Chapter 547: Do Not Blame Yourself

The teammates asked Xi anxiously: "Where did you fall? You didn't break any bones, did you?"

In order not to worry everyone, Xi could only force a smile: "It's nothing, I landed on my butt. There are no bones in the butt, just thick flesh. It just hurts a bit from the fall, I'll be fine if I rest for a while."

Zhang, who had completely died, was no longer bleeding. Everyone was very silent. After living peaceful lives for many years, it seemed everyone had forgotten the dangers of the wilderness. In the wilderness, humans are both hunters and prey. Even an animal like a wild boar, even if it doesn't eat people, will still attack them.

Xi felt that the pain had lessened significantly, so he signaled for everyone to continue walking: "Since things have turned out this way, we can only bring Zhang's body back to the Battalion first. We will send him to Lema City early tomorrow morning. Even if he is dead, he must enter the graveyard; he cannot become food for wild beasts."

Everyone had no objections, and then they took turns carrying Zhang's body. Because Xi was injured—although he said he was fine, everyone knew clearly—not only did they not let him continue carrying it, but one teammate was specifically assigned to support him. Xi kept gritting his teeth against the pain; he did not want to cause any more trouble for his teammates.

When they returned to the Battalion, two groups of hunters were already loudly laughing and processing their prey. It looked like their harvest was quite substantial, and one team had caught a roe deer, an animal very similar to a deer, which tasted just as good. Unlike wild boars, which, although meaty, were both rank and fishy.

They opened the door for Xi and the others with smiles on their faces. To prevent flies from getting in, they kept the door tightly shut. Inside the house, there were large amounts of ice to lower the temperature, which also ensured the meat would not spoil so quickly.

Because there was a stable source of Saltpeter, although the current Saltpeter reserves of Huaxia were not too large, it could be used freely without feeling stingy. If the Saltpeter ran out, digging at the Saltpeter Mine for a few days would be enough. Therefore, even the hunters carried two bags of Saltpeter specifically for making ice.

Furthermore, the Saltpeter used for making ice could be reused, so there was no fear of waste. Right on the hillside next to the house, a few people working together for half a day could dig out a very cold cellar. It was a bit creepy for people to live in, but it was very suitable for making ice.

As soon as everyone opened the door, the first thing they saw was Xi being supported, with some bloodstains still visible on his body, though they had already dried. However, everyone's worry instantly turned into mockery, because they knew that even if Xi was injured, it wouldn't be a serious injury.

"Hahahaha, Xi, aren't you one of our Huaxia's veteran hunters, an excellent hunter? How did you get yourself injured while out hunting? What, you weren't bumped into by a rabbit, were you?"

A burst of hearty laughter immediately rang out in the room, but the person who started it noticed that Xi did not have any mirth; besides pain, there was sorrow on his face. The Soldier supporting Xi was the same, head bowed in silence. He immediately felt something was wrong and hurriedly went up to support Xi, looking him up and down: "Xi, you... are you okay? I don't see any major injuries on you."

Xi said in a low voice: "Zhang... is dead."

The room suddenly fell silent. One hot-tempered person couldn't hold back, stabbing the skinning Dajian into the roe deer's carcass, and roared: "Who did it? A wild man, or a tiger, a bear? I'll go and peel its skin!"

Xi walked slowly into the room, revealing the Soldier carrying Zhang on his back. They were all exceptionally sorrowful, and everyone saw Zhang's arm, which was somewhat stiff, hanging over the Soldier's shoulder.

"Xi, you can't be joking. We... we just went out to hunt, how could Zhang die?"

The Soldier carried Zhang inside, then chose a clean place to lay him down, subsequently placing several wooden and Iron buckets filled with ice beside Zhang to delay the rate of decomposition of Zhang's body.

Everyone slowly shuffled over to look. Zhang's close friend slowly squatted down and pinched Zhang's arm. In such hot weather, Zhang's arm was ice-cold, and his body was covered in blood.

No one cried, but the atmosphere became increasingly oppressive. Xi spoke first to explain: "We were ambushed by a large boar, a lone large boar. It targeted Zhang directly and gored him once, lifting him up, and then gored him several more times. Zhang's stomach was pierced through. We... my skills were too poor, and I was afraid of hurting Zhang, so I didn't dare to act. By the time I found an opportunity, Zhang was already too severely injured. I thought about rushing him to Lema City, but he died on the way down the mountain."

The burly hunter gritted his teeth and asked: "What about that wild boar? You didn't let it run away, did you? When I protected the King, I could even kill a bear!"

Xi felt very ashamed, feeling that it was his own mistake that led to Zhang's death: "It was killed. Everything is my fault for being incompetent..."

Everyone patted Xi on the shoulder to comfort him: "It's not your fault. The wilderness is just like this; danger is everywhere. Wild boars are no less formidable than wolves and tigers; they are also very powerful. In our tribe in the past, many people died under the tusks of wild boars."

"What about your injury? Was that also caused by the wild boar? I see you are having difficulty walking."

Xi didn't want to say how serious he was: "I just fell in a hurry on the road. It's fine, not serious, I'll be fine if I rest for a while. Let's settle Zhang's body first. We'll take him to Lema City tomorrow; at least his family must see him."

"Let's transport him to the ice cellar first. It's cold enough there. Then block the cellar entrance tightly and send him over first thing tomorrow morning."

Everyone was unanimous in their opinion regarding the storage of Zhang's body; they did not want their companion to be left exposed in the wilderness.

Xi took the initiative to bend over, intending to support Zhang's body: "Alright, let's get him settled first."

However, before he could bend down very far, a sharp pain struck. He couldn't help but fall to the ground immediately. Everyone had to go and support Xi again: "Forget it, you should rest first. You might have broken a bone. It's not just one or two people here who have broken bones from falling. You rest well, and let the doctor take a look at you tomorrow. If you keep tossing yourself around like this, and it doesn't heal completely, our Huaxia will lose another good hunter."

Xi accepted everyone's kindness but said self-deprecatingly: "What kind of good hunter am I? I'm not even a qualified hunter..."

Everyone knew that Xi must be blaming himself, and could only let him slowly come to terms with it. As for things in the wilderness, as long as it wasn't intentional, who could say who was right or wrong?

After settling Zhang's body, the remaining few Soldiers from Xi's team hurriedly said: "The others are still processing that wild boar. The boar is too large, they might not be able to handle it, we'll go help first."

However, the hunters pulled them back: "Enough, you've run all the way here. Let someone lead the way, we'll go help handle it. You go take care of Xi; he is blaming himself right now, and he is also injured. Anyway, the body is the most important thing."