038 The Search

They went to Yezi’s house first. Hua Hong said with a smile, "I’ve brought you something good."

"What is it?" Yezi had just arrived home and hadn’t heard about the wild pheasant eggs yet. Seeing the white, smooth, and rounded eggs in the bowl, she was very curious.

Hua Hong handed her one. "Peel the shell and take a bite; you’ll know what delicious truly means."

Yezi hurried to follow Hua Hong’s instructions. With the first bite, her reaction was even more exaggerated than Hua Hong’s had been. "It’s so delicious! What is this? It’s the best thing I’ve ever eaten."

Forgive Yezi; as a local, she really had never tasted such a wonderful egg. Ever since Lin Yan had intentionally started popularizing knowledge, she had heard of eggs, but she had never imagined they would be like this.

Suddenly, a thought flashed through Yezi’s mind. "I think I’ve seen this before."

"Where?" Lin Yan immediately pressed.

Mu Shi, Hua Hong, and Ye Ya all looked at Yezi expectantly, hoping she still remembered the location.

Yezi racked her brain, thinking and thinking, until she finally remembered. Gesturing as she spoke, she said, "On the way during our last migration, we encountered a group of white, long-necked beasts. They were this big, making 'quack, quack, quack' sounds. Their feet were red, their necks were long, and their calls were loud and noisy. That group of beasts lived by the water, and there were many eggs on the ground, bigger than this one—about the size of a fist."

Lin Yan’s eyes lit up instantly. "Yezi, do you remember where you encountered them?"

If nothing else, that must have been a flock of geese. Goose eggs are indeed large, and with the magnification effect here, they should be even bigger.

Reminded by Yezi, Hua Hong and Mu Shi also recalled it. They had indeed encountered them, but at the time, they were too busy fleeing for their lives to pay much attention to the eggs on the ground.

Yezi was certain. "There were a lot of eggs on the ground at the time; I saw them clearly."

Lin Yan said excitedly, "That must be a goose, a herbivorous bird that loves water. Every part of it is valuable. Is it far from here?"

The group looked at each other, unsure of the distance.

Lin Yan didn’t press the matter. As long as she knew they were along the banks of the Sun River, that was enough; they had migrated from south to north along the river, and that flock of geese was to the south. Knowing that was sufficient; once the irrigation ditch was dug, they would send people to search for the geese.

They delivered wild pheasant eggs to the homes of Mao Mu, Lao Hei, and Lao Lin. Everyone’s reaction was one of pleasant surprise, lamenting only that there were too few eggs to satisfy their appetites.

Lin Yan also confirmed with Lao Hei and Lao Lin that the goose flock did indeed exist by the river to the south, and the distance shouldn't be too great.

Lao Hei recalled that after escaping the goose flock, they had walked for about two days before arriving at their current home. At that time, the tribe had been migrating for over ten days; people were exhausted and could walk no further, so they dug caves and settled down right there.

That night, Lin Yan felt a bit excited. After finishing her practice, she had no desire to sleep and entered the Science Museum, intending to read for a while. As soon as she entered, she discovered that her contribution points had increased significantly and hurriedly asked Pang Bao what was going on.

It turned out to be a reward for discovering the wild pheasant eggs today—twenty contribution points.

Lin Yan no longer questioned the Science Museum’s reward criteria. Pang Bao’s explanations were always subjective, and she didn't know the basis for the judgments anyway, so she would just accept whatever she was given.

"Pang Bao, is there any way for you to locate mineral deposits?"

Pang Bao replied, "The Science Museum does not possess such an attribute. Everything depends on your own abilities, Traveler."

Lin Yan curled her lips. After all that, it still required her to go look for them; the Science Museum only enjoyed the results. The knowledge in Room 0104 was incredibly useful, but unfortunately, lacking raw materials, she could only look on helplessly. She felt as though she had a mountain of gold in her mind but no way to access it—it was too regrettable.

She had to speed things up; every change depended on the power of science.

Hua Hong and Yezi were busy digging the irrigation ditch every day. Lin Yan and Ye Ya were truly craving wild pheasant eggs, so they pestered Mu Shi to take them searching.

Mu Shi, unable to withstand the pestering and wanting to eat some himself, took them to the edge of the Rat-Rabbit Plain near the street to try their luck.

The first time they went out, they found nothing. Not daring to venture too deep, they returned empty-handed. Lin Yan did have one harvest, however: she encountered three new types of plants and gained fifteen contribution points. Thus, she realized that if she had nothing to do, she should go out and wander more; there would always be something to gain.

From then on, Mu Shi brought his two little followers to wander near the street. Gradually, others began to venture out as well. The fame of the wild pheasant eggs had spread, and everyone came looking for them, hoping to taste the incredibly delicious eggs.

With more people came more boldness, and they gradually trampled paths through the shrub- and thorn-covered Rat-Rabbit Plain. The two acres of land that Lin Yan’s family had reclaimed became an object of observation for everyone. Seeing the thriving hemp, some had a realization and went home to mobilize their families to come out and reclaim land for farming.

More and more people were active on the Rat-Rabbit Plain.

With his two little followers, Mu Shi’s courage grew. Today, Ye Ya suggested going a dozen meters deeper. They had been searching for five days without seeing a trace of eggs, and their inner desire had only grown stronger.

Lin Yan also said, "Let’s go a bit deeper. There are people everywhere here, and we aren't far away; if anything happens, we can just shout and someone will hear."

Mu Shi didn't hesitate much and led them inside. After pushing through the jungle, their clothes were torn in several places, leaving scratches on their bodies. Lin Yan was already accustomed to this; to eat well, this was the price.

No one in the tribe was without a few scars; whenever they went out, it was impossible to avoid being scratched.

Struggling forward, Lin Yan opened her mental perception to its full extent, scanning the surroundings, but she had no new discoveries. Recently, she had tasted the sweetness of her mental power—it was incredibly useful. As long as she scanned through, everything was presented clearly before her eyes. As long as it was a new species, the Science Museum would record it, and her contribution points would rise rapidly.

Walking forward a few more meters, Lin Yan scanned again and suddenly let out an "Oh!"

"What’s wrong? Did you find something?" Ye Ya immediately turned to look at her, incredibly excited. Hearing the sound, Mu Shi also stopped.

Lin Yan pointed in a direction and said, "Over there, there’s a nest of wild pheasant eggs. Let’s hurry over."

She pointed to a spot where the weeds were very lush; at a glance, one couldn't detect anything inside. However, Mu Shi and Ye Ya trusted Lin Yan’s words completely—if she said there were eggs, then there certainly were.

Mu Shi led the way. Lin Yan and Ye Ya followed behind. They were too short, and the leaves of the wild grass kept brushing against them; some were thorny, stinging their faces and bodies. But to eat the eggs, they could endure all of this.

"Lin Yan, how many eggs are in this nest?" Ye Ya asked eagerly. He wanted a lot of eggs, to eat as many as he wanted; the last time, those two eggs were gone after just a taste.

Lin Yan laughed, happily saying, "It’s not just one nest. There are quite a few wild pheasant eggs in this area—enough for you to eat your fill."

She was also pleasantly surprised. As she approached and scanned again, she discovered that there were truly many eggs in this area; it was as if they had entered a pheasant forest, stumbling into a pheasant den. Just a meter away, they could find several nests of wild pheasant eggs.

Ye Ya was excited. "Really? How many?"

Mu Shi also pricked up his ears.

"A lot. Let’s collect the nest in front of us first."

Mu Shi pushed aside the bushes and saw a nest full of white eggs, stunned. It was such a huge nest, with many more eggs than the one they had seen last time.