The sun slanted westward, and the clouds at the horizon burned in interwoven shades of orange-red and dark purple. At last, the Hunting Team appeared on the dirt road outside the tribe, carrying the Savage Bulls on their shoulders.
The first to spot them were the tribesmen standing guard at the entrance. A ringing shout carried out from beneath the totem pole.
"They're back! The Hunting Team is back!"
That cry was like a stone tossed into a lake, and the entire tribe sprang to life in an instant.
The wooden doors of stone houses were pushed open one after another. Women came out, wiping the water from their hands, while children shot out from every corner like a pack of jubilant wild rabbits, surging toward the tribe's entrance.
Xiao Hu was always the one running at the very front.
His short little legs moved so fast they nearly left afterimages. Three or four playmates about his age followed behind him as he dashed straight to the Savage Bull King's Corpse.
Several little heads tilted upward in perfect unison. Staring at the enormous beast, taller than all of them stacked together, their mouths formed identical circles.
"Wow! It's huge!"
"It's three times bigger than the one Uncle Biao carried back last time!"
"Those horns are thicker than my arm!"
"Your arm wasn't that thick to begin with..."
"Shut up!"
Amid the rising and falling chorus of chatter and amazement, Xiao Hu stood on tiptoe and reached for those spiraling long horns. His mother, who had hurried over behind him, grabbed him by the back of his collar.
"Don't touch it carelessly. If you get covered in bull blood, don't even think about getting into bed tonight."
"Ow, Mom, I'm just touching it once!"
Lin Yi stood behind the crowd with a medium Savage Bull on his shoulder. Though nearly a thousand jin weighed upon him, the sight of this bustling scene made the corners of his mouth rise unconsciously.
In all the days since he had come here, this was the first time he truly felt the weight of the words "returning to the tribe."
It was a steady, grounded sense of belonging—of having people waiting for him. Though he had only lived here for a few days at most, surrounded by all those smiling faces coming to greet him, something warm still surged up from his chest.
The old village chief slowly emerged from behind the crowd.
His steps remained unhurried, but when those eyes, deep as ancient wells, swept over the Savage Bull King's Corpse on the ground, a sharp glint flashed through them.
He crouched down, his withered fingers gently brushing over the armor plating on the Savage Bull King's shoulder blade. Then he carefully examined the traces left in its hide, where the markings had already faded completely, leaving only faint patterns. His brows slowly furrowed.
"An ordinary Savage Bull could never grow to this size." The village chief raised his head and looked at Biao. "This one was probably no ordinary creature."
Biao took the broadsword from his shoulder and planted it on the ground, wiping the mixture of sweat and blood from his face.
"That's right. It was a mutant. Its bloodline had reverted to its ancestors, and it even developed an Innate Divine Ability. Hunting this thing took a tremendous amount of effort."
As he spoke, he jerked his chin toward Lin Yi. "If this kid hadn't had a sudden flash of inspiration, we might have lost someone today."
Upon hearing the words "bloodline reversion" and "Innate Divine Ability," the watching tribesmen broke into another round of hushed gasps and discussion.
The experienced old hunters all crowded closer to inspect the remaining traces of patterns on the Savage Bull King's Corpse, their faces carrying a complicated mixture of awe and regret.
The women, however, were more concerned about their own men.
The wives and families of the Hunting Team members had already found their husbands and began checking them over from head to toe for injuries.
Biao's wife, a broad-shouldered, dark-skinned woman herself, yanked Xiao Hu down from the Savage Bull King's body and set him aside. Then she turned toward her own husband.
Without the slightest politeness, her hands pulled apart Biao's beast-hide collar and began pinching and pressing at his shoulders and chest.
"I'm fine! Don't worry, I'm built this strong—what could possibly happen to me?" Biao bared his teeth from his wife's pinching, forced himself to puff out his chest, and even thumped it twice with a solid bang to prove his point.
After that, his throat tickled, and he suddenly coughed twice.
Biao's wife froze.
She stared at the faint streak of blood at the corner of Biao's mouth that he had not yet wiped clean, then glanced at the fleeting pained expression between his brows when he struck his chest. She rolled her eyes so hard they nearly turned over.
"...Hmph. Then just die."
Though she said that, her hand had already reached out and gently pressed the bruise at Biao's waist where the Savage Bull King had rammed him.
Biao grinned and stopped pretending to be tough, allowing his wife to tug him two steps toward the stone house by the ear.
Watching this, a relaxed smile bloomed across the village chief's wrinkled face.
He straightened and swept his gaze over the bustling crowd around him, raising his voice.
"Alright, alright, let the brothers who went hunting catch their breath first! The rest of you, lend a hand and clean up the prey—cut what needs cutting, salt what needs salting!"
He paused, then raised his voice even higher. "Tonight, a bonfire!"
"Alright!"
The tribesmen answered in unison, their voices filled with rough, hearty joy.
The men rolled up their sleeves and began dragging the Savage Bull Corpses to the river for processing. The women brought over wooden basins and stone knives to prepare for cutting the meat, while the children darted between the adults' legs, excited as a litter of young beasts.
The village chief turned back around and slowly walked over to Lin Yi.
He first looked Lin Yi up and down, his gaze lingering briefly on Lin Yi's hands, which were still stained with bull blood. Only then did he slowly speak, his voice gentle.
"Young friend Lin, how did today feel?"
Lin Yi set down the Savage Bull on his shoulder and moved his slightly sore, burdened shoulders.
His expression was far more composed than before their departure. The eager restlessness of a newborn calf unafraid of tigers had been worn down by a day of hunting, stripping away a layer of surface hide and revealing something more solid beneath.
"The Great Wilderness truly is perilous." Lin Yi's voice was slightly hoarse, but his tone was earnest. "If Big Brother Biao hadn't held the line at the front against that Savage Bull King today, none of us might have made it back."
The village chief nodded, and a trace of gratification showed in those ancient-well eyes.
"The Great Wilderness neither pities the weak nor begrudges its gifts to those who survive.
"Being able to return alive today is your good fortune. Only by passing through the perils of life and death can one become truly strong."
He reached out and gently patted Lin Yi on the shoulder.
"From now on, remain vigilant at all times. The Dao Path is long—may you travel ever farther upon it."
Lin Yi clasped his hands and bowed. "Thank you, Village Chief."
The sun had completely sunk beyond the ridge. In the open ground at the center of the tribe, thick dry firewood had been piled into a towering cone.
Someone used flint to ignite oil-soaked tinder. The flames climbed the woodpile and spread rapidly amid a series of crackling explosions. Orange-red firelight shot skyward, dyeing every face around it with a warm, flickering glow.
Before you continue