Chapter 67

Once on tribal territory, the calf began to frolic, knowing that no wild beasts would suddenly jump out of the grass to bite its neck.

Even if there were, it could run to the tribe for help; it was very familiar with this area from wandering around every day, and there was enough grass here to eat, unlike the pasture it had been to, where the ground had been turned over several times.

The herd it brought also stopped to tear into the green grass, eating happily; Baifeng did not disturb them, but patted the calf on the forehead before leading the warriors toward the tribal settlement.

Sui had been standing on the city wall waiting for Baifeng to return, and from afar, she saw him beside the white calf, so she hurried down to open the city gate with the other warriors.

As Baifeng got closer, Sui rushed over like the wind and threw herself into his arms; Baifeng was a bit overwhelmed by this, as they didn't usually have much physical contact, for he was afraid he wouldn't be able to control himself.

The tribespeople didn't react to this, as they had seen much more exciting things in the wild; Baifeng just hugged Sui tightly and patted her back gently.

When Sui looked up, her eyes were teary, for in this era, going out once might mean never coming back, and the probability was high; she wanted to follow Baifeng so she could feel at ease, but he usually didn't allow her to go too far unless there were enough warriors with them.

After confirming Baifeng was fine, Sui wiped her tears, let go of him, and ran to the calf; she didn't care about the other cattle at all, only wanting to scratch the calf's neck, as it used to serve as a pillow when it first arrived at the tribe, its thick belly being the most comfortable to rest on.

When the warriors patrolling the city wall saw so many cattle on the wilderness, they immediately set up their heavy crossbows, waiting for Baifeng's order to fire the spear-like arrows.

However, Baifeng did not give the order to attack and even told them to lower their crossbows; although the warrior didn't understand, he obeyed, though he remained puzzled as to why the herd dared to graze leisurely on their tribal land.

The cattle were not only eating grass, but they also discovered some small salt blocks and debris dropped by Baifeng's tribespeople during salt transport; this was extremely attractive to them, so the cattle that found the salt stopped grazing to focus on licking it.

Baifeng didn't let the calf into the city, as it was the leader of the herd and needed to stay outside to control them; since there was no place for them inside, letting only the calf in might cause the herd to run off uncontrollably.

After Sui finished scratching the calf's neck and cleaning its fur, they walked into the city together; the calf looked at Baifeng, wanting to follow, but when Baifeng turned to look at the herd, the calf looked too, lifted its hoof, and decided to stay behind to graze.

Baifeng found Gao and asked him to fire a few more large water pipes to be installed outside the city, using bricks and cement to build a large trough underneath to provide water for the herd, with a fixed schedule to help the cattle form a habit, allowing them to arrive at the watering spot at a unified time for future planning.

As for why it was placed outside the city, Baifeng wanted them to find their own food and develop the habit of leaving early and returning late, coming back to the enclosure at night; meanwhile, the tribespeople began preparing silage, cutting and storing grass during the peak of summer to feed the herd through the winter.

Furthermore, their tribe grew enough crops that after the harvest, the straw would serve as excellent fodder for the cattle; the current task was to build the enclosure well, get the herd used to its existence, and establish a routine of returning there to rest.

Neither summer nor autumn were good times for slaughtering cattle, so they would have to wait until winter to cull some of the old and weak; the calves also needed to be well-cared for, and after a few generations, the herd's wildness would gradually diminish, and by then, the herd would have grown significantly.

The tribespeople were extremely happy about the increase in cattle, although the chief had already stated that they could not be slaughtered now, nor should their normal lives be overly disturbed; it had to be a slow process to let the herd adapt to human presence.

As for the enclosure, it would be built with rammed earth just like the city wall, with plenty of space, and only a small roofed area was needed to provide shelter during rain or snow.

Then, a hole would be opened in the existing city wall, large enough for the cattle to pass through, so that in the event of war or wild beast attacks, the herd could be brought inside the city walls to minimize losses and protect them.

Just as Baifeng and the others were arranging the cattle enclosure, a small tribe of less than a hundred people, three days' journey away, was ransacked and everyone was killed, including the children.

This was the work of the Zhiqiao tribe, a nomadic group of three hundred people with no fixed home, who usually hunted and gathered on the wilderness; whenever they encountered a small tribe of under a hundred, they would immediately charge in, seize all the food, and kill everyone.

Although all tribes were dirt poor now, the Zhiqiao tribe was tireless in this, relying on their numerical and experiential advantage to quickly conquer small tribes.

They couldn't grab much, but they found it more cost-effective than hunting, and they did as they pleased with the women; likewise, everyone in the conquered tribes became their food.

Unfortunately, Baifeng didn't know about this yet, otherwise, he would have led his men to kill these savages, treating it as experience for his warriors; although the tribe had three hundred people, after excluding women and children, there weren't many warriors, and they only picked on small tribes—if they encountered a larger, better-armed tribe, they would run far away without any intention of attacking.

The Zhiqiao tribe killed their way from downstream to upstream, but the tribes they slaughtered were getting poorer and poorer, and even without the Zhiqiao tribe, they had already begun killing their own people for meat.

The Zhiqiao tribe had no choice but to continue moving upstream, as they could no longer stay downstream after having raided and killed many subordinate tribes of larger ones; if found out, their small numbers would be no match.

As they approached Baifeng's tribal territory, they noticed the vegetation gradually turning green, and they no longer saw any trees that had been stripped of their bark.

However, the chief of the Zhiqiao tribe dared not jump to conclusions, fearing they might fall if they encountered a powerful tribe.