Chapter 43 – High-level prey
Chapter 43 – High-level prey
Translated by Sunyancai
Lang Ga and the others soon gathered around the wild boar. In fact, they were behind them and were watching all along. Originally, they assumed that it would take them some time to take down that wild boar, however, unexpectedly, these two kids killed that beast quite fast.
“Not bad.” Lang Ga said as he looked at the not yet dead wild boar.
When using a stone spear, one had to be really quick and accurate. Also, the strength must be sufficient, or else it would hardly be effective, not to mention piercing through the thick skin of the wild boar. Even the best stone tool needed to be used properly to work. However, Lang Ga felt that these two kids had already mastered the skills of using spears, judging from the earlier circumstances. Lang Ga and the others secretly nodded in their mind.
While Mao stood there, mind blank. He did not expect that Shao Xuan could act so fast, given that he had not joined a single hunting mission before! Actually, it was just a moment between him tripping the wild boar and sticking that long spear into its neck.
Was that really his first time hunting?
Not only Mao, Lang Ga and the others were sighing at heart. No wonder Mai allowed Shao Xuan to tag along this time. Indeed, that boy had the talent in him.
In fact, Shao Xuan was merely acting all by instinct. It was his first hunting experience, so naturally there was nothing as experience. However, it was just when he chased after the wild boar, there was a moment when he felt that it would be good to strike. So without hesitation, he activated his totemic power and tossed out two short spears in a row, after which he put it down with a fatal strike with that long spear. If the wild boar didn’t trip, it would’ve been rather difficult for him to accurately stab the long spear through its wound.
Shao Xuan looked at the broken shafts in his hand and frowned a little. Two short spears and one long spear all broke down. The first two were cracked by the wild boar, while the long spear broke because it could not bear the pressure when Shao Xuan made the final strike.
So it seemed that aside from the stone spearheads, he should pay extra attention to the wooden material on stone tools.
“Don’t worry. There is plenty of good timber in the forest. We can chop a few trees down and take them back in the cave for handles.” Lang Ga comforted him.
It was true that in the few mountains around their tribe, there was not much good timber. There were fine stones, but when it came to timber, it was not so satisfying. So every time when hunting teams went on a mission, they would bring more spearheads with them, while making the handles with timber from the forests.
When dealing with relatively larger beasts, normally Lang Ga and the others would first bleed them, and pour the blood into the containers they brought with them, for later use. The containers usually were made from gourd-like plants. The blood was drinkable, and meat would be more properly stored if it was bled out.
At that time, Lang Ga still remembered to pass on his wisdom to Shao Xuan, “Generally speaking, wild boars have a rather fixed living area, and they would rest in the brushwood near the water. Their routes for food rarely change, and they would only find new places when there’s no food in their old habitats or when faced with danger. When it gets colder on the mountain, they would move to the valley where it’s warmer and bathe in the sun…”
Lang Ga and the others also intended to skin it and take out all its organs while its body was still warm. However, unexpectedly, they heard a few sounds of whistles before they could do that.
It was a signal from Mai, telling Lang Ga and the others to come, for they had encountered large-sized animals.
There was no time for skinning, Lang Ga and the others seriously looked at each other and began to pack their things to rush to that direction.
“Just leave that boar and keep up with us!” Lang Ga said.
Shao Xuan wasted no time on that boar and without a single look at the game on the ground, he followed up closely with Lang Ga and the others.
There were different rankings of prey, as different levels of animals meant that they contained different scales of energy. In the same size of meat, the one from an high-level prey would keep you fuller for longer. However, if you ate the meat from an inferior prey, you wouldn’t feel as full and after some time running or walking, you would feel hungry again. That was also the reason why more warriors preferred to hunt for the high-level prey in the forest, and they especially focused on the ferocious beasts, instead of normal beasts.
Surely there were some reasons for referring certain kinds of animals as ferocious beasts. For example, the Black Wind that Lang Ga mentioned last night was considered as one of the ferocious beast. It’s just that no one in the tribe dared to mess around with a Black Wind easily, for it was nearly impossible to be hunted down.
Intermittent bangs resounded closer and closer, as if some giant animal was stepping on the ground. The earth beneath their feet trembled, together with the sound of breaking branches. Many small-sized animals and beasts were fleeing for their survival, and trying to leave that dangerous pace.
“You two, keep your distance!” Lang Ga prevented Shao Xuan and Mao from going nearer, and then promptly went towards the sound’s direction together with the others.
Shao Xuan gasped when he got to see that creature.
Finally, he learnt why Mai and Lang Ga called the earlier wild boar a “little” one. Compared with the huge monster ahead, the wild boar that they killed earlier was like a toy car, while this monster was a tough armored vehicle.
“Four-fanged wild boar! It is a four-fanged!” Mao standing beside him got quite excited and surprised. After all, it was not easy for them to encounter such a prey. Unexpectedly, he saw such a monster at only his second hunting trip! How could he not be excited?
Normally, male wild boars would have a pair of upward turning fangs, while the ten-meter mountain-like giant boar had four pairs of them. Aside from the huge fangs revealed from its mouth like normal boars, the other three pairs were on its face. The most upfront pair was located on its forehead, and a little shorter than the other three pairs.
The four pairs of fangs turned to the same direction and almost formed a shield, which could easily crush down the tree in front of it.
Shao Xuan wondered if those fangs and horns affected its ability to see things.
According to the classification that people in the tribe had for wild boars, a three-fanged boar could be considered as ferocious beast, let alone this four-fanged one.
The bristles on its neck stood up like steel needles because of anger and excitement, given that the four-fanged boar was sieged.
When Shao Xuan set his eyes on that four-fanged wild boar, it had quite a few spears on its body already. Those spears obviously didn’t pierce deep through its skin with only a single thrust. They again pushed in hard after the spearhead entered into its body. There were also a few broken spears, with only the spearheads or part of the handle exposed in the air. That was because their handles broke under too much strength.
Many figures were pretty active around the wild boar.
Mai moved his body to dodge the thick trunk thrown by that wild boar, and in a moment all the strength inside his body gathered together and reached the peak. Mai leaped and stepped on one broken handle which then pierced deeper inside the boar’s body, and slammed at the boar with his clenched fist as if hitting on it with a Warhammer, which spread out a fierce pressure!
The spot that got slammed, dented in immediately and its flesh nearby vibrated like ripples.
The wild boar sprang up with a loud and clear howl, as if it could tear up all the space. Its big snout blasted out a gust of hurricane-like wind, whirling around the surroundings, which caused all the branches to get blown off by force and fly away.
Naturally, Shao Xuan who was standing not afar experienced that strong howl.
It was so fu*king… smelly!
The four-fanged wild boar literally became anxious because of all the punches it bore. Its rigid big hoofs crashed the convex stones along its way, and destroyed almost all obstacles in front of it. It had the momentum to kill and sweep away anyone or anything, and it ran even faster than before.
“Do not let it get near the water!” Mai shouted.
It took him a lot of efforts to drive that big thing into that forest, so he couldn’t let it escape! Let alone that there were some dangerous creatures hidden by the pool that they would never want to mess around with. Luckily, those big ones usually do not come out during daylight.
Fifteen totemic warriors, among which five of them were mid-level warriors, oddly they did not manage to stop that four-fanged wild boar. Fortunately, Qiao and the others rushed to their assistance at the whistle, and joined the hunting circle.
Hammers, axes, and stone chains were all used in the hunting, while numerous spears were broken during the process. Finally, they stopped the four-fanged wild boar before it could escape the forest.
Shao Xuan’s racing heartbeat calmed down by the sound of that boar hitting the ground, and the tense nerves relaxed immediately. He ran towards Lang Ga after receiving a gesture of “safety” from him.
Shao Xuan emptied his container of that little boar’s blood, and refilled it with the blood from this four-fanged wild boar, which was much more nutritious. Lang Ga told Shao Xuan to drink one drop at a time, because newly-awakened warriors could not take more.
Since they had captured such a high quality prey, the hunting group stopped chasing other animals. After a simple treatment on the boar, people carried it to the cave in the mountain side.
It was nearly noon when they finally got back to the cave. To hunt and kill that giant wild boar, everyone was feeling a little exhausted. They became very tired when they relaxed after the high intensity of using their body strength in such a short time.
“Luckily, we prevented him from running to the pool, or it would cause so much trouble if the Thorn Black Wind was bothered.” Lang Ga still had a lingering fear, when recalling the circumstances they met last time.
The others shared his feeling and all of them felt lucky to have stopped that four-fanged wild boar in time.
After having the roasted meat of that four-fanged wild boar for lunch, warriors in the hunting group decided to take a rest.
Shao Xuan felt that there was a warm surge running through his body after he ate, which was quite comfortable and cozy. That was the advantage for having high-level prey. All the consumed strength was gradually recovering, and at the same time, he felt sleepier than ever.
“Now go to sleep and have a rest. Newly-awakened warriors like yourself need more time to digest the meat with high energy content.” Said Mai.
Qiao said that she had traced down the whereabouts of a giant-antler deer herd, and they planned to hunt them down in the afternoon. Since it was a large herd, Mai would take people to help, and he decided to leave Lang Ga and four other people to stay back in the cave. At the same time, they guarded the place, they could take care of the two sleeping kids, who were digesting the boar.
When he woke up, Shao Xuan found that there were only five warriors, including Lang Ga, left in the cave. After sipping some water, Shao Xuan felt he was still sleepy. Since he checked and confirmed about Mai and the other’s schedule, he planned to go back to his nap.
At that time, Ang rushed in from outside, with a pretty serious face.
“Just now I heard the howling of a Thorn Black Wind! It seems that Mai and the others got in trouble on their way back to the cave!”
“How would a Thorn Black Wind come out during daylight? Now the sun is still in the sky!” Lang Ga and the others almost jumped up at the news.
Even though now the sun was not up in the south, it was not even dusk, while normally Thorn Black Winds only woke up at night, but also very late at night!
“Do you think it is the one from last time and it came for revenge? Perhaps it came out of the water in advance, just to get back at Mai and the others?” Ang sounded quite worried.
“Shall we go and help?” someone proposed.
Lang Ga opened his mouth, but said nothing as he glimpsed at Shao Xuan and Mao lying beside him.
“It’s okay. You should go, we are pretty safe in the cave.” Said Shao Xuan. His condition did not allow him to tag along, and he knew he would be a burden if he insisted to go with them.
“Yes, you should go.” Mao woke up, too, “A Thorn Black Wind is never easy to be dealt with.”
Even though Mao did not join Mai’s hunting group last time, he had heard from others that last time it took the joint effort of Mai’s group to get rid of that stubborn big one. It was not easy.
“Okay, then. Shao Xuan and Mao, you two stay in the cave!”
Lang Ga and the other four warriors went out of the cave and used a giant stone to block its entrance. Since there were other vents inside, the two kids wouldn’t suffocate. As long as Shao Xuan and Mao remained inside the cave, it was indeed pretty safe.