Chapter 9
Chapter 9 – We believe in whatever you say, as long as it’s good
Translated by Sunyancai
Shao Xuan was at best a small cave master for now, and in that cave lived a bunch of wimpy kids with irritable characters.
Shao Xuan processed the fish he brought back by cutting it open and removing its guts and gills, just like the warriors did. He discarded the waste to the rubbish place, where all the garbage and litter went. Inside the cave, the rubbish place was piled up by food residue and it would get cleaned by someone from the tribe every few days.
In addition to unchewable parts, the fish got eaten up completely, leaving some broken fish bones and its mouth which had tiny sharp teeth.
The kids in the cave all went to sleep after they shared the fish. Shao Xuan kept a small torch before putting out the bonfire, and then he held it to look at the depths of the cave. Originally he intended to store some food and animal skins before winter arrived, but now, since he took over the cave and found out a way for fishing, he planned to lead some kids to the river again and hunt for some more fish tomorrow. The tribe alone could not provide sufficient food, but if there was enough stored food then they could go through the winter smoothly.
Everyone in the tribe was preparing for winter, and people were seen making meat jerky every day since meat jerky could last longer. If Shao Xuan could manage to get more fish, not only would the situation in the orphan cave be improved, they could also use the fish to trade for animal skins and furs with people in the tribe to keep themselves warm. Shao Xuan did not want to suffer from the cold.
Depending on the not-so-bright light from his torch, Shao Xuan roughly walked and looked around the cave. He remembered that last time he wandered inside the cave, it was shortly after he woke up in this world. On a whim, he took a walk in the cave, but after that, he never went into the depths.
With the limited length of the straw rope, Shao Xuan did not plan to place the bait very far. Also, this time he did not ask for Caesar’s help. The four kids replaced Caesar and were standing at the end of the rope, while Caesar squatted beside them quietly.
The four kids were rather nervous as they grasped the rope. Except for the anxiety they had facing water creatures for the first time, they were excited about their first time fishing.
“Okay, now we stand still. Wait for my signal later.” Shao Xuan said as he tossed the bait and glanced at the water surface.
Soon, there were some movements in the water. Since it was his third time fishing, Shao Xuan had some experience and immediately shouted without hesitation, “Now pull!”
At Shao Xuan’s words, the four kids grasped the rope tightly and pulled backward with full strength. The four of them combined were stronger than Caesar and they pulled the fish smoothly. The pulled out fish was the same size as yesterday’s first one.
That was the first time they saw a living fish, and that was a lethal one! So, when Shao Xuan told them to stop, they picked up their wooden sticks and smashed towards the fish hard. Especially Tu, he was scared but he deliberately approached and hit the fish on its head. As he was striking, he also screamed like hell, which made Shao Xuan angry, making him want to beat Tu up.
“Okay, okay… That’s enough!” Shao Xuan stopped their attacks and pulled those kids away, with sticks still held in their hands.
At first, Shao Xuan mentioned that the fish might be fierce so they needed to take some long weapons, just in case. Now those kids were prepared, but unfortunately, with all kinds of emotions combines, they attacked madly with all their strength, since it was their first hunting trip outside. The four of them grouped together, so when Shao Xuan stopped them from hitting that fish, the fish was already smashed into jam…
How could anyone eat that pile of jam…
The first one was ruined. So, Shao Xuan guided them to hunt for another one. The second time, they finally calmed down and the fish was relatively better looking. Shao Xuan cut it open and removed its guts and gills. He borrowed flammable powders from the two warriors and grilled the fish.
The fish Shao Xuan took back last night was large in size, but with too many bones and too many kids, the fish meat distributed to everyone’s mouth was rather little. But that was not the same today.
Five people sharing a half-meter fish, each one could get a large slice even with the bones.
All four kids were very excited, but with scarce vocabulary, they did not know how to express their feelings. So all they did was laugh, and they were all laughing like idiots.
“So delicious!” Tu said.
“Yes, it’s good for the brain.” Shao Xuan replied.
“What’s brain? Good for the brain?” asked a kid.
Shao Xuan thought about it and decided to keep the explanation simple, “It means that you may grow better.”
“Grow….grow…better? Is that…Does…Does that…mean that…. that….that we can….be stronger? Like…like totem…like totem warriors? ”
Hearing Ba’s words, the other three kids looked up at Shao Xuan, with sparkling lights in their eyes.
Even though kids in the cave were hot-tempered, they did not tend to hide their feelings. So one could easily define their minds through their facial expressions.
While at that moment, the facial expressions on these four kids were clearly suggesting that: Tell us now, please tell us now! We believe in whatever you say, as long as it’s good!
So Shao Xuan swallowed the words he was about to say and he hesitated a while before he nodded, contrary to his convictions.
Water was slowly washing the riverside, and on the surface it seemed quiet and calm. However, Shao Xuan had just “seen” a picture of a fish with a mouthful of sharp teeth. It was much larger than the vision from yesterday but paler. Perhaps that fish was farther away from where he was standing.
In this endless freshwater river, numerous dangers coexisted, as well as opportunities.
In here they’ll find their food to survive the winter, Shao Xuan told himself.