Wuming recalled Snake One's words, so the first time the divine blood was lost, it was because the cannibals captured people as useless prey.
They were rescued by the Mu tribe and then returned to the Chengze tribe.
The second time the Divine Blood was lost was due to a sudden attack on the Ze tribe by cannibals. He himself was leading the group, and the Divine Blood escaped in the chaos.
This seems to actually be related to his cannibalistic tribe.
Wuming was at a loss for words and casually asked, "Why do the people of the Wood Tribe know what divine blood looks like?"
The old priest helped the snake up from the ground. "When the tribe migrated here, the people of the Wood Tribe were always catching fish by the river. I've seen them."
"Don't the Namu tribe know he has divine blood?"
"I don't know," the old priest added. "Even if I had known, I wouldn't have sent it back the first time."
"What is the name of the divine blood?"
"select."
Wuming felt that the name sounded familiar, as if he had heard it somewhere before.
Wait, he seems to remember now.
When the Wood Tribe attacked his cannibalistic tribe, he always liked to stick close to the tall, skinny, pale-faced priest of the Wood Tribe, whose name I think was Ze.
"Is that Ze very tall, incredibly skilled, and looks fierce?"
Wuming recalled the appearance of Ze in his memory, emphasizing, "He also especially liked to stick to the priest of the Wood Tribe."
The old priest looked at Wuming with a puzzled expression, completely unable to understand what the other was saying.
“Ze is very thin and small. He can’t even beat the unawakened children in the tribe, and he has never seen the priest of the Wood Tribe.”
Wuming scratched his head, wondering if it was just because they had the same name.
The old priest didn't want to listen to Wuming's nonsense anymore. "I have already sent Ya Jiu to search in a more distant place. Priest Wuming, if your cannibal tribe still wants to exchange for divine blood, please send people to search together with the Ze tribe."
Wuming frowned, his gaze displeased. "Old man, are you asking me to do something?"
Sensing the other party's hostility, the old priest quickly composed himself, "I wouldn't dare, it's to ask the cannibals for help."
"Okay, I understand. I'll help the Ze tribe search." Wuming looked around the Ze tribe. "However, I can't come here for nothing, and I certainly won't help you find people without asking for anything in return."
"Give me five level-three orc warriors as human sacrifices, and I'll let your Ze tribe go this time."
The old priest wanted to refuse, but after meeting Wuming's sinister gaze, he couldn't utter a single word.
He turned his head away and remained silent.
Wuming sneered and ordered his men to select flesh and blood.
"Priest! Save us!"
"priest!"
The orcs chosen by the cannibals struggled desperately, pleading with their priests for help, hoping the priests would change their minds.
But until the very end, the priest did not utter another word.
After selecting the cannibals, the Ze tribe's priest and chieftain followed behind them, seeing them off.
As they passed the giant tree in front of the Ze tribe's gate, Wuming turned his head and asked, "If I remember correctly, your tribe didn't have this giant tree before winter. What happened?"
The old priest shook his head. "I don't know either. It grew suddenly. Moreover, on the day it grew, its roots were covered with sharp thorns, as if it were alive, and it injured many of the tribesmen."
Even now, the people of the Ze tribe still feel lingering fear when they think about the sharp spikes from back then.
"However, the thorns disappeared quickly, but fearing that the tree might grow thorns again, everyone avoided the tree."
Wuming stared at the giant tree for a while. The tree, which had suddenly grown rapidly in winter, had sharp thorns that seemed to have a life of their own, injuring many people from the Ze tribe.
He asked, "What else happened that day?"
The old priest couldn't understand why the cannibalistic priest was suddenly interested in these things.
But he still told the truth: "That day, a huge bear-shaped beast suddenly appeared in front of the tribe, as tall as a small mountain. But it suddenly disappeared and never appeared again."
A bear-shaped behemoth...that does fit the description of that person from the Wood Tribe.
The giant beast of the Kemu tribe was not particularly large among giant beasts, and its size did not quite match the description given by the Ze tribe.
However, it can control tree growth during winter.
Wuming's heart skipped a beat. Besides the priest of the Wood Tribe, the only other person who could control the growth of trees was the one from the Beast City.
Could it be that the one from Beast City has arrived?
But why did he come to the Ze tribe? And why was he trying to scare them?
If you can't figure it out, just stop thinking about it.
Before leaving with his people, he didn't forget to say to the old priest and chieftain of the Ze tribe, "The divine blood will help you find it, but until you find it, remember to honestly send flesh-eating people to the cannibals at every trade fair, or don't blame me for not showing you any mercy."
The old priest and Crocodile Swamp dared not refute, for they had nothing to say to the cannibals.
"knew."
——
Spring is here, and the ice and snow are melting.
Every three days, the Water Tribe would follow the Wood Tribe to the river to catch fish.
While catching fish, the people of the Mu tribe also told them how to prepare the fish to make it taste better, and they all fell in love with the taste of the fish after it was prepared.
Both the grilled fish and the fish soup were delicious.
If there were rock salt, it would taste even better, just like the one they had in the Wood Tribe.
They were so engrossed in the delicious food that they practically swallowed their tongues.
Because there was enough food, no one died in the water tribe after they started catching fish.
But before that, several elderly people froze to death and starved to death.
Fortunately, the priest of the Wood Tribe taught them how to make fire.
Fire is a divine gift from the gods, enabling them to dispel darkness and bring warmth.
The elderly will receive a sacred cremation, and will no longer be in darkness and cold after death.
They will be guided by the sacred fire to meet the Beast God.
Lu Shuang couldn't even imagine how many more people from the Water Tribe would have frozen to death if the Wood Tribe hadn't taught them how to make fire.
After the cremation ceremony, Lu Shuang urged the clansmen to set off quickly.
The Water Tribe was extremely busy for a time.
Lu Shuang folded the animal skin handkerchief and carefully tucked it into the middle of the straw rope tied around her waist.
"You're the slowest one in Xiangshan! Hurry up and pack, we need to get to the Mu tribe as soon as possible to help them with their work."
Xiangshan wrapped the fire-starting tools in his only tattered animal hide, carefully adjusting the hide's orientation to cover the holes.
After several attempts, he finally covered up all the holes and replied with a smile, "It's all done, Priest!"
Niu Si was carrying several large, freeze-dried fish. "Priest, these are enough for two meals at the Mu tribe. After we finish eating, Hou Wu and I will go catch some more."
Ever since Lu Shuang cried last time, the people of the Water Tribe have dared not accept food or other strange items from the Wood Tribe.
This time, we're going to work in the Wood Tribe. As Lu Shuang had said before, the food we eat will have to be obtained by the tribe itself.
The Water Tribe members all remembered this, and Lu Shuang nodded in satisfaction. "Let's go!"
Shen Nong took advantage of those few winter days to quickly make a lot of farm tools.
Stone hoe, plow, rake, stone fork...
Spring has arrived, and he can finally clear the land and start farming!
Chapter 34 A Better Life
Lu Shuang: I'm so hungry!
Polishing stones is difficult, time-consuming, and labor-intensive.
In order to produce more farm tools more efficiently, Shen Nong set her sights on the giant tree.
The wooden arrows made from the giant trees unique to the Wood Tribe are smaller than stone spears, but much heavier and more powerful.
With a try-it-out mentality, Shen Nong crafted another batch of farm tools from the giant tree. After testing them, she was pleasantly surprised to find that the farm tools made from the giant tree were more efficient than those made from stone.
It's even comparable to those made of iron.
They found better materials to make farm tools. Except for the first batch of farm tools which contained stones, all the other farm tools were made from giant trees.
Shen Nong wasn't worried about running out of materials; the giant tree forest stretched as far as the eye could see. Moreover, a single giant tree could yield thousands of farming tools.
Brick kilns need soil to fire bricks, and with the advent of stone hoes, the speed of digging soil and shaping bricks has become much faster.
Planting corn and rapeseed is just right in the spring, which is perfect for clearing land.
The wasteland chosen by Shen Nong for the tribe's first reclamation was surrounded by mountains on three sides. He had carefully surveyed the wasteland surrounding the Mu tribe; the soil was of excellent quality and fertile. This particular piece of land was especially so.
But the soil is fertile, and there is also a lot of grass.
Except in winter, the wasteland is so overgrown with grass that it could bury a person.
Shen Nong demonstrated to the Mu tribe how to use farm tools: "The plow is used to turn the soil, and the harrow is used to break up the soil."
Fearing that the grass seeds might take root and compete with crops for nutrients, he repeatedly reminded them, "Remember to till this land deeply, and till it twice."
The plows and rakes used for turning the soil were made entirely of giant trees, and were much heavier than those with stone teeth, even though they were the same size.
The adult orc warriors were all assigned to other heavy labor, leaving only the young boys who had just awakened their beast forms to till the land.
Although their human-like strength could pull the plow, it was still quite strenuous.
Catgrass was the first to take human form, using its teeth to bite the thick straw rope on the plow.
Due to a shortage of manpower, the elders of the Wood Tribe and the children sent by the Water Tribe followed behind to guide the plow. The wooden tip easily pierced the hard soil, and as the plow moved, it stirred up clods of earth.
The old man and the children walked on the turned earth, their steps slightly unsteady, but they kept up with the pace of the boy pulling the plow. They walked carefully along the way, and with the plow for support, they didn't fall.