Living in such a bizarre alternate world, yet still having all limbs intact, without even a single hideous wound... this was enough to prove that Shen Lan handled all kinds of dangers with ease. Both Xia Chuan and Dennis could figure this out.
However, no matter how experienced or capable they were, what they were facing were dinosaurs - gigantic beasts that were several stories tall, weighed tons, and had bite forces and attack powers that could scare ghosts to death! Was it really okay to be so nonchalant about it?!
But Shen Lan's expression was solemn, without a hint of joking.
Xia Chuan and Dennis were stunned into silence by his words for several minutes. Finally, following the topic, Xia Chuan said, "It seems you have a lot of experience dealing with these behemoths... Have you been here for a long time?"
Shen Lan was taken aback by the question, "Here?"
"Yes--" Dennis raised his hand and casually gestured around, "This place crawling with dinosaurs. To be honest, I still don't know what word to use to describe it. Region? World? Era? Is this time travel, or did we accidentally stumble into some area?"
Shen Lan slightly furrowed his brows, as if not quite understanding what Dennis meant, or as if trying hard to recall. After a good while, he finally spoke, "Can't remember."
"Huh?" Dennis opened his mouth.
Xia Chuan also looked up at him, happening to meet Shen Lan's eyes, which were a beautiful color.
Shen Lan shrugged and added, "Didn't count the days."
"Uh... I know you didn't count the days, but..." Dennis looked at Shen Lan in a daze, then turned to Xia Chuan.
But normally, when encountering such a bizarre situation and coming to such an abnormal place, wouldn't people think about when they could get out? They would subconsciously be very sensitive to time. Some would keep track day by day, and even if they didn't, they would have a rough number, like it's been over a week or almost a month.
But Shen Lan's reaction made it seem like he hadn't paid any attention to time at all. Sunrise and sunset were just natural phenomena to him, and he continued to live his life, surviving in this alternate world.
With this mentality... it was completely as if he intended to live here from now on!
Seeing Shen Lan's reaction, Xia Chuan felt that pressing this one question wouldn't yield much information, so he changed the subject, "By the way, where did you find us? I lost consciousness after being hit by the mosasaur's tail, and thought I had no chance of surviving. But when I woke up, I saw you. Thank you."
He felt there were too many mysteries surrounding Shen Lan and wanted to extract some information - such as how he managed to rescue two people from the jaws of a sea beast like the mosasaur and escape safely. After all, it was a bit unbelievable.
As a result, after listening intently to his question, Shen Lan solemnly replied, "You're welcome."
Xia Chuan: "..."
On the other hand, Dennis exclaimed, grabbing Xia Chuan and shouting, "What?! What did I just hear? My God - you were hit by a mosasaur's tail?! So earlier in the cave, the reason you couldn't move was because you were injured by the mosasaur?"
Xia Chuan swatted his paw away and grunted in affirmation.
"What exactly happened?"
Dennis pestered him several times, so Xia Chuan briefly summarized, "I wanted to pull you away from the reef, but the mosasaur's tail slammed into my back. That's it."
Shen Lan suddenly turned his head to look at the sea, his gaze deep as he... scratched his cheek, as if the sound of the waves was too loud and drowned out what Xia Chuan said, making it seem like he didn't hear it.
Although Xia Chuan was talking to Dennis, his attention was always on Shen Lan, trying to glean information from his every move.
So when Shen Lan made a movement, Xia Chuan glanced at him. He wasn't sure if it was his imagination, but he felt that Shen Lan's little action of scratching his chin somehow exuded a sense of awkwardness. But before he could think more about it, Dennis grabbed his arm and started making a fuss.
His train of thought interrupted, Xia Chuan impatiently turned his head and coldly said, "What?"
"What?" Dennis repeated Xia Chuan's words in a tone of disbelief, "You're actually asking me what? Do you know how big and heavy a mosasaur is? The one we encountered today was nearly twenty meters long, so based on proportions, it must weigh at least thirty tons! Even if the tail accounts for half, that's still fifteen tons! Imagine being whacked on the head by a fifteen-ton object."
Xia Chuan: "..."
Dennis only realized after saying the last sentence that the person in front of him had already experienced it, so he patted his mouth and said, "That's not the point. The point is... don't you find it incredible, Chuan? A fifteen-ton object slammed into your back, and you just took some painkillers and anti-inflammatory medicine. Now you can still stand here alive and well..."
He deliberately emphasized the words "alive" and "stand".
Xia Chuan was stunned for a moment - when he experienced it himself, he only felt fortunate to have survived and didn't have the energy to think about anything else. Now, hearing Dennis describe it this way, it indeed sounded incredible.
He couldn't help but reach back and touch his waist and back. It still hurt when he pressed his fingers, and there was a tearing pain in his muscles and bones if he bent over or straightened up too much. But the fact was that he could indeed stand up without external support, and it had only been a few hours since he woke up from unconsciousness.
"Maybe--" Xia Chuan opened his mouth and had just said two words when he heard Shen Lan beside him scratch his cheek and turn his head to interject, "Maybe it was just a light tap."
Then he quickly turned his head back and continued to gaze at the sea with a profound look.
Xia Chuan: "..."
Dennis chuckled dryly a couple of times, then raised his hand to gesture, "For a mosasaur, a light tap is like a four or five hundred pound fat man being airdropped from a hundred meters high and landing butt-first on your waist. Crack - if not dead, then crippled."
He even mimicked the sound effect of bones breaking in his vivid description.
Xia Chuan, who had nearly ended up dead or crippled: "... Alright, shut up."
Shen Lan turned his face again and looked at Dennis for a few seconds with a "how can you be so annoying" expression, which made Dennis feel a bit apprehensive and bewildered.
He was too lazy to waste time with Xia Chuan and Dennis on this issue, so he raised his hand again, pointed at the woods, and asked for confirmation, "Are you sure you don't want to go in and freeze for the night here?"
Dennis silently hugged his backpack tightly, stiffened his neck and said, "Yes, I'm not afraid of freezing. I brought medicine."
Hearing him mention entering the woods repeatedly, Xia Chuan asked, "Is the place you're staying also in these woods?"
Shen Lan had been living in this alternate world for so long that he had lost track of the days. He must have a place to stay, after all, he was human, unlike the animals scurrying around everywhere. He couldn't just find a random place to sleep every day and move on the next.
According to normal human habits, when you finally meet some fellow sufferers in such a desolate place, the first reaction would probably be to bring them back to where you're staying and settle them in.
Who knew Shen Lan would shake his head and say, "No, it's not."
Xia Chuan was stunned, "Then where do you live?"
Shen Lan pointed to the turbulent sea and said, "I live there."
Dennis: "..."
Xia Chuan: "..."
Before they could react, Shen Lan impatiently moved his neck left and right, as if he had finally lost interest in a toy he had been playing with for most of the day. He lifted his foot and walked towards the sea, leaving only a sentence to the two behind the boulder, "Suit yourselves."
Then he plunged into the dark seawater.
Dennis gaped for a long time, pointed to where Shen Lan had disappeared, and blurted out, "Is this guy kidding me?"
I'm Windwalker, your friendly neighborhood translator who loves nothing more than getting lost in a good book. When I'm not translating, you might find me hiking through nature or curled up with my cat. I hope my translations bring as much joy to you as they do to me!
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