Chapter 9 – We believe in whatever you say, as long as it’s good (1/2)
Translated by Sunyancai
Shao Xuan was at best a small cave master for now, and in that cave lived a bunch of wimpy kids with irritable characters.
Shao Xuan processed the fish he brought back by cutting it open and removing its guts and gills, just like the warriors did. He discarded the waste to the rubbish place, where all the garbage and litter went. Inside the cave, the rubbish place was piled up by food residue and it would get cleaned by someone from the tribe every few days.
In addition to unchewable parts, the fish got eaten up completely, leaving some broken fish bones and its mouth which had tiny sharp teeth.
The kids in the cave all went to sleep after they shared the fish. Shao Xuan kept a small torch before putting out the bonfire, and then he held it to look at the depths of the cave. Originally he intended to store some food and animal skins before winter arrived, but now, since he took over the cave and found out a way for fishing, he planned to lead some kids to the river again and hunt for some more fish tomorrow. The tribe alone could not provide sufficient food, but if there was enough stored food then they could go through the winter smoothly.
Everyone in the tribe was preparing for winter, and people were seen making meat jerky every day since meat jerky could last longer. If Shao Xuan could manage to get more fish, not only would the situation in the orphan cave be improved, they could also use the fish to trade for animal skins and furs with people in the tribe to keep themselves warm. Shao Xuan did not want to suffer from the cold.
Depending on the not-so-bright light from his torch, Shao Xuan roughly walked and looked around the cave. He remembered that last time he wandered inside the cave, it was shortly after he woke up in this world. On a whim, he took a walk in the cave, but after that, he never went into the depths.
As the saying goes, a new official applies strict measures. Shao Xuan intended to make his own rules since it was his roof now. Measures must be taken and the cave needed to be reorganized.
Before, the tribe was small and there were not a lot of people. Everyone lived in the cave and thus they made space allocations. There were sections for food, firewood, furs and animal skins, tools, weapons, inside toilets, etc. But as the population grew, more and more people began to move out and build their own houses, so the cave was used to raise orphans and began to get messy. Many places were emptied and dozens of kids were living near the entrance, with lots of spaces unused.
There were air vents in the depths, but due to it being vacant for too long, the vents were blocked making it dark even in daylight.
As he was thinking, Shao Xuan felt someone or something staring at him. He did not know who, or what that was.
The cave was dark since there was no fire. Moonlight sprinkled down through air vents and it brought in some faint blue light, which only appeared during the night.
All the kids were asleep and sounds of snoring could be heard here and there. The entrance had already been blocked by a heavy straw curtain, with no abnormal sound or scene.
Beside Shao Xuan, Caesar was sleeping safe and sound. Signaling that there should be no danger since Caesar was unaware of any strangeness.
Unless there were some kids staring at him?
Shao Xuan tightened his animal skin clothes as he shook his head. He planned to sleep, as he was going to take some wimpy kids out for fishing tomorrow.
But not long after he closed his eyes, Shao Xuan felt a dark shadow flying by his side. It went so fast that Shao Xuan did not have the time to have a clear look. After the flash of the shadow, pairs of eyes with faint blue sparkles appeared.
What was that? Shao Xuan was startled and suddenly he opened his eyes.
The surroundings were the same just as before. It was dark inside and only moonlight sprinkled down little bit hazy light.
Now Shao Xuan had completely lost his drowsiness. He rolled over and saw that the air vent had been dug out on the top of the wall .
Normally there would be no danger with the air vent, so it wouldn’t be blocked at night.
Shao Xuan got up after some thinking. He could easily see the outside through the air vent, for the place where he slept at had high terrain.
With moonlight on the outside, it was brighter, and one could vaguely see the nearby scenery .
There was a five-meter-high pillar outside the cave, and that was from ancient times. At first, it served as a sundial, people living in the cave could estimate time based on the pillar’s shadow under sunlight. Now with no adults in the cave, children began to carve and draw on it. As time went by, it was no longer what it used to be. Now it stood there, full of bumps and hollows with merely an approximate shape.
At the moment, there was a bird standing at the top of it.
Shao Xuan knew what it was. He first expected it to be some kind of a bat when he saw it. But afterward, he learned that it was a swallow-like bird. It was quick when flying and only came out at night. It’s a meat-eating creature.
People in the tribe called it Night Swallow, which was very similar to a bat’s nickname that Shao Xuan knew. Too bad that they were far more ferocious than bats and they were also highly gregarious, so they lived and moved in swarms.
That was also the reason why few people in the tribe would go out at night without a torch. They may easily get attacked by Night Swallows.
Normally a Night Swallow’s voice could not be heard, but it’s told in the tribe that powerful warriors could hear its cry. It was said to be cacophony but it was only a tale told by people, and most of them haven’t heard it in person.
Just as Shao Xuan looked up at the pillar, the Night Swallow resting on top looked back incisively at Shao Xuan as well.
Under the moonlight, its eyes reflected faint blue sparkles, just as what Shao Xuan had seen in his mind with his eyes closed.
Night Swallows would never come inside through air vents because they preferred to attack single targets and they preferred to attack in groups. For over half a year, Shao Xuan had never seen a single Night Swallow fly inside the cave. But he was certain that someone who goes outside alone without a torch would very likely get attacked.
Slightly breathing out, Shao Xuan decided not to look outside and go back to sleep.
But he knew that because of the flashing shadow with faint blue eyes in his mind, Shao Xuan could not fall asleep soon.
It seemed that he could “see” the upcoming danger. The fish in daytime, for instance. And the bird standing outside was just another example.
The weather was fine the next morning, bright and shiny. As usual, Shao Xuan bundled his hay and prepared to take them out later.