Chapter 84 – Coming home (1/2)

Translated by Sunyancai

When the different hunting groups in the hunting team were supposed to meet up, the advance group was usually the first to reach the place. They needed to build a new wooden box to contain all the plants and herbs that they had collected. Because of the Green Thief, the entire advance group hurried back, directly arriving a whole day before the other hunting groups.

Despite finally reaching the rendezvous point, the exhausted warriors did not have much time to rest. After chopping down quite a few trees, they made a wooden box the size of a carriage, and put all the plants and herbs inside, before sealing it from the outside. They used vines to tie the box tight, and then covered it with leaves and other similar things. No one could see what was inside, and insects and other pests were prevented from getting in.

When they had finished packing up the plants, the advance group divided into two groups. One group stayed behind to guard the plants, while the other group went hunting. They would take turns so that they would all have a chance to hunt down some game. After all, they had been out for almost twenty days, so they should at least bring something back home. Or else what would they be eating for the next dozens of days? Besides, they needed something to drag back when they walked on the path of glory, otherwise it would be embarrassing.

There were not many high-level ferocious beasts near the rendezvous, so they did not worry that the storage area would meet any unbeatable dangers. In the first place, the rendezvous spot was located near the mountaintop, so there were fewer animals around.

Shao Xuan wanted to tag along with the first group to go hunting. Ta agreed seeing that he was in good spirits. Anyway, the ferocious beasts nearby weren’t so dangerous, so the other warriors in the hunting group would be able to protect him well even if something happened.

One day later, the other hunting groups began reaching the meeting spot.

Mai’s hunting group was the second one to arrive out of the five hunting groups. It seemed that they had a good harvest this time, for the facial expressions on the warriors’ faces were quite joyful.

“How’s the advance group, Ah-Xuan? You look well!” Lang Ga slapped Shao Xuan’s shoulder as he laughed. However, his smile froze right away when he set his eyes on the other warriors in the advance group.

Not only Lang Ga, the other warriors in other hunting groups all speculated that perhaps the advance group had encountered some massive disaster after seeing the state they were in.

The forty warriors were divided into two groups, and those groups took turns going down the mountain to hunt. All the rest they had was from last night, but a single night’s sleep was not enough for them to recover their fatigue. Naturally, they were a mess when the others came to the rendezvous. Even after a quick clean up, they were still a mess.

When had the advance group been as embarrassed as they were now? The others had all kinds of speculations. At least, from the time they were awakened and joined the hunting team, they had never seen the advance team in such a state, as if they had experienced an inhuman torture.

As for the reason for that…people could not help but compare the differences in this hunting trip.

The only difference was that – Shao Xuan had tagged along with the advance group.

The other kids had originally been soaking in the happiness of participating in the first hunting mission in their lives and discussing their experiences with other newly-awakened warriors. However, now they whispered to each other about Shao Xuan.

“Look! The warriors in the advance group are all so tired, they must have had to protect Shao Xuan! However, Shao Xuan is totally fine.”

“Yes, indeed. He must have been a huge liability.”

“So what if he had been blessed by the ancestors? Good fortune can’t be at his disposal all the time. In fact, he is lucky enough to have come back safely.”

“Well, judging by the situation now, I suppose he will not be allowed to tag along with the advance group next time.”

“Alas, it would have been better if he had just stayed humble and stayed in the small hunting groups like we all did. He is not old enough, nor strong enough for the advance group after all. He is only a junior totem warrior like us, but he wanted to tag along with the strongest group.”

The kids were not the only party that had such thoughts. The others in the hunting team all shared the same thoughts. All the people in the advance group except Shao Xuan seemed to be worn out and exhausted, just like the other experienced warriors who had to do their best to protect the newbies in the team. So it was reasonable that they got this tired because of Shao Xuan’s existence in their group.

Of course, the place that the advance group goes to for hunting would be much more dangerous, and any slight mistake could result in severe consequences and different outcomes. Shao Xuan was the only unstable factor this time.

“I’ve said that they shouldn’t have allowed Shao Xuan to join the advance group.” Someone whispered.

“The warriors in the advance group must have tried real hard to protect the kid, Shao Xuan. Look at their exhausted faces! I’ve never seen them like that!”

“It seems that the advance group had run into some real trouble this time!”

“Well…to have been tortured like that…Even the game was a lot less…”

“I think that my boy is no worse than Ah-Xuan, ha-ha. Perhaps he’ll be recruited into the advance group some day in the future!”

“Perhaps someone in the advance group liked this kid Ah-Xuan, given that he had hunted some nice beasts last time. Perhaps he wanted to marry his daughter to him, so he specially recruited Ah-Xuan to the advance group!”

“Stop making things up! The team leader has no daughter!”

“But the others have daughters!”

“Hey, listen, do you think that the others in the advance group are planning to kick Ah-Xuan’s ass when we get back to the tribe?”

“Ha-ha, probably.”