Chapter 220 - 100: Unexpected Gains
The sun had completely set, and the island, free from light pollution, was engulfed in a serene darkness.
With the crisp click of the lighter, the flame within the glass lantern wavered slightly, emitting a warm yellow glow.
Tightening the shoulder straps, Chen Zhou retraced his steps with the help of the lantern's light.
He widened his eyes to carefully discern the path up the mountain, occasionally climbing gentle slopes and scaling rock ledges.
Lai Fu followed closely, tail wagging, as he sniffed the ground for interesting scents while walking.
Without the guidance of wild pigeons, navigating the night based solely on previous observations from the ground made it quite challenging to find Pigeon Cave directly.
He lost his way several times.
Fortunately, the mountain wasn't large, and Chen Zhou was able to return to the correct path soon after getting lost.
The terrain rose higher and higher, and in the distance, the sea reflected under the starlit sky could already be clearly seen.
Further away, the sandy beach and the square walls constructed from wood and stone appeared indistinct, seeming to melt into the tranquil night.
The evening breeze blew in from the sea, and a single pigeon feather drifted from somewhere.
Further ahead, skirting an obstructive rocky wall, the Pigeon Cave he had been painstakingly searching for all day finally appeared before Chen Zhou's eyes.
...
The entrance of Pigeon Cave was a colossal fissure that opened up the side of the mountain.
The fissure formed a narrow lozenge shape, with a narrower top and bottom and a wider middle, standing seven or eight meters tall, with a base wider than three meters, and the steep mountain sides covered with a layer of sand and stone, sparse shrubs, and wild grass growing atop it.
The oil lamp's glow wasn't bright enough to reveal the details of the cave's ceiling.
With a quick glance, although no wild pigeon nests were found at the cave's entrance, Chen Zhou detected a strong odor of bird droppings.
Thinking that hundreds or even thousands of pigeons might be roosting inside, he was unsurprised. He bent over to roll up his pant legs and tucked them into his boots to prevent stepping directly into pigeon droppings inside the cave.
As he was adjusting his pants, he looked back at Lai Fu.
The dim-lit lantern cast light on Lai Fu's fluffy paws, revealing fur speckled with dust that reflected the lamplight in a golden glow.
With a mischievous grin, Chen Zhou could already imagine Lai Fu following him further, ending up with bird droppings all over his paws.
Knowing it was impossible to deter Lai Fu, Chen Zhou thought of giving Lai Fu a thorough bath in the river after leaving Pigeon Cave, and took the lead to enter the cave himself.
The cave entrance was wide, but as he went further in, it became narrower and lower, reducing to a width of just two meters after about eight meters.
Luckily, the width didn't decrease further, enough for one person to pass through easily.
...
While progressing through the cave, what left the deepest impression on Chen Zhou was the omnipresent odor of bird droppings.
However, the droppings underfoot were not as thick and sticky as he had imagined. The surface layer had about two centimeters of fresh pigeon droppings, but below that were the dried, hardened remnants of "ancient droppings."
As expected, the soles of his boots were covered with a thick layer of pigeon droppings.
Lai Fu suffered even more, carefully stepping like an elegant model on a catwalk, trying to avoid the piles of droppings ahead.
However, there was just too much bird droppings to avoid stepping in any; it was merely a matter of more or less.
The further Lai Fu walked, the more droppings clung to his paws, sticking to the fur in a gummy mess, impossible to shake off, causing him to yelp in frustration.
"You wanted to come in yourself, I didn't force you!"
Chen Zhou reminded him, looking upward.
Countless pigeon nests layered one atop the other like interlocking joints, starting from a height of about 1.8 meters above the ground and rising up in tiers, under the illuminating glow of the oil lamp, resembling a strangely grand palace.
The nearest pigeon nest was within arm's reach. Holding the oil lamp in one hand, Chen Zhou reached with the other to feel inside the pigeon nest, only to find it empty; all he touched were a few fallen pigeon feathers, with no pigeons or eggs inside.
Cursing his luck silently, he continued to explore the lowest pigeon nests.
Sometimes he was able to catch resting pigeons inside the nests, other times he found nothing.
Occasionally, he would encounter particularly alert and clever pigeons, which would fly off with a flutter the moment his fingers brushed against their backs or wings.
This startled Chen Zhou, causing his arm to twitch, almost dropping the oil lamp on the ground.
Fortunately, the wild pigeon flock was resting and was not prompted to flee en masse just because one pigeon was frightened.
Plus, pigeons have poor night vision, and some startled wild pigeons, in their panic, would even collide with nests or rock walls, injuring their wings or heads, and fall among the bird droppings, much to Chen Zhou's benefit.
Since retrieving the backpack, he hadn't cleaned it, so on this trip to Pigeon Cave, he deliberately placed several plastic bags inside the backpack to avoid getting it dirty.
After all, it was new equipment, used just a few times, and needed to be taken care of.
After catching a wild pigeon, he swiftly took out his dagger to bleed the pigeon. Once the pigeon was thoroughly dead, he placed it into a plastic bag. Repeating this process, it didn't take long before he had gathered over a dozen pigeons.
Perhaps the lower nests were unattractive for egg-laying pigeons, or it was not the breeding season, or perhaps it was just bad luck.
Despite rifling through numerous pigeon nests and catching pigeons of various sizes, not a single pigeon egg was found.
Chen Zhou already had a hunch his plan to boil eggs might be doomed.
...
After roughly an hour, the climbing bag was stuffed with pigeon corpses, and the cave was filled with the scent of blood.
Ending the slaughter, and holding the oil lamp, Chen Zhou gazed into the deeper, darker recesses of the cave, feeling an urge to continue exploring.
The mountaintop was dry, unsuitable for snakes to survive, and with no known large predators on the island, he wasn't fearful.