Chapter 33 Altar
Deng Wen brandished her wooden stick, pointing to a spot on the water: "There's a snake in the water!"
A small gray snake swam across the surface.
Startled by the noise from the shore, the snake darted away, disappearing into the water in the blink of an eye.
"You've been busy all morning, have some lunch,"
Xiao Xuemei said, carrying two bags.
One bag contained a large, steaming clay pot, the other bowls and chopsticks.
Lifting the lid of the pot, steam rose, revealing a fish and shrimp porridge made with stewed fish, shrimp, and wild vegetables.
"I've removed all the fish bones, so you can eat without worry," Xiao Xuemei said, filling Qin Ziwen's bowl to the brim first.
"Thank you, sister-in-law," Qin Ziwen quickly stood up.
Taking the bowl, he found the fish and shrimp porridge fragrant and steaming hot.
After serving everyone a bowl, Xiao Xuemei also served herself.
The five of them sat by the river, enjoying their porridge while blowing on the breeze.
In the afternoon, their luck improved a little.
Qin Ziwen caught three fish in a row, all small, about the size of a palm, but the quantity was impressive.
These three fish weren't the common carp or crucian carp; they were rather gaudy, with colorful scales and tails, looking like some kind of ornamental fish.
In modern times, they might fetch a price, but here, their only option was to be eaten.
"Hopefully, the meat of these gaudy fish will taste good," he thought,
tossing the fish into the bucket.
Qin Ziwen peered around and said, "Old Deng, it seems like the crocodiles in the river have disappeared these past two days."
Deng Guang nodded, "Yeah, after that big male crocodile died, we can't see any fish in the river anymore."
Yesterday, the two of them had been cautious all day, but hadn't seen a single crocodile.
Most of today had passed, and there was still no sign of one.
Qin Ziwu pondered, "It might have run away, or it might be hiding. Speaking of which, crocodiles are territorial, right? There should only be one group per river basin. If the leader of this group dies, will a new leader emerge? Or will it migrate from another river basin?"
Qin Ziwen said, "Possibly, but even if a new leader emerges, it shouldn't be this soon."
Seeing that it was getting late, Qin Ziwen picked up his bucket and prepared to go home. Besides the four fish he had caught during the day, the bucket also contained loaches and bitterlings from the fish trap.
As for the swamp shrimp, they had been taken away when Xiao Xuemei went back to make lunch; those were the shrimp in the porridge at noon.
He carried the bucket home through the east gate.
Once home, he took out the recruitment card, pondered for a moment, and then silently recited "use."
The card transformed into a stream of light, a ball of white light landing on the floor, and a raptor over a meter tall appeared on the bedroom floor.
Its sharp eyes scanned the surroundings, finally settling on Qin Ziwen.
"Wheeeeee-ah!"
The harpy eagle's cry was quite penetrating, yet it also carried a puppy-like whimpering quality, like a dog trying to please its owner.
"Okay, keep it down, don't bark." Qin Ziwen put his index finger to his lips, making a shushing gesture. The harpy eagle
tilted its head, its bright eyes looking at Qin Ziwen. It was unclear whether it understood, but at least it stopped barking.
A younger brother's exclamation came from outside the bedroom door, "Brother, I think I just heard a bird chirping."
"It was a bird." Qin Ziwen opened the door and let his brother in.
As soon as Qin Ziwu opened the door, he saw the harpy eagle staring at him.
Upon seeing a stranger, the harpy eagle immediately spread its wings and began to intimidate him. Its wingspan was over two meters, and Qin Ziwu was startled and took a half-step back.
"He's one of us." Qin Ziwen ruffled the harpy eagle's square head. The harpy eagle folded its wings.
Qin Ziwu looked at the extra harpy eagle in his house, speechless with frustration.
"Fine, you dug this up again... no, you picked it up, didn't you?"
But Qin Ziwu was used to it. After all, it was his brother; if he didn't want to talk about it, he must have his reasons. They were family; he wouldn't harm him.
Then, the younger brother looked at the harpy eagle with envy, "Brother, can I touch it? This thing looks so majestic."
"Go ahead and touch it."
Under Qin Ziwen's reassurance, the harpy eagle, though not used to being touched on the head by a stranger, closed its eyes and let Qin Ziwu touch it a few times.
While being stroked, Qin Ziwu secretly observed the harpy eagle's dagger-like claws. The longest claw was probably over ten centimeters long; one strike from that claw could probably tear flesh and tendons apart.
Qin Ziwen said, "I plan to have it guard the trap tonight. If anyone tries to steal the trap, it will attack, so I can safely set up the trap at night."
Qin Ziwu looked at the harpy eagle's gray feathers;
in the dark, perched on a branch, it was indeed well-hidden.
The younger brother chuckled, "So, it'll work the night shift, and we'll work the day shift?"
"It'll work during the day too. I remember birds can sleep with one half their brain and stand guard with the other. It'll basically be resting at night while it guards the area. I'm planning to teach it some simple things first, to see how intelligent it is. If it's intelligent, I can have it help me draw a map of the surrounding area."
Qin Ziwu thought his older brother's idea was quite reasonable—working day and night—and looked at the square-headed horned eagle with pity.
"Knock, knock, knock." A
knock came at the door.
Qin Ziwen gave his younger brother a look, signaling him to open the door, and then took the horned eagle back to the bedroom. Qin Ziwen
sat on the edge of the bed, held the horned eagle's wings, and whispered, "Don't make any noise."
The horned eagle obediently took two steps forward and rested its head on Qin Ziwen's shoulder.
After a while, the living room door closed.
The younger brother came in: "Just now, our neighbor Wang Xiaoli said she hadn't had cooked food for several days and asked to borrow a light. I used a flint and steel to start a fire for her."
"Hmm," Qin Ziwen nodded; it was a small matter.
That evening, Qin Ziwen opened the window and released the harpy eagle, letting it fly in the sky await his instructions.
Just as he was about to leave the neighborhood, he bumped into Wang Jun.
Wang Jun's face showed some joy; compared to yesterday's dejection, he was radiant and full of vigor today.
He patted Qin Ziwen's shoulder and whispered in his ear, "Come to my house, I'll show you something good."
He winked at Qin Ziwen.
Qin Ziwen hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
Arriving at Wang Jun's house,
he almost thought he had gone to the wrong place. Several people were sitting inside, chatting and laughing, creating a lively atmosphere. In the corner, a long-haired man with an air of incongruity sat awkwardly on a stool.
Most strikingly, in Wang Jun's living room, floated a ball of light.
"Isn't this the Homestead?
Wang Jun got the card too?"
Wang Jun noticed the surprise on Qin Ziwen's face and laughed, pointing to the ball of light. "Brother, this thing is called the Homestead. As long as you get the card, you can activate the Homestead. This thing has all sorts of wonderful uses."
Wang Jun didn't hold back, explaining the uses of the Homestead and finally revealing where he got the card.
It was in a cave in the east, inside which was an altar, and the card was floating on the altar.
The entrance to the cave was somewhat hidden; he was lucky to find it.
At this point, Wang Jun sighed. If he hadn't encountered a pack of wolves in the west and lost his companions, he wouldn't have explored the east and wouldn't have been able to obtain this card. (
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) (End of Chapter)