The ground finished splitting open with a noise that suggested that it needed so rather serious attention. But then, after giving it a few tries, it seed to have realised that there was no point in trying anymore and finally gave up.
Everyone waited and waited, but nothing seed to happen.
Ruan Chanchan stared at the fissure for a long mont before squatting and poking the small mound with a stick she had picked up. "So, is this where sothing dramatic is going to happen? Or did this thing just embarrass itself?"
Ruan Zeqiu rushed back and caught Ruan Chanchan’s wrist before pulling her back. "Stop provoking it!"
"I am not provoking it." Ruan Chanchan raised her head and stated in a slow voice, "I was just trying to establish dominance."
Xie Daiyued stopped half a pace closer to Ruan Chanchan.
Yuan Ni watched that movent from the corner of his eyes; his jaw tightened briefly before he forced himself to look back at the cracked earth. He rested both hands on his staff and breathed slowly, controlling his emotions.
The fissure crumbled inward with a final and tired sigh.
Silence.
Aunt Ye snorted. "If it was really going to crawl out, it would have done it already. Big disasters don’t like waiting."
Ruan Chanchan straightened and brushed the dirt off her hands. "I agree with her. If there was sothing big inside, it would have already made a big bang. Like all grand things, it should have made a big and grand entry by now."
Xie Daiyu didn’t comnt. He simply reached out and adjusted the torn edge of her clothes; his gaze fell on her arm that had been scratched, and his heart ached a little.
Yuan Ni froze when he saw his actions and slowly looked away. He raised his hand and touched the left side of his chest, where a sharp pain was rising and falling. He could feel his breathing turning laboured as pain coursed through his veins.
"Alright," Yuan Ni said as he suppressed the pain in his heart and steadied his voice. "The spiritual pressure around this place has dissipated, which ans that the river guardian has really left. The area is stable for now."
"For now." Ruan Zeqiu said as he turned to look at his sister. He said to her, "Let’s go back to the tribe, or else I am worried that sothing might pop again."
Ruan Chanchan didn’t say anything. She simply arched her arms over her head and said in a low voice, "You are right. Anyway, we are already done with what we needed to do. With this steam flowing steadily, we don’t need to worry about anything."
"Then are you saying that this stream is alone for our tribe to get a steady flow of water?" Aunt Ye asked hopefully.
"No." Ruan Chanchan shook her head rcilessly. The tribe’s location was very poor. It only had a few natural trees around, and most of it was surrounded by weeds. That alone was enough to show how low the water level was under the ground. If she were to let this stream flow straight down to the tribe, there was a very good chance that the water would be sucked up by the ground.
"..."
The hopeful gazes of Xie Daiyu, Yuan Ni and Aunt Ye imdiately turned dim.
"Then why did we do this?" Ruan Zeqiu questioned angrily. He was not angry over the fact that she had almost lost his life, but what he hated more was that his sister put herself in danger.
"You don’t need to worry," said Ruan Chanchan with a hint of amusent in her eyes. "Just tell if there are any trees that are hollow in the middle?"
She did know that there were bamboos in this world, but it was too weak. What she needed was a thick tree that was hollowed from the inside. That would be a much safer and sturdier option.
"Yes, there are several kinds of hollowed-out trees," Xie Daiyu replied.
"Several kinds?" Ruan Chanchan was surprised.
"Yes, there are Res String Tree and Hollowed Oak." Yuan Ni expertly listed the nas of two trees that were found near their tribe.
"Can you get these trees? I an, are they easy to cut down—the last thing I need is to cross another mountain to get these trees down." Ruan Chanchan could feel dread creeping up her spine when she thought about how there was a very good chance that these trees might be growing in so far-off place, where they had to defeat another guardian to get the trees.
She couldn’t manage that.
"There is no need to worry; the hollowed oaks are not hard to find. They grow right outside the tribe; we can get them without any hassle." Yuan Ni knew what Ruan Chanchan was worried about and smiled before saying to her, "These oak trees are easier to get, so we don’t have to worry about facing anything dangerous."
"Are there enough trees? Are they tall and sturdy?" Ruan Chanchan asked curiously. If they were sturdy enough, then she might as well pick up the hollowed oak and be done with it.
"There seed to be quite a lot. There are about forty or sixty hollowed oaks," Ruan Zeqiu relayed the information to Ruan Chanchan with a frown. He then continued, "They are very easy to cut down. Even a newly awakened totem warrior can break the hollowed oak, as they are that soft to deal with."
"Forty oaks should be enough... That would be equivalent to twenty tres long. That should be enough." Ruan Chanchan heaved a sigh of relief. It seed like she didn’t need to worry about anything.
Unexpectedly, she really found the one substitute that she was looking for. Ruan Chanchan was not that confident about these unknown plants in this primitive era. She decided to first take a look at these hollowed oak trees. After all, they were the only source that was going to help her in building the tribe’s water source.
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