At night, the crowd sang and danced, and Xiao Mu and a few others who had gotten prizes were surrounded.
“What kind of bark is that?”
“Show me–”
“That pattern is so pretty! How did Sacrifice Yue get so many of them!”
“Can I live forever if I eat it?”
Unable to stand it, Xiao Mu shouted, ” Sacrifice Yue said this is called the Book of Heaven!”
“Book of Heaven?” Someone pondered carefully, “What’s a book?”
Xiao Mu: “I don’t know, but Sacrifice Yue said that he would teach us in the future……. By that time, the whole tribe will be able to write the Book of Heaven.”
The onlookers clamored, “Can we write it too? Then won’t we become gods too!”
For a while, all the tribes were discussing about the Heavenly Book.
Rong Yue heard the discussion and was surprised that everyone was so interested in words, after thinking about it, he asked Ah Chuan to prepare a few flat wooden boards, and pounded red flower juice, and wrote the “Song of Goodness” which was made by the Freckled man and Li Shui with a broad stroke of a pen.
Four wooden boards, written vertically downwards, it was somewhat like a couplet. To make it look good, he added the title as a separate crossword.
Freckled man: “This is our Song of Goodness!?”
“Right,” Rong Yue nodded with satisfaction, “I’ll teach you how to read these words first …… After I teach you, it’ll be your responsibility to teach all of them.”
“Oh yeah, you have another task tonight.” Freckled man nodded dizzily, Rong Yue said, “Think of some words of praise, the object of praise can be a person, can be heaven and earth, grass and trees, can be the mood or thoughts, in short, once you hear it, you should feel that life is very beautiful.”
The freckled man blinked, “I feel that way every day!”
“…… That’s even better, write what you really feel! Every morning from now on, you’re going to lead the entire drop in early reading.”
“Early …… what?”
“Early reading.” Rong Yue put down the branch stained with flower sap, waved his hand and called out to the Lao Mu, and said to the freckled man, “You have to think about it in the morning. Go back. Lao Mu, look at this …… Help me carve out the words, or the flower sap will soon dry out ……”
The sun had just risen the following day. Dew dripped on the tips of the grass blades.
The Xingyue Tribe, which had just experienced a carnival, was suddenly awakened by a sharp drumbeat!
Everyone ran out in a hurry, not knowing what was going on, only to see Bao Di standing in front of the clearing where yesterday’s meeting had taken place shouting, “Follow me!”
Going out along the gap in the fence, everyone lined up in a large clearing in the middle of the field and Xingyue Lake.
The fields were open and the sun was rising in the east, and even for the barbarians who were used to seeing it, the view was still soothing.
Notably, overnight, a wooden platform had been erected in front of the clearing, half a man high and about five by ten meters in length and width, enough for one or two dozen people to stand on it.
Lord Tian Yang and Sacrifice Yue had already stood on it.
The crowd couldn’t help but think: it’s so pretty ……
Yue Dong and Bao Di had everyone line up, look forward, then align left and right, an arm’s length apart in front and back, a square formation initially lined up.
Rong Yue was satisfied and said with a smile, “Starting today! Every morning, as long as it’s not raining, we’re going to practice in the morning!”
What was morning practice again!
They were just surprised by the commendation ceremony, but today there was another “surprise”, why did Sacrifice Yue have so many ideas?
But …… they were so happy!
Rong Yue: “First of all, let’s have our Minister of Education, Freckles, lead us in the morning reading.”
Freckles came up to the stage with his head held high.
“Ah!” He held out a hand in mid-sentence, “Look at the sunrise, radiant! Look at the sky, boundless and wide! Look at the stage, how beautiful Sacrifice Yue is, guiding us forward!”
Rong Yue: “……”
How come he was relieved to give him the task! Why didn’t he ask to see it when he woke up in the morning!
He was going to let all of them read along, but now he had to cut that out, so Rong Yue shooed Freckles down, let Bao Di come up, and jumped down.
The “morning exercise” was Tian Yang’s responsibility.
Rong Yue’s original proposal wasn’t to have any too complicated movements, they just had to move their muscles, but it was rejected by Tian Yang.
“If it’s just moving muscles, everyone here can.” He said.
Only then did Rong Yue realize that this was a barbaric place, there was no such thing as a clerical staff, everyone did almost all manual labor, it was just a difference in the amount of labor.
Tian Yang: “It’s better to teach combat skills, that way everyone benefits.”
So Rong Yue convincingly handed over the program to Tian Yang with full authority.
On the first day, Tian Yang didn’t make up anything too difficult and didn’t teach sword and spear techniques, only doing a set of moves with his bare hands. Punching, retreating, chopping, kicking, and slewing …… tigerishly!
For the people in the tribe who hadn’t hunted with him, this was the first time they had seen his athletic stance, and their hearts rose up in admiration.
After one demonstration, led by the eldest apprentice Bao Di, everyone learned to do, after only five movements, the time was almost over.
When the show dispersed, even the amahs in charge of cooking couldn’t stop their excitement, discussing together the feeling of being full of power.
“I feel energized!”
“Me too, and Lord Tian Yang is so handsome!”
“No wonder he can catch so many prey ……”
…………
On the first day of morning exercise, Tian Yang’s part was extremely effective, and Rong Yue was convinced.
If it wasn’t for the fact that there were a lot of words in Chairman X’s quotes that the barbarians couldn’t understand, he would have had to let Little Freckles read them.
For example, what “counting the trend of the people, still look at the present day”, “unique heroes drive away tigers and leopards, no heroes are afraid of bears and fighters”, “Ask who rules the ups and downs of the vast earth”. ……
It was cool, but they didn’t understand it!
Might as well recite the song as a whole group, add a little, list a little more, it would be just as memorizing laws and regulations ……
Just as he was thinking, Bai Tao said, “Sacrifice Yue?”
“Uh,” Rong Yue returned to his senses, “You can speak.”
Bai Tao was reporting the growth and maturity time of several crops to Rong Yue, it was time to prepare for the trip to the Snow Melting Valley.
The sugar brought back from the Salt Ministry had all been made into tomato sauce, a full two hundred jars.
In order to prolong the preservation time as much as possible, Rong Yue also killed the bacteria several times by extracting the life force with holy light, and the result was good.
The peanuts were just ripening and the sauce making was being tweaked to find the best tasting recipe, which would also make about a hundred jars if done right.
The twists could be harvested in several batches before winter sets in, but the potatoes were a bit more difficult.
Bai Tao: “For the Sprout, the amahs experimented many times before realizing that that potato didn’t grow from seed, but sprouted on top of the potato. A potato can produce a good number of sprouts and grow quite fast …… but whether it can be harvested before winter comes, we don’t know anymore.”
Rong Yue followed and looked at the field where the potatoes were buried.
A lush field of seedlings.
He replenished the vitality of the seedlings and felt that they were all growing quite well.
“It’s okay, let’s grow like this for now. The oil isn’t good yet either, so the fries won’t be done for a while. Although I’ve heard that oil can be extracted from peanuts, we don’t have enough peanuts.”
In this way, the main supplies that could be brought to Snow Melting Valley were the two kinds of sauces and the divine herbs.
“That said, why is it called Snow Melting Valley?” Rong Yue asked, as he made his rounds delivering life force to the crops.
Bai Tao said, “The terrain over there is special, surrounded by mountains on all sides, with an argosy valley in the center, the place isn’t that big. Every winter, the valley is filled with snow, which will all melt and become a lake in the spring, and then the water keeps evaporating and drying up, and it won’t revert back to dry land until a month or so before winter arrives.”
“Because the place is suitable and surrounded by so many tribes of all sizes, all the nearby tribes go to trade for supplies at this time of year.”
“The farthest tribe, how long does it take to get there?”
Bai Tao shook his head, “I don’t know, but the salt department goes there every year, and because of the deviation in direction, it’s estimated to take more than twenty days.”
That would be the range of about a month’s journey.
Rong Yue suddenly remembered, “Is there a trading point that takes half a year to reach?”
“Half a year?” Bai Tao was surprised, “It’s too far away …… but it’s not unheard of, right? I’ve heard that further north, there are bigger trading points, and big tribes that are strong enough will send people to trade for even rarer and more precious things, not caring about spending a year and a half. When I was a kid, my ama told me that there is a sea at the end of the land, and that the sea is shining …… haha, I don’t know if it’s true or not.”
Rong Yue said, “One day I will take you to see it, it won’t be too far.”
Bai Tao smiled and said sincerely, “We believe in Sacrifice Yue.”
“Sacrifice Yue!” Li Shui rushed into the small wooden building, “You must take me this time!”
Rong Yue was sitting in front of the round table, adapting his Chairman X quotes to the bark of a tree, and was startled by Li Shui who suddenly rushed in.
Only to see the round-faced young girl with red eyes and a loosely tied ponytail, as if she had been torn from someone, with a sobbing voice, she said, “I don’t care! I must follow! I’ll go wherever Yue Dong goes!”
Rong Yue awkwardly pulled a chair for her.
“Don’t be anxious, you first …… sit down.”
The matter of going to the Melting Snow Valley to exchange supplies was known to the entire tribe, and this trip was safe, so there was no need to worry.
But how many people would go, whether to go with a high profile or a low profile, Rong Yue and the others hadn’t decided yet.
Whether Yue Dong would go or not hadn’t been decided yet either!
Did she hear something?
“Oooh oooh ……” Li Shui began to cry as soon as she sat down: “Yue Dong that dead son of a bi.tch, every time there is something, he moves faster than anyone else, but he never takes me! First, he said he had to go to the Xingye forest, he didn’t even discuss with me, he directly ran out and was gone the whole rainy season ah! I don’t even know where he went! The other time, if I didn’t hide and follow him, even if he found you guys I think he wouldn’t have gone back to look for me …… You guys also went out several times, every time there is Yue Dong, every time there is no me!”
She felt even more aggrieved as she spoke: “He never had me in his heart! I’m just a s.lave who does his laundry!”
Rong Yue silently pushed the adapted version of Chairman X’s quotes in his hand to the side, so her tears would drop on it.
Li Shui: “Last time I looked for Tian Yang, and Tian Yang didn’t help me! This time I’m looking for you, Yue Yue, if you don’t help me again, I’ll, I’ll …… I’ll stop living with Yue Dong!”
“Calm down!” Rong Yue pacified her, “Don’t be anxious, I didn’t say I won’t help you …… This way, I’ll first verbally guarantee that if Yue Dong goes this time, you’ll go too. If Yue Dong doesn’t go, you won’t go either, is that okay?”
Li Shui looked at Rong Yue with red eyes, “Yes ……”
Rong Yue was a bit amused, “Do you still like him? I heard that you guys always fight?”
“That’s because he doesn’t take me seriously ……” Li Shui lost her voice: “What’s the point of me liking him, everyone else is happy when they get a wife, but only Yue Dong, he never sends me a gift, he doesn’t think of me when things go wrong, he goes out and runs for a day, he doesn’t talk to me before going to bed. I don’t think he likes me at all.”
Rong Yue heard this and became more serious: “Really?”
Li Shui nodded sadly, “I sometimes think, if I hadn’t agreed to him tying the deed in the first place, it would have been better, maybe I’d have found a man who treated me right, it wouldn’t matter even if I was poorer ……”
Rong Yue pondered for a while and patted her shoulder, “Don’t think too much first, I’ll go back to find him and discuss, surely I won’t let you suffer.”
Li Shui was silent for a moment and then said, “There’s something else, Yue …… I want to apologize to Tian Yang.”
“Hmm?”
“Before you guys went to Xingye forest, I approached him alone and threatened to reveal his secret if he didn’t bring me …… Of course he still didn’t bring me. But I thought about it and felt that I must have poked his scars, and I haven’t slept well for the past two months, so can you …… say something for me?” Li Shui’s voice was getting lower and lower, and she was about to cry again at the end of her words.
Rong Yue didn’t ask for an explanation: “Okay, but you’d better apologize to him directly.”
Li Shui was terrified, “Will he beat me up ……”
“…… He won’t.” Rong Yue laughed, “It’s fine.”
Secret.
Rong Yue narrowed his eyes. Holding the bark in his hand, he pondered for a while. He had long stood at the edge of Tian Yang’s little secret, almost stepping in several times but missing it.
Although he wasn’t in a hurry, the fact that even Li Shui knew …… he was suddenly a little upset.