Volume 1: Farming Chapter 28: The Tauren of the Prairie
When modern people go out, even if it is a long journey, they prepare their luggage and buy tickets a few days in advance, which is considered to be a plan for the trip.
In this crappy place, if you want to go on a long trip, you have to start preparing at least half a month in advance...
After carefully checking the cheese that was dried on the rattan mat several times, Xiao Yun brought a leather bag to put the cheese in. Ever since he saw his tribe chewing worm-infested cheese, Xiao Yun was fed up with it. But cheese was indeed an indispensable supplementary food in the daily life of the grassland tribe, so he had to make a more reliable cheese by himself, at least one that would not make him feel uncomfortable when eating it.
Well, compared to the rough method of the Snow Werewolves who boil cow's and goat's milk until it becomes a paste and then pour it out to dry in the shade to form cheese, Xiao Yun actually just added an extra step of extracting the cream first: pour the fresh milk into a deeper water pitcher and stir it repeatedly with a stirrer made of thorn bushes until the water and oil in the milk are separated, pour out the cream floating on the surface, and then boil the fresh milk at the bottom; after it becomes a paste, it is not immediately dried in the shade, but first filtered with cloth, and the filtered milk residue is poured into a mold to dry, so that the cheese obtained will not have so much water and will not be easily infested with worms.
At first, the tribesmen didn't quite understand why Xiao Yun went to such lengths, but after tasting the separated cream, they immediately changed their positions. As soon as Xiao Yun shouted "Boil the cheese", a bunch of people came out to help beat the cream.
There is abundant water resources on the prairie, but that doesn't mean you can find water everywhere when walking in the wild. At this time, the cheese you carry with you can effectively replenish water and sugar, and it is an indispensable consumable for home travel.
Prepare a large amount of cheese, and then prepare dried meat: fry the meat floss appropriately. It is not practical to use only meat floss. The majority of the meat should be dried meat: the meat strips cooked with salt are air-dried and then directly put into bags. If conditions permit, boil them in water and eat them. If not, eating them directly will satisfy your hunger.
In addition, we also have to consider whether the tribesmen will suffer from dysentery and diarrhea due to poor sanitary conditions when they are away, so we have to bring dried plantain and purslane.
Then there are some necessary things for spending the night in the wild, such as tents, animal skins, clay pots and bowls for cooking food and water, and pottery carefully wrapped with large amounts of hay for trading... and so on.
Even if I run in wolf form, it will take at least a month to go back and forth, so I have to bring a ceramic bucket for growing bean sprouts and two enoki mushroom cultivation tanks...
The last light snow had occurred ten days ago, and the ground was still damp and cold after the snow had just melted. Xiao Yun did not want to wait any longer, and after discussing with the clan leader, they decided to set off immediately - the eastward expeditionary force consisting of Xiao Yun, the clan leader, Qingyan, Hongye, Ashan, and Ayue was ready to go!
...Then the clan leader, Hongye, Ashan and Ayue gathered together to play rock-paper-scissors.
Ashan and the tribe leader lost. They scratched their heads, took off their animal skins and woolen vests and handed them to their companions for safekeeping, then squatted on the ground... and turned into two big white wolves.
The wolf form of the snow werewolf did not become clean just because the human form was cleaned up. Xiao Yun couldn't figure out what the mystery was - but with plenty of snow water available and a big stove burning all the time, it was not a big problem to clean the wolf forms of the tribesmen. The two big white wolves transformed by the tribe leader and Ashan were not as dirty as when Xiao Yun first arrived, where even the color of their fur could not be seen. After carefully combing their fur, they were still quite clean and fluffy.
Well... the wolf form of an adult snow wolf is also larger than the size of Xiao Yun, the cub. The oldest wolf form of the tribe leader is about five meters long from head to tail - that is, it can carry a lot of things. A large carrying frame made of rattan grass as thick as an arm can be loaded with various small pieces, and two more people can sit on it.
Qingyan and Ayue climbed on Ashan's back, Xiaoyun and Hongye climbed onto the patriarch's back, waved goodbye to the tribesmen who stayed behind, and the group of four people and two wolves set out on the journey eastward.
The pads on the big paws and the fluffy long hair on the back can effectively absorb shock. Xiao Yun, sitting on the patriarch's back, did not feel the bumps. He was in the mood to feel the scissors-like cold wind of early spring and look around at the scenery. An hour later, two hours later, three hours later... Half a morning passed, and he was annoyed by the wind and tired of the wet, cold and lonely grassland. He leaned against Hongye's sturdy back and took out the ball of wool to play with it.
"Ayun, look, that's the tree I broke when we passed here last year."
"Ayun, look over there. The hole on the slope was dug by a cow horn."
"Ayun, Ayun, there are colorful birds."
"Wow, that mouse is really fat..."
Xiao Yun sighed. He was so excited that Hongye, who was as steady as an old dog in the tribe, came out... The life of the snow werewolves was really monotonous.
Xiao Yun yawned, put his feet under Hongye's thighs, fell on the wolf's back and fell asleep. Although it was boring, this was a rare free time for him without having to busy himself all day long. Even if he stopped, his brain couldn't stop...
The Snow Wolf people have the habit of making difficult-to-change road signs where they have passed by. They would dig a conspicuous large hole, use broken trees as road signs, or pile up a lot of stones or something like that. Then, when they pass by the same place again, the Snow Wolf people can recognize the direction more easily. The tribesmen have walked this road to the Tauren tribe three times in total and are familiar with the road conditions. That night, everyone spent the night on a small hill that they had used before. There was a relatively flat ground on the top of the hill, and there was a small stream not far away. The tribe leader and Ashan, who were covered in dust after running all day, jumped down to wash off their wounds.
The next day, Hongye and Ayue were the ones who transformed into wolves and served as mounts, while Xiaoyun and Qingyan continued to follow suit obediently.
The fourth day, the fifth day... The boring journey was not romantic at all. Xiao Yun even lost all his energy to disgust the little bugs that emerged from the slightly warmer earth. This was under the premise that the four adult tribesmen took turns to transform into wolves to greatly increase the speed of travel. If he were to walk slowly and it would take him two months to walk a trip, Xiao Yun felt that he would definitely go crazy - no wonder people say that it is easy to stay at home for a thousand days but difficult to go out for a moment. The ancients were not deceiving me.
In ten days, the group traveled a distance that would take at least two months for the whole tribe to drive cattle and sheep. The unchanging grassland also saw more streams and springs and a surprisingly dense swamp - this meant that they had finally entered the territory of the Tauren. The Tauren rarely had disputes with other tribes over pastures because they were not as overly dependent on grazing as other tribes, and they were the only ones who could survive in such a place full of water... Cattle and sheep were easily lost when grazing near water.
After half a day's journey around a vast swamp that had existed for who knows how many years and had swallowed up countless ignorant creatures in the mud, Xiao Yun, whose butt was already calloused from sitting on the wolf's back, suddenly perked up... At the end of his sight, he could see fields that had been cultivated by humans, and large tracts of land with traces of cultivation stretched endlessly, almost spreading to the end of the sky.
After walking for about half an hour, Xiao Yun saw clearly the cultivated land that made him feel quite close to it - the minotaurs were indeed gifted in planting, and the degree of completion of the fields connected by ridges and paths was similar to what he saw in the countryside in modern society, and there were also artificial ditches and ponds between the fields.
On the cold temperate grassland , the industrious Tauren had already begun farming when the snow had just melted but the land was still frozen hard. When a group of snow wolves approached their fields, the Tauren working in the fields also saw the snow wolves; from afar, the Tauren seemed to be shouting something among their companions, and all the nearby Tauren moved towards the direction where Xiao Yun and his companions were coming from, and came out to greet them openly.
The moment Xiao Yun saw clearly what these grassland saints looked like, he finally understood why these vegetarian grassland Yuan Longping were so unwelcome by humans, and why every year the caravans from the human kingdom had to bypass the minotaur territory and go to the cat tribe to wait for guests to come - the name minotaur was not wrong at all, they all had bull heads, and not the old oxen or buffaloes with honest faces, but rather ferocious wild bulls with a pair of ferocious horns on their heads and coarse black hair on their heads.
——The Snow Wolf Tribe, the Cat Tribe, etc., at least their human form only reveals their animal ears. Is it possible that the Minotaur has not evolved completely or what…
Such a group of ultimate strong men who looked even more bullish than the Bull Demon King, were taller and stronger than adult snow werewolves, and had arms as thick as thighs outside their linen clothes, walked silently to the front of the team and lined up. Xiao Yun, who was riding on the back of a snow werewolf and had a high visual advantage, couldn't help but feel a chill... To be honest, these guys don't even need to put on any makeup, they can just make a cameo appearance as the big villain minions of the Demon King's army, and their appearance will definitely scare the audience to tears.
At this time, the tribe leader who was sitting on Hongye's back with Xiao Yun jumped down, walked towards the leader of the minotaurs, a super brother with bulging red bull eyes, and opened his arms to him...
The Red-Eyed Bull Demon King also spread his arms...
The two hugged each other tightly and slapped each other on the back, with a series of uncompromising bangs.
Xiao Yun slowly opened his eyes and said: "..."
The Red-Eyed Bull Demon King let go of the chief. His big red eyes like copper bells glared fiercely at the chief, who was half a head shorter than him and looked a little petite against him. He opened his big mouth, revealing the white, neat big teeth that are unique to herbivores. His voice was very low, as if it had its own subwoofer: "Friends of the Snow Wolf Tribe, do you need any help?"
Xiao Yun couldn't help but want to hold his forehead with his hand. He asked others if they were here to beg for money. Apparently, the Tauren were already used to people begging at their doorsteps in the early spring. She was indeed the Madonna of the grassland... But the way you look, to be honest, really makes you suffer a great loss, brother. What's with this irrepressible faint sympathy?
"We want to exchange some seeds with you." The clan leader was not as surprised as Xiao Yun. The other party's ferocious kindness seemed to be something he was... used to.
The Red-Eyed Bull Demon King nodded, waved to his people, signaling them to continue working, and then waved to the Snow Wolves cheerfully, "Come."
The Tauren tribe was located on the southeast side of a hillside which was not very high in altitude but had a considerable area and many lush trees. The moment he saw the Tauren tribe, Xiao Yun felt the huge gap in civilization - although these guys looked the most "primitive" among all the tribes on the grassland, their tribe was really not primitive, and had vaguely the specifications of a village or town: wooden houses of varying sizes stretched from the middle of the hillside to the foot of the mountain, with a road in the middle, and a piece of flat land at the foot of the mountain which should be a trading area or market; there were some relatively large houses and courtyards around the flat land, and on the outside there were two rows of wooden houses which were probably provided for guests to stay in... Compared with the Snow Wolf tribe, which only had a circle of tents as a tribe, their level was much higher.
The vast market area should be used to greet outsiders. The Red-Eyed Bull Demon King led the Snow Wolf Man all the way in. In the middle, he met several groups of Minotaur carrying farm tools walking down the hillside road. Xiao Yun looked at them curiously and was shocked even more - their farm tools were all made of iron! Think about it, the entire Snow Wolf Man tribe only has one iron skinning knife. This gap is really sad!
However, when Xiao Yun and his group were brought into the largest courtyard in the market area, Xiao Yun understood why the tauren had so many iron tools... They were not the only ones who came to collect money after the snow melted. Inside the open door of the spacious wooden house, one could see a group of gray dwarves sitting in front of a rectangular table and eating voraciously...
Xiao Yun had learned from Hongye that there were several exits to the underground world on the grassland. Hongye had also mentioned that the residents of the underground world would come up to seek a way out when they were starving. It was easier to obtain minerals in the underground world than in the surface world. It was reasonable for these gray dwarves who came from nowhere to exchange iron tools for food aid from the tauren.
Compared to the goblins that even the Holy Mother of the Prairie didn't like to deal with, Xiao Yun was obviously more interested in these gray dwarves who could trade ironware. But before he could think of anything, the gray dwarves who were eating like crazy had already seen the two huge snow wolves entering the yard. They were immediately horrified and fled into the wooden house with their food bowls in hand...
Xiao Yun: “…”
The silent red-eyed Bull Demon King seemed to be unaware that the previous group of guests were frightened by this group of guests. The snow wolves also had no idea that they had scared the gray dwarves away. They took off the extra-large rattan baskets on A Yue and Hong Ye's backs, and waited for the two to put on their clothes. Then they walked calmly into the hall where the gray dwarves had eaten just now... The gray dwarves ate cleanly, and there was not a drop of soup on the table or on the floor.
The chief, Ayue and Ashan all held a rattan straw basket and carefully placed the three baskets on the table. The chief took out a ceramic bowl carefully wrapped with hay, peeled off the hay and showed it to the Red-Eyed Bull Demon King: "Saladin, we want to use these pottery to exchange seeds with you. We want black bean seeds, grain and vegetable seeds."
When the tribe leader was pulling apart the hay, the Red-Eyed Bull Demon King's eyes were fixed on the ceramic bowls that revealed their true form. Although these ceramic bowls were also made of clay, the walls of the bowls were relatively thick and did not have the thin and transparent look of porcelain, but different colored glazes were used inside and outside, with grass green inside and dark purple outside. The color of the glaze was quite bright, and the surface was extremely smooth and bright, far better than the ceramic bowls transported by human caravans - he could even see his own blurry reflection in the smooth walls of the bowls!
After staring at the beautiful bowl for a few seconds, the Red-Eyed Bull Demon King... uh, the elder of the Minotaur tribe, Saladin, finally understood what the Snow Wolf Chief meant, and immediately showed his undisguised surprise - the things grown by the Minotaur are also loved by other tribes, and people from the nearby Snow Wolf Tribe, Cat Tribe, and even Tiger Tribe come to ask for them every year, and the Minotaur is used to it, and is not reluctant to exchange or give them away for free. But... this time, the Snow Wolf Tribe actually wants to exchange seeds instead of food?
If they only wanted to exchange for bean seeds, it wouldn't be a big deal. After all, beans are easy to grow. You just need to spread them on the ground. Even if the grass is thick and the bean sprouts are sparse, you can still get some harvest. But... they actually want grain and vegetable seeds? !
"Huoyan, are you sure you want to exchange seeds?" Saladin asked directly.
"Yes, our tribe also wants to farm." The chief nodded firmly. In the past, the Snow Wolf Tribe had never thought of relying on farming like the Tauren, but now that the cub Ayun has proven with facts that the sprouted bean sprouts and indoor-grown Flammulina velutipes are very useful, the chief is of course tempted.
Saladin showed a hesitant look. He knew that the tribe of Snow Werewolves were relatively small in number and they could not live without meat. If the already small tribesmen had to graze and farm like the Tauren at the same time, both sides might fail in the end. This made him hesitate to agree to the exchange easily for the time being.
"We brought a lot of exchange items." The patriarch thought that the other party was unwilling to trade the precious seeds, so he quickly took out a few pottery bowls and cups.
The row of glittering pottery made Saladin very excited... Although it was not obvious on the surface, the silent look of this guy really looked like he was considering some terrible questions like "how many to kill, how to kill" - but his eyes glued to the beautiful two-color pottery could not deceive anyone, Xiao Yun saw it after a careful observation...
Raising his hand to stop the clan leader who was so nervous that he wanted to take out the flower essence to increase his bargaining chips, Xiao Yun carefully probed: "Excuse me...what is the reason why you are unwilling to trade the seeds to us?"
The Tauren tribe adopted the system of wise elders. Sages and elders all had the right to speak, and they did not look down on the weak or young tribesmen. Elder Saladin did not feel offended by the questions raised by the cubs in the Snow Wolf Team. He turned his red copper bell eyes to Xiao Yun, and the wise man in the Tauren tribe said in a deep voice: "It's not that I don't want to trade seeds. Farming is a tedious and sacred act that requires continuous labor to reap rewards. If you are not pious enough and neglect the land, the land will not give you rewards."
"..." Xiao Yun's understanding of this group of grassland saints deepened. So they were worried that the snow wolves would waste their efforts and seeds and starve themselves to death...
It is not enough to just talk to convince the people of the grassland, it must be based on reality. Xiao Yun thought about it, ran back to the unloaded extra-large rattan straw basket, picked up the pottery bucket with bean sprouts, ran into the hall, lifted the straw cover on the pottery bucket a little, and pushed it in front of Saladin.
"This is the bean sprouts our tribe made from soaked black beans. We have eaten two batches on the way here. This is the third batch."
The bean sprouts that had been soaked in a ceramic barrel with a diameter of about 30 cm and a height of about 35 cm had only grown new sprouts as long as fingers on the third day. Saladin reached into the barrel and took out a bean sprout for a closer look. He quickly recognized that this was the sprout that grew when the beans were planted.
The Minotaur had no experience of eating bean sprouts directly after they sprouted, but... with the vision of Yuan Longping from the grassland, after discovering that the sprouts could be used as food, Saladin's eyes widened - compared to eating the beans directly, it seems more suitable to eat them after soaking them? !
"If you soak the beans like this before eating them, they will be very crisp and tender after being cooked with oil and salt. The beans can also expand tenfold, so one kilogram of beans can produce ten kilograms of bean sprouts." Xiao Yun continued, "The soaking process is also very easy. Soak them in water for a whole day, then drain the water and put them in a pottery or wooden barrel. Cover the lid and keep it away from light. Use animal skin or other things to hold the beans down. Sprinkle them with clean water twice a day, and you can take them out and eat them after five to seven days. "
Saladin looked at Xiao Yun in shock. Well, his shocked expression also looked ferocious... It was still more pleasing to the eye when the silly Snow Wolf people were shocked.
The technology of cultivating Flammulina enoki mushrooms is still a bit difficult. In order to prevent any problems in the process of trading seeds, Xiao Yun decided early on to use the technology of growing bean sprouts, which cannot be called a technology, to impress the Minotaur... Now it seems that although he is not worried about whether he can impress the Minotaur, it can be used to prove that the Snow Wolf People know how to plant and can learn planting techniques.
Saladin gave a slightly creepy smile, gently put the bean sprouts back, covered the straw, and pushed it back to the Snow Wolf Man: "The earth will reward all those who work hard, whether they are Tauren or Snow Wolf Man, we can exchange seeds with you."
The clan leader let out all the tension in his chest, and Xiao Yun also breathed a sigh of relief.
Since the Tauren was willing to give the seeds, the subsequent transaction was easy. Not to mention that the Snow Wolf Man also brought beautiful two-color pottery with him, even if he came empty-handed, these grassland mothers would not let the Snow Wolf Man go in vain.
Of course, there were bound to be problems during the transaction. When Saladin arranged accommodation for the snow wolves and was about to take the chief to select seeds, the chief quickly pushed Xiao Yun out... After confirming twice that the content of the transaction was decided by the cub Xiao Yun, the ferocious-looking Tauren elder Saladin stared at Xiao Yun for a long time.
Looking at Qingyan, a cat from the Snow Wolf Team, Saladin, who was never curious about his guests' private affairs, couldn't help but ask, "I remember that the Snow Wolf Team regards the elders as the leaders. Do you also think that the sages are more reliable?"
This sage does not mean a saint, a moral role model, or a morally perfect person, but rather means someone who is smart and capable. The grassland tribes generally tend to be pragmatic. The so-called moral role models who are perfect people but can do nothing have no market among them - there is no comparison between being able to speak nice words and being able to feed the tribesmen.
Xiao Yun: "..." He couldn't respond to this. Even if there was no idea of fighting for power among the Snow Wolf people, you couldn't let me express in front of the current clan leader that I wanted to seize the throne?
The clan leader showed a thoughtful expression, turned his head and looked at Xiao Yun with deep eyes.
Xiao Yun suddenly became nervous - human nature cannot withstand the test. If the clan leader suddenly awakens the consciousness of suppressing competitors, who the hell can he talk to? !
"Saladin, do you think Ayun is suitable to be the leader of our tribe?" the leader said seriously.
Saladin showed a ferocious look of shock again. The Minotaur with a larger brain capacity seemed to be very confused as to why the Snow Wolf Man asked him this question - didn't you give the important decision-making power of what crops to plant in a year to this cub!
"I'm not an adult yet. I'm only sixteen...seventeen." Xiao Yun said with a twitching mouth. He felt that if he didn't speak up, the patriarch and Saladin, whose minds were obviously not on the same level, would probably not be able to have a pleasant conversation.
Snow wolf cubs can be considered adults after they are 25, but they can only be considered adults when they can estrus and have the ability to reproduce. According to the lifespan of snow wolf, this is after 30 years old. The chief calculated how long it would take for Ayun to become an adult, and immediately gave up the question. It was too far away to consider such a long time. Saladin calculated the age of adulthood of snow wolf and also threw it away... The brain capacity of the minotaur was not so great that it could plan for things ten years later.
On the other hand, uncle Ashan looked at Ayun with particularly proud eyes - the Tauren elder Saladin believed that his eldest nephew was a great figure who was as famous as the sages of the Tauren tribe. Whether Ayun became the tribe leader or not, he would be very happy.
After this little incident, there were no more problems with choosing seeds and exchanging pottery. The exquisite (...) pottery brought by the Snow Wolf Man was liked by all the other Tauren except Elder Saladin. As long as it was a seed that Xiao Yun liked, they were willing to give it to him. When giving it to him, they were afraid that the Snow Wolf Man would not be able to grow it. For each seed he gave, Saladin would pull Xiao Yun aside to explain for a long time how to plant the seed - for the Tauren who was usually taciturn, it was really difficult for him to say so much in a short period of time.
To be honest, Xiao Yun couldn't bring himself to cheat such a kind-hearted minotaur. But it was impossible not to be tempted when he saw the iron farm tools lying there. Xiao Yun, who had suffered a lot since coming to this world but had a smooth life overall, encountered a difficult problem that he couldn't make up his mind for the first time... Could his black hand really stretch out?
