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Chapter 24: Gu Lang Falls Ill
Not far away, the rustling sound of grass being disturbed grew closer. The snapping of grass stems and the shuffling of something being dragged along the ground signaled an approaching presence. Wang Ping sensed a familiar predator's aura and knew Rosette was back.
Sure enough, moments later, Rosette emerged from the grass, dragging a freshly killed fawn in its mouth. After glancing briefly at Wang Ping, who stood behind the vehicle, she retreated into the shadows away from the campfire, dropped its prey, and came trotting over.
Wang Ping could sense the pride radiating from Rosette—it was practically beaming with a desire to show off.
Not that it was surprising. Wang Ping had assumed that with Rosette’s injured leg, it would return empty-handed. But it seemed luck was on its side this time. A crippled leopard managing to hunt down a lost fawn? It was a classic case of "young and naïve."
In truth, leopards have a natural advantage when hunting at night. If their ambush spot is chosen wisely, they might not even need to exert much energy.
This strategy works well against young or inexperienced animals like fawns, but it would fail against creatures with keen senses of smell. No matter how well an ambush is executed, it’s impossible to completely mask a predator's scent.
This particular fawn must have wandered off from its mother in search of food, allowing Rosette to seize the opportunity.
This time, Wang Ping decided not to decline Rosette’s offer. After all, Gu Lang’s vehicle didn’t have much food left. With fresh prey available, it made sense to conserve their supplies. Besides, Wang Ping had never tasted wild venison before—why not give it a try?
While this type of common plains species wasn’t protected under the WAP guidelines, Wang Ping still felt some professional guilt. After all, his job involved wildlife conservation. Not being forced by his team leader to go vegetarian was already his baseline, but openly BBQing in the mission area? That would surely get him kicked out of the security team.
He gently patted Rosette on the neck, signaling it to start eating. Meanwhile, Wang Ping turned his attention back to the other case he had yet to open.
Though he didn’t recognize what was inside, the strange device with external wires in the first case reminded Wang Ping of something Gu Lang had mentioned earlier.
Back then, Gu Lang had panicked when Wang Ping severed the metal cable connected to the dashboard, claiming it was the network cable for internet access. From the looks of it, the device in this case was the external equipment Gu Lang used to connect to the internet. However, it didn’t resemble any civilian-grade device, and its exact purpose was unclear.
As long as it wasn’t a weapon, Wang Ping couldn’t care less about what it was for. He had no intention of racking his brain over something he didn’t need to know—he wasn’t preparing for graduate exams, after all!
After closing the first case, Wang Ping moved the backpack on the right aside and opened the second case.
What he found inside surprised him even more.
A stack of at least five identical tablets was neatly arranged in the case. Alongside them were power banks, data cables, and other accessories, all meticulously organized.
“What the heck… Who exactly is this guy?”
Wang Ping felt like he had been tricked—“I got my hopes up for this?”
Who in their right mind would stash a high-tech case in their car just to store tablets? And why would anyone carry so many of them?
“What on earth does this guy do for a living? Smuggling? Reselling?”
He flipped over the topmost tablet and saw “Made in China” printed on the back. He was speechless.
If Gu Lang was in the reselling business, he would need a gold mine at home to cover the stupidity tax on this kind of operation.
But since the cases didn’t contain any firearms or weapons, Wang Ping decided to stop overanalyzing Gu Lang’s mysterious profession. As long as Gu Lang wasn’t outright evil, everything was negotiable. After all, Wang Ping prided himself on being clever—or rather, a clever badger—but trying to figure out the thought process of a fool was a challenge he didn’t want to take on.
It’s no wonder people often say that the easiest opponents to deal with are the smart ones because their actions follow a predictable logic. Fools, on the other hand? You can never guess what they’ll do next.
Since the rear trunk couldn’t be closed for now, Wang Ping figured he’d leave it for Gu Lang to deal with when he woke up. As for how Gu Lang might react, Wang Ping didn’t care to speculate.
Heading over to where Rosette was eagerly “disassembling” the fawn, Wang Ping grabbed a hind leg from its mouth and used his paw to figure out how to peel off the outer skin.
With the fire already going, eating raw meat wasn’t an option for Wang Ping. Unfortunately, Gu Lang’s car didn’t have any spices, or else the meal’s quality could have been significantly elevated.
After fumbling with the leg for a while, Wang Ping even tried using his claws. While they were sharp enough to easily tear through the outer hide, his paws lacked the dexterity of human hands. Skinning a fawn turned out to be a delicate skill beyond his current abilities.
Dragging the fawn leg to the fire, Wang Ping decided to wake Gu Lang for help. He could offer him a share of the venison in return—after all, Gu Lang hadn’t eaten dinner yet.
Gu Lang’s tent was set up haphazardly, with the ground stakes only halfway secured in the soil. Whenever the wind picked up, the tent swayed precariously. The only reason it hadn’t been blown away was because Gu Lang’s weight was holding it down.
Wang Ping crawled into the wobbling tent and immediately noticed Gu Lang trembling in his sleeping bag.
“What’s going on? Still having a nightmare?”
As Wang Ping got closer, he realized something wasn’t right.
Gu Lang’s breathing was rapid, and a thin layer of sweat covered his forehead. His lips were dry and pale, while his cheeks were flushed red.
“Crap! He’s sick!”
Wang Ping’s heart sank. He instinctively raised a paw to check Gu Lang’s forehead but quickly pulled it back.
What if Gu Lang didn’t die from his fever but from a fatal scratch instead? That would be way too ironic.
After about ten seconds of deliberation, Wang Ping reluctantly used his nose to touch Gu Lang’s forehead. Of all his body parts, his nose was the only one sensitive enough to detect temperature.
The heat radiating from Gu Lang’s skin was intense. Clearly, he had a severe fever.
“Ugh!” Wang Ping sighed.
Although Gu Lang’s collapse was unexpected, Wang Ping wasn’t entirely surprised. In fact, he had subconsciously anticipated it. The real shock was that Gu Lang had managed to hold out this long.
First, there were the injuries from the car crash, leaving him with countless minor wounds. Then came the repeated shocks and endless sweating throughout the journey. Who knew how many of those wounds were already infected?
But the final straw was likely the earlier incident during the day, which had pushed his body to its limits both physically and emotionally. It was no surprise he was showing symptoms now.
“Wait! Didn’t this guy have a first-aid kit in his car?”
Leaving the fawn leg by the fire, Wang Ping rushed back to the car and grabbed the first-aid kit from the back seat.
In his time with Team Three, Wang Ping had only been trained in emergency treatment for external injuries. Team members’ first-aid kits were custom-designed and mostly stocked with wound care supplies. If someone fell ill, the team’s designated doctor would handle it.
For Team Three, that doctor was their deputy captain, Jacob. Everyone called him “Vet” as a joke. By the time Jacob realized it was an insult, the nickname had stuck and was impossible to shake off.
Gu Lang, being a rookie, likely wouldn’t have customized his first-aid kit. A standard kit would include supplies for both wounds and basic illnesses. Fever-reducing patches, in particular, were an essential component.
Wang Ping guessed Gu Lang had only thought of buying a first-aid kit after arriving in Africa. When he opened it, he found that all the medication cases were covered in “tadpole script”. Fortunately, there were English translations below, or Gu Lang might have been left at the mercy of his immune system.
Grabbing two fever patches with his mouth, Wang Ping hesitated before also slipping a case of band-aids onto his paw and heading back.
Gu Lang had been remarkably lax about his own injuries, leaving small wounds all over his body untreated.
Wang Ping secretly complained, but he had forgotten how much pressure he and Rosette had brought upon Gu Lang. From the beginning, he hadn’t given Gu Lang a chance to deal with his own injuries.
At this moment, Gu Lang felt as though he were trapped in a state of both extreme heat and cold. One moment he was unbearably hot, the next he was shivering uncontrollably from the cold. His mind remained in a fog, and though he tried desperately to open his eyes, his brain felt as heavy as lead, rendering him unable to fully regain consciousness.
He had no idea how much time had passed. It felt both agonizingly long and fleetingly short. Suddenly, he felt a cooling sensation on his forehead, which brought a brief sense of relief to his mind. However, in the next instant, he felt a sharp thud on the top of his head. His thoughts seemed unable to hold on any longer and slipped into darkness.
"Done!" Wang Ping looked at the cooling patch he had painstakingly stuck to Gu Lang’s forehead with his paw and nodded in satisfaction.
Without nimble fingers, everything became inconvenient. Just sticking a simple cooling patch had almost required him to use his mouth.
Fortunately, the outcome wasn’t too bad. Although it was a bit crooked and looked messy, it was at least firmly stuck onto Gu Lang’s forehead.
The effect was immediate. Gu Lang's breathing quickly stabilized, and his body stopped shaking.
As for band-aids, Wang Ping decided to give up. He figured that if he tried to apply them, it might cause more injuries than it would heal.
"Brother, please don’t die on me!"
After silently watching for a while in the tent, Wang Ping turned and left. There was still a fawn leg waiting for him outside.
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