Translator: Exodus Tales
Editor: Exodus Tales
Thump!
A massive monster was tossed into the tribe’s clearing.
“This is a Thorned Terror Beast?” Ye Xi curiously inspected the strange beast on the ground.
The monster’s body was huge, two sizes bigger than an elephant. It had a savage and terrifying appearance, with long and sharp spikes covering its entire body. One glance was enough to know that it was difficult to deal with.
The Warriors of the hunting team swung their aching arms and wiped the sweat off their heads.
The hunting team had come back later than usual, and many Warriors had wounds, apparently made by the spines of the Thorned Terror Beast.
A Warrior heard Ye Xi and grumbled, “That’s right! This thing is a Thorned Terror Beast. Our leader, for some reason, was determined to hunt this fellow. But these fellows are very difficult to find. We had to waste the entire day just looking for it and weren’t able to hunt anything else.”
Ye Xi did not respond.
Nearby, Courage heard the Warrior’s complaints and strode over, his voice rumbling like thunder. “This old man wanted to hunt a Thorned Terror Beast today! So what? Do you have an objection?!”
Courage was clearly angry.
The other Warriors of the hunting team glared at the complaining Warrior. The leader’s words were law! There was no room for complaints!
The Warrior was still unwilling to concede. They should have been able to hunt many more beasts, but for some reason, they had gone after this Thorned Terror Beast, making them come back with little spoils and even with some injuries.
But seeing the other Warriors staring at him with furious eyes, he finally decided to fall silent.
The Mud Mountain Tribe had two hunting teams. The leader of the first team was Courage and the leader of the second was Calm Bulrush.
Calm Bulrush was a Level 2 Warrior, but Courage was a Level 1 Warrior.
He had been able to become a leader of a hunting team because the tribe had no more Level 2 Warriors, and Courage was the Level 1 Warrior with the most seniority.
It seems that there are Warriors in the team who aren’t convinced… Ye Xi said to himself.
Courage saw that the Warrior had fallen silent, so he squatted down next to the Thorned Terror Beast and began to use a bone knife to dissect it.
As Ye Xi watched Courage work, he wondered why Courage hadn’t told them that Ye Xi was the one who had wanted him to hunt the Thorned Terror Beast…
Was Courage worried that this method wouldn’t work and that it would influence his situation in the tribe?
When he thought of this, his look toward Courage became more complicated.
“Everyone, I was the one who asked Uncle Courage to hunt the Thorned Terror Beast,” Ye Xi suddenly announced.
Everyone in the clearing immediately looked over, including the members of today’s hunting team.
Ye Xi saw Courage glaring at him.
Ye Xi smiled back. Can’t you have a little trust in me?
“Why?”
“Even the disciple of the shaman can’t interfere with the hunting team!”
“No wonder the team leader insisted on hunting a Thorned Terror Beast! It was because of him.”
“We’ll have less food today. My stomach’s going to be hungry tonight…”
Complaints began to rise from the crowd, particularly from the Warriors. Upon learning that Ye Xi had incited Courage into hunting the Thorned Terror Beast, they transferred some of their anger onto Ye Xi.
But because Ye Xi was the shaman’s disciple, none of them expressed their dissatisfaction openly.
Ye Xi quietly listened, his expression unperturbed. Once they were just about done complaining, Ye Xi called, “I know that all of you have questions, questions about why I intervened with the hunting team and had it take such a risk, making everyone go hungry.”
Everyone looked at him.
Ye Xi smiled and then suddenly threw a bomb into the crowd. “The reason I insisted on hunting this Thorned Terror Beast is that it can help resolve the tribe’s water shortage.”
The crowd exploded into chatter. Someone couldn’t help but ask, “What does the Thorned Terror Beast have to do with resolving the tribe’s water shortage?”
But Ye Xi did not complain, only saying, “Patience. You’ll know soon.”
None of the hunting team Warriors questioned Courage’s decision to hunt the Thorned Terror Beast. All of the pressure was now on Ye Xi. All of them were wondering why Ye Xi had said the Thorned Terror Beast could resolve the tribe’s water shortage.
Ye Xi exchanged a glance with Courage.
Courage helplessly shook his head. Now he had done it. If they couldn’t get the water, Ye Xi’s prestige in the tribe would plunge.
The next morning, Ye Xi was impatient to see the condition of the Thorned Terror Beast’s intestine.
Yesterday, Ye Xi had someone make sure to clean the intestines, soak them in the resin of a cherry-apple tree, and then place them in a dark place to dry.
After one night, the Thorned Terror Beast intestines had become stiff, and with the transparent layer of resin on top, they looked very similar to a water pipe.
Ye Xi felt the surface and was very satisfied to see how stiff it had become in a single night.
Not bad. This makes it even easier to use.
Standing on the side, Plate sighed and said to Ye Xi, “I’ll take it.”
The news about getting water had reached the ears of the chief, and the chief had ordered Plate and another Warrior to go with Ye Xi and see if they could get water.
Plate wasn’t optimistic about Ye Xi’s chances. Using such a strange thing to get water seemed too unrealistic.
Ye Xi nodded. “Okay, you take it. Don’t forget to also bring a wooden barrel for water.”
The other Warrior silently went to get a large wooden barrel.
This Warrior was a man of few words, and he had a savage face that made him seem very unfriendly.
Ye Xi couldn’t help but click his tongue when he saw the barrel. This barrel was made by scraping out the insides of a tree. Only in this world of giant primordial trees could the tribe engage in such an extravagant way of producing things.
Once the three were ready, they prepared to head into the jungle.
Before they left, the chief shot Ye Xi a complicated glance, and then he gave an order to the two Warriors.
“Plate, Butcher, it’s too dangerous near the lake. Don’t worry if you can’t get water. You have to return safely. Remember to protect both yourselves and Ye Xi.”
The two Warriors loudly replied in unison, “Yes! Chief!”
Ye Xi mentally noted, It seems that the chief doesn’t have much hope in them.
The three of them carried the massive Thorned Terror Beast intestine and the large wooden barrel and set off, watched by the rest of the tribe.
Not many of the tribe members were expecting anything. They felt that it would be enough if they could bring back even a little bit of water.
With two Warriors present, they encountered no danger.
Once they passed through a jungle and crossed a mountain, they were able to spot a large lake in the distance.
The lake waters were deep blue, and the water seemed very clean. The surface was extremely calm, and the lake seemed like a huge blue mirror.
Several small pterosaurs circled above the lake, adding to the quiet and beautiful scenery.
So beautiful! Ye Xi thought. The unpolluted prehistoric world was truly bursting with scenic vistas.
When they were still some distance from the shore, Plate stopped and asked Ye Xi, “What are we doing?”
“Take this pipe and just place it in the water.”
“Pipe?”
Ye Xi pointed at the Thorned Terror Beast intestines. “It’s this.” After processing, the Thorned Terror Beast intestines were about the same as a modern-day pipe.
“Okay. I’ll go over and put the pipe in the water. You two don’t need to come. Just wait back here,” Plate said.
Butcher expressed no objections.
“Aren’t we still some distance away?” Ye Xi was confused. Could they not go along? This was being a little too cautious.
It was such a calm and beautiful lake, but Plate and Butcher seemed like they were facing a powerful foe.
Plate sternly said, “No amount of caution is too great.”
Butcher solemnly nodded.
Ye Xi was puzzled by their abnormal level of caution.
It was truly very calm here. There were even a few dinosaurs and fierce beasts drinking from the lake. Even if there were terrifying water beasts in the lake, was there a need to be so cautious? They were still very far from the shore.
But Ye Xi still swallowed his questions. These were people who had experienced the danger of the lake, and Plate was thinking about his safety, so he said, “We’ll wait here. You…” can rest easy and go.
Before he could finish, a massive creature broke the surface of the water!
Crash! Splash!
With a great splash of water, an enormous water monster jumped out of the lake, opening its bloody mouth. With one bite, it devoured a circling pterosaur and plunged back into the lake.
Ye Xi was dumbfounded. What was that…
How could the lake hold such a large water monster? It seemed even bigger than a whale!
The water monster had erupted from the lake too suddenly, so he hadn’t even been able to get a clear view of it. His main impression was its absurdly huge maw.
Ripples spread across the lake, and no longer did it appear so calm.
Ye Xi’s heart madly thumped. This water monster was just too big. Just as he was thinking this, a long tongue shot out of the lake, wrapped around a dinosaur drinking water, and dragged it inside!
Ye Xi almost jumped! What in the world was that?
The creatures drinking water from the lake scattered while the captured dinosaur screeched and struggled. But the tongue was unusually tough and flexible, and it slowly dragged the dinosaur into the lake.
Ye Xi’s hair stood on end, and he stared in disbelief at the lake.
A tongue that could wrap around a dinosaur! Just how big was this creature!?
The waters rippled from where the dinosaur had been dragged down, and then calm was restored, with only a few tendrils of blood rising to the surface.
This lake didn’t seem that large, but it was hiding so many huge monsters! That could only mean that this lake was deep, unbelievably deep. There was no other way it could contain such massive water monsters!
For this sort of lake, no level of caution was excessive… That tongue that had shot out of the water was practically unavoidable. It was too fast!
“Plate, just put one end of this pipe into the water and immediately come back. Don’t spend even an extra second.” After seeing the dangers of the lake for himself, Ye Xi did not dare to be careless. Worried about Plate, he repeated his command with a greater emphasis on safety.
“Okay. Do I really just need to put this thing in the water?”
“Yes. You can put it in however you want. Just make sure it’s in the water.”
Plate agreed to this. If he just needed to put one end of the pipe in the water, the level of danger was greatly decreased. If he were just a little careful, there would be no problem.