Chapter 861: The Symphony of Farts

With enough food to support them, the savage tribe's instantly dampened spirits were lifted back up; now they no longer economized, for Huaxia had said to eat freely, to eat until full, as there was plenty.

And so, while cooking, they poured the unfamiliar oil dregs into the pot with a clatter, the savory aroma making everyone's saliva flow incessantly and their stomachs rumble constantly; then, following Huaxia's instructions, they poured a bit of the strange water from the bamboo tube into the pot, and although they did not know what this strange water could do, the originally pitch-black pot of porridge actually looked a bit like soup boiled from fat after adding it.

Although it could not be said that everyone could eat solid food, at least the porridge they boiled could barely be considered a thick paste, providing a stronger sense of fullness, and with those golden oil droplets, the taste was very much like meat, making them eat with even more relish.

But oil dregs were, after all, made from soybeans, and although they had been processed, their ability to produce gas had not decreased much; it was precisely to avoid this situation that Baifeng had pondered and created a series of soy products like tofu, bean curd sheets, and bean curd pudding, which made the taste much better and also made people less prone to passing gas.

That night, the entire savage tribe's camp echoed with the sound of farts, one after another, occasionally even a chain of farts, never stopping for a moment; the people in the tents could now smell it and cover their noses, but the Huaxia side had no such problem, as they ate refined grains and the tents they lived in would not let too much fart odor drift inside.

When the wind blew, the farts passed by those sleeping outside would be blown away, blown onto the campfire; whether it was the wind force fueling the flames or the components of the farts fueling them, the fire flickered and burned even more vigorously.

In ancient times, bean rice was the main food for people, and even wheat was only steamed or boiled to be eaten as wheat rice, rather than being ground into flour, so bean rice had always been food eaten by lowly commoners, which the Nobles disdained to eat.

Otherwise, if a high-level banquet were truly being held, those Nobles would pass gas one after another without stopping, losing all face—what kind of decorum would that be? It would be completely devoid of civilization; of course, in the West, even a few hundred years ago, one could defecate anywhere in the royal castles, and even standing up to do it was no problem.

Like in the Yin-Shang period, looking at the translations of the oracle bone inscriptions unearthed so far, the requirements for Nobles could be said to be extremely harsh; except for the King himself, the rest would be killed for sacrifice at the slightest offense, no matter how great a Noble you were, and commoners had even less status, with the Yin-Shang Nobles even retaining the tradition of cannibalism—that was a truly man-eating era.

If those Nobles were to pass a fart in front of the King at such a banquet, then that was it: your head would appear in some Bronze Tripod or other sacrificial Ritual Vessel.

The next day, those savages woke up in the foul-smelling tents, feeling that the stench on their bodies was getting worse and worse, and they even suspected each other of whether someone had defecated in the tent during the night.

But after suspecting each other in a circle, they found no problem, and each feeling their slightly bloated stomachs, they all fell silent, thinking it was their own problem; although they never considered others when passing gas usually, it was different now—if anyone dared to pass one, all the trouble from last night would be pushed onto them.

Now that there was food, Xiong did not change the departure time, still setting off after eating in the morning, not resting at noon, and after replenishing with a sufficient meal, all the savages felt their fatigue disappear.

It was still a full meal, and the time spent packing up the tents was also considered a buffer time for them, followed by continuous walking.

On the road, Xiong said to Lu: "Look at the place where we camped last night; it was actually quite good, and it could definitely be expanded to build a New City, but it's a pity it's still too close to Huaxia and too far from the west; we should go further away to be about right."

Lu also agreed: "Yes, that place last night mainly had an advantage in terrain, but we also looked at the surroundings, and the water source is still a big problem; there's only one small mountain spring, and although there is still water now, the volume is too small after all, and it's not necessarily stable; we should choose another place."

Xiong sighed: "Sigh, there is a pretty good place with a lake of living water, the terrain is relatively flat, and the soil quality, I checked, is also quite good, but it's still twelve days' journey from here; calculating it this way, the distance from our Huaxia is a bit too far—will we really be able to manage it in the future?"

"And this road, we have to clear it up a bit, otherwise it's quite strenuous for the cattle to carry things; if there were a good road, the distance wouldn't count for much."

Lu stomped on the ground hard: "It's still quite difficult, and it's unlikely we can mobilize a large number of people to build the road; it seems we can only build it slowly year by year, as the road to our Xiao Town took so long to build."

"There's no need to build it too well here, and there are so many mountain roads; as long as we level it slightly and cut down these trees, it will be fine."

"The road from Huaxia to Lema City will probably be the only one for a very, very long time, at most extending to those towns; for future roads, reaching the level of Xiao Town will be enough, unless we can think of some better way to build roads."

The two chatted all the way, with Shaoyin following behind with a proper posture; they were not afraid of their conversation being overheard by other Soldiers, as it was only speculation anyway, and these Soldiers would definitely take over work related to this in the future—they were all their own people, so why hide it so tightly?

Although Shaoyin was an ordinary Soldier, his father was not ordinary, often telling him some of Huaxia's most cutting-edge, latest news and policies, and other Soldiers also liked to get news from Shaoyin because it was more accurate and had more credibility.

The savages behind, having eaten oil dregs and bean rice in the morning, slowly began to digest and ferment it, and with their stomachs becoming more and more bloated, they couldn't help but start passing gas; as soon as one started, the others naturally began without restraint as well.

The entire troop was like a symphony, one after another; this might be related to their digestive tracts not having fully adapted to this food, but every Slave and tenant farmer who enters Huaxia goes through such an awkward period.

Once their digestive tracts gradually adapt, and with more mixed grains to eat, naturally there won't be that many farts; of course, the livestock in the Pasture are passing gas non-stop every day.

Especially the cattle, which have already had several cases of flatulence; long-term accumulation while waiting to ruminate easily causes flatulence.

Fortunately, Baifeng knows what to do: use a sharp, hollow Iron Needle to pierce into the cow's stomach and let the gas out; if he is afraid of hurting the cow, he just practices more.

Baifeng started out by performing chest punctures on people, which required even stricter standards and carried even greater risks; his hands never shook anywhere, let alone with cattle.

Moreover, the cattle have good physiques, and ordinary tossing doesn't have much impact on them; if one were to treat people using the method of treating cattle, the person would be treated to death before the illness was cured.