Chapter 73 – Feeling small
Translated by Sunyancai
Those giant dragonflies were gentle in temper, or else they would not allow the warriors in the advance group to take a ride on their backs.
Judging from the behavior of the advance group, Shao Xuan knew that this was not the first time that they used this way to go down the mountain. Also, perhaps those giant dragonflies also had vague memories about the people. However, according to Ta’s theory, the dragonflies do not mind taking the others for a free ride, as long as you do not actively irritate or attack them on purpose.
Viewing from the backs of dragonflies, the forests below seemed to be quite calm and peaceful. Of course that was merely an illusion. The place was even more dangerous than the forests that Shao Xuan had crossed during his last hunting mission.
The law of the jungle also applied in here. The competition for sunlight and nutrition was quite fierce in some places with dense trees. Often, Shao Xuan would see some withered trees. Their roots were large and deep, which were obviously hundreds of years old. They had twisted roots and gnarled branches, but also very dead. There was no worm holes, no cracks on the trunks, but the tree had still died. Ta told Shao Xuan that those were ‘killed’ by the joint efforts of the other trees nearby.
The battlefield of the plants was both above and below the surface. If you peeled the surface away, you could see that the roots of the dead trees had all been strangled by the roots of other trees.
“Attention! Prepare to get off!” Ta warned Shao Xuan.
They could not keep following the group of dragonflies, for they had a different destination. After a short ride, they had to go on separate ways.
The group of dragonflies was quite large, and the forty warriors in the advance group were not together. Even if they started the ride almost at the same time, they got separated after the dragonflies changed their flying formation later. Soon they could not see each other.
“Now! Jump!”
Shao Xuan had no time to react, because he was lifted by Ta and he jumped down together with him.
The landing position that Ta chose was a giant plant that stood there like a tall building. They landed on a huge leaf near the top, for the soft leaf helped remove most of the impact. Also, Ta jumped while the dragonfly was flying low, so they weren’t hurt.
It was a safe landing, and Shao Xuan finally got to stand on his own feet.
The leaf beneath his feet felt cold, but not slippery.
The other warriors in the air were also trying to find suitable landing spots, and constantly jumped down too.
“Let’s go.”
Ta told Shao Xuan to follow. This time, he let go of Shao Xuan. But since he promised the Shaman that he would bring Shao Xuan back safe and sound, he needed to keep an eye on him all the time.
“Guard the surroundings and be react quickly.” Ta reminded him.
“Okay.” Shao Xuan followed behind Ta, jumping down to other leaves beneath them. They had to move from the top to the bottom, while being careful not to slip and fall.
Only the top one third of the plant was covered by leaves, and the other two third of the plant was only a thick stem.
Ta slowed down on purpose, and Shao Xuan closely followed him, sliding down along the stem.
It was not as bright near the ground as it was on the top. There were too many plants, and the dense branches blocked most of the sunlight. Only some of the sunlight reached the ground. Apparently the lower part was more shady and cool, but the light was enough for Shao Xuan to clearly see the surroundings.
Shao Xuan had a feeling that he became smaller in here, or in other words, the world became larger in size.
He had seen a lot of ancient trees and big ferocious beasts during his last hunting trip, but he did not feel himself to be as small like now.
Even the mushrooms were the size of cabins. How could anyone not feel small?
Ta whistled, with his back closely leaning against the stem of the plant. It was a signal for the warriors in the advance group to come together.
Unlike other deer-like or bird-like whistles of the other hunting groups, the whistle was lower in tone. It was especially designed for this place.
Soon enough, similar whistle sounds came from afar. It was hard to capture if you didn’t pay enough attention.
Shao Xuan looked aside, and found some thin straw-like vine stretching towards him rapidly.
Shao Xuan and Ta both stood in the direction it was moving towards, but Shao Xuan had a clear instinct that those vines were targeting him, and him only.
Whoosh!
A small stone knife stabbed the ground, after it had chopped down the tip of the stretching vine.
Immediately the vine stopped stretching towards them, and instead of moving forward, it quickly withdrew as if being scared.
Ta went over to retrieve the stone knife, as he said to Shao Xuan, “Do not treat them as lifeless objects, or you will be the one who is dead. Also, most of them know a thing or two about attacking the weak and keeping away from the strong. You are the weakest warrior in our group.”
Terrific. Now he was the target again.
In the mountain forests, ferocious beasts would attack the children of other species, while in here, even plants knew the rules to attack the weak, and keep away from the strong.
Shao Xuan had heard from others in his last life, that even plants had the five senses: sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch. It’s just most people did not pay attention to that. While now, Shao Xuan had a deep understanding about the amplified five senses of plants.
Soon, warriors that had landed in different spots gathered together. After a quick headcount, Ta ordered them to go on. This time, they were divided into two smaller groups, and they split up, to finish the tasks assigned by the Shaman.
So, there were only twenty warriors in Shao Xuan’s group.
It was impossible for the warriors in the advance group to know every inch of the land, given that it was such a vast green area. However, they knew how to identify the directions. As long as there was sunlight, they wouldn’t get lost, as the route was basically unchanged.
The sounds of birds and incest could be heard in the woods. Also, there were various sounds made by some plants. Some of them sounded like knockings on a door, and the sound echoed in the woods. Some sound would even make Shao Xuan think of the rotation of an iron head wedged on a mast. [ED: WTH kind of sound is that LMAO] And I totally didn’t write incest on purpose there.
Shao Xuan saw many kinds of dangerous and even lethal plants as he followed Ta while running through the woods. One second earlier it was all quiet and calm, while a second later it was a blood-soaked scene.
Shao Xuan had once seen a plant hunt. Its originally smooth leaves could rapidly turn into saws and blades, and chop down the animals or plants in its territory into pieces. It would bury their remains into the ground, so as to provide the nutrition it needed to grow.
Some plants would even eat the meat directly. There were some like the Drosera or Nepenthes that Shao Xuan had seen in his last life. Some of the plants turned out to be more ferocious, and they would attack aggressively. Warriors in the advance group would normally try to avoid them. They were not easy to mess with.
“Let’s take a break. Tuo and Keke, you two go fetch some water.” Ta said after a half day’s march.
The thing required by the Shaman was not around here, and they had to keep running for some time to get there.
There was no river or stream nearby. As Shao Xuan was confused about Ta’s command, he saw Tuo and Keke go to a plant with thick leaves. They slashed on the stem with their stone swords, and they finally made a thin crack after quite a few strikes. The outer layer of the stem was very thick. The crack would be too thin if they only struck once, and it would soon heal its wound.
Light green liquid poured out from the crack, with a pale sweet fragrance. Tuo and Keke used some containers to collect the liquid.
That liquid would attract other insects. Aside from Shao Xuan, and Tuo and Keke who were collecting the liquid, the others were guarding against the approaching insects. Every insect who came could only die here. Some of the warriors guarded for the sky, while others guarded the other directions in the woods. With the deployed guarding formation, only two warriors were spared to collect the water eventually.
“Toss me your container, Ah-Xuan!” Tuo said as he collected the liquid.
Tuo did not ask Shao Xuan to approach that plant, so he stayed at the place about ten meters away. At Tuo’s words, Shao Xuan tossed him the emptied gourd.
When it was filled, Tuo tossed the gourd back to Shao Xuan, and continued to fill in the other container that the next warrior tossed him.
The light green liquid attracted many insects, and most of them were pretty large. Any random bug was over a meter long.
“Hurry!” Ta rushed them.
Afar, there were a bunch of bugs flying towards their direction. With only twenty of them, they could not fight against those bugs.
When the last container was filled, that group of bugs was about two hundred meters away from them. It was enough for them to leave.
“Go!”
Naturally they left since they were done with the filling.
“What are they?” After considerable distance, Shao Xuan asked as they were standing on a leaf, resting.
“We call them the tearers. You see the plant that provided us water earlier? It’s wound would soon be healed, and there would be no more crack. The liquid that poured out would be soon reabsorbed and protected by a thick layer. Most insects could do nothing about it. They would leave if there was no more fragrance distributed. However, the tearers are no normal insects. That plant will probably die since there are tearers approaching.” Tuo said.
The insect called the tearer was some creature that was worthy of its name. It had sharp forelimbs like blades to use for tearing. It was a bug that dieted on both meat and plants. The liquid of plants and the blood of animals were both delicacies for the tearers, and they often went in groups.
Warriors in the advance group did not wish to confront the tearers. One reason was that the tearers were too lethal, while the other reason was that they stank. The disgusting smell wouldn’t fade even after they finished the hunting mission if they were stained with it.