Infinite Hunter

As an old hunter, Cheng Yijiu has seen the corpses of many wild beasts and unlucky people, and naturally has his own unique views on various injuries - and he also seriously studied forensic knowledge for a period of time for hunting, so he can really distinguish whether the wounds were caused before life or after death.

This isn't something you need to learn much about; even watching a few episodes of CSI or BONES can teach you a lot about forensic anthropology. "Yes, torn apart alive," the American medical examiner shone a flashlight, then used tweezers to pluck a few hairs from the wound. "Rocard's Law: Where there's contact, there's a trace," Cheng Yijiu said. "What's this?" the medical examiner asked, likely not expecting an answer.

"It's the hair of some kind of animal, either a bear or a large primate," Cheng Yijiu said. At this time, the soldiers of the Foreign Legion who were in charge of surveillance also began to report the situation. Yes, they had discovered that these militants had been attacked, but due to the rainforest trees, these soldiers could not see clearly what kind of animal it was.

The camera also proved this point. This jungle has a strange "vitality". It was an unobstructed space for both the soldiers and the camera at the beginning, but in a short period of time, plant branches grew silently - these branches did not interfere with the picture, but when it was "windy" at night, they moved and blocked many key pictures.

So the soldiers used searchlights to shine, but were dazzled by the constantly moving branches of the plants - they could hear screams, the sound of human bodies being torn apart, and even strange roars. Of course, they also saw the creatures, although not clearly, it was enough for the soldiers to open fire.

And that was the result: only human body parts were found, not the bodies of the creatures that had torn them apart. Cheng Yijiu was looking at the mess of traces on the ground, trying to distinguish footprints and other traces. The others were cleaning up the body parts, trying to piece them together—the forensic doctor wanted to perform autopsies on them.

Cheng Yijiu squatted on the ground and shone his flashlight. He wasn't too worried about the large crowd here—there were at least a dozen armed soldiers, so there was no need to worry about any animals attacking. "Found it!" Cheng Yijiu said, and immediately several people squatted down to look at the traces Cheng Yijiu pointed out.

A middle-aged man with a full beard - Cheng Yijiu remembered that he was a Russian, and an American woman both stretched out their hands to gesture at the edge of the trace. Cheng Yijiu used a light pen to outline a frame - this was the edge of the trace, and it was obvious that it was a footprint.

"A large primate footprint," they all said. "It's quite advanced, no longer entirely arboreal. Look at how the big toe is approaching the other four upper toes—this is a large primate more adapted for terrestrial life—but not a chimpanzee."

"The chimpanzee's footprint is very similar to this one, but not that big. This footprint is already the size of a gorilla." These people analyzed it in a flurry, and Cheng Yijiu did not continue talking after finding the footprint, but looked at the deep jungle.

"Forget it, let's go back first." Cheng Yijiu said, he stood up and walked out of the jungle, after whispering with Liu Moutao for a while, he went back to the tent. He decided to listen to the report tomorrow about what those people did afterwards - this aspect should still be relatively harmonious, even the Americans probably don't want to make trouble.

The next morning at nine o'clock, a meeting was held in the main tent, where everyone shared their findings so far. "Unidentified large primate, presumably some kind of gorilla, violent and capable of tearing apart a human body and actively attacking," the medical examiner added, showing the autopsy footage. "All the bodies are mutilated. I found tooth marks."

Cheng Yijiu leaned back in his chair and said, "Ah, a man-eating gorilla... This is not surprising. Chimpanzees are like this. They eat monkeys. Chimpanzees in some places will also attack humans. But this thing is bigger than a chimpanzee, so it's dangerous." There are many ferocious primates, but among the higher primates without tails, only chimpanzees and humans are ferocious guys.

Analysis of the jungle's species yielded no results; they were all perfectly normal creatures. As for the sudden explosion and reappearance, there was no explanation—supernatural events often lack explanations, and explanations are difficult to come by. The Frenchman's final analysis of the population also yielded a significant figure—perhaps millions had simply vanished into the jungle.

Cheng Yijiu and Liu Moutao didn't think anything of it, and some of the other members of the Wuchang expedition team probably felt the same way. "I think it's simply the resurgence of the tropical rainforest. Look at the historical area occupied by these rainforests compared to their current area – the difference is several times. The damage to the rainforests over the years has been quite severe," Cheng Yijiu told Liu Moutao.

"I have a hypothesis... maybe the entire supernatural phenomenon is the rainforest itself. It's not necessarily a manifestation of will, but perhaps simply a conditioned reflex like a giant amoeba, allowing itself to 'restore' to its original state." Cheng Yijiu's words made Liu Moutao nod, "It's very possible."

In fact, there was an Englishman listening to them, and this Englishman should understand Chinese. He soon discussed this possibility with them, and it really attracted the attention of others. Cheng Yijiu's statement was recorded as a possibility - in most cases, supernatural events really require some special ideas, and sometimes they are far more bizarre than ordinary people can imagine.

Inevitably, the conversation drifted to the question of how, if this were a possibility, the rainforest had become a giant organism. Could the Amazon rainforest be the same? "I'd say the Earth itself is like a giant organism..." Cheng Yijiu muttered, and those who understood Chinese laughed. This hypothesis had been proposed a long time ago, particularly in science fiction.

The discussion then turned to that particular primate. The medical examiner had already produced plaster casts of the upper and lower jaws, which he had reconstructed from tooth marks. "That's a huge mouth, bigger than ours," everyone laughed. "There's always been legend around here about an unknown creature called the Bili ape. Maybe this is it," more than one member of the expedition said.

The study of "unknown biology" has been a popular subject in recent years. Several unknown organisms that were previously considered "fake" have been explored and discovered, but most of them have not been made public.

Chapter 18 Incident

Since the topic of the cryptid Bili ape was on the table, Cheng Yijiu, as someone with some experience in research, naturally joined the expedition team in discussing it. After all, he spoke English and French, so there was practically no language barrier on this expedition. A German expedition might have been a bit more problematic. The French had pulled out information about the Bili ape, but interestingly, they couldn't confirm its existence.

"I think France is in serious decline," Cheng Yijiu whispered to Liu Moutao, earning Liu Moutao's strong agreement. "But this is a historical issue. There's been no detailed reporting from the beginning, even in the 19th century, when their colonial power was at its peak."

There is little information on the Bili Ape. Locals have reported seeing it, but no one has ever been caught, not even a carcass. This large ape is known as the "lion-eating ape" because locals have observed it actively chasing away predators like lions and leopards. Furthermore, this ape has a unique characteristic: on full-moon nights, it will occupy high vantage points with a clear view of the moon and howl at it.

"Could this thing be a werewolf?" The Frenchman, a European, had always had similar opinions. Previously, everyone had thought it was some kind of cryptid, but the Frenchman said it was probably an African werewolf—probably not called that, but definitely a half-creature. It was a reasonable question; after all, we'd know what it was once we caught it. The Americans examined the hair and confirmed it was some kind of primate, refusing to give the Frenchman any leech cred.

If Cheng Yijiu could identify the tooth marks, they looked more like human ones, except that the canine teeth were much more developed than those of humans.

The conclusion of the discussion was to enter the jungle, especially the newly formed rainforest areas, and use various equipment to clear a clearing to investigate. What else could they do? Why would the Wuchang people go through the trouble of risking their lives to explore the rainforest? Furthermore, there was a high probability that no conclusion would be found at all—this was the outcome of most paranormal events in the world, especially large-scale ones like this.

The French knew that they could actually accept the rainforest returning to its original size. The death of millions of local residents wasn't even a big deal to the local government, let alone the French colonizers. "The disappearance and death of people is indeed worthy of sympathy, but that's it," Cheng Yijiu said privately.

After marking off an area, construction equipment began moving in, tearing down trees and shoveling the ground, setting fires to see if anything was amiss. The results indicated nothing was amiss. This was nearly a square kilometer of rainforest, and after a week of clearing, there had been no signs of any change. "We'll have to see how the rainforest suddenly regenerates, but I think we're almost out of trouble." Russia and China were already clamoring that everything was fine and they were ready to leave.

Even if the Bili Ape appeared in front of them, it would not be a big deal - who in Wuchang doesn't have a hidden creature? Although the sudden appearance of the rain forest is really surprising, strictly speaking, it is not their business. Secondly, everyone present is an old hand with experience in dealing with such things. They can all feel that this matter is probably the kind that has no explanation and can only be monitored but not handled.

They had originally hoped to salvage something, but now it turned out to be nothing—that very night, the rainforest that had been cleared grew back… a miracle that happened right before their eyes. Cheng Yijiu was one of the first to awaken. He could feel the pulsation of life beneath the surface, as if it were the miracle of Gaia awakening. The ground, previously distorted to resemble the surface of the moon or Mars, began to stir almost instantly.

Cheng Yijiu immediately sensed the movement beneath the ground, quickly scrambled to his feet, and woke Liu Moutao. The two quickly donned their clothes, grabbed their weapons, and left the tent. By then, others had already sensed the disturbance—the ground was shaking more and more violently, and so, one after another, others rushed out of the tent. The Foreign Legion soldiers stationed outside the area were still able to maintain order and remained calm. They quickly drove everyone to the area outside the shaking area.

The cars were jolted and tossed about by the churning earth. If the area weren't so limited, they would have flipped over, and everyone would have been trapped. After the earth writhed for a while, plants began to grow visibly from it. Although it was midnight, there was still moonlight. Everyone watched as these plants grew, completely defying all natural laws—this was a short, cinematic explosion of growth.

Like a series of photographs, from tender shoots to towering trees, within less than ten frames, a dense forest almost identical in age to the one cleared a week earlier reappeared. Their tents, along with much of their equipment, had been shattered by the growing trees. At the same time, a shrill roar echoed from the rainforest. Cheng Yijiu cocked his rifle and fired directly in the direction of the sound.

It was just a threat; the roars from the other side didn't even stop. Some soldiers threw stun grenades into the rainforest, while others simply fired flares. Cheng Yijiu could clearly see the large brown animals within, but unfortunately, he couldn't see their specific appearance. Their roars echoed throughout the rainforest, which provided shelter for the animals. The Wuchang expedition team was forced to retreat several kilometers.

After daybreak, everyone discussed the matter. Liu stayed behind to report to his superiors, while Cheng Yijiu, Xiao Zhang, and several other British, American, French, and Russian soldiers drove back to the previously engulfed camp. "The equipment is transmitting normally," Xiao Zhang said after checking it. Cheng Yijiu also checked his exoskeleton and found it was quite cool and dry. Being in the rainforest helped him focus better.

With the exception of Cheng Yijiu, everyone else was armed with automatic rifles. They were heading into the jungle to search—the jungle wouldn't swallow anyone up, as there were still indigenous people living in the rainforest; they hadn't been "missing." Cheng Yijiu was looking for footprints, and he quickly found them by finding fallen plants. More footprints further clarified the size of the prey.

"Gorilla size?" Cheng Yijiu asked. An American nodded. "Yes, and it's the size and weight of a male silverback, but this isn't a gorilla's footprint."

"What a troublesome prey! Carnivorous monkeys are hard to deal with." Cheng Yijiu cursed. The American, who seemed to have hunting experience, nodded in agreement. "Yeah, that's right."

Chapter 19 Discovery

Meat-eating monkeys...are often both ferocious and intelligent, incredibly cunning and dangerous—baboons and chimpanzees, for example. Those are fine, but another group of primates, the most widespread and numerous, are the most dangerous prey species in history, having been killed by countless hunters. And now, Cheng Yijiu felt he was facing just such a troublesome group of prey.

"Thankfully, we don't need to hunt, just discover," he muttered, adjusting the camera on his shoulder. The men delved deeper into the rainforest, where insects were everywhere. "Did these guys just appear overnight?" someone complained. "Don't you see how supernatural this is? Don't you see the rainforest we're walking through? The trees have been growing for decades, haven't they? And yet we know this was flattened just overnight."

Cheng Yijiu didn't join in the conversation; he was simply watching for any traces of a biri ape—yes, some of its hairs had follicles, so the Americans had run a DNA analysis and confirmed it was some large primate similar to a chimpanzee. "It's growing too fast," Cheng Yijiu complained. All possible traces were now obscured by the rapidly growing rainforest vegetation.

Relying on other remaining traces and the power of the Americans' "artificial noses," small handheld devices, they locked onto the scent trail and, with a steady pace, advanced deep into the rainforest. "There's a leopard," Cheng Yijiu spotted the traces of a leopard gall, and monkeys in the treetops. Just as they noticed the black leopard gall, several beasts suddenly rushed out from the other direction.

Almost immediately, Cheng Yijiu saw these monsters—yes, large chimpanzees, walking on their hind legs, using their knuckles for support, with large heads and mouths that were definitely deeper than humans. This meant that, given the same proportions, these chimpanzees' mouths were much larger than humans'. This made Cheng Yijiu think of a record of African bigmouths... Even in such a tense situation, he could still think of this, which surprised him.

These guys had brown fur, and their faces were even uglier than chimpanzees. Their gaping mouths held fangs that rivaled those of a tiger. "This guy's face is even more prominent, even more prominent than a chimpanzee or a gorilla, making him look far more ferocious than them," Cheng Yijiu thought. No one had opened fire yet; they were all experienced veterans, so of course they had to wait and see what was happening before firing.

Several people had already dispersed, not interfering with each other's firing range. They also placed their utmost trust in the automatic firepower in their hands. This wasn't a movie. In real life, these animals would be horribly hurt by rifle bullets, and there was no way they would just act like nothing happened. Cheng Yijiu was even calmer. A single shot from his weapon would only have a stronger stopping power than the other people's automatic rifles, and it would definitely cause heavy bleeding and kill them.

The gorillas, now being filmed by cameras, rushed to within ten meters of the crowd before retreating. "Are they trying to intimidate?" someone said. "Yeah, similar to gorillas, this is a form of intimidation. But that's strange. Why did they tear those nephews apart that night?" Cheng Yijiu was curious. The others were similarly baffled, unable to understand the gorillas' behavior.

"Perhaps they actually assess the risks? But if one of us can't hold back with this kind of provocation, won't we get killed?" Cheng Yijiu thought. The gorillas threatened, plucked leaves and shrubs from the ground and threw them into the air, then slipped away. "Did you film it?" everyone asked. "Yeah, at least a few gigabytes." Since they were all lethal, there was no need for anesthesia. They just took one back for examination.

When encountering such a supernatural situation, killing immediately isn't the best option. The Five Persists have learned this lesson the hard way. Unless the creatures proactively attack, attacking them could trigger a switch, leading to unexpected consequences. None of them continued forward, but instead watched each other as they prepared to exit the rainforest. If nothing unusual happened, this should have ended there.

Wu Chang was preoccupied with his own affairs, and the Frenchman was simply trying to ensure the supernatural events wouldn't cause further trouble. Restoring the original area and swallowing up a million people wasn't a problem. There weren't any detailed demographic statistics for this place anyway, so these people were a negative asset. While it wasn't clear yet, it shouldn't be a big deal, so let it be. Everyone quickly evacuated the rainforest and returned to their campsite.

"So it's basically all right?" Liu Moutao asked, and Cheng Yijiu nodded. "Anyway, it's just the rainforest recovery area. I think the entire rainforest has probably become a large living organism. As long as we don't stimulate it, there won't be any problems." Liu Moutao asked bluntly, "What do you mean by stimulation?"

"Large-scale deforestation, or just setting fire, or the Americans are crazy and using airplanes to spray defoliants. These may irritate the rainforest, and we don't know what will happen. Now it seems that the rainforest is just recovering... As long as the people in those towns leave in time, I don't think there will be any big problem, right? Is it going to swallow up a million people? How is it going to swallow them up?" Cheng Yijiu was still grabbing his hair, confused.

Forget it, it was none of his business anyway. Before leaving, everyone chatted about the supernatural events in their respective countries, which was more interesting. Everyone present was a professional in this field, so some of the less confidential things could be discussed. For example, the British guy talked about the British big cats that gave them a headache.

"Isn't this just a case of some weird rich guy in your country releasing his black panthers into the wild because the law doesn't allow it?" Cheng Yijiu said after hearing this, "At least from the photos taken before, I saw that they were black panthers taken from a distance." The British doctor also smiled bitterly, "Yes, it was indeed a black panther - but that was in the past. We have looked for it. Twenty years ago, there were rumors that we found the bones of a large cat, that is, a leopard, but the rumors in recent years are not about black panthers."

He scratched his cheek. "We really found it. It is indeed a very large cat, almost as big as a black panther, but judging from its appearance, it is a cat, not a leopard." Cheng Yijiu raised his brows. "Then what's so magical about it? Otherwise, it would not be a big cat. I remember that genetic engineering or special breeding can always produce a very large cat. After all, those large cats like Ragdoll and Siberian Forest don't seem too far away from leopards."

This is a joke. A leopard weighs at least 100 kilograms, while a big cat only weighs a little over 20 kilograms, a difference of five times. And this Englishman said the cat weighed at least 100 kilograms, he estimated it to be 150 kilograms, and it often appeared and disappeared like smoke...

Chapter 20 Extended Mission

"Oh, that's quite strange. You wouldn't call this creature a 'Cheshire Cat', would you?" Cheng Yijiu looked at the Englishman's expression and slapped his thigh. "Is it really called a Cheshire Cat?" The Englishman shrugged. "This creature really did appear in Cheshire, so it's okay to call it that."

Cheng Yijiu thought for a moment. "What about big cats? Are there any of you who still want to keep one like this?" There are two subfamilies of cats, and the Feline and Pantherinae species are clearly different. Of the same size—that is, in their infant state—Pantherinae cubs have much larger and thicker heads, especially claws, than Feline cubs. Since this Brit called it a big cat, it must be a slender cat.

"Could it be a mountain lion? Like a mountain lion that's gone black and gained some legendary supernatural power—you and I both know the power of 'legends.'" Cheng Yijiu's interest was piqued. Meanwhile, a few expedition members from other countries had also sat down beside him—Liu Moutao wasn't there at the moment, having apparently gone off to chat. The overall atmosphere on the expedition was quite good, except for a few Americans who spoiled the fun...

Another Englishman shook his head. This guy clearly looked like a colonial cougar. "No, not a puma. It's a real big cat." He pulled out a photo. "So far, all those found are black, and we haven't been able to catch even a single specimen. But they don't seem to be any harm—at least there haven't been any cases of them attacking humans." Cheng Yijiu looked at the big cat. "It looks a lot like a British shorthair."

He then curiously asked the Frenchman next to him, "I've heard there's always been legends of black dogs across Europe. Have you ever seen one? I've also heard that anyone who sees a black dog three times will die, and that where black dogs roam, sulfur is left behind." The Frenchman and the Englishman nodded. "They're rare, but there are quite credible records. They usually appear in cemeteries or near long-abandoned houses."

The Frenchman added, "I heard it will also appear on battlefield ruins."

The Russian then spoke up. "They're quite common in our area, especially in places where major wars have taken place—places of intense fighting. Sometimes they appear on moonless nights, with a probability of about one in three. There's also a place with a one in two chance of appearing—Auschwitz." The Russian knocked on the wooden table. "Cameras can't record them. They're truly paranormal."

"That is to say, these black dogs can only be witnessed by real living beings. So is it true that you will die if you see one three times?" Cheng Yijiu was really curious. "I don't know. I can't be sure." This time, people from three countries answered together. When Cheng Yijiu asked what these black dogs looked like, most of the cases of eyewitness survivors said they were short-haired mastiffs like the Canary Mastiff, and some said they were like Great Danes or Dobermans.

The only thing they all share is that their eyes resemble red, burning coals, while blue or green phosphorescence flares from their chests and under their limbs. These dogs are like ghosts, though witnesses say they show no signs of attacking. They typically stare at you with their charcoal-like eyes before running off on their own. As for sulfur? It's not always present in all cases, but the sulphurous stench is a common trait.

To date, many unexplained deaths in Europe have been attributed to black dogs—especially if the person died in a cemetery, a wilderness, or outside an abandoned house. "How interesting," Cheng Yijiu shared his eyewitness accounts with them—those bizarre, half-dog, half-bear creatures that seemed to be human beings, and of course, the so-called giant salamander. "Fortunately, these things can be killed with a gun," Cheng Yijiu said.

Everyone followed the crowd, even the Americans who came over and mentioned Bigfoot. Unfortunately, like other paranormal incidents, they didn't catch a single Bigfoot. Actually, this time, we had a good harvest, as we did collect firsthand evidence of a Bili ape. Five or six minutes of high-definition footage from multiple angles was enough for scientists to analyze.

"That's it for this time. We will probably be able to go back the day after tomorrow. Writing the report is my job, so don't look like that. Oh, and there's also our equipment usage report... hahahaha, this has a chip record, and it would have been uploaded long ago if there was an internet connection." Liu Moutao said with a smile. It would only take a day to rest before they could go back. As for what else anyone else was going to do?

There really was something going on, because there was a report about the latest record of the "Congo Dinosaur", one of the targets this time. This meant that the expedition team had to make another trip, and they would probably have to be transported to the destination by helicopter - they could also take a boat upstream, but Cheng Yijiu instinctively felt that it was not a good idea, and many expedition team members also raised objections.

Cheng Yijiu arrived by helicopter at an open area—the rainforest wasn't entirely dense. The Foreign Legion helicopters gradually transported the team members there and established a camp. Afterwards, they would hike deeper into the rainforest—where the indigenous people living there reported the sighting. According to the local government, that was a week ago, which was incredibly fast in this country.

Everyone's electronic map had the approximate location on it—perhaps a few kilometers off, given the indigenous reports, and it was good enough for the local government officials to know the location. Everyone's electronic map was satellite-based, with both Beidou and GPS enabled, so the signal was naturally strong—because everyone had a foldable antenna on their hat. Anyone who ventured out without a satellite-based electronic map was definitely a low-level explorer.

Cheng Yijiu didn't even bring a gun this time. He asked the foreign legion for a machete, and he only brought a Rambo knife. The others had automatic rifles and pistols, so he was lazy and didn't bring any. The tropical rainforest here is completely original, not restored by this sudden change. So although it is full of tangled roots and many plants, due to the local indigenous people making a living there all year round, there are a few dirt roads that are relatively easy to walk on.

Now they had to walk about twenty kilometers to reach the gentle bay of the river and a small lake. This should be the place the natives reported.

Chapter 21 "Reality"

Along the faintly visible path through the rainforest, the expedition team members formed long lines, spaced two or three meters apart. Leading the way were several of their respective teams' most skilled personnel. Not only did they have to be vigilant against the dangerous creatures of the rainforest, observing the path above ground for traps or other dangerous areas, but they also had to use their machetes to chop down any branches that crossed the path. Unsurprisingly, Cheng Yijiu was among them.

He held a classic American 18-chopping cleaver, a tool that was incredibly handy, chopping branches with ease. They employed a system where one person led a team for about twenty minutes before replacing them to maintain the frontline's fitness—even though they were equipped with various "powered and unpowered exoskeletons" developed by their respective countries, with varying degrees of success. The American powered exoskeletons included some armor, differing from the Chinese design approach.

The American exoskeleton features a load-bearing design with external armor plates, especially the protective plates on the limbs. These plates are rigid and also provide support. The American design is quite attractive, while the Chinese one appears to be welded from I-beams. However, the Chinese exoskeleton is superior in core components like the powertrain and battery pack. This exoskeleton model still uses hydraulic cylinders, not electronic muscles.

This thing isn't really suitable for explosive power output—it's not designed for this function, or perhaps it's blocked. This type of explosive power is more likely to cause muscle injury to the user. Cheng Yijiu walked along the dirt road for six hours before finally reaching his destination. Although it was only twenty kilometers, walking through the rainforest was quite strenuous. Before him lay a slowly flowing river and a small lake, its banks littered with fallen leaves.

The river water was not clear but rather turbid. "Are there really Congo dinosaurs here?" Everyone began to check for footprints nearby, but Cheng Yijiu stared at the water. "I think it would be more effective to find some explosives and oil drums and create noises directly underwater." In such a vast area of ​​water, it might not be possible to immediately discover signs of the animal rising to the surface to breathe - if this thing is really as described in the records, it must have exposed its nostrils to breathe.

There's something here, the smell of the water proves it, teeming with life. But Cheng Yijiu thought it would be better to drop a bomb underwater. Whatever it is, blow it all up. "Everyone, this was just a strange theory before, most likely just a fabricated folk tale. As for so-called supernatural events these days, we all know that the most likely principle is that rumor is reality—the more widespread the legend, the more widely discussed and believed it, the more likely it is to be 'real,'" someone said, agreeing with Cheng Yijiu.

Violence was the quickest solution. The only question remained: was this Congo dinosaur harmful? What consequences would it pose? Ultimately, the expedition team, under the guidance of several team leaders, prepared some cracker barrels and explosives, creating a few crude underwater bombs that would explode with a loud bang. Using a simple wooden catapult, they launched these bombs into the center of the lake. With a tremendous splash and roar, the underwater animals gradually surfaced, belly-up.

"Yeah, a lot of them are fish. Maybe we can even discover some new species." Cheng Yijiu leaned against the lake. After a while, a big creature really appeared on the water. It was a dinosaur with a long neck. At first glance, it looked like a diplodocus or something like that. Gunshots rang out, and it turned out to be an American. Cheng Yijiu did not stop the American's tentative shooting, because the creature in front of him seemed like an illusion...

The bullet hit the ground with no reaction at all, as if it had hit the ground. "As expected," Cheng Yijiu muttered. Liu Moutao also came over. "If I'm not mistaken, it's probably that one, right?"

"Well, it's fantasy that creates reality, turning it into this purely imaginary creature—if I must say, it's a remnant of a dinosaur that lived here 65 million years ago, or even longer." Liu Moutao, with far greater knowledge than Cheng Yijiu, rattled off his assessment. Several scholars agreed with this view, and the Americans who fired the shots, after testing the waters, certainly agreed. "This is a physical phantom."

"It can't be considered a living thing, right?" Cheng Yijiu asked, "Well, it's neither alive nor dead. You can think of it as a movable figurine that can appear and disappear at any time. Generally speaking, it can have limited interactive activities with the outside world..." A Russian scholar said that many supernatural events in recent years are actually of this kind, which are the embodiment of folk rumors.

This is already harmless. It would be a real headache if some of the more terrifying folk legends were to come true - fortunately, it is unlikely to happen in general, so although there have been sightings of the American's slender ghost, there has been no record of anyone being injured.

"What a wonderful world!" Cheng Yijiu thought it was quite amusing. This thing before him was definitely a "real" Jurassic World movie. "Look at it." Many members of the expedition team had already taken out their phones and other cameras to take pictures. This was a true reflection of what a certain dinosaur species looked like at a certain time. It was a shame they couldn't actually touch it. Measuring blood pressure or taking samples was out of the question—it could disappear at any moment.

Cheng Yijiu had intended to hunt dinosaurs, but the cabin hadn't given him the chance to travel to 65 million years ago. Now, looking back, he thought, "Maybe there's a mission to Jurassic Park?" This was the only way he could convince himself. The dinosaur before him had long, feathery features on its neck and back, seemingly individual strands of hair. Its head wasn't large, and the entire dinosaur looked about half the size of an elephant. Including its neck and tail, it was nearly 15 or 16 meters long.

Soon, it started to emit snow-like interference patterns, like a TV with a bad signal. After a while, it simply disappeared, but the impact of the sudden disappearance was real. "As expected, there are many strange things in the world." Cheng Yijiu thought about his last mission. Wasn't the elephant similar?

Now that we've seen it and recorded it, we can leave. "That means this thing didn't exist here originally. It doesn't actually exist. I think one explanation is pretty good: they just saw a forest elephant wrongly. But now that these rumors persist, they've become a kind of 'truth.' So, are a lot of these strange and supernatural events in our country also like this?" Cheng Yijiu asked, earning Liu Moutao a mysterious smile in return.

End of Chapter 22

Cheng Yijiu also understood. It seemed that sooner or later, the things in the Classic of Mountains and Seas would appear... but it was hard to say how long it would take. "Wait! If so... if we had made up a rumor a few decades ago about a Tyrannosaurus Rex still existing somewhere, as long as enough people believed and spread it, and as more and more plausible evidence was produced, then this thing would be very likely to appear in reality - just like this so-called phantom in front of us."

His words made Liu Moutao nod his head frequently. "It's not just that, it's even more troublesome than that," he lamented. "Even certain special places and horror legends have become 'real,' which is really frustrating." Cheng Yijiu was delighted. "Next time, get me a certificate and I'll help the department hunt those ferocious beasts."

The monsters in the Classic of Mountains and Seas were incredibly diverse, and Cheng Yijiu had long wanted to see them. Most of them were undoubtedly the fantasies of those ignorant of biology, likely based on misinformation, but they were still quite interesting. Many animals went extinct just over 10,000 years ago, so it's entirely possible that many surviving species persisted until a few thousand years ago. It's perfectly normal for people at the time to not recognize them completely, or for the stories to have distorted their appearance.

If you show an average person an elephant skull, wouldn't they probably ask, "Why does it only have one big eye? What kind of bones are these?" So it's perfectly normal for the ancients to misjudge animals. However, the monsters in the Classic of Mountains and Seas aren't all nonsense; some are actually quite real. For example, the various tiger-like man-eating beasts, while Cheng Yijiu believes they're most likely tigers, don't rule out the possibility that they're the last remnants of saber-toothed tigers...

By the same token, it's very likely that mammoths and cave bears were also written into the Classic of Mountains and Seas and exaggerated. Ancient people, upon seeing the skeletons of certain creatures, also produced exaggerated descriptions, which all contribute to their supernatural reappearance today. "So, I have to use specialized bullets and guns." Cheng Yijiu considered engraving alchemical runes on the barrel of the gun, but decided it would be better to just use specially crafted alchemical bullets.

Then we have to hide it a little bit, "But the country should also have similar technology, otherwise how to deal with those supernatural things?" Cheng Yijiu thought, now everyone is really ready to withdraw, nothing has been solved, but some data have been collected, the appearance of a certain sauropod dinosaur from the Cretaceous period has been photographed, and by the way, some possible explanations for supernatural events have been obtained, which is enough.

Who really cares about the rainforest nations of Congo and the Gulf of Guinea? France is the only country present who seems to care—it's missing a significant portion of its tax base. Beyond that, even mainland China seems practically indifferent. Fundamentally, no one cares about Black Africa, unless it involves minerals or oil. A few decades ago, some people cared about how the people of this continent lived, but now...

The only major power truly committed to providing them with infrastructure, maintaining their foundation as a nation, is the Eastern Continent. However, when it comes to supernatural events, even the Eastern Continent can't handle them all—we can build roads and railways, even dams and power stations, but dealing with these strange entities? Sorry, that's impossible. Strange things often appear in our fields—luckily, the damage they cause is manageable and small-scale.

Things like zombies are easy to catch nowadays, but causing a large-scale incident is impossible. A mortal dying from a zombie's drained blood wouldn't become a zombie until at least the seventh day after death, and in this day and age, they'd already be cremated. Some unlucky people, like certain religious groups, require burial. After forming, zombies prefer to seek out blood relatives first, allowing them to grow rapidly.

Therefore, before the relevant national departments responded, only these places had zombie attacks of a certain scale.

There are also strange beasts, but ghosts have never appeared - it should be said that there are some scary ones, but no physical ones that can be touched.

The plane flew back to Shanghai after another day, and Cheng Yijiu returned to his shop. As for the so-called license, he naturally didn't have one, but Liu Moutao promised that if such a thing really existed, he would definitely notify him to destroy it. Cheng Yijiu would be very disappointed, because his world had come to an end. This was the only strength he could find. The monsters in the Classic of Mountains and Seas? Ordinary beasts were possible, but those with even slightly unusual abilities were out of the question.

The African elephant he had killed earlier could not possibly appear in this world...

Before the new mission, Cheng Yijiu had nothing to do. Miss Tang was just an ordinary person. Without Cheng Yijiu's urging, she'd only exercised twice every three days and skipped one. Cheng Yijiu wasn't going to discipline her harshly—she'd learned this just to burn calories and get in shape, not to fight in college. Twice every three days was fine; it still served the purpose of exercise.

In his workshop, Cheng Yijiu diligently crafted silver bullets—enchanted silver bullets that could easily kill dark creatures. The context of this mission was still unknown, so Cheng Yijiu had to be fully prepared—he absolutely had to bring a double-barreled shotgun. No matter what kind of beast it was, a shotgun at close range would definitely kill it.

I'd probably need to prepare some clothing too. A specially tanned cowhide vest would be essential, lined with thin steel sheets, which should be able to withstand serious damage from the claws of ordinary beasts. It was at this time that Cheng Yijiu saw the mission. "Damn, this is the late 19th century or early 20th century?" There was no specific time, but it looked like it was somewhere in Europe.

"Werewolf? Damn it!" Cheng Yijiu cursed half excitedly and half embarrassedly. In this case, the silver bullets and the specially enchanted cold iron silver-plated hunting knife would be useful. Unfortunately, he tried it and was not allowed to bring a gun... Then he had to change into a coat suit, a hat, and leather boots. The only weapon he could use was the hunting knife.

After dressing up as Van Helsing, Cheng Yijiu adjusted the brim of his hat and once again sorted out his gear. Since he didn't have a gun, the only items in his bag this time were some special medicines—a potion to combat wolfsbane made from the alchemy manual, some money, and some spare clothing. He pushed open the door and disappeared...

Volume: Who is the Werewolf?

Chapter 1 Enter