Chapter 573: Change under the dark
Chapter 570
Preparing to Leave
The bloody mist filled the air above the river and quickly dispersed as the bloody waters flowed downstream. It became thinner and finally disappeared.
In the end, the people from the Drumming tribe did not know what actually happened at the river. After they saw what happened there, the entire tribe migrated further inland, away from the river.
Although they no longer approached the big river, the people of the Drumming tribe could still guess the situation there from observing changes in the smaller streams. Before they moved back, the water in the big river had already started to decline, and some connecting streams also followed. It was similar to what happened after the rainy seasons in previous years, but this time, all the changes happened earlier than usual. This year, the water level in the smaller rivers had exceeded the typical minimum.
The rain continued to fall, and it lasted longer than in previous years. The water level in the nearby rivers had not risen and all the crocodiles in the tribe were scared and hid in their nests. They didn’t dare to leave. At most, they went to the river to hunt for food. Some grumpy crocodiles even began to fight.
The crocodiles were anxious and worried, but it wasn’t just them. The Drumming tribe, along with all the other tribes living on the continent, felt the same way. They were all panicking.
Especially the shamans of the bigger tribes. They always felt worried. It was like a beast was lurking behind them, ready to bare its fangs.
In the Fearsome Beast Forest, within the Flaming Horn tribe,
The blacksmith was hitting on his metal scraps without any sense of rhythm. This was very unlike him from before. Now, his mind was no longer focused on the work at hand. His eyes did not even look at the tools he was working on. He continued to stare into space, without any focus at all.
Shao Xuan looked at the rainless sky and said nothing. Suddenly, the sky changed. The rainy sky was replaced with ink-black darkness, and lightning struck the entire sky. It was like the sky was suddenly stained entirely with ink and was spreading fast.
After the tremendous pressure caused by panic, Shao Xuan couldn’t help but stop and take a deep breath. His hair suddenly stood up on its ends.
However, as soon as Shao Xuan calmed down and looked at the sky again, he noticed it had not changed at all. The rainclouds permeated the sky, and rain was showering down. Where did the lightning and darkness come from?
“No, that can’t be right!”
Shao Xuan walked around in circles within the house.
This kind of feeling was too familiar to him. He didn’t always get clues from his dreams. Sometimes, he would receive visions that no one else could see. It started happening very long ago, but it did not happen often.
Shao Xuan’s sudden irritated movements caught the blacksmith’s attention. He stopped what he was doing and walked toward the door of the forge with a cane. He looked over at Shao Xuan and asked, “What’s wrong?”
Shao Xuan’s violently beating heart had not yet eased. Hearing the blacksmith’s question, he didn’t bother to explain much. He turned towards him and said, “Would you mind making a hat? The hard kind with a wide brim.”
After speaking, Shao Xuan hurried into the rain, leaving the blacksmith standing there in wonder. He didn’t understand what Shao Xuan wanted him to do. The style of hat that Shao Xuan mentioned was made last year for the sake of people who were working on the farms. They used it to block out the sunlight. After the prototype had been made, everyone started making it with vines and followed the style. The blacksmith naturally knew what he was talking about, but Shao Xuan said to make a hard one, so he could no longer use ordinary vines.
Although he did not understand why Shao Xuan said to make it that way, the blacksmith still followed his instructions and started thinking about what materials to use.
Shao Xuan hurriedly went to the shamans. When he arrived, the two shamans were negotiating about something, but as they saw Shao Xuan rushing over, they stopped their discussion and asked, “What happened?”
If it was just a general thing, Shao Xuan would not be so anxious.
Shao Xuan nodded and told the two shamans what he had just seen.
As they heard his words, the two shamans were shocked. Their eyes grew darker with worry. “What do you think this sign means?”
The two shamans didn’t know what the situation was like,
But Shao Xuan had a guess. After taking a deep breath, he tried to speak with a calmer tone. He tried to make his expression as clear as possible, “I think the volcano in the forest may be erupting very soon!”
“What?!” The two old shamans gasped in horror and shot up from their animal skin cushions.
When Shao Xuan went out with the hunting team last time, he told the shamans what he saw after visiting the volcano, but there was no sign at that time and no one was sure what would happen. Now, Shao Xuan knew that the possibility was higher than sixty per cent.
The two shamans did not know what kind of impact the volcanic eruption would have, but they had learned similar things from the notes left by their ancestors.
“How soon?” the shaman’s voice croaked with age. He shut his eyelids tightly. His loose eyelids quivered, then sprang open abruptly. He called in the two warriors who stood outside, and instructed sternly, “Notify the hunt leaders and chiefs to come here immediately!”
Perhaps some old warriors would be reluctant to leave, but now, the shamans had to assert their authority.
For this action to be carried out, the leaders must be informed, as long as the leaders could take the lead, the soldiers who served them would certainly follow.
In the past few years, some people had become braver. Usually, the shamans would pretend they didn’t see anything, but now, they would not allow anyone to have objections!
Both shamans had the same thought, not because they were arbitrarily making decisions, but because they were afraid.
The disaster that Shao Xuan mentioned was not the main factor that was bothering them. They were more worried about the tribe splitting up into smaller groups. Would it happen again, as it did a thousand years ago? If they thought differently this time, would they suffer the same consequences? After all, this situation might be similar to the one that happened a thousand years ago.
Two shamans, three major hunt leaders and twenty minor hunt leaders hurried over in the rain and arrived immediately.
The shaman repeated what Shao Xuan said to the rest of the group, and then said briefly, “What I mean is our tribe should get ready to leave!”
Although they were all mentally prepared for a long time, they still felt reluctant to hear this decision.
“Then…when are we leaving?” Ao’s voice was hoarse and dry, marked with apparent weariness. Dark circles surrounded his eyes. It was clear he hadn’t slept well these days.
To this question, the two shamans looked at Shao Xuan for an answer.
Shao Xuan paused and said, “Let’s leave when the rain stops. Everyone should start preparing for the upcoming days. We can rebuild what we lose but if we lose our lives, there will be no future left for us.”
The rain continued for several days, until one day, it suddenly cleared and the sun was shining brilliantly.
However, the mood of the people from the Flaming Horn tribe was not as brilliant. They were ready to leave this place, a place they had called home for the past three years.