Chapter 74 – The Jumping Fruit Tree
Translated by Sunyancai
Shao Xuan felt very comfortable after drinking that liquid in his gourd. It was cool and refreshing, as if it had driven away the fatigue of the long march. His mind was cleared, and the bones in his body were about to shake out of pleasure.
“How’s that? Feeling good?” Ah-Suo tossed Shao Xuan a fruit, and added, “This is not bad, either.”
Shao Xuan had no idea what kind of plant was edible, so he did not touch anything. A moment earlier when they were fetching the water, he noticed that Ah-Suo and some other warriors took a detour. It turned out that they were collecting fruits.
“These are all fine stuff!” Ah-Suo explained, “I’m not exaggerating, anyone who eats this will make faster progress than others.
You know, there’s a saying in our advance group.”
In a lower voice, Ah-Suo continued, “Only those in the advance group are able to become senior totem warriors. Every single senior totem warrior had served in the advance group for some time.”
Most of the plants in here were hundreds of years old. So their liquid and fruits could benefit human’s physiques by enriching the marrow and washing the bones. Even if warriors could not tell the exact effect, they could experience the changes in their bodies, and confirm the benefits brought by the things they ate.
“Can’t we take them back to the tribe?” asked Shao Xuan.
“It’s not that easy!” Ah-Suo had his face twisted, “I wanted to bring some back to my brothers and sisters, but it was just not possible.”
The advance group together with the team leaders had been trying for generations. Some tried to freeze the plants, while the others tried to take the plant out with the same dirt covering its roots. They tried all possible ways, but none worked. As long as they were brought outside, they would soon rot or decay after one or two days. What if they were dried in the sun? The method was not applicable for all the plants.
“Until today, there are only a few kinds that can be brought out. Our tasks assigned by the Shaman were to bring those back. It’s just that some of those plants are not easy to be found. It depends on the timing. Some flowers or fruits only exist once a year, while some rare creatures had even no regular pattern. Sometimes you wouldn’t be able to see its flower even if you waited there for your whole life. It was all fated.”
Shao Xuan was speechless.
It seemed that the plants here would only bear fruits after hundreds of years, or only those rare fruits had the certain efficacy. Meanwhile, more plants would immediately die once they were uprooted, for they could not grow in other places. Perhaps, some people had tried to plant them long time before, but never succeeded. So that until now, warriors in the tribe could only come to this promising but dangerous land in person.
It was the advance group’s honor to serve the tribe. The herbs that the Shaman mixed to heal the illnesses and injuries were all brought back by the advance group. No one could deny their contribution to the tribe.
Aside from the honor, being a part of the advance group meant that one could taste many medicinal plants which could not be brought outside. It was very good for the warrior’s development and progress.
Because of that, those who withdrew from the advance group due to aging or wounds would tell their sons or grandsons to try their best, in order to have the chance to join the advance group. They knew that those warriors in the advance group would only become more and more powerful, as they were considered as a group of elites with the most potential.
However, now the inner rule of the tribe was that all positions of the advance group should be determined by the team leader. Normally, the Shaman had no say in that. In fact, the Shaman would only pay attention to some special cases such as Shao Xuan.
Most of the times, the team leader would select someone that he was close with, as long as the candidate was qualified enough. Those warriors would also be the supporters of the team leader for when he campaigns for the Chief’s position later.
As for those who got selected in the advance group…who would think about withdrawing once they had a taste of the benefits?
No one would.
One more warrior in meant that someone might be kicked out from the advance group. Even if the team leader had the absolute power, he was constrained by the law set by the ancestors. There was a rule that the scale of the advance group must be controlled, and its members must be less than one fifth of the hunting team. Perhaps the team leader who made the rule had suffered from some kind of a consequence, so he persuaded the Chief and the Shaman to set the rule.
Thinking about that, Shao Xuan realized why he received so many subtle looks when he joined the advance group. The others were not only doubting his ability, they were thinking of him as a potential competitor.
Also, Shao Xuan had noticed that most of the warriors in the advance group lived in the mountaintop. There were only a few of them who lived in the mountain side.
Were people like Mai unqualified to be selected into the advance group? Definitely not! However, Mai could not be a part of the advance group unless the team leader permitted it.
There was no absolute fairness. Even Shao Xuan’s entering was nothing but a coincidence. He was brought in because Ta thought he was blessed by the ancestors, while Ta’s hunting team was not doing good these days. If not for the blessing of the ancestors, kids like Shao Xuan would not have the chance at all. He was a kid from the orphan cave, and after he was awakened, he learnt the trap skills from old Ke! Ta had no appreciation for that. Shao Xuan would’ve been totally shut out from the advance group, unless he turned out to be a real talent and elite in the future.
There was a growing gulf between the strong and the weak. The development in the mountaintop and the mountain foot districts must‘ve been the preconceived plan of the ancestors. When people in the mountain foot district thought about how to obtain more food, the others in the mountaintop probably were wondering about how to gain more strength.
When there’s no threat from the other tribe, naturally there’s internal strife. Some were sidelined, but it was just not obvious on the surface.
Shao Xuan looked around after having another few sips of the liquid in his gourd. The terrain was relatively high and Shao Xuan could see some plants in weird shapes.
“What is that?” Shao Xuan pointed at something afar and asked Ah-Suo
Ah-Suo glimpsed at that direction and shared a meaningful sneer, “That is call the human head tree. Every one of them had eaten at least one human head!”
Shao Xuan said nothing, but he was not frightened either. He just stared at those trees. No wonder it was called the human head tree. It looked like a head, and there was even long ‘hair’ dancing in the wind. However, he did not buy the story of eating a human head or something.
Ah-Suo felt a little bored seeing that Shao Xuan was not scared, but he continued, “It’s a shame that now there’s no flower on the top. When the flowers blossom on top of the human head tree, it would be really beautiful, as big flowers covered the whole tree.”
Shao Xuan was speechless again.
According to Ah-Suo’s description, Shao Xuan pictured the scene in his mind. However, he did not think it would be beautiful if he saw a giant human head covered in giant flowers.
“Ahead, we’ll reach the spot where the jumping fruit trees grow. You should keep your distance later. Just do not come near.” Said Ah-Suo.
“Got it.” Shao Xuan was not someone without self-knowledge.
After a short break, Ta indicated that they should go for the Jumping Fruit Trees.
Further ahead, the density of the trees was not as thick as before. People could see the scene in front of them without standing on a high terrain.
The jumping fruit trees that Ah-Suo said looked like giant weeping willows. However, the difference was that along every drooping branch, there were a lot of circular fruits the size of an adult’s fist.
Seeing that everyone had silenced their breathing, Shao Xuan reduced his own sense of presence. He thought that perhaps that tree was especially sensitive to sounds.
Ta raised his hand to point at Shao Xuan, and then opened his palm to press the air. He was indicating Shao Xuan to stay there, right behind the trunk.
Shao Xuan nodded to say that he got it. However, he felt that something bad was about to happen. He wanted to say something as warning, but with other warriors waiting for Ta’s order, Ta had no time for Shao Xuan at all.
Looking around, Ta waved his hand. About twenty warriors immediately rushed towards the tree like lightning. They were running on their toes, as no sound was made, yet the speed was fast enough. They were surrounding the tree.
However, just when they got near the jumping fruit tree, Shao Xuan heard Ta make a quick shout, “Withdraw!”
The others had no hesitation, even when some warriors almost reached the jumping fruit tree. All of them withdrew quickly at Ta’s command. While some of the fruits, which were tightly grown on the branches earlier, promptly dislocated themselves from the tree. As if running for their lives, the fruits rushed out and fled.
Shao Xuan had no idea what had happened. He saw Ta running back with the others, and the next second, he was lifted up by Ta.
They were running very fast, as if dodging something. Shao Xuan looked back as he was lifted by Ta. He found that some things in the air were flying their way.
The wind grew stronger, and the things in the air reduced the distance with the warriors.
Shao Xuan was brought up to some tall plant. Warriors were divided into five-people groups, and two of the groups tried hard to pull the thick leaves together as shields. They created a small enclosed space with the leaves. When they were pulling, Shao Xuan heard the sound of cracking as if thick wooden planks were being folded.
At the last moment when the leaves were folding, Shao Xuan finally saw what the things in the air were. They were like dandelions, with ‘soft white hairs’. It’s just that the white hairs were much longer. Each one was about two palm’s length.
They densely filled the air, and flew everywhere in the sky as well as in the woods. From afar there came ‘poof’ sounds.
When all the leaves met each other, it became very dark inside. Not much light was able to pierce through the thick leaves. The visions of the warriors became vague.
It was very tense in this enclosed space, and Shao Xuan could hear people’s intense breathing. It seemed that it consumed them a lot of energy running there.
Not only the others, Shao Xuan smelled the danger as well. His eyelids twitched hard, while he couldn’t help but raise his head.
As he was thinking, Shao Xuan heard ‘poof’ sounds around them. With those sounds, numerous white hairs pierced through the thick leaves as if they were thorns. One of the furs was only half an inch away from Shao Xuan’s eyes.