The farther he traveled toward the outskirts of the Great Wilderness, the more the scenery changed.
First, the vicious creatures that lurked deep in the mountains, swallowing the sky and breathing out mist at every turn, grew fewer. The ancient trees thinned as well, letting broad patches of daylight through the canopy.
Two days later, Wang Xuan spotted an axe mark on an old tree.
The cut was shallow but fresh. Someone had clearly left it there.
He paused and ran his hand over the mark.
"Almost out of the mountains."
For over a month, all he had seen were sharp fangs and claws. The sudden sight of a mark left by another person stirred feelings he could not quite describe.
He adjusted the animal hides wrapped around him, pressed the fragment of bone securely against his chest, and continued outward, following the lay of the mountains.
He had not gone far when thunderous shouts suddenly rang out in the forest ahead.
"Ha! Surround it!"
"Don't let that Black-Horned Savage Bull charge down the slope!"
Human voices.
Wang Xuan's spirits lifted. He ran toward the sound almost instinctively, pushed aside a clump of bushes, and emerged into an open space.
It was a rocky slope where a dozen or so bare-chested men dressed in animal hides had spread out to surround an enormous beast.
The savage bull was black all over and stood a full two meters at the shoulder. A pair of curved horns crowned its head, their dark surfaces gleaming coldly.
Driven frantic by the encirclement, it snorted white vapor and charged with its head lowered. Every charge sent men scrambling and rolling aside, while the short trees in its path snapped at their roots.
A human hunting party.
Relief washed over Wang Xuan. He was about to