Capítulo 540: Chapter 344: The Old Witch’s Persistence
The ninth year of the Vine Tribe’s establishnt, the first day of February.
Outside the Red Ant Tribe, Feng Chao disguised as an ordinary wanderer, accompanied by a few team mbers from Thorny Vine, observed this peculiar large tribe from afar.
They saw rows of orderly giant red ants busy moving things into the enormous Ant Nest, including food and various materials.
Feng Chao observed for a while, and her brows couldn’t help but furrow deeply.
The Red Ant Tribe is unlike any other tribe she has ever seen, such a large tribe, yet there isn’t a single wanderer nearby.
Those giant red ants greedily moved everything from the surrounding forest, including food and wood, back to the tribe, leaving no decent prey behind.
This kind of environnt leaves no space for wanderers to survive.
A team mber said helplessly: “Leader, this mission is too difficult, the Red Ant Tribe is heavily guarded, we can’t get in.”
“No matter how difficult, it must be completed. If we can’t get in, then think of other ways. Did we co all the way to the central region at great pains just to take a look and then go back to tell the tribe leader the mission can’t be completed?”
Feng Chao’s words made the team mber lower their head, not daring to speak further.
The leader, for many mbers of the Vine Tribe, is not just a leader, but also a benefactor who changed their fate, and an object of fervent admiration.
They don’t want to disappoint their leader, even though many tis the leader never blas them.
Feng Chao continued: “Since we can’t get in, first record the daily number of tribe mbers entering and exiting the Red Ant Tribe, this is also very important intelligence.”
“Yes!”
Counting the tribe mbers of a large tribe is a very complex task, requiring absolute patience.
Fortunately, most mbers of Thorny Vine are not lacking in patience, and have all been trained in counting.
Starting from one day, every day, two mbers from Thorny Vine were stationed outside the Red Ant Tribe, recording the numbers of tribe mbers entering and exiting day after day, as well as so relatively special information.
As for Feng Chao, as the leader of Thorny Vine, having arrived in a foreign land, her tasks were even more complex, including training new mbers, securing important tribe mbers from various tribes, investigating various resources in the central region, etc.
Among them, the Bamboo Rat Tribe was her key focus because it contained resources specifically ntioned by Jiang Xuan—iron ore.
…
Northern South Wilderness, Vine Tribe, shipyard.
Jiang Xuan, while inspecting those large ships under construction, asked the person in charge of the shipyard beside him: “How is the progress of shipbuilding?”
The person in charge of the shipyard responded: “Leader, currently, eighteen large ships are under construction, with three of them nearing completion, expected to begin trial sailing in a month.”
Jiang Xuan nodded and said: “These ships are our key carriers for entering the central region; construction speed must be quick, and quality should be good. If you lack manpower, I will transfer a batch for you; if you lack materials, let Dong Kui allocate them directly.”
“Thank you, Leader, I will definitely complete the task on ti.”
The person in charge of the shipyard was very excited, with Jiang Xuan’s word, he no longer had to worry about shortages of manpower and materials.
Jiang Xuan took a tour of the shipyard, basically finding no major problems, and left satisfied.
Then he went to inspect the preparation of various materials such as food, weapons, and clothes, and promptly let relevant personnel correct issues found during inspections.
Heading to the central region to establish new territory is a very complex matter, after all, the journey is too far.
All personnel and materials must be prepared in advance, no matter which aspect has problems, it could beco major trouble at that ti.
While ensuring the tribe can operate normally, the Vine Tribe needs at least half a year to allocate enough manpower and materials to be sent to the central region.
Such a large-scale operation that involves the whole tribe is complex beyond imagination, it can’t be just a spur-of-the-mont decision.
…
Eastern Wilderness, Eagle Tribe, New Eagle Mountain.
Since the Great Rift Valley extended into the Eastern Wilderness, Eagle Mountain, where the Eagle Tribe had lived for countless years, collapsed. For survival, the Eagle Tribe under the Old Witch’s guidance migrated entirely, and later finally found suitable land and a new eagle mountain before the onset of winter.
Now, winter has finally passed, and the tribespeople of the Eagle Tribe are about to start large-scale construction, hoping to restore the prosperity of the Eagle Tribe in this new territory.
“It’s finally spring.”
The wooden door of the stone house halfway up the mountain was opened, and the Old Witch ca out, looked at the trickling water flowing down the mountain, and felt very pleased.
“Screech!”
A giant black eagle flew from afar, like a cloud, casting a large shadow.
Upon closer inspection, it also had a big wild bull caught in its claws, but due to its massive size, the bull didn’t seem significant.
“Boom!”
The giant black eagle landed on a patch of empty ground near the stone house, throwing down the big wild bull along with it.
Then, it tore open the bull’s skin with its sharp beak, pecked out a fresh piece of beef, and waddled over to the Old Witch.
The Old Witch smiled as she took the beef from the eagle’s mouth, saying, “Old friend, you always rember best; you let taste the delicious food first.”
The black giant eagle wanted to nuzzle the Old Witch affectionately but feared its strength might knock him over.
However, the Old Witch understood its intentions and reached out to stroke the feathers on its head.
The black giant eagle finally felt satisfied, swaggering back to its nest and eagerly pecking at the wild beef.
The Old Witch also took that fresh beef back, simply cut it into pieces, and put it into a pottery jar to stew.
He was already very old, with sparse teeth, so the at had to be stewed until tender to be enjoyed thoroughly.
After about two hours of stewing, the Old Witch took out a pair of gleaming Beast Teeth chopsticks, picked up a piece of beef to taste, then sighed, saying, “I’ve been spoiled by those youngsters from the Vine Tribe; the food I cook myself always seems not as good.”
After living in the Vine Tribe for a few years, many of his original habits had changed, such as using chopsticks and adding spices to cook at.
The pair of Beast Teeth chopsticks in his hand were given to him by Chen Feng.
He then thought of his unfinished Great Wilderness Hundred Herbs Map.
“I wonder if Chi Shao has continued to refine the Great Wilderness Hundred Herbs Map for ; I really want to go back and see.”
At this mont, a voice ca from outside the door: “Old Witch, is that Vine Tribe really as good as you say?”
“Yes, even after being back for so long, you can’t forget it.”
The leader of the Eagle Tribe and the new Witch walked in from outside; they respectfully saluted the Old Witch first before sitting by the firepit.
The Old Witch said, “You don’t understand; if you have the chance in the future, go see it for yourself.”
The leader of the Eagle Tribe said, “I really want to see it, but the tribe has just migrated here, and I, as the leader, really can’t leave.”
The leader couldn’t leave, and as the spiritual leader of the tribe, the Witch couldn’t either, so the new Witch just sighed.
The Old Witch took two pottery bowls and handed them to them, also giving each of them a pair of chopsticks, letting them pick the at themselves.
The leader said with a bitter face, “Old Witch, spare ; I really can’t learn to use two sticks to pick up at.”
The new Witch tried hard but could only bring the bowl to his mouth to prevent the at from falling.
The Old Witch didn’t mind, directly asking, “Tell , why did you two co looking for today?”
Hearing the Old Witch’s question, the leader of the Eagle Tribe and the new Witch imdiately put down their chopsticks and began discussing serious matters.
The new Witch said, “We ca to ask you, should the tribe really imdiately start cultivating the wasteland down the mountain to plant things?”
The Old Witch didn’t even lift his head, replying, “Of course, haven’t I ntioned before? The Vine Tribe relied on farming and taming wild beasts to obtain enough food, thus growing rapidly.”
The leader contemplated the words, saying, “Old Witch, my thought is this: our Eagle Tribe is best at hunting and taming wild beasts. As for cultivating land, we really lack experience; can we delay it a bit?”
Opening up wasteland and farming require a huge amount of labor and resources, especially for large tribes like the Eagle Tribe, where the daily food consumption by so many mbers is astonishing.
Hunting, gathering, and taming wild beasts yield quick results, but cultivating land requires too much ti and effort; according to experiences with slash-and-burn agriculture, the results aren’t great, so the leader of the Eagle Tribe and the new Witch were hesitant.
The Old Witch looked at the new Witch and said, “Do you think the sa?”
The new Witch lowered his head, saying, “We’ve just migrated here not long ago; the tribe mbers haven’t settled yet. Now, starting cultivation is indeed a bit early, and it’s hard for the tribe mbers to understand.”
“You taught , as a Witch, maintaining the stability of the tribe is the most important thing, so… I also think this matter of cultivating land should be postponed.”
The Old Witch sighed, saying, “But if we don’t cultivate now, we’ll miss the planting season and won’t have a good harvest this year.”
The leader and new Witch both lowered their heads, not responding.
The Old Witch closed his eyes, pondering for quite a while, then spoke, “Give a hundred tribesn; they don’t have to be very strong. I’ll personally lead them to cultivate the land; as for the others, do as you wish.”
Hearing these words, the new Witch hastily said with alarm, “How can I let you, sir, personally do it? I’ll arrange soone else to do this.”
The leader also wanted to persuade but was directly stopped by the Old Witch.
“No need to say more; I’ve decided unless you think this old man isn’t qualified to lead even a hundred tribesn.”
“This… alright.”
The Old Witch’s determination left the leader and new Witch with no choice but to comply with his idea, arranging over a hundred tribesn to obey the Old Witch’s orders.
Soon, under the leadership of the Old Witch, these hundred-plus people carried their tools, starting to cultivate the land in front of New Eagle Mountain bit by bit.
Following the farming processes he saw in the Vine Tribe, the Old Witch led them to burn the land, turn the soil, clear stones and roots, dig trenches, pile compost, and nurture seedlings…
Although most of the tribe mbers didn’t understand, the Old Witch was determined to do this challenging and unrewarding task.
He wanted to prove that farming could provide the tribe with a more stable food source than hunting and taming wild beasts.
The tribe was no longer under the Old Witch’s rule; he could have relinquished responsibility and enjoyed his life, but he didn’t do so.
For the future of the Eagle Tribe, the Old Witch did not hesitate to get covered in mud, fighting once more.
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