Chapter 57
Chapter 57 – Intuition
Translated by Sunyancai
Outside the cave, Mai, Lang Ga and the others were waiting. According to the traditions in hunting groups, if anyone had an accident inside, the others would wait outside for a whole day, after which, they would continue hunting.
Every year, they would lose some of their comrades, but the hunting mission had to be carried on. Everybody was the same.
“Ah-Xuan should be fine, right?” Lang Ga walked back and forth at the exit of the cave, looking anxious. He wanted to go inside to search for him, but without knowing the correct path, he would be of no help even if he went inside. He hadn’t even memorized the route near the entrance and exit, let alone all those complicated forked paths, and turns inside. He wasn’t as knowledgeable about the tunnels and caves, as those old warriors like Mai. Now, since all the experienced ones had their hands tied, he had no other option but to wait there.
“Hum. Ah-Xuan is a lucky boy. He could kill a Thorn Black Wind, so he could probably come out from the mountain.” Ang added.
The others also echoed with the same theory, but some experienced warriors had a different opinion. Unlike young warriors like Lang Ga, they had gone through much more than the young ones ever had. And even if they had not experienced it in person, they had heard the stories.
The situation in the mountain was much trickier than meeting a Thorn Black Wind. Killing a Thorn Black Wind was more of a lucky shot, let alone that the Thorn Black Wind had much lower fighting ability in a cold area, which led to the fact that it was killed by Shao Xuan. However, it was a different situation inside.
Since its antenna hit the air and missed Shao Xuan, that insect was quite annoyed. It gave a violent vibe and stood half up, with two pairs of legs to keep its balance, while the first two sickle-like forelimbs slashed towards Shao Xuan, with a gust of icy wind on the blades. It jumped down at Shao Xuan ruthlessly, as if it had already lost its mind.
Shao Xuan also jumped up high and stepped hard on top of the cave, which cracked the stone instantly.
With the force of the recoil, Shao Xuan twisted his body in the middle of the air. Instead of retreating, he went forward and rushed towards that insect with the sword in his hand.
In here, the insect had a clear advantage of knowing the place better, so Shao Xuan knew in his heart that he might not be able to outrun the insect.
They were both vindictive, so of course revenge was a dish that would be better served when it’s cold. Also, based on the insect’s acting style, one had to fight a quick battle without stalling, if one intended to kill it.
The boy and the insect were originally about ten meters away, which was almost the same length as it’s antennae. However, with Shao Xuan rushing towards the insect in full speed, the ten-meter distance was shortened to zero in the blink of an eye.
The forelimbs of the insect were still waving as it stood half-up, which nearly blocked the narrow path. It created a whirlpool of blades, which hurt Shao Xuan’s face as he got near.
He used his tooth sword to block one of the forelimbs, and the exploding force created by the collision, nearly numbed Shao Xuan’s whole arm. However, he took no break and he promptly rolled and jumped over the whirlpool of blades, and suddenly arrived at the insect’s side.
Shao Xuan stepped on the wall with his right foot, and with that strength, he struck down at the connecting part between its head and back like lightning. There was no protection of the back carapace, and no protection of the shield-like shell on the head.
The insect finally realized that something was wrong, seeing that Shao Xuan had the capability to leap over that whirlpool of blades. It’s antenna was still back there, and those two forelimbs could not be turned around . In a hurry, it withdrew its antenna to whip on Shao Xuan’s back, but it was still a little bit late.
Although it was a sword without a pointed tip, it was as hard and tough as always. The tooth sword was crafted by old Ke himself. Even if there were some minor gaps on its body, it was sharp enough to cut down the insect’s neck.
Puff!
The tooth sword cut the insect’s neck from top to bottom. In fact, the neck was the most vulnerable and soft part of that insect.
Due to limited length, the tooth sword could only cut down half of its neck, but even so, it was painful enough for the insect to lose all its fighting capability. Even the antenna it withdrew, turned soft and droopy.
Shao Xuan pulled back the knife, and took the chance to strike again. This time, he almost chopped off its whole head.
The waving forelimbs of the insect had no strength any more, and the withdrawing antenna dropped to the ground, while its half-standing body finally went down.
Shao Xuan moved his numb arm as he tried to catch his breath. He went over and cut off the remaining antenna, as he decided to keep it for himself.
After resting for a while, Shao Xuan intended to leave.
There was a dead insect, and perhaps it would attract other worms and insects to come to the spot. One needed to leave as soon as possible.
Shao Xuan stood in the middle of the tunnel, and now he had three options: continue to go along the path to the left, or the path in the right side, or just retreat to that three-forked crossing again.
Should he go along the path or retreat to the three-forked crossing?
Perhaps, if he went back and chose another path he could have the right path, he could reunite with the hunting group. However, there was a chance that he might still choose the wrong way, where unknown dangers awaited him.
There was no time to lose, and Shao Xuan needed to make a quick decision.
He closed his eyes to think, and then he turned to the left. This time he was not making the decision by the intuition of the flame, instead, he basically shielded the flaming horns totem in his mind. In the meantime, the egg-shaped light ball which covered the totem grew brighter, but the choice was still the one on the left.
With the antenna in his hand, Shao Xuan decided to move forward as he opened his eyes.