Super Gene Ⅱ: Evolution

Lin Shen thought about the possibility of Fatty being a mutated Dark Bird. Could it be that the Dark Bird Temple here was actually dedicated to its ancestors?

However, whether Fatty was truly a mutated Dark Bird was still up for debate.

After all, the Dark Birds acquired by Dark Bird Base were all black, and "Dark" inherently implies the color black. Whether Fatty, a white bird, could be a mutated Dark Bird was still uncertain.

Seeing the Dark Bird Temple here, Lin Shen and his companions were quite puzzled; after all, compared to the deities worshiped in the previous three temples, the Dark Bird's status differed vastly.

This made Lin Shen think of something. To find Gourd Mountain, one must be guided by the Dark Bird, indicating a special relationship between the Dark Bird and Gourd Mountain. The fact that there was a Dark Bird Temple at the location where the caves of Gourd Mountain led made Lin Shen feel that there was nothing simple about this affair.

Fatty crawled out of the backpack and perched on Lin Shen's shoulder, stretching his neck and looking around.

"The Dark Bird from the myths isn't reputed to be very good," Ouyang Yudu said.

"Ho... not... good?" Wei Wufu obviously didn't know the myth of the Dark Bird and asked.

"Have you ever heard the mythical story of the Dark Bird giving birth to Shang?" Ouyang Yudu asked.

"No," Wei Wufu shook his head.

"It is said that in ancient times, the Dark Bird was a messenger of the heavens. Three women were bathing in a river when a Dark Bird flew by carrying an egg. The egg fell into the river, and one of the women picked it up. After swallowing the egg, she became pregnant and gave birth to the renowned founder of the Shang tribe. That's the story of the Dark Bird giving birth to Shang."

Ouyang Yudu paused for a moment before continuing, "According to the myth, this is the legend of a divine child sent from heaven. But if interpreted from a human perspective, it could be viewed as a crime. We all know that in reality, no egg can make a person pregnant, so there are only two possibilities. One is that the woman was pregnant before marriage; she might have been violated, or the man refused to take responsibility, forcing her to use such an excuse to give birth. The second is that the egg brought by the Dark Bird was a parasitic organism; after the woman swallowed the egg, she was infested, which would be even more terrifying. Whichever possibility it was, the woman was unfortunate and suffered pain she should not have borne."

"I see," Lin Shen listened to Ouyang Yudu's interpretation and found it rather interesting.

Fatty seemed to want to go in. Lin Shen patted its head and then proceeded towards the interior of the Dark Bird Temple, eager to find out what exactly was being worshiped inside.

Just like the previous temples, most of the structures inside the Dark Bird Temple had been destroyed, with only the main hall remaining largely intact.

The three of them pushed open the great doors of the main hall and, as before, saw a human-shaped idol hanging from the rafters of the temple.

Lin Shen had initially thought that what would be hanging would be a statue of a Dark Bird, but unexpectedly, it was a humanoid statue that hung there.

Even more puzzling was that the statue turned out to be a male elder, not the female protagonist of the Dark Bird giving birth to Shang.

"No... that's not a statue... it's a body... a human body..." Ouyang Yuyang, after looking for a while, suddenly spoke with a somber tone.

It was only then that Lin Shen and Wei Wufu took a closer look. Indeed, they could see signs of the skin being dried out, although the body appeared statue-like.

Normally, a body dried out like this should be skin and bones, but this body remained plump, almost lifelike. If it weren't for the weathered skin, it was hard to imagine that this was a real corpse.

That Lin Shen and the others had not realized that it was a body at first was due to this reason.

"In other temples, it's usually statues that are hung up, so why is it that here an actual human corpse is suspended?" Lin Shen stared at the corpse, attempting to deduce the individual's identity based on his clothing and attire.

Fortunately, his clothes were relatively intact, though the style seemed quite particular, not in line with modern fashion—it must be an ancient style of robe.

Lin Shen had no expertise in ancient attire and couldn't determine which dynasty it belonged to.

After examining it for a while, Ouyang Yudu pondered and said, "Although it's hard to pinpoint the exact dynasty, one thing is certain—these garments are not of modern style or craftsmanship, they must be from an older era."

"That's strange," Lin Shen couldn't help frowning.

If Gourd Mountain had only fallen here over two hundred years ago, then it wouldn't be possible for someone from an ancient time to come here via Gourd Mountain.

Yet, here lay a human corpse, which could only imply two possibilities.

Either Gourd Mountain had always been here, allowing ancients to travel through it, or the body was not truly human, just deceptively similar in appearance.

"Staring won't unravel any truths. Let's see if there's anything on him," Lin Shen said as he donned the Carapace, gingerly searching the pockets of the corpse's clothing.

Fei Zai (Fatty) had been curiously surveying everything inside Dark Bird Hall, his gaze occasionally landing on the corpse without taking further action.

After searching for a while, Lin Shen did indeed find something—a jade token that was rough at the top and narrower at the bottom, around a foot in length.

Lin Shen examined the jade token, noticing that there were characters carved on both sides; although they looked familiar, he couldn't recognize them.

"Ouyang, take a look at these characters," Lin Shen handed the jade token to Ouyang Yudu.

Ouyang Yudu examined it and said earnestly, "This appears to be a kind of script from the pictographic stage of development, quite different from our current language. Still, it is indeed a form of human script. It seems this is truly a human, and an ancient one at that."

Lin Shen continued to search the corpse, hoping to find any other useful items.

Aside from the jade token, however, the pockets held nothing else.

"Since he is one of our own kind, he deserves a proper burial," Lin Shen decided as he lifted the body, removing it from the rope around its neck.

No sooner had the body been detached from the rope than it spontaneously ignited, burning up in flames like white phosphorus exposed to air, engulfing the entire body in fire.

Lin Shen quickly dropped the corpse, which continued to burn fiercely on the ground, soon reducing to a pile of ashes.

"What just happened?" Lin Shen stared at the pile of ashes on the ground, perplexed by the situation—unaware of why the corpse had suddenly self-ignited.

"There's something inside," Ouyang Yudu, with his keen eyes, noticed something. He picked up a stick, rummaged through the ashes, and pried something out.

Upon close examination, it was a piece of fabric akin to silk. What was odd was that this palm-sized silk fabric had emerged from the flames completely unscathed.