Zhuang Rui scraped some coarse salt from the salt-drying area. Although the taste wasn't great, it was salty at least, which made Zhuang Rui, who hadn't eaten salt in a long time, so excited that he almost bit his tongue off.
"Is this guy covered in hair because he's salt-deficient?"
Zhuang Rui looked at King Kong beside him, who was imitating him eating, and thought with ill intent that this gorilla's learning ability was really strong. As long as he did something once, it could learn it almost perfectly.
"Awooo...whoosh..."
After finishing his own fish, Jin Gang looked at Zhuang Rui and unceremoniously took away the three or four grilled fish next to Zhuang Rui.
King Kong wasn't just eating for free. While Zhuang Rui was grilling fish, it somehow brought out a bundle of sugarcane, gave Zhuang Rui half of it in a very stylish manner, and even demonstrated to Zhuang Rui how to eat sugarcane.
"Pfft pfft..."
Watching King Kong open its big mouth and spit out sugarcane residue in an exaggerated way, Zhuang Rui couldn't help but laugh. After spending a lot of time with King Kong, he felt that King Kong was like a five or six-year-old child, which was very cute. If you praised it a few times, it would make this big guy happy for a long time.
"Pfft, pfft," Zhuang Rui imitated King Kong, spitting out sugarcane pulp. This made King Kong extremely happy, and he grinned broadly, occasionally punching his chest with his fist.
After his initial excitement, Jin Gang looked at the sugarcane beside him, hesitated for a moment, then separated several more stalks and gently placed them next to Zhuang Rui.
King Kong's actions touched Zhuang Rui. In nature, animals are always very protective of their food, and this is especially true of animals with higher intelligence.
The fact that King Kong can behave this way means that he no longer sees himself as one of his own kind, but as his closest companion.
However, King Kong was quite excited when eating fish. Perhaps because he was afraid of water, he had never eaten fish before. Zhuang Rui had prepared seven or eight sea fish weighing more than 10 kilograms each, and most of them ended up in King Kong's stomach.
"King Kong, come down and take a bath..."
These past two days, Zhuang Rui has found it unbearable to smell King Kong's stench. He guesses the guy has never had a bath since birth. Zhuang Rui stands in the shallow part of the pool and waves to King Kong.
"Waaah..."
King Kong's large head bobbed back and forth, its two long arms flailing wildly, and its body kept retreating, as if expressing its fear of water.
"Don't be afraid, see, it's alright..."
Zhuang Rui scooped up water and splashed it at Jin Gang, getting the big guy all over with water on his head and face. Jin Gang was so frightened that he used his hands and feet to run away more than ten meters away.
Perhaps sensing that the water wouldn't harm him, Jin Gang stealthily returned, looking at the clear water and Zhuang Rui swimming in it, and hesitated for a moment.
Perhaps it was because of that time he held his breath underwater, but Zhuang Rui found that he could now easily hold his breath underwater for seven or eight minutes. Seeing that Jin Gang wasn't coming over, Zhuang Rui dove to the bottom of the water and never resurfaced.
A minute passed, and King Kong just peeked out tentatively, without reacting.
Three minutes passed, and King Kong started to get anxious. He grabbed a stick and poked around in the water, but he still didn't dare to go in.
Five minutes passed, and King Kong started yelling anxiously, and tried to stick one leg out of the water.
Gorillas are among the most studious animals, and King Kong is no exception. Seeing that Zhuang Rui hadn't surfaced from the water for a long time, King Kong finally put one leg into the pool, and then lifted it back up as if he had been electrocuted.
Perhaps it was the cool pool water that made King Kong feel comfortable, because the group carefully put their feet in again, and slowly slid their whole bodies into the water, imitating Zhuang Rui's movements, and started splashing around in the water.
"King Kong, well done!" Zhuang Rui saw it clearly from underwater, surfaced to catch his breath, and gave King Kong a thumbs up.
The pool was only a little over a meter deep in the shallowest part. After struggling in the water for most of the day, King Kong learned to swim. Moreover, due to its animal nature, it was much more agile in the water than Zhuang Rui.
Zhuang Rui was incredibly envious of this instinct. He had been able to swim since he was a child, but now he had only mastered the doggy paddle and backstroke. Look at Jin Gang, he could even do the butterfly stroke with his arms outstretched, and he was self-taught.
However, this caused harm to the fish in the pond. The gluttonous King Kong caught almost all the slightly larger fish. Fortunately, the pond was connected to the sea, and fish continued to swim in.
For the next two days, King Kong simply refused to go back and dragged Zhuang Rui to stay by the pond. Of course, it was responsible for catching fish, while Zhuang Rui was responsible for barbecuing, and smoke rose from the fire all day long.
Zhuang Rui has nothing else to offer but plenty of time. He was happy to see his new friend, so he played with King Kong.
Over the course of a few days, Zhuang Rui and King Kong grew closer. Although the big guy looked fierce, he was very thoughtful. To make Zhuang Rui sleep more comfortable, he even brought a bundle of dry sugarcane branches for Zhuang Rui to use as a mat.
Moreover, their cooperation became increasingly seamless. King Kong could now fully understand Zhuang Rui's simple language. Unfortunately, King Kong couldn't speak, but even so, it alleviated much of Zhuang Rui's loneliness. ...
In the past few days, in addition to grilling fish for King Kong, Zhuang Rui has also sped up the cleaning of the wooden house.
There are advantages to being a big-bellied man. In the following days, Zhuang Rui made great progress in the archaeological work on the wooden house, because he had a demolition worker by his side.
In five or six days, the entire village was cleared down to just one wooden house; the rest were all ruins. However, Zhuang Rui didn't waste any of the wood; it was all used as barbecue material.
From more than a dozen wooden houses, a large number of household items and weapons and armor were unearthed, including rusty spears, exquisitely crafted short axes, and knight's swords of various styles. These items all had a medieval foreign style and could not have been made by the local natives.
The wooden bowls inside also solved Zhuang Rui's practical problem. Holding the wooden bowls and drinking the fish soup made Zhuang Rui feel that he was still living in modern society and had not regressed to the era of apes.
The most useful item was the saw, which was still usable despite being a bit rusty. This gave Zhuang Rui hope of leaving the island. After excavating the wooden houses, Zhuang Rui planned to build a dugout raft.
In the excavated wooden houses, Zhuang Rui discovered eight more bodies, all of whom died in a fight. It seemed to be an internal conflict. Whether everyone on the island perished together, Zhuang Rui did not know.
However, these clues were enough for Zhuang Rui to further investigate and confirm that this was indeed a place where pirates had lived. But why the pirates chose this isolated island as their lair was a mystery to Zhuang Rui.
Because this isolated island is covered with reefs, it is extremely difficult to enter and exit. One wrong move could result in the destruction of the ship and loss of life. However, Zhuang Rui did not find the answer from the excavation of the ruins.
Zhuang Rui didn't dwell on what exactly happened hundreds of years ago for long. Instead, he discovered many things that he could use, which made him very happy.
Clothes... naturally, there are none left, and even if there were, they would have long since rotted away.
However, Zhuang Rui actually found a pair of calfskin boots, which were in excellent condition except for some fading. Zhuang Rui put his feet in them and tried them on. Although they were a little tight, they were a hundred times more comfortable than the shoes he had made.
Zhuang Rui didn't care that these were antiques from hundreds of years ago; he put them on directly. Now, Zhuang Rui was wearing a cowboy hat, a piece of tanned goatskin around his waist, and leather boots. His body was tanned dark by the sun. If he painted some color on his face, he would look like a Native American.
In addition, Zhuang Rui also found a pair of gold-threaded gloves in a wooden box in the ruins. The workmanship was extremely exquisite. Although it had been hundreds of years, it was still as good as new. Zhuang Rui was reluctant to wear it and carefully put it in the cave.
"King Kong... be gentle, be gentler..."
With just one last wooden house left, the entire village was cleared out. King Kong's demolition was extremely brutal; he simply pushed the wooden house down with his fan-like palms. Anyway, with his thick skin and tough flesh, he wasn't afraid of the wood hitting him.
On the first day, Zhuang Rui was stunned by King Kong's violent demolition. If King Kong were to be used for demolition in China, he would be able to take on a hundred people at once, without anyone stopping him.
"Awooo..."
After pushing the wooden house, King Kong excitedly bent his right arm and struck a pose, making Zhuang Rui laugh. This was a pose that Zhuang Rui had taught King Kong, and now when King Kong was excited, he would alternate between pounding his chest and striking a pose.
"Alright, go gather firewood. I'll grill some meat for you tonight..."
Zhuang Rui smiled and rubbed King Kong's neck. In the morning, King Kong, who was a little tired of fish, caught a goat. King Kong's diet was very varied, and he ate both plants and animals. However, he had become picky about food these past few days because of Zhuang Rui's care. He no longer wanted to eat raw meat except for cooked food.
Although King Kong was intelligent, he still couldn't learn how to use fire to roast animals. After his fur was roasted a few times, the guy refused to do the roasting work anymore.
"Hehe..."
Having understood Zhuang Rui's words, Jin Gang happily turned around and went to gather firewood, a routine he had maintained for the past few days.
Zhuang Rui then began searching through the last wooden house.
He had a feeling that these people came to this deserted island with some secret, but after searching the entire village, Zhuang Rui found nothing about the pirates' treasure except for the pair of gold-threaded gloves.
"Huh?"
Zhuang Rui picked up a folded piece of leather from the ground, unfolded it, and found that there seemed to be some lines drawn on it.
Chapter 835 The Tomb
"What's this?"
Looking at the leather, Zhuang Rui was somewhat taken aback. It was covered with lines, not like a map, but more like a child's scribbles, crooked and messy.
However, Zhuang Rui is an antique collector and knows that things are different in foreign countries and ancient China. In ancient China, people mostly recorded things on bamboo slips to preserve records, and later they developed to use cloth and paper.
However, in other countries, records of important events are mostly made on specially tanned leather, with ink applied to them. Events recorded in this way tend to be preserved for longer periods.
However, tanning leather that can be written on requires sheepskin, which is the origin of the legend of the sheepskin scroll. In addition, some special processes are required, so things that are not very important are generally not recorded on the leather.
In other words, the leather in Zhuang Rui's hand must have a secret. However, looking at the graffiti-like artwork, Zhuang Rui could only shake his head and sigh, realizing that he was not capable of deciphering it.
One thing Zhuang Rui was certain of was that this leather was definitely not a map, because it was covered in lines; it would be more accurate to call it a maze map.
After refolding the leather, Zhuang Rui returned to the cave and kept the leather and the gold-threaded glove together.
To prevent small animals from causing trouble in the cave, Zhuang Rui dug a shallow pit inside and then placed a 40-50 pound stone on top of it. This way, apart from Zhuang Rui and King Kong, animals like badgers couldn't move the stone.
"Hehe," Zhuang Rui had just finished tidying up when Jin Gang finished his work. To save trouble, the guy simply picked a small tree and carried it back, eating the tender leaves on the tree as he walked, which made Zhuang Rui both laugh and cry.
Helpless, Zhuang Rui could only pick up some dry branches nearby and bring them back to the cave to make a barbecue.
Although there was only salt as a seasoning, King Kong still ate with gusto, his mouth dripping with oil. He kept bending his shoulders to show Zhuang Rui his muscles, and his comical appearance made Zhuang Rui unable to help but laugh. Zhuang Rui's laughter could be heard from time to time at the foot of the mountain.
Zhuang Rui used the iron pot he found in the wooden house to cook a pot of mutton soup. However, the mutton smell was too strong, and Zhuang Rui didn't drink a drop. On the other hand, Jingang drank it with relish and finished the whole pot of soup.
After lunch, Zhuang Rui took out a knight's sword from the cave, which had been polished by the stream and was now shining brightly again. He looked at King Kong and said, "King Kong, take me for a walk?"
For nearly half a month, Zhuang Rui had been tidying up the wooden village and hadn't had time to explore the lush mountain forest in front of him. Now that the work of tidying up the wooden houses was coming to an end, Zhuang Rui had some ideas.
"Aww!" King Kong was puzzled, its big eyes filled with questions as it looked at Zhuang Rui. It really couldn't understand what the word "turn around" meant.
Zhuang Rui stood up, pointed to the high mountain in front of him, and said, "Let's go up the mountain... let's go play on the mountain, take me to see where you live..."
Although Zhuang Rui felt that his relationship with King Kong was already very close, what puzzled him was that King Kong would climb the mountain every day and stay there for a while. After coming down the mountain, he was always in a low mood and it would take Zhuang Rui a long time to cheer him up.
This discovery piqued Zhuang Rui's curiosity. Rather than wanting to explore the extinct volcano, he wanted to unravel the mystery in his heart.
"Ho ho!" King Kong understood this time, especially the word "play". It completely understood what it meant. When it saw Zhuang Rui was about to go up the mountain, King Kong jumped up excitedly.
"Hey...hey, buddy, can we slow down a bit?"
Seeing Jin Gang running and scrambling up the mountain, Zhuang Rui immediately shouted anxiously from behind.
It's not that Zhuang Rui can't keep up with King Kong's movements at all, but Zhuang Rui's body is currently only covered by two pieces of sheepskin covering his vital parts. He doesn't have King Kong's skin as thick. If he were to try to climb the mountain like King Kong, he would definitely be covered in bruises from the thorny bushes.
On another note, Zhuang Rui now cherishes his boots. He usually ties them up with shoelaces and hangs them around his neck, only wearing them when searching the cabin.
If you were to run up the mountain, these boots would probably be completely worn out after just one round trip.
"Huh?"
Upon hearing Zhuang Rui's shout, Jin Gang stopped and turned to look at Zhuang Rui.
"Slow down, walk slowly..."
Zhuang Rui taught this word to King Kong many times. Although the big guy could understand it, he was naturally impatient. However, seeing that Zhuang Rui couldn't walk very fast, he could only slow down and follow behind Zhuang Rui leisurely.
This mountain is not actually very high, but its slope is very steep, probably because the volcanic eruption lasted for a long time and covered a very large area.
After hundreds of millions of years of evolution, the cooled volcanic rock surface has become soil suitable for plant life, and the mountain is covered with various trees, including many tall trees that are more than ten meters high.
Upon entering the forest, Zhuang Rui immediately felt a refreshing coolness.
The lush trees blocked out the sunlight, and there were more animals. There were goats and badgers that Zhuang Rui had seen before, as well as some chameleons that were difficult to spot while perched in the trees. If Zhuang Rui hadn't had such good eyesight, he really wouldn't have been able to spot them.
"Awoo!" Upon arriving in the forest, King Kong seemed to have returned to its territory. First, it pounded its chest and let out a long howl. Then, it didn't forget to strike a pose as Zhuang Rui had taught it, making Zhuang Rui hide to the side and chuckle.
"Hehe..."