Translated by Sunyancai
There was still some time before it would become dark. In order to find the missing men as soon as possible, the hunting group leader immediately showed Shao Xuan around.
I would like to know whether they went straight to the water spot after they left the cave.
Cheng told Shao Xuan.
Although they knew that the missing men were fetching water for the group, Cheng still wanted Caesar to help him confirm on that.
Okay.
Shao Xuan answered.
From inside the cave, Shao Xuan asked someone to bring the items that those missing men had used for Caesar to sniff, so that Caesar could memorize their smell.
Cheng and Mai each took a dozen warriors, and they headed out with Shao Xuan.
We tried to follow those things, thinking to find their old nests. However, we followed a few groups of bats, only to find that they had different nests.
Said Cheng.
The first reason that Cha went to find Mai and the others for help was to borrow Caesar, and see if they could find their missing men with the wolf’s help. For starters, they needed to make sure where they were when they were taken by the giant bats. However, there was also a second reason. No matter whether or not they would manage to find their missing men, they still had to look for help, given that they lost three warriors out of blue, and the current situation couldn’t be more abnormal. The resources that they could turn to for help were of course Mai and his men in his hunting group. They were very close to each other.
Cheng sighed deeply as he stared at the wolf that was walking in the very front.
Caesar walked in front of everyone, and he was sniffing around as he walked.
After they left the cave, they indeed walked directly towards the water spot. However, Caesar made a sudden stop along the way.
Shao Xuan closely observed Caesar’s reaction, and interpreted,
One of the three went that way.
Cheng looked at the direction that Shao Xuan pointed towards, and shook his head,
There are no forests, no caves, and no water over there. Normally, no one would enter that area.
We haven’t searched that area thoroughly.
Said Cha.
Cheng kept silent for a few seconds, and then said,
Let’s go to the water spot first.
One out of the three left in between, but all three of them went missing. What did the other two encounter on their way while fetching water?
The water spot that Cheng’s hunting group used was a naturally formed water pool near the mountain side. It was not far from the cave at the first location.
Normally we fetch water from here in small groups of three. There are no extremely dangerous ferocious beasts up here. Even if we encountered one or two, we can easily manage to escape successfully. I myself came to fetch water from here quite a few times. However, this time it’s different.
Cha pointed at the grass beneath their feet.
There were some pressure marks on the grass, which were probably caused by the missing men when they fell down on the ground. Many grassleaves got crushed down, and there were claw marks and blade scratches on a stone nearby.
The blade scratches were made by the stone swords of the missing warriors, and the claw marks were identified as similar with the claw marks of the giant bats. The only difference was that they were much bigger.
If the missing warriors were taken from the air, then it’s no wonder that no one in Cheng’s hunting group could track them down. Because aside from the traces and marks here, there were no other useful clues.
However, if they were taken from the air, even Caesar with his good sense of smell would find it hard to continue the searching mission.
Let’s go check that lone one.
Cheng was a little disappointed.
Okay.
That was the only option left.
People walked back and returned to the spot where the three warriors split up earlier. Here, one of the warriors left in advance. Caesar carefully identified the smell and led people deeper into that area.
At first, they were wandering around the mountain side, but later, they headed up towards the mountaintop.
I remember. There are a lot of rocks and only have narrow paths. We have been here once in the past.
Said Cha.
Cheng looked around, and added,
Sometimes, mountain antelopes would appear in this area.
There’s smell of blood.
Cha suddenly claimed.
Not only Cha, Mai and some others detected that smell as well.
However, now the wind was not blowing in the same direction. At the moment it was difficult for them to tell where the smell of blood came from.
People continued following Caesar until they reached a giant rock, where there was the dead body of a mountain antelope.
There were a lot of torn-up wounds on the mountain antelope’s body. Judging from the traces, the wounds were caused by those giant bats. There were blood stains on the ground, but there weren’t many of them. Most of the blood was sucked up by the bats.
If they hadn’t followed Caesar to this place, people in the hunting group would have hardly thought of searching in this region. After all, they rarely came to this place in the past. Neither would they ever have guessed that someone from the water-fetching group would come here.
He must have heard something, so he chased after the sound.
Said Cha.
The one that came here was the strongest person among the three missing warriors. He probably wouldn’t have thought that he would encounter those giant bats in the middle of their hunt. Then he himself became a prey, and now, no one knew whether he was still alive, and no one knew where he was brought to.
If they had eaten the food, the food would be left here. Whenever a being was taken by them means that they did not eat it yet.
Said Mai.
Disappearance was better than dead. At least, they had a chance of being alive.
People looked at Caesar, seeing that he was sniffing on the ground. Caesar walked towards some direction, sniffed on the ground again, and then looked up at Shao Xuan.
Judging from that, Caesar seems to have found something.
Said Shao Xuan.
Something on the ground?
Cha walked towards Caesar quickly, and poked his finger into the earth beneath Caesar’s nose. He then put his finger under his nose to smell carefully. Cha couldn’t help but frown, it was smelly.
So what is this odd smell?
Perhaps it’s the things’…urine.
Shao Xuan made a quick guess.
Their urine?
Yes. They need to let out the liquid when they have eaten too much in order to make their bodies lighter, and to fly easier.
Shao Xuan explained.
Hearing Shao Xuan’s speculation, Mai and some other warriors all nodded. They thought that the guess and explanation were reasonable.
With that clue, people became spirited again as they continued to follow Caesar.
Walking out of the area of giant rocks, people noticed that there were not many trees in the surroundings. They kept walking forward for some distance, getting near the water-fetching spot. However, instead of going to the water spot, Caesar led people forward.
Those things kept peeing all along the way?
Cha asked.
I guess the smell was there the whole way, and… there is also the smell of human combined in it.
Shao Xuan watched Caesar’s actions and said.
What do you mean?
Cheng looked at Shao Xuan.
In other words, the one that got captured probably got peed all over his body.
Shao Xuan said.
That’s probably true! Warriors all wore thick animal skin clothes when they went out to fetch water, which could soak a lot of liquid, and then drops of urine leaked along the way.
That warrior really had bad luck. He only went out of the cave to get some water, but he got caught by a giant bat, and got urine all over the body. However, just because of that, the others might be able to find them with the traces and clues he left.
People followed Caesar as they walked in the mountain. Sometimes when the smell stopped, they had to enlarge the searching area.
Mai was a little worried since it was getting dark,
We probably won’t be able to head back before night. Is there any cave around here?
We rarely came to this region in the past. There were a lot of bat caves, though. We followed them and found quite a few holes and caves right in this mountain valley.
Where are their caves?
Shao Xuan asked.
Cheng pointed in a few directions.
Those holes and caves are not on our hunting route. We are not familiar with the surroundings.
Caesar already stopped walking. The smell had stopped again. This time, they might not be able to continue the search anymore.
Now what?
Cha looked around. They were standing on some hill that was not too high. There were no trees nearby. On the ground there was only grass.
Nothing abnormal was in the surroundings, since they could see what was happening around them.
Shao Xuan stood there, feeling that the totem in his mind seemed to be very active right now. Looking at the others, it seemed that none of the others were having similar situations.
Shao Xuan carefully observed the direction that the flame on his totem fluttered towards, and looked at that direction. Over there was the top of that hill. Since it was not high enough, there was no snow, just a patch of grass.
Shao Xuan walked towards that direction. Mai and the others assumed that Shao Xuan probably identified the right direction based on Caesar’s behavior, so they tagged along.
Step by step, they approached the top of the hill, and the totem in his mind became more energetic. Aside from that, Shao Xuan heard something, like an airflow flowing quickly. It was like an amplified snore.
Uncle Mai, did you hear something?
Asked Shao Xuan.
No…Oh, yes, I heard something. It’s the howling of those things…no, not clear…perhaps it’s too far…
said Mai.
I heard something, too.
Cheng hurriedly ran towards the top of the hill.
The howling of the bats? Shao Xuan frowned. No, it isn’t. At least, what he heard was definitely not from the bats.
Cheng was the first to reach the top, but he suddenly stood there still, as if he had seen something stunning.
Did you find something?
Mai and the others sped up as well, and they reached the top after a few leaps.
Just like Cheng, the others were stunned.
In front of them, there was a big pit in the ground, with the diameter of more than 100 meters and the depth of over 80 meters, at least.
The inner wall of the pit was not as barren as the rest of the hill. It was like a different world inside.
Several thick roots and vines intertwined with each other as they went downwards. The leaves were spreading like giant umbrellas. There were different kinds of plants growing on the walls, with some of them bearing fruits and flowers.
This is….
Since they had never been out this far, Cheng had no idea that there was such a big pit. When they chased after those bats, they did not think about heading up to the top.
Shao Xuan looked down to the bottom of the pit as he was standing on the edge. It was not dark. With sufficient daylight, people could see the situation in the bottom. However, compared with the walls of the pit, there were much fewer plants growing on the bottom. Only some unknown plants were spread out in a monotonous way.
The totem in his mind became extremely active, and the flames danced as they wrapped the two horns.
Something down there was luring the totem.
There are quite a few kinds of rare herbs at the bottom! Some plants I’ve only seen in the animal skin rolls at the Shaman’s place.
Shao Xuan said.
Mai and Cheng exchanged a meaningful glance, and said,
We’ll head down to check the situation. You guys wait here for our call.
Mai went down along the vines with Cha, Cheng, and a few other warriors, to see if it was dangerous down there. They needed to check it out. Shao Xuan, Lang Ga and some others remained by the edge of the pit, waiting.
Just like Shao Xuan had said, there were a lot of fine herbs at the bottom, among which there were the type they used to detoxify the bat’s bites. It was such a nice surprise for the warriors.
After circling around roughly, Cheng waved towards the warriors waiting up there, to indicate that they could climb down. Even doing that, people had to be cautious, for there were still unknown dangers and risks.
The vines had some burrs and they were not smooth at all, which was a good thing for the warriors. It made their movements easier.
Shao Xuan climbed down with the others, but he left Caesar to wait at the top.
There were quite a lot of herbal plants on the walls of the pit, and people hurriedly cut down the ones they knew that could be used for emergencies.
Shao Xuan did not focus on the rare plants and medicines on the walls. After they landed on the bottom, he felt that the flames on his totem seemed to be more excited.
He looked down to his feet.
There were piles of bat droppings.
