I Steal the Ancestors' Sacrifices to Nourish Myself-Chapter 40 - 11: Cultivating Medicinal Herbs, Raising Millet, and Breeding Wild Beasts

Chapter 40: Chapter 11: Cultivating Medicinal Herbs, Raising Millet, and Breeding Wild Beasts

The second day.

"Pack up and go, only by living can there be hope."

By the water’s edge, Huo Chang gently patted Shi Fu.

The several hundred people who managed to survive couldn’t have done it without Shi Fu’s contributions.

"Sigh..."

Gazing at the wetland for a long time, Shi Fu sighed deeply and turned towards the settlement.

The gnashing of teeth for revenge had long been numbed, leaving only pain. Even if he wanted revenge, he didn’t have the strength.

He didn’t even know where his enemies came from.

Regarding that mysterious fleet, Huo Chang wasn’t overly worried at the moment.

Sailing needed water, and clearly the flood provided the fleet with the advantage to sweep across the divisions.

Now that the mountain flood had ceased, the fleet must have already ’returned full.’"

...

Blazing Flame Division.

Ancestral Temple.

Since Huo Chang left, the clan elders had a habit of coming to the Ancestral Temple to discuss any matters. Everyone gathered around the bonfire.

"The clan leader went out for so long and hasn’t sent any news back. I wonder how he is doing."

Huo Yuo poked the crackling bonfire with a stick, a look of concern on his face.

Previously, the tribe’s range of activity was just a hundred miles, even hunting trips only took a day or two.

Now, in just a few months, clanspeople continuously traveled afar without sending a single message. How could they not be worried?

After a moment of contemplation, Huo Yun, beside him, took out a beast hide bag he carried.

From one bag, he extracted a handful of fresh medicinal herbs, distributing them to everyone.

"These are common herbs collected by the clan during outings. The flood lasted too long; only a few herbs grew on the mountains, and their growth isn’t good."

Huo Xian carefully inspected these common herbs used by the tribe and found that the seedlings were small and the branches and leaves were weak, very different from the same period in previous years.

Before Huo Xian could speak, Huo Yun took out two herbs, already rotten and leaking juice, from another bag.

These are herbs with a growth cycle long enough to be used medicinally.

One is Hemostatic Grass, mainly using its leaves.

The other is Rock Codonopsis, used for its roots.

Both had already rotted.

The long-lasting flood had now shown its impact on the herbs.

Not only these herbs, some of the resources previously retrieved from other divisions had grown mold due to moisture.

"This year, the witch medicine yield won’t be good; we need to use our reserves sparingly."

The Blazing Flame Tribe had continuously gathered witch medicine from nearby forests over the years.

The quantities collected depended on luck, sometimes more, sometimes less.

For a tribe relying on the mountains, it’s true they benefit from its offerings, but when the local mountains don’t provide enough, the best solution remains mastering cultivation techniques—grow what you need.

These are ordinary, commonly used medicinal herbs, with one or two years of medicinal age, so there’s no need to worry about the efficacy of homegrown herbs.

As for those treasures that take hundreds of years to mature, well, they’ll deal with it when they find them.

"Uncle of the Huo Shan Clan, it’s better if we cultivate these common witch medicines ourselves."

Shen Can put forward his idea, feeling the clanspeople just lack this concept, needing his guidance.

"I agree with Acan’s proposal."

Huo Xian nodded in agreement. Unlike before, now the tribe’s demand for medicinal herbs has greatly increased, merely relying on external collection might not suffice.

The tribe had cultivated herbs before but never at scale, mainly due to the substantial investment of manpower and resources needed.

The growing environment for herbs isn’t like humans; people can adapt, but each herb has its unique habits.

Some prefer shade, others sun, some need the nourishment of specific Wild Beasts’ excrement, and so on.

Previously, the focus was just on the basics of eating, leaving no energy to manage the herbs.

"Then we should start with the most common herbs to cultivate first," Huo Xian said, "I’ll take care of this matter."

Regarding the characteristics of herbs, Huo Xian felt that few in the tribe could surpass him.

Seeing the clan elders who had finished discussing about to leave, Shen Can quickly spoke up.

"Wait."

Talk of cultivating witch medicine was all well and good, but grain shouldn’t be overlooked either.

The tribe’s farming practices were better than slash-and-burn agriculture, but still limited to rough planting—digging holes and burying soil—with no research on pest control or the like.

"The yield of our staple crop isn’t high, also tied to our planting habits.

I noticed the wild grass in the fields grew better than the millet seedlings.

Some even developed small bugs. Such rough free-range methods won’t work; meticulous cultivation is needed."

Recalling the scene of the big clan aunt, using fingers as thick as small radishes to pinch bugs and inadvertently killing millet seedlings, Shen Can felt a bit helpless.

With hands as big as fans, doing fine work indeed has its struggles.

Everyone is used to such rough planting methods, having no concept of land compaction, stone pile accumulation, and the like.

Actually, Shen Can didn’t know much either, but at least he understood that bugs needed to be removed, preventing grass from competing with millet for sunlight, water, and nutrients.

As for cultivating better millet breeds, considering the tribe’s current conditions, it’s better left for the future.

For now, let’s focus on meticulous farming and pest control."

"Acan, you have ideas, and we need you to set up the framework. We are old and tend to operate according to past experiences, which sometimes slows us down."

Huo Yun spoke. There were many people in the tribe involved in farming, but everyone had long become accustomed to the traditional methods passed down through generations.

To make a change, a leader is needed.

Shen Can is the most suitable.

Several clan elders nodded, but only Huo Shan stared blankly at the steaming clay pot.

"Alright," Shen Can nodded in agreement.

"Uncle Huo Shan, pick twenty people from the hunting team for me, they need to be agile and fast runners."

"Also, gather all the clan members who have previously domesticated wild beasts for me."

"Now that the tribe’s range of activities has expanded, communication by shouting is no longer effective, let’s see if we can initially use people instead.

The hunting team should capture and domesticate some Mountain-Splitting Kui as means of transportation, and also capture some birds to see if they can be used to convey messages."

Regarding the domestication of Mountain-Splitting Kui, Shen Can was confident. The Upper Huang Division had ridden one over before, which means that if other tribes can successfully domesticate them, so can we.

Besides, he can use medicine.

No matter how ferocious the wild beast’s nature is, just increase the dose of medicine.

Wild beasts are not smart, but they know how to choose between pain and eating, right?

The key to domestication lies in being tamable, and those too stubborn to be tamed should just be killed for meat.

Today’s clan meeting was all about new issues that arose after the tribe’s reforms.

When faced with new issues, find a way to solve them. Reforms can only continue to uncover problems when they are put into practice.

The next day.

Huo Shan, carrying Mafei Powder, led a dozen clan members out of the tribe. Their mission was to find Mountain-Splitting Kui and Bird’s Nest.

Simultaneously in the tribe, in the northwest corner of the settlement, they were setting up a domestication area.

Clan members who had previously domesticated wild beasts in the tribe were busy setting up the domestication grounds.

Huo Xian was also busy, gathering clan members with medicine-gathering experience, having them narrate their experiences as if taking statements.

The plan was to combine the experiences of all the medicine gatherers, removing any verbose and useless parts, and compile a book on the growth environments and habits of commonly used herbs.

Then, relying on this book of experience, open up a herb cultivation area on the Clan Mountain, tailored to local conditions.

Outside the settlement fields, many figures were busy weeding.

Several days later, in the Ancestral Temple.

Shen Can was preparing witch medicine.

The witch medicine under the stone grinder was ground into powder effortlessly.

This was "pesticide," purely herbal extract, used specifically to kill insects.

Shen Can mixed the powder into water, then with a flick of his hand, a sparkling mist splashed up and was scattered.

"Not bad, witchcraft is indeed useful."

...

A month and a half later.

Between the eastern mountains of the tribe, a winding procession of people moved forward, carrying large bundles.

"Just ahead is the Clan Mountain, we’re almost there."

Huo Chang walked in front, pointing to the small solitary mountains in the distance, surrounded by a gently sloping clan mountain stretching several miles.

Da-da-da!

At that moment, chaotic noises arose from behind the small mountain blocking the way.

Before they could react, four Mountain-Splitting Kui appeared, emitting low roars.

"Clan Leader, you’ve returned."

Huo Shan was leading, riding on a Mountain-Splitting Kui, looking joyfully at the returning Huo Chang and his group.

As for Huo Chang and the resettlement survivors he brought back, they looked at the Mountain-Splitting Kui.

What kind of situation is this?

"Ashan, what is this?" Huo Bai rushed up from the back of the group, his eyes practically glued to the Mountain-Splitting Kui.

Huo Shan chuckled, "I don’t know either. The witch gave us witch medicine and big sticks, and shortly after capturing these Mountain-Splitting Kui, they became very obedient."

As he spoke, he patted the head of the Mountain-Splitting Kui he was riding.

The Mountain-Splitting Kui let out a low whimper.

Hearing it was done by the witch, the Blazing Flame Clan People had an expression of understanding and normalcy.

"If we knew, we would’ve asked the witch for one before we left, you’ve got a good deal."

The resettled survivors from various divisions were initially in a sullen state, but now there was a change of surprise and curiosity, as they scrutinized the robust Mountain-Splitting Kui.

"Let’s go, back to the tribe."

The group continued to move forward, bypassing the solitary mountain blocking the way, seeing the ridges of the mountains on both sides coming into view.

There were watchtower buildings atop the mountains.

The sloping areas and valleys between the mountains were all cleared for farmland.

Countless figures were bending down in toil.

Looking out into the distance, the farmlands extended all the way to the towering city walls far away.

The fields were lush with greenery, millet swaying with vigor.

Shi Fu slowly withdrew his gaze, looking at Huo Chang, "Clan Leader, didn’t you say the Blazing Flame was a small tribe?"

"Ah... ah, yes." Huo Chang also withdrew his gaze, responding subconsciously.