When Zhang Heng woke up, he saw that Bell was roasting the python that almost swallowed him last night.
"…."
"Zhang, you're awake. Just in time for breakfast." The explorer stirred the bonfire with a twig in his hand, adjusting the flame. He then pointed to the bloody thing on the side. "Snakeskin. I just peeled it off. You can use it to make a water bag or something after cleaning it up. It's much more airtight than a wooden bucket. You can also use it to make clothes. Wearing it will cool you down. It's very useful when the weather is hot."
"Thank you for last night." Zhang Heng sat up from the ground and thanked Bell first. He could still see the red marks on his arm.
"Hey, you're welcome. You saved me at sea too. If we want to survive in the wilderness, we have to help each other, right?" Bell handed Zhang Heng a piece of roasted snake steak skewered with a twig.
Zhang Heng wanted to refuse, but on second thought, this might be the only chance in his life to eat a python without going to jail. So, he accepted it.
Curious, he took a bite and found that it tasted good. The fishy smell wasn't too strong, a bit like chicken, but more chewy.
Remembering that it was this thing that almost killed him last night, Zhang Heng decided to get two more.
….
After breakfast, the two continued on their journey.
Bell continued to play the role of a qualified guide, using a knife to clear the way while explaining to Zhang Heng the various creatures they encountered along the way.
"The python we encountered last night isn't the only hunter in this forest. When pythons eat, they usually choose to swallow their prey whole from the head. Their eyesight is poor, and sometimes their stomachs will burst when their prey is too big. However, snakes have amazing digestive abilities, often digesting meat and bones together. Of the few animal skeletons we encountered earlier, some were relatively well-preserved and didn't seem to have died in the python's hands."
Zhang Heng silently memorized these bits of information. Many things might seem useless, but they might come in handy at some point.
For example, Ed and the guy in shorts did not teach him how to use seawater to make salt, but he relied on a short video he had seen on a certain bullet screen website. Using the method of heating, crystallization, and repeated filtration, he obtained relatively pure edible salt, which made food tastier.
When Zhang Heng was in primary school, he once followed his grandfather to Xishuangbanna. The forest park there left a deep impression on him.
After all, it was an artificially developed area. Considering safety concerns, only a small portion of it was open to tourists. It was the first time Zhang Heng had seen such a natural tropical rainforest. And according to Bell, this place was rich with life. This was an eye-opener for Zhang Heng.
For example, he once saw a small frog with translucent skin on its abdomen. Its body length was only one to two centimeters, and its heart, liver, and digestive tract could be clearly seen from below. It was very magical.
"Glass frogs usually inhabit the tropical rainforests of Central and South America. There are currently 134 known species of glass frogs in the world, 60 of which are on the verge of extinction," the explorer said as he carefully placed the little thing in his hand back onto the leaf.
"What about this?" Zhang Heng pointed to a bulging tumor-like part of a banyan tree. There were even new branches growing on it.
"Oh, staghorn fern, an epiphytic plant of the staghorn fern family. It's light green when it's young and turns light brown when it matures. They usually grow on the trunk or branches of other trees, and are quite common in tropical rainforests."
Other than that, Zhang Heng also saw a cat monkey, but it was neither a cat nor a monkey. It had bat-like wings that wrapped around its neck, limbs, and tail. When it spread out, it could glide in the air. It looked very playful. Bagheira kipling jumping spider, the only vegetarian spider in the world. It fed on leaf buds. The name was so hard to pronounce that Zhang Heng still could not believe it even after confirming it with Bell three times. The bird of paradise, also known as the bird of paradise, had a cry that sounded like a gunshot. Zhang Heng was shocked when he first heard it, but it looked very beautiful, especially its tail feathers, which had a gradient of color …
Bell could not help but exclaim, "This place is a biological paradise. This is the first time I've seen so many tropical animals and plants from different regions gathered together. It's incredible. If biologists knew about this, they would love this land to death."
Just then, Zhang Heng seemed to have stepped on something. He bent down and picked up a tooth of an unknown animal, with a circular hole at the bottom.
"This thing looks like it's made by hand. Naturally formed holes are usually not so regular." Bell took the tooth and looked at it carefully. "I know that some indigenous people wear the teeth of their prey around their necks as accessories to show off their strength. The more powerful their prey, the more powerful they are. This way, it'll be easier for them to choose a partner. I have a friend who went hunting for lions in the grassland alone in order to marry the most beautiful woman in his tribe. In the end, he didn't come back."
"…"
There was a reason why there were so few foreigners. Zhang Heng did not comment on the wisdom of this behavior. In contrast, he was more concerned about another question. "So, there are indigenous people living on this island? Could it be cannibals? "
Bell shook his head. "It's unlikely. This island isn't that big. You said that you've been living here for more than a year. If there are other people on the island, there's no reason you haven't met them by now … and this thing looks a little old."
"So, there were indigenous people living here in the past?" Zhang Heng broke out in a cold sweat. If those natives were still alive, he and Ed might have been captured and made into soup on the first day they arrived on the island.
"Well, let's go further down and see."
Bell's interest was piqued. He was an explorer, and a lost civilization like this had an indescribable attraction to him. He even forgot that he was here to find a way to leave the island and return to the civilized world. The two of them continued to move towards the center of the island.
So far, they were already halfway there. As they went deeper, they found more and more traces of human existence.
Bell looked at the completely decayed huts and the stone tools that covered the green towers. He was certain that a tribe of indigenous people once lived here in the distant past.
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