Chapter 133
Chapter 133 – The Nine Beasts
Translated by Sunyancai
According to the ancient volumes, each hunting animal branded by the profound craft was carefully selected. But now, in the tribe, less than ten beasts met the requirements.
The Shaman would like to perform the craft on them as soon as possible, because the volumes told him that if they were branded by the craft in their early stages, the success rate and the chance of growing into the ferocious beasts would be higher. If they were branded by the craft after a few years or several decades, there would be little room for their growth, even if the craft worked.
But in accordance with the old teaching, he must make sure that they met the requirements, which made him hesitate over whether to perform the craft on them.
Therefore, the Shaman asked Shao Xuan to record the training, life, and performance of the first batch of beasts during the hunt. Up to now, the Shaman had written nine beasts’ names on his animal skin parchment.
Shao Xuan handed in the recent records, and was waiting for the Shaman’s comments. Whether to brand them totally depended on the Shaman.
Those selected would be the first batch of beasts to be branded by the craft in the tribe. Shao Xuan couldn’t make this decision by himself.
“I get it, I’ll train it!”
Leaving Mo Er’s house, Shao Xuan set out to the Mai and Qiao’s home to tell Ah-Yang and Ah-Guang about this matter, and at the same time told Mai in detail that his group was chosen to be the first one to go hunting with this “mishmash army”.
When Shao Xuan was talking with Mai and Qiao, An and Jing were fighting in the expanded yard. These two did not match their elegant names. Ah-Yang and Ah-Guang were cheering them up.
“An, attack it from the back! Avoid its claws!”
“Ah-Jing, pat it, and peck it. That is right.”
An was an animal that looked like a hyena, but had hoofs. Its feet made you assume it was a herbivore, but its fangs showed you that it was a carnivore. On the whole, it looked like a sheep wrapped in wolf’s skin, but the wolf skin did not cover its feet. It was in fact a fierce beast with a peaceful name.
Shao Xuan admired Jing a lot, for its head could work as a hoe. When Jing ran up, it could fiercely hit the prey, and even sometimes kill it with a peck. It was completely different from Chacha.
After informing them one by one, Shao Xuan went home to ready up the tools for tomorrow’s hunting.
Since the end of last year, Shao Xuan had gone hunting with Chacha, and he had lived up to expectations. He had not made any trouble, but caught a cub from the deer herd without an order from the hunting group. Later, the deer became all alert when they saw a figure in the sky. The first time, Chacha could catch one of them due to their negligence, but after that they became vigilant, so it was difficult for him to succeed again.
After more than twenty days, Ta went hunting with his group and returned. As soon as he returned, Gui He’s group set out, but this time, Mo Er and Lei were left in the tribe to receive training with Shao Xuan, Mao, Ah-Yang and Ah-Guang.
As what Shao Xuan had imagined, when put together, these seven fought for a small stone rat for half a day, never mind cooperation.
Fortunately, as a ferocious beast, Caesar saw their fierce fight, and then went to end their fight.
People in the tribe often heard roars from the training ground. In the beginning they were nervous, but soon, they got used to it, and could even tell which beast was roaring.
Although these seven did not cooperate well in the beginning, their masters played an important role.
Thanks to their guidance and Caesar’s violent suppression, five days later, they finally no longer fought.
Ten days later, they learned the initial cooperation.
Fifteen days later, their cooperation was further increased.
Twenty days later, their cooperation nearly satisfied Shao Xuan.
The Shaman did not expect them to cooperate with one another that well, for they after all might go hunting alone. But he intended to test their mind in this way. As long as they obeyed the orders during the whole process and returned safely, the Shaman would immediately perform the craft on them.
When they set out, those who were not on patrol in the tribe all gathered on both sides of the Path of Glory to watch them.
In this team, those eye catching beasts aroused heated discussion.
Mai felt very stressed out, for those beasts that they had been vigilant of a few years ago, now joined their group.
Lang Ga touched his neck, for behind him was the phorusrhacos kept by Ah-Guang. He was afraid of its peck, for his fragile neck could not stand a peck.
The Shaman stood at the top of the mountain, looking at the hunting team walking down. He paid respects to the fire pit, in the hope for the ancestors’ blessing, so that everyone in the group would come back safely.
The number of the first batch of cubs was at least a hundred, but today, only a few were left and selected. So hard to select!
Although the Shaman thought they were certainly inferior to the hunting animals kept by the ancestors, he believed they were not too inferior… right?