18: Chapter 18 Zhuang's Hunting Trip

Because of the long-term stay of the Thunder Flying Flood Dragon, there were basically no large beasts around the village. Even large prey had been eaten clean by the Flying Flood Dragon.

Therefore, there were only a few small creatures around the village. Not long ago, Zhao Feng stopped helping the Human Race hunt and let them make their own decisions.

Zhuang took ten strong men out early in the morning. Since there was still plenty of food, Zhuang's main task this time was to go to the salt cave to get salt and incidentally help Zhi catch Sticky Bugs.

The salt cave was about two thousand meters north of the hill where the village was located, exactly opposite the direction of the large lake, so the probability of encountering a large number of carnivorous beasts was low. As for the occasional beast, as long as they were careful, it was basically not a problem.

The group set off with some dried fish, several strange-looking black leather bags tied around their waists, and simple grass skirts that barely covered their shame.

As long as they walked all the way down and then climbed halfway up the mountain, they could reach the salt cave.

Everywhere on the ground, one could see low-growing purple creeping plants. Some plants with large spherical objects on top grew in clumps on the ground; their leaves were mostly greenish, and the spherical objects were grayish-white.

Because there was not much water in these places, the vegetation was not lush.

A few small insects were startled by the footsteps of the people and quickly hid in the crevices of the rocks.

One insect was unlucky; just as it vibrated its wings to fly away, it was grabbed by a person with a large mouth who laughed and stuffed it into his mouth.

The shadow of a Wind Cloud Mother slowly drifted by as it chased a large mass of Balloon Algae.

Those Balloon Algae were like a cloud on the horizon, and there was no telling how many there were.

In the distance, one could see a few giant dragonfly-like insects. They flexibly flapped their wings, quickly embraced a flying insect that flashed past, and ate it in one bite.

These large insects with a wingspan of ten meters looked intimidating. Although they had a docile temperament, Zhuang, having seen their violent side, still led the Human Race to avoid them.

Having walked to the foot of the mountain without incident, the Human Race began to climb slowly. From here on, trees began to increase.

Four or five-meter-tall plants were everywhere, and it was here that it gradually became dangerous.

In these places where trees grew chaotically, a blade-armed mantis might jump out at any moment and cut someone in two. The group's pace was no longer so light; they became vigilant.

Fortunately, the group was lucky and did not encounter any beasts until they reached the salt cave.

The salt cave was not originally a cave; it was formed by the collection of the Human Race after they settled here, creating a concave surface.

On the concave surface were grayish-white stones, and there were some sharp claw marks on them, presumably the masterpiece of the Human Race last time.

This was not just a place for the Human Race; some animals would also appear here to lick the salt grains on the surface to supplement their salt intake.

Because of the arrival of the Human Race, a few small animals quickly slipped away, almost becoming the Human Race's prey for the day.

Zhuang directed several people to use their claws to scratch the cracked rock wall, taking down several pieces of salt Ore. They had no way to deal with the salt Ore that was integrated with the rocks.

Fortunately, every time there was an earthquake or some other reason, many pieces of salt Ore would fall off the rock wall, so they quickly collected a small pile.

Seeing that the quantity met his needs, Zhuang asked everyone to take out the leather bags from their waists and put the salt Ore into the bags.

These leather bags were Zhuang's treasures. They were the scales of several animals that had accidentally died during a hunt. Although some were lost due to improper processing, inspired by that time, Zhuang managed to get some more, totaling twelve.

When everyone's leather bags were bulging and could no longer hold anything, the group left the salt cave.

Next, they needed to go to the nearby woods to catch Sticky Bugs.

Because the mucus of the Sticky Bug could not be restored once it hardened, catching Sticky Bugs was a difficult task. Fortunately, Zhi, who understood everything by analogy, seemed to be smarter.

Inspired by fishing, Zhi asked Zhuang to bring a fishing net to catch the Sticky Bugs.

Sticky Bugs liked to live in dark and humid places where there were rotten branches and leaves and the light was not very good, which made them easier to hunt.

Entering long-march mode again, Zhuang looked at the sky; it was only noon, and there was enough time for capturing. He asked the people to take out the dried fish and eat as they walked.

The group gradually left the wasteland and entered the forest area.

Sunlight passed through the dense leaves of the plants and spilled onto the damp ground, leaving some mottled shadows. The forest was very quiet, and only the rustling footsteps of Zhuang's group could be heard.

Everyone carefully observed their surroundings, fearing that a terrifying carnivore might crawl out of the forest.

The group walking quietly in the forest suddenly showed joyful smiles on their faces; they heard the sound of flowing water. They had passed this stream before while hunting; although the water was not deep, it was enough to replenish their hydration.

They ran quickly towards the stream, preparing to drink their fill.

As descendants of reptiles, the Human Race was naturally fond of water. They liked the gentle feeling of the water brushing over their scales, as if countless small hands were massaging their whole bodies.

Suddenly, Zhuang, who was in the lead, let out a warning roar and jumped aside agilely. He crouched down slightly, six arms popped out sharp claws, and his large mouth revealed sharp teeth, making a ho-ho sound.

The group of the Human Race did not react slowly; they jumped away one after another and took a vigilant posture.

The five-meter-tall Human Race was not considered small in the animal kingdom, but compared to this monster that came moving mountains and overturning trees, they were indeed tiny.

I saw a behemoth slowly crawling out from the other side of the stream.

This winding behemoth with no visible tail had yellow-green stripes all over its body and a flat, strip-like body; it was a giant crawling insect.

This crawling insect had mouthparts as huge as a cave, and there were countless sharp teeth in the mouthparts. Its abdomen was covered with dense abdominal feet, which made people shiver at first glance.

Although this giant insect looked very powerful, it could be seen from its disheveled appearance that it was injured.

It was unknown what kind of beast could hurt this giant insect like this; the hideous wounds made it seem vulnerable.

But Zhuang knew that injured beasts were the most terrifying; the crazy counterattack of this giant insect was enough to wipe out their entire group.

The giant insect did not expect to meet the Human Race either. Its simple consciousness only made it remember that animals that lay eggs, especially gregarious animals, were not to be trifled with.

The frantic attacks of those animals made it lose more than it gained; although it succeeded in eating that group of animals into its stomach, the resulting injuries made it even more cautious.

As a giant insect with very tenacious vitality, it could recover as before in just a few days, so seeing these seemingly gregarious Human Race, its first reaction was to leave, although they looked like delicious meat.

The giant insect's turning and leaving stunned Zhuang. Of course, the huge size difference also made Zhuang dispel the strange idea of killing it; survival was the priority.

This little episode made Zhuang and his group even more cautious.

Unknowingly, they had arrived at the place where the Sticky Bugs liked. It had to be said that Zhao Feng's ability as a creator gave them great convenience, and they accurately found the Sticky Bugs.

Among the low fern bushes, one could see some small animals fixed in mid-air in strange postures; some were still struggling desperately. But looking at their weak strength, it seemed that there was nothing they could do.

Zhuang beckoned the group to squat down and wait carefully.

Sure enough, the struggling force alarmed the hunters underground through the silk threads, and one by one, round bugs crawled out, revealing their sharp mouthparts.

The movement made by the small animals on the net was not small; if not stopped in time, it might even attract powerful predators, and they would take away the prey that the Sticky Bugs had worked so hard to wait for.

The slightly larger female insect crawled near the small animal, not getting close, but raised its mouthparts and sprayed mucus at the struggling small animal.

Streams of shiny liquid covered the small animal, and their struggles became weaker and weaker, having to wait in horror for the predator to arrive.

The male Sticky Bugs came to give an injection! They raised their mouthparts, pierced the prey's body, and injected digestive juice.

The female Sticky Bug was crawling back to its nest along the web. Every second outside, it would encounter danger. As a successful fisherman, one cannot stand under a dangerous wall.

Good opportunity! They didn't even need the net.

Zhuang waved his big hand, and the group rushed out suddenly.

The fifty-centimeter-long Sticky Bugs were just small insects to the Human Race; their mouthparts could not pierce the scales of the Human Race, so people were unscrupulous.

Of course, one still had to be careful not to crush it.

The six arms were very efficient, and coupled with catching the Sticky Bugs off guard, everyone basically had a harvest.

After the chaotic escape of the Sticky Bugs, Zhuang made a simple statistic: a group of Sticky Bugs were harvested in total.

"Yes, it's a group!"

Using the net to scoop up the Sticky Bugs, ignoring their horror, several Human Race members also casually tore down a few small animals that were entangled in the net and stuffed them into their mouths, barely enough as a snack.

When the sun was gradually slanting west, Zhuang and his group returned to the tribe. The gatekeeper made a few barbarian roars before letting them in, and they saw Zhi who had been waiting for a long time.

Zhi was naturally not as brainless as Zhuang; while putting the Sticky Bugs in the enclosure, he calculated the harvest. This time, Zhuang's hunt yielded 8 female Sticky Bugs and 10 male Sticky Bugs.

According to the seven-day breeding cycle of the Sticky Bugs, these Sticky Bugs would soon become a large group.

However, this would require feeding more food. It seems that Zhuang's task was still very heavy, and he still needed to find another farmed animal to supplement meat.

While Zhuang and Zhi were enthusiastically building the tribe with the tribesmen, Zhao Feng was not idle either.

Since he made up his mind to go out, he began to deliberately observe the self-survival ability of the Human Race. In this barbaric era, all kinds of beasts and giant insects were rampant. If he was careless and waited until he came back, the Human Race might be extinct.

While the Thunder Flying Flood Dragon secretly followed Zhuang and his group, discovering that they did not make any mistakes, Zhao Feng also made up his mind.

That night, Zhao Feng called Zhi and Zhuang over, carefully arranged the future construction and development of the tribe, and then left the Thunder Flying Flood Dragon near the tribe to secretly protect the Human Race.

After everything was ready, he sat on the Wind Cloud Mother that he had summoned long ago, and drifted away with the moonlight.