Chapter 62: Brilliant Colors, Dragons and Beasts!

I don't know how much time had passed before the little Cretaceous beast finally woke up again. Opening its eyes, the first thing that came into view was still that familiar, ferocious, giant head, terrifying it so much that it didn't dare to move a muscle.

It was only at this moment that it truly understood its mother's warnings: the outside world was simply too dangerous! To think that such gigantic and terrifying monsters existed!

Chu Xu also noticed that the little Cretaceous beast had woken up, so he casually placed it on the ground and let it leave on its own.

Afterward, he lowered his head and continued to enjoy the Anzu he had just hunted.

Anzu, a medium-sized omnivorous dinosaur belonging to the oviraptorosaurian family Caenagnathidae, reached a length of three meters and weighed around five hundred catties, making it the second-largest oviraptorosaur.

In fact, oviraptorosaurs did not make a living by "stealing eggs." The paleontologists who first excavated their fossils found an oviraptor preserved together with a nest of dinosaur eggs and mistakenly thought the former was stealing the eggs, thus giving it such a name.

It was only later discovered that the nest of dinosaur eggs had actually been laid by the oviraptor itself; it was clearly brooding the eggs rather than stealing them.

However, the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature dictates that a named species must retain its earliest valid name, so even though the oviraptor was wrongfully accused in this manner, the name could not be changed and has been kept ever since.

The name Anzu is also frequently misread, but in reality, these creatures were incapable of spitting venom. Their generic name comes from Anzu, the bird-god of ancient Mesopotamian mythology and legend. Covered in feathers with a prominent crest atop its head, it looked rather like an oversized ground-dwelling chicken.

Like Struthiomimus, Anzu was an omnivorous dinosaur, feeding on plant seeds, roots, fruits, insects, fish, birds, and small mammals.

"It's necessary to consider expanding my territory next. My territory is still too small, and the prey is still too scarce."

Chu Xu muttered to himself while eating.

This Anzu was prey he had managed to find only with great difficulty, and its meat could only be described as mediocre in taste. If he had a choice of delicious and meaty herbivorous dinosaurs, he would never choose an omnivorous dinosaur with so many feathers and so little meat.

"Squeak squeak!!"

After being placed on the ground by Chu Xu, the little Cretaceous beast was still somewhat dazed, staying right where it was and hugging its pitiful, weak, and helpless self.

After a while, it finally reacted: that giant dinosaur had no intention of eating it at all.

The little Cretaceous beast wanted to leave in a hurry, only to discover that it had been brought to an unfamiliar region—it had no idea how to find its way home!

"Squeak!!"

The little Cretaceous beast ran around in anxious circles right where it was, calling out for its mother.

Meanwhile, Chu Xu had already torn open the Anzu's abdomen, preparing to eat its internal organs.

He wouldn't have known if he hadn't torn it open, but the moment he did, he froze in astonishment.

There, lying inside the Anzu's stomach, was an undigested carcass of a Cretaceous beast, looking identical to the little one beside him, albeit slightly larger in size.

"Squeak squeak!!"

Suddenly seeing the mother it knew so well, the little Cretaceous beast let out a cry of joyful surprise. It rushed to the side of the adult Cretaceous beast and, as it always did, hid in her embrace, seeking some warm sense of security.

However, the fur of the adult Cretaceous beast was stained with water, ice-cold to the touch, and her body was stiff and motionless, no longer capable of making any response.

The little Cretaceous beast had no idea what was going on, nor did it understand the concept of death; it simply kept calling out continuously to its mother's corpse.

Yet no miracle occurred.

Suddenly, a few small insects tumbled out from the mouth of the adult Cretaceous beast—those were precisely the food she had been preparing to bring back for her child.

Starved to the extreme, the little Cretaceous beast opened its mouth and swallowed the small insects, finally feeling a trace of comforting warmth in its belly.

Exhausted to the bone, it completely forgot what kind of strange and dangerous environment it was in, feeling as though it had nothing to fear as long as its mother was by its side.

The little Cretaceous beast curled up tightly in the embrace of the adult Cretaceous beast and soon fell into a deep, sound sleep.

Watching this scene in silence, Chu Xu also pondered for a long time, his mind filled with a myriad of thoughts.

This was an animal world governed by the law of the jungle, where the big fish eat the small fish and the small fish eat shrimp, saturated with a cold-blooded and cruel undertone.

Yet this was also an animal world brimming with genuine affection and warmth: the long-stigmatized oviraptor would carefully tend to and incubate the dinosaur eggs it laid, raising its young until they grew up;

Even a small beast struggling for survival in the shadow of giant dragons would venture out into danger for the sake of its offspring to forage for food, even if it cost them their lives.

Precisely because of this, the beautiful splash of color in this world would never fade.

Taking advantage of the little Cretaceous beast's deep slumber, Chu Xu reached out and scratched out a small pit right where he was, gently placing its mother inside and covering her with earth.

When all of this was done, night had already descended, and the sky had gradually put on a black velvet curtain, adorned with a bright, clear moon and scattered starlight.

Whenever he saw the moon and the stars, Chu Xu would also think of his own dragon sisters and brothers, as well as their dragon mother, who was as silent as the night yet all-encompassing and tender.

I wonder how they are getting along right now?

Gazing into the distant night sky at the moon and stars, Chu Xu also lowered his body and lay down, slowly drifting off into a sweet dream as if accompanied by his family.

...

Early the next morning, when the little Cretaceous beast woke up from its pleasant dream and opened its eyes, the first thing it saw was still that massive, ferocious dinosaur head.

Yet for some reason, it no longer felt as terrified as it had yesterday; instead, it cautiously poked its head out with a hint of curiosity, sizing up this rather bizarrely shaped giant head.

Suddenly, the giant head's eyes snapped open. The little Cretaceous beast reacted with a conditioned reflex: its fur stood on end, it fell backward with a stiff body, and it nearly passed out on the spot once more.

Chu Xu, who had likewise awakened from a pleasant dream, opened his eyes and saw the little Cretaceous beast right in front of him. He snorted a double blast of turbulent air from his nostrils, blowing the little creature's fur into a chaotic mess and almost sending its tiny body flying.

Seeing this little fellow in such a disheveled state, Chu Xu couldn't help but find it somewhat amusing. He slowly stood up and gazed out at the rising sun in the east.

With that, Chu Xu strode away, preparing to begin a new day of life.

"Squeak squeak~~"

Watching Chu Xu leave, the little Cretaceous beast slowly recovered from its paralyzed state, picked up its short little limbs, and followed after him.

Having slept through the night, it seemed to understand a great deal more; it knew that its mother was no longer around, yet its weak self was completely at a loss, so it instinctively wanted to find a new source of reliance.

A casual stride from Chu Xu was enough to cover three or four meters—a considerable distance for the little Cretaceous beast. Huffing and puffing, tumbling and scrambling as it ran in nonstop pursuit, it could barely manage to keep up with his pace.

"Is this little fellow latching onto me?"

Chu Xu naturally noticed the little Cretaceous beast trailing behind him, so he brought his pace to a halt.

The moment he stopped, the little Cretaceous beast stopped as well.

When he continued walking, the little Cretaceous beast hurriedly broke into a run again.

However, this time Chu Xu slowed his pace slightly, allowing the little Cretaceous beast trailing behind him to trot along closely in high spirits.

One dragon and one beast thus advanced together under the boundless radiance of the rising morning sun, inseparable like a shadow accompanying its form.