Chapter 10
Shao Xuan was at best a small cave master for now, and in that cave lived a bunch of wimpy kids with irritable characters.
Shao Xuan processed the fish he brought back by cutting it open and removing its guts and gills, just like the warriors did. He discarded the waste to the rubbish place, where all the garbage and litter went. Inside the cave, the rubbish place was piled up by food residue and it would get cleaned by someone from the tribe every few days.
In addition to unchewable parts, the fish got eaten up completely, leaving some broken fish bones and its mouth which had tiny sharp teeth.
Kids in the cave all went to sleep after they shared the fish. Shao Xuan kept a small torch before putting out the bonfire, and then he held it to look at the depths of the cave. Originally he intended to store some food and animal skins before winter arrives, but now, since he took over the cave and found out a way for fis.h.i.+ng, he planned to lead some kids to the river again and hunt for some more fishes tomorrow. When there was enough food stored, they could go through the winter smoothly, because the tribe could not provide sufficient food after all.
Everyone in the tribe was preparing for winter, and people were seen making meat jerky every day since meat jerky could last longer. If Shao Xuan could manage to get more fish, not only would the situation in the orphan cave be improved, they could also use the fish to trade for animal skins and furs with people in the tribe to keep themselves warm. Shao Xuan did not want to suffer from cold.
Depending on the not-so-bright light from his torch, Shao Xuan roughly walked and looked around the cave. He remembered that last time he wandered inside the cave, it was shortly after he woke up in this world. On a whim he took a walk in the cave, but after that, he never went into the depths.
As the saying goes, a new official applies strict measures. Shao Xuan intended to make his own rules since it’s his roof now. Measures must be taken and the cave needed to be reorganized.
Before, the tribe was small and there were not so many people. Everyone lived in the cave and thus they made s.p.a.ce allocations. There were sections for food, firewood, furs and animal skins, tools, weapons, etc. Also there were toilets inside. But as the population grew, more and more people began to move out and build their own houses, so the cave was used to raise orphans and began to get messy. Many places were emptied and dozens of kids were living near the entrance, with lots of s.p.a.ces unused.
There were air vents in the depths, but due to it being vacant for too long, the vents got blocked, so it was dark even in daylight.
Shao Xuan returned to the entrance of the cave after his tour, and he extinguished his torch after making his straw bed with the bundle of hay which he had aired in the sun. But with no specific reason, he found it hard to fall asleep that night. His mind was haunted by things in the cave, the fish in the river, and the illusion he had during fis.h.i.+ng.
As he was thinking, Shao Xuan felt someone or something staring at him. He did not know who, or what that was.
The cave was dark since there was no fire. Moonlight sprinkled down through air vents and it brought in some faint blue light, which only appeared during night.
All the kids were asleep and sounds of snoring could be heard here and there. The entrance had already been blocked by an heavy straw curtain, with no abnormal sound or scene.
Besides Shao Xuan, Caesar was sleeping safe and sound. There should be no danger, since Caesar was unaware of any strangeness.
Unless there were some kids staring at him?
Shao Xuan tightened his animal skin clothes as he shook his head. He planned to sleep, as he was going to take some wimpy kids out for fis.h.i.+ng tomorrow.
But not long after he closed his eyes, Shao Xuan felt a dark shadow flying by his side. It went so fast that Shao Xuan did not have the time to have a clear look. After the flash of the shadow, pairs of eyes with faint blue sparkles appeared.
What was that?
Shao Xuan was startled and suddenly he opened his eyes.
The surroundings were the same just as before. It was dark inside and only moonlight sprinkled down little bit hazy light.
Now Shao Xuan had completely lost his drowsiness. He rolled over and saw that the air vent had been dug out on the top of the wall.
Normally there would be no danger with the air vent, so it wouldn’t be blocked at night.
Shao Xuan got up after some thinking. He could easily see the outside through the air vent, for the place where he slept at had high terrain.
With moonlight on the outside it was brighter, and one could vaguely see the nearby scenery.
There was a five-meter-high pillar outside the cave, and that was from ancient times. At first it served as a sundial, people living in the cave could estimate time basing on the pillar’s shadow under sunlight. Now with no adults in the cave, children began to carve and draw
Shao Xuan knew what it was. He first expected it to be some kind of a bat when he saw it. But afterwards he learnt that it was a swallow-like bird. It was quick when flying and only came out at night. It’s a meat-eating creature.
People in the tribe called it Night Swallow, which was very similar to a bat’s nickname as Shao Xuan knew. Too bad that they were far more ferocious than bats and they were also highly gregarious, so they lived and moved in swarms.
That was also the reason why few people in the tribe would go out at night without a torch. They may easily get attacked by Night Swallows.
Normally a Night Swallow’s voice could not be heard, but it’s told in the tribe that powerful warriors could hear its cry. It was said to be cacophony but it was only a tale told by people, and most of them haven’t heard it in person.
Just as Shao Xuan looked up at the pillar, the Night Swallow resting on top looked back incisively at Shao Xuan as well.
Under the moonlight, its eyes reflected faint blue sparkles, just as what Shao Xuan had seen in his mind with his eyes closed.
Night Swallows would never come inside through air vents, because they preferred to attack single targets and they preferred to attack in groups. For over half a year, Shao Xuan had never seen a single Night Swallow fly inside the cave. But he was certain that someone who goes outside alone without a torch would very likely get attacked.
Slightly breathing out, Shao Xuan decided not to look outside and go back to sleep.
But he knew that because of the flas.h.i.+ng shadow with faint blue eyes in his mind, Shao Xuan could not fall asleep soon.
It seemed that he could "see" the upcoming danger. The fish in daytime, for instance. And the bird standing outside was just another example.
The weather was fine the next morning, bright and s.h.i.+ny.
As usual, Shao Xuan bundled his hay and prepared to take them out later.
Clapping his hands, Shao Xuan said to the bodies lying on the ground, "Wake up, wake up! How many of you are awake? Get up now and go fis.h.i.+ng with me!"
No one reacted.
"The fish is edible, just like the one from yesterday." Shao Xuan continued.
There was some little movement, but still, most of them did not react.
Some kids were still sleeping soundly, as if nothing could wake them up. While some were hesitating over Shao Xuan’s words, even though they woke up already. After all, they have developed a habit of sleeping all day aside from the time for eating. It could not be changed by Shao Xuan’s simple words. They were used to sleeping until afternoon, and then wake up for food. There were also some people opening their eyes unconsciously, and then they fell asleep again after yawning.
In the end, out of over twenty children, four came outside the cave with Shao Xuan, with the eldest two kids among them. The other two kids were called Tu and Ba. Tu was weak and timid, who did not match up with his name which represented slaughter. Ba was relatively gentle in character when it’s not related with food, but he always stammered when talking. Those two were both eleven years old, but with a different physique. Ba was obviously taller than Tu and he looked alike with those thirteen-year-olds. In comparison, Tu was skinny and weak, just like Shao Xuan.
Shao Xuan asked Caesar to dig out some stone worms. He took out the straw leash and black half sphere from yesterday, and led the four kids to the riverside.
The guarding warriors were still the same two people because they had spent the night there. Only after three days, could they be replaced by other guarding warriors. Seeing Shao Xuan approaching, they even greeted him with a smile and chatted with him.
That was pretty strange in the eyes of the other four kids, as they had never encountered similar situations. Those two elder kids did not want to compete and fight with Shao Xuan after yesterday’s event, and their will to fight faded even more seeing their current circ.u.mstances. From their point of view, getting along with warriors in the tribe could be very benefitting. They could step out and lend a hand when you’re in trouble. Earlier, Ku was very much admired because he knew someone living in the hillside.
Shao Xuan prepared his stuff and explained to the four what to do next.
"…It’s actually quite simple. Later on you just follow my command, and do as I say. We will then share and eat the fish we catch."
As expected, the four pairs of eyes got lit up at the word "eat", and their fear after seeing the water faded away.
With limited length of the straw leash, Shao Xuan did not plan to place the bait very far. Also, this time he did not ask for Caesar’s help. The four kids replaced Caesar and were standing at the end of the leash, while Caesar squatted besides them quietly.
The four kids were rather nervous as they grasped the leash. Except for the intensity they had for facing some water creatures for the first time, they were excited about their first fis.h.i.+ng.
"Okay, now we stand still, you should wait for my signal later." Shao Xuan said as he tossed the bait and glanced at the water surface.
Soon, there were some movements in the water. Since it was his third time fis.h.i.+ng, Shao Xuan had some experience and he shouted immediately without hesitation, "Now pull!"
At Shao Xuan’s words, the four kids grasped the leash tightly and pulled backwards with full strength.
The four of them combined were stronger than Caesar and they pulled the fish smoothly. The pulled out fish was the same size as yesterday’s first one.
That was the first time they saw a living fish, and that was a lethal one! So just when Shao Xuan told them to stop, they picked up their wooden sticks and smashed towards the fish hard. Especially Tu, he was scared but deliberately he approached and hit the fish on its head. Just when he was striking, he also screamed like h.e.l.l, which made Shao Xuan angry, he even wanted to beat him up.
"Okay, okay… That’s enough!" Shao Xuan stopped their attacks and pulled those kids away, with sticks still held in their hands.
At first, Shao Xuan mentioned that the fish might be fierce so they needed to take some long weapons, just in case. Now those kids were prepared, but unfortunately, with all kinds of emotions combines, they attacked madly with all their strength, since it was their first hunting trip outside. The four of them grouped together, so when Shao Xuan stopped them from hitting that fish, the fish was already smashed into jam…
How could anyone eat that pile of jam…
The first one was ruined. So Shao Xuan guided them to hunt for another one. The second time, they finally calmed down and the fish was relatively better looking. Shao Xuan cut it open and removed its guts and gills. He borrowed flammable powders from those two warriors and grilled the fish.
The fish Shao Xuan took back last night was large in size, but with too much bones and too many kids, the fish meat distributed to everyone’s mouth was rather little. But that was not the same today.
Five people sharing a half-meter fish, each one could get a large slice even with the bones.
All those four kids were very excited, but with scarce vocabulary, they did not know how to express their feelings. So all they did was laugh, and they were all laughing like idiots.
"So delicious!" Tu said.
"Yes, it’s good for the brain." Shao Xuan replied.
"What’s brain? Good for the brain?" asked a kid.
Shao Xuan thought about it and decided to keep the explanation simple, "It means that you may grow better."
"Grow….grow…better? Is that…Does…Does that…mean that…. that….that we can….be stronger? Like…like totemic…like totemic warriors? "
Hearing Ba’s words, the other three kids looked up at Shao Xuan, with sparkling lights in their eyes.
Even though kids in the cave were hot-tempered, they did not tend to hide their feelings. So one could easily define their minds through their facial expressions.
While at that moment, the facial expressions on these four kids were clearly suggesting that: Tell us now, please tell us now! We believe in whatever you say, as long as it’s good!
So Shao Xuan swallowed the words he was about to say and he hesitated a while before he nodded, contrary to his convictions.
Water was slowly was.h.i.+ng the riverside, and on the surface it seemed quiet and calm. However, Shao Xuan had just "seen" a picture of a fish with mouthful of sharp teeth. It was much larger than the vision from yesterday, but paler. Perhaps that fish was farther away from where he was standing at.
In this endless freshwater river, numerous dangers coexisted, as well as opportunities.
In here they’ll find their food to survive the winter, Shao Xuan told himself.