After the man quickly came to the shore, he flipped through the grass, and then there was a crunching sound.
Shao Xuan watched as the man pulled a thick vine. With the crunching sound, the vine was pulled out little by little, and the trap floating on the water quickly moved closer to the shore.
The closer the trap was to the shore, the more the trapped crocodile struggled. However, compared to the crocodiles Shao Xuan had encountered before, this one was much weaker. If it was in its peak condition, the trap might not have been able to last so long with such a large crocodile.
After the trap was pulled ashore, its full appearance was revealed.
It was a square metal cage. In order to keep it afloat on the water, thick tree trunks were tied to both sides of the cage to keep it afloat. The cage and the tree trunks were covered with water plants, probably to cover up the trap. It was unknown whether this cover was for people or crocodiles. Some people thought that fish were stupid and would fall for obvious traps, so there was no need to cover up the traps. However, the crocodiles here were not stupid. Even if there were stupid ones in front of them, they might be able to avoid the obvious traps.
Shao Xuan watched as the man pulled the cage ashore. He tore off the water plants tied to the cage, then took out a vine from the grass nearby and tied it to a metal rod. The end of the vine was tied into a circular noose.
Then, the man opened the cage near the crocodile's head. The top of the cage was divided into three sections, and he had only opened one-third of the section near the head. After opening it, he put the metal rod tied to the noose inside, and the noose at the front of the rod was stretched toward the crocodile's mouth.
The crocodile in the cage opened its mouth wide, revealing more than a hundred teeth in its mouth. It was showing off its power to the man, and it couldn't wait to rush up and bite the man standing above it to death.
The size of the noose was very suitable. With the strength and toughness of the vine, the noose could be maintained in a circle with a slight shake.
The man neatly put the noose into the crocodile's mouth. If it was an inexperienced person, the noose might have gotten stuck between the crocodile's teeth, but the man succeeded on his first try. The noose directly wrapped around the crocodile's upper jaw.
He opened the other two doors at the top of the cage. At the same time, the person moved the four corners of the cage. Then, the cage turned from a square to a flat open shape.
The crocodile closed its mouth. Because of its nature, the first thing it thought of after its upper jaw was trapped was to bite.
After closing its mouth, it couldn't bite through the vines. Its teeth weren't like herbivores that could grind the vines in its mouth. On the contrary, because the vines were wrapped around the gap between its teeth, it couldn't bite through them in one go. Now, it didn't have much strength to struggle free, so it used the crocodile's best skill — Death Roll.
However, the tumbling of death in this situation only made it sink deeper into its predicament. Originally, the vines only wrapped around its upper jaw. Now that it was rolling, its mouth was bound. Without the restriction of the cage, the more it rolled to the side, the tighter its mouth was bound.
After tying the crocodile's mouth, the man used other vines to add a few more loops around its mouth to be on the safe side.
After that, the man found some large leaves and combined them with the vines to cover the crocodile's eyes.
With its eyes covered, the crocodile's struggling movements decreased. Many fish could reduce their nervousness by tying their eyes. Obviously, crocodiles were similar to fish in this regard.
The man knew the habits of crocodiles very well.
The crocodile, whose mouth was tied and eyes covered, had its hind legs wrapped by the man's vines.
Crocodiles were reptiles. When moving on the ground, their main strength came from their hind legs. The crocodiles that Shao Xuan encountered earlier were able to jump so high to bite Shao Xuan, who was standing on a tree. Other than their strong muscles, the crocodiles also had powerful thighs.
Therefore, the man tied the crocodile's legs to restrict its movements.
After tying its mouth, blindfolding its eyes, and binding its hind legs, the crocodile was lying there motionless. The man stood to the side and watched. Then, he pulled the vines and added a few more loops around the crocodile's mouth, covering almost all of its exposed teeth. Shao Xuan had experience. The crocodile's fangs were like knives when they shook their heads. They could easily hurt people.
The man was sweating all over. He lifted the crocodile's hat back, revealing a dark face full of stubble.
He put away the flat metal cage and hid it to the side. Then, he pulled the rope that tied the crocodile. The man suddenly turned and looked in Shao Xuan's direction.
"You've been watching for so long. It's time to come out, right?" The man said.
There was no anger in his voice. His tone was very calm, as if he didn't care at all.
Shao Xuan didn't think that he would be discovered, so he didn't bother hiding anymore. He jumped down from the tree and walked over. He also put his sword in a conspicuous place. If he hid his weapon, it would make the other party feel threatened and hostile. The other party's attitude was kind, and he didn't have any bad intentions. Shao Xuan didn't want to offend him.
The man's gaze swept across Shao Xuan, then paused when he saw Shao Xuan's sword. His eyes flashed with undisguised disdain.
"Which tribe are you from?" asked the man.
"The Yanjiao tribe." After guessing his identity, Shao Xuan didn't hide it. After all, he had more questions to ask. Besides, this man didn't look like someone who was easily fooled.
"The Yanjiao tribe?" The man thought for a moment. "I think I've heard of it. Is it nearby?"
"Yeah, it's quite far."
"If it's so far away, why did you come to such a dangerous place? Are you here for training? "asked the man.
"No."
"Looking for herbs?"
"No."
"You're not here for Gongjia Mountain too, are you?" asked the man.
Shao Xuan looked at him in surprise. He knew?!
"Really? You? And you're here for Gongjia Mountain?! " The man looked at Shao Xuan as if to say, 'You've overestimated yourself'. He was looking for death.
"Uh, are there a lot of people here for Gongjia Mountain?" Shao Xuan was curious.
"Not many, but there are still a few people. However, as they searched, they ended up courting death." That person said in a flat tone. There was no sarcasm, no gloating.
"Then you are …"
"I'm Gongjia Heng." He didn't have to say much. One name was enough to reveal the most important information.
When he announced his name, Heng was full of pride. The Xia people never hid their surname. They were proud of their surname, Gongjia, and their tribe.
He really was a Xia!
When Shao Xuan heard this, he was about to ask when the man continued, "Even I, a Xia, couldn't find Gongjia Mountain. How did you foreigners find it?! You're looking for death. "
No wonder Gongjia Heng was so calm towards the people who came to look for Gongjia Mountain. He didn't look down on them. Even a proper Xia person like him couldn't find Gongjia Mountain.
"Are there a lot of people looking for Gongjia Mountain?" asked Shao Xuan.
"Not a lot but it's not a small number either. I've been here for twenty years and I've met seventeen people looking for Gongjia Mountain. Ten of them were Xia people like me and seven of them were outsiders. In the end, nine of them died. Five returned with injuries while the other three continued searching. I don't know where they died. "
"Maybe they found Gongjia Mountain?" said Shao Xuan.
"Impossible! If I can't find it, how can they?! "said Gongjia Heng confidently.
If other people came, it meant that Shao Xuan wasn't the only one who solved the cloud pattern. However, not many people succeeded so not many people came. However, finding Gongjia Mountain was more difficult than Shao Xuan expected. If even the Xia people couldn't find it, then the chances of others were even slimmer. After all, the Xia people knew more about the cloud pattern and had more information.
Because no one could find it, Gongjia Heng didn't care if Shao Xuan came. He waved at Shao Xuan. "Come help me. I'll share some meat with you later."
In the past, when Gongjia Heng caught a crocodile, he wouldn't kill it here. He still had stock so he didn't plan to kill it yet. He would keep it for a few days and wait for his stock to run out before killing a new one. That was why he would drag the crocodile back to where he lived after catching it.
The Xia people were good at casting and forging. Those who could cast were strong too. It was not good to have weak arms when forging. That was why compared to most people, the Xia people were stronger. In the past, Gongjia Heng would drag the crocodile back himself after catching it. In the past, he could use some tools like wheels. Now that he had used up a lot of materials, he had to drag it himself.
It was too difficult to pull it himself so he called Shao Xuan over to help.
"Here, you pull the tail, I'll pull the rope …"
Before he could finish, Shao Xuan picked up the tail and dragged the ten-metre-long crocodile forward. He walked so easily that he cut off Gongjia Heng's sentence.
"Your strength … is not bad." Gongjia Heng pulled the rope for a while but realised he didn't have a chance to use his strength so he let go. He stared at the crocodile to see if it was still tired and to prevent it from breaking its vines to attack people. Gongjia Heng had a large hammer in his hand. If anything happened, he would smash it.
"Is this crocodile drugged?" asked Shao Xuan.
"Crocodile? You mean it? Of course it's drugged or it wouldn't be so quiet, "said Gongjia Heng. The bait he placed in the cage contained a drug that made the crocodile weak. The drug was very strong and could last for half a day. If the crocodile didn't eat it, he would continue to feed it the drug.
"Right," asked Shao Xuan, "How did you know I was hiding there?" He thought he was good at hiding and didn't make a sound.
"I felt someone watching," said Gongjia Heng.
Shao Xuan thought back. It made sense. He was too focused on the crocodile. Gongjia Heng had lived here for twenty years so he was very sensitive. Of course he noticed.
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