Chapter 64: The Elephant Herd's Base

  An Zhongzhí was even more aware that the southern region of Yue was still relatively better off, with people having enough to eat. In contrast, the Central Plains were much worse off due to years of severe drought, resulting in many places having no harvest at all. Many people fled their homes and became refugees, selling their children or resorting to cannibalism just to survive. If these people knew that a certain dragon lord could provide them with food, they would likely go crazy and flock to southern Yue by the thousands, even if it meant traveling thousands of miles.

  Recalling the miserable appearance of those refugees, An Zhong let out a sigh. No matter how the dragon lord in front of him was, at least he could eat his fill, which was true. If he starved to death, no matter how many skills he had, it would all be in vain. Thinking of this, An Zhong completely lost his mind to resist Lin Bei.

  Lin Bei didn't know about An Zhong's psychological change, he has now gone astray and is getting further and further away from the creek.

  The reason was that Lin Bei discovered the tracks of a large wild animal while passing through a thicket, which were elephant footprints. After all, an elephant's hooves are too recognizable, so Lin Bei directly threw aside the matter of choosing a location.

  Where the elephant herd passed, it was like a train had crushed through, although the hoof prints looked quite old, they were still very clear. Lin Bei followed all the way, he didn't know how far he had walked, probably around 15 or 16 miles.

  Then Lin Bei's eyes lit up, and new traces appeared. On top of a clump of grass, there were over a dozen hoof prints. Lin Bei leaned in to take a closer look, and the traces were still very fresh, no more than ten days old. Lin Bei raised his head, his eyes sparkling, the fresh hoof prints meant that an Asian elephant herd had been active nearby, and according to their habit of walking and eating as they went, the herd couldn't have gone far.

  Proceeding forward, Lin Bei discovered that the elephant tracks became increasingly clear. Suddenly, Lin Bei exclaimed in his heart, "This is clearly the track of two elephant groups."

  The traces here show that two elephant groups passed by, but the time and route are not very consistent. However, the direction is the same. Lin Bei was even more surprised to find two elephant groups at once, which means he can be sure that there must be a place nearby that attracts large elephants.

  What would attract elephants? Of course, it's food. The instinct of animals is to eat. As long as there's food, they'll come one after another. So, there should be a type of food that the elephant herd loves particularly, and in large quantities.

  Later, Lin Bei found many dung left by the elephant group, and Mr. Dung Beetle was diligently purifying it. This natural scavenger is also abundant in the forest, and elephants defecate nearly 100 kilograms every day. If not for the existence of these dung beetles, that stench would have spread throughout the entire forest.

  "Generally speaking, after the elephant herd produces dung, it only takes about ten days for the dung beetles to be born. If the environment is humid and warm, the birth speed of the dung beetles will be even faster, maybe in just five or six days. With the current weather, it should take around five or six days."

  This means that the elephant herd is indeed getting closer and closer.

  It was later confirmed that Lin Bei's guess was correct, and after walking for another ten or so miles, the amount of feces increased, and the number of dung beetles on top also increased. Then, looking ahead, Lin Bei's eyes widened: "Damn, what a huge mountain of feces..."

  There were few things that could surprise Lin Bei, but the scene before him had really exceeded his expectations. In front of him was indeed a "black mountain" formed from feces, about 20 meters high, quite large. The outer shell of the dung beetles crawling on the "black mountain" had a slight sheen to it, and they were burrowing into it with holes all over, making it look like a disgusting work of art.

  "This is quite a lot of pulling..." Lin Bei thought it was pretty ridiculous, even if the elephant herd could pull over 100 catties every day, it would still take years and months to pull out such a large 'mountain', right? However, this place is indeed a paradise for dung beetles, if there's enough feces, dung beetles can also live for several years.

  He glanced at it from a distance, Lin Bei somewhat fearfully shifted his gaze, observing the surrounding environment, this seemed to be a mountain valley? Afterwards, Lin Bei skirted around 'Black Mountain' and turned in a small circle, finally confirming that it was indeed a mountain valley, and the entrance to the valley seemed to be precisely at that 'Black Mountain'.

  Dry.

  Lin Bei turned back and stared fiercely at 'Hei Shan'. Upon closer inspection, he could see that there was indeed a large hole underneath, about 4 or 5 meters high. The formation of this large hole made Lin Bei very worried that the entire 'Hei Shan' would come crashing down in an instant.

  "If I accidentally hit myself while passing by... I'd be done for..." Lin Bei's scalp went numb at the mere thought.

  To go in or not? Lin Bei hesitated for a long time, finally gritted his teeth, held his breath, and didn't even dare to look at the dung beetles crawling everywhere, lowering his head and slipping inside.

  Inside was a cave, but it wasn't long, only about ten meters, and then suddenly opened up. At the moment Lin Beichuan drilled out of the cave, a loud trumpet-like sound entered his ears, which was the sound emitted by the elephant group.

  He looked up and saw that the valley was actually very large, with a length of over 300 meters. The elephant herd was not far away on the north side of the forest. At this time, the elephant herd had discovered Lin Bei's existence. Originally lying down, they stood up, waving their trunks, stomping the ground with their feet, and making loud roaring sounds to intimidate him, hoping that Lin Bei, this uninvited guest, would know to retreat.

  "Wow, one, two, three... twenty-one elephants." Lin Bei counted the number clearly and was instantly amazed. In modern times, it's rare to see a herd of this size, unless you go to the African savannah and are extremely lucky.

  Among the twenty-one elephants, there were five young ones. At this moment, they were closely nestled at their mother's feet, curiously looking at Lin Bei, this unexpected guest, and occasionally making a few cries to add to the atmosphere.

  This kind of cry can only scare some brainless animals, like a relatively gentle animal, they will not take the initiative to attack other beasts, so it's just intimidation, Lin Bei is not afraid at all.

  "What do so many elephants eat?"

  The elephant herd gathered here must be because there is relatively sufficient food, so after watching the elephant herd, Lin Bei's gaze turned to the other side, where a large area of vegetation grew exceptionally lush. Seeing the leaves of these plants, Lin Bei recognized that it was a large patch of yam field.

  Valley, mountain medicine ground, this is the reason why the elephant group gathers here. In conjunction with the "Black Mountain" just passed, it is clear that this is the base of the elephant group.

  PS: There are many people pointing out mistakes during this time, to be honest, I don't know much about history, and there must be many errors, but this is, and it's YY, I don't need to take responsibility for history, nor do I worry that you will be misled after reading it, if you can't bear to read it, please click the cross, if you can bear to read it, please recommend and collect it, thank you.