Chapter 113: Another Cattle-Hunting Operation

The work of making canned food has finished. The biggest problem encountered in the process was the threat from a herd of wild elephants. According to the observations of the tribespeople, that herd consists of eight elephants in total, six adults and two calves, and it seems they intend to settle here.

Baifeng only felt it was too unlucky; having just finished killing a pack of wolves, a more troublesome elephant herd arrived. He only hopes that as herbivores, they will not come to affect them; otherwise, even if it is more troublesome and dangerous, they can still kill these elephants.

This year, they made over four hundred cans of peach and apricot preserves in total—of course, the kind where one can is worth several of later generations. Having these is enough for them to eat delicious fruit even in winter, and it tastes much better than just eating fruit or drinking honey water.

More than half of the honey has been used up. Baifeng wanted to go cut some more honey, but it hasn't been long since the last time, so he still has to wait until late autumn for it to be about right.

After the peaches and apricots were harvested, various other nuts were also about to ripen. This is the true Harvest season, and it is also the last batch of resources that the Baifeng Tribe can harvest from the land this year.

Just like last year, chestnuts remain the focus. This year, they are all accustomed to wearing shoes, and the Bamboo Clamping Baskets make their collection speed faster than last year, and there are also Soldiers specifically holding Weapons on guard nearby.

The first tribespeople their tribe lost were killed while picking chestnuts, but they haven't seen that tiger since then, as if it had vanished without a trace.

Riding a Boat to knock down Gujiao is the work of the Fishing Team. This year, they even have wooden boats, which are relatively compact and have a hold, so they aren't afraid of the Gujiao falling into the water. Moreover, the lotus seeds have dried, and it is time for the harvest.

After the lotus seed pods are picked and the lotus seeds are knocked out, the pods are tossed casually into Dahu. Digging for lotus roots won't work yet; the water level is still a bit high, and it is somewhat strenuous for them to dig, so they must wait for the water level to drop further before they can dig for lotus roots.

River crabs have also reached their fattest and most delicious time. Ever since the Tribal Chief took the lead and demonstrated to them that crabs can be eaten and are very delicious, they finally confirmed that this thing is not a hard-shelled spider living in the water.

Crabs are easier to catch; set down the traps and just throw some scraps of meat inside. Set many traps, and after pulling them up, it is a Harvest. However, because crabs cannot be preserved for a long time and must be eaten quickly, the impoverished tribespeople can only use crabs full of yellow roe to stave off hunger.

After these are harvested, and water is stored well in the water cellar, it will soon be the day of the full moon, which is the Mid-Autumn Festival familiar to Baifeng. Now they can go look at that valley to see if the cattle herd has migrated there, and prepare for the last, and most important, hunt before entering Winter.

The hunters traveled light to investigate the situation and discovered that the cattle herd had indeed gathered toward the valley, though the number is still relatively small now and has not reached the quantity of last year.

Baifeng decided to wait a while longer and also took advantage of these few days to rush the production of Weapons. This time, they won't use Bamboo Spears; Wooden Spears are sufficient now, and basically all have been fitted with stone tips. Stone Spears can be thrown, but those with Iron tips are not for throwing; they are for hand-to-hand combat.

This year, there are also enough Strong Bows, which is also a very good means of attack. It is a pity that only six Crossbows have been made so far, and those Iron Crossbow Mechanisms haven't even been used up yet.

Except for the first and second ones, which were crafted exceptionally well, the subsequent crossbows are of average standard, because besides quality, one must also demand quantity. Doing it this way is truly too slow; otherwise, even if they spent an entire winter making crossbows without stopping, they wouldn't be able to arm a hundred-man crossbow unit by next year.

Baifeng gave the first crossbow to Sui for her to use, and Baifeng kept the second one himself. The second one has higher precision. He gave Sui the first one because her physique simply cannot participate in war and hunting; giving her a crossbow provides some self-defense capability, and a weapon that is too good would be a waste on her.

The Baifeng Tribe knows the cattle herd will stay in the valley, so they are not in the slightest hurry. Furthermore, they have no intention of participating in the gathering initiated by the Qiexin Tribe this year; they are not lacking in things, and they don't want to take that risk.

They are preparing steadily this year. The Spears for killing, Arrows, and various Knives for butchering cattle—long-term butchering of various animals has allowed them to figure out knives of different shapes, which have different wonderful uses during work, so Bone-trimming Knives, Blood-letting Knives, Skinning Knives, and so on have emerged as the times require.

Furthermore, the Baskets and frames for transporting meat are indispensable. The Back Frame used last year was purely a last resort; if there is a more labor-saving method, who would be willing to exert that unnecessary effort?

The road to the valley is fine in some places, while in others it is very difficult for the Handcart to pass, so everyone brought various tools directly to clear the road. It is imperative to make this hunting operation go smoothly, because they know how important a successful cattle hunt is to the tribe.

If a tree blocked the way, they sawed the tree down and threw it to the side of the road; if they encountered rocks, they pushed the rocks far away; they filled in pits; if the road was too narrow, they dug it wider. By the time they reached near the valley, the ground was almost all rock, and their strength was unable to clear it, so they could only stop there.

A team of several hundred people cleared the road in two days. When the time comes, they will pull the Handcart directly to the location and then perform the same operation as when picking peaches, except this time almost the entire tribe will be mobilized.

There are many newborns this year, and adding the previous tribespeople, the number has already exceeded eight hundred. Moreover, this year not a single person died of illness or old age; only a few died at the hands of the Cannibal Tribe.

This time, the plan is for five hundred people to set out together, while the others stay to watch the house. He believes that with the high walls and two Strong Crossbows, there won't be any issues. Even with only one hundred Soldiers, they can fully defend it. The last war with the Zhique Tribe already made Baifeng see their combat effectiveness clearly, and besides, they will only be gone for two days.

After organizing everything, everyone set off with Dry Rations and supplies. The Shaman is still staying to watch the house—there is no help for it, as his combat effectiveness is low, but his brain is slightly more useful. This time, Sui is also going along; with such a large team, there is no danger.

To have more ample time, they set off at four or five in the morning with Torches, and by the morning, they had already dropped the carts and arrived at the valley entrance with their Weapons.

Everything is the same as last year, with no major changes. Even because they arrived relatively late, the gathered cattle herd is even larger than last year. In the same location, they do not know how many of their kind died there last year.

Everything is ready. Baifeng lit a fire upwind. After the cattle herd was startled, they fled frantically. This year there are many people, and all along the way, people are using the Spear Thrower to throw Spears downward from high ground.

Because of the effect of gravity, the Spears not only did not lose lethality due to distance, but their power was even more terrifying. Before reaching the pass, a large number of cattle had already fallen on the road.

Baifeng estimates that the cattle caught this year will definitely be double that of last year. As for whether there can be more, it depends on the results at the pass.