Chapter 274: What is Poison

That Soldier of the Zisheng Tribe was somewhat indignant because he thought the Soldier of the Baifeng Tribe was playing a trick on him, but he dared not flare up, so he could only sulk with a sullen face.

The Soldier of the Baifeng Tribe did not say much either; he simply picked up the tea, took a large gulp, swallowed it with a calm expression, and even savored the aftertaste.

At this, the Soldier of the Zisheng Tribe could no longer hold back; they were clearly drinking the same thing, so why did he feel it was so bitter when he drank it, to the point where he couldn't swallow it at all?

The other Soldiers of the Zisheng Tribe were confused and took small sips themselves; it was so bitter their faces twisted together, but since the Soldier of the Baifeng Tribe had swallowed it, it wouldn't look good if they didn't.

Wiping his mouth with his sleeve, the Soldier of the Baifeng Tribe explained: "This thing is called Tea. I heard from the Tribal Chief that it is a treasure discovered by the first Shennong; no matter what poisonous Grass you eat, you can use this thing to detoxify."

"It is a pity that our Baifeng Tribe does not have this and cannot grow it, so these were all traded for with food from the Xuanyuan Clan and the Suiren Clan; they are very precious."

He adjusted his sitting posture, pointed at the tea, and said: "The first time we drank it, it was about the same as you; it was even our Tribal Chief who forced us to drink it. When we first started drinking it, we just felt it was too bitter to swallow, but later we slowly got used to it. Now, not only do we not find it bitter, but there is also a kind of fragrance. You will know once you get used to drinking it in the future. However, given your status, I am afraid it will be hard to drink it; we don't get much of it ourselves, it is too precious."

This string of words contained too much information for the people of the Zisheng Tribe, so they began to ask bit by bit: "What is this 'poison' you speak of? It sounds like a very terrifying thing."

The Soldier of the Baifeng Tribe was very strange: "You don't know what poison is?"

In fact, so much time had passed that they themselves had forgotten that they, too, once did not know what poison was. They would eat something they didn't recognize and then die for no reason, but the next people would still eat it. Only after a few people died like that would they understand that the thing could not be eaten, but they didn't clearly understand why it couldn't be eaten. It was only after the Tribal Chief taught them that they understood what "poison" meant.

Seeing that the people of the Zisheng Tribe were all shaking their heads, the Soldier of the Baifeng Tribe began to teach the people of the Zisheng Tribe just as the Tribal Chief had taught them: "Some fruits and Grass Seed and such cannot be eaten; if you eat them, you will die. You surely know this, right?"

Some of the Zisheng Tribe shook their heads, and some nodded, because the main food of their tribe came from the water, and things like fruits on the shore were a small part, so most people did not know about this saying.

Even in Winter, their tribe would find ways to catch fish. When the Dahu was about to freeze, they would catch enough fish to eat for the whole Winter, or in Winter, they would use fire and stones to slowly chisel open the ice surface, and the fish below would swim over, and they would use fish spears to stab them. The efficiency was very low, but there would be some harvest more or less.

As for other food, perhaps the older ones knew that certain things could not be eaten, but they had not yet taught the young ones; now they were just training their water skills and fishing abilities.

Seeing this, the Soldier of the Baifeng Tribe was speechless. Doing things this way, were they not afraid that one day they would eat their own tribe into extinction?

"Then you surely know that after people are bitten by some snakes, they will die, right? And things like scorpions and centipedes; if they bite you, it is especially painful, it will swell, and in serious cases, people will die. And there are bees, too."

The Baifeng Tribe had examples of people dying from snake bites; even the Tribal Chief had no way to cure them and could only wait for death. Mentioning bees made them fearful; some of them had gone to harvest honey, and no matter how well they wrapped themselves, there would always be a few hiding in the honey. Being stung once was fine, but if a few stung together, one would swell up like a pig's head.

The people of the Zisheng Tribe did know about these things; they were by the water and often saw snakes, and they had seen people die from snake bites, so they were quite afraid.

"This is poison!"

The Zisheng Tribe made a chorus of "ohs," indicating they understood. As for the subsequent questions, they were nothing more than probing about the deeds of the first Shennong and the trading of Tea Leaves. The people of the Zisheng Tribe were curious about everything; after all, they were about to go live in this completely unfamiliar tribe.

In the end, the Zisheng Tribe soldiers who had to stand night watch all forced themselves to drink the tea; they also wanted to see if these Tea Leaves were really that magical.

Just as the Soldier of the Baifeng Tribe intended to leave and return to the Boat, Zisheng suddenly stopped them, saying he still had very important things to say regarding their tribe. Most of their property was still on the small island where they used to live and had not been brought out; he did not know what to do, as they couldn't just abandon it, which would be too much of a pity.

The few soldiers could not make the decision on this matter, so they brought Zisheng onto the Boat to let him tell the Tribal Chief and see what solution the Tribal Chief had.

After listening, Baifeng also felt that they could not abandon everything; after all, it was material to some extent. But after asking Zisheng in detail, he learned that the things on the island were just their small shacks and various dried fish; there was nothing else important or valuable at all.

The most important pearls were already all in Baifeng's hands, and their tribe still had a lot of jade; Baifeng felt there was no need to go get them, as they were of no use even if they were taken.

The Zisheng Tribe was originally a destitute tribe, and for them, the most important things were those fish, but for the Baifeng Tribe, fish were the easiest things to obtain.

All the fish of the Zisheng Tribe combined were not as many as what the Baifeng Tribe caught in a single day. If they traveled such a long distance just to get a few smelly dried fish, Baifeng felt it was not worth it. With that manpower, they could catch them back using their own methods in a day; the distance was too far, there would be loss, and it was dangerous.

Therefore, Baifeng rejected Zisheng's request and indicated that their losses would be compensated by the tribe; once they arrived at the tribe, they would know that a little bit of fish was nothing.

Zisheng still felt it was a pity, but the Tribal Chief was unwilling, and he had no choice but to let everything in their old home gradually rot away.

Having made the determination to abandon everything, Zisheng returned to the shore and arranged for his tribesmen to rest. The bonfire burned all night, and the soldiers on night watch also felt they really had no sleepiness at all; it seemed Tea was a good thing.

The pressure on the Baifeng Tribe soldiers on night watch was even greater. Originally on the Boat, there was nothing that could threaten them, so their night watch was very relaxed. Now they had to look after the people on the shore, and their eyes could not relax for a moment, making it even more strenuous.