Chapter 73 – Feeling small (2/2)

A small stone knife stabbed the ground, after it had chopped down the tip of the stretching vine.

Immediately the vine stopped stretching towards them, and instead of moving forward, it quickly withdrew as if being scared.

Ta went over to retrieve the stone knife, as he said to Shao Xuan, “Do not treat them as lifeless objects, or you will be the one who is dead. Also, most of them know a thing or two about attacking the weak and keeping away from the strong. You are the weakest warrior in our group.”

Terrific. Now he was the target again.

In the mountain forests, ferocious beasts would attack the children of other species, while in here, even plants knew the rules to attack the weak, and keep away from the strong.

Shao Xuan had heard from others in his last life, that even plants had the five senses: sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch. It’s just most people did not pay attention to that. While now, Shao Xuan had a deep understanding about the amplified five senses of plants.

Soon, warriors that had landed in different spots gathered together. After a quick headcount, Ta ordered them to go on. This time, they were divided into two smaller groups, and they split up, to finish the tasks assigned by the Shaman.

So, there were only twenty warriors in Shao Xuan’s group.

It was impossible for the warriors in the advance group to know every inch of the land, given that it was such a vast green area. However, they knew how to identify the directions. As long as there was sunlight, they wouldn’t get lost, as the route was basically unchanged.

The sounds of birds and incest could be heard in the woods. Also, there were various sounds made by some plants. Some of them sounded like knockings on a door, and the sound echoed in the woods. Some sound would even make Shao Xuan think of the rotation of an iron head wedged on a mast. [ED: WTH kind of sound is that LMAO] And I totally didn’t write incest on purpose there.

Shao Xuan saw many kinds of dangerous and even lethal plants as he followed Ta while running through the woods. One second earlier it was all quiet and calm, while a second later it was a blood-soaked scene.

Shao Xuan had once seen a plant hunt. Its originally smooth leaves could rapidly turn into saws and blades, and chop down the animals or plants in its territory into pieces. It would bury their remains into the ground, so as to provide the nutrition it needed to grow.

Some plants would even eat the meat directly. There were some like the Drosera or Nepenthes that Shao Xuan had seen in his last life. Some of the plants turned out to be more ferocious, and they would attack aggressively. Warriors in the advance group would normally try to avoid them. They were not easy to mess with.

“Let’s take a break. Tuo and Keke, you two go fetch some water.” Ta said after a half day’s march.

The thing required by the Shaman was not around here, and they had to keep running for some time to get there.

There was no river or stream nearby. As Shao Xuan was confused about Ta’s command, he saw Tuo and Keke go to a plant with thick leaves. They slashed on the stem with their stone swords, and they finally made a thin crack after quite a few strikes. The outer layer of the stem was very thick. The crack would be too thin if they only struck once, and it would soon heal its wound.

Light green liquid poured out from the crack, with a pale sweet fragrance. Tuo and Keke used some containers to collect the liquid.

That liquid would attract other insects. Aside from Shao Xuan, and Tuo and Keke who were collecting the liquid, the others were guarding against the approaching insects. Every insect who came could only die here. Some of the warriors guarded for the sky, while others guarded the other directions in the woods. With the deployed guarding formation, only two warriors were spared to collect the water eventually.

“Toss me your container, Ah-Xuan!” Tuo said as he collected the liquid.

Tuo did not ask Shao Xuan to approach that plant, so he stayed at the place about ten meters away. At Tuo’s words, Shao Xuan tossed him the emptied gourd.

When it was filled, Tuo tossed the gourd back to Shao Xuan, and continued to fill in the other container that the next warrior tossed him.

The light green liquid attracted many insects, and most of them were pretty large. Any random bug was over a meter long.

“Hurry!” Ta rushed them.

Afar, there were a bunch of bugs flying towards their direction. With only twenty of them, they could not fight against those bugs.

When the last container was filled, that group of bugs was about two hundred meters away from them. It was enough for them to leave.

“Go!”

Naturally they left since they were done with the filling.

“What are they?” After considerable distance, Shao Xuan asked as they were standing on a leaf, resting.

“We call them the tearers. You see the plant that provided us water earlier? It’s wound would soon be healed, and there would be no more crack. The liquid that poured out would be soon reabsorbed and protected by a thick layer. Most insects could do nothing about it. They would leave if there was no more fragrance distributed. However, the tearers are no normal insects. That plant will probably die since there are tearers approaching.” Tuo said.

The insect called the tearer was some creature that was worthy of its name. It had sharp forelimbs like blades to use for tearing. It was a bug that dieted on both meat and plants. The liquid of plants and the blood of animals were both delicacies for the tearers, and they often went in groups.