This Is My Primitive Tribe-Chapter 87 - 80: Red Crystal Rice

"Chirp chirp chirp..."

Near the pond of the Vine Tribe, a thumb-sized bug flew while chirping joyfully.

But when it reached above a red flower, ready to sip the nectar, suddenly two leaf blades resembling palms underneath the flower clapped upwards.

"Snap..."

The bug was slapped to death and fell onto the soil beneath the flower.

Roots from the soil quickly extended upwards, wrapping around the bug, and soon, the nutrients inside the bug would be absorbed by the plant, leaving an empty shell.

This plant was the Clapping Flowers, one of the insect-eating plants planted by the Vine Tribe last year.

Similar plants include Water Arrow Grass, Bamboo Tube Grass, etc., planted in the fields of the Vine Tribe to eliminate bugs specifically.

Jiang Xuan and Gan Song walked along the field ridge, both witnessing the Clapping Flowers eliminate the bugs.

Jiang Xuan smiled and said, "Last winter when it snowed, these plants were frozen to death by the snow. I thought our efforts went to waste, but unexpectedly, they grew back this year."

Gan Song replied, "Yeah, and they’re growing even more than last year. With these plants, we shouldn’t have to worry about bugs eating the crops this year."

Both of them were quite satisfied with these insect-eating plants, which continuously eliminate various pests, protecting the crops in the fields.

Jiang Xuan walked to a fertile piece of land, then untied a small beast hide bag from his waist, taking out a few seeds from it that resembled red dates, but were smoother and redder.

"I traded these seeds for two pairs of wild boar teeth from the expedition team of the Black Teeth Tribe. The tribe of origin calls them Ruby, but I think Red Crystal Rice is a more fitting name."

After Jiang Xuan traded back the "Ruby" seeds, he tried cooking one and found that it was very similar to cereal crops. After peeling off the skin, there was a grain-like aroma.

He tried eating a bit and thought the taste was akin to rice but more fragrant and glutinous than ordinary rice.

Because of this, Jiang Xuan named it "Red Crystal Rice."

Jiang Xuan continued, "Red Crystal Rice is precious. Two pairs of wild boar tusks only traded for a small beast hide bag of it. To be safe, I plan to plant it in different soils and lighting conditions."

"By the autumn harvest, we’ll see which environment grows Red Crystal Rice best, and in the future, we’ll plant it there."

Gan Song’s eyes glowed as he looked at the seeds of Red Crystal Rice in Jiang Xuan’s hand, saying, "Chief, does this thing yield high?"

Jiang Xuan said, "I don’t know either. The people from the Black Teeth Tribe don’t know much about this plant. We need to verify it ourselves."

"If it is as I imagine, a grain-bearing plant, and easy to cultivate, then its yield might be very high, comparable to Round Potatoes."

Round Potatoes are currently the highest-yielding grain product of the Vine Tribe.

Although Stone Eggs are much larger than Round Potatoes, Stone Eggs require a specific growing environment and are not as easy to plant as Round Potatoes, thus their total yield is naturally lower.

As for other grain crops, their yield is even lower.

Upon hearing that its yield might rival Round Potatoes, Gan Song’s eyes sparkled, eagerly wanting to kiss a Red Crystal Rice seed.

"Chief, let’s plant them now, I can’t wait any longer."

Jiang Xuan nodded, then planted six Red Crystal Rice seeds in the first fertile piece of land, marking it with a wooden stick.

Afterward, he and Gan Song went to various cultivated lands of the Vine Tribe, evenly planting half of the Red Crystal Rice seeds.

The other half of the Red Crystal Rice seeds, Jiang Xuan planned to keep for now, in case something went wrong with the planted ones, there would be a chance to remedy next year.

In such a harsh environment, Jiang Xuan had to be cautious and prepare multiple contingencies.

After planting the Red Crystal Rice, Jiang Xuan returned to the bamboo house area, arranging for the warriors of the tribe to handle the beast bones, beast teeth, and beast hides left by the Old Witch.

The beast teeth and beast bones of those fierce beasts were treasures, Jiang Xuan collected them by category and stored them properly.

Whether for making tools and weapons or for trading with other tribes later, they held high value.

As for the beast hides, they were a bit inferior. Many were torn by the giant eagle, exposed for too long, becoming stiff.

However, since the prey caught by the giant eagle were of large sizes, there were also many complete portions of these beast hides.

Jiang Xuan instructed to bring back these beast hides, clean off the remaining meat, dig a pit, and put the beast hides in it, soaking them for a few days with plant ash to soften them.

Then, they tried to cut the beast hides into suitable sizes, and once dried, they could be made into clothing.

This work took him five to six days.

On March 1st, the weather became increasingly hot.

"Boom boom boom..."

Inside the bamboo house under Stone Mountain, Chi Shao was diligently pounding medicine. She held a medicine pestle and placed dried herbs into a pit on a large stone, constantly pounding them.

This large stone was something she found with difficulty. It had a fairly deep pit in the middle, equivalent to a natural stone mortar.

She had some warriors help move this stone back to the yard outside the bamboo house. After smoothing the pit further, it had been used for pounding medicine ever since.

Since the population of the Vine Tribe increased, she needed to create more medicine powders. The Hunting Team needed to take medicine when going out, and the people in the tribe also required medicine when they fell ill.

After studying witch doctor techniques, Chi Shao became busier, spending half of her day dealing with various herbs.

"Sis, I’ve brought meat for you!"

Jiang Xuan carried a beast leg over; it was the hind leg of a Big Horned Sheep, with lots of meat.

Chi Shao raised her head, sweat dampened her temple hair. She smiled at Jiang Xuan, saying, "Hang it by the fire pit first."

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Jiang Xuan entered the bamboo house, tied the hind leg of the Big Horned Sheep with rope, applied salt, and hung it above the fire pit.

The flames in the fire pit burned day and night, preventing the meat from spoiling. When one wanted to eat, they could just cut a piece off and wash it clean.

After hanging the beast leg, Jiang Xuan went to the yard, seeing Chi Shao pounding medicine with great effort. He went over, rolled up his sleeves, and said, "I’ll do it."

"Okay."

Chi Shao and Jiang Xuan didn’t stand on ceremony, so she straight away handed the medicine pestle to him.

Jiang Xuan took the medicine pestle, pounding medicine while chatting with Chi Shao. After a long time, even though he was a two-colored warrior with great strength, he also felt that repeating a motion was indeed tiring and monotonous.

If only there was a medicine pounding machine.

After this thought appeared, Jiang Xuan mulled over it for a long time. When he saw the water flowing through bamboo tubes, a light bulb went off in his mind, and he had an idea.

Why not make a hydraulic medicine grinding device?

With one clear idea, came countless others. Jiang Xuan quickly began to plan how to use water power to create a medicine grinding device, replacing manual labor and freeing Chi Shao from this tedious repetitive work.