Chapter 19 Saving Someone
translator: xiin
editors: apricot & juurensha
The Big Bear Tribe was in a very good location.
In the past, their previous priest had led the Big Bear Tribe to wander for a long time before finding this valley to settle down in. The mountains around the valley could block attacks from large dinosaurs, and it was located near a river amidst dense vegetation. Food was plentiful, and it was a very suitable place to live.
There was no salt here, but this hadn’t been a big deal for the Big Bear Tribe back then. They never used to eat salt.
What’s more, the priest soon sent people out with food and other goods and told them to trade for salt by going in the direction he had pointed out.
Later on, they had found another tribe to trade for salt with, and after that, they would go and trade for salt every spring. Sometimes, when they didn’t have enough, they would go out and trade again in the autumn.
Hearing that the salt team had returned, everyone was very happy now.
“I wonder how much salt we’ve managed to obtain this time!”
“I also want to join the salt team and take a look outside!”
“I don’t want to go. I’ve heard that there are lots of dreadful dinosaurs out there.”
……
The people in the hunting team were all chatting amongst themselves as they picked up the pace to meet up with the people from the salt team.
They were all in high spirits, but their expressions all turned ugly when they saw the salt team.
The salt team looked wretched.
The salt team had consisted of fifty men and women when they had set out, and among them had been the most powerful warriors from the tribe as well as some people who had very small animal forms–those who had small animal forms didn’t have much fighting power but were sometimes able to hide themselves away and survive.
For example, one of the members of the salt team had a mole animal form. Not only was his animal form small, he was also quite weak. It was very difficult for him to play a role during the collective hunts except to take on his animal form to lure his prey to advance before suddenly switching back to human form and scaring the prey. However, his animal form also had some advantages–Many dangerous carnivorous dinosaurs would ignore him in his animal form, and the snakes and lizards who could swallow up his animal form in one bite would avoid him when he was human.
He also consumed a minimal amount of energy when he took on his animal form.
This meant that he was sometimes able to survive for longer in the wild.
But now, only twenty or so people were left out of the carefully selected team of a full fifty people, and all of them were injured.
The people from the salt team were thrilled when they saw Xiong He and the others. Many of their eyes turned red, and their leader, a big sturdy man, choked and called out, “Chief…”
“You guys encountered danger?” Xiong He asked with worry.
The salt team nodded and was just about to say something more when one of them, who had been supported by the people around him, suddenly toppled headfirst onto the ground.
Xiong Ye had long noticed that there was something wrong with the salt team’s condition, and had paid special attention to that man’s pale face. He caught the man who had fallen without a second thought, then discovered that the man’s body was hot and feverish.
“Chief, he has a fever!” Xiong Ye was a little anxious.
“We’ll go back right away!” Xiong He said.
The people from the salt team were still carrying things with them; Xiong He told the hunters to help them with their things and carry the injured on their backs as they ran back to the tribe.
Xiong Ye was running at the front.
He hadn’t caught any prey today, so his energy consumption today hadn’t been very big. Coupled with the fact that he had eaten a lot last night on top of eating five kilos of meat for breakfast, he was really full of energy!
Since Xiong Ye was running so quickly, Xiong He naturally wouldn’t delay either. He didn’t bother to ask any more questions and first led everyone back to the tribe.
Shi Li was a little unhappy as he followed behind them.
Today, Xiong Ye had once again ignored him completely and was now carrying someone else while running. It made him feel a little uncomfortable.
Additionally, everything that was happening before his eyes was a bit different from what he remembered from before.
In his memories, he and Xiong Ye had teamed up together to hunt today, and they had gone quite far out because they hadn’t located any prey. By the time they went back to the tribe, the salt team had already returned.
In addition, the person who Xiong Ye was now holding had been dead by then. Xiong Ye had been very sad at the time, and the atmosphere in the tribe had been very downcast. Later, it had been the celebrations from his and Xiong Ye’s mating ceremony that had lifted up the morose haze that had enveloped the tribe.
Many things had changed now due to his rebirth. Fortunately, it wasn’t a big deal.
Shi Li followed after Xiong Ye and ran toward the tribe.
The gathering team had just returned as well when they arrived at the tribe. They were sorting out plants in the valley, and the priest was setting out some plants to dry.
“Grandpa Priest, he has a fever! Please take a look!” Xiong Ye was anxious as he called out, arriving in front of the priest with the man in his arms.
“Put him down.” The priest immediately ordered.
Xiong Ye put the wounded man down at once. The priest came up next to the man to examine him.
It was a twenty-something-year-old young man. He had a broad frame, but he didn’t have much meat on his body. There were several long, deep wounds on his back and stomach, and although he luckily hadn’t suffered from an intestinal tear, the flesh near the wound had already begun to rot, emitting a horrible smell. His body was hot, his lips very white, and he looked extremely weak.
“Go to my cave and get a cup of water, and then bring some salt.” The priest glanced at Xiong Ye.
Xiong Ye soon returned with water and salt. The priest added some salt to the water, and when it dissolved, he poured the salt water onto the man’s wound to clean it.
The unconscious man convulsed, probably due to the pain.
Even though Zhou Ji had seen a lot of death and had even died once himself, he felt a little bit of sympathetic pain when he saw this scene. The priest used most of the salt water to rinse out the man’s wounds, then diluted the salt water with some more water and fed it to the man.
“Beast God up above… What happened to you all?” The priest finally asked them after he was finished. He took out some of the herbs he had picked that day and added some salt, then put everything into a stone bowl, grinding it with a stone pestle until it turned into a paste that he then applied to the man’s wound.
Zhou Ji who was watching from the side felt a little pity for that man.
Salt could kill bacteria, but putting salt on a wound was never pleasant … While he was thinking about it, he noticed that Xiong Ye was very sad.
Xiong Ye had been very heartbroken when Shi Li had reneged, and now that this man was about to die, Xiong Ye was also very sad; his eyes were already red.
Xiong Ye was indeed very sad. He had been able to notice that something was wrong with this person in such a short time and catch him so quickly because this person was his half-brother.
His father had been very powerful and had been very popular amongst the women in the tribe when he was young. He had had many children with many women, and other than Xiong Ye, his father had eight other children.
Two of them hadn’t made it to adulthood, and one of them had died a few years ago. Now, he had five half-brothers and half-sisters from his father’s side.
Out of these five, Xiong Ye had a good relationship with the man in front of him and Hu Yue. His relationship with the other three didn’t amount to much; when his father had still been alive, there had been a certain level of competition amongst them, and not only did they dislike him, they had even bullied him.
After his father died, those people no longer bullied him, but they also didn’t maintain any contact with him. In fact, he and Hu Yue hadn’t interacted much a few years ago either, but she had never bullied him in the past. As for the person in front of him… Because his mother had died early on, he had lived together with him in the collective cave and would sometimes look out for him. He felt very grateful towards him.
At the moment, Xiong Ye really wanted to ask the priest how this man was doing, but he also didn’t dare ask… He had spent a period of time learning from the priest and naturally understood how severe these injuries were.
He could only pour him some water and feed it to him slowly.
Zhou Ji observed the situation, then examined the dying beastman with his spiritual powers.
This beastman had a high fever and was really about to die. He had a white crystal core in his body, but that crystal core was about to shatter, and energy was already leaking out of it.
Zhou Ji came to Xiong Ye’s side and sat down, then used his spiritual strength to control that energy and make it return to the dying beastman’s body.
The dispersal of energy halted, but this was really draining on his spiritual strength… Zhou Ji treated it like he was exercising his spiritual powers and continued; he even took the time to stuff some fruit into the man’s mouth.
This person who was lying there was probably in great need of food–He was so thin that he had to be starving!
Xiong Ya looked gratefully at Zhou Ji. Although he didn’t know why Zhou Ji was doing this, he knew that Zhou Ji meant well.
While Zhou Ji was using his spiritual powers to prevent the man from dying, on the other side, the other members of the salt team were being treated by the priest as they shared their experiences.
The tribe that the salt team had gone to trade salt with was called the Green Hill Tribe.
The Green Hill Tribe didn’t produce salt, but they traded for salt with another tribe and then traded it again to others at a higher price.
They were very honest and sincere, so many tribes, including the Big Bear Tribe, would trade for salt with them.
However this time, when the salt team had gone to the Green Hill Tribe, they found that the Green Hill Tribe had been taken over by another tribe!
If the salt team hadn’t been vigilant and discovered that something was wrong ahead of time, they might quite possibly have been killed by the people who had taken over the Green Hill Tribe and had all their things stolen from them!
However, even if they were relatively more alert, they still went through a vicious battle against the people who had taken over the Green Hill Tribe. Over a dozen of them were killed, and a portion of the food and special materials they had brought to trade for salt had been forcibly taken away.
They had been unable to trade for any salt at all and had even lost both supplies and people. At a time when Xiong Qi, the leader of the salt team, had been desperate, they had been lucky enough to find another tribe near the Green Hill Tribe who agreed to trade some salt with them.
Only, the amount of salt they were able to obtain was very little.
“On the way back, we met a large dinosaur, and a few of the team were eaten.” Xiong Qi spoke in a low, muffled voice. As the leader of the salt team, he had also suffered serious injuries. Fortunately, they hadn’t been life-threatening.
“It’s good that you made it back. The Beast God will bless you all.” The priest said.
“Grandpa Priest, how is Niu Er doing?” Xiong Ye spoke up at this moment and asked. His half-brother from the same father was an ox in his animal form, and because he was his mother’s second child, he had originally been named Er, so he was now called Niu Er.
“Xiong Ye… The Beast God is watching over him!” The priest sighed.
For the priest to say this meant that it would be very difficult to save Niu Er.
Everyone in the tribe understood this, and they all fell silent for a moment.
Xiong Ye was also very despondent. He instinctively looked around and glanced first at Shi Li, then turned his head and looked at Zhou Ji beside him. “Zhou Ji, let’s take him back to our cave?”
“Hm?” Zhou Ji focused his attention. His psychic powers were nearly depleted, but thankfully it hadn’t been for naught. The crystal core of the man lying in front of them was no longer cracked, and he had even managed to open his eyes.
“He’s awake!” Xiong Ye was both surprised and delighted. He grabbed Zhou Ji’s hand in excitement, “He woke up!” The man who hadn’t woken up despite being treated with salt water had now regained consciousness!
“Yes.” Zhou Ji agreed. He had figured out a new use for his psychic powers.
Shi Li, who had been standing nearby, saw this scene and frowned.
At first, he had been very angry when Xiong Ye had invited Zhou Ji to live with him. Later, when he thought about how stupid and weak Zhou Ji was, he thought that Xiong Ye wouldn’t be interested in Zhou Ji and felt relieved again.
But now, it was only a few days later and Xiong Ye and Zhou Ji were already so close!
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Juurensha: Hahaha Shi Li, see what you gave up