Chronicles of Primordial Wars - Chapter 385

Chapter 385

It's Him!

Every year, as winter approached, the tribe would hunt more frequently . If it weren’t for limitations in human labour and they could not bring more things, they would’ve stayed longer .  

That was because they would prepare animal hides to be sold to the slave masters and exchange for other things . When the weather turned cold, the demand for animal hide would greatly increase . Their slaves would prepare a lot of goods to be exchanged for animal hide .  

Those with good quality fur can be twice the regular price .  

Things that could not be produced in the village like grains and bronzeware were exchanged this way . The households that were better off would buy some rare products sometimes too .  

All these relied on the prey brought back from their hunts .  

Last night, before sleep, Shao Xuan heard many people discussing what they needed to get for the trade . They asked Shao Xuan too but he hadn’t participated in a trade before so all he could do was wait and see .  

On the second day, before the sun was up, the small teams had already left to hunt .  

Shao Xuan and Tao Zheng’s team trekked through the forest quickly . Every now and then, Tao Zheng would stop to introduce the terrain here . This was a frequent hunting track so he pointed out all the dangerous places, fierce beasts, poisonous and medicinal herbs . Shao Xuan memorised them all .  

After they passed a dried-up river, Shao Xuan stopped suddenly and looked in a direction .

When he stopped, everyone stopped . After the hunt yesterday, the team now dared not underestimate him . Even stubborn Zhui had to admit Shao Xuan was stronger than them .

“What’s the matter?” Tao Zheng asked . He looked at the dried river bed and did not find anything odd . They had passed this place many times and were very familiar with this place .  

Shao Xuan was staring at something . “You all wait here, I’ll go check . ” He ran in a direction .  

There weren’t any dangerous animals there so Tao Zheng followed . “What did you find?”

Shao Xuan did not speak . He wasn’t sure either .  

The river bed was twenty to thirty meters wide . Further away, the river was wider but not deep .  

“Every monsoon, the river would rise but at the end of the year, the river would dry up,” explained Tao Zheng . “The river is filled most of the year, it only dries up at the end of the year . Usually, we don’t cross here because there are dangerous fish . ”

Shao Xuan walked to the bank but did not go down . The riverbed was so dry it was cracking . However, if you stepped on it, you would sink immediately because it was still mud . Only the top layer was dry . There were weeds growing between the cracks too .  

Shao Xuan paid no interest, his goal was the rocks on the river bed .  

“Do you have a spear? Can I borrow it?” Shao Xuan turned around for a tool .  

“Use mine!” Duo Li hurriedly handed his spear over .  

“Thanks . ”

Shao Xuan flipped a rock nearest to him on the river bed upwards using the long spear, then caught it . He brushed the dried mud on its surface, studying its qualities and rolled it between his fingers .  

“Is this rock any different from other rocks?” asked Tao Zheng . These rocks don't look any different to him . They were not big enough to make stoneware either .  

Shao Xuan shook his head . “Just a guess . ” 

He flipped up another two stones, all as big as his fist and put them in his pouch . Then, he walked along the bank and stared far ahead .  

“The dangerous fish you talked about, does it have hard scales, sharp teeth, four clawed limbs and a long tail? It can swim and come on land, right?” 

Everyone else nodded . “Yeah, that’s the one . Shao Xuan, you’ve seen the,?”

They wanted to catch these fish but realised they were very dangerous animals that travelled in large groups . When the weather turned warm and the river was filled, the hunters would avoid this area . They only walked this path when the river was dry .  

Touching the rock in his pouch, he asked, “Where does this river lead to?”

Other people didn’t know but Tao Zheng knew a little . An old hunter once told him .  

“I heard there’s another wider river ahead . That river might run through the entire forest and probably leads to the ocean . However, it’s too far away so none of us have seen it . We just heard it from someone from another tribe . ” 

A river that leads to the ocean? Shao Xuan thought hard .  

He stopped because he felt like the rocks were very familiar . The texture was familiar too . The year he brought the tribe across the river away from the Drumming tribe, a crocodile had given him a stone . The stories denote the Water Moon Stone from the Drumming tribe originated from a rock like that .  

The Drumming tribe had not come here before but perhaps the crocodile had . Maybe not the crocodiles specifically from that tribe but what about other crocodiles? Did they pick up rocks from the ocean and deposit them in rivers too?

He wasn’t sure .  

“Let’s go,” said Shao Xuan . The team still had to hunt, they couldn’t stop because of him .  

Duo Li looked at the leaving group and then the rocks protruding from the river bed . Then, he ran over to flip one up for himself . Ever since he saw Shao Xuan defeat the bone beast alone, he had gained a lot of respect for this Elder . He believed in Shao Xuan’s capabilities . If he thought these rocks were odd, he should take one to study too . Maybe he would make a discovery?

Many people were also wondering if they should pick up one themselves but the team was leaving . Whatever, they could take one the next time they passed . There was still one more hunt before winter .  

Despite the peculiar method he used to fight the bone beast, during the next few days, he used regular hunting techniques . While Flaming Horn people admired individual strengths, it was still important to work as a team . With the team, they hunted a lot of prey . At the same time, Shao Xuan wove a net using vines to catch a few tapirs .  

These tapirs were a smaller species and edible . They were timid and would sprint like mad at the slightest sound . They often hid in dense vegetation until the threat left . These tapirs had patterns on their skin so when they hid in the forest, it was hard to spot them .  

The younger tapirs are even more timid, unlike other animals who are more curious . They would follow their mother and never leave . This survival strategy made a defenceless animal survive till this day .  

Tao Zheng and the rest did not really want these animals but Shao Xuan caught them . It was a mother tapir with a few young ones . They were initially escaping another predator when they ran into Shao Xuan’s net .  

Shao Xuan did not really want to eat a common animal like that either, this was going to be a gift .  

After the hunt, it was time to return to the tribe .

Everyone gathered at the resting point and prepared to send their game back .  

There was a portion of the path that coincided with the Taihe tribe’s path . Although both tribes had different territories and hunted in different regions, they shared the same part of this path . This was a flat area, easy to walk and easy for transporting prey .  

The path had been cleared manually through cutting off branches and pulling out weeds, as well as by the sheer traffic .

Due to the great harvest and smooth hunt, Duo Kang was in a great mood and started to sing loudly . Everyone sang too .  

The aura they exuded was intimidating enough for predators to not approach . When they left for the hunt they would never do this because they did not want to scare away animals . However, it was time to sing to their heart’s content now .  

At the fork shaped like a “Y”, the people of Taihe tribe were transporting some prey too . When they heard the Flaming Horn’s singing, the leader of the hunting party was annoyed . “Them again?!” 

His mood was ruined! 

“Leader… They…”

“Ignore them!” The leader sulked . “We’ll walk and pretend they don’t exist!”

However, their presence was too strong, you couldn’t just ignore them .  

When the Flaming Horn people arrived at the fork and were about to get on the shared path,  both parties met .  

Duo Kang eyed the Taihe tribe’s prey and then snickered .  

Taihe’s leader was furious . “What, are you looking down on us?”

“Hey, not at all! Really, I wouldn’t!” Duo Kang said and shouted to the back . “Duo Li, hurry! It’s just a small animal, why are you so slow?!”

The people at the back did not speak, it was as if everyone shared an inside joke . Just as he spoke, Shao Xuan noticed everyone was visibly excited . Soon, Duo Li and the rest arrived in the front, carrying the bone beast .  

When they saw the beast, the Taihe people were speechless . The leader’s face twitched as he turned green .  

Shao Xuan was happy too, hurrying forward while carrying his prey .  

The Taihe’s hunting leader was about to retort when someone from his team gasped .  

“WHAT?!” roared the leader .  

A young warrior leapt forward, ignoring the leader . He yelled, pointing at Shao Xuan, “It’s him! That’s the one!”