Chapter 42 – Wild boar (1/2)

Translated by Sunyancai

At dawn, all the warriors in the cave recovered their energy after a night’s rest, and were taking inventory of the equipment they planned to take for hunting later.

They all brought a lot of stone tools from the tribe, and there were some spare stone tools stored in the cave. However, they could never take all the things when hunting, so they needed to select only a part of them.

Aside from old Ke’s sabre, Shao Xuan brought a long spear, and carried three short spears on his back. Compared with the others, Shao Xuan did not bring much equipment. After all, it was only his first hunting mission, and the first thing he should do was to adjust and observe.

After they ate something for breakfast, Mai pushed away the giant stone that blocked the entrance of the cave.

The sun had not risen completely, and moist wind mixed with the fresh cool air from outside blew into the cave, which felt brisk and invigorating.

The location of the cave was relatively remote. Not far ahead there was a steep slope, where one could probably reach the mountain foot directly if he rolled down from there. There were not many trees around, nor were there any animals.

Outside the cave, Shao Xuan could see the mountain surrounded by clouds, and the basin down there. If you ignored the hidden threats and ferocious animals, the forest was pretty beautiful.

“Before hunting, you have to know the preys’ habits. For example, small preys like rabbits mostly come out for food at night, and they tend to hide themselves during daylight.” Lang Ga said to Shao Xuan as they went down the mountain. In the meantime, he pointed out at some weeds and plants with bite marks left by wild rabbits which were active at night.

“Wild sheep normally are barely seen around this mountain, and they only exist in the other mountains. But sometimes one or two of them would come here. During wintertime, they come out for food in the daylight, while in summer, they tend to come out in the mornings and evenings, and hide in the valley at noon to rest. I will show you after a few days when we get to the basin. Also there are other small-sized preys that prefer to live in the edges of the forest. During daylight they would hide in the bushes, or under trees, resting, and come out in the mornings and evenings…”

Shao Xuan carefully listened to Lang Ga’s words, and he tried to memorize all of them by heart. That was the knowledge that one needed to know if they wanted to survive in here. Only by learning about all the preys’ habits could a hunting warrior know when to chase and when to stop, so as to improve the efficiency.

Just then, Lang Ga became quiet and observed the traces on the ground and the grass nearby closely, “A wild boar had been here.”

Along the path there were a lot of traces, Lang Ga collected them all, and went to Mai for discussion, “There’s a little boar nearby. Since we have not entered the center of the hunting area, can I take Ah-Xuan and the others for a warm-up exercise?”

“Alright.” Mai said to Lang Ga and then discussed a few words with Qiao beside him.

Qiao and Mai were wife and husband. When Shao Xuan first heard Qiao’s name, he joked with Lang Ga that they were doomed to be a couple, however, it was a shame that Lang Ga could not get Shao Xuan’s joke at all. [EN: Mai means wheat and Qiao means buckwheat]

In their hunting group there were only seven female warriors, and Qiao was the strongest among them. Qiao and Mai were both mid-level totemic warriors, and in the past they would always separately lead a dozen warriors and go hunting. After, they would then meet up with each other.

According to the strategy that she worked out with Mai before, Qiao led a group of warriors and they left to chase the giant-antler deer.

Mai continued on the original path with the others.

“Lang Ga, you take Ang and the others to find that boar, while I take the rest to check out the other side. Do not go too deep into the forest.”

“Got it!”

There were a lot of traps that Lang Ga set on the mountain, from rope traps, falling stone traps, to other kinds like sharp knife traps. Lang Ga pointed them out to Shao Xuan so that he did not fall in any of them.

Soon, Lang Ga discovered that wild boar’s tracks, so he told Shao Xuan and Mao to wait here, as he went to drive out that boar.

Shao Xuan stood on a tree while watching the surroundings vigorously. Even though Mai and Lang Ga both said there were no giant ferocious beasts nearby, he still had to be cautious of the worms and snakes.

Not afar, there came roars of the boar, and the sound got nearer as time went by. Apparently Lang Ga’s driving worked, and that boar did not run towards other directions.

While paying attention to the approaching sound, Shao Xuan carried his long spear with his left hand, then pulled out a short spear and held it in his right hand for later use.