Chapter 115: Starting the Celebration

The tiger arrived at the cow head in a leisurely manner and nudged it twice, seemingly dissatisfied with the lack of meat on the cow head, yet there was still some flesh and blood on the neck area; the tiger, as if it did not see Baifeng and the others, lay down on its own and began to gnaw on the cow neck.

Baifeng took this opportunity to raise his head and aim the crossbow at the tiger's neck, firing an arrow, but it was slightly off, hitting its front leg instead; the tiger felt the pain, let out a loud roar, and prepared to stand up, but the injury on its leg greatly reduced its mobility.

Seeing Baifeng launch an attack, Sui also fired an arrow, and now there were two wounds on the tiger's body; it became even more furious, as no monkey had ever dared to be presumptuous in front of it, and no matter how large a monkey troop was, they were merely its food.

The tiger had not yet realized how powerful upright monkeys who could use weapons were; at this moment, someone had already raised a spear, preparing to throw it, but Baifeng wanted to stop him for the sake of the tiger skin's integrity, as an arrow only made a small hole, and a few more arrows would suffice.

But just as he spoke, the spear had already flown out and pierced the tiger's belly; the tiger, which was already having difficulty standing and walking, could now barely even make a sound, and while a group of people had been preparing to throw, only one person failed to hold back in the end, while the other Soldiers' spears remained in their hands and were not thrown.

Not knowing if a beast's death throes would be fierce, they waited on the side for the tiger to die on its own; the injuries were too severe, and there was no possibility of the tiger surviving, so it gasped for air until it stopped moving.

Baifeng thought this was the consequence of underestimating the enemy, though he did not know if this tiger was the one from the Chestnut Forest; if it was, then it was also revenge.

Using the butt of a spear to poke it, they confirmed the tiger was completely dead before they picked up the cow head again and then worked together to lift the tiger onto the cart.

This should belong to the South China Tiger, weighing probably less than three hundred catties; seeing its confident appearance, one would have thought it was a seven or eight-hundred-catty Siberian tiger, but now it could only be treated as fur.

In order to load the tiger, many tribesmen carried baskets of Beef on their backs and walked, while blood was still dripping down when the tiger was thrown onto the cart; Baifeng thought that this tiger blood should also be a good thing, so he simply decided to drain the blood first.

Their bamboo and wooden cups for holding water were requisitioned to hold the tiger blood; speaking of these cups, they were Baifeng's own design, as carrying water on one's person was truly inconvenient, and water sources in the wild were uncertain and not necessarily clean.

A design like a thermos cup, with a lid to cover it, was better, so wooden and bamboo cups were made, and the lids could also close relatively tightly; usually, they used these cups to carry water to drink, which was extremely convenient, though they were troublesome to make, and it would be better if he could find gourds.

What was certain was that there must be gourds in this river basin, because whether it was in the Zhique Tribe or at the gathering back then, he had seen people using gourds to hold things, but they were quite resistant to things from the Zhique Tribe and were unwilling to use them themselves.

At the time of the gathering, he hadn't thought of it, otherwise he could have traded for some Wax Seeds to plant himself.

After the tiger's blood was drained, it was thrown back onto the cart and they continued on; now the tribesmen already had very sufficient self-confidence, for even a fierce beast like a tiger would die at their hands, so weren't other wild beasts just a pile of meat?

Baifeng and Sui walked together, but Baifeng was thinking that this tiger was a treasure from head to toe; he had never eaten tiger meat, nor had he heard of anyone eating it, but these tiger bones and the tiger penis were treasures for men's health.

Thinking of this, Baifeng also glanced slightly at Sui; ever since that night of drinking, Baifeng no longer restrained himself or held back, but completely released his primal desires.

There was nothing Sui hadn't seen; in her former tribe, whether day or night, as long as it was rest time, there would always be people piled together, so Sui did not have any overly strange thoughts about this, the only difference being why Baifeng's positions were so strange and so varied, as she had never seen other wild people do this.

Previously, Baifeng was afraid that having offspring would distract him, but now he could only let nature take its course; however, he also wanted to try the effects of these tiger bones and the tiger penis, as he had only heard the legends and wanted to experience it himself.

There was plenty of high-proof Wine in the tribe, which could be used to soak the tiger bones, and the tiger blood could probably also be used to soak in wine; he had no experience with this, so he would know after trying it when he got back.

As for the tiger penis, it should be quite long, so he only needed a little, and the rest could be given to the strong Soldiers in the tribe to let them put in some effort and add more children to the tribe.

The time to return to the tribe was the same as scheduled, so the tribesmen left behind did not panic and steadily guarded the city wall; after returning to the tribe, the Shaman came to count the quantities, but the specific numbers were very vague: one basket, one hamper, one cart.

Baifeng wanted to make a Balance Scale, but thinking about it carefully, it didn't seem very necessary, as it would only add to the workload of the tribesmen; it wouldn't be too late to make one after establishing contact with other tribes and starting to have exchanges.

On the night after the goods were put into storage, the Harvest Festival began; even the Soldiers guarding the city wall only needed to guard for one hour before immediately changing shifts, without having to guard for half the night or the whole night, and they could celebrate the next day, so that everyone could experience the joy of the festival.

This year, Baifeng had a good Drum, a drum stretched with cowhide; no one felt that using cowhide to make a musical instrument was a waste, because besides being used as an instrument, this drum had to be used during sacrifices, and it also had to be used to issue orders during war, since everyone had a Whistle, and blowing them would be chaotic.

It was not a hand drum, but a large drum with drumsticks; Baifeng tapped the side of the drum twice, then began to strike the drumhead heavily, and the tribesmen began to light bonfires amidst the sound of the drum.

After three rounds of drumming, the fire was already lit, and everyone gathered around the bonfires; this year there was a giant bonfire pile, as well as many small bonfire piles, and the large bonfire was left for Baifeng to light.

The firewood was pine wood full of resin, and some beeswax was stuck on it to make it burn more easily; Baifeng took a Torch and lit the dry Grass underneath, the grass instantly caught fire, and then ignited the entire bonfire, the flames bright and soaring into the sky.

Baifeng asked the Shaman to bring "Heaven and Earth" over and place it next to the bonfire, letting their deity also come to feel the joy of this Harvest.

Without Baifeng needing to lead, they all knew how to dance; they usually had no chance to dance, and Baifeng beat the drum from above to control the rhythm for them, while they held hands, forming circles one after another, roaring "Ooh ooh," and dancing happily.

Baifeng was tired from beating, but they were not yet tired of dancing, so Baifeng stopped first to eat some roasted meat; in the eyes of the tribesmen, that drum could communicate with the deity, and no one except the Tribal Chief could touch it, so even without music, they still danced happily.

Baifeng ate some roasted meat, drank a liang of Sorghum Wine, settled his stomach for a few minutes, then went up again, picked up the drumsticks, and beat a very classic drum rhythm: "Phoenix Three Nods."

Hearing the change in the drum rhythm, the tribesmen felt it was more rhythmic and more joyful, no longer a monotonous thumping sound, and they danced even more happily and vigorously.