Simultaneous travel: City, infinite evolution

Chapter 225 Wilderness Exploration: Shen Gongbao Follows

Chen Hong was completely baffled and could only walk along, observing the grove of trees as he went.

The mountains here are actually just low hills.

The trees planted in the mountains are mostly drought-resistant species such as Quercus liaodongensis (Quercus glauca), so the forests are relatively sparse.

Semi-arid shrubs such as Bauhinia, Lycium barbarum, and Salix matsudana can be seen in the wasteland.

Chen Hong listened carefully and observed the birds in the woods. Most of them were cuckoos, black-naped orioles, and hawks active in the woods.

"Judging from these characteristics, it should be located in the Shandong area."

Looking up, Chen Hong saw flocks of geese and egrets flying.

"It seems to be migratory birds, probably in spring or autumn."

Judging from the lushness of the vegetation, the air humidity, and the amount of sunlight, it should be springtime.

As Chen Hong passed by a thicket of bushes, he heard a rooster crowing.

Suddenly, I saw a brightly colored pheasant flash by in the grass.

Chen Hong felt his DNA stirring; the hunting instinct from ancient humans made him unconsciously and quietly pick up a pebble.

Pon!

He threw it out suddenly!

giggle!
There was a flurry of excitement.

A large rooster with colorful feathers flapped its wings, and several feathers fell from the sky.

The rooster fell to the ground, and Chen Hong parted the grass to take a look.

The rooster was still kicking and twitching, as if it were performing a bizarre dance.

But it was bleeding heavily from its head; Chen Hong's pebble had hit the pheasant's head precisely.

Although Chen Hongcai had just shared his abilities and hadn't had time to adapt to the laws of this universe, he was slowly localizing his otherworldly powers.

However, Chen Hong's basic skills were still too strong. He could easily defeat a hunter with 50 years of experience.

Picking up the colorful pheasant he had hunted, Chen Hong chose a relatively sharp stone and swiftly slashed it across the pheasant's neck.

It slashed the pheasant's main artery, and blood gushed out.

After bleeding the pheasant, Chen Hong gathered a lot of dry branches and logs.

He pulled a lighter from the chest pocket of his security guard uniform.

As a lowly security guard who just coasts along, Chen Hong always keeps cigarettes and a lighter in his breast pocket.

When I'm bored, I'll take a puff.

If you encounter someone you want to chat with, offer them a cigarette; it will quickly bring you closer.

After lighting the fire, Chen Hong plucked the feathers and gutted the pheasant.

After cleaning it, thread it through a tree branch and roast it over a fire.

At this point, the large log was also lit, but the flames produced far less black smoke than the dry branches and leaves.

With limited resources and no seasonings like cumin powder, Chen Hong had no choice but to make do with grilling.

After roasting it until it was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, Chen Hongmei tore off the charred outer skin and ate it with relish.

The feeling of having an outdoor barbecue during an ancient tourist trip was still quite novel to Chen Hong.

Just as they were enjoying their meal, perhaps the smell of blood and the aroma of meat attracted an uninvited guest.

Chen Hong looked up and saw a black panther that looked rather thin.

Its entire body is dark black, covered with brown circular spots.

"This is... a North China leopard?"

It's still one of the darker individuals within them, a result of genetic mutation.

Chen Hong recognized the leopard because its fur markings resembled copper coins, so in ancient times it was also collectively referred to as the "golden leopard" along with other types of leopards.

However, because of its completely black body, it is also known as the "Black Leopard".

Keeping a low profile, the black panther cautiously approached Chen Hong, but dared not get too close, as if it could sense the danger Chen Hong posed.

He just drooled as he looked at the entrails and flesh on the ground and the roasted chicken in Chen Hong's hand.

Chen Hong chuckled, "You're quite the glutton."

This black leopard clearly looks thin and weak, as if it's starving, due to human activity, shrinking territory, and food shortages.

Although this place may have been during the Qin Dynasty, humans were already the sole dominant species on this land, inevitably compressing the living space of other creatures.

The food shortage problem is becoming increasingly serious, especially for large animals.

"I'm giving this to you because I feel sorry for you."

Chen Hong casually tossed the internal organs to Mo Bao.

The black leopard was startled and ran away as fast as it could.

Only after running a certain distance did they turn back to observe from afar.

Seeing that Chen Hong didn't mean to attack him, he couldn't resist the temptation of the food and cautiously crouched down to approach.

It picked up the entrails, turned around, and ran away.

After running a safe distance, he bent down and began to eat with relish.

Chen Hong couldn't help but chuckle: "It seems the fear etched into the DNA of the terrifying upright ape has a great influence on it."

"Is this the primal instinctual memory of animals fearing weapons thrown from a distance by humans?"

"After all, human civilization, in the end, is just about throwing stones and boiling water."

"Human civilization is currently in the stage of throwing stones. Once the steam engine is invented, it will be in the stage of boiling water."

Chen Hong continued eating, breathing in the pristine, unpolluted oxygen.

While eating, I recalled various pieces of knowledge and slowly analyzed my many abilities.

After the black leopard finished eating, it approached again, seemingly lost in thought.

Chen Hong broke off the chicken head and gave it to the chicken, then tore off a chicken leg and threw it to it.

The black leopard began to eat with relish.

Although it actually prefers offal to meat, offal contains more trace elements and tastes better.

Of course, as a high-consumption animal, it also needs meat.

After the man and the leopard finished eating, although they were still not full, the black leopard seemed to be thirsty and walked in one direction.

Chen Hong's heart stirred, and he followed it at a distance.

Follow the animals, and you'll find the water!
Follow the water source, and you'll find the town!
After all, most ancient human cities were built along rivers.

This is the only way to meet the drinking water needs of a high-density population.

Sure enough, after walking for a while, Chen Hong could already hear the surging and roaring sound of the great river.

This is the sound of rushing water.

And it's a big river!

Because the sound was like thunder!

When Chen Hong reached the riverbank, he took a look.

"Wow, what a big river! What a wide river!"

"Could this be the Yellow River?" "The water looks very clear, not that yellow."

"If it really is the Yellow River, then it must be from before the Han Dynasty."

After the Han Dynasty, due to deforestation, land reclamation, and the influx of silt, the Yellow River turned yellow over a large area, hence the name "Yellow River".

At this time, the Qin Dynasty likely referred to the Yellow River as "He" or "Black Water."

Chen Hong was overjoyed to have found the river.

Noticing that Chen Hong was about to leave, Mo Bao hesitated for a moment, then actually ran up to Chen Hong and purred softly for a while.

This is a special sound made by felines.

The black leopard's eyes seemed to hold a hint of pleading.

He then turned his head frantically in one direction, as if trying to tell Chen Hong something.

Chen Hong, being a man of great stature, seemed to understand the general meaning Mo Bao was trying to convey, and couldn't help but smile.

"You little black cat, you're quite clever."

"Did it detect the strong life and energy fluctuations unintentionally emitted by the operation of my localization experiment?"

"Your senses are quite sharp."

"Fine, I'll give you a chance."

"I will continue walking slowly along this great river. If you can catch up with me and meet me again, then it will be fate that we are destined to be together. What good is it to grant you such a blessing?"

"If you can't catch up with it or touch it, then it's not meant to be, so don't force it."

Chen Hong's words carried a certain subtle spiritual fluctuation, allowing Mo Bao to roughly understand Chen Hong's meaning.

Mo Bao, of course, couldn't understand the specific meaning of Chen Hong's words, but it could vaguely sense that it had to hurry.

Hurry up and catch up with Chen Hong, or he will miss a great opportunity.

It knew in its heart that by attaching itself to Chen Hong, it would never go hungry again, and might even become stronger.

It's the same principle as a cat knowing that it has to follow its owner to get meat.

Having realized this, Mo Bao took a few deep sniffs at Chen Hong, as if trying to memorize Chen Hong's scent.

Then they started running in one direction into the mountains and forests.

The speed increased, and increased until it disappeared from sight.

Chen Hong smiled and said, "It's quite a clever big cat."

Chen Hong started walking, following the winding river downstream.

After walking for an hour, enjoying the beautiful scenery of the pristine environment along the way, it was quite pleasant.

Fortunately, Chen Hong was no ordinary person, so he didn't feel any soreness in his feet.

After rounding a bend in the river, and with the obstruction of the jungle trees gone, Chen Hong came into view of a city.

From a distance, it looks like a small square dot.

"Haha, there really is a human settlement here."

But as the saying goes, "Looking at the mountain makes your horse run itself to death," and after another half hour, the city grew larger and larger, but they still hadn't reached it.

However, I did see vast fields of millet, planted with millet, beans, and other crops.

Occasionally, you can see people grazing sheep and cattle in the weed fields or on the hills.

Chen Hong originally wanted to talk to a farmer in the field and find out some information.

Unexpectedly, the old farmer hid far away in fear as soon as he saw Chen Hong.

He was babbling incoherently.

Chen Hong discovered the first challenge: the language barrier.

The classical Chinese of this era differed greatly from that of later generations.

It was as if it were a completely different language; Chen Hong couldn't understand it at all.

Moreover, this was likely during the early Qin Dynasty, not long after the six states had been eliminated.

The languages and scripts of different countries are very different.

Local dialects are even more problematic.

Customs vary from place to place, and accents differ from place to place.

This is not an exaggeration, but a description of the facts.

Realizing this, Chen Hong had no choice but to abandon his plan to communicate.

They continued forward, and soon the black leopard caught up.

He ran desperately, following the direction of the river and the scent left by Chen Hong.

By the time they arrived, they were already out of breath.

When Chen Hong looked, he saw that it was carrying two leopard cubs in its mouth.

Chen Hong patted its head reassuringly.

The leopard put down its two cubs, and due to the wear and tear from the long-term high-speed movement, both cubs were bleeding.

The two leopard cubs seemed to be frequently hungry, as they were rather thin.

Chen Hong sighed, "Fine, since you've done it, I'll reward you."

Chen Hong placed both hands on the heads of the two leopard cubs.

He mobilized his own life force and blood, which were like a great river, and channeled it into two small streams of water, which entered the bodies of the two leopard cubs.

In an instant, the two leopard cubs became energetic again, and their wounds healed on their own.

Chen Hong then pressed his hand on the giant black leopard's head and channeled a stream of life-giving water into it, which revitalized the giant black leopard.

She stuck out her tongue and affectionately licked Chen Hong's hand.

If Chen Hong hadn't been exceptionally healthy, he probably would have been scratched by the barbs on its tongue.

"Since we are destined to meet, you will follow me from now on."

Stroking the big black leopard's head, Chen Hong said to him:
"Judging by your dark complexion, and the fact that you're a large black panther, why not..."

How about I call you Shen Gongbao?

"Shen Gongbao, not bad, not bad."

"From now on, you will be called Shen Gongbao."

The giant black leopard seemed to know it had been given a name, and it licked Chen Hong happily again and again.

Chen Hong then stroked the two little black leopards, one big and one small.

Chen Hong said to the older one, "From now on, you'll be called Big Black."

He said to the younger one, "Then your name will be Xiao Hei."

"How is it? Are you satisfied?"

The two little black panthers nudged Chen Hong's feet with their heads and meowed.

I'm quite satisfied.

"Okay, stop making trouble."

"Let's go."