Chapter 406 - The Secret of the Cloud Patterns
That person quickly came to the bank, then did something in a patch of tall grass. Then Shao Xuan heard clicking sounds like ‘kata, kata, kata’.
Shao Xuan watched as that person tugged at some thick vines. With the clicking sound, the floating cage was now quickly pulled to the river bank.
As the trap approached the riverbank, the crocodile in the cage struggled more furiously. However, it seemed like this crocodile was much weaker than the ones he saw previously. Those crocodiles would not be trapped for such a long time.
One the trap was pulled up the bank, Shao Xuan could see the entire object.
It was a metal rectangular cage. On both sides were thick tree trunks tied to it so it would float in the river. There was a lot of seagrass on the trunk and the cage as camouflage. It was not clear if the camouflage was to trick humans or crocodiles. Some people were dumb enough to accidentally get caught in traps themselves. Perhaps it was because the crocodiles were not stupid. They might be very familiar with traps here so more disguises were needed.
Shao Xuan saw the person tug off all the grass tied to the cage then took a bundle of vines from a patch of grass. He tied the vines to a metal bar in the form of a loop at the end.
Then, the person opened the cage where the crocodile’s head was. There were three doors on the cage, he only opened the part nearest to the head. Then, he reached inside with the bar and the loop, pulling the loop through the crocodile’s jaws.
This meant Shao Xuan was not the only one who deciphered the cloud patterns. There were not many of them though. However, finding the mountain was going to be more difficult than expected. If even the Xia people couldn’t find it, then it was an even smaller chance for an outsider to find it. These Xia people must be more familiar with the patterns and had more records with them.
Since everyone couldn’t find it, Gongjia Heng did not care if Shao Xuan came looking for it too. He gestured over at Shao Xuan. “Come help, I’ll share some of its meat with you later.”
Usually, once he caught a crocodile, he would not kill it here. He still had stock so he did not plan to kill it today. He would kill it a few days later when he finished eating his current stock so the meat will be fresh. That was why he merely had to drag it back.
The Xia people were good at casting and forging so they were strong. A forger had to have strong arms. That was why they were considered physically strong compared to many people. In the past, Gongjia Heng would drag the crocodile back on his own, sometimes with transport devices with wheels attached. However, there was a lack of equipment now so he could only drag it himself.
It was too time-consuming to do it on his own so he asked for Shao Xuan’s help.
“Here, you drag the tail, I’ll pull the rope…”
Before he finished, Shao Xuan lifted its tail and dragged the ten-meter long crocodile, already walking ahead. It looked so effortless Gongjia Heng did not finish his sentence.
“Your strength is… not bad at all.” Gongjia pulled on the rope too but realised he wasn’t helping so he let go, merely watching the crocodile. He watched for the crocodile in case it suddenly attacked. He was holding a huge bronze hammer in his hand so if it moved, he would just knock it out.
“Is this crocodile drugged?” asked Shao Xuan.
“Crocodile? Are you talking about this? Of course it’s drugged, or it wouldn’t be this quiet,” said Gongjia Heng. The bait in his trap had a sort of medicine that made the crocodile weak. It was very powerful too, enough to last at least half a day. After bringing it back, he would still feed it the medicine for a few days.
“Right,” said Shao Xuan, “How did you know I was there?” He was confident in his own skills and sure he had made no sound.
“I felt someone watching me.”
Shao Xuan recalled the scene and realised he must’ve been staring very hard when he watched too intently. Gongjia Heng could live in this place, unscathed, for twenty years- this meant his senses must be very sharp.