Chapter 186: Chapter 186: Rotten Meat and Jackals

Upstream grasslands of the Xiaohe River.

At noon, Changxia and Chen Rong casually ate a couple of meat pies, washing them down with cool boiled water from their water pouches.

“Tired?” Chen Rong asked gently.

Changxia brushed the crumbs from her hands. “I’m fine.”

The Xiaohe River ran through the entire grassland, so there was no risk of getting lost. The two of them kept their distance from the river, watching it wind its way upstream.

Along the way—

They occasionally spotted wild rabbits or pheasants.

Changxia wasn’t in a hurry to hunt.

“Chen Rong, have you seen any good places to camp?” she asked.

Since they planned to spend a few days on the grasslands, they needed to get a feel for the area first and avoid any pitfalls. Along the way, Changxia noticed a few familiar markings—probably left by other tribe members.

“Keep going straight—there’s a forest due south. We’ll camp there. Usually, grasslands are right next to forests, and this one should connect to the foot of Wei Mountain,” Chen Rong explained simply. There was a strange scent on the wind, probably drifting over from Wei Mountain.

“If the grassland connects to the foot of Wei Mountain, then doesn’t that mean the Wei River is at the far end?” Changxia exclaimed. Looking at the nearby Xiaohe River, she noticed that the deeper into the grassland they went, the wider the river became, and there were more and more tributaries. That explained why the Xiaohe River shrank so much after passing through the baiguo forest.

With so many tributaries, the water from the Wei River was split up and sent in all directions.

So, the lower reaches of the Xiaohe River became an ordinary river.

“That’s right,” said Chen Rong.

From what they could see, the Wei River’s water volume was definitely no less than the Bai River’s.

But the grassland’s loose soil and the many upstream tributaries of the Xiaohe River spread the Wei River’s water out, creating all sorts of new streams and branches.

Notes:

Chang Xia tilted her head, hesitating. “There are so many animals living on this grassland. Why did the giant anaconda hide away in the wilderness downstream of the river back then…?”

The anaconda was badly injured and needed to eat a lot to regain its strength.

This grassland was definitely a better habitat for it than the barren lands downstream.

“More food also means more competition. Don’t forget, besides herds of grazing animals like cattle and sheep, there are also dangerous predators like wolf packs on the grassland. With its injuries, the anaconda wouldn’t be able to fight off the wolves,” Shen Rong replied calmly.

Predators on the grassland included not only wolves, but also jackals, hyenas, and vultures.

In terms of danger, the grassland was no less perilous than the forest.

If the anaconda hadn’t been injured, it probably wouldn’t even be afraid to linger around Weishan, let alone the grassland.

“No wonder the tribe wouldn’t let me enter the forest—” Chang Xia stuck out her tongue and sighed.

She couldn’t imagine what dangers might be lurking in those forests far from the beast tribe’s territory. Usually, the areas within the beast tribe’s domain were a bit less dangerous.

The beast tribe lived on meat and kept wild animal populations in check through hunting.

But in forests without beast tribes, wild animals survived purely through natural selection. The level of danger there was truly terrifying.

“Don’t worry, this grassland shouldn’t be that dangerous!” Shen Rong said reassuringly.

He hadn’t caught the scent of big predators like lions or tigers, but the smell of wolves and leopards was quite strong.

The sun was sinking in the west.

Yet the two of them still hadn’t reached the forest Shen Rong had mentioned.

There’s a saying on the plains: “You can see the mountain, but your horse will die before you get there.”

Today, Chang Xia finally understood what that meant!

“Shen Rong, I can’t walk anymore!” Chang Xia said with a wry smile, hands on her hips, panting. They had been walking for hours.

She was completely exhausted.

“Let’s rest for a bit—” Shen Rong took out a water pouch and handed it to her.

The pouch was made from animal hide. It didn’t look big, but it held quite a lot of water. Chang Xia took it and drank deeply.

Suddenly, Shen Rong’s expression changed slightly.

He gripped his long spear and motioned for Chang Xia to come closer. This ironwood spear had been gifted to him by the tribe. When asked what weapon he was best at, Shen Rong had chosen the spear.

The spear was over five meters long, made with a thousand-year-old ironwood core.

It weighed a thousand jin (about 500 kg).

If you weren’t a totem warrior, you wouldn’t even be able to lift it, let alone use it to fight beasts.

Chang Xia took small sips of the cool water and whispered, “What’s going on?”

“We’re being watched. It could be grassland wolves or carrion jackals,” Shen Rong said. They were upwind and could only catch a faint scent, so he wasn’t sure exactly what kind of beast was stalking them.

But that familiar, pungent, gamey smell…

Shen Rong guessed it was wolves.

He was from the Wolf-fighting Tribe and had a natural dominance over wolves.

However, the moment they set foot on the grassland, Shen Rong had concealed all his aura. And Chang Xia, being from the Chinchilla Tribe—a weaker tribe—had an aura that didn’t scare off wild wolves. In fact, it would only excite their predatory instincts.

Beast tribes and wild beasts were natural enemies.

You hunt me, I hunt you.

“Such great luck!” Chang Xia sighed.

She put down the water pouch and quietly picked up her sinew bow, trying to activate her bloodline power and test her skills.

Sensing Chang Xia’s eagerness, Shen Rong didn’t stop her.

To the northwest, in a patch of shrubs—

A carrion jackal was lying in wait.

Even though she couldn’t see it, Chang Xia knew carrion jackals were not only ugly but also vicious and bloodthirsty.

Compared to grassland wolves, carrion jackals were even more troublesome.

“Shen Rong, I spotted a carrion jackal to the northwest—”

“Can you shoot it?”

“I’ll give it a try.”

Chang Xia nocked an arrow. It was her first time hunting a wild beast, and it was a vicious carrion jackal at that. Her heart was pounding.

One, two, three…

She counted silently to herself.

At the count of five, the ironwood arrow whistled through the air, flying straight toward the shrubs in the northwest.

Awooo—

A moment later, the carrion jackal let out a howl of pain.

She hit it, but not fatally.

Just as the arrow was about to pierce its head, the jackal sensed danger and dodged, avoiding a lethal blow.

Chang Xia’s arrow struck its left hind leg instead.

“What a pity!” Chang Xia said regretfully.

The wounded jackal leapt out of the bushes, howling to summon its pack.

Shen Rong looked at her in admiration. “It’s not a pity at all. Your shot was a bit weak, and you hesitated a little. If you were just a bit faster, you could have killed it in one shot.”

For a first attempt, Chang Xia had done excellently.

Earlier, Su Ye had said Chang Xia was afraid of blood, and Shen Rong had worried she might not dare to shoot. He hadn’t expected her to act so decisively. Though she lacked experience, everything else was perfect.

“It was my first try, so I was a bit rusty,” Chang Xia nodded, humbly accepting his advice, her face flushed with excitement.

Shen Rong said with a smile, “The shaman told me you were afraid of blood—”

“Afraid of blood? That was when I was little. Back then, I was weak and would faint at the sight of blood, so the shaman and the tribe misunderstood. Besides, if I was really afraid, how could I have handled chickens and ducks…” Chang Xia wasn’t the least bit embarrassed by Shen Rong’s teasing.

Back then, Su Ye had told Shen Rong she was afraid of blood, just so Chang Xia wouldn’t have to watch him detoxify poison.

Afterwards, when Chang Xia saw Bai Qing’s pale face, she couldn’t even imagine what the detoxification scene must have been like.

Seeing Chang Xia’s proud little expression, Shen Rong could only shake his head helplessly and drop the subject.

In the distance, several more carrion jackals appeared, quietly closing in on them. The faint stench of rotting flesh drifted on the wind.