Translated by Sunyancai
After it was properly fed, it flew up to the ceiling, and soon disappeared from Shao Xuan’s vision.
At the mountaintop, above the giant pit.
A black shadow silently slipped out from a stone crevice on the wall of the giant pit.
It was shining brightly outside.
Under the bright sunlight, that black shadow flew straight up into the sky, it became difficult to see.
If Shao Xuan had seen it, he would find that its nose bones and a few other bones in the throat were opening and closing quickly, and it created sound waves that even intermediate warriors couldn’t hear.
But, hearing those faint sounds that were impossible to hear, the big bats from different areas of the forests flew up high, one after another.
No matter what those bats were doing earlier, they all stopped, whether they were hunting, dining, or chasing after the warriors that had thrown those smoke herb balls before; they flew up high without any hesitation, and headed towards the giant pit.
In the gray zone that was filled with giant spiders and their nets, the hidden warriors noticed that the army of bats that chased after them suddenly all turned around. Even those that got caught in the spider webs were struggling like crazy. After they chewed down the webs and finally got free, they flew up high towards the direction of the giant pit.
What’s … wrong with them?
One warrior asked another while breathing heavily.
The direction that they are flying to is…
Over the other side of the hill!
Something happened on the bosses’ side?!
Let’s go over there quickly!
All the warriors whistled to make their whereabouts known to each other.
All those that were messing around with the bats started rushing towards the bat caves.
When they left the forest and there were no dense branches blocking their view, instantly they saw that there was a dark cloud of bats hovering above the giant pit. Moreover, the dark cloud was growing.
No matter whether they were near or came from afar, almost every bat flew towards the giant pit and joined that piece of
dark cloud
.
Inside the cave, Shao Xuan recovered some of his strength.
It was not a good time for them to stay inside, for all the others would fall unconscious again, even if they managed to sober up for some time.
Shao Xuan carried all the warriors sleeping on the piles of dead bats out of the mist zone.
When he finished carrying them out from the mist, Shao Xuan gave every one of them some herbs to chew in the mouth.
Inside the cave, there was no living bat remaining.
After taking some time to rest, Shao Xuan heard something from outside. The group of warriors that drew the attention of the first batch of bats had arrived.
Seeing the people lying on the ground silently, the ones that came were all stunned. However, they became relieved after they checked everyone’s status.
What’s going on outside?
Asked Shao Xuan.
All those bats that chased after us made a sudden turn and flew towards the top of the hill… The ones inside the cave…well, I mean those bats you talked about, were all gone as well. They all gathered above the giant pit.
Said a warrior.
We should probably get out of here right now, and talk about things later.
Indeed. Shao Xuan couldn’t agree more. If those bats out there returned, none of them would ever be able to escape.
Shao Xuan only got the chance to look at the sky after they had carried all the unconscious people outside the cave.
At that time, the
dark cloud
above had become quite big already, the sky surrounding it was getting dark as well. Shao Xuan stood there, but he could not feel even a trace of sunlight.
Turning around to look at the other places, Shao Xuan found that there were dark stains on other parts below the hill. And they were growing as well, because more bats from afar were making their way over to this hill constantly.
What are they trying to do?
I have no idea.
Seeing their scale in numbers, those who were sober all felt that their earlier plan was too bold. They only had a total of around 150 warriors. And the things in the sky, well…
It was horrifying seeing so many of them gathering together. Were all the bats in the region and surroundings coming over?
As he was focusing on the sky, suddenly Shao Xuan heard something. He looked over and saw Caesar running towards him.
Before, when the five hunting groups started their missions, Shao Xuan kept Caesar out of the plan. Also, Caesar was no fan of the smell of the herbs. He was told to wait in the holdout with another few wounded warriors.
However unexpectedly, Caesar ran over towards him!
What is it doing here?
Did something happen in our holdout?
A few warriors beside him asked nervously.
No, Caesar was only worried about what was happening here.
Said Shao Xuan.
Caesar was originally waiting in the cave of their holdout, however, all of a sudden he heard the voice of the alpha bat. He rushed out and tracked Shao Xuan down to this place according to the smell.
Shao Xuan told Caesar to wait aside after he rubbed on his head.
In the air, that piece of
dark cloud
had expanded to its limit, and there were no more additional bats joining the crew. After they had collected every bat, the pack flew towards some direction.
Over there…
Shao Xuan looked over there. In the distance, in that direction, there was a very tall mountain. It was taller than every other mountain nearby, surrounded by clouds and mist, with a snow covered top.
I remember that there were a lot of holes and caves in that mountain.
Yes. I once followed the boss to that mountain. But there were a lot of cave bears and other ferocious beasts living in the holes. So boss forbade us from getting near to that place.
Someone from Cheng’s hunting group shared his knowledge of that mountain with the other companions.
Now, that giant piece of dark cloud formed by bats was heading towards the top of that mountain.
Were they going rob the place for later use of their own?
It’s possible, but a brutal combat will be unavoidable.
Who do you think will win?
I don’t know. But I don’t wish for the bats to win, or else how would we go hunting in the future?
Someone from Cheng’s team was worried.
The other warriors in the other hunting groups tapped on each others’ shoulders with sympathy. It was truly a disaster for the animals in that mountain to encounter that pack of monsters. If it were not for the Fire Crystals, they would never mess with that bunch of monsters.
Since the batch of bats had left, the remaining warriors discussed and decided to take their unconscious teammates back to the holdout first.
Probably, mostly because of the bats, they did not encounter any ferocious beasts, or even normal animals, on their way back to the cave.
One day later, those unconscious gradually woke up. Mai and the other group leaders were the first ones to wake up. However, they still felt dizzy after they woke up. It took them yet another day to recover.
Shao Xuan told them that the first hatched bat slaughtered all the others without the slightest sign of mercy, it became the alpha bat, and led the giant army of bats to fight over the other high mountain. The five group leaders instantly got very excited, they instantly wanted to check the current situation over there.
The bat army experienced quite a lot casualties during the combat since the alpha bat started the war, but in the end of the day, they won. They had kicked out and swept away many other creatures that had been living in those caves. When Mai and the others went over there, they saw some corpses of cave bears.
That huge amount of cave bears also got driven away from their homes. Those cave bears that managed to remain alive did not dare to set foot in that region again.
Although the current situation probably meant that they needed to deal with those bats in the future, all five hunting group leaders were thrilled to learn about the fact that these bats robbed another new place, which meant that they won’t be coming back to the original hill.
Which meant that now they would be free to go there, and start digging in any way that they wanted!!
This fact made the five group leaders so happy that forget that they had not fully recovered yet, and they quickly ordered their people to get ready to dig.
Over the giant pit, things became much quieter with the absence of those bats.
The five group leaders first got rid of the thick layers of bat poop. Then, Shao Xuan marked all the spots where he sensed the Fire Crystals. The closer the Fire Crystal was lying to the surface, the smaller the circle would be. After he was finished, the others instantly began to dig.
There were seventeen circles at the bottom of the giant pit, in other words, that meant that they would be able to dig out at least seventeen more Fire Crystals, big or small. It would be a huge gain if they could just dig them up.
I didn’t expect to be still breathing now.
Cheng said.
Neither did I.
Mai smiled bitterly. This time, they completely survived by luck. It was so fortunate that the alpha bat chose not to suck them up.
I wonder if that alpha bat will become a king bat in the future.
Said Cha.
There were alpha leaders in many herds and packs of different animals, however, a king beast was rarely seen. Whoever could be addressed as a king something, it must definitely be the strongest one of its kind. It was a title of the whole species, instead of just a group of them.
I think it’s possible. It really is. By then, we may not have the ability to fight back. I have been hunting outside for so many years, but this is the first time that I have encountered something like that.
Someday, in the future, if that beast does become a king bat, I will propose a request to the Shaman to change the hunting route.
Said Cheng.
The place with a king beast living inside would definitely become a forbidden place for sure. The king stone worm was an unusual exception, because no stone worm, big or small, old or young, would ever attack humans on purpose. However, it is totally different with those bats.
No matter whether that alpha bat has the chance of becoming a king beast of its kind, and no matter how long it would take for the thing to become a king beast, the five leaders made a joint decision, which was that they would stay as far away as possible from that mountain! They would never mess around with them ever again!!
When Mai and the others had been brought out from the bat caves, the mist zone became more toxic. It was probably because there were more bodies buried inside. Since no one ever re-entered the toxic mist zone, none of them had the chance to learn about what had happened since they left.
Shao Xuan did not share the whole story with Mai and the others, he kept something to himself. For example, the Fire Crystal, the alpha bat had absorbed some energy of that tiny Fire Crystal, and had sucked up every living thing, but just left the warriors out.
That was something that Shao Xuan could tell the Shaman, but the Shaman would be the only one that he tells these things to.
Shao Xuan was having a headache, for he was thinking hard about what he should tell the Shaman after they got back. Shao Xuan looked at his palm and wondered.
After five days, all the Fire Crystals that Shao Xuan had marked got dug up.
Looking at the small bag of Fire Crystals, all five group leaders had tears in their eyes. They almost all died for the sake of those Fire Crystals.
They used the best animal skin bag to store the Fire Crystals, and even the ones that were held on to by Mai and Cheng were tossed inside the bag.
Ah-Xuan, where’s your piece of Fire Crystal? Come, let’s put them together and wrap them up well. After we get back to the tribe, we’ll make good use of them.
Said Mai.
…It’s…gone…
Said Shao Xuan. That little Fire Crystal had been fully absorbed by him, and after it released all the energy it contained, it turned into white powder. However, that was something that Shao Xuan couldn’t share with everyone.
Did you lose it?
The five group leaders hesitated and looked at him.
After they confirmed that Shao Xuan really did not have it, and was not trying to keep it to himself, all five people felt it was a giant pity. But, to be honest, Shao Xuan indeed carried them out from the mist one by one, and at this time, none of the leaders felt it appropriate to blame him. This time, Shao Xuan would still take most of the credits for this mission. Oh right, Caesar was also very brave, and he had contributed a lot as well.
Like the other young warriors resting from their wounds, Mao was not allowed to participate in the digging of the Fire Crystals. Instead, he was just watching from the edge of the giant pit.
When the five group leaders had stored the small bag of Fire Crystals carefully in an animal skin bag, they happily discussed about how to tell the Shaman this wonderful news. In the meantime, Mao was just curious what his dad was going to think when he learned about the Fire Crystal thing after all the hunting groups got together again. The expression on his face would be pretty interesting.
However, at that moment, Ta suddenly sneezed as he was leading some people in the green land. Somehow, he was having a strange feeling lately… What’s that about?
