Chapter 10

Now, Shaoxuan is at best a small cave master, and the children in the cave are all rather unruly little brats.

The fish he brought over, Shaoxuan cleaned it by removing the internal organs and gills, just as the two warriors had done before. There was a designated spot in the cave for throwing away garbage, and Shaoxuan tossed it there, where various leftovers and scraps were piled up. The tribe would send someone to clean it every few days.

The fish was eaten down to the bone, with only the sharp teeth left. After the children in the cave shared the fish and fell asleep, Shaoxuan left a torch, extinguished the fire, and went deeper into the cave to take a look. He had originally planned to trade for some food and animal skins before winter arrived. Now that he had taken over the cave and discovered a way to fish, he was considering whether to take some people out to catch more fish tomorrow. With more food stored, the winter would be more secure, as the tribe provided limited food.

The people in the tribe were all busy stockpiling food before winter. Every day, people could be seen making dried meat to preserve food. If he could catch more fish, not only would the situation in the cave improve, but he could also trade fish for warm furs with the tribe. Shaoxuan didn't want to freeze in the winter.

Holding the torch, Shaoxuan walked through the cave, using the not-so-bright light to take a rough look around. The last time he came here was shortly after he arrived in this world, when he came out of curiosity and took a quick tour. After that, he never went deeper.

As the saying goes, "A new official starts with three fires." I am the master of my territory. The fires must be lit, and the territory must be reorganized.

In the early days, when the tribe was small and the population was low, everyone lived here. The cave was arranged with places for storing food, firewood, furs, tools, and weapons, as well as a toilet. However, after everyone moved out to build houses, the cave became messy and many areas were left empty. The twenty or so children were concentrated near the entrance, leaving a lot of space unused.

There were also ventilation holes deep in the cave, but because no one had gone there for a long time, they were sealed off, making it dark even during the day.

After a quick look around, Shaoxuan returned to the entrance of the cave, laid out the dry grass he had dried during the day, and extinguished the fire to go to sleep. However, for some reason, he couldn't fall asleep tonight. He was thinking about the cave, the fish in the river, and the illusion he saw while fishing during the day.

As he thought, Shaoxuan felt as if someone was watching him, but he couldn't tell who it was.

The fire was out, and the cave was very dark. The moonlight shone in through the ventilation holes, casting a dark blue light.

The children in the cave were all asleep, and their snores could be heard. The entrance was blocked with a thick grass curtain, and there was no abnormality.

Next to Shaoxuan, Caesar was quietly sleeping. He didn't hear any unusual sounds, which meant there was no danger.

Could it be that one of the children in the cave hadn't fallen asleep and was staring at him?

Shaking his head slightly, Shaoxuan wrapped himself in his fur coat, closed his eyes, and tried to sleep. He had to take these little brats out to fish tomorrow.

However, just as he closed his eyes, Shaoxuan seemed to see a fleeting black shadow. The shadow was too fast for him to see clearly. After the shadow, a pair of eyes with a faint dark blue glow appeared.

What is that?!

Shaoxuan was startled and opened his eyes wide.

The surroundings were still the same as before, the cave was pitch black, and only the area where the moonlight shone in was slightly bright.

Shaoxuan was now wide awake. He turned over and saw the ventilation hole carved into the cave wall above him.

Even at night, the ventilation hole was usually not blocked, so there was no trouble.

After some thought, Shaoxuan got up. Since his sleeping place was higher, he could see outside through the ventilation hole just by standing up.

The moonlight outside made it brighter than inside the cave, and he could vaguely see the nearby scenery.

Outside the cave, there was a stone pillar about five meters high. It had been erected long ago and served a similar purpose to a sundial. The people who lived in the cave used to judge the time based on the shadow of the stone pillar under the sun. Now that the tribe had moved out, the children who lived in the cave still scratched and carved on the stone pillar when they went out. Over time, the stone pillar had become pitted and only maintained a rough shape.

And now, a bird was perched on the top of the stone pillar.

Shaoxuan recognized this bird. The first time he saw it, he thought it was a bat, but later he learned that it was a bird that looked like a swallow, flew extremely fast, and was active only at night. Moreover, this bird was carnivorous.

The tribe called them night swallows, which was similar to the nickname for bats, but they were much more ferocious and liked to live in groups. Sometimes, a large group would move together.

Therefore, few people in the tribe went out at night, and if they did, they had to carry a torch to avoid being attacked by night swallows.

Ordinary people couldn't hear the calls of night swallows, but the tribe said that powerful warriors could actually hear their voices. According to legend, the voice of a night swallow was very shrill, but most people had never heard it, only passing it down orally.

As Shaoxuan looked at the stone pillar, the night swallow perched on it also looked over sharply.

Under the moonlight, the night swallow's eyes reflected a dark blue light, just like the image that had appeared in Shaoxuan's mind when he closed his eyes.

Night swallows wouldn't enter the cave through the ventilation hole. They liked to stand far away and observe, then find a lone target and attack in a group. In the past six months, Shaoxuan had never seen a night swallow enter the cave, but if anyone went out at night without a torch, they would definitely be attacked.

Shaoxuan took a deep breath, stopped looking outside, and lay down to try to sleep again.

Knowing what the fleeting black shadow and the dark blue eyes in his mind were, Shaoxuan still couldn't fall asleep immediately.

Shaoxuan felt that he could "see" dangerous creatures nearby, like the fish during the day and the bird outside now.

The next morning, the weather was clear and the sun was shining.

Shaoxuan got up as usual, bundled up the dry grass he had been lying on, and took it out to dry.

Clapping his hands, Shaoxuan said to the large group of children lying in the cave, "Are you awake? How many of you are awake? Get up and follow me to go fishing."

No response.

"Fishing can provide food, just like the one we had yesterday," Shaoxuan continued.

There was a slight movement, but not much.

Some children were still sleeping soundly, and some, even if they were awake, would still hesitate after hearing Shaoxuan's words. After all, habits formed over a long time couldn't be changed by just one word from Shaoxuan. They were used to sleeping at this time and waiting for food in the afternoon. Some people, even if they opened their eyes, were still not fully awake and yawned before going back to sleep.

In the end, only four out of the twenty or so children followed Shaoxuan out. The two oldest children in the cave were among them. The other two were named Tu, who was very timid despite his fierce name, and Ba, who spoke with a stutter and was relatively honest, except when it came to fighting over food. Both were eleven years old, but their physiques were quite different. Ba was taller than Tu and looked similar to the two oldest children in the cave, who were thirteen. Tu was very thin and small, about the same size as Shaoxuan.

Shaoxuan had Caesar dig up some stone worms, and he used the same grass rope from the previous day. He also brought the black hemisphere that could float on the water, and then led the four children to the riverbank.

The two warriors responsible for guarding the area were the same as yesterday. They hadn't returned home last night and would have to stay for three nights before being replaced. They greeted Shaoxuan with a smile and exchanged a few words.

This made the other four children in the cave very curious. They usually didn't encounter such a situation when moving around in the tribe. The two older children, due to the events of the previous night, had less desire to compete with Shaoxuan. Seeing the current situation, their desire to compete was even less. In their view, people who got along well with the warriors in the tribe would always receive many benefits and would have help when in trouble, just like the previous Ku, who had received a lot of admiration because he knew some people on the hillside.

Shaoxuan prepared everything and explained to the four children what they would be doing.

"… That's it, it's very simple. Just follow me and do what I say. When we catch the fish, we'll share it among ourselves."

At the mention of food, the four children's eyes lit up, and their worries about the river water dissipated.

The grass rope was limited in length, and this time, Shaoxuan didn't plan to throw the bait far. He didn't ask Caesar for help either. Instead, the four children took the place of Caesar from the previous day, and Caesar quietly squatted beside them.

The four children held the grass rope, all very nervous. Besides the tension of their first contact with the river creatures, there was also the excitement of their first fishing experience.

"Alright, don't move for now. Wait for my command," Shaoxuan said after throwing the bait, watching the water.

Soon, there was movement in the water. Having fished three times now, Shaoxuan had gained experience and immediately shouted, "Pull!"

Hearing Shaoxuan's command, the four children gripped the grass rope and pulled with all their might.

Together, the four children were stronger than Caesar, and this time, pulling the fish went smoothly. The fish they caught was similar to the one Shaoxuan had caught the first time.

The four children saw a live fish for the first time, and it was a very aggressive one. After Shaoxuan told them to let