"Wushu! You blockhead! What are you doing?..."

"Huh? Aguda! I'm cutting horse meat! It's the one I killed... This tribe is dirt poor, except for people and dogs, it has nothing... According to the rules, this dead horse is my spoils of war! I need to carry more meat back, so I can eat well for a couple of days..."

"Damn! Damn! Wushu, a perfectly good horse, and you hammered it to death! And you're still happily wanting to eat the meat?… Come here and help, tie up these captives! See how the Boat-Using Tribe ties them! They're much better at it than you and Qimai!..."

"Uh... Aguda, are we taking so many captives back? Aren't we supposed to kill the old and seriously wounded ones according to the rules? If we bring them back, there won't be enough food for winter, will there?..."

"Haha! The silly Boat-Using chieftain wants them! He wants both the old and wounded ones! They agreed to bring out good stuff to trade for more captives… Just let them take them away! Anyway, we don't have to take care of them..."

"Ah! That Boat-Using leader always has strange ideas… Is he a half-mad 'Shaman of the Forest,' who can foresee the tribe's future? These armored Boat-Using warriors are really good fighters, and very resilient. They have great armor, which makes me drool!… So many warriors following a leader who can't fight, no matter how I think about it, the only possibility is that he's a shaman!"

"... Shut up and come tie the captives!..."

"... Yes, Aguda!..."

Snow fell in the forest, covering the bodies of the dead. The Maha tribe and the Kingdom's Warriors destroyed and captured the southbound tribe with a thrilling dawn raid. The allied forces lost only two Maha Warriors, and including the Kingdom's Warriors, over a dozen were lightly injured. The nearly hundred-member southbound tribe had about a dozen resisting warriors killed, and the remaining eighty became captives.

According to the traditions of each tribe, the old and seriously wounded captives were usually culled and killed immediately, to prevent wasting food. The young and able-bodied women capable of childbirth were directly regarded as new members of the tribe, and they would soon become pregnant. As for the remaining able-bodied warriors, they would become tribe slaves, eventually absorbed into the tribe through a process similar to "eagle training."

Such absorption and integration by the Shengshu Jurchen Tribe were actually more gentle compared to the brutal annexations by the various Mongolia tribes on the grasslands. After all, in the vast forested swamps, population was a valuable wealth, and often the most precious. The migrating and fighting Shengshu Jurchen tribes didn't have time to kill "men taller than a cart wheel," and wait for the next generation to grow up.

"Ow ow! Ow!..."

"Take them away! Take everything away! Pack up all usable items and carry them!… Lead their silly dogs away too! Dumb creatures, they run away and then run back..."

"Chief Divine witnesses! Aguda, some captives are too severely wounded to walk!..."

"...? If they can't walk, just kill them! Zuwaro, what do you want from me?..."

"I've bandaged all the captives, killing them would waste valuable herbs!... Aguda, brother-in-law, my brother! I've come to borrow your horse to carry these captives away!"

"... Not lending it!"

"I'll trade you for good stuff! I'll give it to you once we reach the camp!"

"... Good stuff?"

Maha Agudah hesitated for quite a while before finally nodding.

"Alright then! But you can't lead the horse, my people have to lead it! Boat-Using folk, if you trick my horse away, I will not let it go!..."

The sun rose, shining on the camp by the river, which was already deserted. The Maha tribe did not cull captives but instead took all eighty captives away. Because there was a "Dog Tycoon" who promised to take all the unwanted captives, and provide benefits.

The bustling tribal convoy walked amidst swirling snowflakes, slowly returning south to the Maha tribe. Two days later, the nearly two hundred-member convoy returned with the dog herd, horse herd, and captives to the heavily guarded gathering. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

When a tribe goes on an expedition, it's when the tribal camp is weakest. Almost all the old, weak, and womenfolk will take up arms to guard against enemy raids and keep praying silently. In this endlessly battling vast Northern Land, too many tribes have perished like this...

"Zuwaro! Is this what you call good stuff? A kind of egg you can plant?..."

"Chief Divine! Aguda, this is a potato; it's a sacred potato! It is a cold-resistant crop we brought from distant Haidong! If you change the Millet Fields to potato fields, next year's harvest could increase ten… um, at least fivefold!"

"What?! It can yield five times more? This large field, planting this potato, can feed one or two hundred people?..."

"Chief Divine witnesses! Yes! That's right!"

"Really? This 'egg' can be planted?"

"Chief Divine witnesses! We've planted it on a more northern peninsula, it surely can grow! You plant it in April when it warms up, and by October in fall, you should be able to harvest it! It's just like the barnyard grass you plant!"

"..."

Maha Agudah widened his eyes, staring hard at a pigeon egg-sized potato with his fan-like hands. He looked at it for a long time, his expression mingling doubt and serious contemplation. After a while, he earnestly asked.

"Zuwaro! Does this 'earth egg' grow leaves? Can it feed horses?"

"Aguda, it surely grows leaves; it's its underground rootstock, it has some toxins and needs to be cooked to eat… As for horse feed, I haven't tried it, so I'm not sure if it works?"

"Zuwaro! Does this 'earth egg' need tending?"

"Of course! Aguda, farming certainly requires effort and care! You need to weed and water, and it's best to add some fertilizer… But its yield will justify all the farming and effort!"

"Zuwaro! Is the yield of this 'earth egg' really five times that of the Millet Fields?"

"Absolutely! How much can barnyard grass yield? Potatoes are at least five times that, and if planted well, can yield even more!"

"Zuwaro! If this 'earth egg' is flooded in summer, will it still yield?"

"This?... You can plant it on higher ground, or dig a channel... Potatoes are drought resistant but problematic when flooded... If water covers it for too long, it will die..."

"..."

Maha Agudah gradually squinted his eyes, and his grip on the small potato gradually tightened. Until at a certain critical point, the small potato suddenly squashed with a "pop," turned into potato puree under Maha Agudah's single-handed grip!...

"Zuwaro! Take your 'earth egg' back! I don't want it! And don't think you can trade it for extra captives and cavalry!"

"What? Aguda, how could you not want such good potatoes?!... Don't you trust me? Chief Divine witnesses! I'm absolutely not lying to you!"

"I don't want it!... Even if the 'earth egg' is indeed a good thing as you say… I don't want it! I absolutely mustn't want it!!..."

Maha Agudah shook his head violently, showing a few signs of ruthlessness on his face. He glared fiercely at Zuwaro, like a restless struggling bear, roaring angrily.

"Zuwaro! This is deceiving me! Using honey out of reach to deceive the bear underneath the tree!"

"Like these Millet Fields, the tribe doesn't need to manage them! They'll grow by themselves, and can be harvested in the fall! Even if there's heavy rain, flooded for two days, there will still be something left, and at least you can cut it for horse fodder!"

"But if I change to planting your so-called potatoes?… I need to send many people to toil in the fields, pray the heavens not to bring down floods, even need to dig channels… I also need extra people to cut grass to compensate for the lost forage after giving up Millet Fields..."

"So, once I plant these 'earth eggs,' my tribe would have to toil for at least half a year, and everyone would be eagerly waiting for the harvest!… Our entire tribe would be tied to this land! Even if unforeseen risks arise, or face strong hostile tribes, our tribe would find it difficult to relocate or abandon this land in the face of danger!… Unable to relocate decisively when danger arrives is the most dangerous thing!"

"And the original large Millet Fields here could be like delicious honey, attracting our over two hundred-member tribe, wiping out the local tribe… If we planted the 'earth egg,' and truly had high yield as a slap in the face level, fivefold attraction, that would be a lure like five fingers!… At that point, once the news spreads! Even those thousand-member southern migrating Great Tribes would definitely rush here, to slaughter and annex us, to grab this good spot!"

"Damn it! This is a trap! It's a seemingly good but extremely dangerous trap!... Zuwaro! You're baiting me again, luring me into the trap!... Ah!! I'm going to hit you with the stone hammer!!..."

"...!"

The howling Stone Hammer came down again! And Zuwaro froze in place, not dodging, not evading, dumbfounded.