Yang Lin had thought that seeing a creature resembling a true dragon at the bottom of a pool on Dolphin Island was already immense.
But compared to the skeletal fossil before him, the fossil at the bottom of the pool was nothing.
A single rib bone was an astonishing 50 meters long. Proportionally, its length when alive could have exceeded hundreds of meters.
This could no longer be described as a giant beast.
After the shock, Yang Lin hurried forward, counting as he went.
By the time he reached the end of the fossilized pillars, he had finally counted their number.
There were a total of 13 pairs, 26 bones, which fit the rib count of typical mammals.
Whales were no exception.
Therefore, Yang Lin had reason to believe that the owner of this giant skeleton was a colossal whale that lived in the ancient Beiming. One could only have such a giant creature born in water. On land, its massive body would have crushed itself.
"The Kun actually exists, it's hard to believe. How did Zhuangzi know about this? How did the Inuit ancestors pass this down through generations?"
For a moment, Yang Lin's mind was filled with questions.
What intrigued him even more was the era of giant beasts 20 million years ago. He even suspected that the giant beasts of that era had established their own civilization, which had since vanished into the river of time.
As Yang Lin's thoughts drifted, the little Arctic fox he held in his arms suddenly let out a series of warning cries.
Hearing the cries, Yang Lin's first reaction was danger, and he instinctively shone his flashlight forward.
The next second, a peculiar structure resembling a temple appeared before him.
Its exterior was pale, with a unique shape. In the center, a dark, deep portal led to an unknown place, much like the ice cave before.
"Could this really be a temple to some sea goddess?"
After observing carefully for a while, Yang Lin dismissed his own conclusion.
"Look at my head, this should be the skull of that giant whale from earlier, but its shape does look a bit like an artificially made structure."
As he spoke, he quickly took out his phone to take a picture of the enormous skull.
However, as the phone's flashlight illuminated, a human face suddenly appeared before him.
Before he could react, he was dragged into the skull by a pair of large hands.
When he was grabbed by those hands, his first thought was that he was finished, that he had encountered the legendary dwellers of the earth's core.
But just as he thought he was about to be stripped and put into a pot, a light source flickered on in the dim space.
As the light source brightened, two familiar faces appeared before him.
"Dad, Mom!"
That's right, these two familiar faces were his parents, who had been missing for months with no news.
Yang Lin hadn't expected to find them so soon.
Of course, compared to him, even more surprised were the middle-aged couple standing opposite Yang Lin.
They were both wearing Arctic cold-weather suits. The man was over 1.8 meters tall, stout, with a resolute expression. He bore about a seven-tenths resemblance to Yang Lin, only with slightly darker skin.
The woman was over 1.7 meters tall, with thick eyebrows and large eyes. Her short hair gave her a clean and neat appearance, and her black-rimmed glasses made her look full of spirit.
The moment they heard Yang Lin call out "Dad, Mom," their previously calm faces instantly showed surprise.
They immediately thrust the light source in their hands towards Yang Lin's face.
The instant they saw Yang Lin's appearance, they exchanged glances.
"Old Yang, am I seeing things? Why does this person look so much like our baby?"
"Really? I think so too."
"Oh no, we're both going to die. We're hallucinating. Baby should still be in Ningnan at this time, how could he be here?"
"It must be a hallucination, but it's satisfying to see such a hallucination before we die."
"It's a pity we didn't get to see Baby get married and have children. I wonder how the zoo is doing? It's probably bankrupt by now."
"Let it go bankrupt. Our savings are gone too, and we couldn't leave any for this child."
"I don't know if he'll starve to death after we're gone."
"The only regret is not having gone to Antarctica yet..."
...
Listening to them talk one after another, Yang Lin's expression gradually shifted from joy to confusion, and then from confusion to speechlessness.
What did he mean he had definitely run the zoo into the ground?
What did he mean would he starve to death? Please, he was already in his twenties.
And what was this about their only regret being not having gone to Antarctica yet? Wasn't their only regret not having had the chance to see their son one more time?
"Forget it, I'm tired. They are the true love, and I'm just an accident."
Just as Yang Lin was thinking this, a rough slap landed on his face.
Instantly, a crisp sound echoed in the enclosed space.
"Shufen, it doesn't seem like a hallucination. This sound, this touch, it's exactly like our son's."
"Is it? Let me try too."
Seeing another slap about to land on his face, Yang Lin quickly broke free from the rough hand.
"That's enough, Yang Daguo, Liu Shufen, you two have gone too far."
"I traveled thousands of miles to find you, and you think it's a hallucination."
After saying this in an angry tone, Yang Lin stared intently at his parents opposite him.
At that moment, Yang Dad and Mom, who had been looking bewildered, suddenly burst into laughter.
"Hahaha, my foolish son, how could Dad not know this isn't a hallucination?"
"Yes, my baby, the moment I saw you, Mom knew it was her baby who came to find us."
Hearing their words, it was Yang Lin's turn to be bewildered.
While bewildered, he was pulled into their embrace.
Feeling the familiar scent emanating from them, Yang Lin instantly felt as if he had returned to the afternoon 10 years ago, right after finishing his college entrance exams.
He had been held like this by them when he came out of the examination hall.
After an unknown amount of time, the family of three, with red eyes, slowly separated.
After separating, there was a long talk.
During this process, Yang Lin asked the question he most wanted to ask.
"Why did you abandon your good retirement life in China and come here to take risks?"
"Do you know this could kill you?"
Hearing Yang Lin's question, his mother, on his left, suddenly became very serious.
"Baby, do you want to hear the real answer?"
"Of course, do you have a fake answer prepared?"
"Alright, since you've asked, I'll tell you the truth then." The mother sighed deeply.
"Actually, you've been cursed since you were little. The mark on your left shoulder is the imprint left by the curse."
"Your father and I have traveled all over the world searching for a way to break your curse."
Hearing this answer abruptly, Yang Lin was stunned for a moment, as he hadn't expected to have such a special experience.
But as he listened, he felt something was wrong.
"No, you're lying to me again. The mark on my left shoulder is clearly from the BCG vaccination, what curse are you talking about? Do you think I'm a three-year-old child?"
Yang Lin said this speechlessly and looked at his mother with a scrutinizing gaze.
His mother shrugged helplessly at his father.
"See, the child's intelligence is still fine, he takes after me on that."
"Alright, actually, your father and I just wanted to go out and have some fun. That's all."
"You guys..." Just as Yang Lin was about to get angry again, a strange noise suddenly came from outside the skull.