The Primitive Adventures of a Chipmunk 22

Chapter 22

Some time had passed since the flash flood. The rushing water in the creek had gradually calmed down, and the murky river water, after settling over time, became clearer day by day. The water level was also continuously dropping.

The tribe’s location should be in the middle and lower reaches of the river, where the water was still relatively deep. When they were looking for stones earlier, Mo Huaishan had gone into the water to test it, and it just came up past his thighs.

But the upper reaches were different. Treading on the soft grass and following the winding river upstream, the water became shallower and shallower. After about an hour, the sparkling creek had turned into a crystal-clear stream.

The water level was estimated to be no higher than his calves, and the current was not strong. This location was very suitable. Hua Shi’an stood on the bank and observed for a while, then turned to Mo Huaishan and shook the fish trap in his hand. “This is a good spot. Let’s go, let’s set two here.”

“Set two? Don’t we have four?” Mo Huaishan looked down at the fish trap in his own hand and asked in confusion.

Stepping on the gravel and walking down the slope to the gurgling stream, Hua Shi’an placed the fish trap on the ground, bent down to take off his coir shoes, and looked up at Mo Huaishan, who was walking towards him with a back basket. “How can we put all our eggs in one basket? If there are no fish in this area, wouldn’t it be a waste of effort? We’ll go further up later and set the other two in a different place.”

“Oh, I see.” Mo Huaishan nodded, half-understanding. He took off the back basket with the hoes on his shoulder and eagerly held the two fish traps. “Then, then where do we set our fish traps? Just tell me how to place them. You don’t have to go in the water, it’s cold.”

Just because it looked like a stream didn’t mean it was one. Although the water was shallow, the river was still very wide. It would take a long time for one person to manage.

As if he hadn’t heard Mo Huaishan, Hua Shi’an put his coir shoes in the back basket, adjusted the loose grass skirt around his waist, and decisively stepped into the river.

The river water in early autumn was not too cold. He felt a little chill when he first entered the water and was a bit unaccustomed to it, but after wading in the water for a while, it was actually quite comfortable.

Hua Shi’an started to play, splashing water as he stepped on the smooth pebbles. After a while, he remembered Mo Huaishan on the bank and hurriedly waved to him. “Put the fish traps down and come over quickly. The water is not cold at all.”

The young sub-beastman was playing in the water, like a young sapling growing vigorously in spring, full of life and vitality.

Mo Huaishan stared blankly at the river, a wide smile on his face. He didn’t even hear what Hua Shi’an said. Seeing the bright and unrestrained smile under the sun, his legs moved uncontrollably.

“The fish traps, put the fish traps down first!” Hua Shi’an reminded him again.

“Oh, oh, okay.”

Mo Huaishan snapped back to his senses and slapped his forehead in annoyance.

The river was very wide. To get the fish to swim into the fish traps, they had to block all other paths first. The pebbles scattered in the river were the best materials. Hua Shi’an and Mo Huaishan shuttled back and forth in the water, using large stones to build a “dam” in the middle of the river.

They left an opening on each side of the “dam.” Hua Shi’an had Mo Huaishan bring over the fish traps, threw a few heavy stones into them, and then used stones to press down on the top of the fish traps, firmly securing them in the openings.

The stones were not tightly fitted together, so most of the water could still flow through smoothly. And since the current upstream was relatively gentle, it wouldn’t easily wash away their “dam” or sweep away the fish traps.

The fish traps were not woven very densely. While filtering the water, smaller fish would also slip through the gaps, leaving behind larger fish or other delicious aquatic creatures.

While moving the stones just now, they had also caught a few very small crabs. They were too small to eat, but it was a pity to throw them away. So Hua Shi’an simply smashed them with a stone and threw them, shell and all, into the fish traps as bait.

They had done everything they could. Whether they could catch any fish… depended on luck.

After washing his hands and feet, Hua Shi’an sat on the bank and put on his coir shoes. Mo Huaishan, who had just come ashore, came to his side with the back basket, holding the hoes they had made earlier, and asked nervously, “Lord Prie—Shi’an, are there really fish in this water that we can eat?”

He had been working hard without a word, and only now did he think to ask this.

Hua Shi’an tied his shoelaces, looked up at the beastman’s anxious gaze, and chuckled softly. “Don’t you think it’s a bit late to ask this now? Why didn’t you ask last night?”

“I, I believe everything you say,” Mo Huaishan pursed his lips and said.

Hua Shi’an raised an eyebrow. “Oh? Why don’t you believe it now?”

Mo Huaishan quickly waved his hands and stammered, “No, I don’t disbelieve it. I just…”

The ecology was different. The Clear Sky Forest had water but no fish. The tribe’s beastmen had never seen aquatic creatures. Although he had just seen crabs with his own eyes, those things were too small, like insects, and didn’t look edible.

The beastman was in an awkward situation and was eager to prove himself, but catching fish…

Looking at the bewildered beastman, Hua Shi’an hesitated for a moment and told him the truth, “There are indeed fish in the water. I saw a fish jump out of the water when I was bathing before. It wasn’t small either. It’s just that the current was swift then, and catching fish was troublesome, so I never did anything about it.”

“But having fish doesn’t mean we can definitely catch them. Just like when you guys hunt in the forest, this is our first try. We don’t know if our preparations are sufficient, and we also need a bit of luck.”

“I understand, Shi’an,” Mo Huaishan’s gaze rested on Hua Shi’an’s slightly furrowed brow, and he nodded vigorously. “It’s good that there are fish. We’ll be able to catch them eventually. Don’t worry too much. It’s okay if we don’t catch any this time. There’s always next time, and the time after that.”

Is he comforting me in return? Hua Shi’an lifted his chin and asked him back, “If you can’t catch any fish, you can’t prove yourself. Aren’t you anxious?”

Mo Huaishan rubbed the back of his head and grinned. “I’m not anxious anymore. I, I’ve thought it through. The tribe members’ attitude towards me can’t be changed by just one prey. There’s still a long way to go. I’ll learn more from Shi’an first. One day, I’ll be able to prove myself.”

“It’s great that you can think that way.” Hua Shi’an smiled sincerely. He quickly got up from the ground, picked up the fish traps, and started climbing up the slope. “Let’s go. Let’s find a place to set these two fish traps down quickly.”

“The, the hoes don’t seem to have been used. Are they for when we collect the fish traps?” Mo Huaishan followed Hua Shi’an with the back basket, looking at the unused hoes and back basket, and couldn’t help but ask.

Hua Shi’an: “We can’t collect the fish traps today. We’ll leave them overnight and come back tomorrow morning to collect them. As for the hoes, after we set the fish traps, I’ll take you to the forest to dig a trap.”

Without asking what a trap was, Mo Huaishan frowned and said with a serious expression, “Shi’an, didn’t we agree last night? The forest is dangerous. Let’s not go to the forest for now.”

“Did we?” Hua Shi’an pretended to be dumb. “I remember you said the deep forest is dangerous, right? It’s okay, we won’t go deep into the forest. We’ll just set the trap on the edge.”

“Oh, then what’s a trap?”

“Hmm… a pit that prey will fall into when they step on it!”

After walking a little further along the river, Hua Shi’an chose a new location and, with Mo Huaishan, set the other two fish traps in the river in the same way. Then, the two of them crossed the creek and entered the forest on the opposite bank.

The purpose of digging a trap was to hunt, not to prank people. The hunting team went back and forth in the forest every day. To be on the safe side, it was better to dig the trap on the other side of the river.

The Giant Tree Forest was too big. They hadn’t even finished exploring the area around the tribe. No one had ever been to the other side of the creek. As far as the eye could see, there were bushes taller than a person, which was very conducive to Hua Shi’an’s plans.

Thinking that the animals in the forest would also go to the river to drink water, Hua Shi’an did not break his promise and go deep into the forest. He directly found a flat thicket nearby, and with one hoe each—they started digging!

It was a busy and fulfilling day. As the sun hanging high in the sky slowly set in the west, and the second blister formed on the base of Hua Shi’an’s finger, a large pit, as big as a back basket and more than two meters deep, was finally dug.

The strength of a beastman and a sub-beastman was vastly different. Most of the pit was dug by Mo Huaishan. The beastman was drenched in sweat, tirelessly swinging the hoe, looking as if he had just been pulled out of the water.

They had to get back to the tribe before dark. Without a moment’s rest, Hua Shi’an had Mo Huaishan smooth the edges of the trap with the hoe, while he himself went in and out of the thicket, finding vines and picking up withered branches and fallen leaves.

A trap had to look like a trap. The surrounding weeds and bushes were not deliberately cleared. A “lid” woven from vines and withered branches was placed on the pit, and then covered with a thick layer of fallen leaves, making it a perfect trap.

Hua Shi’an wasn’t bragging. Even a sharp-eyed beastman might not be able to tell there was a pit underneath this trap they had painstakingly made.

After admiring their masterpiece, it was time for the finishing touches.

The soil dug out from the pit and piled around was still a bit conspicuous. Mo Huaishan shoveled the soil into the back basket, one hoe at a time, and carried it to another place to dump. Hua Shi’an, with nothing to do, ran to a nearby area to pick up withered branches and fallen leaves, planning to camouflage the area around the trap a little more.

Cutting bamboo, weaving fish traps, moving stones, setting fish traps, digging a trap…

He had been truly busy from morning to night. Hua Shi’an’s back was about to break. Finally, after grabbing a handful of withered grass by the roadside, he pounded his sore waist and stood up, supporting himself on a low tree.

The soil was probably all shoveled away. The beastman’s call came from a distance.

Hua Shi’an shouted back, “Coming!” and let go of the low tree to walk back. But just then, his right foot, which had just stepped out, stepped on something. With a “crack,” his ankle twisted, and his body instantly lost its balance, stumbling and falling to the ground.

With the grass underneath him, the fall didn’t hurt. But he had twisted his ankle before falling. Hua Shi’an gasped in pain and lay on the ground for a long time, unable to get up.

Wait, did I really just twist my ankle? I seemed to have heard a crack just now. Could it be a fracture? Hua Shi’an was terrified. He scrambled to sit up and hurriedly looked at his right foot.

Coincidentally, as he sat up, he disturbed the surrounding bushes, and the culprit that had made him fall rolled over with a “thud.” Hua Shi’an subconsciously reached out and caught it. When he saw clearly what it was, he suddenly felt that the fall was worth it.

The brownish-brown fruit was shaped like a pagoda, its surface as if it had exploded, with layers of scales resembling fish scales, feeling extremely rough to the touch. In the cracks of the scales that had been crushed by Hua Shi’an, plump, lustrous pine nuts were partially visible.

It wasn’t any other wild fruit. This was a squirrel’s favorite—a pine cone.