Chapter 1638 - Abnormal Tree Rings (1/2)
Chapter 1638: Abnormal Tree Rings
Everyone was speechless after witnessing what had gone down with the gyrfalcon.
Half of the gyrfalcon’s slender neck had been sliced open and fresh blood was pouring out of it like a fountain. Very quickly, it lost too much blood and was sapped of strength. Try as it might, it could only flap its wings a little. It looked like it was on the verge of death.
“Are ocelot claws this sharp?” Little Markelov shivered.
He loved teasing and messing around with Ah Meow on the regular and Ah Meow would scratch back if it was really annoyed, but even then, it would not leave more than a few scratch marks on the man’s skin. Most of the time, the ocelot would be snipping hair off him since the Ukranian was covered in a thick layer of hair. In reality, there were rarely marks left on Markelov’s skin.
.
Now he knew that he was not the one messing with Ah Meow, it was Ah Meow who had been messing with him!
He looked at Ah Meow who was side-eyeing him, face full of disdain.
Little Markelov hurried to put his hands together in worship for the cat. “You’re amazing, Master Cat, you’re the best!”
Li Du took out the medicinal cream he had bought from the Blue Ridge native. He used it previously on Ah Bai and now he was using it on Ah Bai yet again. He had never used this cream on any of his other little ones yet.
Ah Bai was on the verge of crying at the mere sight of the viscous cream. Why was it always the one getting injured?
Its injuries were more serious than usual this time, too. It broke one of its legs and would probably be out of commission for the next few months.
Brother Wolf bandaged Ah Bai and Godzilla pulled out a backpack to stuff it into. The backpack was like a small pack basket and Ah Bai would occasionally call out in pain, but other than that, it was quite the comfortable spot to be in.
After they packed up, they hit the road again, bringing along the carcass of the gyrfalcon. They could roast the bird for lunch later.
Today, they faced the same problem as they had yesterday, namely the dizziness that hit with prolonged exposure to the folded mountains. They had another problem to deal with today: the sky was overcast. Without the sun, it was difficult for them to determine their direction the moment they lost it.
They went a whole round and it felt like they had returned right back to where they started. Li Du’s anger flared up and he could not help but kick a rock. He cursed, “F*ck, what the hell is going on?”
Brother Wolf said, “This means the island of the lake is shrinking. In the earlier half of the 19th century, geologists proposed the theory that the earth was shrinking. This is to say that the earth had slowly been releasing heat and lowering its temperature since its inception, causing its mass to continually shrink in size, much the way apples shrivel and dry.”
“These folds are the result of the shrinkage?” Big Markelov asked.
Brother Wolf nodded. “You could say that. However, to be more specific, the big folds span hundreds of kilometers to form mountains and valleys. The small folds are the kind of landforms you’re referring to.”
Li Du nodded. “Alright, so?”
Brother Wolf continued, “If we go on with our apple analogy, when they shrink, the wrinkles follow a predictable pattern. Similarly, the earth folds form at different paces and more folds form at parts of the earth where the geological activity is most intense.”
“So what you’re saying is that geological activity here on the Island of the Lost is intense, right?” Li Du asked.
Brother Wolf said, “Yes.”
Little Markelov took out two apples. He threw one to Godzilla and bit into the other. He said through crunches and chomps, “What I want to know is this, how can we navigate out of the folds of this rotten apple?”
Brother Wolf responded, “It’s rather simple, actually. We’ve all forgotten this, but we can rely on Ah Fei and have him lead the way from up in the sky. Ah Fei cannot see the folds on the rocks so it won’t lose its way, nor will it be fatigued mentally—”