Chapter 44 – Curious (1/2)

Translated by Sunyancai

After Lang Ga and the others left, Mao nervously walked back and forth in the cave. After pacing for a while, he rubbed his head in frustration, because he still didn’t know what to do. He looked around to find something to distract him, and noticed Shao Xuan was sitting on a straw mat behind him, cross-legged, staring blankly.

“Hey, there!” Mao shouted at his direction, “How can you not be worried?”

Mao had no good feelings about Shao Xuan, but it was not the time to turn every personal grudge into a battle, let alone that there were only two of them in the cave right now. Without someone to talk to, he would feel extremely worried, and he assumed that he would feel better if he had something to do or could chat with someone.

Shao Xuan looked up at him and said, “Would it help them if I worry? For people like you and I, we would be asking for death if we go out, because we would become targets before we could get close enough to that beast. Should we go out and be their burden?”

“Have I said anything about going out?” Mao shouted angrily. Even though he did want to go out and see what was happening, he felt embarrassed since Shao Xuan just poked holes in his thoughts and laid out the flaws plainly.

“So if we’re not going out, what’s your plan?” As he finished the question, Shao Xuan pointed to those meat chunks that Lang Ga chopped, yet did not have the time to roast, “Instead of worrying and doing nothing, you’d be better off roasting the meat.”

“No!” Mao was furious, seeing Shao Xuan behaving that way. He felt that Shao Xuan was a heartless person, and Mai and the others had all given him kindness for nothing.

Shao Xuan did not continue to pay attention to Mao, but in fact, deep down in his heart, he was not as calm as he seemed. He knew that something was happening, so he felt frustrated that his hands were tied and there was nothing he could do to help.

There was a small bow beside Shao Xuan that Lang Ga made, which had vines twined tightly together. The rope used as a bowstring had been soaked with animal blood and some kind of grass extract. It was pretty firm and durable, and the smell of grass perfectly covered up the smell of blood. So it was quite difficult to be discovered when hidden in the grass or trees, since it just smelled like plants. Although these kinds of bows were not very lethal to the beasts in this forest, they were very effective when used to drive animals in a certain direction. Earlier today, Lang Ga used those bows and traps to drive the little wild boar in Shao Xuan and Mao’s direction.

Shao Xuan sighed silently. He wondered how Mai and the others were, and secretly hoped that this time there would be no casualties…

Hunting was filled with risks. One second it would be calm and peaceful, yet a second later one could be standing on the edge of a cliff, and might accidentally fall into the abyss, with no remains to be found.

Compared to that, life inside the tribe was cozy.

No wonder that old Ke had said that one should definitely enter the woods if he wanted to accomplish something. Living inside the tribe would never provide you with such pressure. However, in the forest, the cruel law of nature was “kill or be killed”, and you had to constantly fight for survival.

In this place, ferocious beasts outnumbered humans by a lot, and it was extremely hard if one wanted to obtain food and survive in this dangerous forest based on his his own strength. Indeed, warriors from the tribe had their own special skills, but it was rare for a single warrior to be hunting alone in the depths of the forest. Individuals could only survive using teamwork and relying on each others’ strengths. For example, when they were dealing with the four-fanged wild boar together earlier, and now when they are fighting against the Thorn Black Wind together.

Becoming an experienced hunter from a new warrior was a long and arduous path.

Shao Xuan decided to stop thinking about this, for he knew it was not helpful at all. He cut off a small piece of meat from one of the bloody meat chunks beside him, and pierced a little hole through it with a stone spear. Then, Shao Xuan skewered that meat with a half-meter long stick and began to roast it above the fire. After searing the outer layer, Shao Xuan put the stick higher above the fire to prevent the meat oil from leaking out.

Mao walked in circles, attempting to alleviate the anxiety he was feeling due to not know what to do. As he looked in Shao Xuan’s direction, he asked in a bitter tone, “What are you doing now? Roasting the meat to eat by yourself?”