Chapter 35: The Thing That Will Make Them Wail

Breakfast was still roasted meat, along with a few berries brought by the cow horned girl.Su Bai only ate one palm-sized piece of roasted meat and a few Sand Blueberries before he could not eat anymore.

"Shaman, you need to eat more," Yan Hua said with her cheeks puffed out, her words muffled, "Eating more meat makes you stronger, the berries are just for a change of taste."

"En-hmm," Yu Ying nodded repeatedly in agreement. Her mouth was also stuffed full. However, the meat in her mouth was put there by the cow horned girl and Su Bai.

"You two eat, I’m already full," Su Bai shook his head, feeling a bit nostalgic for green vegetables.

The bland flavour of roasted meat became excessive when eaten too much, especially for him. He had come from Earth, with a taste for its culinary expertises. It was easy to go from frugal to luxurious, but hard to go from luxurious to frugal.

The beast eared girls ate with such joy because it was a taste deep seated from their memories, that roasted meat was the most delicious thing to them.

"Then, we’ll eat it all," Yan Hua asked tentatively. When she saw Su Bai nod, she immediately divided the two skewers of meat that were still roasting.

"I don’t want… mmph…" Yu Ying was about to refuse, but as soon as she opened her mouth, a skewer of meat was stuffed in, and she instinctively started chewing.

"Your mouth says no, but your body is quite honest, huh?" Su Bai looked at the fox eared girl with amusement.

*Mmph~~* Yu Ying lowered her head in embarrassment at being seen, chewing the meat even faster.

"How many people are left in the Tribe right now?" Su Bai asked softly.

Yan Hua, with her mouth full, mumbled, "Mmm… thirty-nine peeeople are stillll in the Tribe."

"Swallow your food before speaking," Su Bai’s mouth twitched.

*Gulp!* Yan Hua swallowed the meat in her mouth, wiped her oily mouth with her sleeve, and said, "The people left in the Tribe are mostly elderly, children, those with mobility issues, and the Warrior Trainees."

"So, that means only thirty-three people in the Tribe are the main workforce?" Su Bai asked, feeling helpless.

"We need to include us six Warrior Trainees," Yan Hua said, a bit dissatisfied that the Shaman had ignored her, and continued, "There are also some retired Totem Warriors who can still do some handicrafts."

"Let’s go take a look first," Su Bai decided to do a field inspection.

"Alright/" Yan Hua stood up and walked towards the Teepee door flap.

"Xiao Yu, bring the animal hide drawing from the stone table," Su Bai instructed.

"Okay." Yu Ying obediently ran to get the animal hide drawing.

As soon as Su Bai left the Teepee, he saw Mai Mang standing beside it, along with a young man.

"Shaman, do you have any instructions?" Mai Mang quickly asked.

"No rush, is this your Son?" Su Bai asked curiously.

"Yes, this is my Son, Mai Mao. He’s twenty-one this year, a Warrior Trainee." Mai Mang raised his hand and slapped his Son’s head, scolding, "Hurry up and pay respects to the Shaman!"

"Shaman, thank you for saving my Father," Mai Mao quickly bowed in respect.

He did not look like Mai Mang at all. He lacked his Father’s round, chubby face. Instead, he was very thin, like a bamboo pole.

"You’ve already thanked me. I like the animal hide very much." Su Bai waved his hand and said to the Father and Son, "You don’t need to guard this place, I’m not leaving the Tribe today."

"Yes," Mai Mang and Mai Mao responded in unison.

"Let’s go, first show me around the Tribe," Su Bai said to the cow horned girl.

The previous two times, he had not really observed the Tribe. He just glanced over the area hurriedly. This time, he needed to look carefully before planning how to transform the Tribe.

"Yes." Yan Hua led the way, explaining, "The Shaman and Totem Warriors live in the centre of the Tribe, the elderly and those with mobility issues live on the outskirts."

She glanced at Su Bai, as if afraid he might misunderstand something. She continued to explain, "The Totem Warriors live in the inner circle mainly so they can immediately reach the Shaman’s side in case of an emergency. The elderly volunteered to live on the outskirts, saying they did not want to be a burden on the Tribe."

"En," Su Bai’s black eyes flickered. [Class distinctions exist everywhere. The stronger live better and eat better, which is earned from their abilities. Being able to take care of the elderly was already quite good. At the very least, they weren’t abandoned. After all, this is a primitive society. It’s not a modern society with well-established systems, laws, and welfare. I do not have the ability to change it now. So, I can only keep it in mind for now. I will improve the lives of the elderly later. I will at least ensure they have food and clothing.]

The three of them started touring the Tribe.

"It’s really smelly, dirty and messy here…" Su Bai frowned. He scans the ground of the Tribe, seeing faeces and bones, with a sour stench in the air.

He realised the Tribe’s hygiene needed to be cleaned up to prevent the breeding of bacteria, especially the annoying ‘buzzing’ flies around this place. [It’s a different world, but we still have the same annoying goddam flies.]

"…" Yan Hua and Yu Ying both lowered their heads in embarrassment. Some of the bones thrown on the ground were discarded by them too.

Su Bai glanced at the two of them, scanned the surrounding Teepees, and asked, "How many children are there in the Tribe in total?"

He could sense that in some gaps of the Teepees. People were secretly watching his every move. And their gazes held no malice, mostly just curiosity.

"Seventeen children, all under fourteen years old," Yan Hua softly said.

"We have so many children?" Su Bai exclaimed in surprise.

A Tribe of seventy-two people actually had seventeen children, which was unexpected for him.

"When the Black Snake Tribe ambushed our Flame Dragon Tribe, the Old Shaman had people save the children and pregnant women first,"

Yan Hua’s face darkened, and she said through gritted teeth, "But only these children were saved."

"What he did was right. With children, the Tribe has a future," Su Bai said in a deep voice, feeling even more respect for the Old Shaman in his heart, believing the old man was leaving seeds for the Flame Dragon Tribe.

"Huh? Why aren’t those Egg Stealing Monkey-like mud children making a fuss today?" Yan Hua said in surprise, her beautiful eyes scanning the surroundings, not seeing the children who usually played pretend Totem Warriors.

Egg Stealing Monkeys were a kind of Mix Blood Ferocious Beast. They were very fond of sneaking into nests. They specialise in stealing the cubs and eggs of Ferocious Beasts. They were exceptionally clever, using stones to hit and distract the Ferocious Beasts guarding their eggs and cubs. Thus, those of the current era considered them a symbol of mischief.

"Don’t worry. They won’t have the chance to make a fuss in the future," Su Bai’s mouth curved upward as he softly said, "Next, take me to see the person who’s best at woodworking."

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"Why?" Yan Hua asked curiously as she led the way, "Shaman, are you going to discipline these children?"

"They just lack homework." Su Bai mentioned the thing that would make the children ‘wail’ in the future.

"Homework?" Yan Hua was a bit confused about what this thing was.

"You’ll know in the future. Know it really well." Su Bai smiled mysteriously. No one in the Tribe would be able to escape from it.

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