Chapter 56 - Little Brook Tribe (1/2)

Ch56 - Little Brook Tribe

Zhou Ji had changed into his new clothes today.

These clothes were made out of the plant fibers he had extracted from the vines. They had initially been white, but the clothing had turned a yellow brown color after a while and now looked more like the coarse sacks that Xiang Tian had worn that day.

These clothes were much closer to Zhou Ji’s idea of clothing than the dinosaur leather skirts and robes. After he used his powers to soften the plant fibers, they also became much more comfortable to wear.

However, although he had clothes, he had no underwear.

Riding a bear…

Zhou Ji was a little hesitant.

“Zhou Ji, just let Xiong Ye carry you!” The priest said, then repeated to the people in the tribe again, “Zhou Ji has a very important job to do this time, so you guys must protect him well and make sure to bring him back safely even if you’re unable to trade for any salt!”

Although salt was very important, they wouldn’t die without salt. If they were able to get a bumper harvest of earth eggs this year, they could hold on until the next year before trading for salt again.

On the other hand… It was the Beast God’s will for Zhou Ji to leave the tribe at this time. The Beast God would definitely be angry if something happened to him!

The priest was thinking about this even as he stole a few peeks at Zhou Ji’s clothes.

He had seen Zhou Ji weaving things over the past few days, but he hadn’t known what he was doing. It turned out that he had been making clothing…

This clothing looked really good. When Zhou Ji returned, he had to learn how to make a set for himself.

Xiong Qi agreed to the priest’s request without a second thought. As for Xiong Ye… He turned into a brown bear and looked towards Zhou Ji.

Zhou Ji ended up sitting on the bear’s back after all.

The salt team set out.

Brown bears could stand up on their hind legs, but they spent most of their time on all fours. Zhou Ji was quite stable sitting on the brown bear’s back.

It was just that Xiong Qi, who hadn’t turned into his animal form, was a mild annoyance

“Xiong Ye, your animal form is as big as the tribal chief’s! How amazing!”

“Xiong Ye, your wounds recovered really fast; your body is in great shape.”

“Xiong Ye, you walk so steadily!”

……

Zhou Ji: “……”

Xiong Ye: I suddenly feel very glad that I’ve turned into my animal form, and there’s no need to answer.

People around them: Hadn’t Xiong Qi been chasing Lang Yin recently? But he kept following after Xiong Yi all the time… he hadn’t fallen for Xiong Ye, right?

Xiong Qi didn’t know what everyone else was thinking. He had been saved by Xiong Ye after getting injured during their previous salt trade excursion, and then when he and Xiong Ye had gone out hunting and encountered arthropleura, it was Xiong Ye who had saved him once again.

Xiong Ye had saved him twice, making him extremely grateful towards Xiong Ye.

“Xiong Qi, Zhou Ji’s clothing is so beautiful, you’re so impressive!” Xiong Qi continued.

Xiong Ye: “……” Zhou Ji’s clothing had nothing to do with him! However, Zhou Ji had agreed to make him a set… Zhou Ji was really so good to him!

He took special care when walking so that he didn’t rock Zhou Ji too much.

In Shi Li’s memories, this salt trading team had been led by Xiong Ye. Not only had they come back empty handed, they had also lost some people. However, it was different this time.

Xiong Qi was still alive, and the captain of the salt team was still Xiong Qi. Xiong Ye was mostly just following in order to learn.

Although Xiong Qi sometimes spoke out of turn, he did things very reliably, sharing a lot of his experience of traveling farther afield along the way.

“Life outside is not as good as it is within the tribe. The most troublesome thing is when it rains, because it’s especially difficult to travel during rainy days.” Xiong Qi chattered on, “Before it gets dark, we have to find a good place to set up camp and settle down. At least one side of the camp should be against mountains or stones, but it shouldn’t be next to water. There are many animals and dinosaurs that like to stay near bodies of water.”

The salt team’s first destination this time was the Little Brook Tribe that Xiong Qi had gone to last time to trade for salt. They also planned to ask the Little Brook Tribe for news about the Giant Tiger Tribe.

“The Little Brook Tribe might not have much salt left. If that’s the case, we will bypass the Green Hills.. no, the Giant Tiger Tribe, and head east to take a look.” Xiong Qi said.

It was Xiong Ye’s first time on such an expedition. He listened very seriously but didn’t express his opinion.

Only one leader was needed in a team.

The weather was fine on the first day of their departure. Xiong Qi took them to find the cave he stayed in every time he went out to trade for salt.

This cave was made of dirt rather than stone, and was a little damp and muddy, but it could be slept in if they laid out animal hides. It was arranged for Zhou Jito sleep in the innermost part of the cave, while Xiong Ye and the others lit a fire outside and split shifts to keep guard.

Zhou Ji naturally had no objections to this. He lay down a few pieces of wood in a crisscross pattern on the floor, covered it with a layer of animal hides, and then used his energy to isolate himself from the smell in the cave before eating a full meal––he hadn’t had a chance to eat during the day.

The next day, the salt team continued on their way.

Zhou Ji had visited almost all the areas in the tribe’s surroundings before and was very clear about what plants were present there. Although he had constantly been using his spiritual powers to study the plants around him this whole time, trying to find new types of plants that could be matured, harvested for seeds and brought back for farming, he hadn’t been successful. However, from the third day on, he began to find some useful plants.

These were mostly fruit and vegetable plants.

For the people of these primitive tribes who burned a lot of physical energy, they required food that was high in carbohydrates and protein. Because of this, Zhou Ji most wanted to find plants that could be used as staple foods.

However, they weren’t that easy to find.

On the way, he saw some plants that looked like wheat but only discovered after careful study that they were a type of very small grass seeds and weren’t suitable for consumption at all.

“Stop for a moment.” Zhou Ji called for a stop once again.

“What did you find this time?” Xiong Qi looked at Zhou Ji curiously. He was very happy.

“There’s a type of edible plant over there.” Zhou Ji pointed to a bunch of plants not far away. If he wasn’t mistaken, they should be pumpkins.

Pumpkins weren’t very suitable as staple foods for very physically active people since they would quickly become hungry again after eating it, but it tasted good and should be quite popular.

“We’ll go pick it right away!” Xiong Qi was very excited. Xiong Ye, who was in his animal form and couldn’t speak, gave two grunts and rushed over right away, carrying Zhou Ji on his back.

They had already been on the road for four days. Zhou Ji hadn’t done anything at all during the first two days, and Xiong Qi and the others couldn’t help but grumble a little in their hearts. However, in the past two days, Zhou Ji had discovered a lot of edible things, and some of them were actually extremely delicious! For example, the melon they had discovered not long ago had been very sweet.