Chapter 57: Chapter Fifty-Eight

As they passed by a riverbank where a five-colored light shimmered, Fei Er suddenly became excited! He pointed downward and said:

"Mo De, Ba Ke Er, hurry up and land! Something down there is glowing! Let's go down and take a look!" Zhang Fan heard this, grew curious, looked down as well, and indeed saw something glowing.

Ba Ke Er and Mo De also saw it, and following Fei Er's words, they began to descend toward the riverbank.

As soon as Ba Ke Er and Mo De landed, Zhang Fan and Fei Er couldn't wait and rushed toward the glowing spot.

After seeing it clearly, Zhang Fan couldn't help but roar in his mind: "I'm rich! I'm rich! Gold, oh gold! Jewels, oh jewels! Hahahahaha……"

Fei Er saw Zhang Fan looking at the riverside thing and kept laughing, a foolish laugh, really wondering more than once if Zhang Fan had gone crazy?!

After Mo De and Ba Ke Er changed back to human form, they immediately put down their luggage. When they came near Zhang Fan and Fei Er, Ba Ke Er saw Zhang Fan's foolish grin, found it adorable, and couldn't help laughing along. This made Fei Er and Mo De beside them feel stifled! They exchanged a glance, each seeing helplessness in the other's eyes. But after a while, seeing Ba Ke Er and Zhang Fan still grinning nonstop, Fei Er felt he could take no more. He reached out, placed his hand on Zhang Fan's shoulder, patted it twice, and said:

"Fan Fan! What's wrong with you? Are you feeling unwell?"

"Huh? Fei Er, what did you say?" Zhang Fan finally came to his senses and said.

"I'm saying, Fan Fan, what's wrong with you? Why do you keep staring at these pretty stones and laughing? Sure, they are indeed beautiful, but there's no need to be this happy about them, right?"

"Haha, so that's what you meant! These stones are worth a lot on the Earth where I used to live! If I could bring them back, I'd strike it rich! Hahahaha……"

As soon as Ba Ke Er heard Zhang Fan say he wanted to go back, he panicked: "What? Fan Fan!! So you actually want to return to Earth? Does that mean you don't want me anymore?"

Hearing Ba Ke Er's words, Zhang Fan's face darkened with black lines: "No, no! I'm not saying I want to go back; I only meant that if these stones were on Earth, they'd be valuable! I never said I wanted to return! Besides, I have no way to go back—I ended up on this planet after a car accident on Earth. I have no idea how to get back! Moreover, I have no relatives on Earth, nor any close friends, so returning would be pointless. And anyway, wherever you are, that's my home!"

Ba Ke Er calmed down after hearing Zhang Fan's explanation. Seeing that Ba Ke Er understood, Zhang Fan spoke again:

"Alright, now that we see so many pretty stones, we can take them back and make them into lovely ornaments. At the tribe gathering, we should be able to sell them for a good price!"

Fei Er expressed strong agreement with Zhang Fan's words, "Exactly, exactly! These stones are so pretty! Perfect for making ornaments!" Having said that, he began taking off his shoes, rolling up his pant legs, and heading toward the pretty stones. Seeing Fei Er start moving, Zhang Fan didn't want to be outdone; he took off his shoes and socks, rolled up his pant legs, and prepared to go pick up those lovely gems and the glowing gold.

Because the gold particles were tiny and hard to pick up, Zhang Fan and Fei Er first started gathering the stones that were a bit larger than gold grains.

The river contained a great variety of stones in many colors—red, blue, purple, green, even clear and pure black. Zhang Fan and Fei Er focused on picking those with pure colors, but because there were so many, the two of them still managed to gather a lot. Behind them, Ba Ke Er and Mo De saw how much their respective mates liked these pretty stones, and to win their favor, they also went into the river to gather stones.

The four of them worked quickly, and before long they had gathered a large pile of stones. Seeing that the stone collection was nearly done, Zhang Fan turned his attention to the gold in the river. However, the gold was too tiny to pick up easily, so he began to worry.

Ba Ke Er saw Zhang Fan staring at those glowing fine stones and knew what he wanted.

"Fan Fan, do you want those glowing little stones?"

"Yes, Ba Ke Er, but those stones are too small, and we have no tools, so we can't pick them up at all!"

"Don't worry, Fan Fan. Tell me what tools you need, and I'll definitely figure out how to make them, then I'll scoop those stones out for you!"

Hearing Ba Ke Er's bold words, Zhang Fan felt moved, thinking that for a few stones worthless on the Beastmen Planet, Ba Ke Er would treat him so well. He smiled and said:

"Ba Ke Er, it's not some complicated tool—just a wooden basin and a small winnowing basket will do."

Ba Ke Er hadn't expected the tool for picking up tiny stones to be so simple. After thinking, he said: "Fan Fan, as for the wooden basin, we actually brought a small one when we came out, and it's still unused. It's perfect for scooping stones; the only thing missing is the winnowing basket, which we didn't bring, so we need to cut some bamboo and weave one on the spot." Having said that, he hurried ashore, shifted into beast form, and prepared to go find bamboo.

Mo De saw Fei Er also looking at him with longing eyes and wanted to go find bamboo too, but if he left, there would be no one to protect Fei Er and Zhang Fan. With no alternative, he had to ask Ba Ke Er: "Ba Ke Er, when you go look for bamboo, could you also bring me a piece? I'm staying here to watch those two; I can't leave."

Ba Ke Er agreed without a second thought and immediately flew off.

The three who remained weren't idle either; they kept searching for clean, beautiful stones free of impurities.

Not long after, Ba Ke Er returned with a long stalk of bamboo. Next came the time to split the bamboo and weave a winnowing basket. Feeling that they had gathered enough stones, Zhang Fan and Fei Er went ashore together with Mo De.

After picking stones for so long, all four felt a bit hungry, so Mo De set up a grill and began cooking the meat left over from lunch. Meanwhile, the small winnowing basket Ba Ke Er wove was finished—just enough to make four of them. Seeing the meat wasn't ready yet, Zhang Fan and Fei Er took two of the baskets and went back to the riverside to pan for gold using them.

Not long after, the meat was done. Upon hearing Mo De shout, "Meal's ready!" Zhang Fan and Fei Er brought the gold they had just panned from the river back to shore, poured it from the baskets into the small wooden basin, then ran back to the riverbank to wash their hands before returning to the grill. There they each received a bowl of meat and a pair of clean chopsticks from their mates and began to eat. Seeing their mates start eating, Ba Ke Er and Mo De also began to eat.