Chapter 88
Chapter 88 – The river beast “Dread”
Translated by Sunyancai
The rain was pouring down hard.
The raindrops were falling from the sky and splashing on the ground, creating loud noises everywhere.
The tree leaves created scratching noises as they were hit by the rain, and it somehow struck people with a feeling that perhaps the leaves were being pierced through by the water.
Among the curtains of rain, a figure quickly went through the woods, while a toothpick-like stone needle pierced through the curtains of rain, and came out from the dense branches. At the ‘thud’ sound, it stabbed into an arm-thick short wooden bar that hung there.
At that time, there were already plenty of similar stone needles pinned on the bar in different angles, which made the hanging stake looked like a hedgehog.
Many bars like that were hanging nearby. Some of them were placed in the thick undergrowth, while some of them were hanging in the trees.
It was the river beast called “Dread”, the creature that held the dominant position in this endless river. People’s fear towards it could be seen by the way they named it – Dread.
People did not know what exactly a Dread looked like, but only by its giant size and horrible voice, people already felt the unparalleled sense of oppression.
When they appeared, it meant that the rainy season had begun for real, and it was not some regular storm, just like the Shaman’s prediction.
The rainy season did come earlier.
When the Dreads leaped up high, their screaming was so loud that it was like a steam whistle ringing beside your ears, which could almost tear your eardrums. But when the giant Dreads fell into the water again, they would create a loud thunder-like roar. This time it was not that bad, it could have been more uncomfortable. People would feel as if they were being punched on the chest repeatedly. If you placed a cup of water in your room, you could see the water shaking violently.
Last year in the rainy season, Shao Xuan was hiding in the orphan cave with his hands covering his ears, like everyone else. Those sounds were pure torture for them, and many kids were trembling all the time.
Not only kids in the orphan cave, every year when it came to the rainy season, kids in the tribe would stay in their homes, with things blocking their ears. It helped a little, but still could not spare them from suffering from the noise. Some children would even bleed from the nose and ears.
Perhaps, the rainy season was joyful for those Dreads, for they constantly leaped out from the water, seeming to be happy. The tribe was not placed that close to the river, but the impact of the Dreads remained very apparent. For the tribe, rainy season was just a disaster. The only thing that people should feel lucky about was that the Dreads would not come close to the bank, let alone coming on the land, or the tribe probably would’ve been wiped out long ago.
When the giant Dreads arrived, an urgent meeting would be held within the tribe. The team leaders of both hunting teams would spare some warriors to be responsible for the defense of the tribe. That was also the annual rainy season guard battle.
During the rainy season, some other things might come out from the river, and that was also the reason why the hunting team postponed their hunting schedule. They had to defend the tribe from the creatures in the river.