Chapter 219 - 99: Wild Pigeons
On the morning of the 30th, after leisurely preparing the necessary tools and looking at the newly organized cave dwelling, Chen Zhou felt a delightful sense of ease and set out with this pleasant mood.
On dry season mornings, the treetops in the forest often enveloped in a thin mist, obscuring the fading crescent moon and sparse stars.
The insects were silent, and the frogs had closed their mouths, pausing their cacophonous calls.
In the distance, only the clear and melodious songs of parrots or other birds could be heard.
The light was still cool, yet the temperature was not low.
Wandering through the dense forest, surrounded by all kinds of plants, many familiar animals came into Chen Zhou's view.
Among them were lizards and tree frogs of various appearances, as well as mimicking katydids he had seen in documentaries.
Some of these insects disguised themselves as dead moss in the dense forest, others were bright green, lying on leaves and blending in to provide themselves protection.
There were also stick insects disguised as dry branches, which Chen Zhou often saw when chopping trees, walking away on legs remarkably similar to branches to escape their collapsing habitat.
Additionally, there were grasshoppers as green as jade, with a glossy sheen;
spiders half the size of a palm, whose webs were incredibly tough;
giant cockroaches nearly eight centimeters long;
slender centipedes as black as ink, making one's scalp tingle;
mantises camouflaged as flowers, tender leaves, or dead leaves to aid in hunting;
beetles draped in heavy armor with a metallic sheen, and grayish-brown scorpions with hooked tail stingers...
Seeing these strange and peculiar insects and plants, he often thought it would be great if he were an insect enthusiast or a reptile lover.
Although the island is not large, it remains unpolluted, retaining its primitive appearance, and many insects that are extinct in the modern era might be found on this island.
Furthermore, the island's climate is very suitable for raising insects, rarely needing to set up terrariums or use humidifiers, fans, or other equipment.
Before, when he scrolled through various platforms and saw experts in terrarium landscapes, Chen Zhou always envied others' financial resources and leisure time. He never thought he would one day find himself in such a vast "terrarium."
Unfortunately, invasive species brought in by sailors have already started to proliferate on the island.
Creatures like wild rabbits, wild cats, and goats have no natural enemies and are expanding their populations at an alarming rate. If this continues, the island's fragile ecosystem might be on the brink of destruction in a few decades.
In these few days of rest, when he was bored, Chen Zhou often fantasized that if the challenge ended, the Space-Time Administration Bureau would grant him a portal to freely enter and exit this world.
He had read novels before that involved traveling between two worlds and selling resources to make riches.
One-time rewards could never compare to the wealth of an entire world's resources; this is the difference between "giving a man a fish" and "teaching a man to fish."
But judging by the rarity of mysterious rewards, the probability of getting a portal for free might be lower than winning the first prize in the lottery.
...
The path from the camp to the cave dwelling was already well-trodden in his mind. For this outing, Chen Zhou purposely avoided the old path he had taken before and explored an unfamiliar area.
Areas he hadn't been to were covered in vines and dense vegetation, requiring a knife or axe to make a path.
While swinging the axe to chop down obstacles, he also observed the surrounding plants.
If he saw any unfamiliar plant fruits, he would knock them down with a long stick and then put them in his backpack.
Gathering fruits while moving forward, the pace was not fast.
Heading west from the dense forest at the foot of the mountain, he estimated he was about to move away from the top of the camp and enter the depths of the forest, so he timely stopped and headed back to the camp.
By the time he reached the camp, it was noon; he took out the various fruits from the mountaineering bag and stored them temporarily at the camp.
He made a fire to cook, took a simple rest, then with a lighter mountaineering bag on his back, Chen Zhou set out again.
This time, he headed straight for the beach, stopping at the foot of the mountain where stones once fell, bypassing the area where stones were gathered, and trees were felled to explore further inside.
The location of Robinson's Pigeon Cave was never specified in the book.
Chen Zhou could only rely on his own speculation to search desperately at the foot of the mountain.
...
As the sun gradually shifted, Chen Zhou almost circled to the other side of the mountain along the foot of it.
During this process, he did discover a few caves, but these mountain caves were all small caves less than one and a half meters deep, with empty bird nests at best hanging on the walls. As for live pigeons, not a single feather could be found.
By nightfall, having walked all day, Chen Zhou was exhausted and hungry.
He sat down on a stone, looking at the forest submerged in dusk, put down his backpack, and clutched the axe handle, feeling a little doubtful about life.
"Wasn't it supposed to be exactly like the circumstances in the original work?
Where on earth is the Pigeon Cave hidden?"
His gaze drifted to another mountain further away, and a bold guess occurred to him—could the Pigeon Cave not be on this mountain but on that distant one instead?
Upon closer consideration, he felt it was unlikely.
Before Robinson saved Friday, like him, many daily chores required self-reliance.
Moreover, since Robinson could not build complex machinery, farming was a "waiting for the sky to reap" situation, making furniture without the help of a "cutter" was difficult, and creating a wooden plank was quite a feat, while successfully firing pottery took years.
A person as busy as him yet able to frequently eat fresh boiled pigeon eggs just so happens to indicate that the Pigeon Cave was very close to his home.
If the Pigeon Cave was truly at the foot of a distant mountain, it would take at least two days to make a round trip, during which who knows how much household work would get delayed.
The problem is that there is only this one mountain nearby, and the other side of the mountain faces the ocean, forming a steep cliff that cannot be explored.
As for this part of the land, he spent an afternoon exploring, almost circling around the foot of the mountain, yet still couldn't find the so-called Pigeon Cave, which was quite frustrating.
"Have I overlooked some detail?"
Scratching his head, Chen Zhou pondered.
He felt he might be too hasty, overlooking the most crucial part of the whole matter, resulting in this "plenty of effort but no gain" outcome.
After a moment's thought, he did think of one overlooked aspect—along the way forward along the foot of the mountain, he occasionally saw wild pigeons circling above the forest.
If there isn't a Pigeon Cave here, how come wild pigeons are seen so frequently?
Thinking of this, Chen Zhou stood up, his gaze turned skyward.
In the gradually darkening forest, there were already flocks of gray-white pigeons flying back in droves.
Locking onto their flight path, Chen Zhou found this group of pigeons wasn't flying downward but instead flying along his path south of the mountain, heading diagonally upward.
Their flight path resembled an obvious indicator, marking the location of the nest.
He slapped his forehead, feeling as if a sudden realization had dawned upon him.
Chen Zhou finally understood why he couldn't find the Pigeon Cave; it was because the elevation wasn't high enough.
The Pigeon Cave wasn't around the foot of the mountain; it was in the middle or higher part of the mountain.
No wonder he couldn't find it despite circling such a large area because the most basic direction was wrong.
Yet here he was, stuck on this problem, not realizing the answer was indeed so simple.