In the dark cave, the chief silently dropped his head. After a few moments, he softly said, “It was a good thing we traded for so much food at the Blackpond Tribe… We can last for a while.”
The shaman sighed and said nothing.
“Why are so many fierce creatures coming to the east?” The chief frowned.
The shaman said nothing.
The chief continued, “Thirty-some years ago, there was a massive pack of giant beasts migrating from distant lands, and when they passed through the west side of the Blackspines, they were forced to flee to our side because of the fierce beasts on that side. Is this also because of a large-scale migration of giant beasts?
“Right, I remember Calm Bulrush saying that he encountered a smaller giant beast herd on his way to the Blackpond Tribe!”
After a few moments of thought, the shaman said, “It shouldn’t be. Large-scale giant beast herds follow a certain rule when they migrate, and when they begin passing through the west side, our side will feel slight vibrations. But I have sensed nothing of the sort.”
“These slight vibrations… perhaps we missed them?” the chief asked, somewhat unwilling to let the matter go.
The shaman gave him an understanding look. “You worry that there’s a drought to the west of the Blackspines, so the savage creatures on that side will come to our side?”
The chief disclosed his worries. “If that’s the case, the tribe will be in dire straits. They will probably stay until the rainy season, and we’re only in the middle of the dry season. If we can’t enter the jungle to hunt, what will the tribe members eat? Our food stores simply aren’t enough to last.”
The chief anxiously paced back and forth. “What could be the reason…?”
At times, the unknown danger was the most frightening.
The tribe had been on the rise, but now, it was immediately having to confront a danger like this…
The shaman indifferently said, “We can only do our best and leave the rest to the heavens. The ancestors will protect us.”
He added, “Remember to calm our people.”
The chief solemnly said, “Yes, I know.”
The two exchanged a few more words before parting. The shaman’s elderly figure slowly vanished into the depths of the cave, swallowed by the darkness. The chief wiped his face, and all signs of worry instantly disappeared, leaving behind only composure as he walked out.
Ye Xi quietly left his corner.
Once the chief emerged from the cave, he quietly stood there for a few moments before calling over a Warrior.
Ye Xi stood nearby and watched.
He recognized this Warrior. He was a very nimble man who was skilled at hiding. As part of the hunting team, he was normally responsible for scouting the path. He had also been part of the delegation sent to the Blackpond Tribe, and it was because of his information that the delegation had been able to avoid many dangers.
Ye Xi pretended to be passing by, perking up his ears to listen to their conversation.
His senses were much sharper than they had imagined. They believed that the distance was safe, but he could actually hear everything.
“After today, the jungle will get more and more dangerous,” the chief said. “We won’t be able to enter the forest after this… The tribe has not gone to fetch water in some time, and many of the water jars are empty. Today, go to the lake, and if that area is still relatively safe, we’ll go to the lake and get water today.”
It was impossible to say how long this upheaval would last, so it would be best if they had as much water as they could.
The Warrior solemnly nodded.
The chief emphasized, “Be careful and remember to hide your tracks. If you feel that there are too many tracks of savage beasts around, you must return at once! Understood?”
“Yes!” The Warrior took his weapons and swiftly vanished into the forest.
The clearing.
The tribe members were restless. Some of them sharpened bone weapons while others worked on tools.
Ye Xi had nothing to do, so he found a piece of wood and sat himself by the cave entrance, determined to make a tea cup.
The bone knife shaved away flakes of wood, and as they collected on the ground, a crude wooden cup began to take form.
The sun began to sink toward the west.
Wooden cups began to accumulate at Ye Xi’s side. They were lined up in a row, and varied from unspeakably crude to barely presentable.
Ye Xi held a wooden cup and absentmindedly carved patterns onto its surface.
His attention was entirely on the outside.
So much time had passed… but that Warrior still hadn’t come back?
Ye Xi put down the cup and cast his gaze nearby, where the chief was staring at the jungle.
The chief seemed very calm, but if one looked carefully, one could see the concern in his eyes.
Even after dinner was over and the fires had been put out, that Warrior had still not returned.
The boulder was slowly rolled over the cave entrance. As Ye Xi looked at the darkness through the cracks, his heart was heavy.
The second day.
It was quickly discovered that the Warrior was missing.
The chief told everyone the truth.
Everyone was sad. They knew that the Warrior would not be returning, but nobody blamed the chief.
After all, they also had not expected the jungle to suddenly become so dangerous that even their most skilled scout could not avoid danger.
But there was good news with the bad news. Their trap had succeeded in capturing a strange creature.
This savage beast had large fangs and a blue body covered in spikes. It seemed extremely hard to deal with, but at this moment, it was impaled on the spikes at the bottom of the pit, its eyes wide open in death.
The pitfall worked.
The tribe members removed the monster from the pit and covered the hole back up.
With this successful incident, they felt hope and dug several more pitfalls.
The tribe needed to ration their food, and if some game could be caught with pitfalls, they could somewhat save on food.
…
On the third day, two fierce creatures fell into the pits.
On the fourth day, some massive creature stomped over the pits and tried to charge into the clearing, but its feet were pricked by the poisonous spikes, causing it to collapse from poison before it could do much.
On the fifth and sixth days, the monsters in the pits grew stronger and stronger, and increasingly bizarre. At dusk, hair-raising roars came from the jungle.
On the seventh day, a pureblood fiendbeast charged into the tribe. Fortunately, Calm Bulrush had fully recovered. With a blessing from the shaman, he and the chief were able to kill the pureblood fiendbeast. By this time, the terrifying roars from the jungle were getting more and more frequent.
On the tenth day, bestial howls that made everyone shiver came one after the other from the jungle. Some of them were extremely close to the tribe, and these roars made little children begin to bleed from their eyes and nose. Their parents hastily covered their ears and carried them into the cave.
On the fifteenth day, none of the tribe dared to step out of the cave. The large boulder blocked the entrance while everyone cowered within, listening to the frightening howls outside.
At times, they could hear savage beasts engaging in some momentous battle.
The twentieth day.
The food store had depleted enough that the floor of the cellar was now visible. On this day, some fierce creature attempted to force its way past the boulder.
All the Warriors placed their backs to the rock and succeeded in keeping it out.
The tribe members spent all these days in fear. After spending so long in the pitch-black cave, some of the children finally began to break.
One child covered his ears to block out the bestial roars. Shivering in fear, he asked his mother, “Mom, when are they going to leave?” His voice was tinged with sobs.
His mother didn’t know either, so she could only say, “Soon, soon.”
On the night of the twentieth day, Scaly became extremely restless, constantly slithering through the cave. It wanted to crawl into a crack in the rocks, and when Ye Xi pulled it back, it angrily bared its fangs at him.
The little flower that Ye Xi had moved into his cave also grew restless. It had been rather listless after not eating for a few days, but now, it had grown its several root feet and was energetically striding around the cave. It had also stopped moaning and seemed to only care about leaving the cave.
These last few days had left them starving.
After all, the tribe had a limited amount of food. As there wasn’t even enough food for the people, there was naturally no food for them. The food given to them was only enough to guarantee that they did not starve to death.
Ye Xi thought that they just wanted to go out to get food. After soothing them a little, he brought them back.
But on the morning of the twenty-first day, the frightening howls suddenly disappeared.
All was quiet outside the cave.
All was quiet inside the cave.
It was so quiet that they could hear their hearts thumping.
All of those savage creatures had seemingly disappeared in a single night.
The chief solemnly stared at the boulder blocking the entrance as if he was staring at some enormous beast.
“Wait a little. Don’t move the rock right away.”
They waited until the afternoon, but it was still quiet outside the cave.
The chief had all the members of the tribe hide deep in the cave, then he joined Courage and several other Warriors in personally moving aside the boulder.