NOVEL NEXT Chapter 528: The Great Chief 46
Besides dried wild fruits, the item consumed the most is meat. The stock of Cannibal Fish is nearly depleted, and various meat products have long been eaten up. Because there was no shortage of food earlier, everyone didn't focus on hunting hairless but meaty prey, leading to the depletion of meat reserves now.
This time out hunting, everyone was very excited and eager to bring back a beast for a feast. Although not purely carnivorous and also fond of vegetables, meat was undoubtedly the main dish; without it, they still felt a strong craving.
This hunt, Shuangshuang's Combat Power was already the highest, so she didn't need to go out as an adjunct like before and was always positioned at the most protected spot in the center. Shuangshuang, like Ben and Mang Mountain, took the lead position at the forefront this time.
This position faces all kinds of dangers and is a protective position, protecting all the Hunting Team Members behind. It usually can only be filled by the most powerful warriors, such as Ben and Tie from the Power Tribe, Mang Mountain and Jian from the Lanshan Tribe, and now Shuangshuang is to be included in their rank.
Before heading out, Shuangshuang communicated with the Earth King Beast, contemplating whether the Earth King Beast should go out for a stroll too. Although with the Earth King Beast around, they basically couldn't hunt any prey, as the beasts would all be scared away by it, Shuangshuang had long since developed a method for hunting, so she wasn't concerned about that anymore.
Who knew, after understanding Shuangshuang's idea, the Earth King Beast just plopped back onto its thick bed of dried grass, its big head drooping, biting a mouthful of grass to chew, completely unmoved, with a very marked homebody attribute.
Seeing the Earth King Beast unmoved, Shuangshuang felt a bit regretful that she couldn't ride it out to play, but she didn't plan to force the Earth King Beast to go out either and directly turned to depart with the Hunting Team members.
Through this cold season, everyone in the Power Tribe had eaten and drunk well for almost half a year, so their physical conditions all met the standards for entering the Hunting Team.
Similarly, the people of the Lanshan Tribe had better physical conditions than those of the Power Tribe; although there wasn't much time since arriving at the Power Tribe, there were still seven or eight more people qualified to join the Hunting Team.
Because there were many newcomers, following the old customs, this hunt would be a teaching hunt. Once in the forest, the old members began teaching the newly joined Hunting Team Members how to hunt in this ice-and-snow-laden world.
After explaining the winter hunting techniques to the young men beside him, Ben gazed at the spectacular scene of towering trees covered in ice sheaths before him, couldn't suppress a sigh, and exclaimed, "We used to fear this season most, always feeling so cold, tired, and hungry, worried and anxious about not finding prey, fearing everyone'd starve to death. Now, with no longer worrying about food, I suddenly realize how beautiful this world is, so different from the landscape of summer."
Tie, after looking carefully for half a day, quipped awkwardly, "Though it's quite beautiful, it surely looks better when the flowers are blooming and the leaves are green. This white expanse is all the same, very monotonous."
Ben, watching Tie's crude appearance, despite not knowing the tale of playing music to a cow, surprisingly felt a bit like the musician for a moment.
On one side, Shuangshuang was imparting hunting techniques to a young man full of admiration for her; he was from the Lanshan Tribe, with excellent talent and said to potentially reach the heights of warriors like Jian and Mang Mountain.
Previously, this young guy didn't respect Shuangshuang, but after being caught and beaten by her several times, he now instead revered Shuangshuang immensely, turning into Shuangshuang's little fanboy, following her wherever she went, like a sticky candy.
Everyone circled the ice-laden forest several times, catching two rabbits that had swapped for white fur. Although rabbits in this world are battle rabbits, large and with strong Attack Power, they are not a match for the Hunting Team and were caught in no time after encountering them.
If still in the modern world, Shuangshuang would have never thought she would one day cruelly eat cute rabbits, but unfortunately, this isn't the modern world; here, rabbits are merely a type of food, and no one pities prey for its cute appearance.
Seeing that after bustling around for half a day they'd only caught a few rabbits and wild chickens, everyone decided to return to the cave. Although it wasn't the cold season, and the temperature had warmed up a lot, it still couldn't compare to the comfort of the mountain cave warmed by burning charcoal.
Seeing everyone wanting to go back, Shuangshuang led them to the river where they had previously caught Cannibal Fish. Although everyone wondered why Shuangshuang was heading to the river, their admiration (Lanshan Tribe) and blind trust (Power Tribe) led them to follow her without hesitation.
What Shuangshuang intended to do was quite simple and was something all modern people could do: ice fishing. Even those who may not actually fish in the modern times likely experienced it, and Shuangshuang not only had experienced fishing but is also an ice fishing expert.
In truth, Shuangshuang learned ice fishing solely to cater to a client's taste while negotiating a deal, and after winning the contract, she transformed her forced learning into a genuine fondness for ice fishing.
Ice fishing involves some knowledge; where to make the hole, what fish are below, what bait to scatter, and what hooks to use require thought. But here, it wasn't so cumbersome. Shuangshuang already knew which fish were in the river and didn't need to think about how to fish – a rabbit leg was sufficient.
As for making holes in the ice, no one else needed to act; Shuangshuang directly took out a gift from the Earth King Beast, a long thorn that had fallen from its back.
The thorns and Scale Armor from the Earth King Beast shed and regrow naturally, and those discarded scales and thorns were all given to Shuangshuang by the Earth King Beast.
Now, Shuangshuang had crafted over ten Scale Armor Knives and long spears made from the Earth King Beast's sharp thorns; such weapons were extremely popular in the tribe, for the Earth King Beast's Scale Armor and back thorns were far more practical than Stone Axes and Stone Blades.
With the long spear, Shuangshuang stabbed fiercely into the frozen river surface several times, then used the Stone Axe to forcefully smash down. After smashing ten more times, a round hole appeared.
Due to the cold season, the ice on the river had frozen very solid. When Shuangshuang smashed it, she found the thickness quite astonishing. Without a warrior's strength to help, she felt she would never be able to punch through such a thick layer of ice.
The ice had frozen too thick, causing severe oxygen shortage underwater. After Shuangshuang smashed open the ice, before she could toss the tied rabbit leg down, the Cannibal Fish suffocated from the oxygen deficit started boiling like a pot, rushing out of the ice surface!
The Power Tribe members watching on were already accustomed to this scene; after a brief surprise, they found it normal. Shuangshuang is the Divine Favored; whatever she does is normal, so blindly, they believed in and admired her.