Chapter 359: Xuanyuan's Reflection

After sending Xuanyuan away, Baifeng followed his usual routine. Only after Xuanyuan was completely out of their sight did they hoist the sails and begin the return journey. Of the five hundred types of plants they had brought last time, Changle had only discovered a few types of wild vegetables that were edible, though their taste was very ordinary. He had not found any use for the other plants. He wondered if, among the plants brought back this time, there was one that would allow him to find a use.

Xuanyuan sat on a boat larger than the one from last year, holding that jar in his hands and beginning to study it. This thing looked like Pottery, but felt like Glass to the touch. He was very puzzled; it was yet another object he had never seen before. However, he now had a line of reasoning: this was definitely similar to the craft of making Pottery. Perhaps it was made by placing Glass on Pottery and firing it? He would try it when he got back.

He opened the jar again; there was still half a jar of Tea Leaves inside. As soon as it was opened, he could smell a fragrance that was not particularly strong, but it certainly looked like Tea Leaves, though the color had changed. He pinched a few pieces and put them into his mouth to taste; the flavor was similar to the cup he had drunk during the trade.

He wanted to brew a cup to taste right now, but there was neither a kettle nor a teapot on their boat, only a thick, large pottery pot. To boil water, the few pieces of firewood on their boat were not enough, because they did not have the habit of drinking boiled water and had no thoughts in that regard at all, so naturally, they would not prepare the corresponding items.

Xuanyuan had no choice but to give up, handing the jar to the Soldier beside him and telling him to place it in the Straw so it wouldn't get chipped, and that he would drink it slowly after returning to the tribe.

Having had the experience of a major illness last time, he now dared not ponder problems on the boat. If he were to get lost in thought again, coupled with potential seasickness, and if he were to fall ill, he did not know how long it would take for him to recover after returning.

Therefore, he chatted aimlessly with the people beside him, looked at the scenery on the river, or cast a line to fish.

A few days later, upon returning to the tribe, Xuanyuan finally dared to sit in his cave and carefully ponder the answers Baifeng had given him. What did "light" mean?

Wasn't light everywhere? He stood up and paced slowly in his cave, looking at the bright, scorching sunlight outside the cave entrance. It vanished abruptly after a certain distance into the cave. He suddenly had a flash of inspiration and strode out of the cave.

The ground outside the cave had been trodden very hard due to people frequently going out, becoming shiny and slippery. However, slightly to the side, in a spot rarely stepped on by people, some small, low-lying Grass still grew close to the ground.

He had originally been thinking about light, but seeing this scene, he suddenly understood why it was necessary to till the land. That is to say, for plants to grow, the soil must be a bit loose. To verify his idea, he took out his Knife and drew a line on that patch of ground. He left the left side unchanged, while on the right side, he used the Knife to loosen the soil. He told the Soldiers guarding outside to keep an eye on it, and no matter who came, they were not allowed to walk on the right side, only on the left.

After finishing, he felt it wasn't enough and took the opportunity to pour some water. Looking back into the cave, he saw there was no water in his pottery vat, which made him feel a bit irritable. He wanted to fetch water, but this place was quite far from the water source, and there were people specifically assigned to carry water. It was not the time for water delivery, and the people were still doing other things.

So, he simply lifted his skirt and began to urinate all over that patch of ground. The color of the urine was somewhat yellow, and the smell was quite strong. Xuanyuan did not know why the urine was sometimes yellow and sometimes colorless.

The Soldiers nearby were not surprised by this; everyone did the same. It was just that they would usually walk a little further away, to a place far from where they lived, to relieve themselves or squat, otherwise the smell would be too strong. This also led to the fact that when they walked on the road, they might accidentally step on something soft, but they could blame no one; perhaps someone had stepped on their own as well.

After Baifeng finished, he retreated back into the cave and observed from the edge of the entrance. In the places he did not often step, even if the soil was loose, he still could not see any plants growing.

He lit a Torch and searched his entire cave, wanting to see if there was any kind of plant growing, but as he had guessed, there was none, except for various insects hiding in the corners.

Xuanyuan sat back down on his stool. When Baifeng spoke of light, he pointed at the sun, so the light must be related to the sun. He now understood: where there is no sun, Grass probably cannot grow. However, they had no way to control the sun. Did Baifeng master a way to control the sun?

It was absolutely impossible. If that were the case, Baifeng would have long since kept the sun here permanently below the mountain and not let it rise, and would not be so guarded against him. There must be something he had not figured out.

However, Xuanyuan now had his own set of thinking methods. If he couldn't figure something out at the time, he wouldn't force it, but he would make sure to keep it in his mind at all times. Perhaps after seeing some object or some phenomenon, he would immediately be able to connect it to a certain matter and thoroughly resolve his confusion.

The only thing he had no clue about now was "fertilizer." He didn't even know what fertilizer referred to, nor did he have a general direction, so naturally, he could not think it through.

In their land, the crops they planted were all pulled out stalk by stalk after harvest, then brought back to be used as mats for sleeping, or fed to the livestock they raised.

The Xuanyuan Tribe raised cattle and sheep. The history of raising them was longer than that of the Huaxia; they were raising them long before the Baifeng Tribe was established. However, the quantity was not large, and they were very thin. The only use was for eating meat, as reserve food. They would not develop other uses like Baifeng did. Therefore, the wild nature of these cattle remained very strong. Although they had always been raised by humans, they had not developed a cooperative character with humans and had always regarded humans as predators and enemies.

Xuanyuan could not figure the matter out, so he put it aside and planned to go to that great plain to see their crops. That was the place where Xuanyuan placed the highest hopes, and it was also the necessary food source for attacking the Lieshan Clan.

Between their farmland and the current border of the Lieshan Clan's territory, there was an extremely long buffer zone. That was a place conquered by Xuanyuan. For the sake of food security, he did not plant crops there.

Now, they and the Lieshan Clan had almost never stopped fighting. From the Lieshan Clan taking the initiative to attack, to now them taking the initiative to attack, the Lieshan Clan's territory had already shrunk by half. Of course, the Shennong Clan was also taking advantage of the chaos.