Chapter 1550: Boshui

Xingtian also did not understand why the Jiang Surname Tribe would all rebel. They were so important, the backbone of the Shennong Clan, and direct blood descendants who should have always stood on the same front as the Shennong Clan; he never expected them to all rebel and run away, leaving not a single one behind.

Now he was on the path the Jiang Surname Tribe had traveled, pursuing them relentlessly. He was determined that no matter where Jiang Yuwang and Jiang Ke ran, he would catch up to them.

It was just that this road they had traveled was now a bit unfriendly to him. The wilderness, swept through like a plague of locusts, now had little left for them to eat. In these short ten-plus days, even if all things grew at high speed, there was no time for a new crop to grow for them. Therefore, regarding the issue of food, Xingtian still felt a bit of pressure—no, it should be that those Slaves and his clansmen felt the pressure, because Xingtian did not need to consider it; only those searching for food felt anxious.

Hun was whipping his horse to gallop, speeding across the wilderness to explore the path at the very front for the alliance. Today, he felt the humidity in the air was higher, but there were not many clouds in the sky, nor the high cumulonimbus clouds the King spoke of, so this was not a sign of rain, but rather that there was a massive water source nearby.

Sure enough, as he continued forward along the path the Jiang Surname Tribe had taken, he saw a river that was fairly wide. Judging by its scale, it might be a tributary of the Dahe, only he did not know the name of this water.

In the world, there was only one river called the "He" (Yellow River), and those called "Jiang" were the Yangtze River; all others were named with "Shui" (water), such as the Wei River, Ju River, Qi River, and so on. Therefore, this one was also called "Shui," not "He."

Fortunately, this water did not block their path forward. The direction of this water was diagonal and not parallel to the road they were traveling, so they had not discovered it.

Because the terrain here was flat, the water flowed slowly and steadily, without the sound of crashing waves.

Hun and a few Soldiers dismounted. He wanted to go and see if there were any fish or the like in the water that could supplement the food for their team.

It had not rained for several days, so the water looked relatively clear. On the greenish water surface, looking closely, one could see the shadows of some fish. The birds circling in the sky also indicated that the number of fish in this water was quite large.

Subsequently, he found a few wooden sticks nearby and then used all his strength to throw them into the water one by one. By the forward speed of the sticks, he judged the speed of the current, and secondly, he checked for undercurrents in the water.

Some river water looked exceptionally calm on the surface, but there were undercurrents surging beneath it; it might just sweep you in, and with human ability, it would be extremely difficult to escape.

The Yellow River, on the contrary, was better; after all, its surface and underwater were both equally turbulent. You could see the surface and know it was not to be trifled with. Once in the water, those with average swimming skills would easily lose their lives.

In Huaxia, only the people of the Zisheng tribe were almost born and raised in the water, and only they could face such water with relative composure.

However, the swimming ability of their descendants was declining at a very fast speed. After all, they had left their previous living habits and were no longer soaking in the water every day. The terrestrial genes evolved over tens of thousands of years could quickly defeat the few aquatic genes evolved over a few hundred years. It was already very difficult for the original Zisheng Tribe to find those gifted Sailors.

Regarding this matter, Zisheng had also been worried, even fearing that his tribe would be marginalized by Baifeng because of the decline in swimming ability; after all, when Baifeng took them in back then, he had valued their swimming ability.

So he wondered if they could restore their previous living habits, soaking in the water year-round, in order to regain their former swimming ability and continue to produce excellent descendants.

However, this proposal was naturally rejected by Baifeng, because this was going against Heaven. Zisheng only saw the decline in his descendants' swimming ability, but did not see their current super-high newborn survival rate.

In the past, whether one out of ten of their children could survive was an unknown; after all, the survival conditions in the water were harder than on land.

Although it was not to the point of saying they had to bring infants into the water, by comparison, their survival rate was far lower than on land.

It was just that their living home, combined with unique survival methods and means, made their survival rate after reaching adulthood much higher than those on land. In the water, no wild beast could harm them; on the lake islands, they were kings. Added to that was good enough luck, which was why they had not perished in such a long time, but they had also been unable to develop into a large tribe. Their way of survival made it impossible to develop and grow; a single irresistible natural disaster could completely wipe out such a maverick tribe.

Therefore, Baifeng's rejection of his proposal was inevitable. Baifeng only said: "In all of Huaxia, there are so many young people; as long as you are willing to pick, you can always pick out some with good talent and good swimming ability to cultivate them. There is no need to insist on tormenting your own clansmen."

"Furthermore, now Huaxia has Large Ships and small boats; there is no need for such superb swimming skills as yours. Swimming skills only need to meet the standard. We must still rely on ships; otherwise, why would I build ships?"

Under Baifeng's persuasion and reprimand, Zisheng gave up his dangerous idea. The Zisheng Tribe also completely returned to land. Those with good talent and good swimming ability were still prioritized to join the Navy, while those with average swimming ability engaged in other work in Huaxia.

And other people in Huaxia, as long as their swimming skills met the standard, could also join the Navy. The construction of Huaxia's Navy also entered a virtuous cycle.

As for why Hun wanted to detect the situation of the water here, it was because it might come in handy. Perhaps when they encountered the people of the Xingtian Tribe, they could also utilize this water to catch Xingtian by surprise.

Taking a step back, the water was calm, making it easier to catch fish. Whether by fishing or making a raft to enter the water and cast nets, calm water was certainly better.

After confirming the situation of the water, Hun called out to two Soldiers. The three of them flipped onto their horses in unison and then headed back toward the Large Team.

Xingtian also arrived at the side of this water, but he was walking along the river, and the distance from Hun was quite far. Walking along the river allowed one to find more food, which was also the route the Jiang Surname Tribe had taken.

Xingtian looked at the slowly flowing river water and could not help but chant: "Boshui flows tang-tang, carving wood to spear fish..."