Two days earlier, in the caves of the Flying Snake tribe.
The daylight, much shorter than before, quickly passed, and when the sun was still a considerable distance from the southwestern mountains, it had completely disappeared.
Twilight surged quickly, eager to dominate the land.
The fourth leader of the Flying Snake tribe stood on a large rock on the west side of the cave entrance, continuously gazing eastward.
He wanted to see the victorious return of the others.
With the shaman and others absent, he always felt somewhat uneasy.
Another important reason was that he wanted to eat food with salt.
The salt brought back by the third leader had been mostly taken by the shaman, leaving him with only a little.
Knowing that the tribe would soon have a large supply of salt, the fourth leader did not hold back on the little he had. Just a few days after the shaman left, he had consumed all the salt he had left.
Like him, others left behind eagerly awaited the team's return.
They, too, were very eager for pottery and salt.
Everyone hoped that the shaman and the others would return soon, bringing back many precious items.
As for the thought of the shaman failing, no one even considered it, as it seemed impossible.
They had the wise shaman, the unmatched unicorn, and fierce adults far superior to the other tribes, while the other tribe only had a strange cave.
In such circumstances, how could they possibly lose?
After waiting for a while, as dusk descended and the sky gradually darkened, the fourth leader of the Flying Snake tribe prepared to order everyone back into the cave to start distributing food.
During the days of guarding the tribe, he felt somewhat unwilling, but he also discovered another benefit.
This benefit was the freedom to do as he pleased.
Previously, he had the shaman and the other three leaders above him.
In the tribe, he had little say.
He had long been accustomed to that way of life and did not think it was wrong.
Now that the shaman and the three leaders had all left the tribe, he had become the chief, and he suddenly realized how refreshing it was to have no one above him.
Every day at mealtime, he was the first to eat and could eat the best meat until he was stuffed.
Unlike before, how much he could eat depended on the shaman or the chief’s mood.
Moreover, everyone left behind had to listen to him; he arranged what work to do, what to eat, and how much to eat.
With the primitive women remaining in the tribe, he could sleep with whomever he wanted.
This unprecedented feeling of pleasure made the fourth leader of the Flying Snake tribe intoxicated, even more so than eating salted food.
So much so that sometimes he even entertained the thought that it might be good if the shaman and the others never returned.
This thought was very dangerous and entirely unrealistic, so he only briefly considered it before dismissing it and burying it in his heart.
Just as they were preparing to turn back into the cave, suddenly, there was a commotion coming from the east.
It was the sound of dry twigs and leaves crunching underfoot.
Moreover, judging by the sound, whatever was coming was quite large.
The fourth leader of the Flying Snake tribe was somewhat surprised yet also pleased.
He wondered what kind of prey had inadvertently stumbled into his cave.
However, this sense of joy at the thought of prey quickly vanished.
Accompanying the crunching sound were some shouting voices.
They were speaking the language of their tribe.
The fourth leader of the Flying Snake tribe was startled and also found it strange. If he remembered correctly, everyone who had gone out with him to gather fruit had returned. Why was one person coming back again?
And it sounded pretty anxious too.
The fourth leader of the Flying Snake tribe led the others forward to meet the person rushing over, stumbling as they ran, and not even wearing a piece of animal skin. Upon seeing the people left behind, the joy became relief as his tightened heart finally eased.
The fourth leader of the Flying Snake tribe angrily cursed.
Before he could even ask anything, the guy collapsed.
A wave of panic spread among the Flying Snake tribe. Suddenly, the disheveled person was recognized as one of those who had gone with the shaman to attack that wealthy tribe.
But why had he returned alone? And why did he look so extremely disheveled?
As the crowd fell silent, the fourth leader of the Flying Snake tribe suddenly slapped his forehead and stood up in surprise.
He understood what was going on!
It must be that the shaman and the chief had achieved great success in that wealthy tribe, and perhaps they could not take the tribe down, so they sent this guy back to report.
Maybe they were even considering having him lead a group to help collect some spoils.
Hearing him say this, everyone felt it made sense; it was the only explanation for the current situation.
The fourth leader's words swept away the momentary panic within the Flying Snake tribe's cave.
Everyone became extremely cheerful; their warriors were coming back, bringing endless treasures!
Even some impatient individuals began shouting to leave the cave to welcome their comrades' victorious return and share in the joy of victory.
Just then, the person who had collapsed without saying a word woke up.
As soon as he regained consciousness, he panicked and shrank to one side.
Once he realized he was in his tribe's cave, surrounded by his people, and had escaped from that terrifying tribe, his feelings of fear began to diminish somewhat.
He opened his mouth and began to wail at the crowd, his voice trembling, with endless fear in his eyes.
Seeing this person awaken, the fourth leader of the Flying Snake tribe and some others rushed over, eager to hear good news, only to be left dumbfounded.
It was as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over them on a frigid winter day, instantly freezing them into ice statues.
The fourth leader of the Flying Snake tribe was stunned, completely shocked.
The unicorn was dead, the shaman was dead, many of those who went to attack that tribe were dead, and their tribe had suffered a great defeat.
How... how could this be possible?
Was this guy crazy? Are you spouting nonsense here? How could such things happen?
In an instant, the once noisy cave fell silent, and the still fourth leader of the Flying Snake tribe suddenly began to shout curses at the disheveled tribesman, kicking him hard.
He felt this damned guy was talking nonsense, and he wanted to wake him up properly…