Everyone has now checked their weapons, and apart from the supplies they are carrying, everyone has their weapons in their hands, on high alert.

Having witnessed the encounter between the brine spring and Haru, even though we are still some distance away, no one dares to be careless.

I'm running low on shotgun ammo, so I'll have to go back to the tribe and figure out how to get more later.

So I could only take out the crossbow, string it up, and put a recycled arrow, still faintly smelling of blood, into the quiver.

Top continued to lead the way, while Pat had reached a position a thousand meters above us, circling and providing us with aerial visibility.

The five wild boars were quite well-behaved along the way, obediently following behind Dante and being led forward by a rope made of tree bark.

Since we didn't have much supplies with us, we didn't linger. Traveling non-stop, we arrived at the tribe's cave almost half an hour ahead of schedule.

When they arrived at the village, all the natives stared in astonishment at the five wild boars of varying sizes that Dante was leading behind him.

They had seen wild boars before, but wild boars are very wild animals, and it would take a lot of effort to subdue them head-on. Yet Dante had calmly led back a whole herd.

If they hadn't seen it with their own eyes, these indigenous people would have truly believed they were still dreaming.

They stared at the scene in disbelief, their hearts still reeling. When did wild boars become so docile and cooperative? Was this a joke?

Not only was Dante beaming with pride, but even the five natives who came with us felt proud to have come with us.

Bringing live wild boars back to the tribe is something even the best hunters in the tribe couldn't do, let alone bringing back five live wild boars at once—it's simply a fantasy.

The tribal chief was nowhere to be seen today. After some questioning by Dante, it was learned that the chief had gone out hunting with a group of people.

Amidst the shouts of the natives, those who had been inside the cave and nearby came running out to greet us.

The high priest and the crowd came out, and the first thing they saw was the five most conspicuous wild boars. The high priest's eyes, like those of the natives, were filled with shock, but even more so with joy.

Perhaps the high priest's knowledge was broader than everyone thought, and his initial surprise quickly turned into his usual kind demeanor.

He knew that with me in the group, anything was possible; otherwise, there would be no reason why they regarded me as a god of their tribe.

After a brief exchange with the tribe's high priest, Dante pointed to the baskets we were carrying, which contained not only salt but also some smoked bacon.

When Dante started talking about the taste of cured meat, he got really excited. With his exaggerated praise, he turned cured meat into a delicacy that could only be found in heaven and was hard to come by on earth.

Once you start bragging, you'll realize that the tribe hasn't tasted salt, this magical thing, for a long time since Su Su and the others left.

Now I hear that this cured pork is actually stir-fried entirely with salt, so it must be incredibly delicious!

Su Su watched Dante continue his boasting, spittle flying everywhere, and the natives casting theatrical, shocked expressions at him. Some of them were even drooling with anticipation. Su Su was amused and giggled.

At that moment, the high priest came to my side and said something to me, which Dante quickly translated.

"The high priest said you've had a hard journey, sir. It is through our efforts that the tribe has obtained these precious supplies."

I smiled and nodded. All I can say about this is that we were lucky to have encountered a natural brine spring.

"Dante, these are all minor matters. Let's talk about the important things with everyone."

I knew it was unusual for such a large population of Haru to appear in the original settlement, so I told Dante to tell everyone what had happened.

Since there were no outsiders present, Dante put away his playful and boastful expression and instead spoke to the high priest with a serious face.

The high priest's expression immediately changed drastically. Just moments ago, he had been all smiles and the sky was clear, but now his face was overcast with thunder and lightning.

Anxiety, resentment, worry... a variety of complex emotions began to change rapidly on the high priest's face.

At the high priest's request, everyone went into the cave.

Dante began to recount our experiences over the past few days, and halfway through his story, the chieftain returned from hunting with five natives.

Today's harvest was pretty good: a dozen or so grouse, a few rabbits, and a half-grown red deer.

Upon seeing that we had returned, the chief was overjoyed. After embracing and greeting everyone, the chief noticed that the atmosphere among everyone, including the high priest, was somewhat off.

His expression also turned serious, and he asked Dante, who was standing beside him.

"Dante, have you encountered any difficulties on your journey, or perhaps..."

The chief seemed to realize something, and his gaze began to sweep across the tribe, especially the few people he had sent out.

After looking around, the leader found that the number of people was still the same as before, seven people, not one less.

Seemingly sensing the leader's confusion, Dante looked at him with a wry smile and said,

"No need to look anymore, it's not what you think. We did encounter a very troublesome situation, and we almost didn't make it back."

"ah!"

The leader was shocked. In this rainforest, as long as they didn't encounter a large herd of wild animals, there was basically nothing that could threaten their safety.

Since the situation had reached a level that threatened the safety of our collective lives, the leader guessed that we had encountered some of the most ferocious beasts in the rainforest.

However, the leader still spoke up and asked a question.

What did you encounter over there?

Dante looked into the leader's eyes and uttered two words, one after another, "Haru!"

"What!"

Now, the expressions of the leader and the high priest also became unsettled.

Because the tribal chief had dealt with those guys before, he knew all too well how difficult they were to deal with.

The high priest told the leaders and others to put their things aside and sit down, and Dante began to continue recounting what had happened to us.

After listening to Dante's account, everyone fell silent. There had been numerous conflicts between the indigenous people and the Haru in the past.

Seeing that they had moved back to the original site of the great battle and still hadn't found any trace of Haru, they even thought that these guys had disappeared. But unexpectedly, they still appeared.