Chronicles Of Primordial War

Leading Others

The fish Shao Xuan pulled out this time was even larger in size than the first one, but Shao Xuan just knocked it out with a stone since he did not ask for the warrior’s help. Even if the fish was merely unconscious, it could not survive without water.

With the fish hung on a tree with the straw rope, Shao Xuan took out the smaller fish which was speared through, and then he found a few dry branches.

Looking around, Shao Xuan noticed that the two warriors guarding the riverside were curiously looking at his direction, so he waved to them.

The two warriors hesitated, for they had already returned to their spot, but out of compulsive curiosity, they came back to Shao Xuan.

“What are you doing, Ah-Xuan? Are you going to eat that? Do you need our help?” The warrior asked having gotten Shao Xuan’s name when he speared the fish to death.

They were scared and curious about creatures like fish. But since the fish had been dead, the guards had put their fear behind, and curiosity towards a new kind of quarry filled up in their hearts.

“Allow me this time, since you were in charge of killing earlier!” The other warrior stepped forward and quickly grasped the fish. He used his stone knife to cut it open and disemboweled its guts. While in the meantime, he discussed with his companion.

“Wow? Are those the intestines? So short…”

“Is that the stomach?”

“No, the stomach…that is the stomach, for sure!”

“Watch out…What’s that? Don’t break it. Perhaps it’s poisonous…”

“Where’s its heart? Cut more, move your knife… Ah, you’re no good at it…Let me demonstrate… you need to keep your hand steady to avoid the blood from flowing…”

The warriors were discussing enthusiastically, and Shao Xuan was standing aside, stunned and speechless.

"Were they really hunting warriors? They acted just like weird forensic experts! Two anatomy enthusiasts with an excessive curiosity!"

No matter how bizarre the impression they struck in Shao Xuan’s mind, one had to admit that they were masters of anatomy! Even though it was their first time dismembering a fish, they did a quick and clean job. As they were cutting, they took the time to give Shao Xuan a lecture about the detailed dos and don’ts when hunting and killing an animal in the wild. For instance, some animal’s guts might be poisonous while some animals had poison sacs inside their bodies. Also, there were some kinds of animals that possessed delicious guts, but for unfamiliar creatures, people would normally not eat their viscera for safety’s sake.

Soon, the fish was handled and cut open, with its guts and gills removed.

“There are not many parts left to be eaten, but fortunately it’s large in size.” The warrior said as he cleaned the blood on his knife.

Since no one wanted to get near the waters again, the two warriors used some leaves to clean the fish and wipe the blood, then used those leaves to wrap its viscera and bury it besides the tree. They did that because the fishy smell might draw some extra and unnecessary attention. It would be fine in the tribe, but now they were pretty close to the river. Besides flying animals, there may be unknown creatures which were sensitive to blood. They had to be cautious and they reminded Shao Xuan to do the same, should he hunt alone himself the next time.

The tools to make fire were not so primitive as Shao Xuan imagined before, it was some kind of a powder. Every totemic warrior was allowed to carry some of that powder. When making a fire, one would take out a stone spoon and place some powder inside, and then use a stone pestle to quickly grind it. Very soon the powder inside would become flames and turn the stone spoon into a small torch to ignite hay and branches.