Chapter 35 – Not too bad, huh?
Translated by Sunyancai
In the midst of cheers, the hunting team returned on that “Path of Glory”, and their bodies left long shadows because of the sunset.
Strong warriors carried game much bigger than themselves, and they looked like ants carrying quall eggs. Some of them would not only carry the game on their shoulders, they would sling the game over their backs, or drag them with straw ropes.
It was a big harvest, and the warriors were quite loaded.
It was said that during this mission, no one got killed, but two warriors were badly injured. The injured were at the Shaman’s place and they were already stable. Because of their tough warrior’s body, they would be totally energetic again after some time’s rest.
Shao Xuan was more than tired because of a whole afternoon’s striking and crafting. He turned back and headed towards his own cabin after he had spotted Lang Ga and Mai in the crowd, he did not rush forward to cheer for them, like the others. He was exhausted already.
In the front part of the team, an obvious shorter person carried two giant boars. That was Mao and he was very pleased with himself. He paid extra attention on people’s praise and his mouth could not be kept closed because of the smile. It felt…so good! He straightened his back more and looked at the crowd as he turned his head, just then, Shao Xuan’s back leaving with Caesar entered his sight.
Shao Xuan was not spirited because of tiredness, and judging from his back, it looked like he was pretty upset.
Mao thought that Shao Xuan must have been humiliated by him carrying two giant boars. Also, Mao thought about how to crush his dignity again when Shao Xuan joined the hunting mission.
After a night’s rest, Shao Xuan felt that he was full of strength again, full of vigor. The sourness of his muscles also disappeared, as if he had not done so much striking yesterday.
After he had spent the whole morning collecting stone cores, Shao Xuan as usual planned to go to old Ke’s place in the afternoon.
However, old Ke told Shao Xuan to take a break for today, so that he could get sufficient rest.
Looking at the works he had completed these days, Shao Xuan decided to go out as he picked out some items. The stone tools that old Ke took out for trading were only half of Shao Xuan’s production. The other half, old Ke asked Shao Xuan to keep for himself. So now Shao Xuan still had a lot of stoneware for himself.
He filled the selected stoneware into two mesh bags made from straw rope, and began to walk to the mountain side district.
By the time Shao Xuan arrived, Lang Ga was still sleeping. Every time when he was not on duty, Lang Ga would sleep for three or four days when he came back from a hunting mission.
“What’s up?” Lang Ga yawned, and his eyes were almost closed.
“Oh, I’m here to give you something. You should go back to sleep.” Shao Xuan dropped one of the mesh bags on the stone table in the room, and prepared to leave. He wanted to hear the stories during this time’s hunting mission at first, but based on the current circumstances, he should wait for a few more days for stories.
“For me?” Lang Ga was curious about what Shao Xuan had brought, even though he was sleepy.
Lang Ga opened the bag, and when he saw the completed stone arrowheads inside, his nearly closed eyes opened wide immediately. Traces of sparkles flashed in his eyes and he took out one stone arrowhead and observed it closely.
The two edges on that stone arrowhead were especially made according to Lang Ga’s usual needs. So the size and shape were slightly different than normal ones, and the barbs were longer, because Lang Ga was used to this type of stone arrowheads already. If changed at his will, perhaps Lang Ga would not find them useful. So Shao Xuan did not add his own ideas on them.
Lang Ga stared at the stone arrowhead he had at hand, and the more he looked at it, the more surprised he became.
The arrowheads in front of him were well polished, and the important thing was that the two edges were completely perfect! The two edges could balance the arrowhead, especially when it’s flying, so that it might hit the target at a more precise angle. When the wings were wrongly processed, it would affect the whole hunting mission. In order to increase the lethality of the arrowhead, Lang Ga would craft his own arrowheads, with longer and sharper edges, and two sharp barbs.
Lang Ga had always felt that only his own hand-made arrowheads would be useful for him. And he disliked others’ work, even when the arrowheads were from his grandfather. However, seeing the arrowhead at hand, Lang Ga was more than shocked. Because he could tell by weighing it at hand, that these arrowheads were perfect for him to use.
The arrowheads he had at hand now looked exactly the same as the ones that Lang Ga crafted himself. No, in fact they were not exactly the same. These arrowheads in front of him were more close to perfection.
Normally when Lang Ga crafted arrowheads himself, he would not bother polishing the details for he had a large consumption of them. However, the ones in front of him were much more refined.
“Hey, thank you, Ah-Xuan! I like them very much! By the way, please thank old Ke for making such nice arrowheads for me!”
In the eyes of Lang Ga, of course the stone arrowheads were made by old Ke, and naturally Shao Xuan asked them from old Ke give them to him.
Lang Ga used his thumb to touch the edge of the stone arrowhead. Ah, the blade was so sharp, no wonder it came from the master!
Shao Xuan was about to walk out but he turned around and smiled at Lang Ga’s words, “I’ll pass your words, but by the way, those arrowheads were all crafted by me. You should try and see if they are useful.”
At Shao Xuan’s response, Lang Ga froze as he was touching the stone arrowhead. He looked up at Shao Xuan, astonished as the muscle on his face quivered hard twice.
“Wait a moment!”
Lang Ga took a few steps and came in front of Shao Xuan. He practically asked the question word by word, as he grasped the arrowhead with his hand, “This is your work??”
Shao Xuan nodded, “Yes. Not too bad, huh?”
Not…too bad?
Lang Ga’s stared at Shao Xuan with red eyes and heavy breath.
If those were judged as “not too bad”, then how should his own hand-made arrowheads be judged as? Stone waste?
Shao Xuan did not quite understand what Lang Ga meant by doing that. He had gotten some stone arrowheads from Lang Ga. Since the arrowheads had already been used once, Lang Ga did not intend to take them to hunting missions in the future. However, it would be such a waste to throw them away, so he gave them to Shao Xuan for his training. Back then, Lang Ga and the others were all using second-handed stoneware to practice, which was quite normal in the tribe.
Shao Xuan made those stone arrowheads based on those that Lang Ga gave him. There were more or less defects in the stone arrowheads, but generally speaking it wouldn’t affect the usage much. Shao Xuan had always thought that those defects were caused by usage, and old Ke also did not comment on those when he saw them. But for the arrowheads crafted by Shao Xuan, old Ke appraised them as “barely not too bad”. That was also the reason why Shao Xuan said “not too bad”.
Lang Ga stared at Shao Xuan with a rather complicated look. Perhaps it was because that he had a grandfather who was a stoneware crafter. He thought he was talented in stone crafting. He made stone tools himself, and now he had some achievements in that field. Even though his skills were not as good as his grandfather’s, he was confident that after perhaps ten years, he would be better than him. What’s more, among his peer he had more skill in crafting than most people. Especially when it came to stone arrowheads, almost no one could make better arrowheads than him!
However, now there’s a newly-awakened kid, who was only ten years old, and had only been learning stone crafting for less than thirty days. The stone arrowheads made by him were slightly better than his works. Based on his eye of quality, he could naturally tell that this stoneware could not be made just given enough time and efforts. Let alone the fact that the stone arrowheads were quite smooth at their surface, and as there was no point of stagnation, highly likely, these arrowheads were processed quickly and smoothly!
Why was there so much difference since he came back from the hunting mission?
I was only out for twenty days, not two years!
Lang Ga’s face turned red, as he thought of giving a bunch of second-handed stone arrowheads with many flaws to Shao Xuan before the hunting mission. He wanted to hide under the ground. Even though he was thick-skinned usually, he had totally different standards when it came to stoneware. Perhaps he was affected by his grandfather.
Take a deep breath!
Then another deep breath!
Lang Ga put out three trembling fingers and pointed at the outside, “You, do not show your face in front of me for the next three days!”
As he finished his sentence, Lang Ga dropped the curtain and he could not sleep anymore. He stepped towards the small room that he used for stone crafting, and began to work.
While from the other house near Lang Ga’s room, walked out an old man with grey hair. He looked hale and hearty even though he was old at age. It seemed that he could still easily carry a stone that weighed a hundred kilos.
That was just Lang Ga’s grandfather. The old man just woke up from his nap and now he intended to go down the mountain to some friends as he chewed some meat jerky in his mouth. He thought perhaps one of his sons was crafting stones in preparation for the next hunting mission, when he heard the sound of grinding stones. However, with a single look through the window, he found out that it was his grandson, who was supposed to be sleeping in his own room. Now he was working in the stoneware crafting workshop!
The old man nearly choked by the meat jerky because of shock. His eyes were wide open like stone balls, and he stared at Lang Ga in the same manner as staring at a ferocious beast in the forest that existed once in a century.
What the fuck?!
That little bastard used to sleep for three to four days after every hunting mission, and even beating him up could not drag him out of his bed! What happened?
While on the other hand, Shao Xuan was quite confused when he was told “not to show his face for the next three days”. What was wrong with Lang Ga? Hypotension because of sleepiness?
Shao Xuan shook his head, as he took the other bag and continued to climb up the mountain, because Mai lived higher in the mountain.