I've already reached the Nascent Soul stage, and you're saying I didn't time travel?

Chapter 51 Green-haired Gar

A new day begins, and the live stream starts again.

The audience surged in.

The scene showed thick smoke billowing everywhere.

"Holy crap, what happened?"

"Could it be that the wooden house was burned down right after it was built?"

"It can't be that bad, right? Who could be that unlucky?"

"That's hard to say. The treacherous environment of the floating continent is still fresh in my mind. I wouldn't be surprised if a meteor shower suddenly fell from the sky."

"Where is Qi Shen? Where did Qi Shen go?"

……

As the audience wondered what was going on, the camera gradually zoomed out, revealing several large pits in the open space in front of the wooden house, where wood was burning. Thick smoke billowed from the pits, and some hanging objects could be vaguely seen in the smoke.

Qi Xuan, looking disheveled from his busy work, suddenly burst into the frame.

He grinned, showing off his bright white teeth, and said to the camera:

"As you can probably tell, I'm using this smoke to smoke the meat."

"After killing that spiky leech yesterday, I've been thinking about what to do with its carcass. Throwing it away would be too wasteful, but eating it myself would result in too much meat."

Later, having no other choice, they smoked the meat they couldn't finish immediately to preserve it longer, and the smoking process also improved its flavor.

"To be honest, the meat of this thing is really not tasty. Even if you roast it and add some seasoning, it still doesn't taste good. But it is extremely filling. A small piece can be enough for a meal. If you give it to an ordinary person, one of these would last a month without any problem."

As he spoke, he left the smoky smoking area and walked to the slaughtering site.

To avoid the live stream being shut down, the scene was kept very clean, with no bloody scenes. There was just a thick, cut tail placed on a section of ironwood log.

"I'm showing you this tail not because I'm bored, but because there's a very important clue on it."

Qi Xuan moved the camera closer to the tail.

Aim at the spot next to the wound inflicted by yesterday's wooden spear.

"See that? There's an old wound here!"

Beside the wound, a coin-sized patch of skin was noticeably raised, appearing very rough, like a scar.

Most importantly, when Qi Xuan flipped his tail over, there was a scar of the same shape on the other side.

Seeing the penetrating wound inflicted by Qi Xuan with his wooden spear, all netizens instantly became excited:

"Someone used the same method to pierce its tail!"

"Haha, I knew it! How could such a huge continent be uninhabited?"

"Are we finally going to start making contact with the indigenous people? I wonder what their social structure is like."

"I hope to meet an older sister with three breasts."

"Damn it, why didn't you say you'd help her up?"

"Stop for now! This might not have been caused by a person. Let's not get too excited."

……

After turning his tail over, Qi Xuan said to the camera:
"Of course, I also know that the evidence of a penetrating wound can only prove that there may be other people nearby, not conclusive evidence. This wound may also have been caused by other reasons."

For example, during a heavy rainstorm, it was accidentally swept downstream and its tail struck a sharp object, piercing it instantly.

Or perhaps it was left on its body by other wild beasts during their battle. And so on and so forth.

Therefore, we cannot say that such a person definitely exists, but only that there is a possibility of it.

Even if it's just a possibility, it's still excellent and greatly encourages me to continue exploring.

Qi Xuan's face lit up with excitement as he continued:
"Another piece of good news is that, according to my research, this spiky leech did not originally live in that puddle, but was washed over from the south by the flood. We haven't had time to explore the south yet, so we might have some unexpected finds on this trip."

Qi Xuan looked south and said with a smile:
"Then let's not delay any longer and let's begin immediately."

After saying that, he took out a whittled iron-core wooden stick, along with a dozen or so wooden spears, and immediately headed south.

Unlike other directions, the terrain rises steadily to the south, and there are relatively few puddles on the road. Apart from some shallow depressions, there is almost no obvious standing water.

However, the impact of the torrential rain was still very obvious. Many trees were broken and snapped, there were obstacles everywhere, and the mud and rocks became very loose. Large areas of mudflats could be seen from time to time, making it very difficult to trek and the pace of progress was pitifully slow.

By the time the morning live stream ended, they had probably only covered a third of the usual distance.

In the afternoon, Qi Xuan did not turn back, but continued to move forward.

Thanks to the compass he had drawn earlier, he never strayed from his direction in such a complex and ever-changing environment, always facing south.

At one point, seeing Qi Xuan nearly fall off the cliff after stepping on a rock, the viewers in the live stream, while terrified, couldn't help but try to dissuade him:

"Qi Shen, it's too dangerous. Let's come back tomorrow."

"At least wait until the ground is completely dry. I've fallen almost three times on this journey."

"Please, we're really not in a hurry. You should take it easy. Don't get killed by the monster but then die on the way."

"Go back now, or your smoked meat will be stolen soon!"

……

However, Qi Xuan paid no attention to the dangers he encountered on the road.

He was very optimistic, and even introduced some unfamiliar plants he encountered along the way to the camera:
"This is sword blade grass, with very sharp edges. You can easily cut your hand if you're not careful when picking it."

"This is the Dream Flower. You can see many small insects sleeping on the flower. These are food for the insects after they have been drugged by it. Its petals can be used to make sleeping potions, but they can only drug ordinary people."

"This is a bald fruit. Don't be fooled by its ugly appearance; it actually tastes terrible. Perhaps it's because no animals want to eat it that it grows everywhere."

……

"This is a green-haired jujube. When it is unripe, it is highly poisonous and can be fatal if eaten. When it is ripe, the peel will turn green and the fuzz on the surface will fall off completely. I heard that it tastes sweet and rich. Let's pick one and try it."

As he spoke, Qi Xuan picked a ripe green mandarin orange about the size of a fist, wiped it with his hand, took a bite, and found it tender and juicy, with the pale purple flesh immediately exposed.

While chewing, he gave his evaluation like a food blogger:

"The texture is very crisp, similar to an apple, with a rich sweetness and a unique freshness. It must be because it is fully ripe that it has no astringency at all. The taste is very similar to that of a cantaloupe, but there are subtle differences. Overall, it is the best fruit I have ever eaten."

After finishing the meal in a few bites, he couldn't resist collecting them on the spot, picking a large quantity of the ripe green jasmine.

Smoked meat can be greasy if you eat too much of it, so these fruits are a good way to balance it out.

Because the picking motion was quite large, the branches swayed as well, and some ripe green jujubes fell to the ground.

Qi Xuan squatted down and picked it up.

But when he picked up another one, he suddenly froze, his gaze instantly fixed on it—

There was a very clear tooth mark on this green-haired jasmine!

(End of this chapter)