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.
Caesar and the others to be branded by Shaman would become nine beasts with a special status in the tribe, as long as the craft worked.
These nine beasts ranged from birds, beasts and to turtles; namely, three categories of beasts: those living in the sky, on the land, and in the water.
However, only time could tell their future growth, and whether they would become the best.
Looking at the animal skin roll handed in by Shao Xuan for about half an hour, the Shaman sighed and said, “They seem very good, but I still feel worried.”
“What do you mean?”
The Shaman looked at Shao Xuan, and slowly said, “individually, they have good performance, but how about if they are together?”
The Shaman did not expect them to cooperate fully with each other. But he at least had to make sure that when put together, they would not fight. During the hunt, many beasts might get in conflict. If they did not get along well, there would be even greater conflicts after being branded by the craft. That would be simply dangerous for the hunting group.
Shao Xuan was silent for a while, and said, “So, do you mean they should be put together in advance?”
“Yes.”
The Shaman pointed at the names on the roll. Among these nine beasts, two would not be put together with the others. He only meant the other seven to be put together.
The two that did not need to cooperate with others were the turtle staying in the medicine house, and the white falcon brought back by Gui He from the green land. It was this falcon that helped Gui He’s group get more prey during the hunting than Ta’s. But Gui He did not tell everyone about his falcon until he brought it back to the tribe.
They were two exceptions, but besides them, the remaining seven had to learn to cooperate with each other.
The seven names made Shao Xuan sigh silently, and questioned in his mind, “How to get them together?”
These seven made up a group totally different from what Shao Xuan had imagined. This group included various kinds of beasts, and could be compared to a mishmash army in the modern times. None of them were similar species, so their tempers were also strange and different.
Shao Xuan stayed with the Shaman to discuss with him for a long time, and then left with a animal skin volume written by the Shaman, which was as important as a “decree”. He walked out of the stone house to inform those who kept the beasts, whose names were written down by the Shaman.
Yesterday, Gui He’s hunting team had returned, and Ta’s group would set out tomorrow, so now they were all in the tribe. Shao Xuan had to inform them one by one.
First, he visited Mao.
When he came to the door of the team leader, he found no one there. There was no noise in the house, so Shao Xuan cried out, “Si Ya!”
Bang!
A quite strong “bald boar” broke through the wall.
Shao Xuan, “…”
The sight of the big hole in the stone wall made Shao Xuan decide to leave as soon as he told Mao the news. Otherwise Ta would get furious if he saw the hole.
Now, Si Ya had four fangs, so it looked quite capable, but it was still called “bald boar”.
After Si Ya came out through the wall, Mao came out with a sour face, and scolded Shao Xuan, “Why did you call it?!”
“Why?” Shao Xuan asked.
“He was sleeping just now, and probably dreaming. Tomorrow it will go hunting, so it is excited.” Said Mao, rubbing his face hard, “Tell me what you want to say. I have to hurry to repair the wall before my father comes back. Otherwise he will beat me because of it.”
Most of the houses on the mountain were made of stones. Si Ya was quite emotional, just like a young man. He could get excited easily. Once he got excited, the house would be damaged. Ta did not allow it to live in the house, but when Ta was out, it squeezed into the house. So the door had been enlarged several times.
Without delay, Shao Xuan passed the Shaman’s “decree” to him and said, “Read it.”
Originally he was thinking about how to fix the wall, but after reading the animal skin volume, he got excited and could not wait to set out immediately. According to the volume, if the result was satisfactory, the Shaman would choose the best beasts to perform the craft on.
Having waited for two years, he could finally learn more about the legendary profound craft, so how could he not get excited?
“When will we go?” Mao asked hurriedly.
“You won’t go with your beast tomorrow, but you can bring your beast for the next hunt.” Said Shao Xuan.
Mao was disappointed, but it did not take long before he could go hunting with Si Ya. In addition, he had more time to train it for the next hunt, so that next time would be amazing! Those excelling beasts that the Shaman mentioned, certainly included Si Ya!
Ignoring the excited Mao, Shao Xuan continued to inform other people. He left for Lei’s house, up in the mountain, for Meng was also included in the list.
After informing Mao and Lei, he went to the mountainside to tell Mo Er.
When Shao Xuan arrived there, Liao, the cave lion, was lazily lying at the door and rubbing the ground. After finishing hunting, it enjoyed big meals and then would have a good sleep for a few days.
Since Liao was raised in the tribe, many people were less afraid of cave lions.
Seeing Shao Xuan, Liao, who was rolling at the door and licking its claws, waved its tail to knock on the door.
Soon, Mo Er came to open the door, it seemed that he just woke up. In the past, when he finished a hunting mission, he would still feel energetic after returning to the tribe. But now, going hunting with Liao made him physically and mentally exhausted, but he got more prey. That was because Liao’s temper was not as good as that of Caesar. He had to pay a lot of attention to it.
“What is up?” Mo Er yawned, giving the cave lion a kick.
Glancing at the cave lion lying on the ground and rolling lazily, Shao Xuan did not feel surprised. He handed the “decree” to Mo Er and told him what he had told Mao.
Reading the animal skin volume, Mo Er felt excited. He no longer felt sleepy, but breathed with haste.
“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?