Chapter 404 (2/2)

They had already solved the problem of the Thousand Grain Gold so the plants were left to Qi Qi and the rest. Shao Xuan did not have to worry about them. Therefore, on a sunny day, Shao Xuan set off to look for the Xia people’s secret.

First, he went to the river where they got the water sunstones. After winter, when snow and ice melted, with added rainfall, the river had risen.

There were crocodiles in the river. Every time they went for hunts, they would avoid this place.

These crocodiles were very aggressive. It didn’t matter if there was a fearsome beast, a wild animal or a human on the bank, they were all prey to the crocodiles.

These crocodiles were larger than the ones he saw at Drumming tribe, also with a longer snout. The top part of the head protruded more than the chin. The Drumming tribe’s crocodiles had sixty to seventy teeth while these ones had more than a hundred.

The teeth were thick as nails, and they were proficient in hunting. The large, gaping jaws easily caught prey, dragging prey into the river to be torn to pieces.

The strong jaws and muscular body made this seemingly heavy animal very agile.

The crocodiles in the Drumming tribe had lived among humans for a long time so they showed a little more sympathy towards the people of the tribe. However, the ones here just killed everything they saw- this was what Shao Xuan felt when he saw them.

It was sunny out so many crocodiles came out to sunbathe on the river bank. Some were rolling in the mud, some fought and snapped at each other.

At the tribe, Shao Xuan knew that these brawny animals were actually cunning. While they had small brains, they were still more intelligent than expected.

At the Drumming tribe, he often saw a kid play with a crocodile using a piece of meat. He remembered how the kid would not throw the meat into the pond but instead patted its snout. This was their agreement- he would pat its snout, it opened its jaws, the kid threw the meat in it, then it closed.

The second time, the kid took another piece of meat but the crocodile had retreated further into the pond. The kid wanted to touch its snout so he waded nearer to play the game again.

The third time, the crocodile retreated more while the kid waded forward. His legs were in the water.

One the kid threw the meat, the crocodile immediately snapped at the child after swallowing the piece of meat. It dragged the kid by his clothes and in a second, he was in the water.

When Shao Xuan saw this, he had panicked but the people told him the crocodiles were just playing with the child.

It was true. The crocodile was just tugging at his clothes but not actually biting the child. The kid was laughing, playing with the crocodiles in the water. All the meat in his basket were strewn in the pond and snapped up by the other crocodiles. And it was all just a game.

Even games played by fierce beasts looked like hunting.

At that point, Shao Xuan knew that the crocodiles knew how to plan and bait their targets. On land, perhaps they might be more reserved but in the water, even the aquatically talented Drumming tribesmen would not beat a crocodile. If the child were on the ground, maybe an adult could save him but in the pool, he would be dragged down in a second.

The tribe treated it as a game but other people, the crocodiles were extremely dangerous monsters. If that child were not from this tribe, the crocodiles would not be biting on their shirt but on their arm, leg or torsos. And the odds of the child returning would be small. Playing with the crocodiles was like a dance with death.

People outside the tribe saw them as killing machines.

According to the deciphered map, Shao Xuan walked along this river to the larger one, then followed it. This larger river was just a faint line, almost forgotten on the map as if it were unimportant.

From Quan Bai and the rest, Shao Xuan knew that the river was filled with crocodiles. They had been here for a long time. Before the Taihe ancestors arrived in search of herbs, the crocodiles had lived in all the streams in the forest, especially in the main river, the thickest line on the map. Quan Bai said the records left behind by their ancestors had mentioned the crocodiles-- they were giant beasts not to be taken lightly and you should run when you see them.

Shao Xuan did not know to what extent ‘giant’ meant but they must be larger than the ones here.