Chapter 634 Net-Patterned Pottery (1/2)

If the Gu tribe wasn’t a very powerful and aggressive tribe, it would be fine. Minor squabbles wouldn’t affect Flaming Horn either. However, if they were very aggressive people, then Flaming Horn must stay guarded.

Of course, Shao Xun didn’t think the Gu tribe was a group of people who liked to invade and rob other tribes for a living. If they were specialised in robbery, why would they spend so much time perfecting their craft? Also, that would mean they kept a high profile- though why hadn’t any of the tribes in the area heard of them?

Even when Flaming Horn’s expedition team visited the major trading points in different parts of the mainland, they still hadn’t heard of this tribe’s name. Various expedition teams never mentioned them, even the Pu tribe didn’t know of the Gu tribe’s existence.

This meant that the Gu tribe’s most likely situation was: far from everyone, in a secluded place, somewhere lowkey around the Flaming River region.

This analysis calmed Shao Xuan down.

Vegetation along the banks grew denser down the river. It was difficult to determine if any tribes lived in this area.

After flying in the air with Chacha for a while, he returned to his boat to update the map. There wasn’t anything important. Only the river and hills were particularly noteworthy but the number of hills was falling. Yet, he encountered more water bodies here.

In the air, he saw lakes and rivers, as well as more animals in the forest. They could hear a cacophony of animal sounds far and near, shrill and deep, within the forest.

Shao Xuan was updating his map in his cabin when he heard commotion outside. Duo Li and the rest must’ve caught some fish again, some fish they hadn’t seen before or it wouldn’t have caused commotion like that. This happened more frequently- the further they travelled downstream, the more diverse the aquatic animals were.

When Shao Xuan went out to take a look, he saw Ah Guang holding a long, peculiar fish as thick as his arm. This weird fish was covered in mud yellow and black pattern. If it rested along the banks, it would be difficult to spot. It had a sucker-like mouth and a very slippery body. Ah Guang could only pin it under his arm at the portion behind its head, causing it to struggle and twist vigorously. There were countless hook-like teeth in its sucker-like mouth that were lined in a ring-like shape. However, they did not touch Ah Guang. They were only useful at a certain angle of ninety degrees.

Duo Li stuck a wooden stick into its round mouth, only to hear gnawing sounds and then realise that the stick had turned into wooden chips.

The weird fish also had two pectoral fins like huge fans large enough to cover a human face. When Ah Guang pinned them down under his arm, the fish looked longer and more slender than it usually did.

“Eh, it’s got a hook in its stomach!” Tuo, who was in charge of cleaning the fish, took out the hook from its stomach. After washing the blood away, the shape of the hook became more obvious.

Tuo passed it to Shao Xuan. “It’s man-made.”

It was a stone fishing hook as long as the little finger, with a hook at the end. It had been sanded so it was very sharp.

The fish could chew wood up to pieces but not sturdy rock. That was why the hook was unscathed in its stomach.

“Maybe there are tribes nearby? Or it swam here from somewhere else?” deduced Tuo, looking at the forest on both sides of the river.

The crew thought the former was more likely so both boats grew more alert.

Shao Xuan did not sense any fire seed auras. Even if there was a tribe here, they weren’t close.