The road leading out of the temporary camp was a bit bumpy. After the cart entered relatively flat terrain, Quan Nan immediately ran to Xi Zhou and said, “Xi Zhou, I want to go to the cart to find more ropes.”
The rhino raised his head and snorted twice as if to say, ‘You can do whatever you want to me.’
Seeing this, Quan Nan climbed into the cart by supporting himself with his hands.
There were several rattan baskets on the cart, and most of the rattan baskets were filled with sealed salt shakers and salt cylinders. Only a few rattan baskets in the corner contained everyone’s daily necessities.
Quan Nan rolled around on the cart. Niu Xi, who was following beside him, was watching his movements and panicking. “Oh, that rattan basket contains a salt jar. Don’t turn the animal skin inside out, or the salt jar will be damaged.”
Quan Nan raised his head from the rattan basket and scratched his head. “Our straw rope seems to have run out.”
Hearing the words, Diao Lan said, “Have you found the second rattan basket behind you? It contains the straw rope that Hu Huo prepared for us.”
“Yes yes yes! Now that you mention it, I suddenly remembered it.” Quan Nan patted his head, turned around, pushed to the rattan basket in the back, and opened the lid. “It found it, found it!” As he said that, he moved the straw rope from the rattan basket to the edge of the cart for everyone to use.
At this time, Qi Bai and Hu Xue came from the back of the ground. Quan Nan sat on the cart and asked curiously, “Bao Bai, what is in your hand? It is so beautiful!”
Qi Bai smiled and raised the wreath in his hand. “I have nothing to do, so I made a small wreath out of wild grass and flowers. This can be used to block the sun.”
Unlike ordinary wreaths that were just decorations, the outer side of the wreath in Qi Bai’s hand was longer. This made it beautiful while also serving the purpose of a sunshade.
Niu Xi touched the small flowers on the wreath. “They are so beautiful. I don’t want the umbrella anymore.”
Qi Bai put the wreath in his hand on top of Niu Xi’s head. “This may be a bit hot to wear.”
“It isn’t hot, it isn’t hot.” Niu Xi bit her lip, held the edge of the wreath with both hands, and slowly turned her head. She asked Quan Nan, who almost fell down after jumping off the cart, “Does it look good?”
Quan Nan looked stunned, his mouth wide open. He shook his head and nodded, “I don’t want an umbrella either. I want a wreath too.”
Diao Lan arranged the ropes and looked back at them with amusement. “Even if you want small umbrellas, I can’t make them now. The ropes Hu Huo prepared for us are only enough to tie two more large umbrellas.”
Qi Bai came to the side of the cart. “Leave’s weave some more ropes. Hu Huo made these ropes according to the width of the cart to prevent the ropes from breaking. Let’s not touch them and keep them for future use.”
“Okay.” Diao Lan nodded. Then she wrapped the straw rope again and stuffed it under the hay covering the rattan basket.
The trading team didn’t move very fast during the day. Five sub-beastmen followed the two, talking and laughing while their hands were busy.
The other four people were busy weaving straw ropes, while Qi Bai was helping them weave wreaths.
In the summer, the grassland was full of lush wild flowers and grasses. Walking among the high grass, they could pick some unknown small flowers and insert them into wreaths. Each wreath carried the purest vitality and beauty.
It wasn’t until dark that Hu Qiao, who had gone out to explore the way, came back and led everyone to a forest suitable for rest.
The group stopped. Diao Lan and Hu Xue went to find a place to make a bonfire, while Qi Bai and Niu Xi took the rattan basket containing the grilled fish down from the cart.
Qi Bai handed a grilled fish to Lang Ze. “Where will you go hunting later?”
Lang Ze bit the fish meat with big mouthfuls and said, “There are traces of prey on the plain we just passed by. I will take a few people to take a look.”
At this time, someone else came to get food. Qi Bai handed over the grilled fish and said, “I’ll go with you and keep watch for you from a distance.”
Lang Ze didn’t hesitate and nodded in agreement. “Okay.”
The moonlight was clear. A dozen bison were loosely gathered together, casually biting wild grass with their heads down, occasionally swatting mosquitoes off their bodies with their tails.
Not far from where the bison gathered, several patches of grass were shaking at the same time, like swaying water ripples that rippled toward the center.
The herd of bison seemed to have sensed something and became a bit restless, but they didn’t run away. Instead, they surrounded the calf in the middle of the group.
Several sturdy bison snorted at the air around them, as the invisible danger left them with no place to vent their anger.
The little snow leopard looked up at the treetops above his head. He climbed up with all four paws, jumped onto a higher branch, and walked lightly to the edge of the branch.
“Roar.”
A huge brown bear suddenly appeared. He stood upright with his neck forward and roared loudly at the herd of bison.
The formation of the bison herd was disrupted by the brown bear. At the same time, several beastmen lying in ambush nearly launched an attack.
The bison closest to the horned beastmen turned and ran back, leaving a gap in the herd’s formation. The calf surrounded in the middle was instantly exposed to the predators’ sight.
As the hunting team approached, the entire bison herd finally felt fear and ran toward the center of the grassland, causing the ground to tremble.
The members of the hunting team didn’t rush forward to bite them, but just followed the bison herd from a distance. Once they gathered, someone would immediately rush forward to disperse the bison.
“Moo!”
Perhaps because it was too dark or perhaps the calf was too frightened, but it ran straight into a big tree while running away.
The sound of the calf echoed in the night, but his herd had already run away.
The little snow leopard witnessed everything and grinned. It seemed they were quite lucky today.
Qi Bai habitually looked around. At a glance, he happened to see dozens of short and sneaky shadows flash on the hillside and disappear into the night.
Even though these shadows were still some distance away, Qi Bai seemed to be able to see their greedy gazes.
The little snow leopard kicked his hind legs and landed lightly on the ground. Then he leaped quickly across the grassland. Soon, he smelled the faint scent of blood in the air.
The calf that had exposed himself to the beastmen had been subdued. The members of the hunting team had transformed into human form, and several of them were happily carrying the free food toward the camp.
Qi Bai walked to Lang Ze’s side and told him what had just been discovered.
This place was far away from the tribe, and they weren’t familiar with the wild animals on the land.
The wild beasts hiding in the darkness didn’t come forward to snatch food from them, but no one could guarantee that they wouldn’t take other actions in the middle of the night.
They must never relax their vigilance against the enemy at any time.
Everyone returned to the camp and handed their prey to Diao Lan and Hu Xue.
This calf weighed only 200 catties. After removing the bones, it would be good if everyone could get 10 catties of meat.
Ten catties of meat might sound like a lot, but for an adult beastman who had been traveling all day, it was just enough to fill their stomachs.
This was also the reason why there were only fifteen people in the team going out. Once the team was too large, food alone would be a big problem.
Diao Lan and Hu Xue cooked a large pot of broth in a clay pot, and cooked all the remaining meat on the fire. Half of it was for dinner tonight, and the other half was wrapped in large leaves and placed in a cool place as food for tomorrow morning.
After eating and drinking, they arranged the night guards. They placed the carts and saddles in the middle before laying down and sleeping in a circle around it.
The daytime was extremely hot, but the temperature was cool and pleasant at night, especially in the forest.
The most important thing was that everyone saved the trouble of setting up a temporary camp. They could sleep for a night by sweeping away the stones on the ground. If they felt a bit cold in the second half of the night, they could just pull a piece of animal skin to cover themselves.
For Qi Bai, who was a sub-beastman, this was even more convenient.
Qi Bai blew away the bamboo chips on the bamboo slips, rolled them up, and walked to the side of Lang Ze’s saddle. He opened the small bamboo basket and pout the bamboo slips away.
This small bamboo basket was Qi Bai’s current luxury nest.
At the bottom of the bamboo basket was a soft animal skin, and the top of the animal skin was a mat that Qi Bai had carefully woven.
Qi Bai secretly looked around and made sure that no one was paying attention to him before he took off the shorts he was wearing over his fur skirt, placing them behind the bamboo basket to dry..
There was no way. As a modern man who traveled to another world, Qi Bai’s pair of animal skin shorts was his last stubbornness.
It was fine when he didn’t have the right conditions before. Now that he did have the conditions, he must not walk around wearing just a little skirt. Once something was exposed, it would be difficult for him to explain.
After freeing himself from the restraints on his body, Qi Bai transformed into a beast and jumped into the bamboo basket.
The little snow leopard lay with his belly facing upwards, lying in a spread-eagle position against the wall of the bamboo basket.
It was comfortable.
This small mat was really useful. He wouldn’t feel hot even when turning into a beast.
The little snow leopard rubbed his belly and decided to have a good sleep.
It wasn’t that Qi Bai was careless. Everyone’s work had been arranged for them on this trip.
For example, the sub-beastmen were responsible for preparing food and water for the team, and were on guard during the day when the beastmen were resting.
The beastmen were responsible for the transportation of goods and the night watch.
A sudden jolt woke up the little leopard who was sleeping on his back.
The little snow leopard turned around and saw something wrapped in leaves beside him.
The little snow leopard pushed open the lid of the small bamboo basket. It was still dark outside and there was silence all around. The only sound he could hear was the sound of wooden wheels wrapped in a layer of bird bones rolling on the ground.
Qi Bai wasn’t in a hurry to ask Lang Ze to let him down.
Early morning was the time of the day when the team moved the fastest. Now it was still so dark. If he jumped to the ground rashly, he might be stepped on by the rhino and elephant behind him
The moment the sun came out, everyone would have to slow down. By then, he could jump down and join the group.
Qi Bai retracted his claws and pushed aside the leaves next to him. Sure enough, there was a piece of barbecue.
The little snow leopard leaned on the small bamboo basket. He held the barbecue, opened his pink mouth happily, and started to nibble slowly.
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