On the twenty-eighth of September, the Vine Tribe held an autumn festival, and among the tribal warriors, many One-Color Warriors broke through to Two-Color.
Since there was just a festival after the battle with the Mosquito Tribe, this festival wasn’t very large, but because of the recent harvest, the offerings were quite abundant.
After the festival, the time had already reached late autumn, the weather gradually became cold and chilly, and it wouldn’t be long before winter arrived.
In the courtyard beneath Stone Mountain, Jiang Xuan and Chi Shao were harvesting herbs.
Jiang Xuan dug a herb out of the soil, carefully shaking off the dirt; those roots were very useful.
"Sister, I plan to lead a Hunting Team to explore the forest behind Stone Mountain."
The Vine Tribe had already explored the south, north, and east, but behind Stone Mountain to the west, their understanding was limited.
One reason was that the western hills were rather barren, with few prey close to the Vine Tribe.
Another reason was due to the Vine Tribe’s lack of personnel; they couldn’t finish exploring the forests to the north and south, so naturally couldn’t attend to other areas.
Now the tribe’s food reserves were quite sufficient, and Jiang Xuan planned to explore the western forest before winter arrived.
If there were things over there that could threaten the Vine Tribe, they could be discovered early.
"Go ahead, I’ll watch over the tribe, but be sure to stay safe."
Jiang Xuan was now a Four-Color Warrior, with strong power, and had a Hunting Team following him. As long as they were careful, Chi Shao wasn’t very worried about safety.
The two of them dug up all the annual herbs, cleaned them, and dried them out.
As for the perennial herbs that could overwinter, they only harvested the fruits and leaves and would cut some roots when needed.
That afternoon, Jiang Xuan convened Hunting Team Two, instructing them to prepare for exploring the western forest.
The next day, at dawn, they set off.
In the clear autumn morning, the wind was strong, blowing cold on the body, and most of the grass on the ground was withered yellow.
Jiang Xuan looked up at Stone Mountain, seeing thirty-six giant dragonflies clinging to the Ancient Vine, not foraging as they did in the mornings.
Jiang Xuan felt a bit emotional; these giant dragonflies, though powerful in combat, were insects after all, with very short lives.
In their Water Scorpion form, they could live in water for several years, but after transforming into giant dragonflies, they could only live for half a year.
That’s the price they pay.
Although these giant dragonflies probably wouldn’t survive this winter, Jiang Xuan knew there were still many Water Scorpions in Feiyu River, and each year, a batch would transform into giant dragonflies.
For the Vine Tribe, this was fortunate, as every year there were giant dragonflies to help them in battle, as long as no major changes occur, this would continue.
It wasn’t long before they bypassed the tall Stone Mountain and arrived at the western forest.
Starting from Stone Mountain, the terrain to the west gradually became higher; perhaps due to the terrain changes, the farther west you went, the sparser the vegetation, and water resources weren’t as abundant as other places.
After walking for half a day, most of the trees in the forest were no longer evergreen, but rather temperate deciduous types, with red or yellow leaves falling with the wind.
This world’s environment is so strange, Jiang Xuan thought.
Is the Vine Tribe’s location right on a climate boundary?
Or is this area particularly special?
Jiang Xuan mulled over this for a long time without coming to a conclusion, so he stopped thinking about it.
By evening, they had set up a temporary shelter beside a mountain stream to spend the night.
"Chirp chirp chirp..."
Several large squirrels jumped between the trees, occasionally climbing high branches to find nuts, bringing them back to their burrows.
The flora and fauna in this world were relatively large, and squirrels were no exception; their fluffy fur made them look particularly large.
But the Vine Tribe’s warriors had no interest in these squirrels; compared to other prey, squirrels were too small, not much meat, and the meat was quite unappetizing.
Unless there was a severe shortage of food, no one would hunt these squirrels.
However, the squirrel burrows were a great place.
Some warriors would mark the locations of squirrel burrows and would dig them out if there was a lack of food during winter, obtaining many nuts like pine nuts.
Of course, once the nuts were taken, the squirrels would starve.
To prevent them from starving, tribe members would catch the squirrels when digging out the burrows and bring them back to cook and eat.
In the distance, the sound of an arrow piercing through the air rang out, followed by an animal’s dying cry.
Before long, Shi Qiu came back with a fat red muntjac.
The red muntjac looked like a deer, but smaller in size, with short and small horns, and a short tail.
An adult red muntjac weighed around one hundred and fifty pounds, while an adult Great Horned Deer typically weighed over five hundred pounds.
After walking for half a day, everyone was hungry, and this red muntjac was perfect to stave off hunger.
Shi Qiu cleaned and skinned the red muntjac by the mountain stream, saving the beast hide, while the meat and innards were eaten directly.
Some warriors started a fire by drilling wood, carving plenty of wooden sticks and distributing them for roasting meat.
Shi Qiu offered the heart of the red muntjac to Jiang Xuan.
Offering the heart of the prey to the tribe’s most respected person was a long-standing custom.