This Is My Primitive Tribe-Chapter 65 - 61: Catching Birds in the Snow

It snowed continuously for several days, and the snow on the ground had already reached past knee height, making walking outside quite inconvenient.

This winter was strangely cold, and after the snowfall, the weather became even colder. Although it wasn’t cold enough to freeze water in an instant, the Vine Tribe’s pond and the flowing stream quickly froze over.

Such cold weather caused suffering not only for the people from various tribes but also for animals that don’t hibernate.

Even the Divine Vine on Stone Mountain seemed to enter a dormant state when covered with snow and ice, as silent as if timelessly unchanged.

During snowy days, most people of the Vine Tribe stayed indoors, relying on the food and firewood stockpiled in autumn to get by.

Even the giant eagle raised by the Old Witch only went out to forage when it wasn’t snowing, and it didn’t always manage to catch prey.

Jiang Xuan, nonetheless, would circle around the vicinity of the Vine Tribe daily, observing the animals in the forest and checking on the frozen conditions of the streams and rivers.

On October 2, Jing Jie found Jiang Xuan once again.

Because almost all the food they had stored was already consumed, and the food provided by the Vine Tribe was far from enough to feed more than a hundred people.

"Chief, when will you take us to find food? Our food is almost finished."

Despite the frigid winter, Jing Jie was extremely anxious and worried, and the Wanderers were equally restless, as they were about to face the threat of running out of food.

This time, Jiang Xuan did not send him back to wait.

"Follow me."

Jiang Xuan first took Jing Jie back to the bamboo house and gave him a pair of old Beast Hide Boots because he was always barefoot, which could easily lead to frostbite.

This made Jing Jie very grateful, as in the era of extremely low productivity within the tribe, even a pair of Beast Hide Boots were invaluable.

After Jing Jie put on the Beast Hide Boots, Jiang Xuan took a bundle of rope, a large vine basket, some food scraps, and then led Jing Jie towards the forest north of the tribe.

"Chief, what are we doing here?" Jing Jie looked at the vast white forest, unable to guess what Jiang Xuan intended to do.

"Bird hunting." Jiang Xuan said as he walked forward, observing the surroundings.

Jing Jie looked at the forest in confusion and said, "But we didn’t bring a bow and arrow, and in this weather, it’s impossible to set up snare traps!"

Jiang Xuan smiled mysteriously and said, "Who said only snares and bows and arrows can catch birds?"

Ignoring the perplexed Jing Jie, Jiang Xuan continued to search for the large bird activity area he had previously observed.

In heavy snow, the range of human activities is greatly reduced, and the same is true for animals. They generally do not stray far from their nests, and their activity range is relatively fixed.

Soon, Jiang Xuan found a series of scattered footprints in the snow.

"Follow me."

Jiang Xuan followed the footprints, and Jing Jie followed behind.

They didn’t walk far when Jiang Xuan spotted a group of large birds ahead, about seven or eight of them.

These large birds were quite big, with adult birds weighing over thirty pounds, sturdy legs, capable of running speedily through the forest, but with short wings, unable to fly.

Most distinctively, these large birds had a tuft of feathers on their heads that resembled a horn, hence the tribe named them Unihorn Birds.

Although Unihorn Birds cannot fly, they are very alert and quickly flee at the slightest disturbance, making hunting them difficult.

Only a skilled Archer or someone who sets traps in advance could likely catch Unihorn Birds.

Jing Jie whispered, "Chief, Unihorn Birds are hard to catch."

Jiang Xuan smiled mysteriously and said, "Usually, they’re hard to catch, but now during the food-scarce winter, they become easier to catch."

Jiang Xuan quickly began his work.

First, he found a wooden stick, tied the rope to the bottom of the stick, then placed the vine basket in the area where Unihorn Birds often moved, propping the wooden stick on the edge of the large vine basket.

Then, he spread some fragrant food scraps under the large vine basket and carefully laid out the bundle of rope connected to the stick, extending it to a bush.

Jiang Xuan and Jing Jie hid behind the bush.

Jiang Xuan whispered, "Wait here, I’ll drive the birds over. When the Unihorn Birds run this way, they’ll surely spot the food under the vine basket."

"If any Unihorn Bird gets under the basket to eat, pull the rope immediately to topple the stick, the basket will drop down and cover the greedy Unihorn Bird. Then, quickly run over and press down the basket, so they can’t flip it and escape. Did you get it?"

Jiang Xuan’s explanation finally enlightened Jing Jie, who nodded hurriedly in understanding.

"Then I’ll go chase the birds."

Jiang Xuan left the bush and made a detour to reach the back of the group of Unihorn Birds.

After becoming a Two-Colored Warrior, his body seemed even more adapted to the mountains and forests; even snow that submerged his knees could not hinder his movements, and he only made very faint sounds.

Jiang Xuan hid behind the Unihorn Birds and did not show himself because the birds were too timid; the moment he appeared, they might scatter in chaos.

"Crack..."

Jiang Xuan broke a branch covered in ice and snow, making a crisp snapping sound.

The flock of Unihorn Birds foraging in the snow immediately raised their heads, looking warily in that direction, always ready to flee.

"Crack, crack..."

Jiang Xuan snapped branches one after another, and the highly vigilant Unihorn Birds immediately ran away. However, since they hadn’t seen any predators and weren’t frightened, they didn’t run blindly.

Jiang Xuan watched the group of Unihorn Birds run towards the vine basket trap, a smile playing on his lips.

These Unihorn Birds behaved exactly as he had understood them before; if not excessively frightened, they would only run around familiar places.

"Next, we’ll wait for them to walk into the trap themselves."

Jiang Xuan circled around again, heading towards Jing Jie.

Meanwhile, Jing Jie was hiding in the bushes, not holding much hope for such simple traps.

The tribe people all knew the wariness of the Unihorn Birds, thinking how could they be so stupid to dive under the vine basket?

But since Jiang Xuan told him to wait there, he could only wait patiently, praying that their venture into the cold today would yield some results.

Soon enough, that group of Unihorn Birds really was driven over by Jiang Xuan.

They were cautious about the newly appeared vine basket, not approaching at first, but scrutinizing it from afar.

But it wasn’t long before one of the Unihorn Birds discovered the food under the basket.

Since it snowed, these Unihorn Birds found it difficult to find food in the forest. They had been hungry for days.

The temptation of food led this Unihorn Bird to walk involuntarily towards the basket, still vigilantly watching its surroundings, ready to run at the slightest disturbance.

However, until it reached the basket, there was still no movement around, and the food under the vine basket was right in front of its eyes.

Behind the bushes, Jing Jie was getting tense; he constantly prayed in his mind: go in, quickly go in...

The Unihorn Bird first pecked at one grain of food on the edge of the basket experimentally and found no danger, then pecked a second.

Gradually, other Unihorn Birds noticed the situation and started coming over.

The Unihorn Bird that was eating got anxious; it no longer raised its head and pecked more quickly, unknowingly walking right under the basket.

"Whoosh!"

At that moment, Jing Jie suddenly yanked the rope, pulling away the stick supporting the vine basket, which dropped and trapped the Unihorn Bird inside.

"Goo goo goo..."

Inside the vine basket, the trapped Unihorn Bird panicked and tried to escape, but couldn’t see a way out.

Jing Jie rushed up, pouncing on the basket and pressing down on the Unihorn Bird tightly, giving it no chance to fly away.

Startled by Jing Jie, the other Unihorn Birds fled chaotically, running fast across the snow.

Not long after, Jiang Xuan also arrived.

Excitedly, Jing Jie shouted, "Leader, we’ve caught it, really caught it!"

Jiang Xuan laughed, "Grab it now; you’ll squash the bird inside the basket if you’re not careful."

"Alright!"

Jing Jie got up, lifted a corner of the basket, reached inside to grab one of the Unihorn Bird’s wings, and dragged it out, pinning it in the snow.

Afterward, Jiang Xuan tied the bird’s two large legs together, ensuring it couldn’t run away.

"Let’s go, back to the tribe first."

Jiang Xuan and Jing Jie carried the vine basket, rope, and the unfortunate Unihorn Bird back to the tribe.

Jing Jie was particularly happy because he knew that if this method worked to catch one bird, it could catch many more, proving to be a crucial source of food.

Of course, Jiang Xuan knew catching birds alone couldn’t sustain the more than hundred Wanderers.

But it’s alright; he had another idea to help these Wanderers find more food during the harsh winter!