In the woods atop West Mountain, Song Laosan walked along a path, his eyes constantly scanning his surroundings warily: "The path beneath our feet doesn't seem to have been made by walking; it's been compacted, which is why no plants grow there. These savages seem to be more intelligent than I imagined."

"It's not that savages are smart, but that you underestimate animal instincts. Just like domestic cats that have been bred for generations and then released back into the wild still retain their hunting instincts, so too do humans. Although we classify ourselves as higher beings, to nature, we are no different from animals."

I adjusted the straw hat on my head: "Our construction of cities and manufacture of electric lights are, in a sense, also due to the gregarious and light-loving instincts ingrained in our DNA. Even the most uncivilized of these savages will retain their gregarious nature."

"Shh!"

At this moment, Sasha turned her head and made a shushing gesture, then lowered her hand, indicating that we should squat down.

Seeing Sasha hiding behind the bushes, I crept over quietly and peered ahead.

We were on a slightly higher hill, with an open space in front of us backed by a cliff.

In the open space ahead, there is a tent-like structure made of tree branches, and on the cliff behind, there is a naturally formed cave with three wild men sunbathing at the entrance.

The monkey stretched out its monoculars and observed: "The number of wild men here doesn't seem to be as many as we imagined. Could they all be sleeping in the woods?"

I licked my lips: "Primates have different habits than wild animals. They prefer to be active during the day, so maybe they're out hunting."

Sasha interrupted our conversation: "We've found the location, what's next?"

"Sneak over there and take down these savages!"

Song Laosan released the safety on his hunting rifle: "Everyone should try to use melee weapons to avoid attracting more savages with the gunfire."

Upon hearing this, both Monkey and I looked troubled. Although we had both fired guns and fought with savages, we were still hesitant to actually rush in for hand-to-hand combat.

Wielding knives and guns isn't like in the movies, where you have a flashy fight and then just splatter some ketchup on it.

The moment the blade cuts through the skin, the pungent smell of blood will fill the nasal cavity first, and the yellow, grapefruit-like fat granules under the skin will also assault the optic nerve, making one feel nauseous.

Before I could even mentally prepare myself, Song Laosan spoke up again: "There are only three of them, Sasha and Ivan. The three of us will lead the charge, with Xiao Duan and Monkey bringing up the rear. We can only fire as a last resort!"

Seeing that Song Laosan didn't mention his name, Zhou Peng swallowed hard and asked, "What about me?"

“Your mental state has been unstable lately, and I’m afraid that seeing bloody scenes will trigger your emotions.”

Song Laosan wrapped the rope binding Zhou Peng's hands around a tree: "Take it easy, stay here for now. Don't worry, if anything goes wrong, we'll come to your aid immediately!"

"What if you don't come back?" Zhou Peng suddenly became agitated. "Or what if a group of savages come out of the cave and abandon me?"

I waved my hand and then made an OK gesture to Sasab: "Monkey, you stay and keep him company."

Seeing that we were ready, Sasha drew his hunting knife from his waistband, disappeared into the bushes, and circled around us from the side.

Soon, we moved through the bushes to the side of the cliff, less than fifteen meters away from the three savages.

Sasha bit the knife in her mouth, raised a stone with her right hand, and at the same time extended three fingers of her left hand and began to slowly close them.

As he clenched his fist, he suddenly threw the stone in his hand.

"Bang!"

The stone traced an arc in the air and landed in the opposite direction. The three savages, drawn by the sound, all turned to look in that direction.

Immediately afterwards, Sasha suddenly waved his hand and was the first to rush out of the bushes.

I saw them move, so I followed behind, pointing my gun at the cave to prevent any other savages from appearing.

"Aww!"

Hearing the footsteps, a savage turned around, let out a roar, and pounced on Sasha.

As a seasoned hunter who has lived a life of constant danger, Sasha possesses exceptional mental fortitude. She dodged the savage's attack trajectory and swung her sword at him.

"Pfft!"

With a powerful slash, the savage's neck was split in half, and blood spurted out two or three meters away, staining the cliff face red.

The other two savages, seeing this, were so frightened that they retreated and turned to run away.

Song Laosan and Ivan chased after them and quickly knocked the two savages to the ground, their cries of pain abruptly ceasing.

Old Song shook the blood off his knife, pushed aside his flashlight, and pointed it at the cave: "Let's go in and take a look!"

As soon as we finished speaking, we all grabbed our guns and headed towards the cave.

As soon as the flashlight shone into the darkness, a female savage screamed, shielding the two little savages behind her, and then roared at us.

These savages didn't have the ability to speak, but I could still sense that the female savage was trying to scare us away in this way to protect her children.

Seeing the terror in the savage woman's eyes and her actions, I felt a pang of pity. Just as I was about to say something, Sasha rushed forward and chopped the savage woman in half with a single stroke. Then, with another swift stroke, she killed the two cubs as well.

Looking at the cub that had been cut in half at the waist, I felt a pang of pity, but I knew that Sasha must have had his reasons for doing so, so I said nothing and looked away as I walked deeper into the woods.

The cave wasn't very big. Deep inside, there was an open space with a foul odor. The ground was covered with dry grass and fur, which must have been the dwelling place of the savages.

I covered my nose and used my knife to pry open the dry grass on the ground. My eyes were quickly drawn to a mark on the ground: "Third Master, come here for a moment."

Old Song walked over to me, looking at the marks on the wall and some debris on the ground: "These look like signs of rotten iron, and they must have been there for a while, right?"

“That’s right!” I picked up some lumps of iron and tapped them on the stone. “These iron pieces have traces of layered forging, so they should be remnants of swords and knives. But this isn’t a tomb, which means that a long time ago, people carrying weapons lived here. And the wrapping paper next to us is the food packaging from our travel bag, but apart from the food, nothing else is here.”

"I didn't expect these savages to actually steal our packages, but it's good in a way, at least it solves a mystery."

Old Song San offered his speculation: "Do you think the people who lived here back then might have been the craftsmen who built Hu Sha Hu's tomb? There are still a lot of wild beasts roaming in this forest now, and the dangers a thousand years ago were unimaginable. Naturally, there had to be guards to protect the workers' safety!"

"That's what I think too. Even if the broken weapon the savage had yesterday didn't come from the tomb, this place isn't too far from Hu Shahu's tomb."

As I spoke, I retreated towards the cave entrance, waving to Sasha and the others: "We don't know when the other savages will return. Since this isn't a tomb, let's leave as soon as possible to avoid any unforeseen events."

Soon, the group left the cave. I was about to return the way I came when I caught a glimpse of the tent made of tree branches outside and froze on the spot.