Chapter 128 – Engraving and branding
Chapter 128 – Engraving and branding
Translated by Sunyancai
The light of the sun gradually disappeared, and two moons emerged above the woods.
Some nocturnal animals became active, while most of the birds flew back to their nests.
Above the bough where Shao Xuan was in, there were many nests, but he avoided provoking those birds.
These birds seemed not so large, and looked attractive. But in fact, they were very dangerous, because they flocked to prey on animals that were seriously injured or had just died.
Due to a fight among the birds, a bird fell from its nest to the bough where Shao Xuan stood.
Turning over and shaking its wings, the bird looked at Shao Xuan.
At night, its eyesight was not so good, but its sense of smell was good enough to find the smell of Caesar’s blood, and it also felt Caesar’s weakness.
The bird was about to fly back to its nest, but changed its mind to rush towards Caesar. Its open mouth exposed its dense fangs. Its beak with saw-like edge helped it scrape of pieces of meat with just a bite.
When the bird flew over, Shao Xuan quickly stepped forward and stabbed the bird with the stone knife in his right hand quickly.
The bird was so excited by the smell of blood that it completely ignored Shao Xuan. It suddenly realised death was coming.
The next moment, it was pierced by Shao Xuan’s stone knife.
Shao Xuan no longer looked at the bird and threw the stone knife with the bird to the trunk.
On the trunk, there was a hole emitting flashing green light.
When Shao Xuan threw the bird towards the trunk, many open mouths instantly appeared in the tree hole, swallowed the bird completely, and then retreated back to the hole. The green light continued flashing to attract some of the flying night insects, and then the open mouths ate them.
That was some kind of a tree insect living in the tree. They looked no different from other insects in the daytime, but at night, they emitted light to lure their prey.
Many birds in the tree were still covetously staring at Caesar. If Caesar was left alone here, he would be eaten, and only bones would be left within several minutes. These birds were inactive at night, but would still take actions to capture and eat their prey. They would not miss any weak animals.
Shao Xuan stayed awake, because in the woods, it was only a little safer for them to stay in the tree in the evening. There was still a lot of danger in the tree, so he had to be vigilant.
When Shao Xuan was looking for some rattan vines to make a stretcher, he had also found a few herbs to treat Caesar, but they were not effective. As time went by, little by little, Caesar got worse and worse.
After all, Caesar was not a totem warrior. If he had the resilience of a totem warrior, he would be able survive for some time longer. Totem warriors had an ability to heal, which allowed them to stay alive longer so that they could be sent back to the tribe.
However, Caesar was just an ordinary wolf, and his inherent situation determined that he couldn’t become a stronger beast or a ferocious beast in a short time. In terms of physical quality, he was even worse than most wolves of the new wolf pack.
His ability to heal was limited, which Shao Xuan couldn’t change.
Thinking about this, Shao Xuan sighed with sadness. After all, he had kept Caesar since he came to this world.
For more than two years…
An idea suddenly hit Shao Xuan.
The ability to heal?
Yes, the ability to heal!
It was possible to improve Caesar’s ability to heal as long as Caesar could become a ferocious beast from a common one. Even if he failed to become a ferocious beast, he would survive a bit longer with an increased healing ability.
A way to make Caesar a ferocious beast in a short time was the profound craft of engraving and branding, recorded in the ancient volumes!
According to the old saying, for using the profound craft of engraving and branding, there were strict requirements. Caesar met some of the requirements: First, he could accompany the hunting group. And second, he was loyal. Even though Caesar failed to satisfy all the requirements put forward by the ancestors, Shao Xuan still decided to try.
Shao Xuan was not sure whether the profound craft of engraving and branding would work. That was why he didn’t impose it on Caesar before, but now, besides that, he had no other option.
If he tried, he might succeed or fail. If he failed, Caesar would not see the sun tomorrow. Otherwise Caesar would survive.
If he didn’t try, Caesar would die without doubt.
“Hey, buddy.” Shao Xuan touched Caesar’s head and said, “There is a way that may save you, if it works, you will become more powerful, and even a ferocious beast. Otherwise, you have to say goodbye to this world.”
Caesar opened his eyes, and wanted to touch Shao Xuan’s hand with his nose, but he was too weak. He only looked at Shao Xuan.
The branches were waving in the evening breeze, and some slight moonlight shining through the the gaps of the leaves reflected in Caesar’s eyes. The light made this pair of wolf eyes look a bit terrifying, like two flashing lights. In the woods, many animals’ eyes looked like this at night.
Shao Xuan was not scared, and raised his hand to touch Caesar’s head.
“Good, you agree. Old Ke is still at home waiting for you, and many cubs in the tribe are waiting for you to teach them. Without you, they may be cooked soon. The wolves that exterminated your tribe are still alive, and do you not still want to take revenge?”
The profound craft of engraving and branding depended on both the wish of the performer and the recipient. If the recipient was willing to accept, the success possibility would be greater. Otherwise, the possibility of failure was stronger. Even if it worked, it might create a rebellious ferocious beast. That was why the ancestors preferred to choose loyal ones.
Caesar’s present state was not suitable to perform the profound craft of engraving and branding, so in order to make the possibility of success stronger, Shao Xuan was arousing his desire to survive.
The potential in the desperate situation was unpredictable. That’s why there were some sayings such as fighting back in a desperate situation, and being reborn from the ashes.
After talking to Caesar for a while, Shao Xuan no longer hesitated to take actions. He should start now while Caesar is still conscious.
He made a simple fence with rattan to prevent the interference of other small beasts.
Shao Xuan didn’t know what changes the profound craft of engraving and branding would bring in the end, but he was willing to take a risk to have a chance this time.
Shao Xuan put the stone knife in his left hand, and then squatted to raise the right hand in front of Caesar.
After carefully recalling the record in the ancient volumes, as well as his usual practice, Shao Xuan began to mobilize the power of inheritance in his body.
In his sea of consciousness, from the bottom of the totem flame to the two horns, the blue flame gradually increased. A trace of blue separated from it.
At the same time, under Shao Xuan’s right palm, the blue threads began to form two horns. The horns were not the two-dimensional pattern, but the three-dimensional totem shape. They were much smaller than that of the flame pit in the tribe, it was the size of a walnut.
The two horns gradually formed. When they were well depicted, some blue flame began to surround them, and over the blue flame, a red flame began to appear.
During this process, Shao Xuan did not dare to have the slightest carelessness and make a small mistake, which might cause failure in the engraving and branding, and the totem shape would scatter. When the red flame finally appeared and stabilized, Shao Xuan felt slightly relieved, which proved the formation of the totem shaped by the power of inheritance. But this was just the beginning.
After the engraving step was finished, Shao Xuan started the ‘branding’ step.
After successfully engraving the totem, Shao Xuan moved his palm to brand it on Caesar’s forehead.
The totem moved with Shao Xuan’s hand. When he touched Caesar, it was not immediately branded on Caesar. Though Shao Xuan felt the resistance in his hand, he did not worry, for it was recorded in the ancient volumes that there would be a lot of resistance in the step of branding. After all, Caesar was not a member of this tribe, and he was not a human either, so there would naturally be some resistance.
Without a pause, Shao Xuan continued slowly branding the totem. He could brand it neither too quickly nor too slowly. The speed must be controlled by him according to his intuition, because it was not recorded in the ancient volumes.
As Shao Xuan’s palm pressed down, the two horns totem was slowly branded into Caesar’s head.
With his palm attached to Caesar’s head, Shao Xuan finished branding, but did not immediately pull back his hand. He helped guide the flow of the totem power inside Caesar.
Caesar was still conscious, and began to follow Shao Xuan’s guidance
to mobilize this emerging power.
He knew what it was, he felt it during the tribe’s ritual at the end of every winter. He was fearfully avoided it twice before, but now he found it close and familiar.
When Caesar’s consciousness began to dominate, Shao Xuan drew back his hand.
He wiped away the sweat on his forehead, and glanced around. If some beasts or ferocious beasts had attacked them, they would have failed. It was fortunate that no beasts took actions.
Looking at Caesar lying on the bough, Shao Xuan knew that was all he could do for the whole process. The rest depended on Caesar himself. If he could master and accept this ability, he will succeed. Otherwise, he will die due to his serious injuries soon.
Shao Xuan soon found Caesar trembling more and more violently. His body began to twitch.
Puff!
Caesar spit out blood, and the blood spilled all over Shao Xuan.
Kaka!
Kaka!
With a burst of brittle bones, Caesar swelled up as he was supported by his bones. His fur looked as if it was attached to his bones so he looked skinny.
What happened?!
Shao Xuan looked at this change with great shock.
Such a change was not recorded in the ancient volumes, which only mentioned that after the fusion of the hound and the totem, the hound would grow into a stronger beast than others of its kind, and even become a ferocious beast in a short period of time. A short period of time didn’t refer to several minutes or hours, but dozens of days!
But now, only a few minutes after the craft was performed, Caesar began to change.
Shao Xuan did not know whether he would change like what the ancestors had said, for there were no detailed records.
Shao Xuan had been paying attention to Caesar’s state, whose fractured bones had reshaped and had become much bigger. His two severe wounds had stopped bleeding, you could see bones in one wound.
Although his changes went beyond Shao Xuan’s expectation, and differed from the records in the ancient volumes, Shao Xuan could feel Caesar’s vitality become stronger. The change of his vitality was not as obvious as that of his appearance, but such change was indeed a good sign.
Those birds above that stared at Shao Xuan and Caesar, and waited for the opportunity to attack them, retreated to their nests. They no longer looked below, and all of them became as timid as quails.
In the tree hole, the tree insect emitting green light climbed deeper inside, and its light became bleaker.