"I don't quite understand."

"Well, let's say we accidentally kill a rat here, which means the destruction of this rat's entire future family, right?"

"Yes!"

"And the family of this mouse's family! If you trample the first one to death, you will destroy a dozen, a thousand, a million, a billion possible mice. ”

"So they died, so what?"

"So what? So, what happens to the foxes who feed on these rats? Because there were ten less mice, a fox starved to death; Because there were ten foxes missing, one lion starved to death; With one less lion, all species of insects, vultures, and hundreds of millions of life forms were thrown into chaos and destruction. The result is that in 59 million years, a hungry person, one of the few people in the whole world, will come to hunt a wild boar or a saber-toothed tiger to satisfy his hunger. And you, friend, have 'trampled' all the tigers in this place by trampling a rat to death. As a result, the man starved to death, and that man, mind you, was not just a random person who could be sacrificed, no! He is a whole future people. He may have ten sons, and they may have a hundred sons, and so on until a civilization is born. If you destroy this man, you will destroy a race, a people, a whole history of life, which is like killing one of Adam's grandsons. A single step on your foot on a rat can cause an earthquake that could completely shake our world and our future destiny. Because of the death of a starving person, a billion people who could be born are strangled in advance. Perhaps Rome will never be built on its seven hills, or perhaps Europe will always be a dark forest, and only Asia will prosper. If you trample a rat to death, you will destroy the pyramid; Stomp a rat to death, and you've left a Grand Canyon-like footprint in eternity...... Perhaps there will be no United States at all. So be careful, stay in the aisle and don't leave! ”

"I see, so even knocking down a piece of grass will pay a price?"

"Not bad! Destroying a plant can also lead to endless consequences. A small mistake made at this time will accumulate over 60 million years, and it is unimaginable. Of course, our theories may be wrong, maybe time will not be changed by us, maybe there will only be small changes. A dead rat at this time may only upset the balance of the insect kingdom in the future, followed by a runaway population, then a crop failure, an economic depression, a famine, and finally a change in the social climate in a distant foreign land, or something more insignificant. Perhaps only a subtle change like a breeze, a whisper, a hair, or pollen in the wind can only be seen when you come to see it. Who knows? Who can really say he knows? We don't know, we're just guessing. But unless we can be sure of what our interference with time will do in history, we need to be careful. You know, this machine, this aisle, your clothes and your bodies, have been sanitized before this trip. We wear these oxygen helmets just to prevent us from bringing bacteria into the ancient atmosphere. ”

"How do we know what animal to shoot?"

"They were marked with red dots, and today, before we left, we sent someone back here by machine. He tracks certain animals in this particular area. ”

"Examine them?"

"Yes, I follow them throughout their lives, paying attention to how many times they mate. The number of times is also not much, because the life span is too short. When I found out that one of them had been smashed by a tree and was dying, or drowned in the mud, I made a note of the exact moment and fired a dyed bullet, leaving a red dot on its skin so that we wouldn't mistake it. Then I adjusted the time we had reached the past, and met the beast exactly two minutes before it died. In this way, we only kill those animals that have no future and will not mate again. You see how serious we are. ”

"But if you come back in time this morning, you're bound to meet us, our hunting party! The result? Did it work? Did we all survive? ”

"That's a paradox, and time doesn't allow for this chaos – for a man to meet himself. When this kind of accident really happened, time slipped away, like an airplane hitting an air vortex. Didn't you feel the machine jump before we stopped? That is, we passed by ourselves on our way back to the future. We didn't see anything, and we couldn't tell if the adventure was successful, if we had hit the Behemoth, or if all of us—including you—had survived. “

He smiled when he heard this, but his face turned pale.

"Enough is enough!" The guide shouted, "Everyone, get up!" ”

They were ready to leave the cabin.

The jungle is high and endless; The jungle is the whole world, and there is no end to it. The air was filled with music and tent-like flapping sounds, of pterosaurs gliding with their whirring gray wings, like giant bats that can only be seen during delirium and high nighttime fevers. He stood firm in the narrow aisle and jokingly raised his gun to aim.

"Stop!" The guide snapped, "You can't pretend to aim, damn it!" If your gun goes off—"

He blushed suddenly: "What about our Tyrannosaurus rex?" ”

The little guide looked at his pocket watch: "It's right in front." We'll see its footprints in sixty seconds. Look for the red dot! Wait until we give the order to shoot again. Stay in the aisle, stay in the aisle! ”

They moved forward in the morning breeze.

"Open the insurance for all." The big guide ordered, "You, fire the first shot; You, second shot; You, third shot. ”

"I've fought tigers, wild boars, bison, and elephants, but this time, oh, this time it's hard enough." He was a little nervous and said, "Look, I'm shaking like a lamb." ”

"Stop!" The big guide said suddenly.

Everyone stood still.

The big guide raised his hand. "It's just ahead," he whispered, "it's in the fog." ”

The jungle stretches as far as the eye can see, filled with chirping, rustling, and wheezing.

Suddenly, there was silence, as if someone had closed the door.

Quiescence.

A thunderous roar.

A hundred yards away, a Tyrannosaurus rex came out of the fog.

"No," he said at the sight of it, he was immediately frightened, and whispered incessantly, "no! No! ”

"Shh

It strode with huge legs. It was a gigantic fierce god, its watchmaker's dexterous claws, curled up in front of its greasy breasts. Each hind leg resembles a piston, the heavy bones hidden deep in the thick tendons, and covered with a pebble-patterned skin, like the chain mail of a fearsome fighter.