Chapter 1194, Another Eternal Night

Translator: Silavin

 

The snow season was drawing to a close, and the people of the Flame Dragon Tribe were beginning to prepare for what came after the snow stopped.

 

Following the snow came three days of the eternal night. The Flame Dragon Tribe had to approach those three days with care. It was the sort of period where things could go wrong very quickly.

 

“Shaman, all precautionary measures are in place,” Sha Lan said, her tone serious. “We are ready to face the eternal night.”

 

She had spent the past two days overseeing every detail of the transition out of the snow season. It was no small undertaking.

 

Beyond inspecting everything around the perimeter of the Tribe, she had also arranged patrols through the forest.

 

On top of that, the Tribe’s weapon stores had been reviewed. Three days of Ferocious Beasts driven into frenzy by the eternal night were not to be taken lightly.

 

“You know the behaviour of Ferocious Beasts during the eternal night better than I do,” Su Bai said. “No carelessness.”

 

They had survived one eternal night already. That was not a reason to be complacent. Nobody could say with certainty what might happen.

 

“Yes, Shaman. The Chieftain has also been conducting urgent checks on everything these past few days,” Sha Lan replied. “The aim is to ensure that not a single thing goes wrong over those three days.”

 

Sha Lan was not a careless person. And given how far the Flame Dragon Tribe had come, she would not allow it to be undone carelessly.

 

“I trust you,” Su Bai said. “Tell me how the eternal night has been arranged. I want to hear it in detail.”

 

The preparations against the eternal night had been left entirely to Sha Lan and Yan Jiao. He had had other matters to attend to and had not followed the details closely.

 

“On the final day of the snow season, which is the day after tomorrow, we will significantly increase patrol intensity. Every Warrior is to join the patrol rotation. The aim is to leave no room for error.”

 

Sha Lan paused briefly, then gathered her thoughts and continued. “As for the sentry posts, those will be staffed entirely by soldiers. They are fully capable of holding their positions independently now.”

 

“Good,” Su Bai said with a nod of approval. “Very good. What else?”

 

“Next, weapons. Every Warrior on patrol will be equipped with a recurve bow and a long blade. In addition, more than half of every patrol unit will carry manual firearms. Each unit has eight members.”

 

Sha Lan flicked her cat ears and went on. “The soldiers at the sentry posts will be similarly equipped. Their weapons are complete as well. The one difference is that they will not carry explosive packages. There is simply no use for those on a watchtower.”

 

Her reasoning was that anyone stationed at a watchtower would never need to engage a Ferocious Beast at close range. Explosive packages were better kept for the patrol units.

 

Patrol units might encounter a Ferocious Beast maddened by the eternal night at any moment. If their other weapons failed to do the job, an explosive package could be the thing that saved their lives on the spot.

 

“Well thought out,” Su Bai said, smiling. “Every aspect has been considered carefully.”

 

“Beyond that, our aerial patrols are rather thin this time,” Sha Lan said. “Ai’er and the others have all gone out on separate assignments, so our overhead cover is weaker than usual. Shaman, what should we do about that?”

 

“Don’t worry about it,” Su Bai said. “Just have the watchtower sentries keep their eyes on the sky. There aren’t that many airborne Ferocious Beasts. If it really comes to it, the Grey Feathered Giant Birds can be sent out on patrol. They would do just as well.”

 

“Right, I nearly forgot about that.” Sha Lan said quickly. “I’ll arrange for some Warriors to mount the Grey Feathered Giant Birds and patrol from the air.”

 

“What about the Kerosene Fruit Juice?” Su Bai asked. “Has that all been prepared?”

 

He had previously given instructions for the Kerosene Fruit Juice to be gathered in advance. The grove of Kerosene Fruit trees was not far from the Flame Dragon Tribe, so harvesting had not been difficult.

 

Kerosene Fruit was genuinely useful. It could be burned directly in place of firewood, and the street lamps of the Flame Dragon Tribe currently ran on it.

 

Beyond that, one of the key factors in the Black Snake Tribe’s defeat had been Kerosene Fruit. Animal Hides had been soaked in the juice and set alight, burning through swarms of enemies in one go.

 

“That is ready as well,” Sha Lan said promptly. “We have also had a large number of Animal Hides soaking in advance. If the Ferocious Beasts truly come in overwhelming numbers, those Animal Hides will serve as excellent material to burn.”

 

She remembered that well enough. The preparations had begun at the time of the harvest itself.

 

The torches used by patrol units on night rounds were also connected to Kerosene Fruit. The tip of each torch was wrapped in cloth soaked through with Kerosene Fruit Juice.

 

A torch made that way burned far longer than an ordinary one. A standard torch at its best lasted half an hour. One soaked in Kerosene Fruit Juice lasted two full hours.

 

The difference was obvious. Under normal circumstances, a single night’s patrol would burn through torches at a rate difficult to sustain. With these, that problem was solved.

 

“Let the Warriors eat well over the next few days,” Su Bai said, his voice quiet. “These three days of eternal night are going to be a hard fight.”

 

In the eternal night, the sky never brightened, and every nerve was held taut without rest. The toll on the body was considerable.

 

“Understood. The Chieftain already began giving the Warriors extra meals two days ago. Every day, they receive an additional late-night supper. The Warriors are all very grateful to you,” Sha Lan said, smiling.

 

She herself did not have much of a concept of a late supper. At the Yong’an Building, there was never any shortage of things to eat in the evening.

 

For the Warriors, though, a late supper was something to look forward to. As long as there was food, it did not even matter whether the supper included meat.

 

Though, given the current standing of the Flame Dragon Tribe, of course there was meat.

 

“What are the Warriors being given for their late supper?” Su Bai asked, curious.

 

The evening offerings at the Yong’an Building were rarely the same twice. Sometimes it was a bowl of wheat porridge, sometimes noodles, sometimes charcoal-grilled vegetables.

 

Yu Ying had a way of making sure you never ate the same thing twice in a short stretch of time.

 

“Sweet potato and wheat porridge, with charcoal-grilled potatoes and charcoal-grilled dried meat on the side,” Sha Lan said readily. “Both the potatoes and the dried meat are salted, and taste great.”

 

The sweet potato and wheat porridge was Su Bai’s own contribution. People of the Primitive Era would never have thought of such a thing on their own.

 

Wheat porridge alone had a distinctive, pleasant smell. Adding sweet potato gave it something extra entirely.

 

It was not only the people of the Yong’an Building who were fond of it. Quite a number of people across the Tribe had taken to it as well.

 

“Oh?” Su Bai smiled. “So you have already tried it yourself, have you?”

 

The look on her face gave the answer away. Not that it was surprising. Tasting something to check the flavour first was perfectly normal.

 

“I… I only tried a little to check the taste,” Sha Lan said, showing her small, neat teeth in a smile.