Siheyuan: tomb robbing? I am serious about hunting.

Chapter 1153

Lao Cao also said, "I'll get some hemostatic herbs, just in case anyone gets hurt." Ah Yan watched them busying around, his anger gradually fading, replaced by a heavy sense of responsibility. He knew that even though he hadn't officially become a warrior of the tribe yet, he had to help out with the hunting party this time. He couldn't bring shame to his father, and certainly not to the Firestone Tribe. The sun slowly crept over the treetops, its golden rays filtering through the branches and illuminating the camp, completely dispersing the fog. The hunting party quickly assembled. Twelve in total, all young men from the tribe. Besides Lie, there were Ah Yan's acquaintances, Ah Shu, Ah Shi, and Ah Shan. They were all around Ah Yan's age, and all aspired to become true warriors soon. Lie stood at the front of the group, carrying his long-used crossbow, made of the hardest ironwood of the Black Forest, on his back. To his left stood Ah Shu, and to his right stood Ah Shi. Ah Shu held a long stone spear with a flint tip, tightly bound to a wooden pole with a leather cord. Ah Shi, like Ah Yan, carried a stone axe and a small leather bag filled with dried wild fruits. He slipped one into Ah Yan's mouth, saying, "My mother made these. They're very sweet. Eat them on the road." Ah Yan took the fruit and stuffed it into his mouth, the sweet flavor spreading throughout his mouth. It was still dark over the dry riverbed, and the sky east of the Black Forest was a faint pale pale. The Fire Stone Tribe camp was still shrouded in the early morning cool. Ah Yan was curled up in his animal-skin tent, sound asleep. He had spent most of the day with the hunting party through the Black Forest yesterday. Although he hadn't encountered any Blackwood tribe members and hadn't caught much game, he was exhausted from all the running around. The tent was covered with thick hay and a soft deerskin, tanned specially for him by his mother the previous year. It was warm and comfortable. Drowsing, Ah Yan thought he heard noises outside, like shouting, or running. He frowned, tucked his head into the deerskin, and tried to get back to sleep. But the noises grew closer, louder and louder, like a crowd gathered together, their voices filled with anxiety and panic, making it impossible to sleep peacefully. "Ah Yan! Ah Yan! Get up!" The tent flap was lifted, and his mother He's voice rang out, clearly panicked. Ah Yan's eyes snapped open, and he sat up, rubbing his sleepy eyes. "Mom, what's wrong? It's not even daybreak yet." He entered the tent, her face filled with worry. She reached out and touched Ah Yan's head, her voice trembling. "Don't sleep anymore! Go out and see! Something big's happening outside. A lot of people are running to the river." Ah Yan's heart skipped a beat, and his sleepiness was instantly gone. He quickly peeled back the deerskin, pulled on his animal-hide boots beside the bed, grabbed the stone axe hanging from the tent pole, and ran out after He. As soon as they left the tent, they saw the main road of the camp thronged with people, men, women, and children, all heading towards the path leading to the river. Their faces were filled with anxiety and worry, and a few children, pulled by adults, followed, confused. "What's going on? What happened?" Ah Yan grabbed a nearby tribesman who was running. It was Ah Shu, about his own age, with whom he often went to collect bird eggs. Ah Shu's face was pale, and his lips were trembling slightly. He stopped and gasped, "The river... the river is almost dry! Someone just went to the river to fetch water and found that the river, which used to be so wide, is now just a thin stream. Many people went to see it. Come with me and take a look!" "What?" Ah Yan's heart sank, as if struck by a stone. He had grown up by the river. It was the largest river east of the Black Forest, and the water had always been turbulent. Even in the dry season, it never flowed so low. Without water, how would the people in the tribe get water? How do we irrigate the little corn we plant in the fields? And the few goats the tribe raises also rely on the river water to survive! Ah Yan no longer had time to ask more questions and followed Ah Shu to the river. More and more people were on the road, and everyone was talking about it. "Why did the river dry up suddenly? When I went to the river to wash clothes yesterday, the water was still fine!" A woman said with a frown. "Yes, at this time of year in previous years, the river was still full of water. Why is it like this this year?" An old man next to him sighed and shook his head. "Could it be the people from the Black Wood Tribe who are doing this? They stole our water source last year, and they might be up to something bad again this year!" A young hunter clenched the stone axe in his hand, his eyes full of anger. Ah Yan listened to everyone's discussion and became more and more panicked. He remembered what the old chief Shi said yesterday, that the people from the Black Wood Tribe set traps in the hunting area. If the river drying up this time was also related to them, then it would be troublesome. After running for about an incense stick of time, he finally saw the scene by the river. Ah Yan stopped, his eyes wide, unable to believe what he saw. The river, which used to be wide, now only had a thin stream of water in the middle, like a thin silver thread, slowly flowing on the exposed riverbed. The mud on the riverbed had cracked due to lack of water, with deep cracks, the largest of which could fit a fist. The pebbles on the riverbed were all exposed, densely spread on the riverbed, reflecting the weak sunlight in the early morning. The riverside was already crowded with people, and everyone stood by the riverbed, watching the scene in front of them in silence. Some women squatted by the river, scooping up some turbid river water with their hands, their eyes red; some old people stood with their hands behind their backs, frowning, looking at the direction upstream where the river water disappeared; a few children wanted to pick up pebbles from the bottom of the riverbed, but were pulled back by the adults and scolded. Ah Yan's mother, He, was also squatting by the river, holding a clay pot, trying to scoop some water from the trickle. But the current was so thin that it took her half a day to fill even half the pot. Furthermore, the water was murky and stained with mud. He's eyes welled up as she stared at the water in the pot, her voice choking with sobs. "What can we do? Without water, our crops and our people can't survive. The little corn we've planted will wither in a few days if we don't get enough water. What will we eat then?" Ah Yan walked over to He and patted her shoulder, wanting to offer some comforting words, but the words were on his lips, and he felt a lump in his throat. He stared at the cracked riverbed, his heart clenched. Just then, the crowd parted, and the old clan leader, Shi, approached. "If we're in real danger, lighting a fire can help us escape." Everyone nodded, and Lao Cang stood up. "I'll check the dried meat we've stored and bring some for the hunting team so they don't starve on the road." ”