After the strong wind, big raindrops fell. Yang Guang, which had been in the sky for a whole winter, was finally covered by thick clouds. For many people on the land, they had never felt so close to the clouds.
The raindrops fell quickly, and soon, it was like a torrential downpour.
The thirsty earth greedily absorbed the rainwater, and the smell of mud floated everywhere.
The wanderers excitedly carried the terracotta tanks out to collect water. In the past winter, they used their labor to exchange for food and water from the Yanjiao. They didn't get much, and some people complained. But when they learned about the situation outside, no one complained anymore. They were afraid of being driven away. Although they didn't get much water, at least it was enough to support them until now.
The heavy rain seemed to have extinguished the fire in the Fearsome Beast Forest. The fierce beasts that had been irritable for a whole winter were appeased. From their carefree roars, one could guess their mood.
The people in the tribe each had their own responsibilities. Some were on guard duty, some were taking care of the farmland, some were managing the animal pens, some were making pottery, and some were weaving … They were all ready to start work. Before, it was too hot, and they didn't even want to move, so the work at hand was naturally put on hold. Now, they could finally start again.
The withered seedlings in the field were also energetic, and the leaves in the forest looked a lot greener.
Although the extreme weather had passed, the guards and defenses were not lowered. The two leaders took turns to go out and supervise every day. Even in the stormy weather, they did not let up.
"Everything, be careful!"
This was what the two shamans said after the sacrifice.
Although the two of them didn't know what would happen, they had a strong sense of crisis. It didn't matter which tribe it was against, it was just an indescribable sense of danger.
If the two shamans had different opinions, there might be a dispute. But both shamans said the same thing. For the Yanjiao people, this meant that something was going to happen. They couldn't be careless.
On a sunny day after the rain, the hunting team set out to hunt in the mountains.
Shao Xuan followed the team into the forest. The green-faced fanged beasts had already been fed with blood, so naturally, there was someone to take care of them. He didn't need to keep an eye on them.
Entering the forest once again, the group discovered that many trees in the forest had turned black. It was the appearance of a withered tree. Some of the lifeless trees had already been bitten full of holes by insects. If they were chopped down, a large number of small insects would gush out.
Carrying the prey, Shao Xuan and the rest of the team arrived at the cave where they were resting.
"I remember that there used to be a stream here." Shao Xuan pointed to a spot on the mountain and said.
"Indeed, but I don't see it now. Perhaps there will be no more water after the winter dries up," Mai said. He was not very familiar with the various reasons for the formation of streams. He only knew that even if the water in the streams dried up in autumn and winter, it would flow again in spring when the snow melted or a large amount of rain fell. But now, the stream in front of the mountain was gone, and he could not explain why. If it's gone, then so be it.
As he spoke, Mai carried the prey into the cave. The others looked around and didn't see anything, so they followed him into the cave. Only Shao Xuan stood outside, looking at the original location of the stream.
"I'll go take a look at the other place." Shao Xuan said to the rest in the cave.
Out of curiosity, Mai and the other warriors followed Shao Xuan. They wanted to see what Shao Xuan had found.
Shao Xuan remembered that there was a river nearby. It wasn't very big, but there were often some river beasts ambushing in it.
The stream had stopped flowing. Maybe it was because there was no snow on the mountain this year. The unusually hot winter had caused the snow that covered the mountain top all year round to disappear. However, the river over there was not only water from the melted snow flowing into the stream, but also underground water. It rained so heavily a few days ago. Even if the stream couldn't form, the rainwater that flowed into the river, and the water that seeped into the rocks and soil of the mountain should have risen a lot, right? It had rained quite heavily a few days ago.
However, when Shao Xuan went over, he found that there were only a few small fish swimming lazily in the river. He didn't see any slightly bigger river beasts. The reason was that the river level was too low!
The river was too shallow. Some river beasts didn't like diving areas like this, so naturally, they didn't appear here.
Mai and the others were surprised to see such a low river level, but only for a moment. They thought that it might be because the mountain forest was too "thirsty." After the rain, the mountain forest "drank" most of the rainwater, so there wasn't much rainwater left for the river.
However, even if the mountain forest could absorb and store a lot of rainwater, what about the underground water?
A rainstorm that lasted for a few days couldn't even make the river level rise? Even if the rise wasn't obvious, it shouldn't be so small!
In the past, the river water here was often muddy yellow because the river beasts in the river liked to stir up the mud and sand at the bottom of the river. But now, the river water was not only shallow, but also much clearer. This meant that no river beasts had come here recently!
"Let's go to the next place. I remember that there is a karst cave here. "
When Shao Xuan hunted with the hunting team in the past, he once found a karst cave. There was a pool in the cave, but the water was red, and there were some tiny creatures swimming in it. Even if the water was filtered and boiled, it was still not drinkable. Later, Shao Xuan didn't go there again.
As soon as he stepped into the karst cave, Shao Xuan's expression changed. Not only Shao Xuan, but the other warriors, who were more sensitive, also felt that something was wrong.
In the past, when they came here, they could feel the cool and moist water vapor in the wind as soon as they entered the cave. There was also a faint sweet smell from the plants that grew in the cave. But now, neither the water vapor nor the smell of the plants could be smelled!
Shao Xuan walked in. In the past, he could see a layer of shallow water on the ground after a few steps. Now, after walking for more than ten meters, the ground and the surrounding stone walls were still dry.
Mai held the Water Moon Stone and lit up the surrounding area.
No water!
Still no water!
The deeper they went, the lower the terrain was, until there were only some small underground caves left.
"There is no water in this cave!" The Yanjiao warriors, who had just experienced a strange winter, suddenly felt that their throats were dry.
How could there be no water?!
At this time, they understood Shao Xuan's purpose, and everyone became alert.
They thought that the crisis had passed, but they didn't expect that it was still there.
Looking at the ground carefully, there were some dried red things on the uneven ground of the cave. Some of them could be scraped off with a knife.
"These are …" Mai picked up a ball of red debris scraped off the ground and crushed it with his fingers. The debris quickly turned into powder.
"These are the creatures that used to live in this pool. Now, they are all dead." Shao Xuan frowned and walked out.
Hearing Shao Xuan's words, Mai and the others felt that their throats were even drier. Without water, would they die of thirst?
After that, during the next few days of hunting, Shao Xuan went to find several more water sources.
The weather looked normal, but the water level of many water sources was still falling, especially those that came from underground water. Almost none of them looked the same as before. Most of them had dried up, and those that didn't were on the verge of drying up. It was only a matter of time before they completely dried up.
At the same time, in the Lu tribe.
They thought that the dark period was over, but they didn't expect that the days were not so good. The water level of the pool that their tribe had always occupied had fallen even lower. It didn't rise because of the previous rainstorm. They could clearly see that the surrounding rainwater was pouring in, but the water level in the pool was still falling.
Why?
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