Chapter 24: Setting Off for the Seaside (2)

Now Ba Ke Er had already transformed into his beast form, carrying luggage and walking with Zhang Fan on the tribe's streets, heading toward the tribe gate. Along the way they met many acquaintances, said goodbye to each one, and finally arrived at the tribe's entrance.

After greeting the guard beastmen, Ba Ke Er started running and flapping his wings, taking off.

Soon the tribe became a tiny dot in their view, slowly disappearing before their eyes.

After a morning of flight, they arrived at the edge of the salt lake.

The area around the salt lake was completely barren, with not a single blade of grass or tree.

After Ba Ke Er landed, Zhang Fan unloaded the luggage and the food he had brought together. Ba Ke Er also shifted back to human form, and together they began preparing lunch,

Zhang Fan found two similarly sized stones nearby, placed them on the ground, and stacked them into a very simple stove. Then he placed the pottery jar he had brought on top, filled it with some fresh water, added some meat, and started cooking.

Ba Ke Er also set up a grill and began roasting meat.

Soon, the aromas of the stewed and roasted meat spread everywhere.

Ba Ke Er cut all the tender parts of the roasted meat with Zhang Fan's kitchen knife, placed them in a bowl, and handed it to Zhang Fan.

"Fan Fan, are you hungry? Eat first; I'll just watch over the stew."

Hearing Ba Ke Er say that, Zhang Fan said he wasn't moved; that was all a lie.

This was the first time anyone had cared for him like this. Zhang Fan had been an orphan since childhood, growing up in the orphanage. Although the orphanage director and the other aunts were also good to them, after all they treated the other children just as well. With so many children in the orphanage, even if the director's and aunts' love was limited, their love was universal. All he wanted was a love that belonged solely to him. And in the country where he originally lived, people like him who liked the same sex were taboo, so he never dared reveal his sexual orientation, fearing others would think him a monster.

"Thank you, Ba Ke Er. But I'm not hungry yet; you, on the other hand, must be tired and hungry after flying all morning—hurry up and eat, I'll eat later." After saying that, Zhang Fan began to immerse himself in his memories.

"It's fine, Fan Fan; I'm not tired. I'm not hungry either—I'll wait and eat with you later!"

Ba Ke Er finished speaking, seeing Zhang Fan actually start to space out, he said hesitantly:

"Fan Fan, are you tired? Why don't you take a nap? I'll call you later."

"Ah, no need, Ba Ke Er; I'm not tired, I'm just recalling some past events."

"Really? Fan Fan, you've never told me what your hometown was like; I'm curious—could you tell me about it?"

"Of course. The place I used to live is a country on Earth called China, hundreds of thousands of light-years away from here. There we have many skyscrapers, airplanes that can fly in the sky, cars and trains that run on the roads, and ships and yachts that sail in the water."

Hearing Zhang Fan say these things, Ba Ke Er felt puzzled:

"Why do you need airplanes to fly in the sky? Winged beastmen could do that, couldn't they? And you mentioned cars and trains—what animals pull those vehicles? Tell me; maybe we have them here too. And ships and yachts—does having them mean you can travel to other places by sea?"

"Haha, Ba Ke Er, you're really smart! With ships and yachts we can indeed go to other places, and airplanes, cars, and trains are the same—they're all means of transportation. However, airplanes were invented specifically for people without wings, because we there have no wings, yet we wanted to fly, so we created airplanes. Cars and trains exist because we can't run fast, so we invented cars and trains. And by the way, cars and trains are not pulled by animals!"

Ba Ke Er felt astonished after hearing Zhang Fan's explanation!

"So Fan Fan's homeland is like a divine realm! No wonder you're the Beast God's envoy!"

"……" Zhang Fan indicated that explaining things was really annoying! The beastmen's imagination is truly rich! Even he, a modern person, loses to them!