Chapter 473: What the Mao Mao Fear, Owls? Tiger-headed Owls!

With the illumination of the setting sun, the caravan began to travel at a quick pace, but once the sun inevitably sank below the horizon, the entire caravan unavoidably slowed down due to the rapid change in lighting conditions.

"Light the torches! Everyone, light the torches for illumination! Every carriage must have a torch lit!" Jier raised his Hunting Sword, letting the white light shine out, guiding the line of carriages following behind him like a lighthouse.

The caravan paused briefly, and after each driver had lit their torch and stuck it beside their seat, the entire caravan continued forward.

In truth, the surroundings had not yet turned dark; some of the clouds in the sky were reflecting the sunlight from below the horizon, casting down enough orange light to be sufficient, if not abundant.

Jier guided the caravan around hill after hill, carefully distinguishing the road beneath his feet, several times nearly straying into the fish paths that led straight to the bottom of the hills.

"Be careful, don't go the wrong way!"

Every time he saw a fish path, Jier would loudly remind the entire caravan behind him, and after the caravan passed the junction of the fish path, he would have Bata'er Jiaoshi ride his horse to check the entire caravan to see if any carriages had taken the wrong route.

Fortunately, the drivers were not that foolish; everyone kept their spirits at a peak, staring fixedly at the torchlight on the carriage ahead. As long as the vehicle in front did not go the wrong way, those behind would not either.

As for Xueya Siter at the very front of the caravan, he only needed to keep his eyes fixed on the white light from Jier's weapon.

He even had time to chat with Jier, who was leading the way: "Jier, what do you think would happen if we accidentally wandered into that fish path and plunged straight into a Siege Fish nest in the pond?"

Jier laughed and scolded: "Then you'd have to see me ride my horse straight into the pond first. But wouldn't you stop if you saw that? If anyone is going to fall into the pond, it would be me first."

As they spoke, the caravan rounded another hill. With the last sliver of light from the sky, Jier could barely see the terrain ahead opening up, a vast, flat expanse of land that seemed endless, 'cut' into several small pieces by the dark Shulin at this time.

"This place looks quite suitable for building a Village." Just as he finished sighing, the vast plain ahead completely hid itself in the night. In the entire field of vision, only the divine emblems in the sky and the stars became clear. On the farthest horizon, only a faint red line could be seen, and that line was also disappearing at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"Move forward, let's walk for a while longer, and we'll find a flat place away from the Shulin to set up camp in a bit."

Jier shouted.

The people in the caravan responded listlessly, and then the caravan moved forward in the dark at a decent speed.

Because he did not know if there were any more fish paths or ponds inhabited by Siege Fish, Jier continued to lead the way in front, while Bata'er Jiaoshi held his Metal Long Staff to guard the rear of the caravan, guarding against any vehicle falling behind.

After it turned dark, the inconspicuous shrubs and flowers of the day now swayed, emitting a faint fluorescence, attracting some insects that were only active at night to help them pollinate.

Unlike the daytime, once it turned dark, the sound of insects became loud, as if the night gave those little bugs the courage to sing their courtship songs more boldly.

Nocturnal birds of prey the size of half a horse set out, silently sweeping over the caravan, seemingly curious about this Human caravan moving in large numbers at night. And on the last carriage, the Mao Mao, who had been crawling out of their Wooden Boxes one by one to peer outside, bristled and began to chatter and bare their teeth after discovering the black shadow passing through the night sky.

Their tails were held high, and the melee Mao Mao raised the Human Daggers they used as their main weapons, waving them incessantly at the sky. The ranged Mao Mao took pieces of metal material suitable for launching from their Wooden Boxes, ready to attack the sky at any time.

Because that size of nocturnal bird of prey was the enemy the Mao Mao needed to worry about most in the open terrain at night.

It was fine inside the Shulin; because the wingspan of the birds of prey was at least two or three meters, it was not easy for them to fly silently in the Shulin. The Mao Mao could hear the slight movement of the opponent's wing feathers hitting the branches in advance, and after discovering them early, they could also stick close to the tree trunks, using the trunks to block the predatory attacks of the birds of prey.

But it wouldn't work in open places. Even if the Mao Mao's ears were sensitive, they still couldn't hear the extremely subtle movements made by those huge birds of prey as they silently swept across the night sky. Often, without realizing it, they would be grabbed by one claw of this bird of prey and taken into the sky.

The vast majority of Mao Mao would be killed by the sharp claws and teeth of the bird of prey on the spot. The few lucky Mao Mao who didn't die immediately were often even more miserable, because these birds of prey would land on the top of a large tree, use one claw to press down on the struggling Mao Mao, and then tear the meat off the Mao Mao's body bit by bit with their sharp, huge beaks, temporarily storing it in their bodies, and then return to the nest to spit out the meat fibers swallowed into their stomachs for the chicks to eat.

After the Mao Mao were eaten, only a tattered piece of fur was often left behind, to be found by other Mao Mao searching for remains during the day and brought back to be buried as a corpse.

So at this very moment, the reaction of the Mao Mao who noticed the huge bird of prey flying in the sky was so huge.

Because this was a natural enemy; apart from those troublesome Monster, these nocturnal birds of prey caused the most casualties to the Mao Mao.

"Bata'er Jiaoshi, what's wrong with those Mao Mao? They won't stop calling? Did they discover something?" Jier was walking at the very front of the caravan and noticed the panic and vigilant chattering of the Mao Mao, so he asked the Priest at the back of the caravan.

Bata'er Jiaoshi hadn't seen the huge bird of prey silently sweeping across the sky just now; he made his horse speed up and approached the carriage where the Mao Mao were.

He asked the Yongqi Maomao, who was on high alert on the carriage: "What's wrong? Did you discover any danger?"

The Yongqi Maomao nodded affirmatively: "Yes, danger, sky, powerful, enemy, Mao Mao, mortal enemy!"

Bata'er Jiaoshi was a bit surprised: "You actually have a mortal enemy? Jier and I thought you didn't have any enemies? What is it?"

The Yongqi Maomao scratched its head, not knowing how to describe that terrible enemy in Human Common Language.

So it had to explain to Bata'er Jiaoshi with gestures: "Bird! Huge, bird! Eat, Mao Mao, wild rabbit, giant rat, sheep, Beast, terrible. Flying, no, sound, terrible. They, attack, direct, death, terrible. Feathers, black, see, no, terrible."

Bata'er Jiaoshi barely understood: "You mean, there is a huge bird, they eat you, and they also eat various animals, Beast, they eat them all, right? At the same time, they have no sound when flying, very terrible, they kill the prey directly when attacking, also very terrible, and at the same time their feathers are black, you can't see their figures at night, also terrible, right?"

The Yongqi Maomao nodded incessantly, while also carefully guarding against various movements in the sky.

Although the other Mao Mao were also on high alert, in reality, they were all prepared to shrink back into their Wooden Boxes at any time. Because with the Wooden Boxes as cover, they were much safer.

Bata'er Jiaoshi became more and more puzzled as he spoke, and finally he said with a sudden realization: "So it's this! I thought you were afraid of something! It turns out to be an Owl; rest assured, although Owls are powerful and huge, they will never attack Humans camping at night. Because I have read in books that they have excellent night vision, so their eyes are very large, and on the contrary, they cannot look directly at the campfire that we Humans must light when camping at night."

"That is too bright for their eyes and will burn their eyes. So for us Humans, areas where Owls appear are actually safer places to camp at night. Because other Beast and Monster that cause trouble for Humans are often attacked by Owls, but Owls cannot get close to our Human camp, so it is safer."

The Yongqi Maomao understood Bata'er Jiaoshi's words, so it widened its eyes, and a look of shock appeared on its furry face: "Understand, understand! Light, campfire, Mao Mao, with, Human, same, will, safe!"

It then meowed in the language of the long-haired lynx Beast, telling the other Mao Mao what it had heard from Bata'er Jiaoshi.

The Mao Mao were shocked!

They couldn't imagine that the natural enemy that all Mao Mao feared could be kept away from those terrible guys just by lighting a campfire.

Even the Owls, which made most animals and Beast miserable, were not taken seriously by Humans.

It was too hateful; then what about the Mao Mao who had been attacked and killed by Owls all these years?

Wasn't it all for nothing?

Of course, because the Mao Mao were good at night activities, even if some of their tribes had mastered the means of lighting fires, they would not take the initiative to light fires at night. Because they were not Humans, they didn't need that thing at all, and it would hinder their night Hunting activities.

Humans were almost unable to move at night, so they could only shrink by the campfire to rest and sleep. But the Mao Mao didn't need campfires for illumination, so they were instead constantly attacked by Owls, causing them many casualties.

"Good! The caravan slows down, prepare to stop ahead and camp for the night!"

At this time, Jier's shout came from the front, and everyone in the caravan heard it, so the drivers controlled the horses pulling the carriages to start slowing down, preparing to stop the caravan and camp for the night.

When the caravan stopped, formed a circle on the flat open space beside the dirt road, and began to set up camp, Jier found Bata'er Jiaoshi: "What happened just now, Priest, did you find out anything from the Mao Mao?"

Bata'er Jiaoshi told Jier about the Owls with a smile on his face. A huge nocturnal bird of prey that was harmless to Humans was instead the natural enemy of the Mao Mao; it was hard not to marvel at the wonders of the world.

"Owl? I haven't seen one yet." Jier looked up at the night sky around him, but he couldn't see anything.

"Few people see them, and those who go out alone without torches for illumination or campfires often die under the claws of this bird of prey and cannot return alive, so naturally, not many people know what they look like."

The Priest explained: "I still learned from the church books that one of the reasons for lighting campfires at night is to prevent night attacks by this bird of prey with a wide range of activities. Almost all areas where Humans live have various types of Owls. Because of the misalignment of living habits, most people have never seen this bird of prey and don't know about it. I didn't expect that even Sasi County would have this animal active. People here have never encountered them or dealt with them."

Jier's curiosity was piqued. He really wanted to go out and meet this huge bird of prey, but they only set up camp after dark tonight, so there were many things to do, and they had to prepare to leave before dawn the next day. Time was tight, so Jier suppressed his idea of taking risks.

"So that's how it is. Forget it, never mind those animals that won't hinder us. Let's help too, tidy up the camp as soon as possible, light the campfire, everyone eat early, rest early, we won't train tonight, we have to get up, eat, tidy up the camp, and prepare to leave before dawn tomorrow morning."

Bata'er Jiaoshi nodded: "Indeed, time is very tight. I'll light the fire!"

Jier pointed to the surroundings: "I'll go find the Stone needed to surround the campfire." He saw the worried look in Bata'er Jiaoshi's eyes, and Jier patted his Long Sword, signaling that his Long Sword emitted such strong light that it would not be targeted by Owls active at night.

Meanwhile, because the Mao Mao knew that Tiger-headed Eagles haunted this area, they completely lost their previous nighttime liveliness and boldness; they huddled inside the Human camp, waiting for the Humans to light the campfire.

Jier held the Hunting Sword in his left hand, letting it emit a faint white glow to illuminate himself and the area within a dozen meters around him, while Jier used his empty right hand to circle the Temporary Camp that was being busily established, moving in outward circles to pick up the Suishi hidden under grass blades and branches in the grass and under the bushes.

Once his hand was full of Stone, Jier would return to the Yingdi, drop the Stone he was holding, and arrange them into a circle one meter in diameter, so that Bata'er Jiaoshi could light a campfire inside the entire circle of stones.

Very soon, before the individual Torch used for lighting on the carriage burned out, the campfire for the Yingdi was officially lit.

The Mao Mao gathered around the three campfires; unlike before, this time they were making a fuss and jumping around the campfires, clamoring and noisy.

Everyone did not know what they were doing, but it looked as if they were celebrating something, so they all watched their various actions with curiosity.

When they saw them collectively kneeling toward the blazing campfire, everyone laughed, thinking these Mao Mao were truly strange to be so worshipful of an ordinary overnight campfire.

Jier, however, had heard Bata'er Jiaoshi speak, so he could roughly guess the thoughts of these Mao Mao; they were perhaps not worshipping the campfire, but rather mourning and paying tribute to those close companions, or even close family members, who had died in nighttime Tiger-headed Eagle attacks because they did not know that campfires could ward off Tiger-headed Eagles.

They held hands, their tails pointing to the sky one moment and slapping the ground the next; when the atmosphere reached a climax, their tails would even strike each other forcefully, producing loud slapping sounds.

At the same time, they sang unknown ballads in their own language, as if they were recounting or accusing something; as some Mao Mao Warrior sang, tears dripped down, flowing along their furry cheeks.

"Many of their relatives and friends must have died under the claws of the Tiger-headed Eagles." Bata'er Jiaoshi looked at them, let out a long sigh, and then fell silent.

Jier knew that he was likely thinking of the Changmai Village Villager who had been taken away.

In order to enlighten the Priest, Jier took out paper and a pen, and by the light of the campfire, tried hard to recall another Prophecy Poem about rescuing the Changmai Village Villager that Dashu Bi'ao had told him about last night.

?? Welcome everyone to subscribe to this book! Thank you!