NOVEL NEXT Chapter 517: The Great Chief 35
Jian's body was already covered with a thick layer of ice. Although he was lively just moments ago under the Earth King Beast's attack, he was only holding up with effort. Now, being supported into the mountain cave, he collapsed to the ground and fell into a semi-conscious state.
Cao, who had come along to investigate, screamed in surprise and hurried forward to support Jian, anxiously calling "big brother" several times, but Jian showed no response. Cao couldn't help but look helplessly at Witch Doctor Yu, who was checking the situation.
Yu quickly walked a few steps, reassuringly glanced at Cao, then crouched down to examine Jian's condition. He discovered that Jian had collapsed due to hunger, excessive fatigue, and cold-induced fever. Yu used witch power to circulate within Jian's body, and Jian woke up.
Yan Shuangshuang, on the other side, had already poured the meat soup being cooked with chili beans in a stone pot over the fire into a bamboo tube and brought it over for Jian to drink.
Though Jian, as a tribe warrior, had to always guard the tribe and almost never met Yan Shuangshuang, upon seeing Yan Shuangshuang's eyebrows and eyes that were extremely similar to his sister Cao's, Jian immediately recognized Yan Shuangshuang and smiled as he reached out to pat Yan Shuangshuang's head, saying: "This is Shuangshuang, right? So pretty!"
Yan Shuangshuang smiled shyly and called "Uncle", then stuffed the meat soup into Jian's hands saying: "Uncle, drink up. You've been frozen for too long, cold air has invaded your body. Drinking this soup will drive out the cold."
Jian smiled and agreed, then took the meat soup and drank it directly without fearing the heat. As the spicy hot soup slid down, Jian immediately felt alive, and couldn't help but let out a long sigh of relief. Seeing Jian's recovery, Ben and Yu began to ask Jian what exactly happened.
Jian's face turned sullen as he said: "The Lanshan Tribe had trouble; it was previously attacked by a pack of hyenas. Many people died in the tribe, and most of the stored jerky was taken away by the hyena pack!"
Being attacked by the hyena pack, everyone exchanged glances. In this era, hyenas were huge, had significant combat prowess, and liked to appear in groups.
Although hyenas, like humans, always attack in groups and have outstanding combat capabilities, it's possible to suffer greatly if the Power Tribe faced the hyena pack's attack, because the Power Tribe has fewer people.
But there are so many people in the Lanshan Tribe, and many warriors; more ordinary people have physical qualities sufficient to join the Hunting Team. No matter how fierce the hyenas are, they are no match for the Hunting Team, not to mention there are warriors in the team. It's hard to imagine that the Lanshan Tribe would be so battered by the hyena pack.
Seeing everyone's puzzlement, Jian couldn't help but sigh and say: "Typically, the hyena pack is not to be feared, but there was a Fierce Beast among them!"
A Fierce Beast! Everyone was shocked. Fierce Beasts are seldom seen and are terrifyingly strong. It's almost impossible for a tribe to encounter such a beast and escape without casualties. Complete destruction of a tribe is even common.
Speaking of Fierce Beasts, the first thing Yan Shuangshuang thought of was the Sky Wolf Fierce Beast depicted in the cave wall mural! Judging by the battle scenes described in the mural, even with so many warriors, the Power Tribe had lost many people to deal with the Fierce Beast. How many people would perish when the Lanshan Tribe, a medium-sized tribe with only over three hundred people, faces a Fierce Beast?
Yan Shuangshuang couldn't help but start worrying for the Lanshan Tribe. Her understanding of Fierce Beasts in this world is limited, but having seen the Fierce Beast in the mural, Yan Shuangshuang knows it is a giant beast comparable to the Earth King Beast, and its combat prowess can be imagined.
Being attacked by such a Fierce Beast, Yan Shuangshuang's mind couldn't help but conjure images of the Lanshan Tribe's devastation, imagining scenes where few remains of Lanshan Tribe people, brutally massacred by the Fierce Beast, appeared in her mind, each one tragically pitiful.
Fortunately, Jian quickly broke Yan Shuangshuang's imagined scenarios. He said, full of gratitude: "Luckily, that hyena just became a Fierce Beast, and the warriors within the tribe were able to cope, preventing greater casualties. Actually, it's also because people in our tribe didn't expect these hyenas to suddenly leave their usual grassland regions and come to Lanshan, attacking us."
This is indeed very strange. Hyenas like living on grasslands, sometimes appearing in forests. Although in this world, hyenas have been seen on mountains, such scenarios are rare. As for a large pack of hyenas, they would never enter the mountains.
This time, it's unknown why the hyena pack entered the mountain and attacked the Lanshan Tribe, which had no quarrel or relation with hyenas; was it merely for the jerky?
Yan Shuangshuang sat aside and listened to Jian's sad recounting, learning that the Lanshan Tribe had directly lost over ten people this time, all of whom were capable Hunting Team Members, including seven warriors.
Although the Lanshan Tribe is stronger than the Power Tribe, it has only a dozen warriors, losing seven at once is a significant blow to the Lanshan Tribe, affecting them in many ways, even concerning whether the Lanshan Tribe can survive an entire cold and hot season without losing a single person.
What's more troublesome is most of the jerky stored in the tribe has been wasted or taken by these hyenas, leaving insufficient jerky for the tribe to survive the cold season.
Originally, the Lanshan Tribe wouldn't consider seeking aid from the Power Tribe because the Power Tribe always relied on Lanshan Tribe's support to survive.
The reason Lanshan Tribe sought help from the Power Tribe this time is because before the cold season arrived, the Power Tribe had sent many supplies to Lanshan Tribe, and the visitors also mentioned the Power Tribe has a lot of stored food this year.
The Lanshan Tribe saw that people from the Power Tribe were no longer looking gaunt and were healthier, confirming that the Power Tribe hadn't lied by accepting their supplies. In previous years, Lanshan Tribe could only tighten their belts and endure hardships, inevitably leading to the deaths of a few people.
Now, the Lanshan Tribe, in distress, remembered the Power Tribe's previous mention of having food abundance. Primitive people don't have much convoluted thoughts; they don't consider seeking help from those they used to aid as something disgraceful.
The Lanshan Tribe's leader didn't even think,決 astutely deciding to send the tribe's strongest warrior, Jian, as quickly as possible to the Power Tribe to ask for some food — not much, just enough to ensure the Lanshan Tribe's people won't starve during this cold season.
The Power Tribe certainly couldn't ignore the matter. Whether it's the inseparable family ties between the Power Tribe and the Lanshan Tribe or the previous support and care Lanshan Tribe gave to the Power Tribe, extending a helping hand when Lanshan Tribe encounters hardship is undoubtedly a duty.
The entire Power Tribe unanimously decided to help, and moreover, to help extensively. Taking advantage of the Earth King Beast's presence, Ben decided to personally lead Hunting Team members to deliver food to the Lanshan Tribe, ensuring enough food is delivered since fewer people might mean insufficient goods.