Chapter 40 – Entering (2/2)

The giant vine was a few meters wide as it wound around the ancient tree. There was a layer of moss covering its surface. Moist air made the moss as smooth as velvet, and one could easily slip and fall down when stepping on the moss. However, if one could keep his balance, it was a nice slide.

Sliding on the vine and moving fast, Shao Xuan could feel the fresh scent filling in his nose. That was the scent of the plants, with flowers’ fragrance mixed in. Aside from that, with the high temperature, moist air lifted up all the smells of the creatures living in the forest…

That was the breath of an untainted forest, full of life, danger and thrill. Smelling the air, people’s body hair seemed to tremble with excitement!

A millstone-sized oblate insect was lying on the vine ahead, with three rows of pattern-like eyes. As the insect crawled, the three rows of eyes blinked as it was scanning around the surroundings with its eyes.

The hunting group did not slow down because of the obstacle ahead. Without any irregular sound, Shao Xuan saw that insect be pushed away from the vine and thrown down.

Whoosh!

A big bird flew below the vine so promptly that it could barely be seen. And the falling insect was picked up by the flying bird.

With the marching of the hunting group, the light was sometimes dim and sometimes bright. The vine arched high and then fell into the jungle again.

Above, coiled around a bulky branch, there was a bucket-width wide serpent, with colorful patterns on its body. However, that was nothing special in this forest.

Perhaps the serpent was full already, as it seemed lazy. As the hunting warriors were sliding down the branch on the vine, it looked down at them as it stuck its two-pronged snake tongue out, staring at the people passing by without emotion.

Shao Xuan felt the icy sight of the snake ahead, but kept following up with Lang Ga. Since the people ahead did not mind that snake above, of course he did not need to pay extra attention. Qua experience, Shao Xuan was merely a greenhorn. He still had to learn when to strike and when not, so he just followed.

Now Shao Xuan was in the middle part of the group, and there were other warriors behind him.

The warriors after him originally figured that since it was Shao Xuan’s first hunting mission, perhaps he wouldn’t adjust himself to it so easily. So they could lend a hand if Shao Xuan could not keep up the rhythm or slip by mistake. However, unexpectedly, Shao Xuan could follow the group closely, without making a single mistake!

Along the path, Shao Xuan had seen a lot of game. Some of them were giant bears, also some things that he could not name, while some of them were small beasts running among the bushes. However, the hunting group did not slow down or even look at those animals, but kept marching towards the mountain that Mai pointed at earlier.

As they got closer to the mountain, the species of the plants changed. There were less ancient trees and the hunting group did not go through the trees anymore.

Seeing that Lang Ga and the others ahead slowed down, Shao Xuan slowed down accordingly.

Mai gestured towards the warriors behind him, so seven or eight warriors immediately spread out in the near surroundings to see if there were any dangerous fierce animals around.

After the safety was confirmed, Mai told the hunting group to take a short rest.

The lined-up group changed its formation and became more relaxed. But no one was just standing and all were preparing and sorting their equipment.

“Pretty tired, huh?…”

When Lang Ga was sorting his ground bows, he turned his head to ask Shao Xuan if he was tired. When tired, one should drink and eat some food as a supplement for the physical strength consumption. Lang Ga planned to tell him that he should not put so much pressure on himself, for after all, they had marched from the edge of the forest to deep down its center, and one would need to stay focused to avoid making mistakes. With tense nerves, one could easily get exhausted both mentally and physically. For some newly-awakened warriors, it was indeed a real task. Even Mao, who was publicly-acknowledged as the best among his peer, was now a little short of breath.