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.
When ancestors were establishing the hunting route, they had sacrificed many people’s lives to finally find a proper way to go through. However, Shao Xuan was nothing but a newly-awakened boy, who was attending the hunting mission for the first time. Regarding capability, he was not better than anyone in the hunting group.
Even though they were comforting Lang Ga, and the other young warriors, that Ah-Xuan was a lucky boy, deep down in their hearts, those experienced warriors were thinking about why that kid was so unlucky… Earlier he had just survived from the Thorn Black Wind, however, just in the blink of an eye, he was accidently trapped in the mountain, nowhere to be found.
New people joined, while some people would leave, or even die, depending on their fortune. Even the ancestors could not run away from their destiny, how could Ah-Xuan survive again? From the day that this route was established, no one ever came out after being left behind. It was just a pity that this time, a talented boy was lost here. They wished to see him walk on the Path of Glory when they returned, but nobody expected that he would be resting in the mountain forever. Well…
Of course, Mai wasn’t in a good mood, for they had lost someone in the mountain. What’s more, it was the one that he favored very much. Just because he knew what Shao Xuan was facing with, and no one ever came out before him, Mai sat there still, in silence. He regretted very much, that he wasn’t more cautious. If he had noticed the hole above, if he hadn’t paid so much attention on the eyeless spiders, perhaps nothing would have happened.
In the meantime, Shao Xuan was in a dilemma, not knowing which way to choose.
There were three forking paths, and only one of them would lead him to the outside, from where he was dragged along. And no one knew where the other two paths led to. One misstep, he probably won’t be able to come out alive.
Shao Xuan took a deep breath to ease his anxious nerves.
Recalling his limited experiences, Shao Xuan remembered that at the very night that they were awakened, the Shaman had said to them when he was giving the “lecture” … “The power of the flame will guide you. Just like in ancient times, our ancestors used fire to light up the night.”
Intuition…
The intuition brought by the flame…
Shao Xuan stimulated the totemic power in his body, and the flame wrapping on the flaming horns totem suddenly grew brighter in his mind.
Shao Xuan glared at the three paths in silence.
After a while, Shao Xuan lifted his foot and walked into the path in the middle.
It was very quiet in the cave, no eyeless spider or any other kinds of worms could be seen. Shao Xuan walked down along the path, but soon enough…
Damn it!!
What intuition?
What “The power of the flame will guide you”?
Everything was fake!!
The Shaman was just an old quack!
If he were not afraid of waking that king stone worm, Shao Xuan would probably curse out loud.
He had confirmed that the path he went along now was not the same as the path through which he was dragged in, even if he didn’t remember which path it was, he still remembered the exact number of times his body was smacked against the wall.
When he was dragged all the way in by that insect, his body was smacked against the wall, every time there was a turn. However, now Shao Xuan was passing through more turns than before! Also, the surroundings felt totally alien to him, and he didn’t have any familiar feelings!So, was his intuition on strike?
Shao Xuan rubbed his head leaning against the wall.
Why did he have such bad luck?
He had done nothing evil in the tribe, instead, he had helped those weak kids back in the orphan cave. Why did bad things always happened to him?
Unless…
Shao Xuan thought about the ritual ceremony in the Snow Festival. When others were praying, he was thinking about the changes on his body. Also, he did not join the crowd to sing the Song of Hunting, but faked it like he was really singing. Maybe, he had to face the consequences of his prior unjust actions now?
So the totem and flame that the Shaman had been talking about, which were supposed to be the guardians of the warriors, chose not to protect him?
That was bullshit!
If it could really protect, then wouldn’t that mean the ancestors in Lang Ga’s stories shouldn’t have died in here.
Thinking about that, Shao Xuan’s face froze. If there was light inside, one could’ve seen traces of icy feelings in his eyes.
Shao Xuan was leaning against the wall, but he suddenly jumped up in the air.
The next moment after his jump, the position he was standing at earlier were whipped hard by a shadow.
Screech~~
The serrations on the end of the antenna, cut the stone wall, which created a screeching noise.
It was that insect, the one that dragged him here!
After being caught once, he learned his lesson, if he fell into that same trap a second time, he would be considered stupid!
In Shao Xuan’s view, that insect was formed by teeny tiny bones, and the skeleton didn’t seem rigid and strong. However, in fact, it was not true. Those tiny bones could, not only hold the insect’s flesh tight, but also ensure that it could move faster, and when it was moving in the tunnel, it created barely any sound!
Aside from the tiny bones, the insect had a layer of hard shell on its back to protect it from the outside. The most effective weapon was its antennae. But it was not a pair of the antennae now, since one of the antenna got chopped off by Shao Xuan earlier, when it caught him.
However, compared to the Thorn Black Wind’s armor of hard scales, this insect’s defence was much more vulnerable. Its advantage was to sneak attack and take the other party by surprise, but when it came to actual combat, it could be defeated.
They were in the territory which was under the king stone worm’s control. Of course the king stone worm would allow some nobodies to live in the mountain, but it wouldn’t endure if anything threatening existed.
Obviously, Shao Xuan was not the only one that bore a grudge. Although he hated that insect for bringing him there. At the same time, the insect had deep hatred towards Shao Xuan for chopping off one of its antennae.
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.