Translated by Sunyancai
It is to be said that although Chacha had not changed as much like the other older giant eagles, he had benefited a lot from this travel, with his body size increasing clearly, and his flying speed improving greatly. He could fly easily, even while carrying a man and some heavy items on his back.
After flying down from the mountain, Shao Xuan was unable to see the figures of the other giant eagles. It was time for each one to leave and go to their homes.
They would not fight each other until the day they reached their region. At that time, they might recall something like,
Oh, it’s you. We were in the same batch enterring the eagle mountain.
Maybe they would never meet each other again their whole life.
Thanks to this travel, Shao Xuan saw the legendary eagle mountain, the so-called sacred land for the giant eagles, and their enormous changes after transforming, and also got some rare treatures. More importantly, it was the first time that he had seen an item from an external tribe.
So it was indeed a worthwhile trip.
Though Chacha grew bigger and flew faster, it was inevitable to get into trouble without the protection of a larger giant eagle. So it took them more time on the return journey.
Nevertheless, Shao Xuan got much joy from the battles on the way home. When he stayed in the ice field on the mountaintop, he spent most of the time sitting there quietly and absorbing the energy of the ice. For a while, he could run about, before the arrival of a new batch of giant eagles. With the increasing giant eagles in the ice field, he dared not to move around.
During the days in the ice region, Shao Xuan even found that the totem pattern on his arm had extended to his elbow unwittingly. On the way back, he took the opportunity to fight with ferocious beasts. Of course, he was not that arrogant to challenge those stronger than him. Except for unexpected enemies, every opponent was selected through cautious analysis by Shao Xuan for fighting practice.
Shao Xuan was injured by them many times, and even encountered fatal attacks from those ferocious beasts that were adept in hiding. All this hadn’t happened on their way to the eagle mountain. It should be contributed to the protection of the experienced giant eagle. Otherwise Shao Xuan and the tiny giant mountain eagle, Chacha, might have been eaten by the ferocious beasts and turned into their dung.
It was far beyond Shao Xuan’s expectation how dangerous the mountain forests actually were. In retrospect, it was indeed a bold and reckless decision to leave the tribe with Chacha before.
Alertness needed to be developed by experiencing dangerous battles over and over again. Instinct would be gradually weakened by long-term stability and peace, and could only be regained by experiencing a bloody battle again.
However, Chacha was too aggressive and vengeful in regards to the twig-like snakes in the forest. On their return journey, he often searched for small snakes as food since he was no match for the bigger ones.
After feeding on ice for nearly a year, Shao Xuan nearly broke into tears when eating hot beast meat roasted with fire again, as did Chacha. He was quite ferocious when biting and pecking the meat, as if somebody had been vying for it.
After calculating the days, Shao Xuan guessed that it might be winter when they returned to the tribe.
Do you miss Old Ke, Caesar, and the other peolpe in the tribe?
Shao Xuan tapped Chacha, who was tearing the meat, and asked.
Chacha suddenly stopped and seemed to be recalling. Then he let out a cry and continued tearing the meat more fiercely, even spilling blood in a large area.
Shao Xuan speculated that he must have thought of the beasts which had been successfully branded and intended to beat them up when arriving at the tribe.
At the sight of the familiar
Severing Land
, Shao Xuan and Chacha became eager to return to the tribe, but they still stayed prudent and alert in case of danger.
They travelled past the land of thorns and arrived at the third hunting area, where they didn’t meet the hunting group. The group must have already returned. According to the traces left in the cave, it could be inferred that the group just left here 3 or 4 days before. Despite the perilous hunting area, this finding made Shao Xuan and Chacha feel inexplicably relieved.
Shao Xuan and Chacha rested for one night in the cave and set off again the next day.
They had once thought the huge mountain separating the first and second hunting area unscalable, but they changed their mind after having seen the mountain range beside the eagle mountain.
They chose to climb the mountain directly instead of walking through the passage.
After flying through the layers of cloud, they encountered the familiar freezing mist.
Come on, we are conquering it!
Jiao~~
When standing at the top of the mountain, Shao Xuan didn’t suffer the chest tightness or shudder at the extremely low temperature here. It seemed that all this became easier to adapt to.
Let’s go home.
Said Shao Xuan.
Chacha pushed off the ground vigorously with his claws and flapped his wings to fly.
The situation in the tribe was as follows.
This year’s hunting activity had finished. Everyone was busy preparing their roofs for the coming winter. The Shaman said that they had to seize the time, because the winter would come tomorrow.
Standing on Caesar’s back with one leg, Old Ke was reinforcing some parts of the window.
After hammering for a while, Old Ke stopped to heave a sigh and descended from Caesar’s back. He casually threw the stone hammer to the ground and then sat down, staring at the distance in a trance.
Caesar, when do you think Ah-Xuan will come back? Winter is coming.
Old Ke asked in a whisper.
Caesar seemed to understand what Old Ke had said. With drooping ears, he smelled around the house, and then came back to grovel on the ground beside Old Ke, listening to his sighs.
If Ah-Xuan hadn’t left, he would have been one of the 30 people to explore a new hunting route. Surely, the Shaman would have selected Ah-Xuan. But Ah-Xuan left and hasn’t come back yet. The honor fell on Lei. What a pity!
Old Ke complained.
What a great honor it is for a tribal warrior to explore a new hunting route. It is said that the two teams on the mountain even fought over the selection. Even people living at the mountain foot could hear it.
It is also said that the Shaman was just watching the fight silently instead of stopping them. Thus it was speculated that the Shaman made the selection according to their fighting ability, and the 30 people selected were the winners of the fight.
However, nobody at the mountain foot saw the process in person. So their discussion was wholly based on hearsay and imagination.
If it had went according previous customs, their speculation would have been correct, but in fact, the truth was merely shared by a few people.
Uncle Ke, I bring you some food.
Tuo came to bring some processed food by the Shaman’s order.
He heard Old Ke’s complaint. As someone who lives up in the mountain and one of the participants in the exploration of the new hunting route, he certainly knew more clearly about the truth than any others.
At that time, the Chief, the Shaman, the two team leaders, and some influential old men gathered together to discuss about the selection, which led to a quarrel. It was a nature of the men in the tribe that excitement would turn quarrels into a fight.
And then, other people on the mountain were summoned to take part in the fight between the two parties. Different from usual practice, the fight developed into a large-scale internal conflict beyond imagination. Some warriors were left behind in the tribe for recuperation and probably could not go out for hunting until the end of winter.
However, the Shaman appeared too calm, scaring Ta and Gui He. They didn’t notice that when joining in the fight, but at the end of the fight, they found that the appearance of the Shaman had become quite strange.
It looked neither sad or angry, but a little absent-minded. It seemed that he paid no attention to the fight between the two strongest parties of the tribe.
Not just the two teamleaders, even the old men, who were quite arrogant about their seniority and influential ancestors, dared not to keep quarreling. Others also retreated from quarrelling and fighting, as if their anger had been extinguished by a basin of cold water.
The Shaman said nothing when he left. He just wrote down the 30 names submitted by the two parties on a volume, and then calmly went back to rest.
Afterwards, many people admitted their mistakes and asked for punishment, but the Shaman still wore a smile as usual.
Those who had known the Shaman for a long time could see that he had some worries, but even the oldest of them could not tell what he was worrying about.
The two teamleaders thought that the Shaman would be cheered up by their achievements in exploring the new hunting route, but he wasn’t as emotional as they had imagined. However, being curious about it, the Chief and the old men failed to get any answer from the Shaman.
Alas!
Tuo heaved a sigh. Then he left the food to Old Ke and went back.
At the front door, Old Ke thanked Tuo for the food and then sat back, speaking to Caesar.
All of a sudden, Caesar spang up from the ground and stared at the sky in one direction with his ears rising upright.
Old Ke followed Caesar’s sight and found that it was in the direction of the hunting area.
Is it possible that…
Old Ke suddenly stood up and said,
Caesar, take me to…
Before he finished, Caesar rushed out as quickly as a shooting arrow.
Old Ke was left dumbfounded.
Tuo was lost in thought with his head hanging down. When he arrived at the mountainside, an eagle scream from distance stopped him. He looked at the silhouette in the sky with his eyes popping out.
Gosh! The guy came back!
Tuo hurriedly went up the mountain to tell the Shaman the good news. He hoped that it would cheer him up.
Standing at the front door, Old Ke nearly broke into tears when staring at the approaching silhouette in the sky, with the crutch in his hand shivering with excitement.
Up on the mountain, some beasts, either rolling for fun or stealing food, all stopped to run out of their houses and looked up to the sky.
The Shaman walked out from the stone house and stood at the front door, smiling to the descending silhouette and the guy on its back. The silhouette was much larger than in his memory.
Every time a giant mountain eagle went to the sacred land, it would grow to a higher stage. And then it would become larger and stronger, and could fly higher and farther.
When Shao Xuan and Chacha left the tribe, the tribe was holding this year’s first hunting activity. Today, they returned home just one day before winter.
The two guards at the front door winked to each other in amazement because it had been a long time since the Shaman smiled so happily.
