The liquid in the gourd was refreshing and comfortable. It seemed to dispel the tiredness from the continuous running. His mind was much clearer, and his whole body was so comfortable that even his bones were shaking.
"How is it? Do you feel good? "Ah-Suo threw a fruit to Shao Xuan," This is good too. "
Shao Xuan didn't know which plants were edible and which weren't, so he didn't take any action. Just now, when he left the water point, he noticed that Ah-Suo and the others took a detour. It seemed like they were going to pick some fruits.
"These are all good stuff!" Ah-Suo said, "I'm not boasting. After eating these, we'll improve faster. There's a saying in the advance group."
Lowering his voice, Ah-Suo continued, "Only those who have been in the advance group can become senior totem warriors. Every senior totem warrior in the tribe has been in the advance group at some point."
Most of the plants here were more than a hundred years old. Some of the fruits and plant juices had a certain degree of cleansing effect on the human body. Even if the warriors could not describe the specific feeling, they could feel the benefits that the things they ate brought to them.
"Can't we take some back to the tribe?" Shao Xuan asked.
"It's not that easy!" Ah-Suo said with a bitter face, "I want to take some back for my brother and sister, but I can't."
It wasn't that the advance group led by the previous team leaders had never tried this before, but using iced food, digging out the roots, and other methods didn't work. As long as they left this place, after a day or two, the things they brought out would rot and deteriorate. Drying them? Not everything could be done in this way.
"So far, there are very few plants that can be taken out. The Shaman's task includes them. But some of them are not easy to find. It depends on the time. Flowers, fruits, and so on. If you miss them, you have to wait for another year. For some plants, even if you wait for a lifetime, you may not see them again. You have to find another one."
Shao Xuan was silent.
It seemed that some of the plants here only bore fruit after hundreds of years, or they had to be hundreds of years old to be effective. But most of the plants died immediately after leaving this land. They couldn't survive in other places. Therefore, people might have thought of planting plants before, but it might not be effective. Until now, the tribe could only take the initiative to come to this place that was both a dangerous and a treasure land.
The glory of the advance group was to serve the tribe. The medicine used by the tribesmen when they were sick, and the medicine used by the Shaman to treat the wounded were all found and brought back by the advance group. No one could deny their contribution.
Other than the glory, joining the advance party would also give the warriors a chance to taste a lot of medicinal plants that could not be taken away. It would also be beneficial to the warrior's development and improvement.
Therefore, some people who had joined the advance group but left due to injuries or old age would tell their children and grandchildren to work hard and strive to join the advance group. They knew that these people would become stronger in the future, and they were the elites with the most potential for development in the entire tribe.
However, the internal rule in the tribe was that the advance group was decided by the team leader. Generally speaking, the Shaman would not ask about it. Only special cases like Shao Xuan would attract the Shaman's attention.
Most of the time, the team leaders would choose people who were on good terms with them. As long as they were strong enough, they would be able to pull them in. These people were also the strong supporters of the team leaders when they fought for the chief's position.
After the selected people joined the advance group and felt the benefits, who would want to give up their position and quit?
No one wanted to.
If one more person joined the advance group, the others might be kicked out. Even if the hunting group was ruled by the team leader alone, the ancestors had set the rule that the number of warriors in the advance group could not exceed one-fifth of the total number of warriors in the hunting group. Maybe the team leaders of the previous generation had learned their lesson, so they worked together with the Chief and the Shaman to set this rule.
Thinking about this, Shao Xuan understood why some people in the advance group looked at him with such a subtle expression at the beginning. They were not only looking down on Shao Xuan's strength, but also taking precautions against him.
Shao Xuan noticed that most of the people here lived on the mountain, and only a few lived on the mountainside.
Were people like Mai and the others not qualified to join the advance group? Of course they were qualified, but without the team leader's permission, Mai was not allowed to join either.
Absolute fairness did not exist. Even Shao Xuan was invited to join the advance group only because of the ancestors, and because Ta's team had not been doing well. If it were not for the ancestors, as a kid from the orphan cave, and since Shao Xuan was learning how to use traps and lassos from the Old Ke, Ta would have looked down on him even more. Unless Shao Xuan was really talented in the future, he would have been excluded from the advance group by Ta.
The better, the better, and the worse, the worse. The development on the mountain and at the foot of the mountain had probably gone beyond the ancestors' original plan. When the people at the foot of the mountain were thinking about how to get more food, some people on the mountain were thinking about how to get more benefits.
When there was no threat from other tribes, infighting was inevitable. It was just that it was not obvious on the surface.
After drinking a few mouthfuls of the water from the plant, Shao Xuan looked around. It was higher here, and he could see some weird-shaped plants in the distance.
"What's that?" Shao Xuan pointed in that direction and asked Ah-Suo.
Ah-Suo glanced in that direction and smiled maliciously. "That's the skull tree. Every tree grows after eating a human head!"
Shao Xuan did not say anything, nor was he frightened. He just looked in that direction. No wonder it was called the skull tree. It did look like a human head, with long "hair" floating in the wind. As for eating human heads, Shao Xuan did not believe it.
Seeing that Shao Xuan was not frightened, Ah-Suo felt bored, but he continued, "It's a pity that it hasn't bloomed yet. When the skull tree blossoms, there are so many big flowers growing on it. It's very beautiful!"
Shao Xuan was speechless.
According to what Ah-Suo said, Shao Xuan tried to imagine, but he still could not imagine how beautiful a human head covered with all kinds of giant flowers would be.
"In front of us is the place where the jumping fruit tree grows. Later, you just need to stand further away. Don't get close," Ah-Suo said.
"Got it." Shao Xuan knew his place.
After resting for a while, Ta signaled the team to set off towards the jumping fruit tree.
As they walked forward, the trees became less dense. They could see the scene in front of them without standing on the high ground.
The jumping fruit tree that Ah-Suo mentioned looked like an enlarged weeping willow. The difference was that every drooping branch was full of round fruits, each the size of a fist.
Seeing that everyone was breathing softly, Shao Xuan also lowered his presence. It seemed that the tree was very sensitive to sound.
Ta raised his finger and pointed at Shao Xuan, then opened his palm and gestured Shao Xuan to stay here and hide behind the tree trunk.
Shao Xuan nodded, indicating that he understood. However, he felt that something bad was going to happen. He wanted to say something, but the other team members were waiting for Ta's instructions, and Ta did not pay attention to him at all.
After looking around, Ta waved his hand. Twenty people rushed towards the jumping fruit tree like lightning. They tiptoed on the ground and ran quickly without making any sound. They surrounded the jumping fruit tree.
However, when they were close to the jumping fruit tree, Shao Xuan suddenly heard Ta shout, "Retreat!"
The others did not hesitate. Even if some of them were about to touch the tree, they decisively retreated because of Ta's shout. As for the fruits that were originally firmly growing on the branches of the tree, because of the tower's sound, some of the fruits were startled and quickly detached from the branches, shooting out in all directions like arrows and running away.
Shao Xuan did not know what had happened. He only saw Ta and his team retreating in a hurry. The next moment, Shao Xuan was lifted up.
They were running in a hurry, as if they were hiding from something. When Shao Xuan was lifted up, he looked back and saw something floating in the air.
The wind was getting stronger and stronger, bringing those things closer to Shao Xuan and his team.
Shao Xuan was carried up to a tall plant. Five soldiers in a group pulled the thick leaves on both sides together, forming a narrow enclosed space. When they pulled the leaves, Shao Xuan could still hear the sound of the thick wood being broken.
At the last moment when the leaves were pulled together, Shao Xuan caught a glimpse of those things being blown by the wind. They were like dandelions, with soft and fluffy "white hair". However, those white hairs were longer, each one to two palms long.
They were densely packed, flying everywhere in the sky and the forest. Puffing sounds came from afar.
After all the gaps were closed, the light from outside could not penetrate the thick leaves. It was very dark inside, and the vision was not clear.
There was a sense of tension in the enclosed space. Shao Xuan could hear the rapid breathing of the people next to him. They must have used up a lot of energy to run for their lives.
Not only the others, but Shao Xuan also felt the danger. His eyelids twitched, and he could not help but lean back a little.
While thinking, Shao Xuan suddenly heard a series of puffing sounds around him. Along with these sounds, white hairs pierced the thick leaves like thorns. One of them was only half an inch away from Shao Xuan's eyes.
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