Chapter 78
Chapter 78 – The Green Thief marches at night
Translated by Sunyancai
As the others were immersed in the concept of “Green Thief” and “night vision”, Shao Xuan carefully observed the traps he set yesterday.
In fact, the tree secreted quite a lot of resin. But only limited quantity could be used to set the trap. Shao Xuan discovered that the resin in different sections of the tree had varying levels of viscosity. When cutting out the bark, there was only a tiny bit of resin that was sticky enough to be used in the traps. He collected the sticky resin, and applied them around the snare. However, it could only cover two snares.
Yesterday, when they were cleaning the remains of those dead bugs, warriors had shoveled a layer of moss and grass away. So it was very bare in the surroundings of the tree that they were resting on. The smell of the burnt fruits remained, which could also drive away most of the animals.
Consequently, Shao Xuan found that there were lots of marks in the resin on the ground. The tree he cut yesterday overflowed with plenty of resin, but most of it was not sticky enough. On the edge of those marks in the resin, there were obvious traces of something being dragged… Apparently something had stepped on it.
No warriors in the advance group had touched it, or else there would be clear footprints.
Shao Xuan thought for a moment and then looked around. He set his sights on a plant nearby, which was in full bloom. On its top when the wind blew, the pollen would scatter over the ground.
A thousand? Thousands of them? Perhaps there were more…
Those green figures were walking towards the same direction in groups. Compared with the Green Thief that he captured, those Green Thieves had their “heads”, and their heads looked like inverted mops. The Cyan Thieves were the same height as Shao Xuan, but were as skinny as bamboo. They were walking in the woods without any sound.
“Ah-Xuan?”
“Hey, what’s wrong with you?”
Warriors over there planned to keep calling him, but were stopped by Ta.
“Is he seeing something?” said Ah-Suo.
Seeing something?
There’s nothing but trees over there.
Unless it was the epiphany of the ancestors?
Thinking about that, all the warriors trembled without warning. They dared not to be noisy.
“Hey, he moved!” Keke whispered.
Over there, Shao Xuan walked ahead on foot. He was walking towards the same direction as the Cyan Thieves were heading to. But after a few steps, he looked back at the trap again.
“Oh, now he’s looking back!!” Keke said again.
“You just shut up, Keke!” Ta growled.
Originally, Shao Xuan saw those Cyan Thieves walking besides him, and some of them were walking through his body, as if he did not exist at all. Shao Xuan couldn’t help but walk with them in the same direction. However, those Cyan Thieves were too fast for him to follow.
Shao Xuan felt that he was being assimilated, but quickly enough he resisted the feeling of assimilation. He looked back at the trap totally confused.
The others assumed that Shao Xuan was looking at them. But in fact, he was looking at the Green Thief, which was tied on the ground.
After being trapped, the Green Thief found it impossible for him to escape. So its head just dislocated itself from the body. It was not dead, but it left a part of its body out, to allow the main part to survive. It was the same as when a gecko fled without its tail. When the time was right, it would grow into a whole creature again.
Shao Xuan moved his sight away from the trap, and then looked at the direction that the Cyan Thieves marched towards.
He saw a Green Thief walk up on a tree, with its toes stuck on the trunk. It was perpendicular to the trunk but it walked as if it were still walking on the ground.
It moved upwards for about fifteen meters, and then, it reached out its “hand” to poke into the trunk, but quickly withdrew. Then, like earlier, it walked down the tree, and rejoined the nocturnal army.
What was in there?
Shao Xuan observed the tree for awhile and then began to climb its trunk.
Ta indicated that all warriors should surround Shao Xuan for his protection, in case of any accident or emergency. His eyes were fixed on Shao Xuan. Indeed, he wanted to find something with Shao Xuan’s help, but he also promised the Shaman that he would take Shao Xuan back to the tribe, safe and sound.
Over there, Shao Xuan saw a tiny hole when he reached the spot that the Green Thief poked into the trunk. Some green thing like a bean sprout was in it.
Looking at the “bean sprout”, Shao Xuan gripped its head with his fingers and suddenly pulled it out. The “bean sprout” was little, but it took him some strength to pull it out.
Seeing that Shao Xuan pulled out something with the same color as the Green Thief, Ta had sparkling traces in his eyes, “The seedling of the Green Thief?”
The Green Thief. It walks in the dark with its green body. It steals the life of the tree to breed its offspring.
It was said that the nocturnal army of the Green Thieves would only exit once in a year.
Was it really the blessings from the ancestors?