Chapter 152 – Arrival
Translated by Jon
Shao Xuan knew that the river was large, but he didn’t know it was this large.
They rarely stopped to take breaks as the ship cruised along by sailing with the wind, manually being rowed, or getting pulled by Chacha.
Using the light from the sun and the moon, Shao Xuan was able to travel in a straight line. Although during the trip they had encountered many problems, including the murderous fish, which caused them to make a wide detour, they still couldn’t see any sight of their goal.
“We will have been travelling for fifteen days after today.” Shao Xuan told Chacha, looking at the expansive body of water.
Chacha gave a weak reply next to him, as he did not have all his strength. After Chacha’s curiosity had subsided, he had encountered several frightening experiences that had caused him to lose quite a few feathers.
Shao Xuan was also exhausted, as he had not properly rested during these past fifteen days. Although his recovery speed was incredibly fast, he couldn’t cope with the continual exhaustion. Furthermore, Shao Xuan was starting to worry that if they continued onwards, they would not have enough time to make it back. After all, according to the original plan, if he did not find anything within fifteen days, he was to return. However, he felt that he should still push on.
“Chacha, can you tell me if there’s actually land out there?” Shao Xuan asked, giving the eagle a kick. With how large the river was, it had already exceeded his expectations. He wouldn’t even be surprised if it lead to the sea.
[Seriously dude? It is pretty much an ocean already, and you’re saying it would lead into the sea?]
Chacha raised his head to cry in confirmation, and looked out towards the distance. He could sense that there was land, he was just unsure how far away it was.
Shao Xuan actually shared this feeling. He believed that as long as they charged on, they would make it to the opposite bank. However, the risk was too great! If they were still in the water when the river rose back up, what would they do?
What should they choose?
Continue forwards, or return back?
Shao Xuan closed his eyes, then activated the totem in his mind.
The totem started burning alight, the flames shooting forward in a violent manner.
Opening his eyes, Shao Xuan once again adjusted the sails, “Let’s continue onwards.”
“Jiao~~” Chacha weakly responded. As he recalled his life back in the tribe, he couldn’t help but to cherish the memories. But what Shao Xuan had just said about the new lands had roused his spirits back up.
And so, they sailed on for another eight days as the fire in Shao Xuan’s mind continued to burn violently. As the time passed, the water in the river start flowing rapidly. Shao Xuan was familiar with these conditions, as the last time this happened, the river level sharply fell. Perhaps, today they would be able to see a couple of rocks that were originally covered by the water in the riverbank, but by the next day, it would turn into a steep muddy slope.
Chacha was up in the sky, pulling the boat along.
While Shao Xuan was in deep thought, Chacha released a loud cry.
Shao Xuan quickly looked up. Chacha’s cry signified that he had found something up ahead. He had most likely seen the bank of the river.
Chacha landed in the boat and Shao Xuan jumped on his back, allowing Chacha to take him into the sky to see.
It was difficult to look around in the canoe, but the world became much clearer from the sky. There was a faint black stripe up ahead, on the horizon. If one didn’t look carefully, they’d miss it entirely.
Chacha flew up, tightening his hold on the rope, as they couldn’t just abandon the canoe, and shot ahead. If they did not, the canoe would be swept away by the river’s fierce waves.
Even if they could not fly closer to get a better view, Shao Xuan had already become excited.
Being on water for twenty days had made Shao Xuan itching to step on solid ground. If they had failed yet again in finding land, he would have been incredibly disheartened. With the water level rapidly decreasing, even if he used the totem flame to row, the result would still be death.
He could feel the accumulated exhaustion from the past twenty days scatter away now that he could see on outline of land. The weight in his heart immediately lightened with relief.
“Alright Chacha, let’s hurry up! Put more strength into it!”
Shao Xuan returned to the boat as Chacha continued to pull.
As the tide started to pick up, the amount of piranhas had started to decline. The cause of this occurrence was unknown. At least, within these two days, Shao Xuan did not experience any aggressions from the creatures underneath. All he was preoccupied with was the power and direction of the wind, letting the boat race to their destination.
The “black line” gradually became clearer. Looking at the sky, Shao Xuan hoped they could arrive before sunset. There were too many unknown variables to factor in at night.
Approaching the shore, Shao Xuan discovered a massive drop in the river’s water level due to the receding tides.
Not bad. Although he felt like he was navigating into an abyss at the moment, in the end, he made it to land.
This new place caused Shao Xuan to feel an indescribable kind of excitement in his heart.
This newly-discovered bank resembled the one back in the tribe. Close by was a steep slope.
However, running water could be found flowing down the slope not far from them. That should be a branch that allows the water to flow into the river. Only, right now, the water level was declining and the flowing water stopped before reaching the main body.
The wind grew stronger as he came closer to the shore. With the wind came a swampy and pungent odor.
Once he finished examining his surroundings, Shao Xuan took a look at the steep muddy slope and realized the canoe could not reach the shore.
Although the boat was made of sturdy materials that had lasted through twenty days of travel, after its countless collisions and bites from the many fish, a noticeable wear could be seen. There were even a couple of holes on the bottom. Even though Shao Xuan had plugged them up to prevent water from seeping in, it could be said that the canoe was at the end of its life.
Shao Xuan took all the remaining things he needed and put them in his bag, waiting for Chacha to come back and fly him to shore.
Without Chacha to pull the canoe along, it got dragged into the currents and quickly disappeared into oblivion.
The winds got stronger once again, and without a clear direction, they almost lost control and crashed into the muddy slope.
“Higher, partner! Use some more strength!” Shao Xuan shouted as he firmly grab hold onto Chacha.
Chacha exerted all his strength and flapped his wings, flying up.
While flying, Shao Xuan suddenly shouted, “Wait! Over there!”
Although he did not understand why Shao Xuan instructed him to do so, Chacha complied, flying towards the direction he was pointed towards.
Shao Xuan quickly spotted a figure trapped in the mud with water flowing all around.
“Save… me!” That person cried out with his hoarse voice. It was evident that he had been shouting for a while. Only, there was nobody to hear him, and it looked like he was almost out of strength as he was gasping for air.
The person that was trapped did not look old since his whole body was caked in mud. He had already sunk two thirds of the way down, and was getting tangled by the water plants.
It was difficult for Chacha to go near. Therefore, Shao Xuan had Chacha hold one end of the grass rope, and tied the other end to himself, jumping down.
“Extend your hand!” Shao Xuan shouted.
Seeing Shao Xuan jump down from the eagle’s back, the opposite side stilled in a dazed for a second before quickly extending both of his arms.
Shao Xuan clamped onto his hands as he pulled him up.
Yet, the water plants were tangled too tight around the man, and if Shao Xuan continued to forcibly pull up, the person’s arms might be pulled off.
Freeing a hand, Shao Xuan had Chacha come even closer as he took out a stone knife and hacked at the plants.
While Shao Xuan was pulling the man up, the man was also exerting every last bit of his strength to try and free himself from his constraints.
Shao Xuan discovered that, although the man’s face was covered with mud, making his features unclear, his two eyes were as sharp as swords. It gave people a merciless and an ice-cold feeling.
Not knowing which tribe he was from, Shao Xuan started to ponder.
Before Shao Xuan had left, he had specifically gone to the Shaman to learn all he could about what may lie out there, he had even read through almost all of the animal hide scrolls the Shaman possesed. However, Shao Xuan knew too little about the man in front of him to be able to identify who he was.
Slowly but surely, the man had started to be pulled free from the mud and Chacha started flying higher.
And so, when they landed and Shao Xuan’s feet touched solid ground, he felt rich emotions swelling up inside him. He had truly stayed afloat on the river for too long.
With both feet on solid ground, he felt alot sturdier.
Chacha stood on a grassy field as well, stepping a few times.
As for the person Shao Xuan had saved, it appeared he was actually a child. He was on alert towards Shao Xuan, even though he had just saved the kid’s life.
The other side did not say anything, and Shao Xuan did not ask. After calming down, he started taking note of his surroundings.
Traces of life around here weren’t that noticeable, but some tracks could be made out. There were also mountains far out, but this area was predominantly covered in mud, with a lot of holes that gathered water. And so, these naturally forming holes created varying sized pools of water. Apart from this, Shao Xuan had found claw and teeth marks on several rocks around him. This was not something humans could do….
From inside the water?
However, Shao Xuan did not feel any danger from within the pool. Chacha also agreed with him. Unless the creatures in the pond were hiding very well, there was absolutely nothing inside.
The person Shao Xuan had saved quietly laid down, gasping for breath. Although he did not speak, his eyes were incessantly examining Shao Xuan and Chacha.
Finally, the child couldn’t hold it in.
“Who are you? Why would you appear in our tribe?” He asked.
“Your tribe? Which tribe are you from?” Shao Xuan asked as the kid was still being incredibly vigilant. Then he continued, “My eagle and I are from distant lands, I came by boat. The river had started to decline too quickly so we rushed onto shore, as our boat had already been washed away by the water. I don’t know how far we’ve travelled”.
“How long were you in the river?” The other party did not believe Shao Xuan’s words as he could hear that Shao Xuan’s words were filled with doubt. He found it odd for Shao Xuan to not be aware of his tribe.
“Twenty some days.” Shao Xuan answered.
In response, the other party’s eyes widened, his two tan pupils dilating.