“Bang…”

Xie Cheng felt a huge crash in his ears, and his body landed firmly, cushioning the fall with the clothes he had removed earlier. Luckily, he had been working out regularly; otherwise, a fall like this would have either knocked him unconscious or caused fractures.

“Cough, cough, cough… Puh! Hah…”

Half of his soul hadn’t returned yet. Xie Cheng struggled to swallow and lay on the ground, squinting as he searched for his rescuer. Though the action was rough, at least it had saved his life.

But after searching for a while, he couldn’t see anyone. Based on the size and strength of those claws earlier, it didn’t seem like Ada. It was hard to tell what kind of orc it was, but he had to thank them properly.

“Cough, damn it!”

After a while, Xie Cheng finally sat up. He looked toward the volcano crater, which was already quite far away, and felt a wave of frustration. The crystal was temporarily out of reach. It seemed like he would have to wait for the volcano to erupt to have any chance. But with a volcano like this, it would take a long time before it erupted. Without the crystal, he couldn’t leave either. The situation was really terrible.

“Hmph!”

While Xie Cheng was looking at the volcano crater in distress, a low, cold snort came from the nearby bushes. Xie Cheng instinctively looked in that direction and saw a tall, muscular figure step out from the bushes, immediately shocking him.

Xie Cheng was 186 cm tall, and weighed 75 kg. He was well-built and had fair skin and had always been satisfied with his appearance.

But the person who appeared now was over 195 cm tall, with a muscular, robust physique. He was bare-chested, revealing his bronzed skin, and his muscles were smooth and powerful. No matter how you looked at it, this man looked like someone who could easily defeat him.

What stood out the most was the wildness in him. He wore only a patch of animal hide around his waist and was dragging a bloody deer. His eyes were hawk-like, his brow slightly raised, giving his gaze a deep, piercing look. His thick eyebrows slanted upward into his temples, and beneath a high nose bridge, his lips were sharply defined.

The man’s features were very striking, and with his waist-length brown hair, he looked rugged and untamed. His gaze toward Xie Cheng was dark, even tinged with some disdain.

“…”

Xie Cheng stood up cautiously, keeping his eyes on the man while secretly gathering strength in his hands. He hoped that, given the man’s appearance—strong enough to outclass any world bodybuilding champion—he would not harbor too much hostility. After all, they were in a primitive forest; surely people of the same kind would have some sympathy for each other, right? He hoped the man was a friend, not an enemy.

The imposing man continued walking forward, and Xie Cheng tensed up. Just as he was about to say something, the man suddenly stopped about ten paces away. He held the bloody deer high and threw it directly at him.

“Damn, are you crazy…”

Xie Cheng was stunned by his action and blurted out in surprise. He quickly sidestepped, and the dead deer landed on the ground with a splash of blood and dust, some of it even splattering on him.

“…Damn!”

Xie Cheng waved his hand to clear the dust from his face. If this deer hadn’t looked so heavy, he would have just picked it up and thrown it back, with a fitting line: The other party rejects your deer and throws it back without hesitation.

What the hell was going on? Was this showing off or provoking him? It definitely didn’t seem like an offer of friendship.

“…” The man on the opposite side seemed displeased with Xie Cheng’s reaction. His thick eyebrows furrowed, and he let out another cold snort. Finally, he simply shot Xie Cheng a cold glance before turning to leave.

Xie Cheng was confused—was this a gift for him?

“Hey, wait a minute…”

Now realizing what had just happened, Xie Cheng quickly called out to the man, glancing at the dead deer on the ground that looked like it could be a tasty meal. He took a few steps forward, speaking in human Earth language.