According to the book, the Cretaceous era was the period when the largest dinosaurs appeared and the species were particularly abundant. For example, the earliest giant pythons, moths, and bees also appeared in this era.
However, many people questioned whether the largest species in the Cretaceous period was really the dinosaurs.
Zhuang Yu had always scoffed at these questions. As a lost ancient civilization lover and the youngest doctor in the Department of Archaeology, Zhuang Yu had always taken a joking attitude to such nonsense.
But now, he showed a puzzled expression in a photo on his phone.
In the photo, it should be a mountain peak, but it has a rift for some reason, exposing the rock layer inside.
The rock layer was clearly distinguishable. The whole mountain peak was a fossil, with huge skeletons, far larger than the largest known dinosaur, but its structure was not the shape of any known dinosaur.
“Dayu, have you seen it? This is definitely the greatest discovery in the archaeological world so far. It will subvert the cognition of the entire world, and archaeology will enter a new era.” Messages were constantly being sent on his phone. Even through the screen, Zhuang Yu could feel the excitement of the other party.
It was Zhao Lei, his classmate and partner, who sent him the texts. This partner would never joke about the rigorous discipline of archaeology.
Zhuang Yu was also a little excited. If this discovery was true, he was afraid the whole world would have to start studying the origin of life again.
Zhuang Yu quickly replied with his mobile phone, “Where’s the location?”
“Thirty kilometers outside the China-Myanmar border, in an undeveloped mountain.”
…
A few days later, the dusty Zhuang Yu finally stood in front of the mountain in the photo. For the last 30 kilometers, because of inconvenient transportation, he walked with his suitcase. Even for archaeologists who often climb mountains and cross rivers, this was not an easy task.
At this time, the mountain peak was somewhat different from that in the photo. Many shelves were built against it, and professionals removed the excess stones on it, revealing the true face of this huge fossil.
“Dayu, how do you feel? Is there a sense of shock from close contact with an ancient giant beast? We will be the witnesses of the oldest era.” Zhao Lei said excitedly.
However, Zhuang Yu did not answer. He was full of shock and doubt because, on the back of this giant beast fossil, some simple and backward architectural traces could be vaguely seen. But how could this be possible? What intelligent creature could live on the back of a giant beast and build simple buildings?
Zhao Lei also showed a puzzled expression on his face, “Perhaps after this giant beast turned into a mountain, ancient humans regarded it as a real mountain and lived on it. We sent the stones here for testing. They’re definitely fossils from the Cretaceous era. At that time, humans didn’t exist.”
Only in this way could it be explained why there were traces of intelligent creatures living on the back of a giant beast.
But Zhuang Yu frowned, “Leizi, I don’t know why. I seem to have a sense of familiarity with these.”
Zhao Lei was taken aback, “Dayu, are you too tired from the journey so you have hallucinations?”
Zhuang Yu also felt a little perplexed. Shaking his head, he did not say anything anymore, but he really felt weird in his heart. How could the picture in front of him feel like he had seen it somewhere before?
‘Maybe I was really tired.’ Zhuang Yu rubbed his tired body, and then found a tent to rest. When he woke up, it was already night.
Zhuang Yu woke up with a start. He finally knew why he had that inexplicable sense of familiarity.
Excited, he impatiently opened his suitcase. After rummaging for a while, he finally found a yellowed thread-bound ancient book at the bottom of the suitcase.
This was a “Taoist Sutra1”, but different from the popular “Taoist Sutra”. It was very old. This book was given to him before an old Taoist master of a Taoist temple died, in the mountains, when he lived in his hometown in the countryside when he was a child.
The reason why it was different from the current “Taoist Sutra” was because there were many illustrations in it. Maybe it just happened to be called “Taoist Sutra” and they really were two completely different books. These illustrations were the most imaginative memories of Zhuang Yu when he was a child.
After he grew up, he realized how impractical these pictures were. He felt that it was absurd so he placed the book at the bottom of the suitcase, which could be regarded as a nostalgia for the old master.
But at this time, Zhuang Yu took the book and ran out of the tent.
The moonlight tonight was very bright, and because it was late at night, it was quiet. Everyone in the camp was asleep.
Zhuang Yu looked at the giant beast’s fossil in front of him and the ancient traces of life and architecture on the back of it. His hands tremblingly opened a page of the old book.
The illustration on the page showed a giant beast with the human race living on its back. The skeleton of this huge animal was exactly the same as the giant beast fossil in front of him, like two peas in a pod.
No wonder Zhuang Yu had a sense of familiarity when he saw this fossil. He had seen this countless times in the book when he was young.
Zhuang Yu’s mood was beyond measure. He now wanted to find someone to share his excitement at this time, but in the dead of night, it was not good to disturb others.
After a while, after trying to calm down, there were more and more doubts in his heart. If this painting was true, did it mean that someone knew and recorded it in the form of paintings a long time ago? In the distant Cretaceous era, there were giant animals bigger than dinosaurs, and at that time, humans already existed and lived on the backs of giant animals.
Also, if this painting was real, what about the other illustrations in this book?
Zhuang Yu turned to the next page. It was an old man riding a green bull. The old man was very small, but the green bull he was sitting on was huge.
If it were before, he would think that the proportions of this illustration were too unrealistic. But if the Green Bull itself was so big…
Turning to the next page, there was a huge friendless turtle, on which a woman held a colorful stone facing the sky…
Zhuang Yu became even more and more excited. Everything was so mysterious. It was definitely a lost ancient civilization.
In the dead of night, everything was silent. Only Zhuang Yu’s mood surged like the most turbulent waves. His hand unconsciously touched the rock wall of the mountain in front of him.
But with just this touch, the yellowed ancient book in his hand suddenly emitted a faint light.
Zhuang Yu was dumbfounded because he suddenly heard a deafening roar of beasts in the mountain in front of him, full of fierceness, boundless, and powerful. The roar resounded through heaven and earth.
Zhuang Yu did not know what was going on, but he heard an urgent shout. It was Leizi’s voice. “Dayu, be careful.”
What?
He was taken aback and looked up. The entire mountain that was roaring seemed to be looking down at him. But it was just a fossil. As a result of lowering his head, the whole mountain began to collapse.
Zhuang Yu sighed in his heart. ‘It’s over.’ Not that he lamented that his life was about to end, but… ‘Such a major discovery was ruined in this way. What evidence will Leizi and the others use to prove that there was a time when human beings were living on the back of a giant beast? I’m afraid this beast’s roar might also be mistaken for an earthquake.’
This was Zhuang Yu’s last thought, and then he fell into endless darkness.
…
The darkness; he did not know how long it lasted.
When Zhuang Yu opened his eyes again, he was awakened by the light coming in from outside.
Zhuang Yu turned over and got up. He could not help to be a little stunned. Was he not crushed under the collapsed mountain? Judging from the situation at that time, the chance of surviving was zero.
With the sunlight shining in, Zhuang Yu found another strange thing. He seemed to be in a cave, with traces of artificial gouges on the walls.
There were also a lot of things piled in the cave, including some sundries, worn-out animal pelt, water containers made of half a shell, bone knives made of unknown bones, and some dry wood.
Everything showed that there were traces of life here, but who would live in such a simple and primitive cave, and why would he appear here?
With doubts, Zhuang Yu stood up and walked towards the light outside the cave.
Perhaps he stayed in the dark for too long. When he came into contact with the sun, Zhuang Yu half-squinted his eyes unconsciously.
Even so, his pupils shrunk in horror.
Did you know what he saw?
An enormous python, with its huge head raised at the entrance of the cave, was flicking its forked tongue out. Its vertical pupils were full of bloodthirsty coldness. Zhuang Yu could smell the stench from the monstrous python’s mouth. This was not the most shocking. What was more dumbfounding was that on the python’s flat head, a rough man with a stone spear was standing.
Shock and disbelief occupied Zhuang Yu’s whole mind. This was like a scene in a myth. How could this be real?
But when he looked closely, it was still very different from the myth. The big man was barefooted and had an animal pelt around his waist. He looked like a backward and primitive barbarian.
The ferocious-looking man spoke in a very fierce tone, “Why didn’t you get today’s berries? Even if you want to starve, die in your original tribe. Don’t give us any trouble.”
The big man’s language was very short and forceful, very strange, but it was odd that Zhuang Yu actually…understood it.
The burly man was a little impatient, “A trash that doesn’t even have a giant beast and looks ugly, yet wants to rely on our young patriarch. It’s a pity that our Golden Centipede Tribe has a good relationship with your Water Lake Tribe. If it’s the other tribes, a weak troublesome guy like you would have his legs broken and thrown out.”
‘No giant beast? Ugly?’
Zhuang Yu did not understand at all, but some strange memories appeared in his mind.
The giant beast was the gigantic python at the big man’s feet in front of him. Having your own giant beast was the symbol of strength. Zhuang Yu did not have it, so the rough man said he was a waste.
As for his ugly appearance, Zhuang Yu’s mind showed a little puppy’s face2.
‘Is this ugly?’
But the memory in his mind immediately refuted this. This was indeed ugly because a man’s face should be very rough and would be even more perfect if there were a few scars on it. Here, the little puppy’s face was unpopular. Even the weakest woman looked down on it. It was a very peculiar aesthetic.
No wonder the big guy said that he was so ugly yet still pestering their young patriarch and so on.
Zhuang Yu shuddered. According to the aesthetics in his memory, how many scars were on the young patriarch’s face that he, according to the big guy’s words, kept entangling?
The big man also said that he came from the Water Lake Tribe who had a good relationship with them. Where was the Water Lake Tribe?
His head was full of doubts. Who was he now?
But what he could be sure of was that the place he was in now must not be his original world. In his original world, no one could stand on such a hulking python’s head.
Zhuang Yu’s current situation was very strange. Once someone said something, some memories would passively emerge in his mind.
In other words, if others did not mention it, he could not remember anything else.
Seeing that Zhuang Yu was actually frightened by his giant beast, the big man said to himself that he was really hopeless. At any rate, he was also the son of the Water Lake Tribe’s patriarch. If a person like him was a young patriarch, he would be despised. The key point was that he was not self-aware. He was shamelessly staying with them. The big man scolded, “Remember to harvest the berries. Don’t starve to death with us.”
Then the giant python turned around and slithered away.
Only then did Zhuang Yu came back to his senses. That was to say, this was not his original tribe. That was good. At least if he showed anything abnormal, others would not know it. Therefore, he had to stay here for the time being until he understood the situation clearly. It was just that, this Golden Centipede Tribe seemed to hate him very much. If he still stayed like this, it would certainly be misunderstood as a shameless and earnest entanglement with their young patriarch.
This was also something that could not be helped. Zhuang Yu smiled bitterly in his heart. Maybe as long as he did not pester the young patriarch who may have scars on his face, he could still stay here steadily and quietly.
He thought this way. There was plenty of light outside the cave. When he looked down, he saw that he was barefoot and had a piece of old animal pelt around his waist, just like a primitive man. In fact, his very thin body in other people’s eyes, could be regarded as the body of a sports student in Zhuang Yu’s original world.
“Growl.” At this time, Zhuang Yu’s stomach made a grumbling sound.
Zhuang Yu touched his stomach. He woke up from the cave just now, probably because he was hungry.
The big man said, what berries could he get? He’d better fill his stomach first and then try to understand the current situation.
Just as Zhuang Yu looked up, he was bewildered again. Just now, the huge python blocked the entrance of the cave, so he did not see the outside environment at all.
Is that python huge? It was enormous, but it was nothing compared to the scene before him.
In front of him, the sky and the earth were boundless. The endless mountains were connected together, winding and undulating. The majestic and magnificent breath rushed over his face. Between the mountains, a colossal golden centipede was entrenched in it, like a humongous and long train—a train that radiated metallic luster in the sun. The sign of human presence on its back was brilliant. A whole human race lived on it.
If viewed from the sky, it was like a ribbon of golden light, dotted among the wild and desolate mountains.
At this time, the mountainous golden centipede was leisurely gnawing on the ore on a mountain peak. Even from a distance, he could still hear the sound of its chewing.
Zhuang Yu looked at this “train” with hundreds of carriages, and finally knew why it was called the Golden Centipede Tribe in the big man’s mouth. This was a tribe living on the back of a massive centipede.
Translator’s Notes:
Yaoi Wonderland 