Various strange bird cries and insect croaks echoed incessantly. A bright Moon had appeared in the sky at some point.
The entire forest was slowly enveloped by the night, looking completely different from daytime.
“It’s so dark now. Quickly make a fire. Otherwise, if danger comes, we might not know what happened!” Yan Jiao loudly called out.
“Yes, Chieftain,” Hei Ya and others responded in unison.
They had walked all day, only just deciding on tonight’s spot to sleep in.
Su Bai frowned, scanning the surroundings and said, “We need to quickly set up. The firelight will scare away many Ferocious Beasts for us.”
“Yes, Shaman,” Mai Mang immediately went to help.
Da Gua and Wa Ming kept a constant vigil over the dried meat, afraid something would go wrong.
“Ah’Hua, take out some dried meat to roast. We’ll eat and rest early tonight. We’ll set out early tomorrow,” Su Bai instructed.
“Okay,” Yan Hua nodded. She took out several pieces from the two large bags of dried meat, skewered them on sharpened branches, and started roasting them by the campfire.
“Tonight, you rest first. Mai Mang and I will take the first watch,” Hei Ya said first.
Yan Jiao blinked his red eyes and said, “Hei Ya is right. We’ll take the first half of the night. Da Gua and Wa Ming, you take over in the second half after you’ve rested enough.”
“Yes, thank you Chieftain,” Da Gua and Wa Ming said in unison.
“Father, what about me? I want to keep watch too,” Yan Hua felt as if she had been ignored in the delegation of duties.
“You just stay close to the Shaman, don’t go anywhere else,” Yan Jiao said sternly.
He was actually very worried about his Daughter. This place was nothing like the Tribe, where there were many people and she could go on patrol in relative safety. The Wilderness was more dangerous than anywhere else, and he could not stomach it if anything were to happen to her.
“That’s right, you stay with the Shaman tonight. Leave the night watch to us,” Hei Ya agreed.
“But, but I want to help too,” Yan Hua said repeatedly.
“Staying by the Shaman’s side is the biggest help. With Xiao Yu not here, the Shaman still needs someone to look after him,” Yan Jiao said seriously.
Yan Hua was about to say something when Su Bai interrupted her. “Just stay by my side. I might have something you can help with.”
“Okay, okay, I’ll definitely protect the Shaman’s safety,” Yan Hua slowly lowered her head.
“Add some salt to the dried meat, then flip it. Don’t let it burn,” Su Bai reminded.
“Oh right, I almost forgot.” Yan Hua hurriedly reached out to flip the dried meat, sprinkling some salt on it.
Su Bai helplessly held his forehead, shaking his head as he said. “Didn’t we bring some Green Sour Berry? Add some of that too. I just taught you not long ago, right? Or, have you already forgotten?”
“Hehe…” Yan Hua clumsily took out two Berries from the animal skin bag, cut them open with a Stone Knife and squeezed them onto the dried meat.
“Hei Ya, Mai Mang, go take a look around to make sure there are no Ferocious Beasts, or other people. We’ll save some dried meat for you,” Su Bai instructed.
“Yes.” Hei Ya and Mai Mang immediately responded, turning to leave the campfire, each taking a torch.
Yan Hua picked up two skewers of dried meat and handed them over, saying, “Shaman, the dried meat is ready. Try it and see how it tastes.”
Su Bai took the dried meat, nodding towards the remaining skewers, saying, “You should all quickly eat as well.”
“Yes,” Yan Jiao and the others had been salivating for a while. Given permission, they took the dried meat and began heartily eating.
*Rustle rustle…* Su Bai’s brows furrowed slightly as he stopped eating, his expression particularly serious. His black eyes were constantly moving left and right.
“Shaman, what’s wrong?” Yan Hua was the first to notice his unusual behaviour.
Yan Jiao immediately understood what was happening and stood up, his expression grave.
“Sit down first. Don’t startle them,” Su Bai said softly.
Yan Jiao slowly crouched down, lowering his voice to ask, “Are people watching us?”
“Yes, quite a few. Seven people in total,” Su Bai said based on his perception.
Yan Hua kept turning her head left and right, trying to spot any trace of them. She asked curiously, “Why can’t I sense anything?”
“I can’t even sense it, let alone you,” Yan Jiao said seriously.
If he, a Mid-Stage Totem Warrior, could not sense them, how could Yan Hua, who was not even a Totem Warrior, sense them?
Da Gua and Wa Ming were very nervous and immediately moved to Su Bai’s side.
Su Bai put down the wooden skewer in his hand and said seriously, “It seems they’re after our dried meat.”
“I’ll go drag them out. They should never have dared to think about snatching this dried meat from my hands!” Yan Jiao angrily said.
The people back in the Tribe were waiting for this batch of dried meat. They would never hand over the dried meat they had painstakingly exchanged!
“Yes! We’re not afraid of them!” Da Gua and Wa Ming agreed.
Su Bai raised his hand to calm them, “No need to rush. Let’s wait for Hei Ya and Mai Mang to return first. From their behaviour, it seems like they want to ambush us. We can prepare first without letting them notice. When they charge out, we’ll catch them off guard.”
If it was before, he might not have planned to act so aggressively. He would have just told everyone to leave quickly. But now that Yan Jiao was a Mid-Stage Totem Warrior, things were different. After all, they had five Totem Warriors on their side while the other side had seven. However, in a real fight, they might not necessarily lose.
From what he had learned these past few days, not all Totem Warriors were brave and heroic to a fault. Many were bullies who only preyed on the weak. So this time, the scales of victory were already slowly tipping in their favour.
“Yes, Shaman,” Yan Jiao nodded.
“You must control yourselves. Pretend nothing’s happening for now. We’ll only have confidence in counter attacking when everyone’s back,” Su Bai cautioned.
Yan Jiao’s brows furrowed, his face was full of confusion. He did not understand why they needed to consider so much. He felt like they should just rush up to them and beat them up. Nevertheless, he still nodded.
“You must restrain yourselves. Do exactly as I say,” Su Bai was really afraid they would act impulsively, so he had to repeatedly remind them.
“Yes, I know,” Yan Jiao nodded awkwardly.
Twenty minutes later, Hei Ya and Mai Mang returned, their expressions clearly not right.
“We found people watching us. We kept hearing strange noises nearby, but when we went to check, we found it was not a beast. On the contrary, there are Human footprints,” Hei Ya said seriously.
“We already know,” Yan Jiao spoke up.
Mai Mang’s face changed to one of surprise, “What? We just got back. How do you know?”
[noscript][/noscript]