Because of the heavy rain and floods, we didn't encounter any ferocious wild animals on the mountain. But now that the rain has stopped, it's hard to say what will happen if we go up the mountain again.
The mountain tribesmen all wore bitter expressions, their prayers shifting from for the rain to for thunder to grant them fire.
Meanwhile, the orc tribes that did not leave beforehand are now searching everywhere for their people who were swept away by the flood.
"I'm so hungry, I really want to eat meat." The young orc with vine patterns on his face clutched his stomach, plopped down on a large rock by the roadside, and sighed, "We haven't eaten meat for two days."
Another, taller orc glanced at the sun, reached out and pulled the man up from the rock. "Hurry up and search, the sun will get even hotter later, and you won't be able to walk."
The other person did not refute, took a deep breath and stood up, with a rumbling sound coming from their stomach from time to time.
I'm so hungry.
During their search for their own tribe's orcs, the two occasionally encountered orcs from other tribes who were also searching. At first, they searched on their own, but later they began asking each other for directions. Even so, the chances of finding the orcs remained very low.
The young orc from the vine tribe, who had been complaining about being hungry, suddenly sniffed loudly, patted the taller orc's arm, and exclaimed happily, "Can you smell meat? It smells wonderful!"
He sniffed it carefully again and confirmed, "It smells like cured meat!"
The tall orc shifted to the side, glanced at the direction from which the aroma of meat was wafting, and said, "It's coming from the Salt Department."
"The Salt Ministry? Isn't the Salt Ministry supposed to be deserted?"
“It should be the Wood Tribe inside. The territory of the Salt Tribe and the Cannibals is now theirs. Other tribes of orcs don’t dare to go in,” the tall orc replied.
When the Wood Tribe was mentioned, both of them fell silent. Previously, the Wood Tribe's priest had sent orcs to their tribe, warning them of a possible flood and urging them to evacuate in advance.
However, no one in their tribe listened. Not only did the priest ignore it, but even they felt there was nothing to avoid. There was just more water, and the caves were unsuitable for habitation; otherwise, everything was the same as usual.
No one expected the floods to be so severe.
“If we had listened to the Wood Tribe back then, things might not be like this now.” After saying that, Fox Five clutched his stomach and turned his head decisively. “Let’s go, Deer Ten. This smells too good. If we don’t leave soon, I’m afraid I’ll rush over there. Then you’ll have to collect my corpse.”
Lu Shi didn't look much and followed Hu Wu in the opposite direction.
From day to night, the two searched many places but found no one from their tribe. They did, however, discover the corpses of many other orc tribes, which weighed heavily on their hearts, especially for Fox Five, whose parents had also been swept away by the flood.
The village had been destroyed and was no longer habitable. The two returned to the cave the village had used to escape the flood; it was pitch black inside.
Caves were limited, and the caves where orcs lived were allocated according to their level. However, there were too many level two orc warriors, and the caves couldn't accommodate them all, so the two of them came to stay temporarily in a slightly cheaper cave, even though the environment was worse.
The cave was originally inhabited by some injured elderly people and children who had desperately crawled out during the flood. Everyone bore injuries; some had flesh torn off by tree branches, some had sharp rocks embedded in their feet, and others had their heads bleeding from smashing against boulders.
Fox Five deeply admired them. They were young and injured. The injuries didn't look serious, but they were incredibly painful. Yet, even so, they had miraculously survived the flood.
This made Fox Five think that his father and mother were so powerful, they must be alright too. They just hadn't been found yet, and they must be living well somewhere.
Glug glug. Glug glug.
The two voices came one after the other, neither louder than the other.
Fox Five and Deer Ten both clutched their stomachs. They hadn't eaten anything all day, and their stomachs were growling loudly.
But it was too late, and they had nowhere to find food. They had no choice but to go into the cave to sleep; if they went in any later, they would probably be prey for wild animals.
Before entering the cave, Fox Five licked his lips and said to Deer Ten with a greedy look, "The meat from the Wood Tribe is so delicious. Now that the rain has stopped, we should be able to hunt some small prey in the forest. Let's go hunting tomorrow. The people in the cave haven't had meat in a long time. Let's hunt a lot and give them some to eat."
The flood came suddenly, and the Vine Tribe did not heed the Wood Tribe's words and was completely unprepared.
All the meat they traded was washed away by the water.
Even Lu Shi and Hu Wu, the two level-two orc warriors, hadn't eaten meat for two days and could only find edible grass and tree bark on the mountain to fill their stomachs.
Those who weren't injured were already starving. The injured elderly and children in the cave must have been suffering terribly too.
Lu Shi nodded. "Let's go early tomorrow. We still need to go out and find our clansmen. The priest will be unhappy if we're late."
Fox Five smiled and stepped into the cave. "Good, I'll have more energy to find my father and mother now that I'm full."
As soon as he finished speaking, Fox Five felt something soft under his feet. He quickly lifted his foot, took a step back, squatted down, and felt around with his hands.
It is a hand.
Fox Five chuckled and pulled her up a little. "Hey, you're really good at holding your tongue. That kick I gave you wasn't light, didn't you even cry out? Didn't it hurt?"
There was no response from the other person, and only then did Fox Five realize that the arm he was holding was very stiff. His smile instantly froze on his face. Fox Five slowly released his grip, took a deep breath, and asked in a trembling voice, "How many people are still alive here?"
No one answered.
Fox Five, unwilling to give up, asked twice more, but still received no response.
Devastated by the silence, Lu Shi gritted his teeth and walked out of the cave. He looked up, trying to see the bright moon hanging high in the sky through the dense foliage.
Fox Five, his eyes red, also came out and whispered, "I was just thinking of getting up early tomorrow to go hunting. Why couldn't we wait one more day, at least eat something before we left?"
Lu Shi lowered his head. "Giving them food won't help. They're either too old or too young, and their injuries are too severe. If they don't die today, they'll die tomorrow or the day after."
"If the priests had healed them instead of leaving them to die in the cave, would they still have died?"
Fox Five's words made Deer Ten a little flustered, but he quickly regained his composure. "You're still young and don't understand. This is how all tribes do things in this situation. No tribe's priest would heal the elderly or children without parents. It's like when the tribe hunts, the food is divided last among the elderly and children without parents in the big cave."
Lu Shi concluded by emphasizing, "This is true for all tribes."
Fox Five didn't really understand. His parents were the most skilled orcs in the tribe's hunting party. From childhood to adulthood, he had hardly ever interacted with the tribe's elders or children without parents. This was because his parents trained him every day, and after a day of training, he had no energy left to do anything else.
All I want to do is eat meat and sleep.
The year after his awakening, he rose to the rank of a level two orc warrior. Such a rapid advancement was unmatched by any other orc. The priests and chieftains treated him with great favor.
If it weren't for this flood, Fox Five might have waited a long time before coming into contact with these elderly people and orphans.
Fox Five really wanted to ask Deer Ten, what would happen to them when they got old? Would they also be like these old people, always getting the last cut of meat, and being left to die in caves when injured?
In the end, it was unclear whether they died of starvation or disease.
Fox Five never asked these questions aloud. He had a vague answer in his heart, but he dared not admit it.
"Is it really like this in every tribe?" Fox Five asked softly.
Lu Shi was very certain this time, "Yes, all tribes are like this."
Chapter 87
(Catching bugs)
rice
The Wood Tribe was in dire need of rebuilding at this time. Thanks to Shen Nong's words, "Wherever the tribesmen are, that is the Wood Tribe," the Wood Tribe beastmen quickly accepted the idea that they would build their tribe on the former territory of the Salt Tribe.
They were even somewhat pleased, after all, the location of the Salt Tribe was truly excellent. Their Wood Tribe had been flooded to a terrible state, but the caves in the Salt Tribe remained intact.
The territory of the Salt Tribe is much larger than that of the Wood Tribe, and the areas allocated to each team are more than twice the size they were in the Wood Tribe. The first thing to build was the brick kilns. Because of the experience gained earlier, the construction was completed quickly this time. Three more were built, bringing the total number of brick kilns in the Wood Tribe to six.
Shen Nong ordered the beastmen in the Wushan tribe to temporarily stop mining, as they didn't need to make cold weapons and didn't require much ore. Shen Yi led the beastmen to build another furnace in the Wushan tribe and devoted himself to firing cement.
After the flood, Shen Nong asked Shen Yi to tell Yu Ji that their orcs should not come here for the time being. The Yu tribe's "air transport" operations were also suspended for several days, which made the orcs of the Yu tribe restless every day.
If they missed a flight by even one day, they feared the Wood Tribe would refuse to send them any more goods. Then they wouldn't be able to exchange their supplies for animal hides, cured meat, and all sorts of other things.
We didn't have these things before, we didn't know about them, and we had never experienced them, yet we still managed to get by. But now, if I were to tell them that we won't have delicious cured meat, various seasonings, or the finest animal hides anymore, they would cry their eyes out.
Yu Ji would go to the Wushan tribe almost every two days to ask Shen Yi when air transport would resume, and Shen Yi would always say to wait a little longer.
The Feather Tribe waited anxiously for many days until Shen Yi came to the tribe and said that they could start transporting goods.
The main cargo being transported now is cement ash. All the flying orcs from the Feather Tribe are out in force, making trip after trip to transport cement to the Wood Tribe.
Shen Yi said they would be sent to the former Salt Tribe, where the Wood Tribe would settle down. During the previous tribal wars, the Feather Tribe had been to the Salt Tribe and knew the way, so they flew there directly.
The Mu tribe was working feverishly, pooling the resources of the entire tribe. Six large brick kilns were operating simultaneously, producing a considerable amount of bricks. In the blink of an eye, bricks and cement were piled up like mountains. When they tried to mobilize manpower to build houses and pave roads, they discovered that they didn't have enough people.
Shen Nong hadn't thought of it at first, but after the water in the Mu tribe's territory was almost drained, he plunged headlong into the farmland. These crops were severely damaged and could no longer be planted.
Even when using wood-based superpowers, it's not as simple as just unleashing a single attack. The user needs to strictly control the output of their power and adjust it according to the changes in the crops, without any pauses. It's a very delicate and laborious task.
Normally, no superhuman would go to such lengths. But they were growing so well, some were almost fully grown, and Shen Nong couldn't bear to throw them away.
He was also thinking about having dumplings with the people of the tribe this winter.
The orcs of the Wood Tribe were all incredibly busy, working from dawn till dusk, all in the hopes of rebuilding the tribe as soon as possible. They completely forgot about the other orcs from other tribes who had worked there before.
When Shen Nong returned to the tribe, she felt that the tribe was piled up with things and there was nowhere to step, and that's when she realized that they were short of manpower.
He quickly turned away from the arduous task of saving the crops and asked Shen San to go to the various tribes to see if there were any orcs who could come back to work.
During this special period, apart from the living conditions not being as good as before, everything else is the same as before.
The seven tribes, who had been eating raw meat for several days, looked at Shen San as if he were a beast god. When Shen San mentioned that there were beastmen willing to return to the Wood Tribe to work, and repeated the terms of treatment that Shen Nong had mentioned, the seven tribes were so happy that they almost burst out of their caves.
Of course, I'd be willing to work for the Wood Tribe! More than willing, they practically wanted every beastman to go. Raw meat is truly unpalatable now. I didn't realize it before, but after eating cured meat for a while, raw meat is just unbearable.
No, I can't think about it. Just thinking about the taste makes me want to vomit.
When Shen San came, Shen Nong told him that he could bring more people to the Wood Tribe, as long as they were able to work, regardless of age or beastman level.
The reconstruction of the Wood Tribe is a long and arduous process, with manpower needed everywhere. Furthermore, half of the former Wood Tribe area needs to be converted into farmland, which requires manpower. Even the older villagers can work; their tribe has plenty of cattle, so plowing the land won't be a problem.
After all, their land was previously cultivated by the elderly and their newly awakened children.
After hearing Shen San say that anyone who could work would follow him, the seven tribes wished they could worship the priest of the Namu tribe as a beast god.
The work that had stalled in the Wood Tribe began to progress rapidly after the addition of seven tribes of orcs. It was changing almost daily, and Shen Nong even wondered if the system had secretly enabled accelerated speed for him.
The brick kilns never stopped operating. Because all the houses needed to be built with bricks, the amount of bricks required was enormous, and the piles of bricks were quickly emptied. The brick-making team built two more brick kilns to ensure that the supply of bricks did not run out halfway.
Based on the current terrain, Shen San revised the drainage system map he had previously drawn, and the road construction and drainage system construction were carried out simultaneously.
Every day, Fox Five would stand not far from the former Salt Tribe, now the Wood Tribe, and smell the aroma of meat wafting from there.
He still hadn't found his father and mother, and as time went by, Fox Five's hope of finding them dwindled.
"What are you doing here again?" Lu Shi asked helplessly when he found the person. For so many days now, Hu Wu had been coming here every day.
Fox Five scratched at the weeds on the ground with his toes. The sun was so bright that he could hardly open his eyes, and sweat dripped from his forehead to his chin. "Deer Ten, I saw beastmen from other tribes in there too. There are several different tribes."
Lu Shi said nonchalantly, "What's so strange about that? The Wood Tribe has hired other tribes of beastmen to do their work before."
Fox Five lowered his head. "I saw many elderly people and children from other tribes helping the Wood Tribe with their work..."
“Impossible.” Lu Shi said firmly, “The elderly and children can’t do anything. They are the abandoned ones in every tribe. The Mu tribe would never ask them to work.”
Lu Shi pulled Hu Wu along, wanting to take him to continue searching for the orcs in the tribe who had been swept away by the flood. "Besides, they don't have the strength to work. You've mistaken them."
Fox Five pursed his lips, as if trying to convince himself, "You're right, I was wrong. Because I'm too hungry..."