At first, they thought that it was the Flaming Horns who were mistreating them, but when they realised that it was their tribesmen who were behaving too recklessly, the chief of the Feather tribe was slightly embarrassed. He knew that this wasn’t the Flaming Horn’s fault, and he knew it was the truth after seeing the reactions the young men had when they heard the Flaming Horn’s words. The Flaming Horn warrior wasn’t at all exaggerating anything.
Why didn’t he finish his sentence back then?!
After some thought, the Feather tribesmen felt that the Flaming Horns had intended for this to happen. Perhaps they were waiting for this moment to make a joke out of them.
The injury on Ming Lu’s arm wasn’t too severe. It was just a little shocking. If it wasn’t because Ming Lu reacted in time back then and the bird flew over a little slow, Ming Lu might have lost a huge part of his arm.
Since it wasn’t a huge matter, the chief of the Feather tribe calmed himself down and maintained his composure. Forcing a smile on his face, he said to Gui He, “Let’s continue our discussion, shall we? I notice Shao Xuan is here now too. Let’s talk about what’s going to happen in the forest.”
“You guys head up first. I’ll catch up soon,” Shao Xuan said.
The pterosaur escaped to the river as soon as it bit Ming Lu. It didn’t dive into the river. Instead, it swam on the surface like the other ducks. The only different thing was that its wings were extended in the same fashion as it crawled. It was gliding on the surface of the river, and its wings were like two sails erected on its side. With the help of the wind, it propelled itself across the river.
The pterosaur didn’t swim too far from the shore, though. It knew that there weren’t any fish that were a match for it near the shore, but if it swam any further, it might get dangerous. If anything happened, the Flaming Horns could still help it.
Shao Xuan blew a whistle, and the pterosaur that was swimming on the river instantly flew to his direction.
Seeing this, everyone in the Feather tribe was shocked. Was that not a bird? It looked just like one, but their tricks didn’t work on it at all. Shao Xuan only had to whistle to summon it over. Judging by how the creature flapped its wings, it seemed afraid that something might happen if it reacted any slower.
The Feather tribesmen were correct. If the pterosaur reacted any slower it might be suppressed by Shao Xuan, so that was why it obeyed him immediately.
Shao Xuan touched the creature’s wings and checked to see if the pterosaur was injured. Seeing no injuries on it, he let go and told the pterosaur, “You can go play but don’t go too far.”
The pterosaur gave out a cry, flapped its wings, and flew back onto the river. It dived into the river and took out its anger on the fish.
Shao Xuan didn’t stay at the base of the mountain for too long either. People were waiting for him on the hill.
The few young men from the Feather tribe finally relaxed when Shao Xuan left. They wanted to ask Shao Xuan about the strange bird but didn’t dare to. After all, they embarrassed themselves not too long ago, and Shao Xuan was rushing to ascend the mountain. They didn’t have the chance.
“Look over there, quick!” someone pointed to somewhere in the Flaming River.
There was blood on the surface of the river, and something was moving rapidly underneath.
“That looks like where the strange bird dived in.”
“Weren’t there dangerous fishes in the river? Wouldn’t something happen to the bird?”
“It’s probably fine. Didn’t you see? The Flaming Horns aren’t even worried.”
All of them looked over. The Flaming Horns who were stationed there simply took a glance of the situation and no longer bothered to look a second time. They were unbelievably calm and seemed like they were already used to this situation.
Not long later, the strange bird flew out of the river, and there was half a fish dangling from the side of its mouth. The fish was already in shreds, but the half that was in the bird’s mouth was even bigger than the bird! However, it was flying effortlessly with the giant fish in its mouth. The fangs in its mouth seemed like hooks. If those fangs bit down on any of them, it wouldn’t feel good at all.
The strange bird flew up to a tree and continued to eat the fish. Seeing this, Hong Xi was glad he didn’t make a move before. If he did, the one who was injured wouldn’t be Ming Lu. It would be him.
Hong Xi didn’t know that if he indeed made a move, he might not get hurt. Hong Xi’s control of the fire seed’s energy was much higher compared to Ming Lu. Flames would probably appear if he summoned his totemic power. The pterosaur was very afraid of those flames. It wouldn’t even attack. The first reaction it would have was to run.
But they didn’t dwell on this topic for too long. The young men started to complain about why they couldn’t use feathers as a currency in the Flaming River Trading Point. They didn’t accept feathers.
Why couldn’t they accept feathers as a currency? Those were beautiful and rare feathers! Weren’t they precious? Why didn’t they like it?
The Feather tribesmen had been unhappy about this. At least in their tribe, using feathers to exchange for other goods was not uncommon. However, this method wasn’t accepted in different tribes. It was clear not everyone adored birds as they did.
In the Feather tribe, promotions, weddings, and other essential occasions all involved feathers. They could be used as ornaments and also as currency. One other reason why they tamed birds was that they needed their feathers. The Feather tribesmen all wanted beautiful feathers. Not only could the birds in their tribe perform particular tasks, but most of them also had beautiful feathers. The beautiful feathers were enough to make all of them happy.
Unfortunately, other tribes weren’t interested in this at all. No matter what the Feather tribesmen did, no matter how hard they tried to promote their feathers, they never succeeded.
However, if Shao Xuan were here, he would recommend using this method on the slave masters on the other side of the sea, especially those people who called themselves aristocrats. Those people loved these beautiful and rare goods. Even though they couldn’t succeed here, they still had a chance to succeed on the other side of the sea.
On the mountain, Gui He, Shao Xuan and the Feather tribesmen were discussing their plan in the forest.
This time, Shao Xuan didn’t need to go with them. Ta was just about to lead a group out for a hunt, so he was left in charge. Of course, they wouldn’t bring the Feather tribesmen onto all of their hunting trails. They would just choose a path with the most birds and bring them there.
The more beautiful the birds, the less interested the Flaming Horns were. Being small and without much meat, they would never take a second glance at these birds. However, these birds attracted the people from the Feather tribe, and they wanted to capture a lot of them back to tame and replenish their livestock.
At the same time, the Feather tribe also promised to find some bird species that weren’t too big or fierce for the Flaming Horns. If these birds fought in their tribe, could they still live in peace?
They also didn’t need any birds like Cha Cha. The Flaming Horns could not handle another giant mountain eagle. The snow falcon, on the other hand, was something that they desired but they also couldn’t have too many of them.
The bird species they needed were ones that were vigilant, strong and smart. If they were too weak, too slow, or too hyperactive, the Flaming Horns wouldn’t want them.
The Feather tribe usually danced with their birds every day. Ta heard about this, and he knew they didn’t need birds like these. Who would have the time to dance with birds?
The Flaming Horns didn’t care about the bird’s appearance or chirping sounds. As long as they met their qualifications, even if they looked like a frog, the Flaming Horns would still keep them.
The Flaming Horns had quite a lot of requests, but since the Feather tribesmen promised to help them look for their bird species, they would keep their promise, unless they really couldn’t find any that qualified.
After they finished discussing, Ta led the hunting team and the Feather tribesmen into the forest.
Twenty days later.
Shao Xuan was extracting blood from the green-faced fanged beasts. These beasts had fattened from eating and seemed to have adapted to their life of eating and sleeping. They even appeared unhappy when they were let out to play.
A Flaming Horn warrior rushed over.
“Grand Elder, the chief sent for you. Hunt Leader Ta and the others are back!”
They are?
Shao Xuan extracted blood from the rest of the beasts and delivered the blood to the forge. Then, he headed to the residential area.
He wondered what sort of birds they brought back.