Chapter 505: Chapter 502: A Long Way to Go (Added Chapter)
The massive chimney toppled toward the ground, emitting a sound like bricks and stones, raising dust all around.
As the dust settled, the chimney, over three meters tall, had completely fractured into several pieces. Bi Fang used rocks to shatter it entirely, burying it in a large pit he had dug earlier.
When he reached the last water hole, the Water Monitors were alerted by the noise. Unfortunately, Bi Fang chased them away, watching as the water hole that produced fresh fish daily was gradually filled with bricks and stones, and by noon, it had transformed into soil that was no different from the rest of the ground.
The fish pit was no more.
At five-thirty, the sky began to darken, and a reddish sun flooded the entire jungle.
Bi Fang sat on the ground, using a smooth whetstone to sharpen the dagger in his hands. The faint glow of the golden sunset bathed him, his eyelashes glistening, as devout as a monk in his asceticism.
The metal sang a clear, low hum as it rubbed against the stone.
The black blade shed layer after layer of its gray exterior, revealing its shiny, silver essence.
The Banna Rainforest live stream was devoid of any intense, thrilling moments, only ordinary forging and polishing, earnestly completing a task.
Building a house, setting up a furnace, forging a blade.
And then smashing it to pieces, burying it in the ground, waiting for Nature to decompose it.
Dust and earth left to their own devices.
Bi Fang didn’t mind; he enjoyed the process. The process of forging refined iron was also the process of forging himself.
The forest was empty and silent after the great destruction. The calls of birds lessened significantly, and the Water Monitors emerged from their holes, pacing back and forth where the old wall and water holes used to be, as if mourning the loss of an excellent shelter that had vanished.
What it didn’t know was that the free lunch was gone forever. Maybe it would be sad if it could understand?
Maybe not. How much emotion can you expect from a cold-blooded creature?
As long as it’s well-fed, hydrated, and basking in the sun, the Water Monitor is content to laze around all day.
But Bi Fang hadn’t dismantled the two fishing spots; instead, he reinforced them again. Perhaps that was the only trace he left behind on this journey.
When many people think of the rainforest, their first impression is of murky river water, thick branches or vines hanging haphazardly into the water, and broad, fan-like leaves that blot out the sky, densely packed trees.
Crocodiles peek their backs through the water’s surface, massive anacondas glide through the murky depths, strange birds flutter about, locusts hide in the damp grass, and unknown jungle beasts lie in ambush behind some hefty tree trunk, ready to pounce…
Unfortunately, this isn’t Africa or South America. Asian things have always seemed somewhat more miniature. Even the Asian Elephant is daintier than the African Elephant by an indescribable degree.
It seems that even Nature has been harmonized in a harmonious society, where everything complements each other, quiet and orderly, hardly daring to overstep the boundaries on the surface.
But this place has not only murky waters but also clean streams. There are no crocodiles, though pythons do exist; Bi Fang even saw a buffalo, yet there has been no sign of the Asian Elephant. He did encounter many snakes and lizards, large and small, however.
Looking around.
The trees strive to rise above the dense rainforest, stretching skyward to capture more sunlight, towering into the clouds; lower plants spread their large leaves wide to get more light and moisture; and mosses at the very bottom seize every chance to spread indefinitely into damp spaces.
Even if there are breathtaking scenes, they are nothing more than the strangulation or parasitic phenomena between plants, sometimes chaotic, other times gorgeous.
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“Rustle, rustle.”
Suddenly a sound like leaves being disturbed arose in the forest, causing Bi Fang to lift his head and gradually grip the dagger in his hand tighter.
The audience, enjoying the tranquil atmosphere, snapped back to attention.
What’s that sound? Is something approaching?
There’s only half an hour left to go back. No mishap now, right?
The noise grew louder, and it seemed to be a huge creature making it, but the sound was very intricate.
One, or two? Or perhaps even more?
Bi Fang’s muscles tensed with a sour stiffness, the soil beneath his feet subtly deforming.
The sound drew nearer, and finally, with a whoosh, fallen leaves hit the ground and numerous snorting noises erupted.
A little black pig tumbled out of the bushes, snorted a few times at Bi Fang, then seemingly unconcerned, turned around and let out a shrill neigh as several wild boars ran out.
It appeared to be a whole family.
At the moment the wild boar emerged, Bi Fang’s nerves were almost taut to the limit, but as soon as they all came out, he let out a big sigh of relief.
The wild boars of the Banna Rainforest were not quite as he had imagined.
[Wild boar?]
[Is this motherfucker a wild boar?]
The audience’s tense feelings disappeared in an instant, and for no other reason than that these few wild boars looked too naive, even completely different from the bristly, fanged creatures they had imagined, plump and round, and pitifully small, only reaching up to Bi Fang’s knees.
Bi Fang burst out laughing, realizing indeed that there was a big difference between one wild boar and another, and the few before him were definitely not something to worry about.
Wild boars are gregarious by nature, with groups of 4-10 being fairly common. There were only four in front of him, and they were all small pigs not even knee-high.
Additionally, each one was as fat as a little hippo, and he guessed that if these guys kept reproducing for a few more generations, their offspring would end up on the dinner table like domestic pig meat.
“Sorry, I have to leave now, if this had been a few days earlier, I might have been interested,” he said.
[Wild Boar: Did I just feel a chill run through me?]
[San You can’t protect me anymore, I’m so scared, wu wu wu]
But it seemed that joy turned to sorrow in an extreme, as while Bi Fang was taking an interested observation, a wild boar that was up until then rooting in the ground suddenly charged at him. Bi Fang was startled for a moment, grabbed his dagger, ready to counterattack, but when the wild boar got close, it suddenly stopped, lowered its head, and sniffed.
Bi Fang’s movement instead frightened it into stepping back a couple of steps.
Bi Fang laughed and cheerfully said, “You know? Pigs have straight necks, so they can’t bend backwards, which is why they can’t look up, and many people say pigs can’t see the sky, but that’s not correct. To be precise, it’s that pigs can’t look up at the sky in a standing posture.”
“But they can change the position of their limbs, like sitting down on their hindquarters, lifting their front limbs, or lying on something. However, the wild boars in the rainforest probably have never seen the sky, because there are very few open terrains here, all of which are covered by large trees.”
[This pig is terribly fat, this is a wild boar?]
[It’s so fat, no wonder our ancestors domesticated pigs]
[It’s a pity, if it was just two days earlier, Old Fang could have told us about the taste of wild boar meat.]
[It seems so dumb]
“Don’t underestimate it, the role of wild boars in the forest ecosystem is extremely important,” he said.
Seeing that the wild boar wasn’t posing any threat, Bi Fang sat back down to continue sharpening, explaining with a smile.
“Without the activity of wild boars, the thickness of the forest floor herbs, shrubs, and the fallen branches and leaves wouldn’t change much, many herbaceous plants wouldn’t be able to spread over a wide area.
If the herbaceous plants don’t spread, it leads to soil compaction, affecting the activity of soil animals, slowing down the natural decomposition rate, affecting soil aeration and humus layer formation, and causing changes in material cycling.
Moreover, the wild boars breaking a large number of shrubs for nesting plays a regulatory role in forest density, not affecting the nutrient uptake of other tree species and herbaceous plants.
The light conditions in the forest improve, enhancing the soil microenvironment. The reduction of shrubs also facilitates the movement of large animals through the area.
It can find nuts buried underground by mice, and the places where wild boars forage by digging up mouse holes account for two-thirds of all foraged areas, playing an important role in preventing forest rodent infestations.”
Bi Fang casually listed a string of benefits of wild boars, leaving the audience taken aback.
[Turns out, I’m the only useless one, wu wu wu]
[Wild boars suddenly seem cute now]
“But in recent years, wild boars have been a bit too rampant, and in 2006 our country even lifted the absolute ban on hunting wild boars.”
Each wild boar group stakes out their own territory, they don’t obediently divide the reserve evenly, but capriciously occupy land at will. It’s common for several groups to compete for one area while another area may not have a single wild boar.
The wild boar groups that lose out in competition then turn their attention to human territory, and it becomes seemingly reasonable for them to recklessly trample flora and fauna within their dominion.
“When wild boars overbreed and encroach on the human living environment, they become ‘killers’ that harm humans, and we still need to prioritize human protection. I think those who have watched my livestream should understand this principle.”
The wild boar continued to root in the ground, utterly indifferent to the two-legged ape’s evaluation of it.
“The increase in wild boars is due to improved ecology, but it also indicates the imbalance in ecological recovery, suggesting that predators such as tigers and leopards, which are natural enemies of wild boars, have reduced or even become extinct, leading to excessive breeding of wild boars.”
The responsibility is great and the journey is long.