The Legend of the Heavenly Gate
The Dog-Headed People Wei Shiba spoke privately with the female Dog-Headed People known as San Mei for a while. After San Mei returned to Professor Amir's place, he spoke to the Dog-Headed People who called him Eighteenth Brother before heading towards Professor Amir's location.
"I heard from San Mei that you, Xiao Wei, also have wilderness survival skills?" As Wei Shiba approached, Professor Amir, whose hair was covered in variegated colors, came to greet him.
"I used to travel all over the country and know a little bit about this." Wei Shiba greeted him with a smile, and pointed to the Dog-Headed People had come with him. "Professor Amir, let's get to know each other again. This is my brother. His name doesn't matter. You can just call him Gou Erpang. You must have seen his skills along the way."
The nickname "Gou Erpang" is not meant to be derogatory. In human language, it would be more accurate to call him "Human Fatty," which is a nickname.
"Yes, he's honest, hardworking, agile, and has a great sense of safety. Our expedition team encountered danger several times, and it was Erpang's timely reminders and efforts that prevented any fatalities." Professor Amir affirmed Gou Erpang's abilities with a kind expression.
In response, Gou Erpang didn't gloat. Instead, he said to Professor Amir, "Professor, don't worry. With my Eighteenth Brother here, this mere desert is nothing. Even if you wanted to cross the entire continent, it wouldn't be a problem. Take this environment, for example. My Eighteenth Brother can easily whip up ten or eight different kinds of food for you. You won't starve. Those so-called wilderness survival experts are just amateurs compared to my Eighteenth Brother. You guys are much better off this time."
"Cough!"
A soft cough interrupted Gou Erpang's voice. It was Wei Shiba, because he knew what the outspoken Gou Erpang was going to say, "Add money." He had just promised Tuhao San Mei that he wouldn't mention adding money, so naturally he couldn't let Gou Erpang say it.
"Professor Amir, don't listen to Fatty's bragging. I do only know a little about wilderness survival. I can't guarantee you three meals a day, but I can at least keep you from starving," Wei Shiba said.
"Alright, in that case, let's continue while it's still early." Upon hearing that Wei Shiba actually possessed such abilities, Professor Amir instantly became more energetic.
"Professor Amir, don't rush. Traveling on an empty stomach is not a good habit."
As he spoke, Wei Shiba pulled out a bunch of pots and pans from his backpack, then instructed Gou Erpang to prepare a fire, while he himself disappeared in a flash.
When he returned, he had a large handful of strange purple plant roots in his hand.
Professor Amir and his two students were overjoyed to see this, because they knew it was edible.
Watching Gou Erpang begin cooking, Dog-Headed People Third San Mei, swallowing her saliva, curiously asked about the origin of this thing, because she had looked at the surrounding environment before and didn't see any plants at all.
Wei Shiba didn't mince words, directly facing Professor Amir and the other two Dog-Headed People, pointing to the plant roots that Gou Erpang was throwing into the pot, and said, "Wisteria Stone Grass, a drought-resistant herbaceous plant, prefers shade and dislikes sunlight, mostly found in shallow deserts and under dry rock crevices, never seeing the sun, belonging to underground plants."
Wei Shiba briefly introduced the plant roots he had acquired, and then said to Professor Amir and the other two Dog-Headed People, "The appearance of the Wisteria Stone Grass proves that we are not far from the water source. If I am not mistaken, we have now reached the Barren Zone in the Center of the Continent. After crossing this desert, we should be able to find the Cover Ears Four Rivers. Then we can follow that river to reach the High Mountain in the Center of the Continent."
"Although the area is sparsely populated and lacks diverse flora and fauna, it is not entirely devoid of life. Our current challenge is to cross this desert. Once we get through it, our food supply will be less strained."
As he spoke, Wei Shiba stood up and gestured for Professor Amir and the other two to look towards the horizon. He said, "Look at that star. It's called Sky God Star. We are all familiar with it, but it is also unfamiliar to us. It appears in the sky at certain times, so we are familiar with it, but many people don't know what it means when it appears in different positions at different times."
"Oh? Little Wei knows Star Observation Technique?!" Professor Amir, covered in scraggly hair, stood up in surprise and followed Wei Shiba's gaze. He was indeed a professor, but only in the field of history and archaeology, and he didn't know much about the stars in the sky.
Therefore, in his eyes, this star was nothing more than an ordinary, bright-looking planet in the sky.
At this point in time, the Dog-Headed People had entered the industrial age, and things like glass and telescopes had been invented, giving them some understanding of the cosmos. Society as a whole had moved from ignorance to civilization.
However, this stage was not very developed; it belonged to the era when industry was just emerging. If we follow the development process of Human Civilization, it can be considered the period when the steam age was transitioning to the fuel age.
At this time, no Dog-Headed People nation had mastered the technology to Dog-Made Satellite, but Wireless Technology had already begun to emerge in one of the most developed countries on the continent.
In other words, the Dog-Headed People civilization already has its own 'Faraday,' its own 'Galilmo Marconi,' and is currently Dog-Headed People its own 'Maxwell.'
It can be said that they have initially mastered electromagnetic technology.
Wei Shiba came from that most developed country. He had something like a pager clipped to his belt, but here, it was useless because there was no signal. He only carried it with him to tell the time.
At that moment, he certainly didn't realize how important this thing was to their trip.
Lacking satellite technology, this team, nominally called an expedition, relied on a compass and Star Observation Technique to orient themselves.
Of course, you can't rely entirely on a compass, because there are many Magnetic Mountain on the Dog-Headed People Planet, especially in the central mountain range of this Pangu Continent. So, if the compass fails, you can only rely on Star Observation Technique to find your way forward.
This is precisely why Professor Amir showed such surprise. Similarly, the Center of the Continent is sparsely populated for the same reason; many expeditions have come, but none have returned. To put it nicely, they mysteriously disappeared; to put it bluntly, they all got lost and died there.
"I know a little bit," Wei Shiba replied modestly.
He only had a rudimentary understanding of Star Observation Technique, as his original profession was tomb raiding, though he had stopped many years ago. He might not have come this time if Gou Erpang hadn't repeatedly asked him for help.
However, after joining the expedition team, he realized that he had been tricked by Gou Erpang. This trip was not tomb raiding at all, but a search for the legendary Heavenly Gate.
Gou Erpang was interested in the price offered by the expedition team, but he didn't think he had any special skills to attract their attention, so he dragged Wei Shiba along.
As for deceiving himself, Gou Erpang had already confessed on the way to the expedition team. Wei Shiba didn't care, after all, Gou Erpang was his best partner, who had been adventuring with him around the world for countless years and was his brother who had gone through thick and thin with him.
He believed that Gou Erpang wouldn't have done this if he hadn't been forced by circumstances.
Of course, Wei Shiba was also very interested in the so-called legend of the Heavenly Gate, because he had visited the tombs of all kinds of kings and generals from the Bronze Age to modern times, but he had never entered the legendary burial ground of the gods.
Yes, it is indeed the Burial Ground of the Gods. On the Dog-Headed People Planet, there is more than one version of the legend about the gods. Some say that one can live forever after entering the Heavenly Gate, some say that the Heavenly Gate is actually the gate to the Burial Ground of the Gods, and some say that the Heavenly Gate is a passage to the world of ghosts and monsters.