Chapter 784: A Son Also Worries About His Father

Seeing this, Xuanyuan chose not to question Changle any further. After all, Changle had made it very clear that no useful information could be obtained here. Which member of Baifeng's family was not a shrewd person? Aside from his two wives, he and his two sons could not be viewed as ordinary people.

"Alright, get some good rest. Our boat is small, not like the large ships of Huaxia; it rocks a lot. I imagine the journey to Huaxia won't be comfortable." Xuanyuan showed some concern for Changle and then left. Naturally, Xuanyuan would not sit on the same boat as Changle; the fewer people there were, the more comfortable their boat would be.

The large ship of the Xuanyuan Tribe was basically built and in the finishing stages. Its size was only half that of a Huaxia large ship. Aside from the lack of corresponding technology, the shortage of tools was also a very important reason.

Huaxia possessed all kinds of iron tools, making it very convenient to work on wooden planks, drill holes, and the like. However, the Xuanyuan Tribe only had a small amount of bronze tools. To build the ship, the bronze they refined was almost entirely forged into tools rather than any weapons. Moreover, because of the booming development of their engineering projects, the Xuanyuan Tribe's demand for hard and sharp tools was growing ever larger. After weighing the options, Xuanyuan decided to prioritize tool production.

As for weapons, besides what they already had, stone tools could still be used. They had enough Soldiers, which was a sufficiently large deterrent. Ordinary tribes would not even dare to think about moving against the Xuanyuan Tribe. Furthermore, they had the connection with the Chiyou Tribe; now that they had enough food, they could trade with them for more iron weapons.

It was just that the forging technology of the Chiyou Tribe was clearly quite a bit behind Huaxia's. Xuanyuan had already tried them out; although the Chiyou Tribe's weapons were also made of iron, their hardness and toughness could not compare to Huaxia's. For the sake of strength and toughness, the Chiyou Tribe could only sacrifice length, which was a helpless way to save iron.

If they wanted long weapons, they just added wooden handles. It was not an easy task to forge iron knives and iron swords as long as those of Huaxia. Even if they could afford the expensive materials, the Chiyou Tribe's technology could not achieve it. If they were too long, they would very easily bend, and breaking was a common occurrence. Therefore, what they bought back from the Chiyou Tribe were mostly spears, as well as broad and heavy axes, yue-axes, and qi-axes. These had sufficient power while not needing to worry about the problems of snapping or bending.

Although Xuanyuan had left, Changle was still somewhat worried about this matter. In this world, it was not just fathers who worried about their sons; sons also worried about their fathers. Last time, Baifeng went far away to search for Kongtong Mountain, but could only return miserably in the Winter.

At that time, Changle did not understand how dangerous the outside world really was, so he was not overly worried. But now that he had come out to see the world, he had deeply realized the terror of the world and the cruelty of Nature. For a place like that, which took dozens or even hundreds of days to return from, he felt extremely fearful.

If it were himself, he would be willing to take the risk, but he did not want his father to go. If something happened to Baifeng, the blow to the entire Huaxia would be too great. Huaxia truly could not do without Baifeng. Therefore, if Baifeng really wanted to go with Xuanyuan to find Guangchengzi, Changle felt he must try to persuade him otherwise.

After all, Baifeng's wisdom was already sufficient, and his knowledge was vast enough; there was no need to take this risk. What if he did see Guangchengzi? The learning of the Knife was profound, but didn't his father understand it just as well?

Changle did not care about that; he was already prepared to use the things in his hands to stall Baifeng. As long as he could stall him for seven, eight, or ten days, he believed Xuanyuan would not have the patience to wait and would definitely leave on his own. Without anyone to lead the way, his father would certainly not take this risk.

Changle felt he was prepared, and only then did he slowly calm his somewhat nervous heart. He directed the people of the Xuanyuan Tribe to put his things into the cabin of the small boat, then boarded the small boat himself, waiting for Xuanyuan to give the order to depart.

Without the aid of sails, their travel speed was very slow, and they could only rely on human power to row forward. Coupled with the fact that the boat was too small and had no anchor, they could only go ashore at night. By comparison, their travel speed was at least half as slow as Huaxia's.

Looking at this situation, Xuanyuan intended to spend this Winter on the road as well. From what he had heard in the Xuanyuan Tribe, Xuanyuan had done the same last time, setting off at this time, or even later. Judging by the time of trading Soybean Oil in Huaxia, it was indeed about the same. Changle could not find out what they encountered on the road, but it certainly would not have been easy.

Along the way, Xuanyuan only chatted with Changle occasionally, but most of it was about miscellaneous matters unrelated to the two tribes. More often, he would ask about Changle's research, such as frequently plucking a blade of Grass at random and asking Changle what it was, if it had a name, what it was used for, and so on.

If it were a Changle who had not yet found the patterns, he would have been overwhelmed long ago. But Changle had already found the patterns; things like naming and classification were already deeply ingrained in his mind. He recognized almost all the plants here—not one hundred percent, because there were certainly new species hidden away—but the ones he could pluck at random were definitely very common and very familiar to Changle.

As soon as he got it in his hand and looked at the leaves, Changle could immediately state which family and which Genus it belonged to based on its characteristics. As for the species and more specific names, he might have to consider for a few seconds, but he would definitely not get it wrong. Xuanyuan also truly witnessed Changle's ability; he was indeed not an ordinary person.

Baifeng received the carrier pigeon. The people of the Engineering Team raising pigeons was something the people of the Xuanyuan Tribe had long since become accustomed to, and no one would pay attention to whether a few pigeons were missing. If they really discovered some were missing, they would only think they had been killed and eaten.

To appear sufficiently authentic, the Engineering Team had actually killed and eaten pigeons before. After all, not all pigeons were suitable as carrier pigeons, and Huaxia was not short of pigeons, so every time a fleet came to transport supplies or trade, they would replenish a batch of pigeons for the Engineering Team.

Some were used as carrier pigeons, and some were eaten to deceive people. Moreover, it was best to kill and eat them in front of the Xuanyuan Tribe members for the best effect. For example, their students—students who performed well—could be rewarded with a bowl of pigeon soup, which would dispel any suspicion about these pigeons from the root.

Baifeng already knew Changle was coming back. As for what he brought, the letter did not write it down; the space was limited, and the people of the Engineering Team did not know either. However, Changle was traveling on Xuanyuan's fleet, and both Xuanyuan and Zhishou had come; such a matter definitely had to be reported.

But knowing was just knowing; Baifeng would not make preparations in advance. In an era where information was so blocked, if you knew in advance that someone was coming, how could Xuanyuan not overthink it?