Chapter 96: Encountering a Wild Person
Chapter 96: Encountering a Wild Person
As for the discovery of the cabin near the base by outsiders, while it needs to be resolved promptly, finding a good solution won't be an immediate matter. Besides, Wu Hao still needs to gather documentary material in Shennongjia. Even if he needs to address this issue, it'll have to wait until he finishes his work in Shennongjia and returns to the base.
Currently, the base's location and its entrances are extremely well-hidden and environmentally disguised. The chances of it being discovered are virtually nil unless this group possesses more advanced technology than Wu Hao, allowing them to detect the base's presence through scanning devices. However, as long as Wu Hao remains discreet when entering and exiting the base, it should remain secure.
Over the next two days, while Wu Hao was busy filming various plants and animals in Shennongjia, the expedition team at the nearby cabin location had established a sizable camp on the mountaintop. During this time, they transported not only a substantial amount of supplies by helicopter but also various equipment. So, on the second day after discovering the cabin, while conducting a thorough inspection, they finally noticed several hidden cameras inside the cabin.
However, despite discovering the cameras, they didn't find any recorded footage. The reason is that these cameras transmit their footage wirelessly in real-time directly to the base. Moreover, the moment they discovered the cameras, the base's intelligent program 'Zero' immediately severed the connection between the cameras and the base. Consequently, the likelihood of them finding the other end, the 'base,' using these cameras is extremely low.
On this day, while Wu Hao was doing what had become his usual routine of filming videos of wildlife in the forests of Shennongjia and searching for animals using his psychic senses, something peculiar came within his psychic perception range.
"Could this be the rumored Shennongjia wildman?" Wu Hao had discovered a special creature through his psychic senses. It wasn't anything else but a humanoid ape-like creature, reminiscent of early primitive humans. Wu Hao referred to them as humanoid apes because these creatures were substantially different from known apes on Earth. First and foremost, they walked upright, standing at approximately 1.6 meters tall. They had robust limbs and long black hair all over their bodies, with heads that resembled humans to a significant degree.
At this moment, when Wu Hao discovered this humanoid ape-like creature, he immediately set aside the equipment he was using to film. Compared to the animals he was currently filming, this "wildman" that appeared in his psychic perception was naturally more intriguing.
As a result, Wu Hao quickly stowed his filming gear and stealthily moved towards the location where he sensed the presence of this humanoid ape.
He wasn't worried about revealing his presence because he had psychic perception, which allowed him to clearly detect his desired targets even from a considerable distance. Moreover, with his psychic abilities, he could move silently and effortlessly through the forest.
Wu Hao had no intention of suddenly appearing directly in front of the creature. He planned to use his psychic powers to control small cameras to observe the situation first.
In just a matter of moments, Wu Hao, with the grace of a swallow, appeared on a large tree branch about 200 meters away from the humanoid ape. Simultaneously, the two cameras controlled by his psychic powers positioned themselves about a dozen meters above the creature. Wu Hao didn't recklessly expose the cameras in front of the creature.
Although Wu Hao had only observed the humanoid ape for a short period, he had noticed that this creature seemed to possess a significant level of intelligence. Primates, by nature, are biologically close to humans, and even though this humanoid ape differed greatly in appearance from modern humans, it bore striking resemblance to early humans recorded in history.
Therefore, although Wu Hao's observation was brief, he was quite certain that this humanoid ape likely possessed intelligence far beyond that of any typical ape species. With this in mind, if Wu Hao suddenly brought cameras right in front of the creature, it would likely startle it. Intelligent species tend to react differently when encountering unknown things compared to ordinary animals.
"Hmm! This ape-man is actually foraging for mushrooms and wild fruits! If that's the case, it will probably return to its nest soon! It seems there might be more than one of these ape-men deep within Shennongjia." Quickly, Wu Hao used his psychic perception to determine what the humanoid ape was doing. After making this observation, Wu Hao began to form a rough hypothesis.
This suggested that in the depths of Shennongjia, there were likely more than just one of these humanoid apes with seemingly high intelligencepossibly several or even dozens. As for larger numbers, Wu Hao didn't contemplate it much.
After all, if their numbers exceeded several hundred, their presence might have already been discovered by the outside world, as a larger group would need a broader foraging range.
However, if there were just a few dozen or even fewer than that, the resources within this canyon would likely suffice for their survival. Whether or not Wu Hao's current speculations were accurate could only be confirmed by following this humanoid ape back to its nest later.
This humanoid ape didn't keep Wu Hao waiting for long. After foraging in the valley for a little over an hour, it headed in another direction within the valley, carrying a leather bag made from animal hides.
Wu Hao, through his covert observations during this hour, became increasingly certain that this humanoid ape possessed intelligence. For instance, when foraging for wild fruits and mushrooms, it understood the concept of leaving unripe fruits behind and only gathering those that were fully ripe.
Moreover, it even used a tool made from animal hides as a container. Based on these observations alone, it was clear that these creatures fell within the category of intelligent beings.