Chapter 65 – The Elder (1/2)

Translated by Sunyancai

Shao Xuan only took Caesar back to his cabin after having dinner at Old Ke’s place.

Although he had been away for over twenty days, it was obvious that someone had helped keep his room clean. There was clean water filled in the crock. It was still fresh, so Shao Xuan figured it must have been poured in recently. Also, the animal skin on the bed had been washed and air-dried, for it had no bugs or stale smell on it.

Apparently, Old Ke had asked someone to do all that.

Shao Xuan moved his arm a little after he lit bonfire.

It had only been three hours, and Shao Xuan could feel that his bones were healing quickly. Indeed, those were fine herbs. As for the totem patterns on his body… he knew that he was making more progress than his peers. Among the newly-awakened warriors this year, Mao was the publicly acknowledged genius in the tribe, and the totem patterns on his arms only spread out about half a finger’s length.

When they were hunting, no one had the spare time nor the energy to pay attention to Shao Xuan’s totem patterns, even though he was wearing a sleeveless top made from animal skin. Instead everyone had their attention focused on the prey, for one negligent move could result in death, especially in the forests filled with dangers and risks. All of the warriors were extremely cautious. Also, since Shao Xuan was pretty skilled in using his totem power, his patterns would quickly disappear after the prey was hunted down, before anybody had the spare time to look around. Hence, no one had noticed the astonishing length of his totem patterns.

Just now, Old Ke had broken his cane out of shock. He didn’t believe his eyes at first glance, but after he rubbed them and took a closer look, he finally confirmed that what he saw was real. Naturally, someone else would also be totally stunned if he saw that, for example, Keke.

In fact, Shao Xuan had noticed that Keke glanced at his arm after the first punch. His attack was not really fatal, and Shao Xuan knew it was merely a test. However, what Shao Xuan didn’t know was why Keke and Tuo did that.

Lying on the bed, Shao Xuan had finally felt his tense nerves relax after so many days. Life inside the tribe was indeed safe and cozy.

Waking up the next morning, after a good night’s sleep, Shao Xuan stretched his body. Surprisingly, he found that his arm was already healed, which was even faster than Old Ke’s estimate of “a few days”. In fact, he could’ve recovered quickly even without the herbs he took yesterday.

Shao Xuan made a pot of soup with meat jerky and wild fruits for Caesar and himself. It was not tasty, but he was used to it already. The soup was not much, leaving Shao Xuan and Caesar still hungry.

So he patted Caesar on his head and said, “You’ll have your feast once the meat is delivered.”

Seeing Caesar’s foolish appearance, Shao Xuan once again thought about the wolf pack’s hunting when he was on his way to the second location. Compared to the wolves in the forest, Caesar really did not have a wolf’s nature, and if he continued to behave that way, perhaps he would really turn into a dog. Shao Xuan was not sure whether it was a blessing or a curse.

Shao Xuan took a quick shower with a bucket of water, and then dragged Caesar outside and used a fish-teeth brush to clean him. It had been over twenty days, and that little beast was rolling on the ground all day long. Perhaps Ge also had a hand in it, as there were lots of kinks and knots in his hair.

Old Ke would help Shao Xuan clean his house, but that didn’t mean that he would help clean Caesar. In the eyes of Old Ke, Caesar was still leftover prey. Why would anyone clean prey?

When Tuo and Keke were delivering the meat to Shao Xuan’s place, they found that Shao Xuan was brushing Caesar’s hair outside.

The Shaman had arranged someone else to do the delivery, but Tuo and Keke asked for the job on their own.

“Oh? Is your arm all right?!”

They watched Shao Xuan nimbly brush Caesar’s hair, having no traces of an injury at all. Keke put the meat down and instantly he wanted to approach to check on Shao Xuan’s arm, but he was stopped by Tuo.

Keke was about to struggle, but Tuo silently said “The team leader,” causing Keke to quiet down immediately. When he returned yesterday, he was dragged out and beaten up by the team leader, so his face was still swollen today.

When Tuo and Keke carried the meat inside, Shao Xuan thanked them with a smile. He also wanted to give them some meat as gifts, but got declined politely by Tuo.

Tuo noticed that although Shao Xuan was not wearing a poker face, he also wasn’t enthusiastic. However, he couldn’t really blame Shao Xuan for that, after all, Keke had broken his arm only yesterday!

Tuo smiled, a little embarrassed, “Well, the Shaman said that early in the morning, on the day after tomorrow, everyone should go to the mountaintop dressed neatly and cleanly, so as to attend the memorial ceremony for the ancestors.”

Instead of staying for longer, Tuo dragged Keke away, for he worried Keke might start some trouble again.

After Shao Xuan had finished brushing Caesar’s hair, he went inside to check on the food that was delivered.

All of the meat had been properly processed by someone. Even the Thorn Black Wind had been skinned and chopped by some skilled warrior.

A Thorn Black Wind had two layers of skins, one was the hard scales, and the other was very tough thick leather. The two layers had been separated and specially processed, so there was no trace of blood, and they were pretty clean.

Caesar was standing still about two meters away from the meat chunks of the Thorn Black Wind, curious and afraid at the same time. However, he was drooling over the meat, so he growled and ran his tongue around his lips.