There were many broken branches around them. The branches and leaves that blocked the sky above were scattered on the ground, revealing an empty space where Yang Guang could shine directly on the ground.
Under the hot weather and scorching sun, the smell of rotting meat spread everywhere, attracting many scavengers. However, they didn't know if it was because a huge beast had been angered here not long ago. Other than the group of grey-feathered scavenger birds and some small flying insects, they didn't see any larger animals.
After looking around and finding the tracks they were looking for, the team set off again.
Since they had already found the tracks of the slaves sent by Rock Hill City, it was much easier to follow the tracks. After all, there were many slaves.
It was said that Rock Hill City sent five hundred people this time. Compared to the entire tribe or Rock Hill City, it wasn't a lot. However, to send five hundred people all the way from the desert and into the Fearsome Beast Forest was a big deal. Now, Shao Xuan's team only had fifty to sixty people.
After finding the tracks of the slaves, the others no longer doubted the words of the Yanjiao people. In their hearts, they were glad that they chose to follow Yanjiao. Otherwise, if they had to look for a team of five hundred people in such a large forest, they might not be able to find it even after a hundred days. Many of the tracks couldn't be maintained for too long. The self-healing speed of the forest here was much faster than people thought. Even the corpses they saw were almost eaten up. Tomorrow, there wouldn't even be a bone left.
Because the team entered the forest much later than the slaves, the tracks left by the slaves were mostly covered by the self-healing of the forest, so they didn't know where the slaves went in the beginning.
Thinking about it this way, the tribes felt that the "sincerity" they paid to Yanjiao was quite worth it.
It was much harder to find a satisfactory place to rest if they were out of Yanjiao's familiar range. There were more hidden dangers in the forest, and they were more hidden. It was impossible to guard against them.
Following the trail left behind by the slave caravan for four days, five out of the sixty-three people in the caravan were now missing. They had lost their lives due to various reasons along the way.
This morning, a member of the Longboat tribe was poisoned to death by a poisonous snake. They didn't even have time to rescue him. That person was bitten on the neck. Before anyone could check on his injuries, his entire neck turned black rapidly, as if it had been dyed with ink. It even started to fester. The person who was bitten died not long after. That was an intermediate totem warrior. His body was resistant to poison, but he didn't last long. In the end, he couldn't even say a word.
The venomous snake that had bitten people was lying in ambush on the tree. It was silent, like a dead thing that had clung to the tree. It seemed to have merged with the tree and would only attack when people passed by.
In the past, the people of the Longboat tribe thought that large snakes were generally not poisonous, unless they were ferocious beasts. But here, there were many kinds of large poisonous snakes, and they were all highly venomous. Just like the one that had bitten their companions, it was thicker than a person and extremely poisonous. After its head was cut off, it almost bit another person. If the Yanjiao people hadn't acted fast enough, the Longboat tribe would have lost two people.
"Don't think that these things are harmless just because their heads are cut off. Be careful, or it'll be too late to cry." Shao Xuan said to those people.
Because he had been to forests like this before. Before the Yanjiao tribes migrated to the old haunt, many of the hunting teams had passed through forests like this. Especially the advance group, it was no less difficult than here. Therefore, even though it was the first time Mai and Tuo came here, they were able to adapt quickly.
It was their first time here, so they weren't familiar with the terrain. They couldn't find a cave for them to rest in, so they had to sleep in the open most of the time. Two days ago, when they were looking for a place to rest, they spent the night in the open air on a mountain. They didn't find a cave, so they rested in a leeward place near the mountainside.
The slave teams that had passed by here before should have also rested here, leaving behind traces of activity.
There were some carvings on the mountain wall. With Shao Xuan's understanding of stone, many of the carvings on the mountain wall weren't made in a short period of time. Some of them should have been made a long time ago. This also proved that there were slave teams that had been sent here before.
Finding traces of slave activity also confirmed Shao Xuan's guess. The people from Rock Hill City had definitely caught the green-faced fanged beast!
Along the way, they saw some slave corpses from time to time. Some were already gnawed beyond recognition, and some were mutilated. In a place like this, humans were the prey.
At noon, two people from the Eight Limbs tribe went to the river to get water. However, they didn't go too close to the river. The day before yesterday, one of their people was dragged into the river because he was too close. He didn't even see what was dragging him.
The weather was getting hotter, and it was very tiring for them to travel. They were sweating all over. Walking in the forest, although the branches and leaves above blocked most of the Yang Guang, everyone could feel the higher the temperature, and the stronger the need for water.
A thin wire was tied to a hard shell that looked similar to a coconut. The round shell had a hole half the size of a fist dug out. A stone was tied to the shell, and then the shell and the stone were thrown into the river twenty meters away.
With a thud, the round shell was pulled down by the stones tied to it. The river water poured into the round shell from the hole dug out. When they felt that it was enough, the two warriors of Eight Limbs suddenly pulled the strings in their hands, trying to pull back the round shell that had been filled with water.
As soon as the water-filled shell emerged from the water and was pulled into the air, a two-meter-long figure suddenly jumped out of the river and bit the shell that was pulled into the air. Then, the shell fell back into the water, causing the water to splash everywhere.
The two warriors who were fetching water could still clearly hear the cracking sound of the round shell that was filled with water breaking.
However, they had seen similar situations several times. After a slight surprise, they calmly took out the same round shell again, and threw it into the river. This time they were not bitten, and the water was successfully fetched.
"Next time, we can change it to a more solid silk. We can still fish." Shao Xuan looked at the still turbulent river and said. The figure that jumped up just now looked like a lizard without legs. It should be a kind of fish in the river.
The warrior from the Eight Limbs tribe thought for a while, and agreed. If it was a solid wire, if it was bitten while fetching water, it could drag out the things in the water. Maybe it could solve the problem of food at night. He couldn't drag it out by himself, so he asked the Yanjiao people for help. The Yanjiao people were strong.
The Eight Limbs tribe was rich in spider silk. Different species of spiders produced different kinds of spider silk. After processing, some silk was soft enough to weave clothes, and some was stronger, but harder, suitable for weaving nets, setting traps, and catching prey.
For the young people in the team, this was a rare experience, far better than the one in the desert.
They not only had to follow the traces of the slaves, but also had to solve the problems of food and water. Sometimes they even had to fight with the bear for a cave. In the Ferocious Beast Mountain Forest at night, the cave was much safer.
When they were looking for a place to rest for the night, they encountered a situation of fighting for a cave, but they didn't win that time. The giant bear was too smart, and it didn't come out at all. No matter how they provoked it, it just stayed in the cave and guarded that place.
If the giant bear was lured out of the cave, they could cooperate to deal with it, or even turn it into their dinner. But if the bear didn't come out, it was difficult. The people outside couldn't rush in, and the bear in the cave made full use of the terrain to defend. The people in the team took turns to attack it, but they still couldn't lure it out.
Qu Ce and the others were roared at by the giant bear. The giant bear must have eaten fish, because its saliva still had a strong fishy smell. Now Qu Ce was walking with the fishy smell all over his body.
However, they didn't know if it was the effect of the giant bear's saliva, but there were several times when the people in the team were ambushed by beasts, but none of them attacked Qu Ce. This was another kind of luck for him.
Another half a day passed, and when the team went over a mountain, they stopped halfway up and planned to rest.
"What's wrong?"
Seeing Shao Xuan standing on a rock and looking into the distance, Duo Kang and the others came over and asked.
Shao Xuan pointed to the front. "Did you notice anything different?"
"Different?"
Duo Kang and the others looked in that direction. "There are many mountains."
"Not only that, the leaves in that place are very different." Shao Xuan pointed out.
"Now that you mention it, I think so too. The leaves there look … soft and tender." Duo Kang touched his chin and reached out to pluck a leaf from a shrub next to him to take a look.
Perhaps it was because the weather was too hot and there was no rain for a long time, but many of the plants here looked a little withered. The leaves on the branches a little further away from the trunk looked very listless.
However, when he looked in that direction again, although he couldn't see what kind of plants were growing on the mountain due to the distance, the emerald greenery there was indeed very eye-catching. Even the slanted sunlight couldn't dim them, especially in such a hot climate. The greenery there was so tender and fresh that water could be squeezed out with a little pinch. It was very refreshing.
"Hey, look, there's smoke over there!" Mai said.
Mai's voice also attracted the others in the team to gather and look in front.
Among the towering mountains, in the lush green field of vision, some gray smoke was rising from the mountain forest over there. However, because of the wind, it was blown away as soon as it came out.
"It's that group of slaves! It must be them! "
"We've finally caught up!" The people in the team were excited.
Shao Xuan looked at the mountain over there and said, "Maybe what they're looking for is in the mountain forest in front of us."
The team was silent, and more than fifty pairs of eyes looked at Shao Xuan.
"Elder Shao Xuan means that it's here?" Huang Ye asked.
Along the way, they had seen a lot. Their attitude towards the Yanjiao people had also changed significantly, especially Shao Xuan, who played a role in decision-making. When Huang Ye and the others spoke, they would use the word "elder", which was also a kind of recognition.
However, Shao Xuan didn't care about this. He didn't care whether others recognized him or not.
At this moment, Shao Xuan looked at the mountain forest in front of him, thinking about the information about the green-faced fanged beast.
There were many mountains in front of him, so there should be more water. At first glance, it gave people a sense of tranquility. In the Fearsome Beast Mountain Forest, it could be considered a special area. The green-faced fanged beast could really be there.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
