Chapter 707 - 28: Group 2 Challengers
The bear paw was tougher to stew than Chen Zhou imagined. Even after putting it in the pressure cooker and boiling it fiercely for an hour, it remained tough and chewy.
Moreover, the taste of the Fine-toothed Giant Bear’s paw was not pleasant, far from the legendary "steamed bear paw" served at the Manchu-Han Imperial Feast.
Even though Chen Zhou and Paul usually weren’t picky eaters, after a few bites of the hard-to-stew bear paw, they lost their appetite, emptied the water and bear paw from the pot, and started stewing the bear heart instead.
...
While the two were surrounded by rising steam, the scene on the prairie was a different kind of bustling spectacle.
In contrast to the boiling water in the pot, the fight under the rocky cliff was not as scalding, but it was far more intense and bloody.
Aside from the few giant beasts like Mammoths, Hairy Rhinoceroses, and Giant Ground Sloths, most species originally existing in the prehistoric Mammoth Plain and herbivores and carnivores from around the world gathered here, as if an invisible force was pulling them together.
Once the beasts’ roars started, they never ceased, and the howling winds could not drown out the lamentations of dying creatures.
No matter the species, all were running and struggling.
Attackers fought for survival, as did the ones fleeing.
The beasts that perished watered the earth with blood, and the surviving animals continued to extract from nature.
In this vast land, they achieved reincarnation in a special way.
...
Paul’s hearing wasn’t keen enough to grasp how frenetic the herd’s hunt was. As they waited for the bear heart in the pot to cook, he helped Chen Zhou skin the bear.
When the Fine-toothed Giant Bear attacked, Paul only felt like this creature was a small mountain. Now that it was dead and as he approached the body to peel the hide, he genuinely realized what a colossal beast he was facing—
Not even Siberia’s strongest male brown bear could compare to this giant’s size; its carcass sprawled on the ground was almost the size of a jeep.
This huge beast could indeed be killed alone by cold weapons, even though they were crudely made.
This gave Paul a new understanding of Chen Zhou’s physical prowess.
Compared to the American soldiers and Japanese he had faced, Chen Zhou’s combat strength seemed out of place among other challengers, like a professional boxer suddenly joining a gathering of amateurs.
Reflecting further on Chen Zhou’s useless "survival tools," Paul even thought the whole challenge was a training ground for Chen Zhou. Whether it was the protective gear or his own lesser skills, they existed to add difficulty for Chen Zhou.
...
Focused on cutting the bear hide, Chen Zhou naturally couldn’t guess what was on Paul’s mind.
No matter how wide Paul’s imagination, he couldn’t know that Chen Zhou hadn’t entered this challenge through the "formal channels" he recognized; from the start to finish, this person was an anomaly.
...
Night deepened, the blood on the bear hide had long coagulated, and the fight on the prairie was drawing to a close.
After dinner, Chen Zhou and Paul laid some pieces of the sliced bear hide on the ground, and some as a makeshift wall on the mound’s windward side.
The bonfire blazed, Chen Zhou had already lain down on the bear hide and covered himself with a blanket made from sewn deer hides—
Usually, he kept watch for the first half of the night, and Paul for the second half.
But today was different from the usual.
At that moment, the beasts had just finished hunting and filling their bellies with their spoils; then, they would find a safe, comfortable place to rest until hunger returned or their energy was restored, driving their urge to search for food.
Therefore, the first half of the night was relatively safer.
By the second half of the night, even though the beasts wouldn’t digest swiftly, as they left this hunting ground clearing the space, new hunters would soon join.
Chen Zhou estimated that around dawn, a new wave of hunting would begin. Then, it would be hard to avoid beasts being lured by the light towards the skinned bear corpse by the bonfire and the two of them.
In times of crisis, he could protect himself, but Paul might not escape a wild beast’s attack.
Especially some large feline predators, which can kill prey within seconds.
For Paul’s life and to avoid unnecessary hassle, Chen Zhou adjusted the night watch order.
...
With eyes shut, suppressing his overly keen senses through repeated psychological cues that forced him to rapidly fall asleep, in less than ten seconds, Chen Zhou was asleep.
Since returning to the present from the deserted island challenge, he seldom dreamed.
Occasionally, when he did dream, it was fragmented and chaotic, blending scenes and sounds from both the deserted island and events he experienced after returning to reality.
His life in the previous twenty-five years, the following twenty-eight years on the deserted island, and the few short years after returning to reality divided his life into three distinct segments.
And stumbling into this challenge by chance had opened up the fourth Chapter of his life.
In sleep, he nearly lost the sense of time; it felt like he had only slept for a moment before hearing Paul calling his name, followed by a large hand starting to push his body.
Suddenly sitting up from the bear hide, he saw Paul’s face full of urgency.
Instantly waking from the daze of sleep, Chen Zhou grabbed the spear by his side and cautiously scanned his surroundings—
It was close to the deepest part of the night, with sky and earth all shrouded in darkness.
The bonfire flickered in the wind, its light twinkling, making the surrounding grass stalks appear like a dancing swarm of demons.
He glanced at the bear corpse nearby, and then at the Giant Hyena carcass not far away, untouched by other beasts, lying on the grass, leaving Chen Zhou puzzled.