King of the Wilderness

"Every pair of gibbon couples has a unique love song, just like fingerprints."

"They are typical frugivores, with ninety percent of their diet coming from wild fruits, buds, and flowers on trees."

"So their existence itself is the highest certification of the integrity and health of this forest ecosystem."

"Only the most primitive forests, with the richest fruit resources, can sustain such picky gourmets."

Lin Yu’an quietly observed, carefully pressing the shutter, afraid that even the slightest sound would disturb this sacred moment.

In today’s world where human activities are expanding, witnessing a subspecies family of gibbons named after this land, singing freely and roaming in the forest, is a miracle in itself!

Their voices penetrate the entire valley, ethereal and filled with primal life energy, as if giving this ancient forest a soul.

Lin Yu’an felt that he was no longer a lonely intruder but a fortunate witness to the core secrets of this land.

He didn’t linger for long, knowing that any unnecessary pause in the wild could mean potential danger.

He simply noted the coordinates in his heart and quietly bypassed this territory belonging to the gibbon family.

However, just as he was about to leave, a thought struck him like lightning, making him stop in his tracks.

"Wait..." he turned around, his gaze returning to the dense canopy where the gibbon family had disappeared, with a hunter’s keen excitement in his eyes, "I’m such an idiot..."

He spoke to the camera, with an enlightened tone: "The gibbons... I just mentioned, they are typical frugivores."

"A healthy family unit needs to consume a large amount of wild fruit daily to gain energy. Their singing and leisurely life here, what does that mean?"

He didn’t directly provide an answer but instead revealed it through his actions.

"This means that there must be fruiting trees nearby providing ample food! That’s our grand prize today!"

Fatigue seemed to vanish, replaced by a heightened focus on exploration.

He no longer fixated on climbing up, but instead began a small-scale radial search based on the direction the gibbon family vanished.

His eyes no longer gazed into the distance but were fixed intently on the forest floor, seeking clues.

"One survival law, follow the animals’ dining table. What they can eat, with the right treatment, we can likely eat too."

"And to find their dining table, you first have to find the napkins and the bill they left behind."

Soon he found decisive evidence under a patch of ferns.

It was a half-eaten, strangely-shaped fruit.

The fruit was about the size of a thumb, greenish, with a small opening at the top. Lin Yu’an picked it up, a faintly sweet scent wafted from it.

"This is it!" he exclaimed excitedly, "I’ve found it!"

Following these scattered breadcrumbs, he looked up. In the distance, a giant tree he had never seen before stood like a green giant holding an umbrella, reigning over the forest!

It didn’t resemble a normal tree, its trunk so robust it would take several people to encircle it.

But more astonishing were its aerial roots, which twisted and intertwined like giant pythons, some already deeply embedded in the soil, forming new trunks.

This created a magnificent spectacle of a single tree forming a forest on its own.

This was a colossal wild fig tree, likely a strangler fig!

And beneath its immense canopy, thousands of green fruits identical to the one in his hand, like countless precious emeralds, densely hung from the branches.

"A natural aerial supermarket..." Lin Yu’an looked up at this giant tree with genuine admiration, "This is the dining hall that the gibbon family relies on for survival."

"A mature fig tree can support half of the birds and primates in this forest."

But he didn’t immediately rush forward to pick; professional wilderness survival means always prioritizing safety first.

"In the wild, never eat any plant you’re not familiar with. But fig fruits, or wild figs, are an exception; they are very easy to identify."

He split open the half fruit in his hand and displayed the internal structure to the camera.

"Look at this unique internal structure; the inside is filled with dense, filament-like stamens and tiny seeds."

"This is the most typical feature of a fig; it isn’t actually a fruit but an inflorescence, the flowers bloom inside, and this structure is unique."

After ensuring safety, he picked a whole, slightly soft, ripe wild fruit, wiped it, and put it in his mouth.

A refreshing sweetness, with hints of honey and the scent of grass, exploded on his taste buds! Its sweetness was far from that of cultivated figs.

But it absolutely contained sugar, which, to a body in urgent need of energy replenishment, was akin to jade liquid.

Countless tiny seeds in the flesh made a crunching sound when chewed, giving it a wonderfully rich texture.

"Nice..." he exhaled with satisfaction.

Hesitation gone, he immediately began gathering. He didn’t overdo it, selecting only the ripe fruits and collected nearly four kilograms.

"These wild fruits not only provide a substantial amount of sugar and vitamins but can also replenish some moisture; with them, I have the fuel for high-intensity marches."