Spikes pierced the skin, and blood seeped into the snow, staining it red.
"Priest, get out of the way!"
Ya Jiu pulled the old priest away, and spikes grew from the spot where the old priest had been standing.
Upon seeing this, Shen Nong chuckled softly.
Bring your index and middle fingers together, palm facing up.
With slender fingertips making an upward gesture, a dense thicket of thorns spreads out, centered on the priest of the Ze tribe.
Let's see how you hide now.
I don't like using thorny vines to tie people up, but now I'll let you experience what it's like to get pricked.
The animal hides wrapped around their feet offered no protection against the numerous sharp spikes, leaving the old priest and his companions of the Ze tribe with nowhere to retreat.
A sharp pain shot through the soles of my feet, but I could only grit my teeth and remain motionless.
Seeing the scene before him, Hu Xiao led his hunting party over. "Priest, didn't you say you weren't coming to fight? Have you changed your mind and are you going to fight now?"
Shen Nong shook her head. "I just suddenly got annoyed with them and wanted to teach them a lesson. Let's leave now while we can."
Upon hearing this, Hu Xiao immediately led his hunting party around and quickly left.
Shen Nong watched for a while as the priests and others from the Ze tribe grimaced in pain, then stopped, satisfied.
He kept his hand in the same position, but this time the back of his hand was facing up and his fingertips were pointing downwards, and all the spikes disappeared quickly.
However, Shen Nong could no longer restore the tree that had grown so large.
In spring, the trees are not dormant. He wouldn't need to infuse them with so much supernatural power, allowing them to grow to a certain extent before he could control the wood-based energy they inherently possessed.
After leaving the Ze tribe, Shen Nong felt that the people behind him were too quiet, and he even suspected that Ze might not be following behind him.
As she turned around, a golden light flashed, and Shen Nong was embraced in someone's arms.
Giant wings, shimmering with golden light, sheltered him. Shen Nong's face was pressed against Ze's chest, listening to the strong heartbeat emanating from his chest.
Shen Nong felt his almost depleted supernatural energy in his spiritual core recovering. He thought back to when the orcs of the tribe awakened, and Ze did the same thing, so his supernatural energy slowly recovered.
So, is it possible to restore a person to their original state without using blood?
Orcs are strong and usually can't control their strength, nor do they need to. They usually associate with orcs of similar level to avoid accidentally injuring lower-level orcs.
Shen Nong knew that Ze had already reduced most of his strength, otherwise his back would probably have broken by now. But he was still in pain from Ze's strangulation and was having some difficulty breathing.
He shifted his body forward, trying to make Zebie hug him more tightly, "Loosen your grip a little."
Ze obediently reduced his strength and said, "Mm."
As her spiritual core improved and her powers increased, Shen Nong felt more and more like Ze was a human-shaped power bank.
…
The people of the Water Tribe were taken directly back to the Wood Tribe by Shen Nong.
Shen Nong arranged for them to stay in the earthen houses of other members of the Mu tribe, and had Tu Dong treat their wounds.
"Hu Xiao, go to the warehouse and get some fish so the old folks can help you cook it."
"Yes, priest."
Lu Shuang vaguely felt a warm feeling around her, and a soft touch beneath her.
It felt as if I were lying on the soft belly of an animal.
He gradually regained consciousness and saw a roof that was both strange and familiar.
Lu Shuang then realized that he was not dreaming; he had really been saved by the priest of the Wood Tribe.
He propped himself up and sat up, his hand touching the animal hide beneath him. Only then did he realize that the softness he had felt earlier came from there.
The heat from the heated kang (a traditional heated brick bed) seeped through the animal hide and kept rising. Lu Shuang couldn't resist and rolled around on the kang.
His cheek rubbed against the soft animal hide, and he squinted his eyes in comfort.
"woke up?"
Upon hearing the familiar voice, Lu Shuang immediately looked over. His face was still pressed against the animal hide. He exclaimed in surprise, "Priest of the Wood Tribe!"
Looking at Lu Shuang's current appearance, Shen Nong felt that she had regained a lively and youthful feeling.
Unlike the dullness of my previous two visits to the Mu tribe.
"Are you hungry? We have fish soup here."
After Shen Nong finished speaking, Ze, who was behind her, stepped forward with the fish soup and handed the fragrant and delicious soup to Lu Shuang.
I couldn't smell it clearly from a distance; I could only faintly smell it.
Now that they were closer, Lu Shuang realized just how delicious the food from the Wood Tribe smelled.
His stomach rumbled loudly, gurgling and rumbling like thunder, urging him to eat quickly.
Lu Shuang couldn't stop her stomach from growling, so she had to cover her stomach and swallow hard.
He was already very grateful that the Wood Tribe priest had risked his life to save him.
Not to mention, the other party even took him back to the Wood Tribe to treat his wounds, let him sleep in such a warm "thatched hut," and provided him with such soft animal hides...
Although he wanted to eat, the priest of the Wood Tribe had already given him enough.
“Food is very important in winter, priest of the Wood Tribe. You should leave it for the people of the Wood Tribe to eat; I won’t eat it.”
Shen Nong saw that the boy was so hungry he looked like he could eat a whole cow.
Seeing him drooling while refusing the food, I couldn't help but laugh and say, "Eat up, the Wood Tribe won't miss a bite from you. We didn't go to the trouble of saving you, we're not here to let you starve to death."
He could resist this enormous temptation once, but Lu Shuang simply couldn't resist it a second time; he was truly starving.
"Priest of the Wood Tribe, you are so kind! From now on, I will give you half of all the meat I eat!"
Shen Nong couldn't bear the thought of sharing a piece of meat with someone else, so she quickly waved her hand, "No need, you just need to get better soon."
Chapter 33 Winter is Gone
Spring has arrived, and he's going to clear the land and start farming!
As soon as he finished speaking, the boy quickly took the fish soup from Ze's hand.
Ignoring whether the fish soup was too hot to handle, I gulped it down.
The delicious fish soup stimulated her taste buds, and Lu Shuang's long-empty stomach, nourished by the food, began to gurgle even more eagerly.
They hope that their owners will provide them with more food to digest.
The fish soup contained a few pieces of fish with few bones. Lu Shuang swallowed it all, soup and all, without chewing it much.
A big bowl of fish soup, after drinking it, all I could think about was how delicious it was.
Shen Nong still remembers when she examined the boy in front of her, his physical condition had reached a critical point.
If it had been any later, the boy would have died from starvation.
He asked, "Want some more?"
Lu Shuang shook her head. "Priest of the Wood Tribe, how are my people?"
"Yes, everything is fine. You were the last to wake up."
Lu Shuang carefully placed the pottery bowl on the animal hide and got off the earthen bed.
Even if he's stupid, after using it a few times, he'd know that this wasn't an ordinary stone bowl from the Wood Tribe.
"Priest of the Wood Tribe, you have helped us a lot. Now that the tribespeople are awake, I will take them away now."
Lu Shuang didn't want the Water Tribe to eat another meal from the Wood Tribe, and even now, he didn't know how to repay the Wood Tribe.
Shen Nong didn't stop him, but instead asked Ze to take him to his clansmen.
Niu Si was worried about Lu Shuang. Hearing that Lu Shuang had woken up, he was about to go find him.
Unexpectedly, Lu Shuang came by herself. Upon seeing him, he rushed over, "Priest! You're awake!"
"Okay, go and call Monkey Five and the others. We need to get back to the tribe before dark."
Lu Shuang asked Niu Si to find the people, and Niu Si pointed to the earthen house behind him, "They're all inside."
Upon entering the earthen house, Lu Shuang saw the people of the Water Tribe squatting in a circle.
Xiangshan was in the center of the circle, his arms constantly rotating rapidly.
He asked Niu Si, puzzled, "What are they doing?"
"The priest of the Wood Tribe knew that our tribe did not have fire, so he had people teach us how to make fire. Xiangshan is learning."
When Niu Si thought about the scene where flames appeared out of thin air after the people of the Wood Tribe spun the branches for a while, he felt that he would never forget that image in his life.
That's amazing! Orcs can actually create fire on their own!
He was so engrossed in the fact that the Wood Tribe had taught the Water Tribe how to make fire that he didn't notice at all that Lu Shuang's face had darkened.
Lu Shuang pushed through the crowd and pulled up Xiang Shan.
During the process, he vaguely smelled the scent of wood just beginning to burn.
Xiangshan had finally managed to get the fire going with a wisp of white smoke rising, but now it was all for nothing. "Priest, why did you pull me? The people from the Wood Tribe said that if we stop halfway, it will be difficult to start a fire, and we'll have to start all over again."
"Then stop this. People of the Water Tribe, now all of you, leave the Wood Tribe with me."
Lu Shuang spoke decisively, her face stern, clearly indicating that she was angry.
The people of the Water Tribe were puzzled as to why their priest was unhappy, since they could have fire in the winter...
While it cannot be guaranteed that no one will freeze to death, at least there will be a heat source to keep warm.
"But priest, I haven't learned how to start a fire yet..."
Lu Shuang turned to look at Xiang Shan, her eyes filled with determination. "I said everyone come back to the Water Tribe with me now, don't you understand?"
“Priest, the Thunder God doesn’t send lightning in winter. Now, the Wood Tribe is teaching us the divine power to create fire on our own. If we leave, the tribe will have no chance of having fire this winter!”
Lu Shuang knew that fire was important, but as Xiang Shan said, it was "divine power".