The first year of the Vine Tribe's founding, February 5th.
"Rumble!"
"Crackle!"
In the sky, the first thunder of the year exploded, with thick lightning occasionally tearing through the sky, illuminating the ground.
"Whoosh whoosh whoosh..."
The strong wind began to blow. From above, the newly grown leaves in the Primitive Jungle looked like a vast green ocean, surging with waves.
"Drip... drip..."
The raindrops began to fall. At first, they were just a few scattered drops, but soon they grew heavier, turning into a curtain of rain, thoroughly washing the earth.
Jiang Xuan stood under the eaves of the bamboo house, watching the heavy rain outside, feeling incredibly joyful.
The thunder and rain meant that spring had truly arrived.
He went back inside and found the bamboo tube used as a calendar, carving the word 'Awakening of Insects' next to February 5th.
The Awakening of Insects is a very important solar term; it signifies the stirring of spring thunder, increased rainfall, and gradually warming temperatures.
As the saying goes, "The spring thunder awakens all insects." After this term, the thunder will awaken all the hibernating animals, including the various insects underground.
And the warm and damp weather provides favorable conditions for spring farming and planting. If it's about planting trees, you start after the Awakening of Insects.
Chi Shao curiously walked over and asked Jiang Xuan, "Xuan, what are you carving?"
Jiang Xuan thought for a moment. Being a transmigrator was hard to explain, so to avoid future troubles, he decided to tell Chi Shao a story.
"Sister, I'll tell you something, not sure if you'll believe it."
"What is it?"
"When we were fleeing, I wasn't unconscious."
Jiang Xuan said seriously, "Actually, at that time, I had a dream. I dreamt of an old man wearing linen clothes, holding a cane, and his face was painted with very complex patterns."
After hearing Jiang Xuan's description, Chi Shao said seriously, "The one you dreamt of is likely a witch from some tribe."
As soon as they heard it was about a 'witch', Gou Teng, Shi Qiu, and Nan Xing all gathered around, listening carefully to Jiang Xuan's story.
"In the dream, this old man taught me many things, like fishing, farming, taming wild animals, and building houses."
Jiang Xuan handed the bamboo tube to Chi Shao and said, "He also taught me a special script that can be used to record things, like this, a calendar."
Chi Shao looked curiously at the writing on the bamboo tube and asked, "What is a calendar?"
Jiang Xuan said, "A calendar is used to keep track of the days. You can also note events next to the dates, like today, with the thunder and the insects coming out, so I marked 'Awakening of Insects'."
Chi Shao couldn't read the words on the bamboo tube, nor did she know what 'Awakening of Insects' meant, but she felt a vague sense of admiration.
Gou Teng, Shi Qiu, and Nan Xing also crowded around to look, sharing the same sense of perplexed admiration.
"What happened next?" Gou Teng couldn't help but ask.
"Then, the old man told me he was actually dead, that his soul would soon dissipate. He taught me so many things in hopes I could pass them on, so he would have no regrets."
"Since then, I've never dreamt of that old man again, but I remember everything he taught me in the dream."
Chi Shao looked enlightened and said, "So that's why you know so much."
To the tribe members, a witch was very mysterious, possessing many incredible abilities, so Chi Shao and the others didn't doubt Jiang Xuan's words.
Jiang Xuan secretly heaved a sigh of relief. Any new things he came up with in the future could be attributed to the old man in the dream, saving him a lot of explanations.
Jiang Xuan carefully put the bamboo tube back in place and said to Chi Shao, "The method of farming was also taught to me by the old man in the dream. He said that if we farmed the way he taught, we could gather more food than by foraging in the wild."
Chi Shao nodded and said, "Then we'll give it a try."
Jiang Xuan said, "We've cleared quite a bit of wasteland. We can plant yellow essence, sweet potatoes, and yam. If we find other seeds, we can plant those as well."
Since the snow melted, besides hunting and gathering, Jiang Xuan focused mainly on clearing the wasteland, and now they've cleared seven or eight acres of land, making the area in front of the bamboo grove more open than before.
"Also, if anyone spots saplings of wild fruit trees outside, use the Bone Plow to dig them out with roots and soil carefully and replant them near our tribe. This way, we won't have to go far to pick wild fruits in the future."
Chi Shao said, "You're the leader; we'll follow your lead."
The three youths all nodded. In the tribe, the leader had the highest authority, and they would do whatever he said.
"Alright, once the rain stops, we'll climb the mountain!"
After Jiang Xuan finished speaking, they all waited for the rain to stop. He was eager to plant the newly cleared fields with grains and vegetables.
For the journey to the mountain, he crafted several Bamboo Spears as weapons.
The bamboo was many years old and very sturdy.
After splitting the bamboo, he selected a bamboo strip about three centimeters wide, polished it smooth using stones, sharpened the end, then roasted it with fire to dry the moisture.
After being roasted, the spear tip's hardness greatly increased, becoming extremely sharp — able to easily pierce prey, though it had one drawback: overall, it was relatively soft, but its brilliance overshadowed its flaws.
Jiang Xuan sharpened a long bamboo spear and three short bamboo spears. The spearheads were all roasted over fire, with a slightly carbonized surface, making them extremely hard and sharp.
By noon, the rain stopped.
After breakfast, Jiang Xuan and the others took their weapons, vine baskets, beast hide bags, and other things, then carefully painted totem patterns on their faces.
The tribe people believe that drawing totem patterns before entering the mountain can bring the protection of the Totem God.
Once they had prepared everything, Jiang Xuan and the others headed south toward the forest.
The sun rose from the little river in the morning, so the direction by the river is east, behind the Stone Mountain Ancient Vine is west, the direction where the Deer Tribe originally was is north, and the direction on the right side of the bamboo forest is south.
The north is a place of sadness, so they prefer to go to the forest in the south.
In the morning, it rained, making the jungle ground very damp. Fortunately, there were plenty of dry branches and fallen leaves, preventing the ground from becoming overly muddy.
The air carried the fresh scent of grass and wood, mixed with the smell of rotting branches and leaves after the rain, creating the distinct aroma of the Primitive Forest.
Once inside the forest, the five of them focused all their attention, eyes constantly watching the ground and the trees for anything unusual, ears constantly listening to the sounds around.
Jiang Xuan held a bamboo spear in his hand, carrying a vine basket on his back that contained three short bamboo spears. He felt somewhat nervous, yet excited, not knowing what he might encounter in the jungle.
"Grr grr…"
From within a fallen, enormous rotting tree came the sound of wood being sawed. Jiang Xuan walked over and used his bamboo spear to lift the tree bark, revealing a large white worm, which had already bitten through the tree, exposing its head.
This worm's body was about the size of a teacup, with a pincers-brown head, sporting a pair of large black pincers capable of easily chewing through wood.
"Equivalent level worms have four times the protein content of beef!"
Jiang Xuan murmured softly and then pierced the worm's head with his bamboo spear before tossing it into the vine basket.
Various types of insects in the jungle, as long as they're edible, are almost standard food for the tribe people.
They are numerous, large, relatively easy to catch, and taste quite good after roasting.
Not only Jiang Xuan, but Chi Shao and Gou Teng and others, upon finding edible insects, would kill them first and take them away.
They continued forward, seeing many birds and beasts along the way.
As the weather warmed, all sorts of animals emerged, making the jungle both dangerous and lively.
Jiang Xuan was walking and suddenly stepped on some brown vines spreading across the ground.
These vines formed a grid, looking rather strange. Jiang Xuan felt a bit curious as he stepped on them, finding their appearance truly peculiar.
"Xuan, watch out!"
Chi Shao suddenly exclaimed beside him, but it was already too late.
"Whoosh whoosh whoosh!"
The grid-like vines under Jiang Xuan's feet suddenly rose like a large net, quickly closing in, forming a circular cage, trapping Jiang Xuan inside.
"What the heck is this!"
Jiang Xuan was shocked, trying to tear the vines apart, only to find them very tough. Even with his current strength, he couldn't break them!
Meanwhile, some smaller vines, with thorns, extended towards Jiang Xuan from all directions.
The thorns of the vines carried a paralyzing toxin, and once jabbed, the trapped prey would lose the ability to resist and eventually be strangled to death, decomposing and becoming nourishment for the vines.
The cage's interior was very small, and Jiang Xuan couldn't tear the vine apart, making the situation extremely critical.
At the critical moment, Chi Shao rushed over with a stone knife, crouched down, quickly peeled away the fallen branches and leaves, then hacked the main stem of the strange vine fiercely, which was close to the ground.
This vine was known as the Cage Vine, with its top part forming a circular net-like structure resembling a spider web, while its bottom part was a shorter main stem close to the ground.
It's very dangerous; once trapped, unless one's strength is sufficient, it's very hard to escape alone.
Only someone knowledgeable and outside the cage can accurately locate its main stem and promptly cut it to rescue the trapped individual.
Chi Shao's stone knife was sharpened very sharply, and with her full-force hacking, she quickly cut through the main stem of the Cage Vine.
After a few strikes on the main stem of the Cage Vine attacking Jiang Xuan, the vines noticeably slowed down, and upon cutting through the main stem, those vines immediately lost their ability to attack, no longer moving.
Gou Teng, Shi Qiu, and Nan Xing ran over and hurriedly tore open the entangled vines, rescuing Jiang Xuan from inside.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
"Sis, what kind of vine is this? It's really terrifying," Jiang Xuan asked uneasily, looking at the vines.
"This is called Cage Vine. Its thorns have a paralyzing venom, which can trap prey and then slowly strangle it. If you see these vines on the ground, make sure to bypass them."
Jiang Xuan, Gou Teng, and the others nodded in agreement, already having witnessed the vine's fearsome nature.
"However, its juice is quite useful. Apply a bit to arrowheads or spearheads; once it hits the prey, they will gradually become paralyzed and slow down their movements."
Chi Shao took her long and short spears, along with her stone knife, and applied the juice of the Cage Vine onto their points and edges.
Jiang Xuan, Gou Teng, and others also applied the juice containing paralyzing toxins to their weapons.
Afterwards, the five continued forward, now even more cautious and vigilant after the earlier incident.