Chapter 659: The Sanmiao Tribe and the Shennong Clan

Gebaga, the current Tribal Chief of the Sanmiao Tribe, had been seriously ill for a very long time. He had treated himself for many years, yet he was still unable to heal himself. He did not understand why; he had treated countless tribespeople, yet he could not even treat himself. Thus, he decided to go and seek the deity of their Sanmiao Tribe—the deity they believed created the world and created their Sanmiao Tribe—Gesuo.

On this land, the understanding of Medicine was not completely zero, but most tribes and clans did not have a rational, complete concept. Most only understood a little bit, believing that a certain Grass could make one's body feel a little better.

However, this did not include the Shennong Clan and the Sanmiao. The Shennong Clan, because generation after generation of Shennong tasted a hundred Grasses, identified many useful plants. But limited by the era, Shennong believed that people only needed to eat the five grains. Each generation of them also grasped a rudimentary form of Medicine, but it did not spread.

As neighbors, the strength of the Sanmiao Tribe was far inferior to the Shennong Clan, so they had always existed as a subordinate tribe to the Shennong Clan. Their Medicine could be said to have appeared very early. From the matriarchal era, a Leader named Genaga tasted a hundred Grasses and identified food just like Shennong, though her focus was on wild fruits. However, according to the legends of the Sanmiao Tribe, their Genaga also died from accidentally eating poison while tasting a hundred Grasses; Genaga died from horse-sang berries, while Shennong died from heart-breaking Grass.

Over several hundred years, generation after generation of Genaga passed it down. By the time it transitioned to the patriarchal era, the Medicine of the Sanmiao had already developed to be more prosperous. Once the first male Tribal Chief named Gebaga took control of the Sanmiao Tribe, he continued the work of the previous chiefs, continuing to taste a hundred Grasses to treat the illnesses of the tribespeople.

At the same time, the connection with the Shennong Clan had not been severed, and Shennong even bestowed rewards upon him, conferring upon him the title of Medicine King (in the Miao ethnic group, he is called Gebaga; Gebaga is the Medicine King). But later, one generation of Gebaga had a disagreement with the Shennong Clan while exchanging medical knowledge.

Gebaga believed that if people wanted to live a long life, they must eat various fruits and use fruit as their staple food, but Shennong believed that there were not that many fruits for people to eat and that they should eat the five grains. At the same time, their rudimentary medical systems also had obvious differences.

Shennong believed that the human body was just like Nature; its operation must be as regular as day and night, and conforming to the changes of the four seasons was the correct way. What caused people to get sick were various kinds of Evil Qi, such as wind and rain.

But Gebaga did not think so. He felt that the human body should be controlled by humans. What day and night? If you light enough Torches, the night can also become day. Humans should control the rules and then construct a new order. What caused people to get sick was poison—various kinds of toxic bacteria and poisonous insects.

If Baifeng had been at the scene of this debate at that time, he might have been very interested in both sides. And if one were to look at it according to Baifeng's thoughts, he would believe that the reason the two sides produced completely different ideas had to do with the environments in which the two tribes lived.

The Sanmiao lived in an extremely humid place with much miasma and many poisonous insects. At the same time, their territory had far more wild fruits than the Shennong Clan's. Even in Winter, because of the temperature, there would still be some fruit production. In the end, it was a misunderstanding caused by both sides' lack of knowledge about the other's living region.

But Baifeng did not travel to that era. Because of the disagreement caused by this debate, the relationship between the two tribes broke down. The Sanmiao Tribe no longer contacted the Shennong Clan, though the Shennong Clan did not go to punish the Sanmiao Tribe either.

But as for whose theory was correct? It is unknown. Their theories were even completely opposite: one advocated eating more fruit, while the other advocated eating less fruit. The reason later Traditional Chinese Medicine suggests eating less fruit is that it believes its bias is too heavy—that is, its toxicity is too heavy, being too cold or too hot—and that one should eat things like the five grains, which are mild in nature and flavor.

Gebaga believed that eating the five grains would shorten a person's lifespan. The first-generation Shennong lived for over a hundred years, and the title was passed down for a total of 380 years, but this was already too long ago; whether it was true, no one knows. However, this generation's Gebaga was now seriously ill and difficult to heal.

A Miao Father (that is, a doctor) of the Sanmiao, who was also their Miao Old Master (shaman), Gemifagao, accompanied their Tribal Chief Gebaga to seek medicine at Gesuo's residence. But when he returned to the Sanmiao Tribe, he was the only one left.

All the tribespeople were exceptionally panicked. They anxiously asked, "Miao Old Master, how is the Tribal Chief? Did you see Gesuo?"

Gemifagao had a sorrowful expression and shook his head, saying to the other Miao Fathers who had gathered around, "We saw Gesuo, but Gesuo said the Tribal Chief did not have the fortune to obtain the medicine of immortality. The medicine of immortality is the immortal peach, and there are many at Gesuo's residence, but the Tribal Chief was unable to obtain it."

"Gesuo's meaning is that the Tribal Chief is not sick, but that his lifespan has reached its end, so no matter what fruit he eats, it cannot heal him. The only thing that could keep him alive is the medicine of immortality, but the Tribal Chief could not obtain it."

"However, Gesuo promised the Tribal Chief that after he dies, he will be able to receive offerings from people just like him. All Miao Fathers must offer to the Tribal Chief before practicing medicine, even if it is just a reward for the Tribal Chief having treated so many people."

The expressions of the tribespeople changed constantly, but in the end, it only turned into a sigh: "Alas, the Tribal Chief did not return—is he dead?"

Gemifagao was equally sorrowful and nodded, effectively confirming the bad news.

But now everyone had another problem, which was what to do now that the Sanmiao Tribe had no Tribal Chief. The Sanmiao Tribe did not have a rule that the Tribal Chief's son should be the Tribal Chief; rather, whoever had the highest medical skill and the strongest ability should be the Tribal Chief. Now, everyone believed that the one with the highest level was this Gemifagao, who was both a Miao Father and a Miao Old Master.

The Miao Old Master had also existed in the Sanmiao Tribe for a long time, so long that it was unknown when they appeared. They knew magic and also knew Gu; they bore the responsibility of sacrifices in the tribe. After tribespeople died, they also needed him to send the person's soul away.

They believed that a person had three souls: one would go to Heaven to see the deities and their ancestors, one would be reincarnated to become a new person, and one would remain on their corpse and not leave.

However, since the Sanmiao Tribe existed until now, there was only this one person, Gemifagao, who possessed both identities at the same time. At the same time, he was also teaching his skills to his descendants. It was already certain that Gemifagao's descendants would definitely be like him, holding two positions.

The most important point was that Gemifagao created a method of pulse diagnosis. He called this method the Deer-Horse Pulse. No matter what the illness was, he would place his hand on a person's wrist and immediately know. Placing it on the inner side could diagnose illness; placing it on the outer side could determine a person's life or death. This was the reason why all the Miao Fathers trusted Gemifagao so much; they also believed that Gemifagao must be the next Tribal Chief of the Sanmiao Tribe.