Chapter 37 - 33: Altar
Deng Wen waved her wooden stick, pointing to a spot on the water’s surface. "There’s a snake in the water!"
On the water, a small, gray snake was swimming across the surface.
Startled by the voices on the shore, the little snake swam away quickly, diving underwater and disappearing from sight in the blink of an eye.
"You all have been busy all morning. Have some lunch."
Xiao Xuemei came over, carrying two bags.
One bag held a large, steaming clay pot, while the other contained bowls and chopsticks.
Lifting the lid of the large clay pot, steam billowed out, revealing a congee made of tender, stewed fish, shrimp, and wild vegetables.
"I’ve picked out all the fish bones, so you don’t have to worry," Xiao Xuemei said, ladling a heaping bowl for Qin Ziwen first.
"Thanks, Sister-in-law," Qin Ziwen said, quickly getting to his feet.
He took the large bowl. The congee inside was steaming, releasing a savory aroma.
After ladling out a bowl for everyone, Xiao Xuemei got one for herself as well.
The five of them sat by the river, blowing on their congee to cool it and sipping it slowly.
In the afternoon, their luck was a little better.
Qin Ziwen caught three fish in a row. Although they were all small, palm-sized fish, at least he had caught a few.
These three fish weren’t the common carp or crucian carp. They looked rather flashy, with colorful scales and tails, like some kind of ornamental fish.
In the modern world, they might have fetched a good price, but here, their only fate was to be eaten.
’I hope the meat of these flashy fish is at least tasty.’
He threw the fish into the bucket.
Qin Ziwen craned his neck and looked around. "Old Deng, the crocodiles in the river seem to have disappeared these past couple of days."
Deng Guang nodded. "Yeah. Ever since that big male crocodile died, we haven’t seen any crocodiles in the river."
They had been cautious all day yesterday and hadn’t seen so much as a shadow of a crocodile.
More than half the day had passed, and there was still no sign of any crocodiles.
Qin Ziwu mused, "Maybe they ran away, or maybe they’re hiding. Speaking of which, animals like crocodiles are territorial, aren’t they? A single stretch of river should only have one group. If the leader of that group dies, will a new leader rise to take its place? Or will another one wander in from a different territory?"
Qin Ziwen said, "It’s possible, but even if a new leader appears, it wouldn’t happen this quickly."
Seeing that it was getting late, Qin Ziwen picked up his bucket to go home. Inside, besides the four fish he had caught during the day, were the loaches and bitterlings from the Earth Cage.
As for the swamp prawns, Xiao Xuemei had already taken them when she went back to make lunch; they were the very shrimp in their midday congee.
He carried the bucket home through the east gate.
Once home, he took out the Recruitment Card. He pondered for a moment, then mentally commanded it to activate.
The Card dissolved into a stream of light. A ball of white light hit the floor, and a bird of prey, its body over a meter tall, appeared in the bedroom.
Its sharp eyes scanned the surroundings, finally landing on Qin Ziwen.
"Wheeeeee-ah!"
The Beaked Eagle’s cry was rather piercing, yet it had an underlying quality like a puppy whimpering to please its master.
"Okay, quiet down. No more noise," Qin Ziwen said, putting a finger to his lips in a shushing gesture.
The Beaked Eagle tilted its head, its large, intelligent eyes staring at Qin Ziwen. It was hard to say if it understood, but at least it fell silent.
His brother’s surprised voice came from outside the bedroom. "Bro, I think I just heard a bird call."
"It was a bird call." Qin Ziwen opened the door and let his brother in.
The moment the door opened, Qin Ziwu saw the Beaked Eagle staring right at him.
Upon seeing a stranger, the Beaked Eagle immediately spread its wings in a threat display. With its wings fully unfurled, its wingspan exceeded two meters, and Qin Ziwu was startled into taking half a step back.
"He’s one of our own," Qin Ziwen said, rubbing the Beaked Eagle’s blocky head.
The Beaked Eagle folded its wings.
𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎
Qin Ziwu stared at the new Beaked Eagle in their apartment, too exasperated to even comment.
’Fine, you dug this one up too... no, wait, you *picked it up* somewhere, right!’
’But Qin Ziwu was used to it by now. He was his brother, after all. If he didn’t want to talk about it, he must have his reasons. They were family; it wasn’t as if his own brother would try to harm him.’
Then, his brother looked at the Beaked Eagle with envy. "Bro, can I pet it? This thing looks so awesome."
"Go ahead."
Reassured by Qin Ziwen, the Beaked Eagle, though not accustomed to being touched by strangers, closed its eyes and allowed Qin Ziwu to stroke its head a few times.
While stroking it, Qin Ziwu furtively eyed the Beaked Eagle’s dagger-like talons. The longest one had to be over ten centimeters. A single swipe from a claw like that could probably rip flesh and sinew clean off.
Qin Ziwen said, "I plan to have it guard the Earth Cages tonight. If anyone tries to steal from them, it can attack. That way, we can set the cages out at night with some peace of mind."
Qin Ziwu looked at the Beaked Eagle’s gray feathers.
’It would be really well-camouflaged on a branch at night.’
His brother laughed, "So from now on, it’s on the night shift and we’re on the day shift?"
"It’ll have to work during the day, too. As I recall, birds can sleep with one half of their brain while the other half stays on watch. So guarding at night will be almost like resting for it. I plan to teach it a few simple things first to see how intelligent it is. If it’s smart enough, I can have it help me map the surrounding area."
Qin Ziwu thought his older brother sounded like a true capitalist, making it work day and night. He gave the blocky-headed Beaked Eagle a pitying look.
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK.
Just then, there was a knock at the door.
Qin Ziwen gave his brother a meaningful look, signaling for him to get the door, while he himself took the Beaked Eagle back into the bedroom.
Qin Ziwen sat on the edge of the bed, putting an arm around the Beaked Eagle’s wings and whispering, "Don’t make a sound."
The Beaked Eagle obediently took two steps forward and rested its head on Qin Ziwen’s shoulder.
A moment later, the front door closed.
His brother came in. "That was Wang Xiaoli from across the hall. She said she hadn’t had cooked food for days and came to borrow a light. I used the flint to start a small fire for her."
"Mm," Qin Ziwen nodded. It was a small thing.
...
That night, Qin Ziwen opened a window and released the Beaked Eagle, telling it to circle in the sky and await his command.
Just as he was about to leave the Gated Community, he ran into Wang Yun.
Wang Yun looked overjoyed. In contrast to his dejection the day before, he was now beaming and full of energy.
He patted Qin Ziwen on the shoulder, leaned in close to his ear, and whispered, "Come to my place. I’ve got something amazing to show you."
He gave Qin Ziwen an emphatic look.
Qin Ziwen hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
Arriving at Wang Yun’s home,
When he entered, he almost thought he was in the wrong apartment. The place was bustling with several people talking and laughing. In a corner, a long-haired man, whose demeanor felt completely out of sync with the lively atmosphere, sat stiffly on a stool.
But the most conspicuous sight, floating in the middle of Wang Yun’s living room, was a sphere of light.
’Isn’t that a Home? Did Wang Yun get a Card too?’
Wang Yun caught the look of surprise on Qin Ziwen’s face. He laughed and pointed to the sphere of light. "Brother, this is called a Home. As long as you obtain a Card, you can activate one. And let me tell you, this thing has all sorts of amazing uses."
Wang Yun didn’t hold back, explaining the functions of the Home and finally revealing where he had found the Card.
It was in a limestone cave to the east. There was an altar inside, and the Card had been floating right above it.
The entrance to the cave was somewhat hidden; he was just lucky to have found it.
At this, Wang Yun seemed to grow somber. If he hadn’t run into the wolf pack in the west and lost his companions, he never would have gone exploring to the east, and he never would have found the Card.