Chapter 122: The Second Year

Not attending the gathering had no impact on the Baifeng tribe, and it also avoided the dangers that might have been encountered on the road or at the gathering. Naturally, they also did not know what the various tribes throughout the Dahe basin thought of the Baifeng tribe, nor the speculations regarding why the Baifeng tribe did not come to attend the gathering.

Qiexin could not figure out why a very powerful tribe had appeared out of nowhere, yet he had never heard of it before this. However, from the mouths of wandering savages, he could not obtain any information about the Baifeng tribe.

Was it that some accident had occurred within the short span of a year that could have destroyed the entire Baifeng tribe, or had their whole tribe migrated? Or was it the possibility he least wanted to believe, which was that what Suirenshi said was false? If Suirenshi was not afraid of the disasters brought about by deceiving the gods, this would be a very terrifying matter for the entire human race.

Regarding the fact that the Baifeng tribe did not go to the gathering, Baoxi was not very shocked after learning of it, and he felt that this situation was more likely. After all, Baifeng was a very cautious person, and if his tribe were truly as wealthy as it appeared on the surface, there would be no need at all to go to the gathering.

At the same time, he also learned from wandering savages and the Soldiers he sent out that at the location Baifeng mentioned, there simply did not exist a Baifeng tribe. They even expanded their search range and paid with the lives of many Soldiers for this, but the result was that no such tribe could be found.

Sending Wangzuo to the gathering was merely pinning hope on that not-so-high probability.

The Baifeng tribe was very lively because their "Year," the Winter Solstice, had arrived. Besides not having to work and being able to rest for a few days, there were also celebratory activities just like the Harvest Festival. What people looked forward to most was the reward for the tribespeople on this day.

The abilities of the tribespeople were very uneven, almost in a state of polarization. Those who were capable were allotted both wives and men this year, as well as grain, while those who were incapable could only rely on the most basic supplies provided by the tribe to avoid starving to death.

Except for those who had their own skills and were willing to work more, the others who could earn that extra work-point, which could now be exchanged for rewards, were either lucky or were the type who had a spirit of exploration and had indeed achieved results.

For example, the few people who created Glass, although the progress was slow and the finished products were not very good, still received rewards. After all, the prospects for Glass were very good. The others were the two people who found honey and those who found chickens.

Baifeng had wanted to go harvest the honey one more time, but when he went the second time, he discovered that although the beehive was very large, the honey had already decreased by a lot. Because there was no season for flowers, the bees could only eat the stored honey; the remainder was what they used to survive the Winter. In order not to destroy the stability of the bee population, Baifeng finally gave up the plan to harvest honey.

The chickens were also being raised very smoothly, with almost no disasters or illnesses. He built a large chicken coop for them with a spacious activity space outside. Having had their wing feathers clipped, they could not even glide.

But after an eagle stole a chicken and successfully caught a hen, Baifeng realized he needed to make some cover and hiding places for the chickens in the open area. Thus, he simply transplanted a few trees inside. Regardless of whether they could survive, at least even if they were just dry branches, it would be enough for the chickens to have a place to hide.

As for the Glass, although Glass plates had already been made and could be used as Windows, because others felt that a Window was a superfluous thing, they had not left any Windows since the construction began, focusing mainly on being cold and dim. Now, even if they envied Baifeng's house, there was no way, because they simply could not break through the Brick-mixed walls.

The apprentice Baifeng took in, Yi, although he had not done anything major, had already been following Baifeng for more than a year. He could recognize various medicinal Grass and perform simple treatments. Moreover, people nowadays did not have many minor illnesses and their bodies were relatively strong, except for a lot of rheumatism because the places they lived were cold and damp. It was fine now, but in the past, soaking in the rain was a common occurrence; they might have already died before the illness flared up.

Although the people of the Baifeng tribe were not yet old enough for everyone to have severe rheumatism, and it could even be said to be a very young tribe, the root causes of illness that had already been laid down could not be underestimated. Therefore, Yi boiled medicine for those who said their legs often felt weak and sore, which was more obvious on cloudy and rainy days, for them to soak in.

Usually, he mostly just stitched up wounds that were severely injured for the tribespeople and treated bruises. Major illnesses were still handled by Baifeng, although there were no major illnesses to treat.

Yi and Lu were the young people Baifeng thought highly of. One was being cultivated with care and would definitely be able to take over his medical duties in the future. Lu was still relatively thin and small, but he could still grow, and it was not impossible for him to become a Soldier who followed the agility route.

This year, there were not many good things to give them as rewards. The Knife they coveted last year was now in everyone's hands, and the same went for bows. Crossbows now seemed to have become the patent of women; men should use bows, so the newly made Crossbows could not be used as rewards.

Finally, Baifeng chose the hard currency of this era: grain. In Winter, he would not give the tribespeople as abundant grain as during the busy farming season; he would reduce the supply. But because this year's Harvest was indeed sufficiently abundant, the amount of grain that could be exchanged for those with work-points was also very considerable.

Like the few most capable people, the grain and meat they exchanged were enough for them to eat the same way as in Summer and Autumn, all the way until the beginning of Spring. This reward was what truly made the other tribespeople feel envious; after all, other rewards could not be eaten, and in this era, grain was the most important thing.

Those who were slacking off were still slacking off. If they were still like this next year, Baifeng could only ensure they would not starve to death. If things went smoothly and he actively annexed a few more tribes next year, then these lazy people would sooner or later be pushed to the lowest level, even if they were originally people of the Baifeng tribe.

This time, the Year would be celebrated for several days; it was actually just a holiday for them. At the same time, Xiong's "first" son was born. Why say "first"? Because among the children born in the tribe before, there were probably some with Xiong's seed, but this was the first one that could be completely confirmed to be Xiong's own.

Baifeng sent him blessings and also gave the child a name—Shaoyin, meaning little tiger. Baifeng hoped that the child born from the genes of the two top people in this tribe would be able to surpass his parents in the future.

Xiong also felt a peculiar emotion. In the past, his attitude toward the children of the tribe was that they were things that only ate and could not work, and were very weak; they were simply a burden to the tribe. Why couldn't they be like wild beasts, able to walk as soon as they landed and forage for food on their own in a few months?

Now, listening to Baifeng's blessings and the words about being a father from his mouth, Xiong looked at the wrinkled infant in his wife's arms and actually smiled foolishly.