Dinosaur Egg

Unbeknownst to him, Lu Zhiyu had spent a whole week wandering around Shennongjia. Every day, he drank crisp mountain spring water, pitched his tent, and roasted the game he caught. He'd grown quite attached to this carefree way of life. He could even use his mental energy to communicate at a basic level with some of Shennongjia's animals. Their intelligence was rather low, though, and their thoughts were disorganized and chaotic. Sometimes they answered questions with completely unrelated responses, but it was still quite interesting.

However, Lu Zhiyu knew he couldn't stay any longer. He'd collected enough plant and animal specimens, and quite a few had already started thriving in the Maria World, forming large populations.

This was especially true of the plants. Shennongjia's abundant plant life had allowed Lu Zhiyu to largely complete the Maria World's plant ecosystem. Its ecological network was gradually taking shape. However, as the world's rules and structure became more complete, the time acceleration in Lu Zhiyu's world had been affected and continued to decrease. It was now down to around seven thousand times.

His main goals had been met, so Lu Zhiyu was ready to head back. After all, he still had plenty to do once he returned.

He packed everything away, checked the map, and set off in the direction of Laojun Mountain. He could go around that way to find a route back. It was a popular hiking trail, well developed and safe, so there were plenty of tourists.

On the way, Lu Zhiyu came across a group of tourists taking photos. More than a dozen monkeys were roaming around there. The little creatures were undeniably adorable, and everyone was captivated by them.

Lu Zhiyu took out his camera and started taking pictures too. If other people hadn't been around, he might have been tempted to bundle up a few of the little ones and take them with him. But when one of the tourists tried to feed them, he seemed to provoke the troop, and the monkeys began attacking people.

The monkeys had sharp teeth and claws. One swipe was enough to tear away a chunk of flesh. The young man who had angered them was quickly injured in several places and cried out in pain. Another member of his group tried to rescue him, which only enraged the monkeys further. They immediately began hurling stones in great numbers.

Lu Zhiyu stepped forward and blew a few notes on his whistle. The monkeys seemed to have encountered their natural enemy and fled in panic. This immediately drew everyone's attention.

A few young women who had been knocked to the ground by the monkeys looked over. Lu Zhiyu paid them no mind. As he watched the troop flee, he put away the whistle. It was really just a prop. Whenever he came across ferocious animals he didn't want to capture—or had already caught before—he would blow the whistle to draw their attention while using his mental energy to project the aura of an apex predator, frightening them away.

To ordinary people, though, this seemed incredibly mysterious. Lu Zhiyu turned to the people who had been scratched and asked, "How are you? Are you all right? I have a first-aid kit with me. Do you need it?"

The leader of the hiking group stepped forward. "Thanks, but we brought a first-aid kit. And thanks for helping us just now. I'm Xue Kai, the leader of this group!"

Lu Zhiyu shook Xue Kai's hand. "I'm Lu Zhiyu. I'm traveling too, and I just happened to be passing by. No need to thank me!"

Xue Kai immediately had a few people help bandage the injured. Most had only superficial wounds, and their injuries weren't serious, though all the blood made them look alarming. The rest of the hiking group kept looking at Lu Zhiyu with curiosity. With Lu Zhiyu being such a handsome man, a few of the women were practically starry-eyed.

After organizing his group, Xue Kai came over to Lu Zhiyu and took out a pack of cigarettes. "Do you smoke?"

Lu Zhiyu had had weak lungs since childhood, so he never smoked. He politely declined. Xue Kai put the cigarettes away without lighting one and started chatting with him. Just then, Lu Zhiyu noticed a strange stone on the ground. It was about the size of a fist. He bent down and picked it up.

It looked like one of the stones the monkeys had thrown at people. There was still plenty of dirt on it, as if it had just been dug out of the ground. Lu Zhiyu examined it and found it quite beautiful. It was round and smooth, with large cracks patterned across its surface.

Xue Kai leaned in for a closer look. "Hey, this looks like a fossilized dinosaur egg!"

Lu Zhiyu looked at Xue Kai, his face lighting up with surprise. "What? A dinosaur egg? Really?"

Xue Kai nodded. "Probably. I've seen something like this before. Ordinary dinosaur eggs only cost a few thousand yuan, so they're not that expensive, but they're valuable as collectibles. This should be a dinosaur egg. I just don't know what kind. It's small, so it probably didn't belong to a large dinosaur!"

Lu Zhiyu nodded, not disappointed in the slightest. Whatever kind of dinosaur it was, it was still a dinosaur. This was a dinosaur's egg.

"A dinosaur egg? There's one here?"

A number of people from the hiking group immediately crowded around Lu Zhiyu. He didn't mind and let them have a good look. He'd found it himself, and according to Xue Kai, it wasn't very valuable; its main appeal was that it was unusual and collectible.

Everyone stared at the fossilized dinosaur egg in amazement, as if they could see the appearance of the rulers of Earth from hundreds of millions of years ago within it. Eventually, it was returned to Lu Zhiyu, who carefully put it away.

Since some of the group had been injured, no one felt like continuing the hike. They decided to take a shortcut to the nearest point and then get a ride to a nearby clinic. Monkey scratches could potentially transmit diseases, so they needed to be careful.

Lu Zhiyu happened to leave Shennongjia with them. He got along well with the group along the way. They seemed like the outgoing, cheerful sort who loved traveling, and everyone took a photo with Lu Zhiyu as a memento. They added a lot of color to his trip.

The few young women in the group especially enjoyed themselves. They weren't particularly beautiful, but they were all straightforward and genuine. They kept pulling Lu Zhiyu into photos, and one chubby girl even stole a kiss, capturing Lu Zhiyu's astonished expression on camera. Their whole journey back was filled with laughter.

When they finally parted ways, Xue Kai gave Lu Zhiyu his phone number. "We're all from Hubei Province, and we like organizing trips and group activities. If you're interested, you can join our group chat and come along sometime. It's a lot of fun!"

Lu Zhiyu nodded. "It sounds great. If I have the time, I'll definitely join you!"