The Scent of Civilization

The armored vehicle, its armor mottled from crashing through vehicles along the way, stood on the highway, with a crooked trailer hitched behind it.

The ape cavalrymen approached the armored vehicle from afar. When they were still a hundred meters away, they all dismounted, lay prone on the ground, and hesitated to advance.

"Black Rope, come take a look with me." Wuzhiqi called to an ape beside him.

Black Rope shrank back, a flash of terror crossing his eyes, but he did not move.

Wuzhiqi frowned. "Afraid? Protecting Kuafu is an honor!"

He looked at the other apes again. This time, several finally stepped forward, wanting to inspect the armored vehicle with him.

Most of them were Kuafu's personal guards.

Wuzhiqi took a deep breath, picked up an iron door that had fallen to the ground, held it in front of himself as a shield, and led the apes forward.

The other apes followed suit, tearing off iron doors and metal panels from abandoned vehicles to hold before themselves. Some simply picked up motorcycle helmets and put them on.

It was no wonder they were afraid. The two traps that human had set before had left an indelible impression on them.

The horrifying sight revealed when they opened the armored vehicle's door could still jolt them awake from nightmares.

That bloody lesson had made them wary.

As Wuzhiqi led several apes over, Stone Eye, hiding in the rear, showed a strange glint in his eyes.

Wuzhiqi moved quickly and soon arrived beside the armored vehicle.

At Wuzhiqi's signal, one ape grabbed the handle of the armored vehicle's hatch. Then, gritting his teeth, he yanked it open and instantly dropped flat to the ground, covering himself with an iron panel.

The apes, including Wuzhiqi, all hit the ground at the same time. Even the apes dozens of meters away ducked their heads.

The explosion they feared did not happen. Not even the faintest sound came from inside.

Wuzhiqi immediately raised his head and looked into the cabin. It was completely empty except for half a barrel of spoiled diesel.

That vicious human had not set a trap this time.

The apes immediately got to their feet, relief at having survived flickering across their faces.

The thousand-plus apes behind them likewise climbed up and surged over. A hint of disappointment flashed through Stone Eye's eyes.

Wuzhiqi carefully inspected the inside of the cabin, his nose twitching as he said grimly, "Kuafu... and human... scent!"

The surrounding apes caught the scents as well, their expressions turning solemn.

Their guess had been right. It really was that vicious human!

Stone Eye came to the trailer behind the vehicle, sniffed it, and said, "The horses were taken away. The scent is still strong. It hasn't been long. We must split up and track them immediately! Search the nearby cities!"

Wuzhiqi and the other ape commanders nodded. More than a thousand ape cavalrymen immediately divided into over a dozen groups, led by key members, and charged into the wilderness in every direction.

Though they did not know where that human had taken Kuafu, humans were extremely attached to cities. He had likely gone to the ruins of some city!

Shen Feng had never ridden a horse before. The stirrups on these warhorses had been made by the apes themselves. They were crude, and their length was unsuitable for humans.

When he first mounted up, the ride had been so bumpy that he had nearly fallen off, much to Kuafu's anticipation.

Yet only a few minutes later, he had already mastered the essentials of riding, letting his body rise and fall with the warhorse like ocean waves.

His mind remained incomparably clear. Everything around him seemed brighter, and he became more focused. He could rapidly analyze and grasp all kinds of skills and information!

Kuafu also sensed the changes in the human youth beside him, and his gaze grew more meaningful.

Holding the reins of the other warhorse, Shen Feng raced with Kuafu toward the capital.

He could not say for certain how long it would take the ape cavalrymen to catch up, so he had to get as close to the capital as possible.

The sooner he reached the capital, the sooner he could complete his mission and return to his own world.

Though he had grown a great deal over the past few days, he had had enough of this place.

Being hunted by thousands of apes with human intelligence was hardly pleasant.

It was already past midnight. After traveling nonstop, the warhorses finally began to pant heavily and slow down.

Shen Feng knew that if he kept forcing the two horses onward, they would likely drop dead from exhaustion. He immediately turned them around and rushed into a nearby town.

With an ape captive in tow, he did not dare enter the ruins of a large city. After all, nighttime belonged to the Skinners.

There were far fewer Skinners in towns like this. They might even have all left for the larger cities.

The ruined town was silent, with only stone statues standing here and there beneath the moonlight.

There was even a small zoo in this town.

Shen Feng turned into the zoo, dismounted, tied both horses nearby, and lit a bonfire in the courtyard.

The zoo's high walls could conceal the firelight, while the open courtyard gave them a clear view and made it harder for anyone to ambush them.

Perhaps because his brain was changing, Shen Feng felt extremely hungry now.

He found a pot, rinsed it with the bottled water left in a small shop, filled it with water and set it over the fire. He opened the last two cans in his backpack, tossed in two packs of expired instant noodles, and began stewing them.

To Shen Feng's pleasant surprise, wild tomatoes and small radishes were growing haphazardly in the zoo courtyard. Perhaps they had once been used to feed the animals, but now they were all Shen Feng's.

The venison from before had already been eaten. Though the canned braised pork was still edible, the meat inside had lost most of its flavor.

Shen Feng picked a tomato the size of his fist and took a few bites. Just as he was about to fill his stomach with whatever he could find, a rustling suddenly came from the grass in one corner of the courtyard.

He froze for a moment, then grabbed a burning stick in one hand and his gun in the other before walking over.

The grass suddenly parted, and a wild boar weighing several hundred pounds charged out!

Caught off guard, Shen Feng quickly dodged aside, avoiding the boar's tusks. The boar shot past him in a blur, trying to rush out of the zoo.

Kuafu, who had been sitting silently to one side, suddenly sprang up. Lowering his body, he slammed fiercely into the boar.

His strength was immense, and he actually knocked the boar over.

The boar rolled over and was about to run again, but the delay gave Shen Feng enough time to catch up from behind. He raised his gun and fired at the back of its head.

Bang! The crisp gunshot echoed through the dilapidated zoo, startling a flock of birds from a nearby tree.

There was at least an hour's gap between them and their pursuers, so Shen Feng was not afraid that the gunshot would draw the tracking apes.

After taking a deep look at Kuafu, who had already sat back down, Shen Feng pulled out his dagger and happily began cutting meat.

He washed the sliced fatty meat, cut it into pieces, and placed them in a frying pan he had found in a small supermarket. The heat of the flames quickly spread into the animal fat. The fat curled and shrank as fragrant oil flowed out, gathering at the bottom of the pan.

Before long, he had rendered a small pot of lard, leaving behind a panful of crisp cracklings.

Shen Feng poured the lard into a plastic water bottle, sprinkled some salt over the cracklings, picked up a piece, and put it in his mouth. The rich, toasted fragrance of fat spread across his taste buds, making his whole body feel wonderful. It was so delicious his eyebrows nearly fell off, and even his headache eased considerably.

Cracklings made from pure natural wild boar really were tastier.

Drawn in by the aroma, Kuafu was still trying hard to maintain the image of a wise leader, but he could not help swallowing.

Cooking was also a mark of civilization's development. Sure enough, only an intelligent race like humanity, with tens of thousands of years of history, could possess such a profound foundation in cooking.

This was simply the scent of civilization!

Compared to the cracklings in this pan, the ape race's current diet was practically still at the stage of eating raw flesh and drinking blood.

Shen Feng used chopsticks made from twigs to pick up a piece of amber-colored crackling and asked Kuafu, "Want some?"