Volume 3: Fellow villagers, let’s farm together~ Chapter 72 The Responsibility of the Patriarch
Saladin's red copper bell eyes almost popped out of their sockets. He was betrayed? !
Then he thought that he was kidnapped on the way to the Cat Tribe, and he suddenly came to his senses... No wonder that person from the Xia tribe came alone and made up such a lie to trick him out of the tribe.
Saladin's anger disappeared instantly and he calmed down. He was a tauren sage and knew that the more critical the moment, the more he should remain calm. The Xia tribe had been unstable since it expelled the caracals last year. The reputation of the Xia tribe leader had fallen and warriors who were capable of competing for the position of tribe leader were ready to make a move. It would not be surprising if a fool tried to curry favor with the tiger tribe and use the support of the tiger king to win the position of tribe leader.
Saladin couldn't help but shake his head secretly. He was not afraid of the threat from the Tiger King. In Saladin's opinion, this guy was more greedy and short-sighted than the previous Tiger King and was far less magnanimous than his father. What he was thinking at this moment was... If Chief Xia could not win over the people's hearts as soon as possible, then this cat tribe that had been neighbors with the Minotaur for more than a hundred years might become dandelions in spring and be blown away by the wind.
The Tiger King did not get the expected response, and became increasingly impatient, roaring, "Saladin! Don't you understand your situation yet?"
Saladin raised his head and glanced at the Tiger King indifferently. He propped his big hands on the ground and slowly stood up in the darkness: "You are the one who doesn't understand your situation, Tiger King... Didn't your father tell you who the owner of this land was two hundred years ago-"
Saladin raised his left foot, his thick calf muscles bulged, and his heavy foot suddenly dropped with force. The big hoof on the front of his foot cracked the marble floor with a "bang".
The Tiger King's expression changed slightly, and he subconsciously wanted to take off the spider silk robe he was wearing. Fortunately, he reacted in time and controlled the movements of his hands.
Saladin put down his right foot, and another hole appeared on the marble floor. The huge bull head approached the Tiger King. The Minotaur sage, whose body size was comparable to that of the Tiger Tribe, stared directly into the Tiger King's golden pupils with his red eyes and said in a deep voice: "We Minotaur hate war, but we are never afraid of it."
The Tiger King stared at Saladin for a few seconds, then suddenly burst into laughter with a ferocious smile: "Sage of the Minotaur, in order to protect a small tribe, you Minotaur people want to go to war with our Tiger Tribe?"
Saladin stared at the Tiger King in silence, with flames burning in his red eyes.
Veins popped out on the Tiger King’s forehead - if it was another race saying such big words, he would just sneer with disdain, but as for the Minotaur... these bull-brained people can really do it!
"king!"
"Who?!" The Tiger King was furious, "Who is barging into the king's tent?!"
"There are many minotaurs outside the king's court!"
"What?!" The Tiger King immediately rushed out of the inner room.
Outside the royal court, in the open space provided for outsiders to set up camp, merchant groups from the Orc Empire, wandering elven bards, and powerful adventurers of various races were all looking vigilantly in the same direction.
More than a hundred minotaurs stood silently outside the camp. These notoriously ferocious guys were all dusty, covered in mud and grass, but their aura was surprisingly fierce and majestic, full of murderous intent. There was a large white area within a hundred meters around where they stood. Even the unruly and unscrupulous adventurers avoided this group of minotaurs who were obviously ill-intentioned.
Several tiger warriors ran out of the royal court, stopped in front of the minotaur team and shouted a few words. A moment later, a sturdy giant with a head full of thick black and yellow braids and a burly muscular little giant with messy brown hair on his head walked out of the minotaur team and followed the tiger warriors into the royal court.
In the center of the royal court, in the royal tent hall, the Tiger King looked at the two visitors with a dark face.
The yellow bull Hall, the brown bull Harold, and the two minotaur chiefs all showed up... These bull-headed guys really have no idea how to assess the situation or weigh the pros and cons!
The two Minotaur chiefs said nothing, staring at the Tiger King with their black and red eyes.
"Sage Saladin is just a guest in the royal tent." The Tiger King tried to control his temper and said stiffly, his tone was particularly impatient.
Chief Harold looked at Hall, who frowned and said nothing. The two chiefs looked at the Tiger King again.
The Tiger King was furious. He was in no mood to waste time talking to these bull-headed people. He took out the white porcelain cup and held it in his palm: "Hand over the tribe that made this, and I will return Saladin to you."
Harold showed a very ferocious and shocked expression, and his two red eyes almost stuck to the porcelain cup, while Chief Hall stood up suddenly.
Veins popped out of the tiger king's forehead, and he gritted his teeth and said word by word: "The Taurens are not threatened, so will the tiger tribe be? Either war or hand over that tribe, there is no third choice!"
Hall took a step forward, but Harold held out his hand to stop him.
Chief Harold, who was older than Hall, shook his head at his compatriots and turned to look at the Tiger King. This time, the chief spoke: "Tiger King, do you want to dominate the grassland or return to your original homeland?"
The Tiger King's face changed drastically, his facial muscles tensed, and he glared at Harold with a murderous look.
"This land is called the Cursed Land. Even though it is a cursed land, we, as the people of the Earth Mother, will do our best to maintain the tranquility of this grassland." In terms of ferocious looks and stunning momentum, the minotaurs are not inferior to the tiger tribe. Harold took a step forward in the face of the tiger king. "Tiger king, do you want to bet whether we minotaurs have this determination?"
The Tiger King narrowed his eyes slightly. As the king of the tiger tribe, he was not lacking in vision. Harold's toughness made him realize one thing - the tiger tribe's behavior of finding excuses to plunder small tribes on the grassland for more than 40 years has caused the dissatisfaction of the Tauren to accumulate to a critical point, and they are waiting for the opportunity to explode their dissatisfaction.
"Ha." The Tiger King sneered, "Very good... I can take a step back. As long as that small tribe pays enough tribute to our tribe, we can let them go and return Saladin to you."
"No." Chief Hall finally spoke in a very bad tone, "I have no porcelain for you. Return it to Saladin."
The Tiger King's face immediately turned cold.
The calmest moment for cats is when they have the intention to kill.
"My tribe is close to the York Mountains." Chief Harold interrupted, "Although my tribe does not regard the grassland as ours, we are not unconcerned about what happens on the grassland."
The Tiger King turned to Harold, with a hint of surprise in his cold eyes.
"A general of the Orc Empire will visit the royal court in the fall. My people heard this from the gossip of the Orc Merchant Group." Harold's ferocious face actually showed a hint of cunning. "We Tauren are a peace-loving race. I would like to see the former Orc Royal Family regain its glory... and I also ask the Tiger King to let this grassland have the peace it deserves."
With a "crack", the Tiger King crushed the armrest of the high-back chair, and the look he gave Harold was particularly terrifying.
Harold met his gaze fearlessly and said in a deep voice, "That's enough, Tiger King. Isn't what the tiger tribe has gained from the grassland enough?"
Half an hour later, when Hall and Harold walked out of the royal tent, they were accompanied by the freed Saladin. The three minotaurs were not interested in the prosperous commercial activities in the royal court, and hurriedly crossed the busy streets to meet up with their tribesmen outside the royal court, and immediately set off.
This team of Tauren warriors walked south for half a day and arrived at a woodland. The cats waiting in front of the woodland stood up and greeted them.
The faces of this group of cat warriors were a little pale. The young leopard (jaguar) leading them looked ashamed. After searching for Saladin among the crowd of minotaurs, he showed a relieved expression, opened his mouth, but could not say a word, and turned his head away awkwardly.
Saladin walked out of the crowd and patted the leopard youth on the shoulder.
"Saladin said it's okay, but he can't lend you the set of porcelain for commemorating your ancestors because it was stolen by the Tiger Tribe." Seeing this, a Minotaur warrior spoke for Saladin.
"No, we didn't borrow the porcelain...it's our tribe that has let you down." The leopard youth was so embarrassed that he couldn't raise his head.
Saladin shook his head, then nodded.
"Saladin said he didn't blame you, but he hoped your tribe could stabilize as soon as possible." The tauren warrior who translated the radio wave hesitated, "Well... Saladin hopes you won't blindly imitate the tiger tribe... Hope you won't let down the gift of the goddess of life."
Theoretically, the Earth Goddess believed by the Tauren and the Goddess of Life believed by the Dragon Tribe are the same person, but due to differences in doctrinal details, both parties are unwilling to admit that the Earth Goddess is equal to the Goddess of Life... In order to persuade the cat tribe to learn a lesson, Saladin even gave up his own beliefs. No wonder the translator sounded embarrassed.
The leopard youth opened his mouth halfway and could only smile bitterly and nod.
Chief Hall walked out, stretched out his big hand and put it on the other shoulder of the leopard youth, his eyes sparkling.
"Chief Hall said... uh... we Tauren people don't want to interfere in other tribes' internal affairs, but we also can't bear to see you get lost, so... Chief Hall wants to tell you about the situation when you came to the grassland more than 200 years ago."
The tauren warrior who was translating had a look of ferocious surprise on his face, and seemed to be shocked by the content of the radio waves sent by Hall.
"...The main target of the Beast King's exile is the Tiger Clan, which was originally a royal family. The Cat Clan is the imperial nobles who support the Tiger Clan, and the Snow Wolf Clan is the imperial warriors..."
"After entering the grassland, the tiger tribe suffered heavy losses and started to cohabit with the cat tribe..."
"In order to protect the safe evacuation of the Tiger Tribe, all the adults of the Snow Wolf Tribe and most of the warriors of the Cat Tribe stayed behind. They all died on the other side of the York Mountains. The strength of the Cat Tribe was severely damaged, and the inheritance of the Snow Wolf Tribe was completely cut off..."
The leopard youth's eyes widened and he looked at Chief Hall in disbelief.
Patriarch Hall nodded heavily.
The Minotaur warrior licked his lips nervously and said, "The former imperial family wanted to restore their former glory, but... that was two hundred years ago. The sacrifices made by the cat tribe and the snow wolf tribe for the tiger tribe are enough."
The Tauren team continued to move south and return to their homeland, leaving only a group of cat warriors standing there in despair.
"Xia... Minotaur won't lie, right...?" a golden cat warrior asked in panic.
“I don’t know… I, I don’t know…” Xia, the young leopard man, looked in the direction of the tiger royal court with empty eyes.
He thought that the development path of the Tiger Tribe was correct, and that only by respecting the strong could the tribe be strengthened and it was the best choice for the tribe members. He even went so far as to injure his friend Qingyan with his own hands and drive him out of the tribe - but now, Xia no longer knew how to fulfill his responsibilities as the tribe leader.
"The chief's responsibility is to lead the way. The tribe is a group of sheep. Where the sheep can go to drink water and eat fresh grass, how to avoid high-risk hunting areas for wild animals, and how to find a safe place to spend the night all depend on how and where the chief leads the team."
"But it is impossible for the patriarch to lead such a large flock of sheep alone. He needs people who support him to help him. When the patriarch is leading the way, these people need to keep an eye on the entire flock to see if any sheep have fallen behind? Are any sheep running in the wrong direction? Are any sheep walking slowly and unable to keep up with the group? The patriarch who is leading the way cannot see these details..."
"Qingcao, you are in the middle of the team helping to keep an eye on the sheep. Suddenly, a sheep is too lazy to move and stops to rest, not caring whether it is getting farther and farther away from the main group or whether it will be left behind. At this time, do you think, 'Hey, he's tired, let him continue to rest', or do you rush over to pull him up and catch up with the main group?"
"Uh..." Qingcao looked away guiltily.
"Look at me! Answer loudly!" Xiao Yun shouted.
"I was wrong!" Qingcao felt aggrieved.
"What's wrong?" Xiao Yun asked.
"I, I shouldn't think that I don't care if someone is lazy just because I have a good relationship with him, because his laziness will drag down the progress of the entire team." Qingcao lowered his head as he spoke, "and...and if a person becomes lazy in the habit, he will be less and less willing to work hard, and in the end everyone will dislike him and hate him, which is the worst for him..."
"You are quite clear about this!" Xiao Yun raised his voice, angrily, "You know the reason but you just don't want to care about it or do it. Tell me what the reason is. Ah? Can't you see how hard and sweaty the grassroots tribe leaders are in raising earthworms? Some people are lazy, saying they are transporting earthworm manure but they are too lazy to run and just throw the earthworm manure on the roadside and come back. You don't even think about the grassroots tribe leaders and other people, but only care about having a good time with them and having a deep relationship with them?!"
“Wow—wah—wah—” The snow wolf who had been hanging his head could not help crying out loud, “Ayun, please scold me, don’t scold the grass…”
"Don't cry!" Xiao Yun shouted.
"..." The lazy tribesman who was caught bit his lips tightly, tears falling down.
"It is the clan leader's responsibility to lead the team in the right direction! It is the responsibility of you, the team leaders, to manage the clan members and make sure no one falls behind!" Xiao Yun poked his finger on Qingcao's chest, "You should know what is more important! Have you forgotten the story of the noble young master I told you before? The noble young master was spoiled by his family. He refused to eat the cake on his neck even if it was far away from him. In the end, he starved to death. What a good result! Whether others can live a healthy and happy life and their responsibility to the entire tribe are not as important as your self-righteous feelings?"
“…” Qingcao was speechless and tears welled up in her eyes.
"...Ayun, come and help me check the quality of this batch of earthworm cocoons." The Grassroots Chief really felt that Xiao Yun had been scolding him for too long, so he spoke up to help Qingcao out.
"Coming." Xiao Yun responded, glaring at Qingcao, "Go, you have to work overtime today to help him make up for the workload that's behind. Don't ask others for help, you have to go alone!"
Qingcao hurriedly pulled her friend away... What's the big deal about working overtime? As long as she doesn't get scolded, she's willing to work late!
Pressing his forehead, he walked over to the Grassroots leader. Grassroots casually pointed at the cocoon he had just shoveled out of the earthworm manure and said with a bit of amusement: "I thought you were going to criticize the lazy people, but why do you only pick on the green grass?"
"If you don't take care of your team members when they have problems, it's Qingcao's fault. Of course, I only ask her. If I have to find someone to educate every team member who fails, I will have a lot of free time." Xiao Yun pinched his throat. Scolding is also a physical job, but if you don't punish the typical case for the first time, there will be endless troubles. Is management fun? Whoever thinks so should be laid off as soon as possible!
Cao Gen pondered A Yun's words and found that they made sense... and in this way, on the surface A Yun was in charge of more than 150 people, but in fact he only needed to keep a close eye on Da Shui, Lan Guo, Qing Cao, Yu, the caracal Qiu, the gray dwarf Baru, the goblin old Shamen and others to keep the affairs of the tribe under control, which was simpler and more efficient than keeping an eye on everyone.
"As expected, Ayun is the most reliable next chief. It's a pity that he is too young, only eighteen this year. If he were a few years older, he could be the chief." Thinking of Ayun's age, Cao Gen felt a little regretful... Although the snow wolf cubs are still unable to go into heat when they are twenty-five years old, their physical development is almost the same as that of adults. In comparison, Ayun, who is not even twenty years old, looks too immature. Even if you know that he is very capable, he still lacks a little persuasiveness.
Xiao Yun called Qingcao to the breeding greenhouse area where there were not many people but many people coming and going, and sprayed for more than 20 minutes in total. Even Sar, who was a little far away from the breeding area, heard the noise. After this, not only did the smart people like "Dahe" give up the idea of occasionally hiding away, but the leaders of the team were even more nervous - it was embarrassing to be sprayed one-on-one like this! We have to save face too!
Thanks to the foundation laid last year and the addition of Balk as an air transport worker, the team that went to the seaside this year harvested more than 10,000 kilograms of salt in just one month, and brought back a lot of brine left over from the salt fields - this stuff can be used to make some tofu and can also be used to allow Balk's "Dragon Source Power·Self-Propelled Laboratory" to synthesize liquid ammonia, so it won't be wasted.
Not long after the salt drying team returned, the intense rain during summer and autumn began to fall...
In the rain so thick that you can't see clearly ten meters away, a black panther was trotting upstream along the river against the rain, occasionally tilting its head to check how high the water level was rising.
"Last year's snow was not as heavy as the year before, and this year's rain is indeed less than last year." Qingyan silently recalled the water level at this time last year. If he remembered correctly, the water had already flooded the south bank. This year, the sluice gates of the artificial river upstream for flood discharge were not opened, and the river water was still more than half a meter high from overflowing the river bank.
"If it rains for a few more days, the water will overflow. The sluice gates should indeed be opened." Qingyan had an idea in his mind and ran faster.
After running for a while, he arrived at the sluice gate of the artificial river. Qingyan jumped into the river and swam to the other side. He climbed to the top of the sluice gate and, in the form of a black panther, used his big claws, which were much more flexible than those of a snow werewolf, to move the cement bricks of the gate, which were stacked in the shape of an inclined ladder, to the river bank one by one.
Because of the difference in tonnage between the combat form (beast form) and the human form, it is very dangerous to turn into a human and then move the bricks that serve as the sluice gate. Last year, Hongye was washed out more than a hundred meters and was in a very embarrassing situation. The snow wolf's claws are not as flexible as Qingyan's, so this job was handed over to him... Who told him to be classified as the "secondary labor force" among the snow wolf cubs.
The fighting form of the black panther is similar to that of the spotted leopard, with thick shoulders and back, and forelimbs that are muscular, strong and powerful enough to hold large prey. The gate that sealed the river mouth was quickly emptied by Qingyan, and the influx of water caused Qingyan's body, which weighed more than 400 kilograms in black panther form (similar to the largest tiger on Earth, two-thirds the size of a snow wolf), to sway.
After climbing onto the shore and shaking his head, Qingyan, who was beginning to feel hungry, stopped fighting, opened the package tied to his feet, took out his animal skin shorts and rattan straw sandals and put them on, picked up the arm-long dagger, and walked back along the river.
The grassland is not safe. The rampant beasts are fine, but the wandering magic beasts are the most troublesome. Fortunately, the number of magic beasts is not large, and it is not easy to encounter them. The magic beasts are more densely populated in the York Mountains in the east of the grassland. As far as Qingyan knows, there are often adventurers from various tribes from afar around that mountain range. It is said that there are even people from other continents... Of course, he has never seen what those adventurers look like, but he met people from other tribes when he was in the Tauren tribe (begging for money) and heard others mention them.
“No matter how terrifying the monster is, it’s nothing compared to the green dragon in the tribe.” Qingyan, who came out alone, was still in a relaxed mood. If he hadn’t signed up to dry salt this year, he would have been a person who “rode” a dragon…
Qingyan returned to the tribe after a smooth journey, encountering no difficulties except for heavy rain and hunger. He immediately ran towards the kitchen... There was plenty of food in the tribe now, and it was not like before when only a fixed amount of food could be obtained at a fixed time.
Before he reached the kitchen, he saw a frightened little face, drenched by the rain, rushing towards him.
"Qingyan, Qiuqiu is missing!" The caracal cub nervously grabbed Qingyan's hand.
"Qiu? What's wrong with Qiu?" Qingyan was stunned.
"Qiuqiu went to the east, to the quarry, to pick fruit, and never came back!"
Qingyan quickly picked up the cub and asked, "Did you tell the others, tell Ayun?"
"I can't find Ayun..." the caracal cub pouted.
"Ayun is busy, it's normal that you can't find him. Don't worry, I'll ask someone to take me to the quarry to find Qiu. You go back to the house and wait, don't worry."
"Qiu is gone?" Qingcao, who was helping people to cultivate the soil and drain the water in the sweet potato field, heard this and immediately called on two people to drop their hoes and run towards the quarry.
The heavy rain obstructed vision, and the group of four could only see the vague outline of a low mountain when they ran to the quarry. There was nothing they could do but call out Qiu's name while searching around the mountain.
“I’m here!”
Hearing the sound, the four of them hurriedly followed the sound and went around the ridge of the low mountain. Qingyan was suddenly stunned.
Qiu was standing on the north side of a low hill, where there were a few sparse wild fruit trees, confronting a few people a few meters away; these people all had messy long hair, and it was obvious at first glance that they were not "his own people."
One of them turned to look at them. The familiar face made Qingyan's expression suddenly change: "——It's you!"
Author's note: The grassland in the article is a cold temperate grassland, so there will be no lions or hyenas... In addition, the lion's tonnage and individual combat power are really no match for the tiger that generally lives in higher latitudes. The king of beasts is not called randomly. In addition, the largest wolf on earth has a considerable tonnage... When standing up, it is almost as tall as an adult man, very strong.
