To date, Shao Xuan had only met one bat that could appear so quietly behind them. That was when he was digging for fire crystals. It was also a creature that no one in Yanjiao wanted to provoke.
And now, the bat behind Shao Xuan and Ao was the bat leader that they had seen that year.
Although it was not a king beast, it was half a king beast. Back then, it had traumatized the Yanjiao people so much that they had to change their hunting routes.
Facing such an opponent, would it be easy to kill it?
Obviously not.
Ao did not know what to do either. He just stood there, motionless.
The cut on the Thousand Grain Gold was very smooth. The thing that had cut it was very sharp and fast. They had thought that the robbers had used a sharp weapon to cut it, but now they knew that it was the bat leader.
Who would have thought?
The problem was, didn't the bat leader lead a group of bats on the mountain in the forest?
Back then, the giant pit where they had found the fire crystals had been occupied by a group of bats. But after the bat leader appeared, it led the group of bats to a new territory. It was a whole mountain with a peak that reached into the clouds. That was a large territory, and it was not close to where they were. Even if the bat leader could fly fast, why would it fly to Yanjiao's farmland every day and harvest a grain every day?
Could it be that it was interested in the Thousand Grain Gold?
Unripe Thousand Grain Gold should not be attractive enough to attract it from the depths of the forest.
Shao Xuan's mind raced as he tried to think of a way to deal with the current situation. Even if he was stronger than before, and Ao and the rest had improved due to the fusion of the fire seed, they would still be at a disadvantage if they fought this bat leader head-on.
Under the moonlight, a terrifying creature was quietly hanging upside down on the Thousand Grain Gold two steps away from them. It did not move at all. It just looked at Shao Xuan and Ao. Its gaze was more focused on Shao Xuan.
Just as Shao Xuan was thinking about how to deal with it, the bat that was hanging upside down on the Thousand Grain Gold moved its wings almost silently. It flashed by like a black shadow. It was not obvious in the night, and soon disappeared into the fields.
That aura that made people nervous also disappeared without a trace.
Caesar's fur was still standing. He opened his three eyes carefully and looked around.
Phew —
Shao Xuan let out a long sigh of relief.
He would never have thought that it would be this guy.
"It … left?" Ao asked in a low voice.
"Yes, it's gone.
When he heard Shao Xuan's answer, Ao sat down on the ground. He did not care if there was any organic fertilizer in the soil.
Ao wiped the sweat off his forehead and looked at Shao Xuan. "It should be it, right?"
"That's it."
As he spoke, Shao Xuan walked in the direction where he first sensed the strange atmosphere. There, they found the fourth Thousand Grain Gold that had been cut. There was only one cut, and the cut was fresh. There was still green juice flowing out of the cut.
Just looking at the cut, it was the same as the cuts on the other three trees that Ao pointed out to Shao Xuan.
They confirmed that it was a "thief," but they did not know how to deal with this thief that came to the Thousand Grain Gold every day recently.
If they fought, they would have to pay a high price.
If they did not fight, the bat leader would come over every day. It was no longer in the depths of the forest. Shao Xuan had a feeling that it was not far from Yanjiao's headquarters. It had not returned to the bat mountain that it had occupied.
"Go ask the people in the hunting group if they noticed anything unusual when they were out hunting." Said Shao Xuan.
If there was no reason to attract the bat leader here, then it was very likely that something had happened at the bat mountain.
"Yes." Ao's face darkened. He was full of worries.
If it was a thief, he was confident that he could fight. But he was not confident that he could defeat this opponent.
When Shao Xuan and Ao walked out of the Thousand Grain Gold's field, the guards outside were confused. "Head Elder, Elder Ao, are you leaving just like that?"
Ao's eyelids drooped. He looked like he had a lot on his mind. He did not respond to the guard's words.
Shao Xuan did not want to say too much. If he said too much, it would cause panic. He only said, "Be careful. If you encounter a situation that you cannot fight, retreat first."
Before the guards realized what Shao Xuan meant, Shao Xuan and Ao had already left.
Since the bat leader had left with the Thousand Grain Gold, it probably would not come back. Even if it found Shao Xuan and Ao, it did not do anything at that time. It would not come back to do anything after leaving. Just like a few days ago, it would be quiet and no one would know.
Shao Xuan and Ao hurried back to the tribe in the middle of the night. They woke up the hunting team leaders who were already asleep.
"What's going on?" Mai yawned. When he entered the house, he found Shao Xuan and Ao, as well as Guigou and Ta, all here. The other leaders were also here.
Soon, other than Duo Kang, Zheng Luo and the rest who stayed at the trading point, everyone above the level of a leader was called here.
This was a place built on the mountain specifically for important discussions. They pulled down the animal skin curtains on the windows to block out the light and sound inside.
The elders and chiefs looked very serious. This made the atmosphere in the room tense. If it was not something important or urgent, they would not be called here at this time.
Those who were still sleepy were now fully awake. They felt uneasy as they carefully looked at Shao Xuan and Ao's expressions. They wondered what had happened. Why was the Grand Elder, who had been holed up at the Flaming River Trading Point all this time, called here too?
After the leaders who stayed at the headquarters had all arrived, they waited for the leader to speak.
Ao looked at Shao Xuan and signaled for Shao Xuan to speak first.
Shao Xuan took a deep breath and looked at the people in the room. With Shao Xuan's glance, everyone seemed to be even more nervous and uneasy.
"During the day, Ao told me that something happened in the Thousand Grain Gold plantation. Someone harvested the grains." Shao Xuan briefly told everyone what had happened during the day.
As expected, when it came to the Thousand Grain Gold, everyone's eyes were burning with anger. They probably had the same thoughts as Ao. They wanted to catch the thief and beat him to death.
However, after Shao Xuan's words, the fire in their eyes seemed to have been doused with a bucket of ice. Just like that, the fire in their eyes was extinguished. They shivered from the cold.
Those who had followed them to look for fire crystals could still remember what had happened.
"Why is it that bat leader?!" Mai clenched his fists. He clenched them, then loosened them, then clenched them again. He was anxious and conflicted.
"Isn't it always in the forest?" Cheng, who was also a leader, did not understand and panicked.
"Cheng and Mai, you should be able to see the mountain from your hunting route. Did you notice anything unusual there?" Shao Xuan asked.
Because of the bat mountain, the hunting group led by Cheng had changed their route and avoided the mountain occupied by the bats. Every time, they could only see the peak of the mountain from afar, but they never got close to it. He did not want to get into trouble. He even told his brothers who had returned from the other side of the sea and warned them not to go near the mountain.
"I've never been there. I've only seen it from afar. I didn't see anything unusual." Cheng scratched his beard. He was frustrated. If it were people from other tribes, he would not be afraid at all. However, that bat had left a bad impression on him. He still had a huge shadow in his heart. He could not help but shiver when he thought about it.
"I've never been there either." Mai said.
Thinking of something, Mai suddenly said, "I don't know what happened at the bat mountain, but we found something different on our hunting route."
"Oh?" As soon as Shao Xuan heard this, he sat up straight and asked into the microphone, "You can tell me if there are any abnormalities. Mountains, trees, rivers, beasts, etc. Anything."
"It's on the other side of the mountain. It's the mountain where a king beast lives." Mai said.
"Where the king stoneworm is?" Shao Xuan rarely went there now. Most of the time, he went to the green area with the advance group. Therefore, he did not know what happened on the mountain that Mai mentioned.
"That's it!" Mai paused for a moment before voicing his doubts. "Those of you who have taken that route should know that the markings left behind in the caves of the mountain won't be visible the next time you pass through."
Shao Xuan nodded. Of course he remembered. There was a king stoneworm at the bottom of the mountain. It was not a legend. Also, because of the king stoneworm, the mountain would 'move' under its influence. Some of the marks left on the cave walls would not be seen the next time they went there. Sometimes, a rope thrown there would be gone the next time they went there.
The caves in the mountain were like intestines that could digest and absorb. They would 'absorb' anything that had been left there for a long time without leaving any traces behind. The closer they went to the underground, the more obvious this phenomenon became. The marks on the caves would disappear faster too.
This was also why people who took that route followed each other from generation to generation. They walked based on their own experience and memories. They did not simply leave marks.
"I didn't notice it at first, but when I went there a few times, I found a straw rope I threw there last time!" Now that Mai thought about it, he regretted it. He didn't think too much about it back then. He thought that maybe the king stoneworm had rested for a while, or maybe it had gone somewhere else for a stroll. When it came back, the mountain would be back to normal.
"King stoneworm …" Shao Xuan was confused. "Did something happen that even the king stoneworm was affected?"
"Mai, when did you discover that the cave was no longer swallowing the marks like before?" Shao Xuan asked.
A remorseful look appeared on Mai's face. "When I first discovered it, it was before last winter, but I didn't think much of it at the time. However, at that time, there were many other threats in the cave, and there were many ferocious beasts that I had never seen before. When we came out of the cave, we paid more attention to those beasts."
"In other words, the changes in that mountain had already happened before winter, or even earlier. Maybe it's because of the natural disaster. " Shao Xuan said. "But that bat leader only arrived recently. Something that could affect it must have happened recently too."
There was a depressing silence in the room.
If they could not find the reason, they would not be able to rest assured with such a huge threat lurking in the tribe and appearing every night. There was no fire seed in the tribe now. A beast of that level could quietly fly to the top of the mountain without anyone noticing.
"What should we do?" Mai looked at Shao Xuan, then at the others. No one had any intention of speaking. They could not think of a suitable solution.
"We'll leave tomorrow and go to bat mountain to take a look. Also, we'll go to the mountain where the king stoneworm used to live and see if we can find the reason," Shao Xuan said.
"That's the only way. But we have to guard the tribe well. Don't tell anyone about this until we find the reason. Otherwise, it will cause panic and give outsiders an opportunity to attack, "Guigou said.
After discussing the personnel arrangements, everyone left. However, no one could sleep tonight.
The next day, after dawn, Shao Xuan asked Chacha to take him, Ao, and two other leaders to the mountain. Ta, Mai, and the others took the ground. Caesar and Mai went together.
Bats did not live on bat mountain in the past. But later, a leader emerged among the bats. They abandoned the small mountain with the sinkhole and took over the tall mountain. They even drove away all the other ferocious beasts in the mountain. Since then, the Yanjiao people called that mountain Bat Mountain.
Shao Xuan looked at the mountain in the distance. Compared to the other mountains around it, that mountain gave off a faint sense of eeriness. And the closer he got, the clearer the feeling became.
Because the bats occupied the mountain and drove away all the ferocious beasts in the mountain. Even if there were any ferocious beasts left, they would become food for the bats. As long as they were not careless beasts, they would not stay there. Who knew when they would be sucked dry by the bats?
Because there were no other ferocious beasts on the mountain, even small ones, compared to the other mountains, it was exceptionally quiet and lifeless.
In broad daylight, there were basically no bats flying out.
It was eerily quiet.
Shao Xuan did not enter the bat cave to search. Instead, he walked around.
"The bats are still here. They haven't left. The traces of activity are still fresh. There are bat droppings at the cave entrance," Shao Xuan said.
"So, only the bat leader left?"
"Why would that be?" Ao did not understand.
That bat leader abandoned its minions and went to Yanjiao alone to steal grains every night?
Shao Xuan could not think of a reason either.
"Let's go take a look at the king stoneworm." Shao Xuan called Chacha over and left with Ao and the other two. They went to the mountain that they had not been to for a long time.
Years ago, Shao Xuan had carried the remains of his ancestors out from there. If it were not for the ancestral bone ornaments, those remains would have been swallowed by the mountain.
Once again, they came to the cave entrance that they had not seen for a long time. Shao Xuan looked at the handwriting on the cave entrance, bowed according to tradition, and then walked in.
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