Chapter 140 Children of the Vine Tribe
In the Western Wilderness, in an unnamed forest.
The frog tribe members finally found a stream with water. They rested for a while beside the stream tiredly.
“Quack…”
The giant frogs happily jumped into the stream, using the stream water to moisten their dry skin.
Although heavy snow has fallen in the Southern Wilderness, the Western Wilderness is still hot. Only places close to the Southern Wilderness are cold, and the further west you go, the hotter it gets.
The Western Wilds is so vast that it took the Frog Tribe more than half a year to walk from the heart of the Western Wilds to here.
No one knows how long it will take to reach the Southern Wilderness.
But one thing is certain.
That is, the further south they went, the denser the forests became and the more abundant the water resources became.
This discovery was the greatest comfort to the frog tribe members during their migration. They told themselves that they would definitely reach a place with plenty of water, sufficient prey, and suitable for survival.
Huo Meng, the leader of the Frog Tribe, walked to the water's edge. He saw his own reflection in the stream, only to find that the totem patterns and warrior lines on his face had been blurred by sweat.
Huo Meng simply scooped up some water, washed his face, and enjoyed the comfortable feeling of water flowing over his cheeks.
Then he found the witch.
"Wu, help me draw a new totem pattern."
"good."
The Frog Tribe witch found the paint from the animal skin bag he carried with him, stirred it evenly with water, then dipped his fingers in the paint and painted it on Huo Meng's face little by little.
The totem pattern of the frog tribe is not complicated. It is just a round giant frog with relatively long legs. It is painted very abstractly and even looks a bit funny.
In fact, the totem patterns of various tribes are similar, and only a small number of tribes have beautiful totem patterns.
Because you can't expect every first-generation witch in a tribe to be a painting genius.
Maybe a certain witch is more talented in painting, but he can only draw the lines more beautifully, but dare not change the totem pattern.
Only some large tribes with a long history can make the totem patterns look better through continuous fine-tuning by generations of shamans.
After the frog tribe witch finished drawing the totem pattern, Huo Meng said, "Remember to draw the six-color warrior pattern, and make it thicker."
The frog tribe witch nodded, then took out six kinds of paint, mixed them, and painted them on Huo Meng's face one by one.
"alright."
After the Frog Tribe witch finished painting, he collected all the pigments. These pigments were very important to the witch.
The fire was so strong that it reflected on the calmer water surface, then he nodded with satisfaction.
Although his strength is limited to three colors, as long as his face is painted with six colors, plus he looks tall and mighty, he can still be quite intimidating.
"Do we really have to go to the Southern Wilds? I think if we go a little further, the environment will be pretty good. There are forests, water, and prey."
The witch of the Frog Tribe migrated all the way to the Southern Wilderness, but was not very enthusiastic because the Frog Tribe's knowledge of the Southern Wilderness was limited to the descriptions of the two people from the Vine Tribe.
Huo Meng asked back: "Wu, what season is it now?"
"winter."
"Yes, it's winter, but now we don't even need to wear thick fur clothes, let alone snow. I remember it wasn't like this before."
The frog tribe witch frowned slightly but said nothing.
"The place where our frog tribe has lived for generations used to be a large forest. The water in the sacred lake is always abundant. It also snows in winter, and our giant frogs would hide in caves to hibernate."
"But what happened later? In just over a decade, everything changed."
"It no longer rains frequently, nor does it snow in winter, the great forests are gone, the sacred lake has dried up, and the giant frogs no longer hibernate."
Huo Meng pointed at the ground and continued, "This place is just as hot and rains less often. If we stay here, who knows if it will become like where we lived before?"
"Since we have already embarked on the migration journey and have walked for so long, why don't we migrate directly to the Southern Wilderness?"
“Even if we move closer to the Southern Wilds, we won’t have to migrate long distances like we do now.”
After hearing what Huo Meng said, the witch of the Frog Tribe sighed slightly and said, "What you said makes sense, but the road is too long. Aren't there enough dangers along the way?"
"Wu, even if we find a place to settle nearby, can we guarantee that there will be no danger? It's impossible."
The Frog Tribe witch nodded helplessly, acknowledging Huo Meng's statement.
"I will take the warriors to hunt first."
Huo Meng left the stream, followed closely by a giant frog.
In fact, most of the members of the Frog Tribe have the same idea as Wu. The Southern Wilderness is too far away, and they just want to find a good place and settle down.
If it weren't for Huo Meng's persistence, the Frog Tribe wouldn't even have gotten here.
Huo Meng is also very tired, especially when no one understands him, that feeling of exhaustion is even more devastating.
But for the continuation and even growth of the Frog Tribe, he must persevere.
Just as he said, there is no absolutely safe place in this land. Even if you settle down there, you may be invaded or even destroyed by other tribes.
In this case, why should they live in such a miserable state? Only by migrating to a place that is truly suitable for the frog tribe to survive can the frog tribe have a chance to grow. Otherwise, without a totem god, insufficient population, and an undesirable living place, the frog tribe may go extinct at any time.
"Follow me, let's go hunting!"
Huo Meng straightened his back, raised his head, and walked towards the forest ahead.
By the stream, the warriors of the Frog Tribe looked at each other, then whistled and followed Huo Meng's pace with the giant frogs whose skins were wet.
…
Southern Wilderness, Teng Tribe.
"Chief, Chief..."
Jiang Xuan was trying to make some bamboo slips when someone outside was shouting loudly.
Tangyuan followed the giant eagle out hunting, so Jiang Xuan had to put down the bamboo strips he was baking and go to open the door himself.
“Here I come.”
Jiang Xuan walked into the yard, stepped on the thick snow, came to the gate, moved away the wooden support that had frozen on the surface, and then opened the gate.
"She's pregnant, she's pregnant!"
The person outside the door was Uncaria, he looked very excited and his eyes were shining.
"What's the pregnancy?"
Jiang Xuan felt a little confused.
"Fuling, Fuling is pregnant with my child!"
When Uncaria said this, he was so excited that he wanted to jump up.
"real?"
"It's true. Fuling told me that. Wu has also been there."
"That's great. Congratulations, Uncaria. You're going to be a father."
Jiang Xuan felt very surprised that Gou Teng was going to be a father. This gave him an indescribable feeling. In short, his emotions were complicated, and his happiness for Gou Teng was the most obvious.
"Chief, do you think Fuling is pregnant with a boy or a girl? Should I give the baby a name? I also need to prepare food for them."
"Oh, and thick fur coats are also a must. It's so cold, we can't let the children get cold."
Uncaria spoke a lot, even a little incoherently, obviously overly excited.
Jiang Xuan said helplessly: "Isn't it a bit early to talk about this now? Pregnancy takes at least half a year, and the weather might be very hot by then."
“Yes, yes, yes…”
Uncaria scratched his head in embarrassment and said, "It's ok to pick a name first, right? Chief, how about you help me think of a name?"
"I can't help you with this kind of thing. Anyway, there is still so much time. You can think about it slowly. It's best to ask Fuling for his opinion."
Thinking of a name is a very troublesome task. Jiang Xuan thinks it is better to let the Gou Teng couple worry about it themselves.
"Okay, then I'll go back and ask Fuling."
It started snowing again and the two of them went into the house.
Gou Teng was still very excited to talk to Jiang Xuan about things about children. He was even thinking about how to teach the children to hunt.
While Jiang Xuan was baking the bamboo strips, he listened to Gou Teng's vision of the future and discussed with him from time to time.
This feeling is very wonderful.
The Teng tribe was established not long ago, and its members are a mixture of various tribes. Because of their different living habits and ways of thinking, they are not particularly harmonious with each other.
But now, the second generation of the Vine Tribe is about to be born.
In fact, hundreds of children have been born in the Teng Tribe since its establishment. Thanks to the relatively abundant food and resources of the Teng Tribe, most of the children survived. Of course, a small number of them died due to various reasons.
These children are the hope for the future of the Teng tribe.
If the Teng tribe can survive, these children will live and grow in the tribe and learn various skills.
When the second or even third generation of children of the Teng Tribe grow up, everything they remember will be about the Teng Tribe.
They will have a strong sense of identification with the Teng Tribe, and as long as the tribe treats them well, most of them will protect the tribe from the bottom of their hearts.
How far the tribe can go in the future depends on how these children perform when they grow up.
With everything that the Teng tribe has now and the knowledge that Jiang Xuan possesses, he is very confident that he can make the children of the Teng tribe stronger than the children of other tribes, master more knowledge, and better develop their talents.
Jiang Xuan is very confident about this!
After talking with Jiang Xuan, Gou Teng hurried back because Jiang Xuan told him that pregnancy was very hard, and asked him to take good care of Fuling and give her more nutritious food.
The Teng tribe is different from other tribes. Pregnant women and children in the Teng tribe will receive special care. They will be given more meat, warmer animal skins, and more rest time.
Jiang Xuan told Gouteng that fresh fish is very nutritious and good for the baby's development.
So Uncaria rushed back and found Schizonepeta, hoping that he could help get some live fish.
"I haven't been fishing in the Flying Fish River recently. How about this, I'll get you a few from the pond."
"I'll help, too."
The two took the ice-breaking tools, informed Jiang Xuan first, and then went to the pond to break the ice and catch fish.
The pond of the Teng tribe is dug very deep in the center, and a bamboo shed is built and covered with tall red rice straw. This way, even if the pond is frozen in winter, the fish will have a place to hide.
Uncaria and Nepeta walked directly to the center of the pond, and then used a sharp stone hammer at one end to chisel the ice bit by bit.
Because it was covered by a shed, the ice in the center of the pond was much thinner than other places. With the strong hammering of the two tricolor warriors, a hole in the ice was quickly chiseled out.
Almost all the fish in the pond gathered here, crowded together.
Because of the lack of oxygen underwater, when the hole in the ice was drilled, many fish quickly floated to the surface and opened their mouths to breathe.
Jing Jie was quick-witted and quick-handed, and immediately caught a few big fish and put them into a rattan basket.
Then he covered the holes in the ice with red rice straw to prevent the fish from jumping onto the ice and freezing to death.
Jingjie handed the rattan basket to Uncaria and said, "These fish should be enough to eat for a few days."
Hooked Teng held the wicker basket, looked at the big fish jumping around inside, and said happily: "That's enough, thank you brother Jingjie."
"We are all from the same tribe, why are you being so polite?"
The two men walked back with their tools, and their relationship was obviously much closer than before.
After returning to the house, Gouteng immediately cleaned a big fish, put it into a pottery tripod, and cooked soup with other foods such as Polygonatum.
As for the other fish, after being cleaned, they are rubbed with some salt and put away. In such cold weather, fresh fish can be stored for a long time, not to mention after being rubbed with salt.
Fuling looked at the fish in the pot and said with a feeling of discomfort: "You don't have to make these specially for me, as long as I can eat enough."
"The leader said that eating more fresh fish is good for the baby in the belly."
"Then...then there's no need to cook such a big one."
When she heard that it would be good for the child, Fuling immediately softened her heart.
Uncaria said, "Eat without worry. If there's nothing left, I'll go get some. I'll just catch more prey for the tribe in the future."
Fuling nodded and said, "I will make more clothes for the tribe in the future."
Both of them have very simple ideas. Since they eat more food from the tribe, they should work more for the tribe. Only in this way can they feel at ease.
…
In the bamboo house, Jiang Xuan continued to make bamboo slips.
He first used a stone knife to break the green skin on the bamboo along the bamboo grain and peel it off.
Because the green skin is too hard, it is difficult to engrave words without peeling it off. Moreover, the color depth of the surface of the bamboo with green skin is inconsistent after drying, which affects the appearance of the finished product.
After removing the green skin, Jiang Xuan placed the bamboo strips on the rough stone and polished the surface piece by piece until it was smooth.
Afterwards, he placed the bamboo strips one by one on the fire to bake. The high-temperature baking could not only kill any insect eggs that might exist on them, but also dry out the moisture, making the bamboo strips less likely to deform.
Finally, he used a sharp stone to drill a hole at the top of each bamboo piece, and then strung them together with strong bark ropes.
Because of limited tools, these bamboo strips are relatively wide and thick. Although not as exquisite as the bamboo slips that Jiang Xuan had seen in his previous life, they can still be used.
After making the original version of the bamboo slips, he found a small carving knife made of fine stone and began to slowly carve words on the bamboo slips.
He carved a calendar.
In fact, the reason why he spent so much time and effort making bamboo slips was because the first calendar bamboo tube had several holes drilled by insects and would probably rot in a few years.
At that time, the bamboo tube was not processed in any way and was directly engraved with words, which resulted in no one knowing that there were insect eggs in the bamboo.
In order to prevent the loss of the calendar information he had worked so hard to carve, he could only take advantage of the abundant time in winter to make some bamboo slips that were not easy to perish, and copy the calendar information on the bamboo tube onto the bamboo slips.
"The first day of January in the year of Teng Tribe is sunny."
Jiang Xuan carved these words on a brand new bamboo slip, blew away the powder on it, and was quite satisfied with the result.
(End of this chapter)
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