Kapitel 19: Self-Defense
Redakteur: Atlas Studios
Spring, the second of March, the first year of the Vine Tribe.
In the forest south of the Vine Tribe, more than a dozen bighorn sheep lowered their heads to eat grass while vigilantly observing their surroundings. As long as there was the slightest movement, they would run away.
These bighorn sheep had brown fur and were huge. The adult bighorn sheep weighed more than 250 kilograms.
The most obvious characteristic of the bighorn sheep was the pair of huge curved horns on its head. They were not as slender as other horns. Instead, they were as big as the horns of a bison.
"Swish!"
Suddenly, an arrow flew out from a gap in the leaves of a big tree and shot towards a bighorn sheep at lightning speed.
"Baa!"
A bighorn sheep was hit in the stomach. It screamed, then ran away with the arrow that had sunk into its stomach.
The herd was in chaos.
"Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!"
At this moment, four arrows shot out from two other directions. Two of the arrows hit a bighorn sheep, and the other two missed.
The herd of bighorn sheep ran wildly, especially the two bighorn sheep that had been shot. They screamed and ran in panic.
"Chase!"
Jiang Xuan jumped down from a big tree, carrying his bow and arrows on his back. He held the bamboo spear in his hand and quickly followed the sheep.
Chi Shao, Hook Vine, Stone Loach, and South Star also jumped down from their respective trees and followed Jiang Xuan.
Fortunately, they were all one-color warriors now, and their physiques were much stronger than ordinary people. Otherwise, it would be very difficult for them to catch up to the extremely fast bighorn sheep.
As time passed, the two bighorn sheep that had been shot by the arrows were bleeding profusely from their wounds because of the intense exertion. They ran slower and slower, gradually unable to keep up with the herd, and finally collapsed.
After the two bighorn sheep fell, Jiang Xuan and the others, who had caught up, immediately went forward to kill them.
Chi Shao used the bamboo tube she carried with her to collect fresh blood from the sheep's necks. She did not drink it raw as usual. Instead, she planned to take it back and cook it.
The other four did the same. No one drank the raw blood.
Due to the lack of salt, the blood of mammals like the bighorn sheep could replenish the necessary salt consumption after physical exertion. Therefore, drinking blood was the norm for the tribe.
Ever since Jiang Xuan used the name of the old man in his dream to tell them that drinking raw blood would make them sick, Chi Yue and the others stopped doing that. Instead, they would cook the blood before eating it now.
Jiang Xuan pulled out the arrow from the abdomen of the bighorn sheep and wiped the blood on it. "Practicing archery for so long has indeed come in handy. It's much easier to hunt these large prey than before."
Chi Shao agreed. "That's right. The bow and arrow go far. The prey is caught off guard. Much better than throwing short spears and slings."
Hook Vine looked at the two bighorn sheep happily and said, "Such big horns will look good on the wall."
The tribesmen liked to decorate their house and adorn themselves with their prey's horns, teeth, feathers, and so on. The youths were no exception.
They pondered. When they returned, they would cut off the sheep's skull and hang it on the wall of the bamboo house as an ornament.
Jiang Xuan said, "Let's find some vines to tie them up first. We'll find two poles to carry them back."
"Yes, chief."
The five of them immediately got busy.
Ten minutes later, the two bighorn sheep were tied up and the poles to carry them had been found. They could go home immediately.
Suddenly, there was a faint whistling sound in the distance.
Jiang Xuan held his breath and listened. He was very familiar with that sound because it was the sound of tribesmen chasing their prey.
"Sou sou sou…"
Jiang Xuan climbed quickly onto the tallest tree nearby and stood above the forest. He could hear the sounds even more clearly, and the screams of beasts were mixed in the noise.
Because of the dense trees, Jiang Xuan could hear sounds, but he could not see anyone. He could only see a group of frightened birds.
Jiang Xuan climbed down from the tree and said to Chi Shao with a solemn expression, "Those people's hunting range is getting closer and closer to here. Sooner or later, they will find our tribe."
When he first saw the smoke from the bonfire, Jiang Xuan knew that outsiders had come to this forest.
Later, they could see smoke from time to time. They were getting closer and closer to this place. Now they could even hear the sounds of hunting.
This made Jiang Xuan very anxious. Living a better life through their own efforts had not come easy for the Vine Tribe. He could not tolerate having everything destroyed by others.
Chi Shao comforted him. "With the Vine God around, even if they find our Vine Tribe, they won't attack easily. Because even if they take down the Vine Tribe, they won't get much."
Jiang Xuan nodded. What Chi Shao said made sense. There were only five of them, and they had only settled here for a short time, so they had very little supplies.
If the people outside realized that they would have to suffer a lot of casualties to attack, they probably wouldn't attack easily.
However, Jiang Xuan could not figure out what was going on with the ancient vine, nor could he guarantee that it would protect them.
For the sake of his life, he couldn't put all his hopes on that ancient vine. He had to find a way to protect himself.
"Let's go back first."
Jiang Xuan and Chi Shao lifted the bighorn sheep, and so did Hook Vine and Stone Loach. As for the youngest, South Star, he was in charge of guarding them.
Half a day later, the five of them returned to the bamboo house. The two bighorn sheep were quickly dealt with.
After the sheepskins were peeled off, dried, and soaked, they could be used as winter coats or bedding.
As the three youths had hoped, the sheep's head was used as an ornament after the meat was removed.
He cut the flesh into pieces and hung them above the fire pit to smoke them day and night to prevent them from rotting.
Sheep bones could be used to make bone knives, bone spears, bone plows, and other weapons and tools.
Almost every part of the bighorn sheep would be used effectively. Even the inedible parts would be thrown into fishing traps as bait.
The tribesmen had lived in an environment where supplies were scarce for a long time. They would not waste anything that could be used.
After dealing with the two bighorn sheep, Jiang Xuan and the others had a full meal first. Then they would have the strength to continue working.
"I'm going to dig a tunnel under our bamboo beds. If someone from the outside attacks, we can hide in the tunnel for the time being."
Jiang Xuan told Chi Shao and the others his thoughts.
The inspiration for digging the tunnel came from information about tunnel warfare he had seen in his previous life.
The people in war pushed their survival wisdom to the extreme.
They dug tunnels under their stoves, beds, cabinets, and in various hidden places.
Whenever the enemy attacked, they would hide in a secret tunnel to fool them. After the enemy left, they would come out and live their lives like before.
Jiang Xuan planned to temporarily dig a simple tunnel to protect themselves. He believed that as long as they dug it secretly, it would be difficult for other tribesmen to discover them.
After hearing this, Chi Shao's eyes lit up. "That's a good idea. I agree."
"We approve too."
Jiang Xuan nodded and said, "Alright, from today onwards, we'll take turns digging the tunnel."
Jiang Xuan immediately took a bone plow and started digging.
Thanks to the increase in strength and the improvement of his tools, Jiang Xuan was able to dig fast although there were many bamboo roots underground.
Chi Shao used a rattan basket to carry the soil that Jiang Xuan had dug out to the farmland outside.
From this day on, they would assign two people to dig tunnels every day. The others would be responsible for hunting, fishing, and planting.
A few days later, the bamboo house of the Vine Tribe had a tunnel, and it was still widening and deepening.
With this tunnel, they could temporarily hide in it and save their lives if they encountered any unstoppable danger in the future.
-- Geschenk
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