Chapter 489: series of pitfalls.
The selfless sun is also extremely domineering. When it awakens from its slumber, all the stars in the sky must retreat from its presence. Even the brightest moon can only leave a faint shadow in the sky.
Outside the walls of the Green Sparrow Tribe, two meters from the gate, a large pit has appeared. It measures over four meters in length, three meters in width, and two meters in depth. Due to the tribe's proximity to the river, the pit has already filled with water at a depth of two meters.
In this pit, the eldest senior brother and his team are burying sharp wooden stakes prepared by Lame and his two assistants. Less than one and a half meters away, two more groups are digging additional pits.
On both sides of the pit being dug, two rectangular areas outlined with plant ash are being dug out to set traps.
This is Han Cheng's arrangement to ensure everything is done properly. After all, the rhinoceros, which is tough-skinned, large, and different from the previous wild boars and tigers, requires more thorough preparation.
Han Cheng has ordered a series of pitfalls to prevent the rhinoceros from climbing out of the pit and continuing to charge at the gate. Even if the rhinoceros is strong enough to climb out of one pit, it will eventually be trapped if it falls into another immediately after.
Han Cheng looked at the numerous wooden spikes, each over a meter long, in the pit with a sinister smile. The Flying Snake Tribe will certainly come, and the rhinoceros will come as well.
He is confident in this because he learned from Tu Mao's account that after attacking the Donkey Tribe, part of the Flying Snake Tribe had come near their tribe and had been scared away. Since they know the difficulties posed by the walls and have the rhinoceros as their trump card, they will not leave it unused.
Furthermore, Han Cheng learned from Tu Mao that the Flying Snake Tribe's shaman had a strong reaction to pottery and salt. This confirms that they will not overlook their tribe.
There are reasons for setting the traps at the courtyard gate. First, the rest of the Green Sparrow Tribe's areas are protected by moats, and only the courtyard gate lacks such protection. Second, Tu Mao informed him that the Flying Snake Tribe has a precedent for using rhinoceroses to charge cave entrances.With these two conditions, Han Cheng is not afraid that the Flying Snake Tribe's rhinoceroses will not pass there. He is relieved that the Flying Snake Tribe's shaman is very cautious, sending a few people to scout and investigate before launching a full attack. Additionally, their food reserves are low, so they need to gather more supplies before bringing their forces to war.
Otherwise, Han Cheng would not have known this evil tribe had such tank-like creatures. If he had been unaware, the tribe would have been highly panicked upon seeing such a giant beast. Moreover, if they were unprepared, their tribe's gate would likely be breached.
Once the defenses are broken and the number of enemy adults is comparable to their tribe, the situation could become dire.
Reflecting on these matters, Han Cheng felt both fortunate and fearful. The several large traps have almost covered all the accessible areas outside the Green Sparrow Tribe. Only narrow paths, less than forty centimeters wide on each side of the traps, are left for passage.
These paths are marked with plant ash to make them noticeable if someone accidentally steps into the traps.
Even if someone accidentally steps on one of the traps, it won’t cause too much trouble. This is because Han Cheng constructed the traps very robustly. This way, it prevents tragic accidents from happening if someone steps on a trap by mistake, and it ensures that when leading the rhinoceros to attack, the person carrying an unknown bundle of grass in front of the rhinoceros won't cause the trap to collapse underfoot, making it difficult to trap the rhinoceros.
However, despite this, no one dares to step on the traps intentionally. They know how terrifying these traps are because they set them up themselves.
In the deer enclosure, Deer Lord stretches its head and calls out, wanting to lead its herd to graze, but the little two-legged creatures have confined it and are feeding it. The deer have not been outside the enclosure for several days. Since the traps were dug outside the courtyard, they have been restricted in their enclosure. After all, while the traps can contain humans, they cannot contain deer.
Tu Mao’s leg, which had been severely swollen, is now less severe. Unlike the three captured and enslaved people, he, as a Level 2 citizen of the Green Sparrow Tribe, has not had his freedom restricted. He uses a stick as a cane and limps to the entrance, looking at the large pit being covered at the edge. He can’t help but shiver. He was captured after falling into a pit and getting his leg impaled by wooden spikes, so he understands the danger of these pits. He never expected that the tribe could make the pits so huge.
Thinking about the rhinoceros falling into these large pits makes Tu Mao’s face pale. Now, he is somewhat worried about the terrifying unicorn. Now, he completely understands why the tribe didn’t panic and migrate after hearing about the unicorn’s ferocity but instead chose to stay.
This nearby tribe has now become incredibly powerful. As the Green Sparrow Tribe continues to dig the traps inside the Flying Snake Tribe, the shaman frowns deeply. On the stone wall in front of him are marks made with stones, indicating each day since the five scouts he sent out left. Many days have passed, and they still have not returned.
He worries whether they were discovered and killed by that tribe or encountered other dangers on the way. He is concerned because if the scouts are captured, it would be problematic if they reveal information about his tribe.
However, he soon laughs, thinking that his worries might be excessive. Firstly, these scouts are skilled at concealing themselves and may not have been discovered or captured. Secondly, even if captured, they couldn’t reveal much useful information since they knew little about the tribe’s specifics. Finally, even if the tribe knows about his tribe’s situation, it doesn’t matter because they have no way to deal with the unicorn!
As he thinks this, someone walks in from outside the cave...