Translated by Sunyancai
The day before yesterday, Caesar had been badly hit by an old giant-antler deer, but today he could throw a younger one on the ground.
His speed and power shown just now were more than those of two days ago.
Ka!
That giant-antler deer no longer moved after a crisp sound was heard.
Caesar then loosened its neck and took a breath, the deer blood dripped from his fangs as he ran on the ground. Because of his hunting the deer, his eyes were still filled with violence, and he seemed to be very excited.
Looking at Caesar, Lang Ga and the others didn’t dare to say anything, let alone order him to drive the stray deer.
Although Caesar could move without difficulty, he was still a little weak. After taking a breath, he opened his mouth to bite the deer’s neck again, and then dragged it to Shao Xuan.
Mai and the others witnessed this scene in fear.
He had just thrown the deer on the ground, and what was he doing now? Even though Caesar became bigger, compared to the adult giant-antler deer, he was still much smaller. But at the moment, he was dragging the deer to Shao Xuan, step by step.
According to the speed and power that Caesar had shown just now, Mai and the others looked at one another, and came to a conclusion.
He became a ferocious beast!
Perhaps he was inferior to the ferocious beasts like the four-fanged wild boar, but he was still a ferocious beast.
Mai and the others knew that Caesar was not malicious, but looking at him dragging the deer step by step past them, inevitably made them nervous. All of their muscles were tight, and they also found Caesar’s breath full of the smell of deer blood.
He killed it in a very bloody manner.
This was what a ferocious beast was like.
They might defeat the beasts without difficulty, but when confronting ferocious beasts, they never dared to underestimate them and always stayed vigilant. They never thought that they would be so close with a ferocious beast.
After putting the dead deer down in front of Shao Xuan, Caesar began to help others to hunt. He had hunted one, so now he planned to not kill the prey again but only help them drive the stray deer.
At first, everyone was still very nervous, but they devoted themselves to the mission as soon as they started hunting.
In the past, Caesar had had difficulty in driving those stray deer. Sometimes, those deers’ eyes were filled with indifference. But they had also been attacked by the wolves similar to Caesar many times, so it was inevitable that they were scared of the wolves. That was why sometimes they turned around and ran away at the sight of Caesar.
But now, after witnessing Caesar’s killing of a young adult deer, they were frightened by him, especially those stray deer ran away as fast as possible without hesitation at the sight of Caesar.
Caesar could easily defeat the deer besides those with giant antlers. Fortunately, they seldom left the group, for they had to protect their cubs. As long as the number of killed deer was acceptable, they would not turn up.
While dragging their prey back to the cave, people in the hunting group still had mixed feelings.
In the past, it was unimaginable that humans went hunting with the help of a ferocious beast.
However, their group had been the first to go hunting with a beast, and now was the first to go with a ferocious beast.
The thought of this was a little exciting.
Mai also talked with Qiao in private about whether to catch two cubs for Ah-Yang and his younger sister,Ah-Guang, to let them train them. However, they refused Mai’s advice. They said that after they improved their strength, they would catch the cubs on their own.
To catch a strong one.
Ah-Guang said.
Yes.
Ah-Yang agreed and said,
As obedient as Caesar!
Yes!
Not a bald boar like the one Mao keeps!
Yes!
Listening to their talk, Mai shook his head, smiled and said,
Not every beast can…experience variation.
Shao Xuan did not tell them about the profound craft, he thought that it should be the Shaman that should work out how to explain it, instead of him. So he should discuss that with the Shaman when he returns to the tribe.
The day before the hunting group left for the second location, Caesar left them for a while, but Shao Xuan did not follow him. When Caesar came back again, he was slightly injured, and there was a lot of blood on his fur, most of it was not Caesar’s. In Caesar’s mouth, there was a wolf bitten by the neck, being dragged back by him.
This is…the head wolf of the pack?!
Mai looked at the patterns of the dead wolf, and spoke with great surprise.
It looks like the head wolf.
Said Lang Ga as he glanced at it.
Did Caesar massacre the wolf pack?
Someone asked.
Maybe he did.
That is to say, there are no more wolves in this place temporarily, right?
Whether Caesar massacred that wolf pack, or just killed the head wolf, it was good for the hunting group. At least the threat of the wolf pack was gone. They really did not want to confront such a brutal wolf pack.
Caesar dragged the wolf in front of Shao Xuan and put it down, looking at Shao Xuan.
This is your prey. First, go with the group and put it in the storage cave. When I go back, I will peel the skin off to keep your den warm.
Said Shao Xuan.
Caesar seemed satisfied with Shao Xuan’s advice. He put it down, and no longer looked at it, lying down to take a rest. Scabs had formed on his wounds, so no drugs were needed.
As soon as Caesar left, several young warriors, including Ah-Yang, his sister, Tu, and Jie Ba, came to look at the rare dead wolf. They did not dare to go close to a living wolf, but they were not afraid of a dead one, and this one still looked ferocious at the moment.
Just like Mao with the Thorn Black Wind, these young warriors were curious about the head wolf. They touched it from the fangs to the claws, and spoke highly of it.
It is worthy of being a head wolf! Look at its fang and its claws!
Brother Xuan, will Caesar become a head wolf in the future?
Ah Yang and his sister looked at Shao Xuan and asked.
I have no idea.
Said Shao Xuan.
Would the wolf kept as a company by a hunting group become a head? Everyone shook their heads.
However, there were many…cubs in the tribe.
Maybe he would really become a leader!
But they did not know how long to wait.
The following hunts were much easier than usual thanks to the help of Caesar. Mai and the others felt less stressful for there being many young warriors in the group. The more helpful assistants, the more chance for them to succeed in getting their prey.
And when this hunting mission was finished, the hunting group returned to the tribe along the hunting route. Walking past the hunting area of the first location, they no longer saw any wolfs with spotted pattern on their backs.
That wolf pack might have disappeared in the woods.
As the days went by, although Caesar still looked very thin, he was no longer as skinny as he was when he had just woken up. With the passage of time, he would get better.
Caesar’s daily food was his prey, and he ate so much that Shao Xuan could not provide enough food for him, but fortunately, he had hunted a lot of prey to store food for himself, and brought the food back to the tribe.
On the day when the hunting group returned to the tribe, Caesar once again aroused heated debate.
But Shao Xuan did not talk about him too much until he was summoned by the Shaman.
Did you use the profound craft?
The Shaman asked him with confidence in his eyes.
Even if the ancestors themselves performed the craft, they had a 50 percent chance to succeed. However, Shao Xuan succeeded in his first try. The Shaman did not know whether his success was because of his luck or any other factors.
Shao Xuan could conceal the reason of Caesar’s change from everyone except the Shaman, but he didn’t intend to conceal it from the Shaman.
He told the details to the Shaman, and said,
His change scared me, for it differed from the records in the ancient volumes left by ancestors.
In order to confirm it, the Shaman once again carefully looked through the animal skin volumes related to the profound craft. He didn’t find any records similar to Caesar’s change. It wasn’t recorded that a branded hunting animal would change so rapidly in such a dramatic way.
The effect of the profound craft seemed different from what the ancestors said.
Then the Shaman let Shao Xuan bring Caesar to him so that he could have a closer look at him. After his careful observation, he thought that Caesar’s change was much bigger than what was recorded by the ancestors. What’s more, Caesar kept changing after waking up. With the passage of time, his change would become increasingly apparent, for he didn’t stop growing. Sometimes, when he was active in the house, Old Ke was afraid of the walls collapsing.
If Chacha meets the requirements, I will also perform the craft on him to see if he will change.
Said Shao Xuan.
With the first attempt, Shao Xuan had confidence in performing the craft again successfully. In fact, thinking about it, he found it not as difficult as recorded.
If the Shaman knew Shao Xuan’s thoughts, he probably would go to the flame pond to kowtow to the ancestors. Such a talent, but why can’t he become the Shaman?!
Hearing Shao Xuan’s mention of Chacha, the Shaman did not agree with him.
No, Chacha is different from Caesar.
Said the Shaman.
Shao Xuan wasn’t sure of the Shaman’s meaning, but before he could continue asking him about it, the Shaman started talking about other things.
Since the craft had been successfully performed on Caesar, then the tribe should have a good look at developing the other cubs.
The Shaman would feel contented if even one-tenth cubs in the tribe could grow as well as Caesar.
Gradually growing up, the cubs were not as obedient as Caesar, and none of them was easy to control, while most of the people in the tribe had a bad temper. If Shao Xuan didn’t give lectures to teach them some skills in raising the cubs, they might have beaten, or even cooked the cubs.
Saying goodbye to the Shaman, and going down the mountain, Shao Xuan saw Caesar followed by a few wolf cubs that had grown a lot. At this time next year, they would form a small wolf pack.
When the several young people who raised the wolf cubs saw Shao Xuan, they at once came to consult with Shao Xuan. Some who had not taken it seriously before, changed their attitude after witnessing Caesar’s change.
After Shao Xuan left, the Shaman came to where the ancient volumes were stored. He opened a huge stone box, in which a large number of volumes were placed in order.
The Shaman took out several original ancient volumes, which were related with the profound craft.
The Shaman thought it was time for him to reveal the things related with the hunting animals and the profound craft.
Taking out several animal skin volumes, the Shaman glanced at the substantial volumes in the box and sighed. He then closed the stone box.
He believed that the concealed history would gradually be revealed to everyone.
