Chapter 739 - 43: Group 5
Paul leaned on his crutches, finding it difficult to walk any faster.
As they advanced towards the other side of the forest, Chen Zhou could see that Paul was trying very hard to speed up, even attempting to hop on one leg, which prompted him to stop Paul.
Paul was a big guy, and when he was healthy, doing some heavy physical work was naturally no problem.
Now, with one leg broken and all his weight on the other leg, if he insisted on being brave and ended up injuring the only good leg, he’d end up like Tiger Third, almost half-paralyzed.
While actively asking Paul to slow down, Chen Zhou also explained the concept of "more haste, less speed" to him.
...
Paul’s original world was a Soviet Union on another timeline.
Amidst the US-Soviet rivalry, they won the final victory, the economically declining United States disintegrated, and at that time, the Soviet Union’s national power was extremely strong, even annexing half of North America, with Canada falling into Soviet hands, albeit nominally still independent.
In the context of a single superpower and multiple strong powers, Soviet aesthetics and universal values spread widely around the world.
The largest socialist country on Chen Zhou’s side was a minor player in Paul’s world, influenced by the Soviet Union, and Chinese traditional culture struggled to go global.
Before participating in the challenge, Paul had studied some basic Chinese in school, but he knew almost nothing about Chinese proverbs and philosophical works like Confucius’s Analects or the Tao Te Ching.
Hearing "more haste, less speed," Paul found it quite interesting.
Just as the two of them were moving slowly, and with Chen Zhou about to return to another world after the challenge, there was no worry about confidentiality. Paul used this opportunity to share much of the Soviet secrets he knew with Chen Zhou.
After hearing about the world order from Paul, thinking about the enormous country pressing against northern China, Chen Zhou suddenly recalled a saying—
"A half-dead big brother is a good big brother."
At least from Paul’s description, that world’s China was far less influential than the China on his timeline.
...
Chatting not only kills time but also keeps one consciously alert, preventing drowsiness from creeping in and causing weariness.
With excellent body control, Chen Zhou’s body was comparable to the best shock absorbers, with Tiger Third lying on his arms, experiencing almost no bumps, preventing the injury from worsening.
Perhaps being so close to Chen Zhou, the "Clan Leader’s" scent gave Tiger Third enough sense of security, or maybe it was simply too exhausted, Tiger Third slept comfortably against Chen Zhou’s chest.
After trudging for over four hours, with just a little way left to the destination, Chen Zhou noticed Tiger Third waking up, crinkling its small face as if exerting itself.
Seeing its expression, Chen Zhou knew that Tiger Third definitely needed to relieve itself, so he called for Paul to stop, carefully placing Tiger Third on the ground to see if it could manage it on its own.
Lying on the ground was very uncomfortable for Tiger Third. When healthy, Saw-toothed Tigers would need to move their lower bodies and slightly raise their tails to relieve themselves.
Now, with its lower body paralyzed, even with the physiological need, Tiger Third could only lie on the ground and try hard.
After several attempts, the severely injured Tiger Third seemed somewhat fatigued, but it still couldn’t relieve itself.
"Could it be massaged a bit?"
Paul stood beside Chen Zhou, using the beacon’s light to watch Tiger Third struggling to relieve itself on the ground, feeling more discomfort than even Chen Zhou—
After all, the Three-headed Saw-toothed Tiger was injured saving him. If only he could have held on a bit longer, even a minute or two, Tiger Third wouldn’t have ended up like this.
"No, its spine is broken. Neither of us knows medical skills. Randomly massaging it could backfire."
Chen Zhou furrowed his brows, recalling when he raised cats and dogs, how mother cats would lick the excretion organs of kittens unable to relieve themselves, sparking an idea.
"Let’s keep on our way first. Once we get there, we’ll light a campfire and get some warm water to wipe its rear. Stimulating it in this way might help.
If it doesn’t, and massage becomes necessary, you need to try it on Tiger First and Tiger Second first, making sure to be light-handed.
Even letting it hold in the need is better than forceful treatment."
He raised his head to look at the beacon in the sky—
It was getting lower and lower, the light too dazzling, making it impossible to see the center wrapped by the light cluster clearly, even as it approached the ground.
Pointing to the beacon, Chen Zhou spoke resolutely.
"Our greatest hope is the airdrop supplies, and I’ll make sure to get them.
At the current speed, it will land completely in no more than 48 hours.
Two days won’t cost Tiger Third its life. As long as it can hold on until I grab the supplies, and if there are medicines for treating injuries within them, it can pull through."
"Okay!"
Paul responded to Chen Zhou with a short sentence.
...
After walking for over seven hours, until the sky was slightly bright, Chen Zhou finally brought Paul to the other side of the forest.
As he expected, because this place was far from the beacon, no challengers would come this far.
Upon reaching here, the vast Black Forest seemed somewhat sparse, the towering jade-like trees near the cliffs appeared much smaller and slimmer, with more earth and verdant plants appearing on the ground.
In a hurry, Chen Zhou helped Paul gather some fuel, and hunted a deer as food for Paul and the Three-headed Saw-toothed Tiger, without time for a longer stay, Chen Zhou immediately set out on the return journey.
...
From the early hours of yesterday morning until today, surpassing a day and night, Chen Zhou hadn’t slept even a minute.