Chapter 79: Respective Tribes

The rainstorm arrived right on schedule. Although it was relatively short, lasting only a little over two hours, the rainfall was exceptionally heavy. Fortunately, it began in the evening when the tribespeople had already returned; otherwise, Baifeng would have been too worried to sleep.

The settlement was located on higher ground, so water did not accumulate. There were only puddles in the areas that hadn't been leveled, and walking through them was quite unpleasant.

The fields were all on flat land and must have been soaked by the water by now. The drainage ditches were not effective enough, so Baifeng and the others had to take advantage of the sunset's remaining light to modify the ditches and drain the water as quickly as possible.

If the crops were ruined by the soaking this time, a year's worth of work would be in vain. The only thing they didn't have to worry about was the rice; this rain even saved them from having to continue irrigating it.

The water was drained in time, so there wasn't too much impact, though much of it had been pressed down and lodged into the mud. Based on Baifeng's experience, those were likely beyond saving.

The sky had turned completely dark, so everyone stepped through the mud to go back and sleep. Regardless, things were as they were now; in fact, in another half-month, the wheat would be ready for harvest.

Baifeng and the others had already been forging sickles, but this rain made their moods even heavier, and their expectations for the harvest had already diminished by more than half.

Meanwhile, far away in Qingqiu, within the Youxiong Clan, Xuanyuan was personally leading people to kneel in the fields and cut wheat. Their territory was further south than where Baifeng was, so their wheat matured earlier.

However, they neither fertilized, plowed, nor weeded the land. They basically just marked off a patch of ground and scattered grass seeds at will, leaving it to Heaven to decide how much would grow.

Because there was almost no concept of farming at the moment, they simply felt that since these grass seeds could grow in the wild, they would grow just the same if scattered within their own territory; it was just more convenient and concentrated to harvest them than in the wild.

So, while they called it cutting wheat, they were really just picking out a type of wild grass called wheat from among the weeds to cut down. Their main source of food was still hunting, and gathering was merely a supplement.

Furthermore, their tribe was already capable of raising cattle and sheep in large numbers; these were the two types of animals they had selected as most suitable for raising after generations of summary by their tribe.

They had plenty of meat on their bodies, and their hides were useful. Most importantly, as long as high fences were built, they had no way to escape. Deer and the like were very easy to jump out, while rabbits ate too much, had little meat, and would dig holes, making them completely unsuitable for raising.

Pigs had bad tempers and were prone to injuring tribespeople, and their meat was also very rank and foul-smelling, so they were also directly discarded from the scope of animal husbandry.

Xuanyuan wore a short hemp cloth jacket and shorts. With his dark skin and sturdy muscles, although he was still an adolescent who hadn't fully grown, one could already vaguely see the prototype of a powerful soldier.

There had been a heavy rain two days ago, but since their tribe lived on a mountain, they were basically unaffected. It was just that a portion of the people living at the foot of the mountain were affected, and the sheds they had built were washed away. Fortunately, the people ran quickly, and there were no casualties.

No one cared whether the crops in the fields had been affected by the rainstorm; after all, they were just weeds. They had never seen weeds anywhere that would be ruined or soaked by a single rain, unless it was hail.

However, facts also proved that Xuanyuan and the others were right. Using the mindset of a person from later generations, Baifeng thought that if the plants were beaten down by the rain and soaked in the mud, they wouldn't be able to get back up and would rot in the ground. But Baifeng forgot that this was very primitive wheat; although its yield was small, it still retained its characteristic resistance to lodging.

The crops cultivated in later generations, while high-yielding, had basically lost their ability to resist lodging and disease. They were like pregnant women—although their bellies were full, they were too fragile, and they faced great risk from even the slightest impact.

The day after the rain, when the sun came out, all the crops—no matter how they had been beaten down before—slowly stood back up after being exposed to the sun. The portion that was completely buried in the mud indeed couldn't get up, but fortunately, there wasn't too much of that, and if people helped clear the mud, there was always hope for them to stand.

Except for the wheat, the other crops were still in the process of growing their stalks, so the impact of this rain was not significant, and the benefits even outweighed the disadvantages.

Now the Baifeng Tribe was just waiting for the wheat to turn yellow and be harvested. Baifeng estimated that this many mu of wheat would be enough for fifty tribespeople to eat for a year; combined with other crops, it would be enough for the whole tribe to eat for half a year after the harvest.

What's more, the tribe now had other income, such as various meats and wild vegetables. Even if the Baifeng Tribe ate freely this year, they would still have a surplus, and the Baifeng Tribe would have the capital to continue expanding.

Within the Jiuli Tribe, Chiyou, wearing braids, was riding a round, black-and-white wild beast, weaving through a bamboo forest. Unfortunately, that iron-eating beast walked too slowly, and with Chiyou being so sturdy, this half-grown iron-eating beast was very unwilling to carry the human sitting on its back.

Whenever it encountered fresh bamboo shoots poking out, the iron-eating beast would immediately sit up and shake the human off. No matter how Chiyou held onto it, it remained unmoved, peeling the outer skin of the bamboo shoots with its sharp teeth and then happily gnawing on the juicy bamboo shoots.

Chiyou felt a bit of frustration that the beast wouldn't live up to his expectations. Why did a perfectly good iron-eating beast have to eat bamboo? Although it also ate meat, what it most enjoyed eating was tender bamboo shoots.

If Chiyou were to encounter those wandering Sages again, talking about how brave the iron-eating beasts were, Chiyou would chop them up to feed his iron-eating beast. If there were any immortals or strange people riding fish or eagles, Chiyou would also chop them up to feed the iron-eating beast.

The Jiuli Tribe's main food source was hunting, but it was difficult to catch prey in winter. Relying on food stored previously, the tribe barely survived the winter, but many tribespeople still starved to death.

However, they wouldn't feel pity. Only the strongest soldiers and the best hunters could have enough food. Those who were small and weak and couldn't catch prey only deserved to eat the leftovers of others. If they had no ability, it was their own fault if they starved to death, although the first to starve to death were the most diligent Slaves.

Chiyou's father, Jiangqiong, was the Tribal Chief of the Jiuli Tribe and also the most powerful soldier in the entire tribe. Even though Chiyou hadn't gone hunting or participated in battle from the entire winter until now, but instead focused all his heart and energy on the iron-eating beast, he did not lack food.

Moreover, he even had extra meat to feed the iron-eating beast. Of course, the tribespeople would not have any opinions; not to mention Jiangqiong's own outstanding leadership and combat ability, just the presence of his thirty Copper-Headed Iron-Browed Warriors meant no one dared to harbor other thoughts.

However, Chiyou now also felt that he couldn't keep his mind on the iron-eating beast forever. It really didn't seem suitable to be a mount. It would be better to go hunting and catch more food for the tribespeople.

But that Sage had once said that there was a kind of creature that ran like fire; if he encountered one while hunting and caught it to be a mount, that would also be quite good.