Once this idea takes hold, it's impossible to shake it off.
Shen Nong racked her brains every day designing city plans and arranging various tasks for the spring season, and forgot about the holographic projection again.
The system saw that he was doing mental work every day, overusing his brain, and falling asleep as soon as he hit the bed, but it didn't give him any warnings.
I want Shen Nong to get some rest.
——
Niu Si huddled up, hugging his legs, and huddled together with five or six orcs for warmth.
Monkey Five, who had previously visited the Wood Tribe, shivered and said, "It's so cold. If only we had heated houses like those in the Wood Tribe."
After saying that, he shook his head in denial, afraid that his desires were too great and that the Beast God would be unhappy.
He desperately tried to recall the brief warmth he had felt earlier, and said again, "Even if there's no heated room, a fire would be fine."
A few days ago, a blizzard struck, and the Water Tribe's only fire pit was blown out by the wind and snow in the middle of the night.
Even though the people of the Water Tribe tried their best to block the wind and snow with their bodies, they ultimately failed.
Without a fire source, there will be no fire for the entire winter.
After saying that, Monkey Five rubbed his arms vigorously, feeling that his body was a little stiff.
"Niu Si, do you have any more rock salt?"
Upon hearing this, Niu Si opened the animal hide he was carrying and searched for a long time, but found nothing.
He folded the animal hide back to its original shape and said in a deep voice, "The tribe's salt is completely used up."
Xiangshan, who was standing nearby, also said, "All the meat and wild vegetables we had stored are gone."
Lu Shuang hugged his arms, his nails digging into his flesh, the pain bringing him back to his senses.
He vaguely heard Niu Si and Xiang Shan's report, and secretly wiped away a trace of blood seeping from his arm with his finger, "Let's go to the other side of the river to break the ice and catch fish."
In the past, during the winter, after they had eaten everything, they would go to the river to break the ice and catch fish.
At first, they wanted to break the ice and go into the water to catch fish, but when they broke the ice for the first time, fish started jumping up in no time, so they didn't need to go into the water to catch them.
Later, whenever they ran out of food, they would go to the river to catch fish to fill their stomachs.
Winter is cold and the nights are long, so the Ze tribe doesn't patrol the riverbanks, making it the perfect time for them to strike.
After packing their things, Lu Shuang led her people to set off after dark.
They had walked this road many times; they could walk it with their eyes closed.
Finally, they arrived at the riverbank. The people of the Water Tribe stepped into the river, where a thick layer of ice covered the surface, with snow on top.
Following her past memories, Lu Shuang led her people to the place where they used to break the ice, cleared away the snow, and picked up stones to smash it.
When a small hole was smashed in the ice, Monkey Five suddenly collapsed to the ground. He was soaking wet and extremely weak.
"Quickly take Monkey Five to rest by the rock on the side."
Time waits for no one; we might encounter the Ze tribe after dawn.
Monkey Five leaned against the rock, blaming himself for his weak body, unable to help at all at this time.
"What's that sound? Who's there?!"
A furious shout interrupted the water tribe members' actions, and they looked up in horror.
Before they could even see what it looked like, their bodies were enveloped by a chilling sensation, and everyone was trapped inside.
Lu Shuang recognized the beast form as Snake One, an orc warrior and the captain of the Ze tribe's hunting team.
He knew that the Water Tribe would not be able to escape this time.
All the people of the Water Tribe were taken away by the hunting team that returned from the Ze Tribe.
Monkey Five covered his mouth tightly to prevent himself from making a sound and to avoid being noticed.
Only after everyone had gone far away did he dare to let go and breathe in the fresh air.
He dragged his extremely exhausted body and, with the help of the stones, struggled to climb up from the ice.
The Wood Tribe...yes...go find the Wood Tribe...
The Wood Tribe priest will surely be able to save them…
Shen Nong was discussing with the system how to develop the business route; Shen Nong was mainly talking, and the system was listening.
After Shen Nong finished explaining, she would find some mistakes and then re-plan.
Not only should trade routes be opened, but they should be started as early as possible.
The earlier the better; being first gives you a head start.
Moreover, he was also hoping to find rice and wheat seeds as soon as possible.
"Priest! A member of the Water Tribe wants to see you!" Yang Lei rushed over, breathless. "He looks like he's about to die!"
Shen Nong quickly stood up, putting aside what she was doing, "Take me to see quickly."
Monkey Five felt weak all over, his vision blurred, and his whole body ached.
His eyelids were very heavy, and every time he blinked, he wanted to close them and never open them again.
But he couldn't.
Finally, a familiar figure appeared. Monkey Five reached out and grabbed the other person's trouser leg.
"Wood Tribe... Priest, save... save us... please... save our priest..."
The other person's voice was very soft, and Shen Nong could only hear it intermittently. She could only squat down and support the other person's back.
"What happened?"
Monkey Five, barely holding on, spoke haltingly, "We...we really have nothing left to eat...we've finished the salt...our stomachs are empty except for snow water..."
Shen Nong guessed that the Water Tribe would suffer serious consequences due to food shortages, but judging from the appearance of this orc, it didn't seem like he had come for that reason.
Sure enough, after pausing for a while, the other party gathered some strength and spoke again: "If we don't eat... we'll starve to death... so the priest will lead us... to break the ice under the cover of darkness... to catch fish to eat."
"I never expected the Ze tribe to suddenly conduct an inspection... and then the priest and all the others were captured by the Ze tribe..."
Shen Nong never expected that the Ze tribe would go to patrol the riverbank, which was not close to their tribe, even on such a cold day.
Judging from the orc's words, the Ze tribe probably wouldn't patrol at this time of year in the past.
Perhaps this so-called inspection has another reason.
The chosen bloodline is very important to this tribe, and Shen Nong doesn't believe they will completely give up.
Shen Nong couldn't help but think about it. If it weren't for this, he would never have been able to understand why a tribe would brave the wind and snow in the dead of winter just to prevent people from catching fish in a river they didn't want to fish for food.
This isn't interstellar space; fishing is prohibited here.
He looked at Monkey Five, who was burning with a high fever and barely clinging to life.
Oh well, after all, their tribe helped the Wood Tribe before.
Moreover, he also intended to merge the Water Tribe into the Wood Tribe during the spring.
The one who died in the water tribe was a priest, not an ordinary tribesman, so he couldn't just stand by and watch him die.
He decided to take this opportunity to go to the Ze tribe and find out more about them.
After entrusting the person to Tu Dong's care, Shen Nong took out a handkerchief and repeatedly wiped her hands.
"Hunting team! Assemble!"
Chapter 31 A Squeak
They were scared to death
Shen Nong did not bring ballistae or catapults with her when she went to the Ze tribe to rescue people.
Unlike cannibals, the Ze tribe cannot transform into human form, and the Ze tribe has quite a few orc warriors.
Although ballistae and catapults are quite powerful, they pose far less of a threat to orcs in human form than to cannibals who cannot transform.
If they want to rescue people in the Ze tribe, they can't use the same methods they use against cannibals.
Shen Nong rested her chin on her hand, pondering a solution, when Da Hei ran over from a distance.
To make it easier for Dahei to move freely within the tribe, Shen Nong would only remove the shrinking spell from Dahei during training; otherwise, it would remain unchanged.
This celestial technique, obtained from the system, can make anything grow larger or smaller, regardless of whether it is alive or dead.
However, there are limitations. The object cannot grow indefinitely. The maximum value is when the object grows ten times larger, and the minimum value is when the object shrinks ten times smaller.
Ten times is the limit.
Dahei came here just to ask Shen Nong for candy.
Ever since his body shrank and he ate candy, Big Black has become addicted.
It pesters Shen Nong for candy every day. Although it doesn't dare to be outrageous, it will throw a tantrum.
Not only did he get covered in snow, but he also didn't focus on training.
Even the dumpling couldn't bear to look.
From the moment Dahei brought Tuanzi to the Mu tribe, Shen Nong knew that this big black bear was full of wicked ideas.
Once it starts plotting, the noise it makes can be heard even in interstellar space.
To avoid being bothered every day, Shen Nong agreed to give Da Hei a piece of candy every day, but he was not allowed to be sneaky anymore.
Big Black achieved its goal and agreed to whatever it asked.
Today, due to some delays, I missed the usual time to give Big Black Candy, and this greedy bear came looking for me all over the tribe.
After staring at Dahei for a while, Shen Nong had an idea.
Dahei ran up to Shen Nong and stopped, panting heavily as he stared at the bag of candy that Shen Nong usually took out.
Shen Nong took out a green candy and smiled gently, "Big Black, do me a favor, and I'll give you a few more candies today, okay?"
Big Black's saliva involuntarily streamed down its chin as it nodded its head frantically, afraid that Shen Nong would change her mind.