowly emerge from behind the tree. It was deep night, and the campfire's light couldn't reach very far. The tree was also about ten meters away.
Long Chen and Fatty couldn't see clearly. Long Chen compared the emerging head to the tree and realized with horror that the creature must be over 3 meters tall, possibly taller.
"Wild Man," was Long Chen's first thought upon seeing its giant head.
"Is it a Wild Man? Or a Mountain Ghost?" Fatty also wondered.
(Mountain Ghost - Mountain Ogre, a fearsome man-eating creature in folklore. In reality, Mountain Ogres do not eat people; they only have red and blue faces, which look terrifying, and they are not that huge.)
At this moment, Sun Shenger also showed an expression of extreme fear, clearly having never encountered such a creature before.
"It probably is," Long Chen said, still very scared. "Don't move. All three of us combined aren't enough for it to swing with one hand."
Indeed, a 3-meter-tall Wild Man could cripple even Tyson with a single punch, let alone the three of them.
The creature poked its head out again and then retreated. It might have seen that all three of them were holding hunting knives. After a while, it slowly walked back into the depths of the forest.
"Fatty Lord was scared to death!" Fatty said afterward, still shaken.
"Ginseng hunter leader, have you ever encountered this before?" Long Chen asked Sun Shenger.
"Never. Logically, we've only been walking for a day, not that deep. It's strange," Sun Shenger replied.
Indeed, this creature was more powerful than wolves or bears. If people knew about it, who would dare to come into the mountains?
After the scare, no one felt sleepy anymore, and they gathered around the campfire to chat.
It wasn't until 2 AM that Fatty and Long Chen went to sleep, with Sun Shenger keeping watch.
However, Sun Shenger didn't let them take over and stayed on watch himself until dawn.