"Okay, do a good job." After saying that, Shen Nong looked at the collection team who were preparing to go out soon.
According to his deduction, the grains near the Mu tribe included soybeans and millet. The seasonings included garlic and Sichuan peppercorns.
In winter, everything outside is covered in white snow, and nothing can be found.
Now that everything is reviving, Shen Nong doesn't have time to go out and search. Fortunately, Tu Dong has a strong memory and has been learning to identify herbs from him, so she can even spot the differences in the smallest details.
Previously, it was Tu Dong who found the mugwort, so Shen Nong could trust her completely with this matter.
However, the Rabbit Winter Beastman's level is not high. She doesn't know where these crops are located, and if they're within the territory of another tribe, she'll definitely encounter danger if she leads her gathering team to search for them.
Orcs have a very strong sense of territory.
"I've drawn pictures of the growth stages of the crops you're looking for," Shen Nong said, still concerned. "If you can't find them within our tribe's territory or in unclaimed lands, you'll have to search in other tribes' territories. The rest of the gathering team shouldn't go. Let Hu Xiao, Mao Yun, and Tu Feng go with you. Keep things simple and be careful."
Tu Dong nodded. "Understood, Priest."
Tiger Roar patted his chest and assured everyone that he would definitely protect Rabbit Winter.
...
The dense forest was difficult to traverse, and the mountain paths were treacherous.
To preserve the goods as much as possible, Shen Nong used large, tightly woven baskets to pack the pottery jars.
The bottom of the basket was lined with animal hides, then five sets of fish skin clothing were placed inside, and another layer of animal hides was placed on top.
Finally, the earthenware jars were placed in the middle, with a layer of animal hide inserted between each layer. This served to prevent bumps and also to conceal animal hides and fish skin clothing.
The large basket is woven from the branches of giant trees that have not yet grown. These giant trees have soft, flexible branches with a strong load-bearing capacity.
Assuming an orc's minimum height of 1.7 meters, a half-person-high basket can hold about twenty-three large-bellied pottery jars. Pottery pots are quite large, with about fifteen in a basket. Pottery bowls are the smallest, but orcs have large appetites. Therefore, pottery bowls are extra-large bowls, about ten centimeters deep and thirty centimeters in diameter; a basket can hold seventy or eighty of these large bowls.
In order not to waste the super strong load-bearing capacity of the giant tree branches, and not to make the hard trip, I only brought this little bit of stuff.
So Shen Nong used magic to shrink the items, and finally determined that the amount she needed to bring was twice as much as before.
Although the weight has doubled, it's nothing to an orc warrior.
Actually, we could double the number, but each person's large basket would also need to carry meat and cooking utensils for the journey. If we added pottery, there would be no place to put all the food.
The forest was full of plants, half of which Shen Nong could name and half of which he couldn't. He kept his eyes on the plants the whole way and didn't look at the road at all.
After tripping a few times, I forced myself to concentrate on walking and not be distracted by the wildflowers and weeds by the roadside.
But after walking a few steps, his thoughts drifted back to the wildflowers and weeds that could only confuse his mind.
If she weren't in such a hurry, Shen Nong would have liked to take a clean wooden board and some charcoal sticks and study the plants here that she couldn't name.
Just as Shen Nong tripped over a dry branch for the seventh time, Ze took her hand.
Shen Nong frowned slightly. He wasn't used to physical contact and subconsciously wanted to shake it off.
But the feeling of that hand was familiar to Shen Nong. Despite her conditioned reflex, Shen Nong didn't pull away.
Ze dared not exert any force, only holding it loosely, yet he could still feel the softness and delicacy beneath his palm. This sensation made his heart pound wildly; even when he fought Dahei for hundreds of rounds, it had never pounded so fast.
Seeing that the priest did not avoid him, but only looked at him with a puzzled expression, with the tip of his other finger slightly curled, he concealed his nervousness and said in a deep voice, "Lead the priest and you won't trip over her again."
Shen Nong stared at their clasped hands for a while, and after thinking it over, he realized he couldn't help but look at the surrounding plants. He responded with a soft "Mm".
With Ze leading the way, Shen Nong focused all her attention on the plants, and she was very self-disciplined in not letting herself run over to touch them.
She carefully watched her step, removing any loose branches or pebbles for Shen Nong in advance, and leading her away from any obstacles she couldn't kick.
The journey was smooth, and Shen Nong did not encounter any further setbacks.
Huh?
Shen Nong's gaze was drawn to a clump of grass not far away. Judging from its slender shape, it was another clump of grass.
Dragon's Beard Grass?
Shen Nong withdrew her hand and walked towards the grassy area. Ze quickly followed, and Bao Qiu, seeing this, also called for the group to stop.
According to ancient records, dragon's beard grass can be used as a raw material for artificial cotton, artificial silk, and high-grade paper.
These processes are complex, and Shen Nong doesn't intend to waste her time and effort on them. If she really wants to, she'd rather grow cotton and raise silkworms.
As for paper, the high content of herbaceous fiber in dragon's beard grass makes it a viable alternative to trees as a raw material for papermaking.
However, the reason why Shen Nong couldn't help but come to find out if it was dragon's beard grass was not because dragon's beard grass could be used as a raw material to make these things, but because dragon's beard grass is also known as raincoat grass.
Straw raincoats were an early form of rain protection on ancient Earth.
Besides straw, palm bark can also be used to make palm clothing.
However, no palm trees or straw were found around the Mu tribe. Other grasses have very little function in making raincoats, so Shen Nong did not make any rain gear.
Anyway, the spring rains in the Beast World are light, so you can find larger leaves to cover yourself in the forest.
Summer rains are heavy, so it's best to return to the tribe before summer arrives.
Unexpectedly, he discovered dragon's beard grass here.
This grass is called dragon's beard grass because it resembles a dragon's beard and can grow up to one meter long.
The harvest time is around September, and the crops need to be dried in the sun before they can be made into raincoats.
Although he can't weave raincoats now, now that he's discovered it, he can't let it go easily.
After confirming that the herb was indeed Dragon Beard Grass, Shen Nong turned and left, ordering the system to store the entire area in the warehouse.
When he returned to the tribe, he transplanted the plant to a sunny hillside closer to the tribe.
Seeing that the people had returned, Bao Qiu and the others continued on their way.
This time, Shen Nong took the initiative to extend his arm to Ze, but only asked Ze to hold his wrist. He didn't know if it was because of the large contact area of his palm, but whenever he wasn't focused on looking at the plants, he would always have a strange feeling in his heart.
It's hard to explain.
After walking for a while, it was getting dark.
Shen Nong looked at the map on the screen, which was marked with many red dots and a moving green dot.
This is the map he bought from the system for 5,000 infrastructure points. The red dots represent other tribes, and the green dots represent them.
Below the red dots are the names of the tribes. The tribe closest to them is the Feather Tribe, but it still requires crossing mountains and forests.
We set off from the tribe around noon. Everyone was full, so we didn't waste time starting a fire to cook on the way.
We walked for most of the day, but according to the map, we had only covered one-tenth of the distance.
Based on the speed, it should take about five days to reach the Feather Tribe, which is also acceptable.
"Rest where you are."
At Shen Nong's command, everyone put down their baskets.
Leopard Autumn led Wolf Rain to look for a water source nearby. Although the caravan had water bags, the water in them was limited.
The journey is still long, and to ensure a continuous water supply, we need to stop and rest before heading out to find a water source.
If you have food, you can cook it and also replenish the water you drank from the water bag.
If not, then bake it. Be careful when drinking the water from the water bag.
The others dispersed to gather branches for starting a fire. Once they had gathered enough, they took out tinderboxes and began to light a fire.
He found a tree, cleared away the surrounding weeds, smashed a large rock with one palm, and took out the sharp-edged fragments.
He used pebbles to cut the grass, but didn't go far, keeping Shen Nong within his sight.
The cut grass was bundled up and laid flat on the ground, and then soft animal hides were laid on this simple "grass bed".
I pressed it with my hand to test its softness. The priest preferred a softer surface, and finding it not soft enough, he went and got another piece of animal hide to lay on top.
Shen Nong leaned against the tree trunk diagonally opposite, looking as if he had no bones. He stared intently at the spot where the other person had made a bed for him, his gaze focused and unwavering.
Shen Nong looked at Ze Yingjun's profile, his perfectly curved features. The strange feeling that had arisen in her heart when Ze's long, strong hand had enveloped her palm earlier suddenly resurfaced.
Uncontrollable and unknown emotions made Shen Nong somewhat irritable.
He clicked his tongue, looked away, and stopped looking at the selection.
Leopard Autumn and Wolf Rain were lucky; they found a water source not far away, which turned out to be a small stream.
The caravan members quickly poured the water from their water bags into the earthenware pot and started cooking.
Shen Nong was about to make a move when Ze snatched it away.
Ze opened his gourd and used the cooled boiled water inside to wash the earthenware pot for Shen Nong. After cooking the meat, he washed the earthenware bowl and wooden chopsticks before picking out the pieces of meat from the pot.
As he picked out the meat and put it in the bowl, he took out a small bamboo tube from his basket.
Opening the bamboo tube lid revealed a piece of dry, white fish skin inside. Several tiny holes were poked in the fish skin. A light touch with a fingertip caused fine red powder to float out of the bamboo tube.
After packing the meat, Ze took his gourd and said, "Priest, wash your hands."
Shen Nong reached out and slowly poured out the water from the gourd, but Shen Nong remained motionless, unlike before when she would cross her hands and rub them together.
After washing her own hands with water, she gently and slowly rubbed Shen Nong's fingertips until they were clean.
He looked up at Shen Nong, as if to say that it was time to eat meat.
The priestess's beautiful eyes were fixed on him, but he couldn't decipher her emotions. He only knew that her focused gaze made him very happy.
The priest was watching me, he kept watching me.
Shen Nong hadn't moved before because he was distracted for a moment. Whether it was making the bed or cooking food, he couldn't find any fault in any of the steps he took.
Wash the chopsticks again after washing them.
He loves spicy food but can't handle it. The meat is only a very thin layer, so he can only taste a little bit of the spice, but it's just the right amount of spice for him.
She was only slightly taken aback, and then washed her hands again before washing his hands carefully.
Shen Nong had no urge to shake off the touch.
Shen Nong was somewhat confused. He stared intently at Ze, trying to find the answer from him.
But he didn't find it; he only saw a handsome face and couldn't help but take a second look.
Did he become desensitized during his time in the animal world? Did he lose his germaphobia?
Shen Nong couldn't figure it out, nor did he want to think about it too much. He was a little hungry, so he picked up his bowl and started eating the meat.
She was so considerate and meticulous in every way that he couldn't get a word in edgewise.