Chapter 86

Almost all beasts are afraid of fire, and elephants are no exception.

As Lin Bei entered the Elephant Valley, the originally resting herd of elephants immediately stood up, emitting loud calls. The blazing torch Lin Bei carried was indeed too conspicuous, and they instinctively felt fear.

Lin Bei quickly glanced around and immediately focused his gaze on two elephants standing slightly to the side of the center of the herd. Both were adult elephants, but one was larger, about 4.5 meters tall, while the other was slightly smaller, not less than 4 meters. Ancient elephants seemed to be quite large.

There was no need for any communication with the elephants. Lin Bei instantly rushed over, passing through the center of the herd. Because of the blazing torch, the herd of elephants screamed and dodged. The two elephants Lin Bei targeted also moved further away from the herd.

Lin Bei crouched down, his tail high and waving the torch, driving the two elephants away. His speed was much faster than that of the elephants, and he deliberately adjusted his direction. Gradually, he drove the two elephants to the cave entrance.

Lin Bei thrust the torch forward, and the two elephants directly followed the torch into the cave. Lin Bei thought to himself, "It's done," and quickly followed.

Outside, the crowd was on high alert. They saw the two elephants rush out of the cave in panic, and everyone was overjoyed, spontaneously shouting loudly.

The shouts of about thirty people were quite loud. This sound was something the elephants had never heard before. Already in a state of panic, the loud noise made them even more frantic, instinctively running to escape this terrifying area.

The smaller elephant was slightly faster, so it ran to the front. After just a few steps, its front legs stepped into a shallow pit.

For elephants, a pit of one or two feet is usually very shallow, and they can easily step over it by lifting their hooves. However, at this moment, such a shallow pit was very fatal.

As the smaller elephant stepped into the pit, everyone saw its hind legs flail wildly, a direct reaction to the loss of balance. However, due to its massive body, it could not control itself and fell directly, taking down the larger elephant beside it. Both elephants crashed to the ground with a loud thud.

Cui Lan shouted, "Everyone, go!"

The hunters on the side were already prepared. They had rich hunting experience and, though excited, remained relatively calm. Hearing Cui Lan's shout, several of them rushed forward, deliberately avoiding the elephants' trunks and limbs.

As they ran, several large nets were thrown out, covering both elephants. The accuracy varied, but overall, five or six nets landed on the elephants' heads.

Ari was also running, making a series of sounds. Zhen Jiu quickly shouted, "Net the trunks too."

At this moment, the elephants, caught in the nets, were kicking their legs wildly. Several hunters rushed over, pressing down on the elephants' heads from behind. Even though the hunters were strong young men, they knew they couldn't hold the elephants down, but in the struggle, they quickly wrapped the nets around the trunks and tied them up.

Several vine ropes were also thrown, this time aimed at the elephants' limbs to bind them, preventing them from getting up. If they did, the elephant capture might fail, unless Lin Bei ordered the hunters to kill the elephants, which was clearly impossible.

As these actions progressed, more and more hunters pounced, dividing into two groups, pulling tails, lifting legs, and pressing heads, tightly pinning the elephants like mountains of flesh.

The two elephants emitted fearful, loud calls, struggling even more fiercely. Several hunters couldn't hold on and were flung away, but they quickly returned.

Ari finally ran to the side of the smaller elephant, grabbed its ear, and started slapping it. Lin Bei noticed that the slapping rhythm was similar to the beat of a song. He then leaned close to the ear, presumably reciting the Kashi tribe's incantation.

Despite the chaos, Lin Bei remained attentive, listening carefully.

Ari's voice was low and intermittent, like an ancient ritual chant or the scriptures recited by a high monk. Lin Bei couldn't understand it, but it didn't sound unpleasant. As Ari continued, Lin Bei was surprised to find that the elephant's struggling movements began to slow down, indicating that its fear was decreasing and its mood was becoming calmer. Lin Bei found this quite magical, wondering if the incantation was some form of elephant language that could communicate with the elephants and make them believe that the people in front of them had no ill intentions.

The hunters also noticed this and looked at Ari with a sense of wonder.

For these hunters, seeing long-nosed beasts was quite rare, but the legends about them were widespread. They knew that these beasts were incredibly powerful, even tigers and leopards dared not provoke them. Now, an outsider seemed to be able to subdue the long-nosed beasts with a few incantations, which they found incredible. If Ari were not an outsider, he might have been revered as a divine being by these hunters. Even now, no hunter dared to look down on this seemingly barbaric individual, as capable people always earn respect easily.

After the situation with the smaller elephant improved, Ari ran to the other elephant and continued the same actions and words.

The elephants' struggles became less intense, and the hunters began to relax, their faces showing increasing excitement. This was a long-nosed beast.

"Is the long-nosed beast now ours?" Some hunters still didn't quite believe it. They had expected a fierce battle, but the entire capture process was surprisingly easy. Many hadn't even broken a sweat. Was this really a long-nosed beast, which was even more ferocious than tigers and leopards? But the size of the beast before them told them it was indeed so.

"This belongs to the adults."

"The adults said they would give it to us, and the adults always keep their word."

"Zhang Bangchui, your family is so poor, do you really plan to raise a long-nosed beast?" someone teased.

"What's wrong with that? If the adults let us raise it, they must have a way. I'm a simple man, I don't understand anything; I just need to follow the adults' orders."

The hunters laughed, finding this statement resonant. Indeed, they should just follow the adults' orders, as the adults were like deities, capable of anything.

"Shh, be quiet," Cui Lan glared at the hunters. The long-nosed beasts were not yet truly captured, and Cui Lan was worried that the hunters might get carried away. If anything went wrong, how could they explain it to the adults?

Cui Lan's concerns did not materialize, and everything proceeded smoothly.