章 21: Thunder Roll Tree and Ground Armor Beast
編集者: Atlas Studios
On March 18, the rain finally stopped, and warm sunlight filled the primitive forest again.
'March 18…'
In the morning, Jiang Xuan got up and engraved the date on the bamboo tube that recorded the dates. He also engraved the words 'clear day' beside it.
After carving them, he stretched, put down the bamboo tube, and walked out of the bamboo house.
At this moment, the orange sun had just risen over the mountains on the other side of the river. It was not glaring at all. It was very beautiful.
"Chief, can we go to the mountains to hunt today?"
Hook Vine could not wait to ask Jiang Xuan.
Jiang Xuan replied affirmatively, "The weather is good today. We can go to the mountains!"
"Great, I'll get ready!"
Hook Vine excitedly went into the house to prepare the hunting tools. The others were also very happy. It was too difficult to endure the rain every day.
After the five of them prepared their hunting tools, they earnestly drew totem patterns on their faces and horizontal stripes with red paint.
The red horizontal stripe was the mark of a one-color warrior. It was an important mark of honor for a warrior.
When everything was ready, the five of them added bulky, heat-resistant wood to the fire pit, closed the door of the bamboo house, and stepped out into the forest to the south.
After the rain, the air in the forest was especially fresh. Even the smell of rotting leaves was washed away.
In order to ensure a good harvest, they made some adjustments to their hunting routes. Of course, the general direction remained the same.
After walking for two hours, they came to an unfamiliar forest.
"Sha sha sha…"
On a big tree in front, a fat green worm was chewing on tender leaves. It was more than 50 centimeters long and had a pair of eye-shaped patterns on its head. It was the size of a bowl and looked very scary at first glance.
This kind of worm could be eaten and was considered as a prey. However, Jiang Xuan and the others had come all the way here and did not want to waste their energy on a worm.
They preferred prey like the bighorn sheep.
"Moo!"
A huge bird with a wingspan of five to six meters swooped down from the sky and grabbed a huge snake that was entrenched in a tree at lightning speed. Then it flew up again and left in an instant.
The branches and leaves were still swaying, but the snake had been taken away.
Jiang Xuan had seen too many of such things, so his heart did not waver. He looked around vigilantly while searching for prey.
He stepped over a thick old vine. He hadn't gone far when he saw a strange patch of big trees.
There were many round fruits scattered under these big trees, each about the size of a football. But strangely, they were all incomplete, as if they had been blown up.
Not only that, Jiang Xuan also discovered that there were many beast bones scattered under the tree. Some of them had already rotted, and some were still relatively hard.
"What is this thing?"
Jiang Xuan picked up half of a fruit and realized that the flesh and seeds inside were gone, leaving only an empty shell.
Chi Shao walked to Jiang Xuan's side and said, "This is a Thunder Roll Fruit."
"Thunder roll fruit?" Jiang Xuan looked at Chi Shao in confusion, not understanding why it had such a name.
Chi Shao pointed to a large tree. "The hunting team calls this tree the Thunder Roll Tree. The fruit it bears is called the Thunder Roll Fruit.
Every year, the thunder roll tree will be filled with fruits of all sizes. When the fruits ripen, they will fall from the tree and explode, killing any beast that passes under the tree.
Because it sounds like thunder when it explodes. That's why the hunting party calls it 'thunder roll fruit'."
Chi Shao pointed at the animal bones scattered on the ground. "These are the beasts that were blown up by it."
Jiang Xuan looked at the thunder fruit shell in his hand and clicked his tongue in wonder as he listened to Chi Shao's introduction.
There are too many strange plants in this world.
Chi Shao continued, "I also heard someone from the hunting party mention something else. Under the thunder roll tree lives a beast called the 'ground armored beast'."
"This ground armored beast is covered in hard scales and has sharp claws. It's very good at digging holes and is very sneaky. It likes to dig holes in the ground and steal the beasts killed by the thunder roll tree to eat."
Chi Shao searched the ground around him. Soon he found a hole in the ground under the fallen leaves. However, this hole was covered in moss. It had obviously been a long time since a ground armored beast came and left this place.
"This should be a hole dug by the ground armored beasts. Now that the thunder roll tree hasn't borne fruit, they aren't looking for food here."
Jiang Xuan used the bone plow to dig a section of the hole. Sure enough, he found a few remaining beast bones inside. There were clear teeth marks on the beast bones.
Jiang Xuan was very interested in this discovery. He planned to come here in the autumn to see the explosive thunder roll fruit and the ground armored beast that liked to steal the carcasses of wild beasts.
"I'll dig up some saplings and go back."
When the thunder roll fruit exploded, the seeds in the fruit would be dispersed. If they encountered a suitable place, they would sprout and grow into thunder roll trees.
Therefore, there were often many small saplings where the thunder roll tree grew.
Since Jiang Xuan planned to build a defensive line of dangerous plants around the tribe, this thunder roll fruit was a good choice. Although it was only effective when its fruits ripened in autumn, it was still powerful.
"I'll dig."
Hook Vine volunteered to dig up the saplings, and Jiang Xuan was happy to have someone do it for him.
They dug up a total of eight small saplings of the thunder roll tree. They dug them up with the roots and soil. This way, they would revive faster and their survival rate would be higher after replanting them.
After digging up the saplings, Jiang Xuan walked around the forest and found some intact sheep horns, antlers, and some animal bones that had yet to decay and could be used to grind bone weapons.
These beast horns and beast bones were good things for the tribe. They would not let them go if they encountered them.
After picking up the beast horns and bones, the group continued forward, searching for prey and edible plants.
At noon, Jiang Xuan shot a big bird that couldn't fly. The five of them had a good meal.
After eating and drinking their fill, the five of them continued forward.
They also found some edible tubers and wild vegetables. Jiang Xuan dug them out, intending to take them back to cultivate them.
There were too few types of food and vegetables planted in the Vine Tribe now. Jiang Xuan would not let go of any opportunity to increase the variety.
When they reached the front of a small hill, Chi Shao suddenly grabbed Jiang Xuan and pulled him into the bushes at the side. She waved her hand to signal to the three youths behind to hide as well.
"What happened?"
Jiang Xuan asked in a low voice.
"There's someone ahead!"
Chi Shao's expression was serious and tense.
Previously, they had been worried that they would encounter people from other tribes sooner or later. Now this worry had come true.
Jiang Xuan followed Chi Shao's gaze and observed carefully. Indeed, he noticed something amiss.
There was an inconspicuous cave at the foot of the mountain. There were many thick dead branches piled up outside the cave. It was obvious that this was done by humans.
In addition, there was thin smoke drifting out of the cave. If one did not look carefully, one would not be able to notice it.
Hook Vine asked softly from behind, "Chief, what should we do now?"
Stone Loach and South Star also looked at Jiang Xuan eagerly. Even Chi Shao looked at Jiang Xuan and did not speak.
At this moment, as the chief of the Vine Tribe, Jiang Xuan had to stand up and make a decision.
Jiang Xuan thought for a moment and said, "Let's find a tree to hide first and observe how many people there are on the other side before making a decision."
The others nodded. They found a tall tree with dense foliage and quietly climbed up. They hid in the tree and observed the cave from afar.
-- 贈り物
が届きました