Chapter 27: Chapter 22: The Joys and Sorrows of the Tribes Are Not Shared
Luh Yao read the [Grandmother]’s plea over and over, making sure he understood it correctly.
The Sea Monsters were indeed the children born to the women of the East River Tribe.
The [Grandmother] also explained the reason why.
Among the infants born to the East River Tribe, the girls would always grow up healthy. But if a boy was born, the infant would quickly grow scales and a tail, its body would become stooped, and it would gradually transform into a lizard-like monster that lived in the water.
The Sea Monsters were immensely powerful, and their scaly skin was impenetrable. Their bodies would continuously grow, shedding layer after layer of skin until their short lives came to an end.
Their weakness was that they could not stray far from a water source.
As for the reason why, the East River Tribe didn’t know. They only said it was a Blessing from their god, and giving birth to Sea Monsters allowed them to rule the entire waterway.
Not long ago, the entire population of Sea Monsters collectively fell ill with a disease they had never seen before.
The East River Tribe couldn’t cure them, forced to watch as the once mighty and majestic Sea Monsters now lay listlessly in the water. Aside from the three that had already died, some of the Sea Monsters were already floating belly-up, foaming at the mouth. They didn’t look like they would live much longer.
This made Luh Yao feel a bit wistful.
The Sea Monsters on the surface: powerful bodies, thick hides, an oppressive appearance, undisputed rulers of the waters.
The Sea Monsters behind the scenes: a tragic origin, a painful destiny, weak and listless bodies, plagued by illness.
The seemingly invincible Sea Monsters were not only the result of mutated male infants, but they had also run into the problem of inaccessible healthcare.
In her desperation, the [Grandmother] had no choice but to come and ask for help from the local God.
In other words, Luh Yao.
Luh Yao was also a bit stumped by this request.
’Unfortunately, I’m not the God of Medicine.’
Among his Miracles, he could only create various natural phenomena and disasters; there was nothing like a Great Healing Technique.
The Garlic Tribe had over three hundred people, but only three Pharmacists, including the Shaman. They were already short-staffed for treating people, let alone Sea Monsters.
The [Grandmother] merely prayed silently outside the Divine Hall, confessing to her God. She hadn’t told the Prophet or the Shaman this secret, which concerned the very survival of her tribe.
Luh Yao pondered.
’There could be so many reasons for the Sea Monsters’ illness. The water being too cold or too hot, too many aquatic plants, the effects of climate change... It could even be the emergence of a contagious disease exclusive to Sea Monsters.’
For now, all he could say was that he was powerless to help.
The East River Tribe’s civilization wasn’t developing ideally, but the Garlic Tribe, on the other hand, was ushering in another landmark event.
[Writing is gradually becoming widespread in the Garlic Tribe. The Garlic Tribe has learned to use names.]
Following this notification, Luh Yao noticed that the little people of the Garlic Tribe began to have their individual names appear above their heads.
The [Prophet] was named Nong Lai.
The [Shaman] was named Lie Chang.
The Pig Fish Brothers also finally had their own names.
The one who loved wild boars was the [Hero] Headhunter, and the one who liked fish was the [Hero] Yuzou.
There were two major surnames in the Garlic Tribe. The Farmers were all surnamed Nong, and the Hunters were all surnamed Lie.
In addition, the few fishermen who appeared because of fishing nets were surnamed Yu. The two carpenters were surnamed Mu, the Pharmacists were surnamed Yao, and the Salt Farmers were surnamed Yan.
In short, every person’s name in the Garlic Tribe was derived from their respective profession.
From this, one could also see that although the [Prophet] and the [Shaman] were the tribe’s leaders, their leadership roles were not full-time, specialized positions. Their primary professions were actually Farmer and Hunter, and they still performed related labor in their daily lives.
The use of writing turned specific names into a unique identifier for each little person. The birth of names, in turn, allowed the pixel people to engage in more complex self-reflection and closer communication.
Luh Yao noticed two little people exchanging ideas.
One was named Nong Yu, and the other was Yuhuan.
Nong Yu asked, "The grains in the fields, wheat and potatoes, can both be planted in the spring and harvested in the winter. Is it the same for the fish in the water?"
Yuhuan said, "The fish in the water grow by themselves, just like wheat."
"Then if we plant fish in the soil in the spring, will more of them grow by summer?"
"Of course not. Fish can only live in water."
Suddenly, an exclamation mark appeared over Yuhuan’s head. "What you said seems to make sense. Although fish can’t grow in soil, if we make a ’water field’ by the river, we can raise fish in it. That way, just like harvesting wheat, we can just catch a lot of fish directly when autumn comes."
"We’d have to use fertilizer."
Nong Yu said, "Fish eat insects, and there are lots of insects in the fields. We can feed these insects to the fish, and they will grow bigger and more numerous."
"You’re right!"
The two little people immediately grew excited and ran to the riverbank together to start exploring the idea.
Luh Yao then shifted his attention to a little person named Muhao.
Muhao was one of the tribe’s two carpenters, and he was currently chopping wood in the forest.
The Garlic Tribe’s tools were still in the wood and stone phase, so the carpenters used Stone Axes, which made felling trees very laborious. But at this moment, Muhao was strolling around leisurely by himself, with helpers doing the work for him.
After a period of trial and error, he had found a good method.
Muhao had found a small animal called a [Beaver] by the river. Beavers gnaw on trees to build nests. He started raising the Beavers with wheat, and would only bring these little animals out when he went to chop trees each day.
This path, which seemed a bit like putting points into the wrong skill tree, was nevertheless very effective in the short term.
There were many other similar situations.
Luh Yao could feel that the Garlic Tribe was finally emerging from its muddled, primitive state. Everyone had begun to ponder how to live better and work more efficiently.
Just as Luh Yao was observing this panorama of life, Isabel, who had been silent for a long time, finally sent back a message.
She had found the Bedu Tribe in the Southern Desert.
But contrary to the rumors, the Bedu Tribe now had only 32 people remaining. The oasis where they had lived for generations had been occupied by a group of desert monsters. The Bedu Tribe had basically fled all the way in the direction of the Garlic Tribe.
Having lost their oasis, their population had plummeted, leaving them with less than a tenth of their peak numbers. Due to their hasty escape, the Bedu Tribe hadn’t brought any valuables with them, merely fleeing madly on their camels.
When Isabel met them, the Bedu Tribe was being attacked by a band of desert bandits.
She described, "Those bandits were wearing simple black clothes, but underneath they had linen garments and were carrying cloth bags. They are people from the Salt Pool Tribe."
Apostle Isabel took action, killing half of the bandits and taking the rest captive. She brought them all along, a total of 11 people.
The little people from the Salt Pool Tribe, disguised as bandits, were strung together with a rope like a stick of candied haws, walking dejectedly behind Isabel.
[At the urging of Apostle Isabel, the Bedu Tribe has joined the Garlic Tribe.]
[The Garlic Tribe and the Bedu Tribe have merged. Faith has increased slightly.]
The population rose to 347 people.
Faith Value rose by 120 points, bringing the total back to 160 points. His Miracle reserves were once again plentiful.
Luh Yao’s gaze was fixed firmly on the two types of livestock the Bedu Tribe had brought with them.
Camels and sheep.
Livestock husbandry was finally on the horizon.
