Chapter 709 - 29: Beacon
Leaving the mound, after walking for almost four hours, seeing that Paul was utterly exhausted, Chen Zhou then found a grove and stopped.
The three young Saw-toothed Tigers were initially carried by them, but later, perhaps feeling uncomfortable from not being able to touch the ground, they continued to struggle and were eventually placed on the ground, following the two of them forward.
Compared to puppies, these three little ones seemed too sensible. In the wild, they almost never barked to expose their location.
Maybe they lost their mother as infants and witnessed their kin being killed, then went through many cruel natural laws. Although young, their minds matured too early.
...
Clearing an area of land, laying down deer hide blankets, seeing Paul squatting on the ground wanting to start a fire, Chen Zhou hurriedly stopped him—
Now, the night has yet to disperse; if the other two groups of challengers lack night vision ability, they could only determine their location by firelight. If a fire is lit now, it might expose their whereabouts.
With not much time left until sunrise, now just need to wait patiently.
Letting Paul rest first, leaving the three young Saw-toothed Tigers at the temporary camp to warn Paul, Chen Zhou left alone, seeking a higher and hidden place to observe the situation from afar.
It’s important to know that although they retreated first, the group on the mountain and the group by the river didn’t retreat, and there’s a possibility of conflict between them. Chen Zhou could profit as a "fisherman" while the stork and clam are fighting.
...
Before leaving, Chen Zhou deliberately made a circle around the temporary camp and also left the Hand Axe for Paul.
Perhaps the commotion at the rock salt attracted most of the nearby wild beasts, the area around the temporary camp was unusually quiet with only timid herbivorous animals active; upon seeing Chen Zhou arrive, they hurriedly hid away, seemingly posing no threat to Paul.
Seeing this, Chen Zhou felt relieved, carrying his lance, he retraced his steps back.
...
Without Paul and the three Saw-toothed Tigers, going all out, Chen Zhou’s speed more than doubled, and he returned near the mound in just over an hour.
There, part of the Mammoth Grassland was visible, with hardly any prominent boulders and no towering mountains; at best, he could climb some of the tall trees rooted in the grassland to scout around.
Whenever climbing, Chen Zhou’s weight always caused him considerable trouble.
Some trees with less dense wood couldn’t bear his weight at all, yet these trees grew tall.
Though trees with dense wood could support him, their growth rate was very slow, making it quite challenging to find a large tree of this type.
However, persistence pays off.
In the prehistoric grassland, without large-scale logging by humans, as long as not affected by insect plagues or temperature, hard woods could generally grow large, some surviving for dozens, hundreds, or even several hundred years, with trunks towering and majestic.
...
When Chen Zhou found a suitable tree, dawn was breaking.
The summer solstice had long passed, with each day having shorter daylight and longer nights.
This change would persist until the winter solstice, the shortest day and longest night.
Having been in the prehistoric world for over a month, Chen Zhou could clearly feel the time the sun hung in the sky to shine upon the earth becoming increasingly shorter each day.
This meant the star’s direct rays to the northern hemisphere were giving less and less heat to the land.
With the arrival of winter, the land ruled by long nights would fall into an enduring chill.
The Space-Time Administration Bureau, on top of it, would interfere, pushing the winter temperatures to extremes.
He couldn’t even imagine how many animals would die from the extreme cold, or how many challengers that won in competition would fail to adapt and become frozen in the winter.
...
Lying on a sturdy branch looking afar, the surface of the dead yellow grass stalks seemed to have a layer of frost on them.
The Mammoth Grassland was starting to show signs of desolation.
Here by the mound, the bonfire he and Paul had started had long faded due to the lack of fuel.
Not far from the bonfire, a group of Giant Hyenas and Fear Wolves were confronting each other.
The Giant Hyenas had the advantage in size, while the Fear Wolves outnumbered them.
Both sides eyed each other, the standoff lasted for a while, and the Fear Wolves perhaps still feared the Giant Hyenas’ massive size, retreated, giving up the bear corpse.
About 60 meters from the bonfire, by the branch of the Yidu River, two female Great Horned Deer were lowering their heads to drink water.
The "ancient people" Chen Zhou saw last night were by the river.
One of them took out a sword from their waist, wielding it to cut open the Fine-toothed Giant Bear hide, shaping it into a neat square.
The other was piling stones, setting up a small pot, stuffing a lot of dead grass into the makeshift stone stove, using a tool either a flint or fire steel to ignite, bending to blow into the stove to spark a fire.
This person had a Great Bow hanging on the female Great Horned Deer’s rear.
With brighter daylight, Chen Zhou could see that both Great Horned Deer had leather saddles made from some unknown beast’s fur and wood on their backs, with animal skin rolled into luggage tied near the deer’s hips, along with some possible food supplies.
It was clear that although this group of challengers were ancient people, they were also ancient people with rich outdoor survival experience, and they seemed to excel in beast domestication.
Chen Zhou initially thought of capturing a young Great Horned Deer to slowly nurture and domesticate.
Yet these two Great Horned Deer appeared to be adults; to capture them alive and domesticate them into mounts in just over a month, they surely were professionals.