Chapter 236: The Outbreak of the Rabbit Plague

At this time, the Suiren clan had just ended their internal conflicts and were in a state of chaos; before all the troublesome matters could be wrapped up, they encountered an external problem: a rabbit plague. They were not spared from this disaster, although they had not suffered from the snow disaster, and animals had even fled toward them, bringing them benefits for a long period of time.

However, when the rabbit plague broke out, it would not remain fixed in one zone like the snow disaster; they were mobile, and their speed was relatively fast. The Suiren clan received the first wave of the impact.

At first, they did not discover any problems, even thinking that it was the same as before, that the gods were favoring them again by sending them so much prey. But what they did not expect was that they could not catch them all—they simply could not catch them all.

Rabbits run very fast and are small in size, so their hunting methods were relatively difficult for catching them. They could only rely on various Traps, but the Traps were full every day. Once a Trap caught something, it had to be reset; although they could be reused, the interval was very long.

The rabbits were crazily gnawing on all kinds of Grass in their territory, compressing the living space of other herbivores, and the herbivores were forced to move away.

However, various carnivores did not leave; instead, they followed the rabbits. For them, rabbits that could be seen everywhere were much easier to catch than large prey. The first to bear the brunt were the wolf packs.

Although the arrival of the wild beasts reduced the pressure on the Suiren clan, it would still take a very long time to completely resolve the crisis of the rabbit plague. After all, the reproduction speed of wild beasts was not as fast as that of rabbits, and the arrival of a large number of wild beasts also brought danger to the tribespeople of the Suiren clan. Wild beasts could catch more than just rabbits; humans were also on their menu.

Likewise, because of the abundant food, the reproduction speed of the wild beasts also increased, as the survival rate was higher. Of course, this state would not last long. Without food, the number of rabbits would naturally decline sooner or later, and the same rule applied to the wild beasts; after a surge comes a plunge, followed by a state of balance. This is the way of balance in Nature, but during the disaster, the losses suffered were also obvious.

As for how to survive this strange natural disaster, it depended on one's own abilities.

After about a month of trekking, Baifeng and the others finally returned to the tribe. In fact, while on the road, he had already felt that something was wrong; the traces of the rabbits' movements were too obvious.

The Grass had decreased significantly, the ground was bare, and much of it consisted only of newly sprouted shoots. The bark of trees near the ground had been gnawed away. Baifeng estimated that their tribe was already experiencing the rabbit plague. He just did not know if his tribespeople had listened to him and made defensive preparations. It was now almost time for the Autumn Harvest, and their food must not suffer any losses. Now, they not only had to worry about the natural disaster but also had to worry about the rabbits.

When Baifeng returned to the tribe, the worried tribespeople finally set their hearts at ease. A Tribal Chief who could predict that a rabbit plague would occur must have a way to end this disaster; after all, the Tribal Chief could even release Heavenly Thunder.

Baifeng did not even rest. After returning, he had the shaman count and store the items they had brought back, and then he checked on the pregnant Sui. After confirming she was fine, he immediately began to observe the disaster situation in the tribe without stopping.

After a month, the number of rabbits around the Baifeng tribe had truly become a plague. The cattle herd no longer had Grass to eat and were eating the fodder left over from last year. Fortunately, the amount of that fodder could last until the Autumn Harvest. After the grain was harvested, the stalks could be fed to the cattle. Even if it could not last until that time, they could harvest a portion of the Sorghum early to feed the cattle. Although Sorghum was important, the cattle were even more important to them.

The trouble with the city wall was relatively large. They had laid Cement inside, but the places where it had not been laid had already been riddled with many holes. Even in places where Cement had already been applied, the rabbits would dig even deeper holes to bypass it.

If this continued, the ground under the city wall of the Baifeng tribe would become hollow. When that time came, it might not even require heavy rain for it to collapse directly.

This was already a very major safety hazard, and the tribespeople did not know what to do. Fortunately, some experienced tribespeople used Cement, sand, and stone to fill the holes that had been dug. The same method was used for the holes in the wall. This was already the best method; even Baifeng could only do this.

Now, Baifeng could only let the Cement Kiln run at full power, burning Cement day and night. Not only did they need to lay it inside, but they also had to lay it outside. In this way, not only could they resist the rabbits to a certain extent, but they could also waterproof and drain water, preventing the water from flushing open the rabbit holes and collapsing the city wall. One must know that it was almost the rainy season now, and the volume of water from a rainstorm was terrifying.

Fortunately, the farmland had not yet suffered, perhaps because the places the rabbits gnawed were relatively few and scattered, so they could not see it. After all, no tribesperson was allowed to step into the fields. Baifeng had long had rules; the punishment for anyone who dared to enter the fields was very severe. Now, the only ones who could enter the fields and be relied upon were the dog packs.

The dogs were small in size with small paws, so they were not afraid of trampling the fields. They could also rely on their physical advantage to run through the fields and catch rabbits.

The rabbits they caught basically belonged to them to eat, but they were still boiled before being given to them. This was to avoid inciting their wild nature. Now they were still obedient; when they caught a rabbit, as long as their master came to ask for it, they would obediently put it down, and there would be no such thing as secretly digging a hole and burying the rabbit somewhere.

Because the entire tribe caught too many rabbits, including the children who were now catching rabbits, the Carpenter even specifically modified their small Crossbows for the children. Now the children were all experts at hunting rabbits.

At first, they would still crave meat and ask for some of the rabbits they caught to take back and eat themselves. The shaman naturally agreed, because these children could not do any important work at the moment; their daily work was simple and small in volume, and the remaining time was free. They were playing while hunting, and all the tribespeople were very satisfied with the state of these children.

However, later on, these children were simply hunting rabbits for the sake of hunting rabbits, no longer for the sake of eating, but for fun. Rabbit meat had no flavor and was hard and stringy. It was fine to eat it occasionally to satisfy a craving, but they really could not handle it every day. Not only was it unpalatable and greasy, but it was also hard on the teeth.

As meat, the rabbits were first supplied to the tribespeople. Later, the tribespeople got tired of eating them and would rather drink meat soup than eat the meat, so the meat went to the Free People. As a result, the Free People also got tired of eating it, and now it had become the food for the Slaves.

Of course, it was impossible to give the Slaves much; most of the rabbit meat was salted or smoked and stored away. What was given to the Slaves was only a very small portion.

The Slaves could only taste the meat and see the oil in their daily meals. If they were lucky, they could scoop up a little bit of shredded meat in the big pot, which made them overjoyed. How could they get tired of eating it? They wished they could have this to eat every day.