This Is My Primitive Tribe-Chapter 48 - 44 The Old Man Riding the Eagle

August 8th, the sense of autumn is growing deeper.

While the days remain very hot, the night’s wind has become quite refreshing, even carrying a hint of chill.

The fruits on the mountain and the crops of the Vine Tribe are all gradually maturing, making the scenes in the fields greatly pleasing.

The insects of Da Jiao, the Five-Colored Duck, the bamboo rats, and the fish in the pond are all being raised increasingly well, those Five-Colored Ducks can even be tied with a rope to one leg and taken outside for a stroll.

In the fields, Jiang Xuan carefully used the Bone Plow to dig into the soil, revealing the fist-sized red-skinned round potatoes underneath.

Jiang Xuan said with satisfaction, "They are growing well. In a little while, these crops can be harvested."

Standing by his side, Gan Song displayed a simple smile on his face.

Long hours of labor in the fields have gradually given him, once a hunting warrior, the spirit of an old farmer, with calluses all over his hands.

"Chief, can we have a good harvest?"

Ever since Jiang Xuan once described the scene of a full harvest with granaries filled, he has deeply remembered that word and has worked hard for it.

In reality, these fields have been cultivated for less than a year, and their fertility is limited. These plants are being grown for the first time, having faced pest disasters, the yield is definitely not high.

However, no one in the Vine Tribe has seen what a true harvest looks like. Jiang Xuan, looking at Gan Song’s eager face, didn’t want to dampen his spirit.

Thus, Jiang Xuan decided to tell a little lie.

"Of course we can have a harvest. You have grown these crops very well, much better than if they were wild, how could we not have a harvest?"

Gan Song’s smile grew wider as he looked at the crops scattered around, a sense of fulfillment arose within him.

This year, he had painstakingly cleared the land, planted seedlings, carefully nurtured them, fertilized and weeded, guarded against drought and flood, never daring to be careless.

Now, as the harvest approaches, the excitement and satisfaction in his heart are something others cannot understand.

"Let’s go see how those stone eggs are growing."

Jiang Xuan headed towards the area where the stone eggs were planted, with Gan Song following closely behind.

The stone eggs were planted beside the slope, according to Jiang Xuan’s idea, trying them in three batches.

The first batch of stone eggs was planted where there are large rocks, just like their wild growing environment.

The second batch was planted in soil with many scattered stones.

The third batch was planted in almost stone-free soil.

Jiang Xuan first went to the area next to those large rocks. He discovered that the stone eggs here were growing particularly well, with sturdy vines and large underground tubers.

Next, Jiang Xuan went to the soil where stones were relatively scattered. In this area, a thick branch was inserted beside each stone egg, to help the vines twine.

"These stone eggs are growing slightly less well, the vines are not as thick as those seen earlier, the fruits not as large."

Jiang Xuan reburied the soil he had dug up, with no change in expression.

"Let’s go look at another place."

Jiang Xuan had anticipated this situation long ago; his segmented trials were just his unwillingness to give up.

Jiang Xuan then went to the area with nearly no stones, where the stone eggs indeed grew very poorly. The vines were thin, the leaves yellowish, and the fruits small and few.

Beside him, Gan Song said reluctantly: "No matter how meticulously I care for the stone eggs in this plot, no matter how much I fertilize them, it’s useless, some seedlings even died outright."

Jiang Xuan said, "It’s alright, at least it proves that stone eggs only grow better beside large stones."

Although Jiang Xuan said this, Gan Song still felt quite guilty.

Jiang Xuan had no time to continue comforting Gan Song, squatting on the ground, he was lost in thought.

If the growth of stone eggs requires absorbing certain nutrients from stones, why was the growth in the rocky soil still unsatisfactory?

Jiang Xuan suddenly lifted a vine of the stone eggs, he noticed that each section of the vine had many aerial roots.

He found that the stone egg vines twined around large rocks had longer and thicker aerial roots compared to those in rocky soil.

While in the stone-free area, the aerial roots of the stone egg vines were thin and short, almost invisible without closer inspection.

Jiang Xuan speculated that the growth of stone eggs likely requires aerial roots on vines to absorb certain nutrients from stones for smooth growth.

Jiang Xuan shared his findings with Gan Song.

Gan Song pondered it carefully, slapped his thigh and said, "Right! Why didn’t I think of this? Chief, you’re truly wise!"

Then, Gan Song said reluctantly, "From now on, we can only plant stone eggs beside large stones."

Jiang Xuan said, "Actually, this is also a good thing."

"A good thing?" Gan Song was puzzling over Jiang Xuan’s words.

"Correct." Jiang Xuan pointed to the surrounding slope, "Here we’re never lacking stones; they would even become hindrances for growing other crops."

"But stone eggs happen to require these stones. Do you know what that means?"

Gan Song shook his head blankly, hindered by his limited experience, he felt a bit overwhelmed.

Jiang Xuan replied, "It means that all the stone-covered, thin-soiled slopes can become our crop fields, greatly expanding our farming lands."

"With expanded farmland, naturally the food yield increases, which is a great boon for our tribe."

"Exactly!"

Gan Song finally understood, and thinking of stone eggs spread throughout the hills, his mood was highly excited.

Meanwhile, amid his admiration for Jiang Xuan, he felt more devoted to this young leader.

After examining the stone eggs, Jiang Xuan went to check the growth of the round potatoes.

These globular fruits, red skinned tuber plants, appeared to be growing quite well in the Vine Tribe’s fields, and the yield this year should be decent.

Besides the stone eggs and round potatoes, other crops varied in growth, all within acceptable limits.

With these thirty-plus acres of crops, coupled with the farmed insects, fish, Five-Colored Ducks, and bamboo rats, the Vine Tribe should not worry about food shortages this winter.

Moreover, Jiang Xuan even considered adding more people to the tribe.

After all, the Vine Tribe’s manpower was indeed too limited, increasingly insufficient as the tribe developed.

After observing the crops, Jiang Xuan prepared to check the farmed areas.

At this moment, Gan Song suddenly pointed to the sky and shouted, "Chief, look, a large bird is flying towards us."

Jiang Xuan looked up, seeing in the northeast sky, a black bird swiftly approaching the Vine Tribe.

"Huh? There’s a person on that big bird’s back!"

Having become a warrior, Jiang Xuan’s vision was much stronger than ordinary people’s, he sharply noticed the large bird carrying a person.

As the big bird swiftly approached, Gan Song also saw clearly that it was indeed carrying a person.

"Chief, he’s coming straight towards us."

The black bird did indeed head for the Vine Tribe, moving swiftly.

Jiang Xuan sensed something was amiss, he shouted loudly, "Everyone, return to the bamboo house immediately!"

Upon hearing Jiang Xuan’s shout, the entire Vine Tribe of people, regardless of what they were doing, rushed towards the bamboo house, because there was a tunnel leading to beneath Stone Mountain.

However, the bird was too fast, the distant tribe members had no time to escape into the bamboo house, the bird was already above the Vine Tribe, then landed on the ground.

This was a bird with a wingspan of over twenty meters, unbelievably large, landing like a house-sized creature.

A giant eagle, a savage and fierce predator.

On the eagle’s back was an old man dressed in beast hide clothing, wearing a dazzling feathered crown, with Totem Patterns painted on his face.

The old man casually glanced at the small Vine Tribe, utterly indifferent to its fleeing people.

His gaze went to that massive Ancient Vine entwining Stone Mountain.

After a while, he exclaimed, "What a Spiritual Divine Vine!"

Jiang Xuan, hiding in the bamboo house, heard the old man’s words and immediately realized, the old man was likely here for the Ancient Vine.

This caused him a sense of tension.

After all, the Ancient Vine is the Vine Tribe’s Totem God, this mysterious old man wouldn’t want to do something to it, would he?