Chapter 18: Discoveries Everywhere
The Wild Boar Spirit ran completely immersed, and even though Yun Ce had already chased to within less than a hundred meters, it remained completely unaware, charging ahead with its head down.
Yun Ce leaped a few more times on the treetops and arrived on the Wild Boar Spirit’s must-pass path.
Unbeknownst at what point, the liquid metal had already detached from the Dragon Pearl and gathered into a mass in Yun Ce’s palm, seemingly waiting to be thrown out by Yun Ce at any moment.
At that moment, the Wild Boar Spirit suddenly stopped, raised its head to look up, its two scarlet eyes like two pieces of red-hot charcoal fire.
Yun Ce was also staring at the Wild Boar Spirit, wanting to capture more useful information.
“What are you looking at?”
Yun Ce’s voice fell from the treetops. He really hoped the Wild Boar Spirit could talk to him; that would mean its evolution was already very complete.
Unfortunately, the Wild Boar Spirit didn’t answer “What’s it to you?” but instead spread its single arm, making its body rotate violently. It spun so fiercely that even the dry branches and fallen leaves on the ground were stirred up by the chaotic airflow it created.
Yun Ce widened his eyes, hid his body behind a thick tree trunk, and cautiously peeked out with half his face, waiting for the Wild Boar Spirit to unleash its big move.
In the end, he overthought it. The Wild Boar Spirit didn’t unleash any big skill that could threaten him; instead, taking advantage of Yun Ce being dazzled, it bolted off to the side.
1 It fled.
1 He chased.
1 It had nowhere to escape.
1 The sound of surging water came from ahead. The Wild Boar Spirit stood at the edge of the cliff, turned back to look at Yun Ce standing on the tree trunk, and roared once more.
1 Its long mouth opened very wide, exposing two rows of teeth, even revealing its pink gums. Its long tongue was blown wildly by the airflow rushing from its lungs, to the point that its little tongue was exposed too.
1 Yun Ce was standing relatively far away, so the airflow blown by the Wild Boar Spirit didn’t affect him. But the Wild Boar Spirit’s roar startled quite a few birds, among which a bird with a big head, long beak, and small wings was the most unfortunate—it panicked and plunged headfirst off the cliff.
1 The Wild Boar Spirit wanted to charge but seemed afraid. It wanted to flee in another direction but had to pass under the tree where Yun Ce stood.
1 It sensed the threat of death but still wanted to stay alive, so it turned and jumped off the cliff without the slightest hesitation.
1 The Wild Boar Spirit’s cry still echoed in the gorge, but the Wild Boar Spirit itself had already been swallowed by the waves in the gorge. Yun Ce stood where the Wild Boar Spirit had just been, pondering for a long time.
1 Although beast suicide is rare, it’s not nonexistent, so Yun Ce couldn’t determine if the Wild Boar Spirit’s behavior was an act of wisdom.
2 There was a River in the gorge, with fiercely surging and turbulent river water that never had a moment of calm, so the entire river was covered by white waves, forming a white River.
2 The turbulent river water naturally proved the terrain here was very steep. According to general geographical knowledge, the surging River wouldn’t last long; downstream of this white River, there should be a plain suitable for human settlement.
2 Yun Ce looked up and down at the mountain terrain here. If such an environment were on Earth, a majestic hydropower station would likely be built here to benefit millions.
2 He took out his mobile phone, snapped a few photos, then threw the mobile phone into the Dragon Pearl and flowed downstream.
2 As early as the moment the Wild Boar Spirit jumped off the cliff, both the Dragon Pearl and the liquid metal had calmed down, quietly lying on Yun Ce’s wrist, serving as a perfect bracer.
2 Yun Ce wanted to return to the treetops to continue leaping forward, but unfortunately, he had somehow provoked the strip-shaped animals here. They all climbed up the trees, lurking in all possible shadowy hiding spots, waiting for Yun Ce this prey to fall into their encirclement and ultimately be divided and eaten.
2 The most magical thing about nature is that you should never think you’ve done very well; often when such a thought arises in your mind, disaster will descend.
2 A patch of fiery clouds drifted over from afar. Only when it got close did Yun Ce, leaping forward on the riverside rocks, realize it was a huge flock of red birds.
2 They flew over densely packed, without much rest, splitting into groups to fly toward those dangerous big trees. Countless strip-shaped animals were torn apart and swallowed by these red birds.
2 It was too late for the strip-shaped animals to escape, because these birds searched upward from the base of the tree trunks. Judging by their hunger, they wouldn’t waste even a single strip.
3 During the long process of leaping forward, Yun Ce discovered his body was truly sturdy. This extreme strain on his knees and ankles not only didn’t damage his body but made it feel warm and comfortable.
3 He suspected this leaping forward method should have other more reasonable variations. If studied carefully, it could become an excellent martial art.
3 Leaping along the riverbank, he kept watching the water for movement, because he knew that generally, the most ferocious, venomous, and largest animals came from the water.
3 Fortunately, the rapid water flow here wasn’t suitable for large carnivorous fish to hunt. The energy consumed fighting the current far exceeded the energy gained from feeding here; fish wouldn’t do such a foolish thing.
3 Yun Ce looked carefully but didn’t find the Wild Boar Spirit. He strongly suspected that Wild Boar Spirit hadn’t died at all; if it were certain death, that guy wouldn’t have jumped so decisively.
3 Sure enough, at the root of a huge bamboo-like plant, Yun Ce finally spotted the Wild Boar Spirit in an extremely wretched state. The water flow had slowed here, and it had finally crawled ashore, but this time it really seemed to have no strength left.
3 Although a large amount of clear water surged from its big belly to its throat and sprayed out like a fountain from its long mouth, when its eyes saw Yun Ce bouncing over, they sadly closed.
3 Yun Ce just glanced at the Wild Boar Spirit and turned his gaze to the huge bamboo behind it, because this bamboo-like plant was simply too big. On Earth, Yun Ce had never seen a bamboo so thick that two people couldn’t embrace it.
3 This thing also had nodes, and it was entirely emerald green—not a dull emerald green, but the kind that moistens the eyes.
3 The liquid metal couldn’t wait any longer and slid off the wristband itself, wriggling on the ground like a worm, inching toward the Wild Boar Spirit two meters away.
4 The Wild Boar Spirit’s eyes kept staring at Yun Ce but ignored the steadily advancing liquid metal, so it was a stupid one—after suffering such huge losses repeatedly, on the verge of death it still didn’t realize its greatest danger came from there.
4 Yun Ce pulled out a short-handled axe, flipped open the leather cover over the axe blade, and swung it at the huge bamboo.
4 The bamboo was more fragile than he imagined; one axe blow sank in a handspan deep. The bamboo trunk creaked, and the slightly tilted bamboo clamped the axe blade tightly. The force it exerted on the axe was great; Yun Ce tried three times in a row but couldn’t pull the axe out.
4 Yun Ce looked up at the tall bamboo, unsure if this was the bamboo’s instinctive reaction or if it had sentience. He had such doubts purely because this bamboo was too big, larger than all the surrounding bamboos.
4 In his culture, there were willow tree spirits, locust tree spirits, and such; another bamboo spirit wouldn’t be incomprehensible.
4 He took a rope saw out of the Dragon Pearl and began sawing ga-zhi ga-zhi on the opposite side from the axe. His reason for absolutely wanting to harm this bamboo was entirely because he needed a boat right now; this bamboo was so huge it could make a dugout canoe.
4 This bamboo indeed had some sensitivity. When the rope saw bit into the trunk here, Yun Ce easily pulled the axe out from the other side, so he swung another hard axe blow here…
4 After busying for an hour like this, the foot-thick bamboo trunk was finally cut through. A large amount of clear water sprayed out from the trunk. Yun Ce quickly dodged; the clear water fell on the already withered Wild Boar Spirit’s body, emitting a fresh bamboo fragrance.
4 When the bamboo trunk finally couldn’t support the weight of the upper half, it crashed down. Perhaps this thing still had some consciousness not yet dissipated; it didn’t fall toward the wounds made by the axe or rope saw but chose the direction least likely to fall toward where Yun Ce stood.
4 Yun Ce agilely dodged. The bamboo smashed heavily on the riverbank; one section hit a boulder on the bank and snapped instantly.
5 Even now, Yun Ce still hadn’t figured out if this bamboo was really a bamboo spirit, but given how tall and thick it was, he was willing to show it a bit of respect.
5 After the bamboo fell, chopping it with the axe became easy, with no more clamping of the axe. After Yun Ce cut off a three-meter length—basically two bamboo sections—he began splitting the bamboo laterally into two halves. Splitting laterally was effortless: chop a notch, hammer in a wedge, and the bamboo split open. Once both sides were split, he lifted off the top half, and two fine dugout canoes were complete.
5 Bamboo is naturally hollow with a large inner cavity. Yun Ce tested it; it was big enough for him. The naturally formed bamboo partitions inside the hull didn’t need to be pierced, but the stabilizer wings on the boat bottom needed good carving.
5 After busying for half a day, Yun Ce was long since hungry. There was little wild boar in the Dragon Pearl that he had roasted before. He gathered some dry branches and fallen leaves, lit a fire, and once it had mostly turned to charcoal fire, skewered the little wild boar leg on a sturdy bamboo branch to roast.
5 The little wild boar’s meat was tender and juicy; sprinkled with salt and pepper, it was supreme delicacy.
5 While gnawing on the little wild boar meat, Yun Ce’s gaze involuntarily fell on the Wild Boar Spirit’s body.
5 Perhaps because there’s no cherishing when there’s too much food, the liquid metal that previously absorbed an entire arm into charcoal without leaving a trace seemed to have absorbed not much from the Wild Boar Spirit’s huge body; the Wild Boar Spirit’s corpse merely looked a bit withered.
5 Yun Ce took out a knife and slashed the Wild Boar Spirit’s body, discovering its blood had already coagulated in its vessels. Calculating by time, less than a quarter of an hour after the metal liquid climbed onto the Wild Boar Spirit’s body, it had already died.
5 Yun Ce took a bite of the pig leg, chewed and swallowed slowly, then softly said to the liquid metal, “Does it have to be alive for it to work?”
