Alaska Gold Rush Diary

Zhou Xin first cleaned the insects he found, then placed the pot on the fire and began preparing dinner.

He first threw the collected palm heart directly into the fire to roast, then poured out some oil into a pot and heated it, then threw the insects in to fry.

Use a twig to keep turning the insects to set their shape, then fry them until they are golden brown and crispy.

The aroma is irresistible, tantalizing the taste buds.

He likes to fry the insects until they're quite long, so that the protein inside becomes crispy and doesn't burst out with filling.

While some people actually like that texture, Zhou Xin is quite opposed to it.

Finally, sprinkle a little salt on top, and a simple side dish is ready.

It must be said that after being deep-fried, the insects no longer look so ferocious and disgusting; in fact, they look and smell quite appealing.

After waiting a while longer until the palm hearts were roasted, the two began their dinner.

Although Alo had never eaten insects before, he did not resist them at all.

In his mind, as long as Zhou Xin thought it was edible, he would eat it without any hesitation.

Moreover, his eyes lit up immediately after he ate the first one.

He never imagined that such a disgusting-looking insect would taste so delicious.

The flavor of palm hearts changes significantly after being roasted; they are no longer crisp but become sweet and soft.

The two ate to their heart's content, and only after their stomachs were full of warm food did they crawl into the hammock tent to rest.

After a long day of travel, the two were exhausted and soon fell into a deep sleep.

At night, Zhou Xin was suddenly awakened by a noise.

He suddenly tensed up and held his breath.

By this time, their fire had long since gone out, and it was pitch black all around, with nothing visible.

The sound came from the darkness of the jungle not far away, less than ten meters from where they had set up their hammocks.

That must have been emitted by the activity of a relatively large organism.

Zhou Xin heard the cracking sound of tree branches being broken and the whimpering of some unknown creature.

Although he didn't know what kind of creature it was, he was certain it wasn't a wild boar.

Alo's hammock swayed slightly, indicating that he had also woken up.

Neither of them made a sound. Zhou Xinze gripped the real gun, fully alert.

Zhou Xin had made up his mind that no matter what it was, he would draw his gun and shoot as soon as it came within five meters of the two of them.

In such a dark environment, facing such an unknown creature lurking in the shadows, he dared not harbor any illusions.

The thing moved rustling in the darkness, as if it were taking a aimless stroll.

The two of them dared not even breathe loudly, for fear of disturbing it.

And so, the two remained locked in a tense standoff for more than ten minutes before the thing finally slowly drifted away.

Knowing they would never hear anything from it again and confirming that it had indeed left, the two finally collapsed into the hammock, letting out a huge sigh of relief.

After this incident, Zhou Xin could no longer sleep. He remained on edge, afraid that the thing would return.

Fortunately, the thing did not reappear until a sliver of light appeared in the sky.

The jungle finally began to lighten, and the two emerged from the tent.

Judging from Alo's slightly tired appearance, he didn't sleep much in the second half of the night.

They rekindled the fire, and the two of them sat around it, using the warmth of the flames to drive away the weariness of their bodies and minds.

Breakfast was still roasted palm hearts, but thankfully they tasted really good when roasted, and the two of them haven't gotten tired of them yet.

After finishing breakfast, Zhou Xin covered the fire with mud, packed up the tent, and headed straight to the location where the strange noises had come from the previous night.

As soon as he walked over, Zhou Xin frowned.

There were very obvious signs of animal activity on that patch of ground, and a depression appeared among the fallen leaves.

Clearly, the thing from last night rested here.

Judging from the size of the dent, the creature was larger than a wild boar.

Zhou Xin squatted down to examine it carefully and found some animal hair in the depression.

His expression turned serious. He stood up and carefully searched the surrounding ground, and soon he made a new discovery.

There were several footprints on a patch of bare ground that wasn't completely covered by fallen leaves.

The footprints were shaped like plum blossoms, and Zhou Xin immediately recognized them as the tracks of a large feline.

Jaguar!

Zhou Xin felt a chill rise from his back and couldn't help but shiver.

He never expected that just a few days after entering the jungle, he would encounter a jaguar, which is already an endangered animal.

Didn't the internet say that jaguars are extremely rare here? What kind of nonsense is this!

Although he had considered the issue of jaguars before, he did not include them in his primary considerations because he learned online that their numbers were extremely small.

He felt he couldn't possibly be so unlucky as to encounter such a ferocious beast that even biology enthusiasts might struggle to find.

Looking back now, I realize I was careless.

Or you could say that this time they were just having a run of bad luck.

Jaguars are strong, agile, and incredibly powerful, making them top predators in the South American rainforest.

If you encounter it bare-handed, even two or three adults might not be its match.

Even if Zhou Xin possessed the truth, he wasn't entirely confident he could deal with an adult jaguar.

Unless a single shot to the head is fatal, a wounded beast will obviously become much more dangerous.

He couldn't understand why the jaguar hadn't attacked them when it was so close to their camp last night.

Perhaps it had just eaten and had no intention of looking for food, or perhaps it was wary of these two uninvited guests.

In short, they had a brush with death last night.

If the jaguar attacks them, Zhou Xin isn't sure he'll survive.

Even if they were shot dead, both of them would certainly suffer extremely serious injuries.

Thinking about this, Zhou Xin felt a chill run down his spine.

"From now on, we must be even more careful, and we must take turns keeping watch every night, with one person staying behind to watch the campfire and make sure it doesn't go out."

The only and most effective way to defend against jaguars in the dark is to use fire.

These beasts have a natural fear of fire; they will never dare to approach a fire unless they are extremely hungry.

Alo nodded: "Okay!"

Although jaguars generally come out to hunt after dark, they also roam the forests during the day.

Moreover, jaguars have a strong sense of territory, and since it appeared here last night, it means that the two of them are currently within its territory.

They had to proceed cautiously, taking it one step at a time, or they might become the animals' meal before they even found the gold.

Zhou Xin had a feeling that this rainforest gold panning trip would be more difficult than he had imagined.