Capítulo 544: Chapter 348: Mangzhu Mountain, Bamboo Rat Tribe
Central South Wilderness, Mangzhu Mountain, Bamboo Rat Tribe.
This is a mountain ridge covered with arrow bamboo and miscanthus grass.
Arrow bamboo is a type of small bamboo, about two to five centiters in diater, but it can grow to four or five ters, even six or seven ters tall. Where arrow bamboo grows, it often forms a continuous patch, with its developed root system almost strangling other plants, very domineering.
Miscanthus grass is a type of grass with strong adaptability. It can grow tenaciously in both fertile and barren soil, occupying a place in the mountains with its strong adaptability and terrifying reproductive ability.
Coincidentally, these two highly reproductive plants are the Bamboo Rat’s favorite foods, perhaps even their staple food.
Bamboo Rats tend to dig burrows and settle in the soil beneath the arrow bamboo and miscanthus grass, gnawing on the main stems and rhizos of arrow bamboo and miscanthus as they dig, sotis even excavating a dedicated granary to store arrow bamboo and miscanthus they can’t finish.
Because of this characteristic of the Bamboo Rats, the people of the Bamboo Rat Tribe, whose totem is the Bamboo Rat, also choose places abundant in arrow bamboo and miscanthus when deciding on a place to live, and excavate nurous burrows for habitation.
Of course, due to the humid and rainy nature of the Southern Wilderness, burrows are not suitable for long-term living, so the people of the Bamboo Rat Tribe build bamboo houses next to the burrows using bamboo and miscanthus. They normally live in the bamboo houses, retreating into the burrows in tis of danger, which is very convenient.
When Feng Chao led the mbers of the Thorny Vine to Mangzhu Mountain, what they saw were lush patches of arrow bamboo and miscanthus, scattered bamboo houses dotting the mountain.
“Is this the Bamboo Rat Tribe?”
Feng Chao curiously surveyed the ridges. Before coming to the central region, Jiang Xuan specifically instructed her to pay attention to two places: one being the Red Ant Tribe, the other the Bamboo Rat Tribe.
Attention to the Red Ant Tribe was necessary because they were overly domineering and had a historical grudge with the Mountain Turtle Tribe, potentially becoming future enemies.
The Bamboo Rat Tribe, on the other hand, drew attention purely because it housed a mineral that Jiang Xuan valued highly—iron ore.
Bronze artifacts had brought about significant changes to the Vine Tribe’s way of life, even promoting the prosperity of external trade and bringing innurable benefits to the Vine Tribe.
Iron tools, being materials more suitable than bronze for crafting tools and weapons, once slted on a large scale, would bring greater changes and benefits to the Vine Tribe.
“Let’s go, let’s first observe the surrounding environnt.”
Feng Chao led over a dozen mbers of the Thorny Vine, disguising themselves as ordinary wanderers. They circled Mangzhu Mountain, finally selecting three main roads in and out of the Bamboo Rat Tribe, and chose spots with good visibility, assigning two people to each road to keep watch.
Feng Chao told the six people, “From today onwards, consider yourselves wanderers, living near the Bamboo Rat Tribe, hunting and gathering like wanderers. If the opportunity arises, try to blend into the Bamboo Rat Tribe, or establish good relations with the tribe mbers, and make sure to quickly grasp the situation of the Bamboo Rat Tribe.”
“The person responsible for gathering intelligence will co every three days. If you need any supplies, you can tell him directly, and the tribe will do its best to et your needs. In case of an ergency, if waiting three days is not an option, two people can be dispatched to the nearby contact point to report.”
The six nodded consecutively. They were all veteran Thorny Vine mbers from the Vine Tribe, and were not only experienced but also familiar with various processes. Keeping an eye on a tribe like the Bamboo Rat Tribe was more than manageable for them.
In fact, for a small tribe like the Bamboo Rat Tribe, if not for Jiang Xuan’s special instructions, assigning two Thorny Vine mbers would have sufficed; six were hardly necessary.
After organizing the personnel, under Feng Chao’s lead, the Thorny Vine mbers imitated the architectural structure of the Bamboo Rat Tribe to build three bamboo houses for the six watch mbers. They even planned to dig three tunnels for ergencies when they had ti.
After everything was arranged, Feng Chao looked at Mangzhu Mountain and murmured, “If only the Giant Claw Tribe could co, in terms of digging tunnels, neither the Rat Tribe nor the Bamboo Rat Tribe can compare with those Giant Claw Beasts.”
Unfortunately, the Giant Claw Tribe was just a small tribe with little ambition and courage. To get them to migrate long distances from the north to the south might require the Vine Tribe to first establish a foothold here, or resort to so coercive asures.
Feng Chao pondered for another mont and said, “The Giant Claw Tribe may not need to co. Borrowing a few Giant Claw Beasts and a few warriors, they can’t possibly refuse, can they?”
As Feng Chao thought about it, she found it more feasible. After further consideration, she concluded that not only could the Giant Claw Tribe, but other tribes’ war beasts or warriors with special skills be borrowed as well.
If these war beasts and warriors could be mobilized, they might play unexpectedly significant roles at crucial monts.
Feng Chao decided that she would convey her thoughts to Jiang Xuan when she returned and strive to bring along a few war beasts and warriors from allied tribes when the Vine Tribe fleet set sail next ti.
“Let’s go, to the next place.”
After arranging for the six to stay and guard, Feng Chao waved her hand and quickly led the others away from the Bamboo Rat Tribe.
Inside a bamboo house within the Bamboo Rat Tribe.
“Crackle…crackle…”
The Bamboo Rat Tribe Witch sat by the fire pit, burning dried arrow bamboo, feeling a bit uneasy.
He was about fifty or sixty years old, with graying hair, a short and lean stature, a face lacking in flesh, and very small eyes but particularly large front teeth. He wore black beast hide clothing, and the Bamboo Rat totem pattern on his face, made him look like a bamboo rat turned spirit.
“What exactly is wrong?”
The Bamboo Rat Tribe Witch paced back and forth inside the hut, unable to pinpoint exactly where the problem might be.
The Bamboo Rat Tribe’s location was relatively remote, with scarce resources and a timid nature, avoiding enmities with other tribes and having no conflicts of interest.
He couldn’t figure out where the danger would co from.
“Let’s do a divination.”
When unable to figure things out, using divination to seek answers from the gods was the most common thod used by witches, including the Bamboo Rat Tribe Witch.
The Bamboo Rat Tribe Witch moved to one side of the bamboo house and took out a well-polished piece of old bamboo.
This old bamboo was a bright yellow, about a foot long, with a finely crafted grass rope attached to the top, its surface almost polished to a patina.
The Bamboo Rat Tribe Witch approached the fire pit, sitting cross-legged, and then cald his mind, extending the end of the old bamboo into the flas, beginning to chant the obscure and difficult witchcraft.
As the sound of the witchcraft began, the flas in the fire pit seed to co alive, dancing in a strange and twisting manner, scorching the old bamboo.
“Crackle…crackle…”
The surface of the old bamboo cracked first under the fla, issuing a series of sounds of varying pitch, and was charred black by the fire.
The Bamboo Rat Tribe Witch closed his eyes tightly, listening intently to these sounds, as if hearing the gods’ instructions.
After the witchcraft incantation ended, the flas in the fire pit resud normalcy, and the crackling sounds ceased. The Bamboo Rat Tribe Witch slowly opened his eyes.
He pulled back the old bamboo, carefully recalling the crackling he had heard, scrutinizing the scorch marks on the bamboo, combining both to arrive at the divination result.
This thod of divination was relatively rare, differing sowhat from common thods like beast bone or turtle shell divination, but the essence was similar.
After careful analysis and comparison, the Bamboo Rat Tribe Witch quickly obtained the result: “The danger cos from the north!”
Simultaneously, the Bamboo Rat Tribe Witch also noticed a vine-like burn pattern on the bamboo, which seed to foretell sothing.
However, due to the limited activity range of the Bamboo Rat Tribe, his understanding of northern tribes was lacking. Even if sothing was divined, he had no way to preemptively avoid it.
All the Bamboo Rat Tribe Witch could do was instruct the tribe’s warriors to be more vigilant against threats from the north.
But when the threat would arrive, what it actually was, and how severe, was not sothing that a witch from a small tribe could divine clearly.
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