The next day.
"Pack up and go. As long as we're alive, there's hope."
By the water's edge, Huo Tang gently patted Shi Fu.
For these several hundred people to have held on and survived, Shi Fu's contribution had been indispensable.
"Ah..."
After gazing out over the marshes for a long while, Shi Fu let out a long sigh, turned, and headed toward the settlement.
The teeth-grinding hatred for revenge had long since gone numb. All that remained was pain. Even if he wanted revenge, he did not have the strength for it.
He did not even know who his enemies were.
As for that mysterious fleet, Huo Tang no longer had much reason to worry about it.
Ships needed water to travel, and it was clear that the flood had given that fleet the convenience to sweep through the various tribes.
Now that the mountain floods had receded, they had likely already returned home with full loads.
Blazing Flame Tribe.
Ancestral temple.
Ever since Huo Tang had gone out, whenever the tribal elders had matters to discuss, they had grown accustomed to gathering at the ancestral temple. Everyone sat around the fire pit.
"The chief has been gone for so long without sending back any news. I wonder how he's doing."
Huo Yu poked at the leaping bonfire with a wooden stick, worry written across his face.
In the past, the tribe's range of activity had only been a hundred li or so. Even a hunting trip only took a day or two there and back.
But now, in just a few months, the tribesmen had gone out one after another, traveling so far without even a message. How could they not worry?
After pondering for a moment, Huo Yun, who was seated nearby, took out the animal-hide bags he had brought with him.
From one of the bags, he took out a handful of tender-leaved medicinal herbs and passed them around.
"These are the common herbs our people gather when they go out. The flood lasted too long, and only scattered herbs have sprouted in the mountains. Their growth is poor as well."
Huo Xian carefully examined the several common herbs used by the tribe and found that the seedlings were small and their branches and leaves weak, far worse than at the same time in previous years.
Before Huo Xian could speak, Huo Yun took two more shamanic herbs from another bag. They had already rotted, juice seeping from them.
These were herbs that had grown long enough to be used as medicine.
One was bloodstop grass, whose leaves were mainly used.
The other was rock sand ginseng, whose roots were used as medicine.
Both had already rotted away.
The long flood's impact on medicinal herbs was now becoming apparent.
Not only these herbs—among the resources previously brought back from the various tribes, some had grown fuzzy mold because of the dampness.
"This year's shamanic herb harvest won't be good. We need to use our stored supplies sparingly."
The Blazing Flame Tribe had never stopped gathering shamanic herbs over the years, but they had only gathered them from the nearby forests.
How much they gathered depended on luck. Sometimes there was more, sometimes less.
A tribe could indeed live off the mountains when it had mountains at its back, but when what grew in the nearby mountains was no longer enough to eat, the best solution was to master cultivation methods—plant whatever was needed.
They were all ordinary, commonly used herbs, only one or two years old, so there was no need to worry about whether home-grown herbs would be effective.
As for those living treasures of herbs that took centuries to grow, they could worry about them once they found some.
"Uncle, it would be better for us to cultivate these common shamanic herbs ourselves."
Shen Can voiced his thoughts. The tribesmen simply lacked the concept, and needed him to guide them a little.
"I agree with A-Can's suggestion."
Huo Xian nodded. Unlike before, the tribe's need for medicinal herbs had greatly increased. Relying solely on gathering them outside might not meet their needs.
The tribe had cultivated herbs before, but never on a large scale. Mainly because it required a great deal of manpower and resources.
The growth requirements of herbs differed from those of people. People could adapt, but every kind of herb had its own habits.
Some loved shade, some loved sunlight, and some needed the dung of certain wild beasts as nourishment. There was no single rule for all of them.
Before, they had only thought about the most basic matter of filling their stomachs. Where would they have found the energy to care about herbs?
"Then we'll start by cultivating the most commonly used herbs." Huo Xian spoke. "This old man will handle it."
When it came to the habits of medicinal herbs, Huo Xian felt that few in the entire tribe could compare to him.
Seeing that the elders had finished discussing matters and were about to leave, Shen Can quickly spoke up.
"Wait."
They had discussed cultivating shamanic herbs, but food crops should not be left behind either.
The tribe's farming was better than slash-and-burn cultivation, but only barely. It was still rough planting—digging holes and burying seeds—with no real understanding of pests and such.
"The yield of the food we plant is low, and that has to do with our planting habits too.
I looked at the fields before. The weeds were growing better than the millet seedlings.
Some had even grown little bugs. We can't keep raising them so crudely. We need careful cultivation."
Thinking of the tribe's tall, burly aunties pinching bugs with fingers as thick as little radishes, and incidentally pinching the millet seedlings to death as well, Shen Can felt rather helpless.
With palms as large as cattail-leaf fans, doing delicate work really was a bit...
Everyone had grown used to this rough way of farming. They had no concept of soil clumping, piles of gravel, and the like.
In truth, Shen Can did not know much either, but at least he understood that bugs had to be caught, and that weeds could not be allowed to compete with millet seedlings for sunlight, water, and nutrients.
As for cultivating better millet seeds, looking at the tribe's current conditions, it was best to put that aside for now.
They should first develop the habits of careful cultivation and pest control.
"A-Can, since you have ideas, you'll need to set up the framework. We're old, and only know how to follow past experience. Sometimes, we might even hold things back."
Huo Yun spoke up. There were many people in the tribe who farmed, but everyone had long grown accustomed to the inherited ways of cultivation.
To make changes, they needed someone to lead the way.
Shen Can was the most suitable.
The several elders nodded. Only Huo Shan stared blankly at the clay pot bubbling with steam, his eyes clear.
"All right." Shen Can nodded and accepted.
"Uncle Huo Shan, pull twenty people from the hunting team for me. I want those who are nimble and good at running."
"Also, gather all the tribesmen who have raised wild beasts before."
"Now that the tribe's range of activity has expanded, shouting is no longer enough for communication. Let's see whether we can first use people as substitutes.
Have the hunting team catch some Mountain-Cleaving Kui to tame as mounts, then catch some birds and try raising them. We'll see if they can be used to deliver messages."
Shen Can was confident about taming Mountain-Cleaving Kui. The Shanghuang Tribe had ridden one here before. Since other tribes could tame them successfully, it meant wild beasts could be tamed.
Besides, he knew how to drug them.
No matter how savage a wild beast's temperament was, he could just increase the dosage.
Wild beasts were not very smart, but they still knew how to choose between pain and food.
The key to raising them was whether they could be tamed. Any stubborn sort that could not be tamed would be slaughtered for meat.
Today's tribal council had dealt entirely with new problems that had emerged after the tribe's reforms.
Whenever they encountered a new problem, they would find a way to solve it. Only by putting reforms into operation could they continually discover problems.
The next day.
Huo Shan led more than a dozen tribesmen out of the tribe, carrying Mafeisan on their backs. Their goal this trip was to find Mountain-Cleaving Kui and bird nests.
At the same time, a taming ground was being opened up at the city's northwestern corner.
The tribesmen who had previously raised wild beasts within the tribe were busy building the taming grounds.
Huo Xian also began to get busy. He gathered all the tribesmen experienced in gathering herbs and had them recount their experiences as though giving testimony.
He planned to combine every herb gatherer's experience, cut out the wordy and useless parts, and compile a handbook on the growing environments and habits of common medicinal herbs.
Then, based on that handbook, they would open up a medicinal herb garden on the tribal mountain according to local conditions.
Outside the city, many figures had appeared in the fields, busily pulling weeds.
Several days later, in the ancestral temple.
Shen Can prepared shamanic medicine.
Beneath the stone grinder, dried shamanic herbs were ground into powder.
This was "pesticide," extracted entirely from herbs and specifically used to kill insects.
Shen Can mixed the medicinal powder into water, then flicked his hand. Gurgling droplets splashed up, forming a mist of water that scattered down.
"Not bad. Shamanic arts really are useful."
A month and a half later.
Between the mountains east of the tribe, a winding procession of people trudged forward, carrying large and small bundles.
"The tribal mountain is up ahead. We're almost there."
Walking at the front, Huo Tang pointed toward the gentle tribal mountain stretching several li, surrounded by small lone peaks in the distance.
Clatter, clatter, clatter!
At that moment, a jumble of sounds rang out from behind the small mountain blocking the path ahead.
Before anyone could react, four Mountain-Cleaving Kui appeared, letting out low roars.
"Chief, you're back!"
Huo Shan rode at the front atop a Mountain-Cleaving Kui, overjoyed when he saw Huo Tang's group returning.
Huo Tang and the remnants of the tribes he had brought back, meanwhile, all looked toward the Mountain-Cleaving Kui.
What was going on?
"A'Shan, you..." Huo Yu rushed up from the rear of the group, his eyes nearly sticking to the Mountain-Cleaving Kui.
Huo Shan chuckled. "I don't know either. The shaman gave us shamanic medicine and big sticks, and not long after we caught these Mountain-Cleaving Kui, they became very obedient."
As he spoke, he patted the head of the Mountain-Cleaving Kui beneath him.
The Mountain-Cleaving Kui let out a low whimper.
Hearing that it was the shaman's work, the Blazing Flame tribesmen looked enlightened, as if it were perfectly normal.
"If we'd known, we would've had the shaman give us one before heading out. Lucky you."
The survivors from the various tribes had been gloomy all the way here, but now their expressions shifted in astonishment as they examined the powerfully built Mountain-Cleaving Kui from top to bottom.
"Let's go. Back to the tribe."
The group continued onward. After circling past the lone mountain blocking the road ahead, mountain ranges appeared on both sides.
Watchtowers stood atop the mountains.
The slopes and the level ground between the mountains were all land that had been reclaimed.
Figures bent over at work everywhere.
Looking out, the fields stretched all the way to the tall city in the distance.
The fields were lush and green, millet seedlings swaying with vibrant life.
Shi Fu slowly withdrew his gaze and looked at Huo Tang. "Chief, didn't you say Blazing Flame was a small tribe?"
"Ah... ah, that's right." Huo Tang also withdrew his gaze and answered instinctively.
Before you continue