Chapter 189 – The Wan Shi tribe (1/2)

Edited by Ilesyt

In the surroundings of the vast farm were high enclosures built up by huge tree trunks and stone columns and the kind. Every so distances away around the enclosures, there would be someone standing by on guard. The number of people assigned on guard had probably kind of increased because the accident today.

In some of the enclosures, the big birds were driven back while some people were repairing.

Those big fat birds of enormous sizes but chicken hearts were looking around with their long necks. Sometimes there would be people throwing some fruits and unknown grains inside, which would cause a stir in the enclosures. The big birds would fall over one another to peck at the food on the ground. With a full stomach, they would crouch at the sides, enjoy the sunshine and sleep.

Shao Xuan also saw people carrying lots of eggs of sizes of about half a meter out of some haystacks. In contrast, the egg from which Chacha hatched was unbelievably small. Anyone who saw Cha Cha now could hardly imagine that Cha Cha had come out of that small bird egg.

People of the Lu tribe called those big birds “Meat Birds”, which were kind of domesticated giant moas. After cultivation and domestication from generation to generation, these meat birds had already lost their feralness and became docile and chicken-hearted. But although they look fat with those thick and short legs, these birds could run quickly, or at least run “faster” than they looked.

Apart from those meat birds, Yan Jiu also showed Shao Xuan around to other domesticated animals’ pens, like cattle pens, horse pens, sheep pens, etc... The scale of these animal pens were not as large as what Shao Xuan had seen in the grasslands of the Feng tribe, but with such various species and feeding techniques, people of the Lu tribe indeed would not face a problem of shortage of food.

“What do you think of the domesticated animals in our tribe?” Yan Jiu asked Shao Xuan with pride on his face.

“Extremely wonderful.” Shao Xuan replied honestly.

Many tribes knew how to raise livestock, as far as Shao Xuan understood having traveled all the way here, but no one was a match for the Lu tribe. For this reason, the Lu tribe kept a foothold in the central area and was on good terms with many other tribes. It’s said that some large tribes in the central area built friendly relationship with the Lu tribe: if the Lu tribe was in danger, they would also send people to give aid. Or so it was said at least.

And though Shao Xuan knows that this is not an aggressive tribe, it could even be called “a nice tribe” in the central area. For sure, being nice didn’t mean it had no temper. Strength was indispensable to have a firm foothold in the central area.

“No, not all of them are for food and trade. Most of the time, we use them to pull carts.” Yan Jiu said.

“Pull carts?”

“Yes. Look over there. We are packing up the meat birds of before. If it were not for the accident, we would have started off already, and be on the way.” Speaking of this, Yan Jiu restrained his smile.

For that kind of accident to happen to the animal pens. Was it really that no one saw the damage and the warriors on guard couldn’t stop the accident? Yan Jiu didn’t believe it. He thought there must’ve been someone who destroyed the fences deliberately. But he wouldn’t tell Shao Xuan about this. This was their internal issue, still under investigation, and not a glorious thing to publicize. In public, they would just say that it was an accident.

Shao Xuan, for the first time, saw the cattle carts in this place.

Extremely big cattle carts.

Even if no cart was in sight, seeing the deep ruts left on the ground alone showed the size of these carts.

In the surroundings, there were some worn-out wheel-shaped tools, such as stone wheels or pottery wheels. The stone spinning wheels were made of special stone, made of relatively hard stone, while pottery wheels had greater varieties, ranging from some common small wheels to high wheels up to the waist of a man. These wheels also had drawings in pigments on the surface.

Some of these tools were used to twist and spin the threads, and some were used as wheels to transfer some fodders for the domesticated animals, while others were used as wheels, likewise to transport heavier goods.

The distance between the two almost paralleled ruts were more than four meters.

Walk a little forward and rumbling sounds could be heard. Many people were carrying the meat birds to the large wooden carts, piling them up like small hills. Those meat birds were already tied-up and unable to escape.

Yan Jiu grabbed one warrior who was carrying the meat birds and asked, “Have all the escaped meat birds been taken back now?”

That warrior wiped away the sweat on his forehead and sighed, “All the people who went looking for the meat birds have come back. So far, almost all the birds have been brought back, but one escaped.”

“Only one escaped. This is already a good result.” Yan Jiu said with a sigh, looked around, and asked again, “By the way, how is it going with the goods?”

“It’s almost done. We can start off in the afternoon.”

“All right. You can go on with your work.”

Not saying much more to the others, Yan Jiu invited Shao Xuan to a rich lunch at noon in return for his assistance today and sent him a meat bird and a meat-bird egg. Shao Xuan gave the egg to Chacha as an extra meal.

Sending gifts to Shao Xuan was not merely in return for his help. Yan Jiu also had a plan. Although they hadn’t heard of the “Flaming Horns tribe”, this tribe was not necessarily a weak tribe. Maybe in future they would have contacts with this tribe. It’s not a bad idea to make friends with Shao Xuan.

Knowing that Shao Xuan left the tribe and went on a long journey, Yan Jiu didn’t ask for more details, as people of many tribes would travel about. Especially some small tribes located in the outer regions, the elders would take the young men to the central area, widening their horizon. It’s just rare to see a case like Shao Xuan, who traveled alone.

Shao Xuan didn’t say the specific place where he’d go, just pointing to several places closer to the old haunt of the Flaming Horns tribe.

“Our transport team will pass through those places, so you can go with us. It’s also safer that way. One more thing, the Wan Shi tribe is over there. People of that tribe have bad tempers.” Yan Jiu said.

Those who were branded as “bad tempered” by people of the Lu tribe for sure had very bad tempers, probably pretty bad.

For people of the Lu tribe, inviting others on the cart was one of the ways to show friendship, so Shao Xuan didn’t refuse. After thanking them, Shao Xuan also helped them to carry the tied-up meat birds.

Getting a closer look at these meat birds, Shao Xuan found that after being tied-up, these meat birds would sometimes cry out, but most of the time they were all sleeping, without any sense of crisis at all.

For this kind of meat birds, the Lu tribe usually needed two men to carry one bird, but when it came to Shao Xuan, he had no difficulty in carrying two birds on his own.

“Shao Xuan, people of your tribe really have great…strength.” Yan Jiu couldn’t help saying.

“You’re right. People of our tribe actually don’t have good tempers either, but they have great strength.” Shao Xuan said, throwing the two meat birds on to the wooden cart.

As to Shao Xuan mentioning “People of our tribe actually don’t have good tempers either”, Yan Jiu didn’t take it seriously. He just took it as a joke, thinking that Shao Xuan was not an irritable or savage man, so others in the Flaming Horns tribe were just like him. But he believed Shao Xuan’s words about “great strength” of people of the Flaming Horns tribe.

“Your tribe resembles the Wan Shi tribe, both having great strength.” Yan Jiu said.

It’s said that the Wan Shi tribe was not one of the large tribes in the central area in the past; but later on, the tribe developed and gained name. Yet some old strong tribes seem to hold the Wan Shi tribe in contempt.

After all the goods were loaded on the carts, the leader of the team called on the others to get ready to start. Yan Jiu was also a member of the transport team.

Over ten cattle carts lined up in a linear shape. The giant cattles were already fed and ready for work.

“Come on, Shao Xuan. Get on this cart.” Yan Jiu called Shao Xuan while jumping on one of the carts.