Chapter 140: Chapter 137: Covered in Scars
The starry sky slowly rotated overhead, lighting up a flat stretch of sand between the dunes.
The small shadow leaned on one another under the moonlight, as Bi Fang gently caressed the cal’s head. This cal, which could have abandoned him, willingly lowered its head.
The survival attempt had already failed, and it was Nature’s rcy that allowed him to continue.
Humans and Nature, what a contradiction…
Bi Fang’s face was a mix of emotions, “I had thought this cal had escaped, but now it seems I was wrong, it just got lost.”
The cal’s owner must be kind, otherwise how could he raise a cal that harbors such goodwill towards humans?
Even the naturally timid cal was willing to help a lost traveler.
[emmm, can cals get lost?]
[Cals can get lost?]
[Isn’t it said that cals have a strong sense of direction?]
Bi Fang shook his head, “Cals do have a strong sense of direction and are indeed known as the ships of the desert, but being lost is not the sa as being disoriented.”
Being lost isn’t the sa as being disoriented?
This statent confused the audience.
“A cal that can’t find its owner doesn’t an it can’t find its way ho. On the contrary, if the owner has confidence in their cal, they can just go back ho and wait for the cal to return on its own. However, in most cases, this is rare, and the cal would most likely take the opportunity to escape.”
[But aren’t cals supposed to have strong slling abilities? I heard they can directly sll water sources? Even stronger than dogs?]
So audience mbers who were more knowledgeable about cals raised questions.
Bi Fang nodded and then shook his head.
“Yes, cals can use their sense of sll to find water sources more than twenty kiloters away, that’s true, but this doesn’t an their sense of sll is better than that of dogs.”
“The number of olfactory receptor genes in cals is actually quite low, it’s just that there aren’t many scents to distinguish in the desert, so their olfactory discrimination talent is all focused on sensing water and greenery, but it’s very weak in other areas.”
Bi Fang stroked the small tuft of hair on the cal’s head.
The cal showed no reaction, its mouth moving from side to side as it quietly chewed its cud.
“In such a situation, a sandstorm could easily separate the cal from its owner. If there are friends living in Qinghai Province, you could contact the local police stations to ask if anyone has lost a cal; its owner must be very worried.”
This cal trusted humans so much, its owner must have treated it like family. They must be very anxious after its loss.
[So that’s how it is! I get it now.]
[Then does that an we can ride the cal at full gallop next?]
[Cool, I want to ride a cal in the desert too.]
[I’m from Qinghai, already asking.]]
[Cals walk very slowly.]
[Before, survival was achieved on the fourth day, will that rule be broken this ti?]
[But how is that fish going to be extracted? The hole is about thirty ters deep, right? Can it be pulled up?]
“It’s sowhat difficult, but not impossible.”
Bi Fang tightened his clothing and decided to take advantage of the darkness to bring up the strange fish, rather than waiting until the next morning when the sun ca up, as it would make the task even more difficult.
He was in poor condition, having stayed in the cool underground hole for two days, always getting cold from entering the water, and now he had been exposed to the cold desert wind for half the night. Even with Bi Fang’s strong physique, he could not withstand it, and his voice was starting to go hoarse. He needed to speed up and finish everything before his condition worsened!
Picking up the half-finished rope, Bi Fang continued to knead and roast at to make fire.
Physical strength had to be replenished, there was one snake left to eat, without a full stomach, there was simply no energy to work.
An hour later.
Bi Fang, with the thick rope on his back, reassured the cal, and re-entered the cave through the hole.
The hole was deep, with sand blocking ten ters, and he climbed more than twenty ters further down, bringing the total depth to nearly forty ters. The rope he had twisted was only nine ters long and completely insufficient. Bi Fang could only go into the hole and pull the strange fish up bit by bit.
This was bound to be a daunting task.
Half an hour had passed.
The strange fish lay at the bottom of the river. Bi Fang tied the rope around his waist and, repeating his previous technique, jumped into the well again. Then, with his feet braced against the walls of the hole, he slowly pulled the strange fish up.
It was manageable when the creature was in the water, thanks to buoyancy, the pull was quite easy.
But for the half ter between the water surface and the hole’s entrance, Bi Fang exerted all his might, barely managing to bring it out.
“Damn, this guy is just too heavy. I estimate its weight to be over one hundred and sixty kilograms, twice mine, definitely a heavyweight contender.” “If it weren’t for the fish’s streamlined body, resembling the Philippine crocodile, and not being too light, if it were a Nile crocodile, at the sa length it would weigh over three hundred kilograms, and I definitely wouldn’t be able to pull it up.”
Bi Fang’s face turned red as he hoisted the fish up another half ter. Pure strength can be considered the sum of the total power of the entire body and has always been regarded as a standard asure of strength. Professional athletes can even pull objects weighing over three tis their own weight.
If this were quantified into specific data, and assuming the conversion rate of points to weight does not diminish, then it would likely require both strength and physique to reach at least fifteen points or more, perhaps with an additional burst of agility.
Before Bi Fang had co to the Qaidam Desert, he had barely managed to train his strength to ten points. Including the one point of strength attribute he gained from the lottery, it added up to only eleven points. However, with a physique of thirteen, he could barely manage to do it.
Bi Fang, who exerted himself too much, wiped off his sweat and continued to pull upward while wrapping the excess rope around himself.
Until most of the rope was reeled in, Bi Fang stepped out two steps and kept climbing, repeating the process.
When tired, he would wedge the strange fish in the hole to rest.
The three-ter-long fish, with only its own skeleton, could tightly wedge itself within the rock hole that was not even one ter in diater.
Having climbed less than three ters, Bi Fang was panting for breath, almost collapsing from exhaustion, but he never gave up.
Finally, after more than an hour of toil, Bi Fang succeeded in bringing the strange fish out of the nearly forty-ter-deep pit!
At this mont, dawn was breaking.
“Hoo-hah! I’mup!”
Bi Fang panted heavily, laughing heartily.
After the laughter, he dug a hole in the sand and placed his bulging jacket inside, which held the five liters of water from the underground river he had collected.
After swallowing a few mouthfuls of saliva, he continued, “In order to… hurry on the road, we can’t linger and must set out as soon as possible, so… I need to give the cal so water to drink.”
The nearby cal stood up and ca over to the pit to drink. In less than a minute, the water in the pit was gone without a trace.
[Damn! That was too quick, wasn’t it? Even a pump isn’t that outrageous.] [Can it really drink that much water? How long has it been thirsty?] [Drinking so much all at once, won’t it suffer water intoxication?] “Of course not. A cal’s stomach contains many bottle-shaped sacs called run pouches, which are the cal’s ‘water storage devices.’ In 10 minutes, a Bactrian cal can drink down to 114 liters of water, and this water will be stored in its ‘water storage devices.’
“Moreover, thanks to a long process of evolution, a cal’s red blood cells have already adapted to either not drinking at all or guzzling a lot at once. They won’ t burst and die even when the water content in the blood changes drastically.”
Bi Fang, carrying the strange fish, placed it on the cal’s saddle. Initially, the animal panicked as it had never seen such a creature, but under Bi Fang s soothing, the cal gradually cald down.
This made Bi Fang sowhat sentintal, growing more and more fond of it: “This cal has such a good temperant; they’re usually nervous around strangers, but this one is completely different.”
After binding the fish securely with rope and ensuring the weight was balanced, Bi Fang confird their direction and set off with the cal.
The sun was just rising, an excellent ti to travel.
“For the first two hours after we set off, we should travel continuously without breaks, as this is the coolest ti of the day. We need to cover as much ground as possible, and as the temperature gradually rises, we can increase the frequency of rest stops—rest for five minutes every hour.”
The journey was monotonous, and Bi Fang was so tired that he could barely speak, causing the number of viewers to drop steadily.
Fortunately, the main task was completed while he was unconscious. The sun climbed higher, hanging over the desert, as the heatwaves rolled in.
It wasn’t until twelve o’clock at noon that Bi Fang and the cal stopped in a patch of shade to rest.
They had traveled for a solid five hours, resting for a total of less than twenty minutes, many of which were due to having to stop to determine their direction.
Bi Fang leaned against the cal, sipping water.
His eyes squinted while sweat stread down his cheeks, soaking his masked attire.
Clothing here had beco a consumable. The system apparel purchased from the lottery and store had all been used up.
But how much longer until the road to survival ended?
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