In the central part of the Southern Wilderness, Mangzhu Mountain, Bamboo Rat Tribe.
This is a mountain range covered with arrow bamboo and miscanthus.
Arrow bamboo is a small bamboo with a diameter of about two to five centimeters and a height of four to five meters, or even six to seven meters. Arrow bamboo often grows in continuous patches, and its well-developed root system can almost strangle other plants to death, making it very domineering.
Miscanthus is a type of grass with extremely strong adaptability. It can grow tenaciously regardless of the fertile or barren soil, and occupies a place in the mountains with its strong adaptability and terrifying reproductive ability.
Coincidentally, these two plants with strong reproductive abilities are the favorite foods of bamboo rats, and can even be said to be their staple food.
Bamboo rats are accustomed to digging holes in the soil under bamboo and miscanthus to make their homes. While digging holes, they gnaw on the main stems and rhizomes of bamboo and miscanthus. They will even dig a special granary to store the bamboo and miscanthus that they cannot eat temporarily.
Due to this characteristic of bamboo rats, the members of the bamboo rat tribe, who take bamboo rats as their totem, will choose places with abundant arrow bamboo and miscanthus when choosing their residence, and they will dig a large number of caves that can accommodate them.
Of course, due to the humidity and raininess in the southern wilderness, caves cannot be lived in for a long time, so the people of the Bamboo Rat Tribe would build some bamboo houses next to the caves with bamboo and miscanthus. They would usually live in the bamboo houses and hide in the caves when in danger, which was very convenient.
When Fengcao and the members of Jingjieteng arrived at Mangzhu Mountain, they saw lush and green arrow bamboo and Miscanthus, as well as bamboo houses scattered around the mountain.
“Is this the Bamboo Rat Tribe?”
Fengcao looked at the mountains curiously. Before coming to the central part, Jiang Xuan specifically told her to pay attention to two places, one was the Red Ant Tribe, and the other was the Bamboo Rat Tribe.
Pay attention to the Red Ant Tribe because they are too overbearing and have an old grudge with the Mountain Turtle Tribe, so they are likely to become enemies in the future.
As for the Bamboo Rat Tribe, it was purely because it had the mineral that Jiang Xuan valued most - iron ore.
Bronze ware brought great changes to the lifestyle of the Teng tribe, and even promoted the prosperity of foreign trade, bringing countless benefits to the Teng tribe.
Iron is a material that is more suitable for making tools and weapons than bronze. Once large-scale smelting begins, it will bring greater changes and more benefits to the Teng tribe.
"Let's go and observe the surrounding environment first."
Fengcao led a dozen members of the Thorn Vine team, disguised as ordinary tourists, and circled around Mangzhu Mountain. Finally, they selected three main roads in and out of the Bamboo Rat Tribe, chose places with good views, and sent two people to keep watch on each road.
Fengcao said to the six people, "From today on, you should consider yourselves as tourists, live near the Bamboo Rat Tribe, hunt and gather like tourists. If you have the chance, it would be best to sneak into the Bamboo Rat Tribe, or build good relations with the tribe members of the Bamboo Rat Tribe. Make sure to understand the situation of the Bamboo Rat Tribe as soon as possible."
"The intelligence collectors come every three days. If you need any supplies, you can tell them directly and the tribe will try their best to meet your needs. If you encounter an emergency and cannot wait three days, you can send two people to rush to the nearby contact point to report."
The six men nodded one after another. They were all veteran members of the Thorn Vine Team who came from the Vine Tribe. They were experienced and familiar with various procedures, so they were more than capable of keeping an eye on a Bamboo Rat Tribe.
In fact, for a small tribe like the Bamboo Rat Tribe, if Jiang Xuan hadn't specifically instructed, it would only take two members of the Thorn Vine Team to be in charge. Why would they need six people?
After arranging the personnel, under the leadership of Fengcao, the members of the Thorn Vine team imitated the architectural structure of the Bamboo Rat Tribe and built three bamboo houses for the six people responsible for surveillance. They even planned to dig three more tunnels if they had time, in case of emergency.
After everything was arranged, Fengcao looked at Mangzhu Mountain and said to himself, "It would be great if the Giant Claw Tribe came over. When it comes to digging tunnels, neither the Rat Tribe nor the Bamboo Rat Tribe can compare to those Giant Claw Beasts."
Unfortunately, the Giant Claw Tribe is just a small tribe with little ambition and courage. In order to make them migrate long distances from the north to the south, the Vine Tribe may need to gain a foothold here first, or some coercive means may be used.
Feng Cao pondered for a moment and said, "The Giant Claw Tribe doesn't have to come over. We can borrow a few Giant Claw beasts and a few warriors. They can't refuse, right?"
The more Fengcao thought about it, the more feasible it seemed to her. After opening her mind, she thought that not only the Giant Claw Tribe, but also the war beasts of other tribes or warriors with special skills could be borrowed.
If these war beasts and warriors could be mobilized here, they might play an unexpectedly important role at critical moments.
Fengcao decided that he would tell Jiang Xuan his idea when he got back, and when the Teng tribe fleet set out next time, he would try to bring some war beasts and warriors from several affiliated tribes along.
"Let's go to the next place."
After Fengcao arranged the six people who stayed behind, he waved his hand and quickly left the Bamboo Rat Tribe with the others.
Bamboo Rat Tribe, inside a bamboo house.
“Crackle, crackle…”
The witch of the Bamboo Rat Tribe sat by the fire, burning dry arrow bamboo, and felt a little uneasy.
He was about fifty or sixty years old, with gray hair, short and thin build, not much flesh on his face, small eyes, but two particularly large front teeth. He was wearing a black animal skin coat, and with the bamboo rat totem pattern on his face, he looked like a bamboo rat that had turned into a spirit.
"What went wrong?"
The Bamboo Rat Tribe witch walked around the house, but couldn't figure out where the problem might lie.
The bamboo rat tribe lives in a relatively remote area where resources of all kinds are not abundant. They are also relatively timid and do not make enemies with other tribes, nor do they have any conflicts of interest.
He couldn't figure out where the danger would come from.
"Let's have a divination."
When a witch is unable to figure out a problem, the most common method used by witches is to seek answers from gods through divination, and the witches of the Bamboo Rat Tribe are no exception.
The witch of the Bamboo Rat Tribe walked to the side of the bamboo house and took out an old bamboo that was rubbed very smooth.
This old bamboo is bright yellow in color, about one foot long, with a delicate straw rope tied to the top, and the surface is almost covered with patina.
The witch of the Bamboo Rat Tribe walked to the fire pit, sat down cross-legged, then concentrated his mind and calmed his breath, put the end of the old bamboo into the flame, and began to chant the dry and difficult to understand witch spell.
As the sound of the witch's incantation rang out, the flames in the fire pit seemed to suddenly come to life, jumping in strange and twisted shapes, burning the old bamboo.
“Crackle, crackle…”
When the old bamboo was burned by flames, the skin burst first, making a series of high and low sounds, and was burned black.
The witch of the Bamboo Rat Tribe closed his eyes and listened carefully to the sounds, as if he was listening to the instructions of the gods.
When the witch's spell was finished, the flames in the fire pit returned to normal, the crackling sound of the bamboo stopped, and the witch of the Bamboo Rat Tribe slowly opened his eyes.
He pulled the old bamboo back, carefully recalled the popping sound he had just heard, and carefully observed the burn marks on the bamboo. Combining the two, he could get the result of divination.
This method of divination is relatively rare. It is slightly different from common divination methods such as animal bone divination and tortoise shell divination, but they are essentially similar.
After careful identification and comparison, the witch of the Bamboo Rat Tribe quickly obtained the divination result: "The danger comes from the north!"
At the same time, the witch of the Bamboo Rat Tribe also saw a vine-like burn mark on the bamboo, which seemed to be foreshadowing something.
However, since the bamboo rat tribe's activity range was too small, he didn't know much about the northern tribes. Even if he had divined something, he had no way to avoid it in advance.
All the witch of the Bamboo Rat Tribe could do was to ask the tribe's warriors to be more vigilant against threats from the north.
But when the threat will come, what the threat is, and how big it is, it is not something that a small tribal witch like him can predict clearly.
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