Chapter 108: Chapter 108: Ian’s Suggestion

Throughout the following morning, the road construction team finished paving the stones and building the fences around the entrance area of the road running through the canyon.

In the early afternoon, a resonant roar echoed down from the mountain peak, signaling that the road was ready for use. Kaelen nervously gripped Sane’s hand, walking slowly along the gently sloping stone path.

The road was quite wide; a cart could be driven through without any obstacles. The road surface was not polished smooth; they had even intentionally created rough grooves to prevent slipping. On the outer edge, a railing was built using the exact same method as the city walls, with the only difference being that there was a drainage hole every arm’s length to allow rainwater to flow out.

The ceiling and the inner rock walls were both reinforced to prevent landslides. It had to be said that such a construction was absolutely magnificent.

Ian, who had just reported in this morning, observed as he walked, not sensing any danger. Barton walked shoulder-to-shoulder with him, patting Ian’s shoulder with a hearty laugh: "Relax, dark-skinned kid. Before the Little Priest stepped on it, we had already worn out our heels."

Walking in front, Sane turned his head slightly and cast a glance at Barton. Barton immediately shut his mouth, not daring to say another word.

Kaelen smiled and said to Barton:

"There is no such thing as absolute safety in this world, so Ian being a little careful isn’t wrong."

Acknowledged by the Little Priest, Ian’s expression relaxed slightly. The gently sloping road didn’t take too much effort to traverse; the group walked for about three hours before reaching the cave entrance, then climbed the stairs for over an hour more to finally step foot into the former Obsidian territory.

Kaelen looked at the surrounding scenery, feeling a bit emotional. He hadn’t left this place long ago, yet it felt as if many years had passed. Besides the old caves, there were also brick houses inside the tribe; looking closely, they had been built recently. He asked Sane:

"Are you planning to let people live here?"

Sane nodded:

"Yes, I will soon dispatch Walter and Anthony to station in this place."

Kaelen nodded, and they climbed up to the observation deck together to look into the distance. The surrounding wall extended beyond the former Obsidian perimeter, seemingly even passing the crossroad between Obsidian and Crimson. He swept his gaze over the people lining up below but did not recognize a single familiar face.

"I heard there were still people from the old Obsidian in the slave group. Where are they?"

Sane sneered:

"Why would I keep those traitors around? Of course, I chased them away." He pointed toward the southern area: "Some of them didn’t go far and are staying in the rocky mountains behind the tribe. I have ordered that they are not allowed to live closer than a half-day’s journey to the tribe. Of course, I don’t forbid them from coming to our place to work or trade; after all, we are short on manpower, and it would be a waste not to use available people."

However, that group shouldn’t even dream of becoming official members. Furthermore, Crimson had no responsibility to protect their safety; whatever happened to them on their way here and back, they had to bear it themselves.

Kaelen felt that this was for the best. He was no saint, and he couldn’t forgive just anyone.

"Hey, let’s head to the northwest of the tribe. I want to collect some mulberry plants and silkworm eggs."

Spring was fast approaching, and the mulberry branches needed to be planted as soon as possible. The silkworm eggs also had to be gathered. Arriving at the area Mie had described, Kaelen saw a massive mulberry tree, its branches weaving across each other, looking very sturdy. He guessed this mulberry tree had been growing for several decades.

Originally intending to cut branches to take back for planting, Kaelen suddenly thought of something and turned to ask Sane:

"Sane, is there any place around here where we can plant these trees and open a workshop?"

Since there was now a road that only took half a day’s journey—and taking an ox cart would be even faster—why not just build the silkworm rearing workshop right in this place?

After all, silkworms were essentially a type of caterpillar. Just imagining those pale white worms crawling all over the large and small streets of the tribe gave him a slight shiver.

"Just plant them right in this area. We’ve chased all the wild beasts out beyond the wall anyway," Sane said nonchalantly, feeling it was no big deal.

After they reached an agreement, Kaelen selected the healthy mulberry branches, scored the bark, and applied a mixture of mud, rotting leaves, and fruit peels into the incisions, then wrapped them with animal skins. Additionally, he collected a large amount of silkworm eggs.

The silkworm eggs were very tiny, only about the size of a sesame seed. Wild silkworm moths usually laid their eggs in the crevices of mulberry tree trunks, in places sheltered from the wind and with little light. Such a massive mulberry tree naturally had plenty of crevices, and the number of silkworm eggs Kaelen collected likely reached the thousands.

Wandering around the tribe until evening, Kaelen collected some more chestnuts and a type of seed quite similar to mung beans. However, it wasn’t mung bean season, and this bean contained a mild toxin; while not lethal, it would cause discomfort if eaten in large quantities. He planned to bring them back for Uncle Alden to study further.

"We’ve found too few food crops, and the ones we did find can only be eaten in the spring. Sorghum is filling, but the husk is too hard and very astringent. Eating it long-term is very bad for the stomach and can easily cause severe indigestion and constipation.

Not to mention it hinders the body’s absorption of nutrients; warriors or cubs eating only this will definitely suffer from physical weakness. There’s too little corn, and we still have to save some for seeds. Arrowroot vermicelli is good, but eating a lot causes internal heat, which isn’t good for the stomach in the long run..."

Kaelen looked gloomily at the mung beans in his hand, unable to help complaining aloud. If only they could find rice or wheat, that would be great. Sane chuckled, picking Kaelen up to jump across a wide stream, then he set Kaelen down and said:

"You worry too much. In the past, we didn’t even have those things to eat."

Thinking back on it, Kaelen also found it amusing. He was truly a prime example of bottomless greed. Having good things, he still wanted better ones. Ian and Barton followed closely behind them without straying a single step. Hearing Kaelen say that, he scratched his head and hesitantly said:

"Well... I know of a plant that looks somewhat similar to the sorghum the tribe is eating. But that thing has awns and a hard husk, and eating it severely scratches the throat. Probably aside from me, only birds would eat them."

Kaelen found this very interesting and asked: "Oh, what does it look like?"

Ian pointed at a red sorghum stalk and said:

"It’s a type of grass that grows up to my waist, also growing in clusters, but it doesn’t droop like this; instead, it stands straight up, with quite a few seeds about this big..." He plucked a leaf, tearing some off to leave only a small piece: "At the top of each seed is an awn. Its husk is very hard—not as hard as a chestnut shell, but still quite difficult to chew. Chewing it even gives a somewhat unpleasant, gritty feeling on the teeth."

The more Kaelen listened, the more familiar it sounded. He nervously pursed his lips, picked up a twig to scratch a few lines on the ground, pointed at it, and asked Ian: "Does it look like this?"

Ian’s eyes lit up: "Yes! Exactly like that!"

The twig in Kaelen’s hand fell to the ground, and his legs went slightly weak. Fortunately, he had always been standing close to Sane; Sane quickly caught him, preventing him from falling down. Kaelen tightly gripped Sane’s arm, looked straight at Ian, and joyfully asked:

"Where did you see it? Is it nearby?"

Ian scratched his head: "It’s quite far away, over by my old tribe. Counting from the other side of the magical beast forest, it takes about three months to get there. But..." He looked awkwardly at the Chief and the Little Priest: "To be honest with you, my old tribe is an Intermediate tribe with a very strong sense of territory. Getting close to there won’t be easy."

Sane looked at Kaelen and asked: "What is that thing? Is it very important?"

Kaelen leaned close to Sane’s ear and whispered: "Remember the cakes, bread, and buns you loved to eat in my illusion? They are made from that plant. This grass is called wheat."

Sane recalled the soft, fluffy taste in his memory and couldn’t help but swallow hard. He genuinely loved those kinds of pastries, but in the illusion, Kaelen hadn’t let him eat too much for fear of him getting an upset stomach. Sane immediately said:

"Is there a lot of that grass? How long does it take from the time it sprouts until it can be eaten?"

Ian rubbed his chin, pondering for a moment, and said: "A few days after the snow melts, the green shoots at the base will emerge; if they grow from seeds buried in the ground, it takes about ten days. To get the seeds, you have to wait until the weather is at its hottest."

Kaelen immediately said: "If we set out right now, we would likely arrive just as the snow melts. But after the snow melts, the roads will be muddy, so even traveling fast will take four months..."

He started drawing on the ground to calculate. According to the report from Walter’s team, the time difference between the two sides of the magical beast forest was at least two hours, with time on the other side of the forest passing faster than on this side. The hottest time was usually in mid-summer, which should be around May (or June).

Right on time for the wheat to ripen.

As for the difficulty of approaching it, Kaelen naturally wasn’t worried. As long as the Avian clan and the feline clan wore collars engraved with breath-concealing arrays, they would just be ordinary birds and cats, drawing no one’s attention. As long as they could get the seeds and bring them back, there would be no need to worry about the future.

Kaelen and Sane looked at each other and nodded. Sane patted Ian’s shoulder and said:

"Ian, I’m entrusting you with a heavy responsibility. If I want you to lead the way for our beastmen to your tribe right now, would you agree?"

Ian’s expression changed slightly. A hint of hesitation appeared on his dark-skinned face. It had been incredibly difficult for him to escape that place, and now wanting him to return was truly putting him in a difficult position. Kaelen could see Ian’s hesitation and was about to say something, but was stopped by Sane.

Sane looked at Ian and said:

"There’s no rush. I’ll give you five days to think about it."

Ian nodded heavily. For the rest of the time, he just trudged silently behind them, not saying a word. Upon returning to the center of Obsidian, Sane allowed Barton and Ian to withdraw.

Kaelen looked at Ian’s retreating back and said: "Why did you stop me earlier from bringing up the condition to allow him to join the tribe?"

Sane shook his head while peeling a chestnut and said: "I could see that Ian was very resistant to his old tribe; perhaps that place is a haunting trauma for him. If we used being allowed to join the tribe as a condition, it would seem unfair to him, because most people will meet the requirements to join the tribe after a period of time.

Giving him five days is essentially giving him an opportunity. Five days later, if he agrees, we will grant him an exception to join the tribe. If he refuses, then we’ll treat it as if we never mentioned this privilege, and simply consider it as adding contribution points for him."

"As for what happens if he refuses, the Avian clan is very good at determining directions; we only need to get the specific direction from him."

Kaelen let out an "oh," understanding the issue. He gave Sane a thumbs-up, then sprawled lazily on the bed and said:

"I want to eat chestnut braised chicken. You cook it."

Sane planted a kiss on Kaelen’s cheek and said:

"As you command, my Great Priest!"