Chapter 404 - Bringing In The Catch

"You? Riding this?" Raka laughed sarcastically. "You better sit in the back," he couldn't forget the incident when Nico took him and threw him into the lake.

He also remembered that the limited edition Harley-Davidson he bought got scratched in a day because of Nico.

Nico could only grimace in embarrassment. "Okay then, you ride it,"

Raka immediately put on his helmet and rode together with Nico behind him. He followed local hunters and farmers to the forest behind the hotel.

Nico hugged Raka's waist tightly and leaned his head on Raka's back. Then, he joked, "Raka, can you feel my heartbeat?"

"What do you say? I can't hear it," Raka rode the bike fast and steady. He couldn't hear what Nico was saying because he was wearing a helmet and went on too fast.

"Can you feel my heartbeat when I hug you?" Nico  said in a loud voice.

Raka really wanted to bite Nico's head. At times like this, Nico still had time to joke. "Nico, believe it or not, I can leave you here,"

He then took a sharp turn. Nico was surprised by the sudden movement and his body shook. Fortunately, he hugged Raka's waist tightly so he didn't fall.

"Are you also nervous when I hug you?" Nico continued to tease Raka.

Raka was too lazy to respond to Nico's joke. His best friend would make a really good comedian as he liked to joke regardless of situation. He'd always been so cheerful no matter the problem.

It seemed like Nico was trying to cover up his anxiety by joking this time…

The more he pretended nothing had happened to him, the more worried and nervous he became. He was afraid that Aiden might actually have an accident in the forest.

"Nico, your uncle will be fine," Raka yelled.

"Of course. Don't you know my uncle? He can endure all kinds of suffering all this time. What's even a wild boar for him? Haha!" Nico tried to cheer himself up.

They stopped their motorbikes when they entered further into the forest area and had to walk afterward.

"Can you two run fast?" One of the people said.

"The wild boar attacked very fast. If they run toward us, we must immediately climb a tree," said Nico. "No need to worry about us. You must take care of yourself,"

"We've been exploring the forest for 40 days and we know how to survive," said Raka.

"Wild boars are travelling in groups. If you see one, it means there is a mob nearby. Maybe the person you are looking for has been attacked by a group of wild boars. You follow me. We will look for the wild boar from their footprints," said the man.

Raka nodded. "We will follow you,"

Nico took out a loudspeaker he had brought from the hotel and turned it on. Just as he was about to scream, a voice came from the loudspeaker. "Great barbecue. Come on, please. Kebabs, chicken wings, barbecue, grilled meat…"

Everyone around immediately looked at Nico as if they were staring at a fool. They didn't know what Nico was doing. Did he want to summon wild animals on purpose?

Nico's face also looked confused. Wasn't this a loudspeaker? Why was there a tape?

Raka took the speaker from Nico's hand and turned it off.

Then he pressed a button and placed it near Nico's mouth. "Now record what you want to say and then you can turn it on repeatedly,"

Nico was silent for a moment and then recorded his voice. "Uncle, this is Nico. Where are you? Please answer if you hear me,"

After recording it, Raka started playing the recording.

"Uncle, this is Nico. Where are you? Please answer if you hear me."

"Uncle, this is Nico. Where are you? Please answer if you hear me."

"Uncle, this is Nico. Where are you? Please answer if you hear me."

…

That voice echoed in the middle of the forest for a long time, but no answer from Aiden could be heard.

"Raka, is my uncle..."

"Don't scare yourself," Raka interrupted. "Maybe your uncle is still out there but his cell phone runs out of battery so he can't be reached,"

"There are a lot of footprints on the ground, that means there are a lot of animals passing by," said one of the people in their pack.

Nico's footsteps went straight to follow the footprints quickly. His face was scratched by a tree branch beside him, but he didn't care at all.

"What is this?" One of the people found a black object on the ground.

Nico immediately took it and said, "That is my uncle's cell phone case. He must have been here before. Quickly search around!"

"There is a trail of blood and a trail of dirt dragging," they followed the path and kept looking, but failed to find Aiden.

"This isn't human blood right? This is animal blood, right?" Nico confirmed once more.

"This is animal blood. It seemed that the wild boar had died from so much blood. Don't worry. There are no hordes of wild boars here and the person you are looking for is not here either. Maybe he had come down while carrying the catch," said someone.

Suddenly, Nico's cell phone rang, Anya was the one calling him.

"Auntie, I haven't found my uncle, but I found traces on the ground. Looks like uncle has come out of the forest," Nico was afraid that Anya was getting worried. After their phone was connected, he immediately calmed Anya down first.

"You have entered the forest and brought some people with you. You will find two more wild boars there. I can only carry one wild boar, you can bring the rest down," said Aiden from the phone.

"Uncle..." Nico's voice caught and he almost cried.

The loudspeaker he was carrying still made an echoing voice, "Uncle, this is Nico. Where are you? Please answer if you hear me."

"Come back. I'll have someone cook pork brains for you," Aiden replied on purpose.

"I don't want to eat pork brains. If I eat it, I'll be even more stupid," said Nico. "Uncle, I'll be right back! Wait for me!"

"Alright, I'll be waiting," Aiden then hung up the phone.

Forty-five minutes later, Nico and Raka returned to the restaurant. Tara saw the scars and dried blood on Nico's face. She immediately exclaimed, "Are you hurt?"

"No," Nico immediately looked surprised.

"Your face…"

"Oh, I got scratched by a tree branch. I am fine," seeing Aiden, Nico immediately ran towards his uncle happily. He immediately hugged Aiden's thigh, ignoring how Aiden reacted. "Uncle, I thought I couldn't see you anymore,"

Aiden reached out and touched Nico's head. "There are a lot of people watching,"

Nico immediately laughed and got up. "I caught two wild boars. But the people who accompanied me into the forest didn't want money, they wanted that one wild boar so I gave one to them,"

"We'll cook some wild boar here and we can take the rest home. I will send your catch to your grandfather," said Aiden.

"Grandpa will definitely throw a big party at the house right away," said Nico.

"Raka, I heard you followed Nico into the forest. Thank you!" Aiden's eyes looked towards Raka who was standing far from the door.