More than 50 kilometers north of the Xiaoxiyang camp, the brothers Chen Zeng and Jiang Ya and Jiang Ji were extremely thirsty.
They still had water on them, but only enough for half a day. The group had limited carrying capacity and dared not bring too much water.
"I heard from Wengji that there's a small oasis in this direction, why haven't we arrived yet?" Jiang Ya said through gritted teeth. They've already left.
“They’re on horseback, so they’re going very fast. We’re carrying heavy loads on foot, so we’ll be much slower. We should be faster though,” Chen Zeng said.
He didn't want to have to call for help from the camp every time he went out, and return to the camp covered in dust and grime. That wasn't Chen Zeng's style. He wanted to build his own world like Chen Yang!
Although I was wearing a sun hat and loose linen clothes to cover my body, the temperature in the desert was still unbearable.
This was the first time they had ever experienced such high temperatures, especially with the sea right next to them; otherwise, the situation would have been even worse.
The three continued along the coastline. They had previously discovered a small oasis on the northern side of the coast, and they planned to go there. However, after walking for a whole day, they hadn't seen an oasis, or even a large patch of trees, only a few scattered ones.
There is some vegetation around the coastline, but it is sparse. There is some near the small camp in Little Western Ocean, but it becomes less and less as you go north.
“Should we head south? Ding Qihan seems to have said that the southern part of the Little Western Ocean gets more rain,” Jiang Ji said.
“They’ve been to many places along the southern coast, so there’s no point in us going. It’s pointless if we don’t develop any new resources,” Chen Zeng said.
The Jiang brothers exchanged a glance, both secretly regretting coming with Chen Zeng.
Around the coastline, some low-lying plants and weeds grow, but there are almost no usable resources.
They walked for another hour and saw a grove of cactus trees. Excitedly, they went up and used a knife to cut open the cactus trees, only to find that there was no water as they had seen in the book, but only a thick, green sap that was extremely disgusting.
The three hesitated for a moment, then tried a little, but couldn't swallow it at all, so they had to give up and continue on their way.
At dusk, they saw a glimmer of green, which gave them a jolt of hope.
The three quickened their pace and walked towards the green spot. They soon confirmed that it was indeed an oasis, the one Wengji had mentioned.
"Great!" the three shouted, and then ran over quickly.
This oasis was indeed an oasis, not a mirage, and there wouldn't be any mirages at this time of year. The three of them entered the oasis without incident, but they stopped as soon as they entered.
Within the oasis, strange figures stood in the twilight, looking at them.
They all recognized this creature; it had long, thin legs, an oval body covered in feathers, and a small head supported by a long, serpentine neck with a short, flat, triangular mouth made up of several keratinous sheaths.
These are ostriches, and a whole flock of them.
Ostriches are the largest birds in the world. Adult ostriches can generally reach a height of more than two meters and weigh around 150 kilograms.
Although ostriches are not fierce carnivores, they can still look somewhat intimidating because they are really tall, and most of their 150 kilograms weight is concentrated in their body, making them much larger than humans.
Their sudden intrusion caused the ostriches to all turn to look at them.
However, the ostriches just watched them warily and did not attack or run away.
The three men were so frightened when they saw a flock of ostriches looking at them that they froze in place. If the entire flock of ostriches charged at them, they would be no match for them.
"Don't move," Chen Zeng said.
He remained relatively calm, knowing that even when facing an animal that wasn't particularly aggressive, he shouldn't easily turn around and run away; that would be tantamount to courting death.
Chen Zeng didn't turn around, but instead bent over and whispered, "Face them and back away slowly. These ostriches won't stay here forever. We'll go into the oasis after they leave."
The Jiang brothers and Chen Zeng retreated together, their eyes fixed on the ostriches, their bodies stiff with fear. As Chen Zeng retreated, he silently gripped the knife tucked at his waist.
As the ostriches retreated, several of them slowly approached them.
The three of them immediately tensed up; this was the last thing they wanted to happen.
Although the ostriches were approaching them, they didn't seem to have any intention of attacking. Chen Zeng noticed this and wanted to tell the Jiang brothers.
"Don't come any closer!" Jiang Ji suddenly shouted, and picked up a stone and threw it at the ostrich.
The stone hit the ostrich, and the ostrich let out a scream.
All three of them were stunned, including Jiang Ji, who had thrown the stone.
Their faces turned grim.
"You idiot, you're going to get me killed!" Chen Zeng turned and ran. The Jiang brothers were quick to follow.
The angry herd of ostriches took off chasing the three of them. But the three of them were no match for the ostriches when it came to running, and in no time at all, the herd of ostriches had closed in on them.
Although Chen Zeng was the first of the three to run, his physical fitness was worse than the other two, and he ended up falling behind.
The nearest ostrich was about to catch up with him, which filled Chen Zeng with despair.
"Chen Yang definitely won't bring me back to life if I die. I don't know if my dad will plead for me. If he does, there might be a chance. Anyway, I won't lose my memory for a while after I die. What do I have to be afraid of?"
At this moment, Chen Zeng thought of this, but when the ostrich actually stretched out its long, thin neck and triangular beak to peck at him, he was afraid.
"Don't come any closer! Die! Die! Die!!!"
Chen Zeng swung his knife wildly, the blade striking the ostrich squarely in the neck. The slender neck was no match for the blow. Chen Zeng killed the ostrich instantly, but he didn't realize it, continuing to hack away like a madman, slashing the ostrich several more times.
The herd of ostriches that were still chasing behind stopped when they saw this scene. They looked fearfully at Chen Zeng, who had hacked the ostrich to pieces, and then turned and ran away.
Chen Zeng stopped slashing and, panting heavily, looked at the bloody mess in front of him, not even realizing what he had done.
"Chen Zeng, you're amazing! You chased the ostriches away!" Jiang Ji exclaimed in surprise.
Jiang Ya looked at the scene before him with some suspicion and unease. The bloody and mangled ostrich and Chen Zeng made him very uncomfortable.
Chen Zeng then came to his senses.
"I killed this ostrich?" he muttered to himself, his voice filled with doubt.
“Yes, you killed this ostrich, and the other ostriches were driven away,” Jiang Ji said excitedly.
Chen Zeng suppressed his trembling hands, and a strange feeling suddenly arose in his heart. It was the first time he had killed such a large creature, and he did not feel afraid. On the contrary, he felt very happy.
This feeling seems pretty good.
(End of this chapter)
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