Chapter 26: Oh Sea, Oh Sea

After Ba Ke Er had finished gathering and organizing the rice, he put all the rice into a small cave in the canyon. After settling Zhang Fan and leaving his own scent near the cave, Ba Ke Er shifted into beast form and went out to look for water and food. During this time, Zhang Fan began tidying up inside the cave, clearing a place to sleep at night and arranging his luggage. He also took out the seasonings and utensils...

After finishing everything, Zhang Fan sat at the cave entrance and looked out. He wasn't afraid of other dangerous animals coming, after all Ba Ke Er's top predator scent wasn't just for show!

When Ba Ke Er returned carrying the prepared game and holding a water sack, what he saw was: in the afterglow of the sunset, a beautiful female sitting at the cave entrance smiling at him—his lover Zhang Fan. Ba Ke Er felt sweet in his heart, sweeter than honey. He smiled foolishly and said:

"Fan Fan, why are you sitting outside! Hurry up and go in!"

"Ba Ke Er, I've been waiting for you."

Zhang Fan smiled and replied.

After dinner, the two entered sweet dreams together.

The next day, after breakfast, the two did not take the rice with them; instead, they removed the rice from the straw stalks and left it all to dry on the open ground outside the cave. Having done that, they set off again toward the seaside.

Finally, at noon that day when Zhang Fan's watch reached 11 o'clock, they arrived at the seaside. Before even landing, Zhang Fan could hardly wait to go into the sea for a refreshing swim.

The seaside of this primitive society had no pollution whatsoever and no pungent chemical smell. A gentle sea breeze blew by, carrying a faint salty taste. On the beach, many crabs scuttled about without restraint, slow-moving turtles crawled leisurely, and lively, lovable lobsters played a little jumping game. Everything was so peaceful and tranquil.

After Ba Ke Er landed, Zhang Fan took off his clothes and dove straight into the sea to swim. After swimming a while, he realized something was missing; looking up, he saw Ba Ke Er staring intently at his bare white chest. Zhang Fan's face instantly flushed red, and he hesitated before saying:

"Ba Ke Er, what are you looking at? Want to come down?"

"I… I… I, I'm looking at you, can I come down? Wait a moment, I'll come down right away."

Having said that, he took off everything he was wearing, shifted into human form, and plunged into the sea.

Ba Ke Er and Zhang Fan played together in the sea; even lunch was made from local ingredients, eating the crabs and lobsters on the beach as well as some sea fish. They stewed a big pot of seafood soup and also ate grilled crab and grilled fish.

After lunch, Ba Ke Er and Zhang Fan began picking up many shells on the beach—some spiral, some fan-shaped—filling several large animal-hide bags of various sizes. Zhang Fan also found a few round, smooth pearls inside some fan-shaped shells. This time they really struck it rich, but after asking Ba Ke Er, they learned that here pearls are worthless; only the shells have value. Upon hearing this, Zhang Fan could only silently mourn for the pearls in his heart -_-||

After collecting enough shells, Ba Ke Er still savored the various seafood from lunch, then quietly caught many crabs and lobsters on the beach, and additionally went into the sea to catch several sea fish. Here the seafood grew plump and robust because no one harvested them.

After packing the luggage and various seafood for the return trip, Zhang Fan placed everything securely on Ba Ke Er, then climbed onto Ba Ke Er's beast-form back. Once Zhang Fan was settled, Ba Ke Er began flapping its wings and started flying back.