NOVEL NEXT Chapter 81 – Massacre
Translated by Sunyancai
Shao Xuan leapt high, he rebounded from the white thread to dodge the piercing vine aimed towards his face. In mid air, he pulled out the last spearhead dart and grasped it tight in his hand.
With the last remnants of the the white thread wrapped around the dart, Shao Xuan jumped. The line pulled taut, Shao Xuan could clearly feel the tension through the body of the dart.
Shao Xuan took a deep breath. The spearhead dart in his hand immediately weaved left and right before he finally pulled it back with all his strength.
Kill!
Creak…
The sound was like some steel threads sawing on wood.
This time, the sound could be heard from more than just a few spots. Dozens of places emitted the same creepy sound almost at the same time, and it was a lot shriller than before. Everyone who heard the sound felt as if they were witnessing a huge tree being strangled to death gradually. Their nerves all stiffened by the sound and the vision.
Tuo and Keke, as well as the others had no idea what Shao Xuan was planning to do, but under such urgent circumstances, they knew it at heart that the situation required their full cooperation. They decided to do their best to cooperate, even though deep down inside they did not think that Shao Xuan could actually accomplish anything.
However, right after they stepped backwards and retreated from the battle zone, they heard those disturbing sounds that set their nerves one edge.
People looked over there to see what was creating that sound, but soon enough, they were stunned by the sight.
The originally loose web of snares tightened instantly.
The vines thrashed and swung in the air, its movements were restricted by the threads. The tension of the threads caused the web to tighten upon itself as the vines moved. However, the vines continued to resist, causing the snare to pull tighter and tighter.
All of it happened within a single breath.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Right after the creaking sounds, there were sounds of wood and threads breaking. People were under great mental strain already, and now the sounds almost exploded in their minds.
Along with the sound, the “blood” of the fire lances splashed everywhere.
Red liquid filled the air and splattered all at once. No matter if the vines were close to ground or were suspended in the air, all of them were sliced by the threads. Its blood red sap poured out along with the haunting sounds of its struggle.
The blood in the surroundings spluttered out evenly, despite of it coming from two separate plants. These fire lances emitted the smell of a dangerous predator belonging to the plant wilderness.
In contrast to the carnage of blood-like sap on the ground, two giant bloody flowers bloomed. Like evil spirits, the flowers were even more colorful than the red fire lances themselves. [In case you don’t get it, the ‘bloody flowers’ are the snare wrapped around fire lances pulled together, being all bloody from the bloody sap.]
Ta used to assume that the blood-like flowers pictured on the animal skin roll were the blood-like. But he discovered that the view he was witnessing right now had surpassed his imagination. The shocking sight he had now seen impressed him so much that it would be carved in his memory even after a long time.
There was no smell of blood, but people felt like they accidentally stepped into a slaughter house.
It was a massacre. A massacre created by the snare.
Shao Xuan felt that he now had a slight understanding of the “Lethal Trap” Dao that Old Ke had told him about.
However, this was merely a half-done snare, which could only be considered as an incomplete chain trap. Hence it was an incomplete “Massacre”, and could not reach the state of lethality that Old Ke mentioned.
If there were enough white threads, Shao Xuan could totally have made a more constrained trap. At last it would form a net in the center, similar as the one that trapped the Wind Ball. However, the Fire Lance was too large in the scale, and there were two of them. With the lack of material, Shao Xuan could only make a half-assed snare that could only circle half around the two Fire Lances.
However, right now, it was more than enough to just take care of the urgent problem they were facing at hand.
The broken white threads flew down lightly while swaying in the air. “Blood drops” fell down on the ground after the blossom, while broken parts of the vines were tossed up and then headed down towards the ground…
A moment earlier, the Fire Lances were aggressively blustering. But now, they were badly wounded and droopy.
They had been chopped on the vines several times earlier before they were seriously injured by the snare. One of the Fire Lances quickly collected all its broken and half broken vines together and drilled down into the ground like a screw. The earth shook for some moments and then became calm again, while the Fire Lance disappeared.
The other Fire Lance was not so badly wounded as the first one, but still, it was no longer obsessed with intertwining with the warriors as well, and drilled into the ground a moment later. Perhaps it felt dread by the earlier attack, or perhaps it just lost its appetite for fighting.
The rumbling battlefield quieted down again, with broken branches and red liquid everywhere on the ground.
Shao Xuan was breathing heavily, as the totem strength in his body was running crazily. He almost reached his limit when he was setting the trap, and all his strength was used up by the final strike. Due to the overuse of his totem strength, his arms, shoulders and legs all felt extremely sore after all was done. He had to finish setting the trap as quickly as he could. Earlier he did not feel it, but after he relaxed, his fingers began to tremble uncontrollably. He estimated that the trembling wouldn’t stop for a long time.
Shao Xuan was completely worn out and he did not want to keep standing anymore. He shook off the red liquid on his feet, before he looked around and found a bucket-thick branch right behind him. It was broken by the Fire Lances earlier. Shao Xuan directly sat down on the branch, ignoring that there was still red liquid on its surface. Also, he put down the stone box that he had been holding in his arms all along.
The sound of the stone box touching the ground brought people back to their senses.
Tuo looked at the chaos on the ground and then looked at Shao Xuan as he was resting. Before he could ask Shao Xuan anything, his arm was grasped by Keke. Tuo was still quite nervous from the earlier shock, so he was frightened by Keke’s sudden grasp as well. He felt that his arm became the Fire Lance’s vine, while Keke was about to strangle him as the thread. He almost slapped on Keke’s hand reflexively.
“Wh…What?!” Tuo shook off Keke’s hand from his arm, and he wanted to shake off the creepy feeling of being strangled like the Fire Lances as well.
“Er…I’m getting cold feet now.” Keke’s face was twisted. It was rarely seen this bold lubber getting scared like that. A short while ago he was standing near the edge of the snare, and he planned to chop down one of the vines then. However, before he could do that, he saw the massacre in person. Some vines near him spilled their “blood” all over Keke’s body. Unlike the pleasure he felt while chopping on the vines himself, this time it gave him the creeps.
“Ah-Xuan, what was that?” Tuo calmed himself down while down and then asked.
The others all stared at Shao Xuan at the question.
“That? Well, it’s a trap.” Shao Xuan answered.
Tuo and the others were reluctant to believe that. What kind of traps could behave like that?
Shao Xuan did not give any further explanation.
In fact, those kinds of large-scaled traps and snares did exist in early times, and some warriors in the tribe would use them constantly. However, Old Ke had said that out of the pursuit and admiration for physical strength, people gradually abandoned the skill. Also, since the ferocious beasts grew stronger as time went by, efficient traps required higher quality raw materials, which were not so easy to find. Later on, some more experienced trap-setters chose not to use those traps and snares. So even fewer skills got passed down through generations.
Looking up at the sky, people noticed that almost all the tall branches were splashed down on the ground, and there was a big “window” above their heads.
Beneath the blue sky, the broken branches and sawdust had fallen down already, and there were only light white threads dancing in the wind.
Shao Xuan reached out his hand and caught a piece of it. The broken white thread was only half its original length. The big roll of the white thread had been broken into small pieces, although that they were tied with each other earlier. Most of them became small ends like that.
It was not real steel wire after all, and it was reasonable enough that it was broken like that.
If the white thread had been more tenacious, or if Shao Xuan was given enough time when setting the trap, it would close faster, so as to cut the vines in a split-second, avoiding the splashing of the “blood”. Then it would’ve been a certain kill for sure.
Of course, just because the thread of white hairs had its limit and flaws, the visual effects and shock it created became much stronger.
Ta and the others weren’t the only ones that were stunned. Shao Xuan himself was shocked as well.
He literally did not expect to see such results.
This was the first time that he set such a big-scaled snare, and it was more powerful than he thought. Luckily he had the white thread prepared. However, it was such a pity that the materials were difficult to obtain, just as Old Ke had said.
Ta glimpsed at Shao Xuan with a complicated expression, and then called on the others to clean up the battle field. The broken vines were neither edible nor listed on the animal skin roll, so they were tossed away.
As for the red liquid on the ground…Ta did not mind it at all.
Fire Lance was a “predator” in this forest, and the blood of the predator would send a natural signal of danger to the other species, until the “blood” disappears in the future.
Fortunately, the giant tree that they slept on yesterday remained unharmed. Earlier, they were some distance away from the tree in order to search for the Green Thief seedlings. Then, they became even further away when fighting with the Fire Lances. There were only a few traces of whips and pierced holes on the trunk. The place they used to sleep at night was still there at least.
Chapter 80 – Falling into the trap
Translated by Sunyancai
Promptly, Shao Xuan ran back with the stone box, which contained the body of the Green Thief. Earlier, he planned to flee the battlefield as far as possible, because he knew in his heart that he would be a heavy liability even if he stayed at where he was due to his limited ability. However, he did not run far before he had a sudden sense of danger. Using his special view, he saw some light green creature approaching him fast from beneath the ground, and it was in the same shape as the Fire Lance that they had encountered already.
Since he woke up this morning, Shao Xuan realized that almost all the plants were in the color of green in his special view. But most of them were pale green, sometimes even crystal-like. However, the color of the Fire Lance was deeper to light green.
His path of escape was blocked. Shao Xuan intended to change his direction, only to find that this approaching Fire Lance seemed to be focusing on him. So was the earlier Fire Lance. He was their sole target.
Was that for the Green Thief?
Or perhaps they were only after Shao Xuan himself?
No matter whether their target was the Green Thief, or Shao Xuan himself, he couldn’t handle their attack anyway. His only option was to retreat to seek help.
Shao Xuan sped up his pace as he touched the animal skin bag he had on his waist.
Ta had the confidence to put down one Fire Lance. Even if he didn’t managed to kill it, he could totally drive it away. However, now there was another one. The situation became quite tricky, for both of the Fire Lances were extremely aggressive.
Ta chopped down a piece of vine. There was no time for him to wipe away the “blood” on his face, he yelled at the other few warriors, “You guys go and deal with the other one!”
However, Ta only had about twenty warriors, and in a short period of time, they could not handle both of the two Fire Lances at the same time. In the meantime, people were worried about if there would be a third or a fourth one. If that happened, they would have no other option but to give up this place.
Their hearts were unwilling. Although their hands did not slow down, there was still a faint impatience.
What was the most important thing for a plant?
The roots!
However, those plants that could run freely all knew very well about how to protect their roots. Some of them would even bury their roots deep down under the ground so that others would have a rare chance to attack it. Especially when it came to tough plants as fierce as the ferocious beasts, one would only end up dead if you tried to attack its weak point, yet didn’t manage to make a fatal strike. Unfortunately, no one had the confidence. Even Ta and the others, who were quite experienced in fighting with the Fire Lance, would run away and engage in a real combat only when they were forced to.
As Ta and the others were trying to figure out how to drive those two Fire Lances away quickly, an amplified picture of a snare was formed in Shao Xuan’s mind. There were not enough threads, so Shao Xuan could only try to make an incomplete one.
Now he should not rely on Ta and the others completely. Shao Xuan wanted to make his own contributions, for they were a team after all. They shared the honor and defeat. According to the success rate that Shao Xuan calculated in his mind, the incomplete snare was worth trying.
He had never attempted to set such a large-scaled snare, so he was not sure about the effect as well. After all, the reality might not agree with his expectation. But no matter how effective it might be, it was worth trying. Even the slightest help counts under such circumstances. What’s more, in such a place like this one, quick combat was always considered the best strategy.
Shao Xuan carried the stone box with one arm, while his other hand promptly took out a spearhead dart with a the white thread.
Although he was using only one hand, he was quite skilled in making a knot. With twisted fingers moving up and down, the white thread got tightly entwined at the end of the dart.
Whoosh!
Shao Xuan dodged the whipping vine, and tossed out the dart hard. He was not aiming at the vine, but some point on the ground.
The dart pierced deep underground.
The first point was set, and the second one needed to be set quickly.
Ta and the others were attacking the Fire Lances and had their hands full as they tried to contain them, so that Shao Xuan could easily cope with the situation.
The way that Shao Xuan dodged was artful. He jumped high and landed low, his moves seemed to have no regular pattern, but every single move was made after precise calculation, even if they were only meaningless actions in the eyes of others. All of them were done in a short moment.
Midst the thundering sounds, the whipping vines were dancing in the air wildly. Numerous dirt chunks and stones were swept away by the vines. There were sounds of broken trees, flying dirt chunks and cracked branches, along with the sounds of chopped down vines. So, the sound of spearheads drilling into the trunk, the ground and the vines seemed to be too weak to be heard. Shao Xuan was really fast, no one would know what he was doing without close observation.
Shao Xuan twisted his fingers pretty fast, and he was also quick on the feet. Every time when he reached some place to bury a spearhead, he finished the knot in the blink of an eye. All the knotting and connecting must be done at the same moment due to the limited time and space. The muscles all over his body were in full function, and the totem power inside him was used to its limit, as it was running through all his meridians.
If you looked closely, you would find that there was a layer of surging airflow around his arm, which he used for setting the snares.
Shao Xuan ran back and forth near those two Fire Lances with the stone box in his arm.
Quick, quick, quick!
Setting a trap must be done quickly, especially when you set it at a hunting scene. Even a small action might cause unpredictable changes.
It was only for a few seconds, and Shao Xuan had finished with the peripheral settings. There was still one middle step that needed to be done.
Shao Xuan stamped on the vine with all his strength, and leapt away before the hair-like extrusions could tangle his feet.
“What are you doing, Ah-Xuan?!”
“Hey! Mind your steps and do not run around!”
Seeing that Shao Xuan was running on the peripheral zone, Tuo and the others got quite confused. Shouldn’t he be fleeing away?
“It wants the Green Thief!!” Shao Xuan shouted.
It wanted the Green Thief? The Fire Lances also targeted the Green Thief?!
Before anyone could say anything, they heard Shao Xuan shout out again, “I just set a trap. Everybody needs to move away later!”
He rushed towards the middle of the two Fire Lances, as he shouted.
“Stop it, Ah-Xuan! What are you doing?!” Ta shouted out angrily.
The battle in between the two Fire Lances was not strong. Obviously these two plants had no intention of fighting each other. That was also the reason why Shao Xuan dared to run through them. Also, Shao Xuan was quite fast in his running. Although he could not fight against the Fire Lance, he had the ability to avoid their attacks.
Shao Xuan stepped on the vines and jumped high.
His moves were too fast to be seen, while the spearhead darts flew through quite a few points. When there was a need for knotting, he would do it in a second.
It’s finished!!
But Shao Xuan did not stop running.
Shao Xuan with the stone box in his arms became a perfect bait. No matter where he ran to, the two Fire Lances would be chasing after him, attacking. Just because of that, Ta and the others were following Shao Xuan, to resist most of the vines.
A vine shot up from a sharp angle from below. Shao Xuan did not try to avoid it, instead, he took out the stone sword to resist.
Bang!
There was a crashing sound like two stones hitting each other.
Tuo and the others saw that Shao Xuan was flying in the air because of the recoil.
Keke was the closest one to Shao Xuan, and he planned to rescue him by catching him there. He would be falling directly onto the ground if no one helped him.
However, Keke found out in shock that the boy stopped in the middle of the air. He was supposed to be flying down in a parabola.
Yes, he stopped mid-air.
Steady and still.
In the meantime, people heard something. It was like when wood got strangled tight.
Not only Keke, even Ta and the others were surprisingly shocked with their eyes wide open. But at a second look, they found that Shao Xuan was not standing in the air. He was standing on a white thread.
When did the white thread exist there?
All the warriors were confused, but they thought about Shao Xuan’s earlier claim of “setting a trap”. It might work, seeing such circumstances.
“Everybody retreat! Tuo, Keke, Suo! You go back a little more!” Shao Xuan asked the ones in the circle of the trap to step down. He wanted to be safe, even if they weren’t in danger in the first place.
Standing on a white thread, the snare in Shao Xuan’s mind became clearer than ever.
Some vines were shooting towards him. And at least one of them fell into the trap.
Although there were two separated individual Fire Lances, half of their vines were strangled in the snare that Shao Xuan set. Any single vine falling into the trap would trigger a series of reactions on the snare. It was a chain trap.
Shao Xuan felt that everything was moving slower than usual, and time seemed to have been frozen. All he could see now were the few vines shooting at him, along with some threads, which might not be so clear in other people’s eyes. They became more and more clear in Shao Xuan’s vision. Besides that, everything else merged into the vague background.
It’s near!
Nearer!
One of the vine twisted, and it flew through the thread in Shao Xuan’s vision.
It fell into the trap!