There were indeed nocturnal dinosaurs, and not in small numbers, but it was unlikely for them to all start calling out at the same time for no reason. Clearly, something had happened in the southern area that disturbed the dinosaurs there, and not just the dinosaurs, making them restless and agitated.
In a sense, animals are much more sensitive to danger than humans, and even the dinosaurs that seem huge and somewhat clumsy are probably no exception. But... what kind of trouble could cause such a big commotion?
Xia Chuan looked in that direction, then glanced at Shen Lan, his heart also inexplicably skipping a beat - if it was really big trouble, who knew if it would cross that forest and affect this side. Even if the danger itself couldn't come over, those dinosaurs and giant snakes could move. Who could lock their legs?
So no matter what, it was not suitable to stay here for long!
The distant roars of dinosaurs one after another also affected the people sleeping. In such a perilous place, even with Shen Lan and Xia Chuan standing guard, even with Professor Linton and Dennis's composure, they couldn't possibly sleep soundly. They frowned and tossed a couple of times, finally rubbing their eyes and sitting up.
"What's going on? What's that sound..." Professor Linton squinted, adapting to the flickering firelight, his face full of drowsiness and confusion.
"The dinosaurs in that area. Don't know what startled them." Xia Chuan pointed in the direction of the sound, then turned to look at Professor Linton and Dennis, "Are you still sleeping? Since you're awake, you might as well get moving, let's keep going."
"Huh?" Dennis responded in a daze, obviously not expecting to continue walking before dawn. He stared blankly in the direction Xia Chuan pointed for a while, raised his hand to grab his somewhat messy blond hair, and mumbled, "I almost thought I was still dreaming, dreaming all night about the dinosaurs going extinct."
"Didn't expect my old bones to recover quite well, sleeping made this leg much better than yesterday." Professor Linton was very cooperative with Xia Chuan's suggestion. He stood up leaning on that thick wooden branch, slowly moving his injured leg around the fire, and hearing Dennis's mumble, casually replied, "Extinction? What are you dreaming about extinction for when you're fine--"
"Thoughts of the day become dreams at night." Dennis also stood up, slapping his numb legs, and replied, "Didn't I just want to get to the end and out of this hellhole as soon as possible, I guess I let it run wild in my dreams."
"Hehe." Professor Linton gave a dry laugh and responded, "Who doesn't, everyone wants to get to the end soon..."
Not only Dennis and Professor Linton, whose physical fitness was poor, but even Xia Chuan occasionally had this kind of thought. Except for Shen Lan, no one wanted to live here for a long time. They always hoped to get out of here as soon as possible, so when Dennis said this, it first resonated with the subconscious of the other two. But soon, Xia Chuan suddenly frowned.
"Wait!" He suddenly blurted out this word out of nowhere, his whole body stiffening, as if he had thought of something very serious.
Dennis and Professor Linton, who were still a little drowsy, were startled by him. Just as they were about to ask Xia Chuan what was wrong, before they could say anything, the two of them also seemed to remember something and suddenly froze there.
"Holy shit, no way?!" Dennis's eyes widened as he looked at Xia Chuan, "Tell me it's not what I think it is!"
Xia Chuan didn't get any response there, but out of the corner of his eye, he saw Shen Lan. The usually somewhat playful Shen Lan was now frowning, staring at him with an extremely scary look, as if he had done something shockingly bad.
Dennis shrank his neck a little guiltily. Although it wasn't his responsibility alone, he still opened his mouth tremblingly, "This... this... it can't be! Can this kind of thought really come true with a single utterance?"
Just as they were worried about at this moment - of the few people present, except for Shen Lan, the remaining three had more or less had the thought of "wanting to get to the end of this hellhole as soon as possible". And judging from their previous experiences, the development of that forest, and even this entire place, seemed to be influenced by their words... although the reason was still unknown.
And what was the end of the dinosaur world? Everyone knew the answer--
Mass extinction.
And what was mass extinction like... they didn't dare to think further.
Once this thought surfaced, they no longer had the mind to figure out what exactly happened in the south, only wanting to leave here as soon as possible, as far away from the place where the disturbance occurred, and find the exit of this world early.
"Go go go go go!" Without waiting for Xia Chuan to urge again, Dennis almost jumped up, hugging his precious black bag and was about to continue running in the direction they had originally planned, as if he wished his whole body was legs.
Even Professor Linton, whose legs had not fully recovered, followed closely with a "swish swish", not slow at all.
Xia Chuan extinguished the fire and was about to set off with Shen Lan, but found that Shen Lan did not respond at all, only silently looking back at the direction of the disturbance for a long time without moving.
Without the firelight, his expression became blurry in the night, only his deep blue eyes flashing with two stars of light, but vaguely containing a hint of coldness...
Xia Chuan was stunned for a moment, then understood the reason for his mood - Shen Lan originally did not intend to leave, he wanted to live here forever, but now because of their influence, this place might be destroyed in an instant...
"Sorry..." Xia Chuan's heart was filled with a sense of guilt, but he was used to being cold-faced and cold-spoken, and for a moment did not know what to say to be appropriate.
Shen Lan glanced up at him, opening his mouth as if to say something in response, but in the end, he closed his mouth and waved his hand, then walked ahead with big strides, as if resigned, muttering, "Forget it, let's go, we'll see how it goes."
Xia Chuan: "..." So he's not angry anymore?
He was stunned for a moment by Shen Lan's unexpectedly easy-to-coax temper, before quickly catching up.
The two were tall and long-legged, their steps light and fast. In a few steps, they caught up with Dennis, who was all legs, and the old man trailing behind him.
The old man bounced forward but couldn't help looking back, "Did they catch up, did they catch up?"
Clearly, they were so shocked by the mass extinction that they were speaking incoherently, and it was unclear who they were saying would catch up.
The commotion in the southern area had actually gradually subsided, and the roars that had been one after another became sparse, as if they had just had a collective nightmare.
Xia Chuan and the others had already walked a long way along the damp grass and wood, and there was a gentle slope ahead, not knowing what scene they would see after climbing over it.
Naturally, the pace of climbing the slope was not as fast as walking on flat ground, and coupled with the diminishing movement in the south, they also had some hesitation.
"Are we overthinking this?" Dennis hugged the black bag on his chest, slowed his steps, glanced back at the south, and then asked Xia Chuan.
"No matter what--" Xia Chuan had just started speaking when another bright line "swooshed" down from the distant horizon.
Everyone: "......"
A moment later, a huge boom shook the earth and sky, accompanied by the sound of surging waves, and even the grass on which the four were standing trembled a couple of times.
The roars of the giant beasts that had just subsided started again, a hundred times more miserable than before, and this time it was not just roars, but also accompanied by the "rumbling" of footsteps, and it was clear that countless creatures of all sizes were fleeing, chaotic yet magnificent.
Shen Lan, as a mosasaurus, was highly nearsighted, and although his vision improved a lot after transforming into human form, it was still somewhat blurry. But his hearing was very extraordinary. He listened intently, his face changed color and said, "Not good! A tsunami is coming!"
And Xia Chuan's eyesight was very good. He was the first to see countless black shadows of varying heights squeezing out of the woods and rushing towards them.
"Oh crap, run, run, run! Run!" Dennis screamed in fright and ran up the slope, almost on all fours.
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!
Give me feedback at moc.ebircssutol@reklawdniw.