Chapter 574: Toilet Trade

"Then how does your Huaxia do it? Do you just mark out an empty plot of land for people to shit and piss in?"

The Shaman revealed a greedy smile at this moment: "Tribal Chief Xuanyuan, I have already answered your question; I have already told you what a toilet is. However, I can tell you everything about how to build one and how to choose the location, but on the condition that you will unconditionally trade Tung Oil with us from now on, and you cannot refuse us using these reasons. How about it? I think it is very worthwhile, because this seemingly simple matter of shitting and pissing actually leads to many problems."

Xuanyuan suddenly felt that detestable look on the Shaman's face that he had seen on Baifeng—everything had to have a condition attached to it—but the Shaman only brought up conditions after having piqued his curiosity.

"That is not impossible, but I must first ask one thing: is Tung Oil what you use to make weapons, especially that kind of weapon that makes a loud explosion? You only need to answer me this point, because I must ensure that the things traded from me do not end up becoming weapons used to attack us."

The Shaman was very certain and said without a hint of hesitation: "No, it has nothing to do with weapons, but it has to do with daily life. I cannot say specifically what it is."

Since the Shaman had said so, Xuanyuan would not go back on his word, and he gave the Shaman his assurance: "Fine, since it is not used to manufacture weapons, then there is no problem. As long as you explain everything about this toilet clearly to me, I will not make things difficult for Huaxia regarding Tung Oil in the future. We will trade as much as we have, until the day we discover the use of Tung Oil ourselves; then we will prioritize our own usage, and only trade the remainder to you."

Xuanyuan seemed to have given a guarantee, but he also had an additional condition, and the Shaman had no way around it. He only felt that the gap in intelligence between him and Xuanyuan was too great, and he was completely unable to compare to Xuanyuan. However, it was unknown when the Xuanyuan Tribe would discover what Tung Oil was useful for. If they thought about it themselves, they would absolutely never think that Tung Oil could actually be waterproof; only Wang had pointed out its use without any effort.

"Fine, no problem. I can tell you how to build toilets and such now; you can take good note of it."

Xuanyuan pointed at his heart with his finger: "Speak, I am taking note."

"A toilet is a house, but it doesn't matter how big or small it is. For one, it serves as a screen. We are humans, not savages, and certainly not wild beasts; we still wear clothes to cover our bodies, so why is it that we don't need to cover up when we shit and piss?"

Xuanyuan was suddenly stumped by the question. That's right, why? But one couldn't shit or piss while wearing clothes. They had always been in a misconception; the clothes were taken off, but one could still excrete under the cover of something else.

"Uh, you continue."

"Covering up is not just to block the sight of others, but also to block the sun, wind, Snow, and heavy rain. When it is raining or snowing heavily outside, and you are shitting outside, your butt would be freezing in pain when you squat down, right? And you couldn't possibly shit inside your own house, right? You don't have them, do you?"

Among the people of the Xuanyuan Tribe present, some had unsightly expressions, but Xuanyuan's expression remained as usual, as if he had heard nothing.

"Its existence can also isolate the odor. When building it, first dig a large pit underneath to store and pile up the feces. Above it is where people squat—a hole or a trench will do—as long as it allows the feces to fall into the pit. Do you understand what I mean? Or, behind the toilet, dig a large open-air pit, and people can be inside and flush the feces over through a trench."

Xuanyuan already had a bit of a concept in his mind. He was still waiting for the Shaman to continue, because this was definitely not finished. Upon reflection, Huaxia truly had no foul odors, but just doing this should still not be enough, because the feces piled together would also have a stench.

"As for the toilet, you should build it downwind so that when the wind blows, the odor will not affect you. It is best to build a few in a concentrated area and have everyone use them together; this way, the consumption is lower, and it is also easier to handle later on."

"Handle? Do you mean where the feces end up being handled? But it seems to disappear on its own after being left for a while."

The Shaman was just about to speak, but he immediately stopped himself, because this involved the great secret of Huaxia's composting and crop planting, which naturally could not be told. So he changed his explanation: "Aren't there insects that eat feces? Like dung beetles, they specifically eat feces. There are many of them, enough to deal with most of the feces. As for the rest, they are dried by the sun, and then blown away by the wind and washed away by the rain, and in the end, they are everywhere, and you can't see anything. The source of the odor is also related to this."

"But when the feces of many people are piled together, it cannot disappear on its own, because the amount appearing at once is too large. It must be handled by people. It is best to pull it all out and pour it into the Dahe, and the water will wash it clean."

Xuanyuan listened and felt it was very reasonable, but suddenly Dahong became anxious: "Doesn't that mean that what we have been using is the fecal water that you Huaxia washed down? We are downstream from you!"

As soon as Dahong finished speaking, the expressions of the people of the Xuanyuan Tribe were not very good. The Shaman hurriedly explained: "That is not the case. How many people does Huaxia have in total, and how much feces can they produce? Besides, with just that little bit of our feces and such a wide and large river, what does it count for? Furthermore, most of it settles to the bottom as silt. Aren't we also downstream from other tribes? Perhaps we are also drinking the fecal water of other tribes."

Then the Shaman changed the subject: "Besides, I ask you, what kind of water do your Xuanyuan Tribe people drink? Is it that as long as you are thirsty, you see water in a puddle on the ground and drink it as soon as you lower your head? Those who are particular at most find water that looks clear to drink, right?"

Xuanyuan did not refute: "That is how it is, but what of it? Wild beasts are like this. Although humans have separated from wild beasts, in the end, we are the same as wild beasts; we must eat and drink. If wild beasts can drink it, why can't humans?"

"There is more than just fish in the water; there are also insects. The following words are given to you for free: water must be drunk clean. In dirty water, you don't know how many invisible insects there are. Once you drink them, they will grow bigger and bigger in your stomach. The things you eat are all eaten by them. When they have nothing to eat, they will eat your stomach."

"Do many of you suddenly feel that your stomach hurts, as if something is biting it? Sometimes when you shit, you even pass very long white worms, right?"