Heng struck copper the entire night. The next morning, he heard Shao Xuan coming down the tree. When he came out of the stone house, his eyes were bloodshot. It was a terrifying sight.
"What's wrong?" Shao Xuan had also heard the sound at night but he could still tolerate it when he wanted to rest. People who often hunted in the mountains and forests would hear the roars of beasts, birds, and insects from time to time if they rested in the mountains and forests at night. If they couldn't even tolerate these sounds, then they wouldn't be able to rest. It was rare for the forest to be completely silent.
When Heng heard Shao Xuan, he looked up at Shao Xuan with bloodshot eyes. His facial muscles twitched. "Nothing." Then, he turned and walked towards the cave.
There was some water stored in the cave. Heng used a fruit shell as a ladle and splashed it on his face to wake himself up. He calmed himself down after a night of conflict.
"I've thought about it," said Heng in a low voice as he squatted beside a wooden bucket filled with water. He was still holding a fruit shell in his hand but he didn't scoop any more water out.
Shao Xuan turned around to signal that he was listening. Heng continued.
Heng didn't even look up. His hand was still scooping water but his eyes were fixed on the ground as if there was something there that attracted his attention.
"Aren't you going to look for Gongjia Mountain? I've thought about it and I think I should go with you. " Heng looked like he was trying to explain himself but quickly added, "You're so young, this is your first time here. You must not be familiar with this area. I've lived here for twenty years, I've been out searching many times. I can give you some advice."
Shao Xuan paused as if he just realised something. He clapped his hands and smiled. "… That's great!"
"Wipe that smile off your face. Don't think I don't know what you're thinking. Tsk, why do I feel like hitting you? " Heng tossed his ladle aside and picked up his hammer. "Let's eat first. We'll have energy to work after we're full!"
To search for Gongjia Mountain, they had to prepare some life-saving items. First, medicine, medicine, poison, food, tools, and so on.
It hadn't been long since Heng left to search for Gongjia Mountain. If Shao Xuan hadn't appeared, he wouldn't have planned to leave so soon. That was why he didn't prepare many tools. However, since the plan had changed, he had to hurry up and get the things he needed.
Shao Xuan's armor was made from the bone plates on the back of the crocodile they had eaten yesterday. At first, he wasn't used to wearing it. Just like how the crocodiles were limited by the bone plates on their backs, Shao Xuan put on the armor. Although it had been modified in terms of flexibility, it was still much less comfortable than the insect skin he had worn before. However, in this situation, he couldn't ask for too much. It was already good enough to have something to wear, as long as it had good protection.
After making the armor, Heng brought Shao Xuan to gather herbs. "We need more medicine for healing and poison."
After they returned, Shao Xuan familiarized himself with the armor while helping Heng set up traps.
It would take three to five days to prepare everything so he didn't plan to stop here.
The cage they used to catch the crocodile was set up again. Heng used a type of beast meat as bait and hid the medicine inside. Then, he hung the bait in the cage. When the crocodile swam into the cage and bit the bait, the cage door would be pulled shut. Unless someone came to open it or the cage was knocked open, it wouldn't open automatically. However, the crocodile would have been drugged and would lose its strength quickly. It wouldn't have the strength to knock the cage open.
"Be careful with this drug. Just a little bit." Heng measured it with his thumb and forefinger. It wasn't even the size of a green bean. "It's enough to knock someone out. Of course, powerful people like us can hold on longer. Weaker people can't."
A little bit was enough to knock an adult out. The ball of medicine Heng had placed in the bait was the size of a ping pong ball. After the crocodiles ate it, they struggled.
The so-called knockout drug was only a relative term. For some creatures, it was a knockout drug that would only cause them to fall unconscious, but for others, it was a lethal poison. If a person was given the same amount of medicine as the crocodiles, they wouldn't just faint. They might not wake up and die.
At the same time, Heng told Shao Xuan not to overdose their prey. If they overdosed, it would affect them when they killed them. They had to control the dosage. Otherwise, if they overdosed on the crocodiles, what would they do if they overdosed?
In three days, Heng prepared his own tools. He even gave Shao Xuan an axe. If Shao Xuan didn't have anything to use, he would need Heng's help if he ran into trouble. Giving Shao Xuan was also helping himself.
In three days, no crocodiles took the bait in the cage. They weren't sure if the crocodiles didn't notice the bait or if they didn't come here.
"How are we going to cross the river?" asked Shao Xuan.
Although this main river was wide, standing on the river bank, one could see the other side of the river in the distance. Compared to the river that isolated the tribe, it was not worth mentioning.
"Should we make a boat? Or a raft? "asked Shao Xuan." Don't think about that.
"Don't even think about it. You can't walk on the river. Although the river looks calm, the cage on the water hasn't caught a single crocodile in three days. That means the big crocodile is active in this area. If you want to make a raft or boat, you have to travel further. You can't use it here, you'll be swallowed along with the boat. That thing is very difficult to deal with and it takes a lot of time," said Heng.
He didn't set up the cage just for hunting. It was also an indication. If they caught a crocodile, it meant the big guy wasn't active in the area. However, if they didn't catch a single crocodile for a few days, it meant the other 'smaller' crocodiles were scared away. They didn't dare to fight for food here.
"Then what should we do?" Shao Xuan waited for Heng to tell him his plan. Since Heng often went there, he must have a plan.
Heng smiled proudly and took out a wooden whistle. He blew it three times a beat.
Toot — Toot — Toot —
The whistle was sharp, echoing far and wide through the forest.
After a while, Shao Xuan looked up into the sky.
A dark brown figure was flying over from afar. It was about four metres long.
"Look, here's my plan," said Heng proudly as he looked at the approaching bird.
It was a bird that looked like a vulture. Most of its body was dark brown with only a few grey patterns.
The bird didn't come down immediately. Instead, it perched on a tree and looked at Shao Xuan cautiously.
"Come down, Hammer. This is Shao Xuan. We'll be crossing the river together," said Heng.
He wasn't sure if the bird understood him. It looked at Shao Xuan, then at Heng. It cawed but didn't come down.
Heng dragged out the remains of a ferocious beast to lure the birds down from the tree.
"You didn't come down when I told you to. Now you come down when there's food?! Coward! " Gongjia Heng even kicked the bird when it landed. He controlled his strength well so he didn't hurt it or send it flying.
"Caw!" The bird cawed, ignoring Heng as it began to peck at the food.
"Bring us over when you're full, you hear me? Or I'll kill you with my hammer! " Heng threatened with his hammer but the bird didn't even look at him. It was as if all it saw was food.
However, if you looked closely, you would notice that it tilted its head slightly in Heng's direction when he spoke. It was listening.
When he saw the bird ignore him, Heng huffed and smashed his hammer on the ground. He sat down to rest. He told Shao Xuan about the bird.
"That year, I caught it in a trap. I put a copper chain around its neck and planned to pluck its hair and kill it for dinner. But that day, there was a tremor in the forest. Many stones rolled down from the mountain. The rolling stones were not the main thing. The main thing was that there were all kinds of frightened beasts in the forest. It was a mess. Those traps were useless in such a situation. I was almost hit by a beast. I was just trying my luck. When I saw a struggling bird, I untied the chain and climbed onto its back.
At first, it wanted to throw me off but after I pinched its neck a few times, it calmed down. After the chaos on the ground ended, I forced it to land. I thought that if it didn't listen to me, I would just use force and beat it to death. After all, there was a forest below and with it as a cushion, I wouldn't fall to my death. Who would have thought that this fellow would be so cooperative.
After the crisis was over and I came back from hunting, if it was around, I would throw some meat to it. Gradually, it got better. Sometimes, when it was hungry and couldn't find food or it couldn't beat the other birds in the flock, it would come to me for food. Now that I think about it, it's been more than ten years! " Heng reminisced, then turned to Shao Xuan proudly. "What do you think? Mine's not bad, right? Although it doesn't listen to me, it helped a lot. Without it, it would be more difficult to cross the river. We would have to meet the crocodiles and maybe even the big one in the river. "
"Actually, I used to have one too. It was bigger than yours and more obedient," recalled Shao Xuan.
"Then where is it now?" asked Heng. He thought Shao Xuan was bluffing. He didn't believe him.
"We haven't seen it in a year," sighed Shao Xuan.
"Pfft —" Heng snickered. "The one you're talking about probably ran away with the other birds."
"That can't be. It's always been alone," said Shao Xuan. Giant mountain eagles were not social animals. Unless they were in a group, they would usually be alone and would often fight with each other.
However, what on earth was Chacha doing now?
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