Chapter 9 – We believe in whatever you say, as long as it’s good (2/2)

Clapping his hands, Shao Xuan said to the bodies lying on the ground, “Wake up, wake up! How many of you are awake? Get up now and go fishing with me!”

No one reacted.

“The fish is edible, just like the one from yesterday.” Shao Xuan continued.

There was some little movement, but still, most of them did not react.

Some kids were still sleeping soundly as if nothing could wake them up. While some were hesitating over Shao Xuan’s words, even though they woke up already. After all, they had developed a habit of sleeping all day aside from the time for eating. It could not be changed by Shao Xuan’s simple words. They were used to sleeping until afternoon, and then waking up for food. There were also some people opening their eyes unconsciously, and then they fell asleep again after yawning.

In the end, out of over twenty children, four came outside the cave with Shao Xuan, with the eldest two kids among them. The other two kids were called Tu and Ba. Tu was weak and timid, who did not match up with his name which represented slaughter. Ba was relatively gentle in character when it’s not related to food, but he always stammered when talking. Those two were both eleven years old, but with a different physique. Ba was obviously taller than Tu and he looked alike with those thirteen-year-olds. In comparison, Tu was skinny and weak, just like Shao Xuan.

Shao Xuan asked Caesar to dig out some stone worms. He took out the straw rope and black half sphere from yesterday and led the four kids to the riverside.

The guarding warriors were still the same two people because they had spent the night there. Only after three days, could they be replaced by other guarding warriors. Seeing Shao Xuan approaching, they even greeted him with a smile and chatted with him.

That was pretty strange in the eyes of the other four kids, as they had never encountered a similar situation. The two elder kids did not want to compete and fight with Shao Xuan after yesterday’s event, and their will to fight faded even more seeing their current circumstances. From their point of view, getting along with warriors in the tribe could be very benefitting. They could step out and lend a hand when you’re in trouble. Earlier, Ku was very much admired because he knew someone living in the hillside.

Shao Xuan prepared his stuff and explained to the four what to do next.

“…It’s actually quite simple. Later on, just follow my command, do as I say, and we will then share and eat the fish we catch.”

As expected, the four pairs of eyes lit up at the word “eat”, and their fear of seeing the water faded away.

With the limited length of the straw rope, Shao Xuan did not plan to place the bait very far. Also, this time he did not ask for Caesar’s help. The four kids replaced Caesar and were standing at the end of the rope, while Caesar squatted beside them quietly.

The four kids were rather nervous as they grasped the rope. Except for the anxiety they had facing water creatures for the first time, they were excited about their first time fishing.

“Okay, now we stand still. Wait for my signal later.” Shao Xuan said as he tossed the bait and glanced at the water surface.

Soon, there were some movements in the water. Since it was his third time fishing, Shao Xuan had some experience and immediately shouted without hesitation, “Now pull!”

At Shao Xuan’s words, the four kids grasped the rope tightly and pulled backward with full strength. The four of them combined were stronger than Caesar and they pulled the fish smoothly. The pulled out fish was the same size as yesterday’s first one.

That was the first time they saw a living fish, and that was a lethal one! So, when Shao Xuan told them to stop, they picked up their wooden sticks and smashed towards the fish hard. Especially Tu, he was scared but he deliberately approached and hit the fish on its head. As he was striking, he also screamed like hell, which made Shao Xuan angry, making him want to beat Tu up.

“Okay, okay… That’s enough!” Shao Xuan stopped their attacks and pulled those kids away, with sticks still held in their hands.

At first, Shao Xuan mentioned that the fish might be fierce so they needed to take some long weapons, just in case. Now those kids were prepared, but unfortunately, with all kinds of emotions combines, they attacked madly with all their strength, since it was their first hunting trip outside. The four of them grouped together, so when Shao Xuan stopped them from hitting that fish, the fish was already smashed into jam…

How could anyone eat that pile of jam…

The first one was ruined. So, Shao Xuan guided them to hunt for another one. The second time, they finally calmed down and the fish was relatively better looking. Shao Xuan cut it open and removed its guts and gills. He borrowed flammable powders from the two warriors and grilled the fish.

The fish Shao Xuan took back last night was large in size, but with too many bones and too many kids, the fish meat distributed to everyone’s mouth was rather little. But that was not the same today.

Five people sharing a half-meter fish, each one could get a large slice even with the bones.

All four kids were very excited, but with scarce vocabulary, they did not know how to express their feelings. So all they did was laugh, and they were all laughing like idiots.

“So delicious!” Tu said.

“Yes, it’s good for the brain.” Shao Xuan replied.

“What’s brain? Good for the brain?” asked a kid.

Shao Xuan thought about it and decided to keep the explanation simple, “It means that you may grow better.”

“Grow….grow…better? Is that…Does…Does that…mean that…. that….that we can….be stronger? Like…like totem…like totem warriors? ”

Hearing Ba’s words, the other three kids looked up at Shao Xuan, with sparkling lights in their eyes.

Even though kids in the cave were hot-tempered, they did not tend to hide their feelings. So one could easily define their minds through their facial expressions.

While at that moment, the facial expressions on these four kids were clearly suggesting that: Tell us now, please tell us now! We believe in whatever you say, as long as it’s good!

So Shao Xuan swallowed the words he was about to say and he hesitated a while before he nodded, contrary to his convictions.

Water was slowly washing the riverside, and on the surface it seemed quiet and calm. However, Shao Xuan had just “seen” a picture of a fish with a mouthful of sharp teeth. It was much larger than the vision from yesterday but paler. Perhaps that fish was farther away from where he was standing.