But at the last moment Manu was able to hold the vines and tighten his grip before reaching the debris , he managed to save his life.
Manu climbed down and fell to his knees, coughing blood.
Suddenly someone touched Manu's shoulder.
When he turned and looked it was none other than Srini. Half of his face was covered in blood, pressing his wound with one hand to stop the bleeding.
"What happened here? Why are you like this, and where is that horned sheep?" Srini asked.
"Cough… cough… how are you, and how are your wounds?" Manu asked.
"I feel dizziness and if not for the loud sound i would have never woke up . But how about your condition?" Srini asked.
"Not critical. I think I can manage just pain in my stomach," Manu said.
Srini brought water from his bag and gave it to Manu to drink.
"Where is the horned sheep?" Srini asked.
Manu turned his head toward the ruins.
"Why… what… how is this possible?" Srini asked in shock when he looked at the ruins .
Srini stared in disbelief — the horned sheep that had been attacking them was dead, pierced all over by many small metal rods.
"How did you do this? Did anyone help you?" Srini asked.
"What do you think if I say I did it?" Manu replied.
"Oh my God… how did you kill it?" Srini asked.
"No, we killed it. If you hadn't distracted it, I would never have been able to do it," Manu said.
"This… I never thought I'd see a day like this in my life," Srini said, staring at the horned sheep's body.
"Okay, we need to hurry. We have to move. Get me the knife," Manu asked.
"Oh yeah, I forgot. We put it in our bags when we collected some things from the second floor," Srini said.
"Why do you need it?" Srini asked.
"We can't carry this whole horned sheep to the settlement. People were following us, and we don't have the strength to fight with them for the horned sheep. If we don't leave now, the smell will attract other evolved animals. I'll remove the most valuable parts, then we'll go," Manu said.
"Okay, I'll bring it," Srini replied.
The bags were fallen when they encountered the horned sheep.
Srini ran there, picked the knife from the bag, and handed it to Manu.
Manu took the knife and went near the horned sheep. He tried to pierce the skin, but his strength alone wasn't enough.
"Srini, come here," Manu called.
Srini came close.
"Just pull the knife in the same direction I pull it," Manu said.
Manu struck the knife where the metal had pierced the horned sheep, and with Srini's help they forced the skin open. The outer skin was hard, but underneath it was soft. Manu dug deeper, and with Srini's help he removed the valuable parts of the evolved animal.
Evolved animal parts are useful — for making weapons, using skin as clothing, and using bones. But the most important and valuable parts are their hearts. Their meat is poisonous to humans. If anyone collect five evolved-animal hearts and submit them to the settlement, the settlement offers an Enhancement serum that can increase any one of person's strength, speed, or cognitive ability. Or the hearts can be sold on the market for a lot of money. Because of this, people risk their lives to get hearts and obtain the enhancement serum to become stronger
An added advantage is that peoples can neutralize the evolved-animal poison and eat the meat if its necessary. if the meat is consumed for long time it would harm the body of a person too.
Manu pulled the heart from the horned sheep. The heart was covered in black and green spots — some large, some small, and in places overlapping.
"This is the valuable part. What will you do with it? Give it to the settlement or sell it?" Srini asked.
"Let's think about that later. First, we need to get out of here," Manu said.
Both Manu and Srini picked up their bags to leave, when a voice called out, "Where are you two going? You need to settle scores with me."