The Primitive Adventures of a Chipmunk 91

Chapter 91

He had agreed in a moment of passion. Hua Shi’an spent the night replaying the decision, feeling that it was a bit rash. But the next day, when he saw with his own eyes the mountain of food that the Tree Shrew Tribe had prepared for the Elephant Clan, and the stored grain that had been taken out from the depths of the tree hollows, he suddenly felt—

Bringing the Tree Shrew Tribe along was a wise decision.

The Tree Shrew Forest and the Black Bear Forest were very close, but the climate and plant distribution were very different. The tropical fruits that were common in the Black Bear Forest were relatively rare here. There were more subtropical fruits and adaptable wild vegetables.

Rose hips, red currants, wild kiwis, wild grapes, citrus, pomelos… a high mound of colorful and varied wild fruits. Hua Shi’an’s mouth watered. He wished he could sit beside it and eat his fill.

The wild fruits were just the tip of the iceberg. The green tender shoots and wild vegetables were the main force. Shepherd’s purse, purslane, gotu kola… at a glance, they were all common and unremarkable wild vegetables. But upon closer inspection, this green food mountain held a secret.

Fresh and emerald green peanut seedlings, corn cobs with beards, soybean vines with strings of small white flowers, purple-stemmed and green-leaved buckwheat, and—wheat with its compound spike inflorescence!

Hua Shi’an was stunned. He had the illusion of having strayed into a villager’s home. Every discovery was a surprise, all of them were the crops he had been searching for for a long time. The wound suddenly stopped hurting, and his whole person was energized. This trip was worth it, so worth it!

The surprises were not over yet. They were preparing to move. The little tree shrews had been rustling in their tree hollows since early in the morning. Suddenly, a light and fluffy thing was stuck to his face. Hua Shi’an lifted his hand to take it down and saw, my goodness, a ball of cotton.

The cotton balls for lining the tree hollows, the dried corn kernels, wheat, glutinous rice, green beans, hazelnuts, pistachios… their stored grain was not much, but the variety was very rich, dazzling Hua Shi’an and making him extremely excited.

His leaked emotions caught Fei’s attention. She walked to Hua Shi’an’s side unhurriedly, followed his gaze to the stored grain, and raised an eyebrow. “Is the Lord Priest interested in these dried fruits and grains? If you like them, take them. Pick some to take with you.”

“Pick?” Hua Shi’an caught the keyword and looked at Fei in confusion. “Can’t we take them all? Why do we have to pick?”

Fei: “There are too many things. Pick the delicious ones, the important ones to take.”

Hua Shi’an was stunned. He pointed to the grains on the ground and asked, “Are these not delicious? Are these not important?”

This question left Fei bewildered. She confirmed again and again that the pile on the ground was grains and dried fruits, a trace of confusion in her eyes. “The dried fruits are barely acceptable. The kernels have a fresh fragrance. The dried beans and wheat are very bland and hard. The only advantage is that they are filling. They are really not delicious.”

“You eat them raw? Have you not tried boiling them before eating?”

Fei sighed softly. “We used to boil them. Now, there are fewer and fewer people who can work. We leave early and come back late. Where do we have the time to make a fire and cook things? For us, fruits that can be eaten as soon as they are picked and are a little sweet are already the best and most convenient food. Unfortunately, the elephants have a large appetite, and the fruits and wild vegetables have to be given to them first. We can only eat some dried fruits and grains to fill our stomachs.”

In a primeval jungle fraught with danger and surrounded by beasts, a weak tribe was struggling to survive. What was the use of abundant resources? What was the use of knowing the plants? They lived from hand to mouth, and going hungry was a common occurrence. Where did they have the time to study how to cook food to make it delicious?

This question was a bit like “why don’t they eat meat?” Hua Shi’an smiled awkwardly and said to Fei, “These beans and grains are good things. They may not be as delicious as dried fruits when eaten raw, but when cooked with other food, they are delicious and filling.”

“Fully ripe fruits are not just food, but also seeds. The area around our tribe is not as rich in resources as yours. Although we can fill our stomachs by gathering and hunting, it is very hard. So we have learned to reclaim land and plant, and we need these seeds now.”

“Reclaim and plant?”

Hearing the novel words, Fei was both bewildered and curious. Just as she was about to ask Hua Shi’an about it, Mo Huaishan ran over with something in his hands.

“Shi’an, Shi’an, look what this is!”

The tall beastman stood beside Hua Shi’an, panting, and quickly held out his hands, presenting the treasure he had just discovered.

Reddish-black, and dried and shriveled, the long, thin strips were dried chili peppers.

The land was fertile, and the plants were rich and varied. There were even wheat and peanuts, so it was not strange to have chili peppers. Hua Shi’an was not surprised. He smiled and looked at Mo Huaishan, teasing him, “You don’t even eat spicy food. Why are you so excited to see chili peppers? Do you suddenly want to try them?”

“N-No.” Mo Huaishan grinned. “I just didn’t expect, I didn’t expect that they, the tree shrews, would also collect chili peppers. I don’t know if it’s because they were forced to eat chili peppers because they had no food. You like to eat them, Shi’an. We can trade some fruit for some chili peppers.”

So that was his idea. Hua Shi’an’s heart warmed, and the smile in his eyes deepened. “It’s not that they were forced to eat them. Tree shrews are different from us squirrels. They naturally like spicy flavors. They can even chew a chili pepper dry, without any other food.”

Not only that, but tree shrews also loved to eat ripe and fermented fruits. They liked the taste of alcohol, were fond of spicy food and alcohol, and were also known as the alcoholics of the animal kingdom.

“You… how do you know all this?” Fei raised an eyebrow in surprise.

Although it was not a big secret, without having lived with them for a long time, how could this person know their habits so well?

He had accidentally said too much again. Hua Shi’an waved his hand. “I heard, I heard it.”

Fei was not so easy to fool. She chased after Hua Shi’an and asked, “Who did you hear it from? Have you seen tree shrews before? Are you and—”

“Lord Priest!”

A loud shout interrupted Fei’s words. Yan Qiuyu had also found a treasure and ran over.

Yan Qiuyu looked particularly pleasing to the eye at this moment. Hua Shi’an quickly went to meet him. But when he saw what he was holding in his hand, the corner of Hua Shi’an’s mouth twitched, and the smile in his eyes completely froze.

The yellowish-green plant had a unique shape. It was cylindrical, thin at the top and thick at the bottom. The surface was smooth and round, and the inside was hollow. There was even a “lid” at the top, like a small green bottle.

This was a pitcher plant, a common plant in tropical regions, nothing strange. But the problem was, this was a pitcher plant that grew around the Tree Shrew Tribe, and the tree shrews would use it as—a toilet!

“Lord Priest, look. This plant looks so strange. Is it edible?” Yan Qiuyu chattered on and even brought the pitcher plant closer to Hua Shi’an. “We don’t seem to have this around our tribe. Should we take some back to plant?”

Hua Shi’an turned sideways to block Yan Qiuyu and said in a low voice, “Take it far away. Throw it away, quick!”

Yan Qiuyu was confused. “Why? You haven’t answered me yet.”

It was too late. The curious Fei had already walked up behind them.

Looking at the pitcher plant in Yan Qiuyu’s hand, this chief froze for a moment. She looked at Yan Qiuyu with a complicated expression and frowned in embarrassment. “Qiu, don’t just pick the pitcher plants around the tribe. These are for the tribe members, the tribe members…”

“So this is called a pitcher plant. What do you guys use it for?” Yan Qiuyu didn’t listen and even held the pitcher plant up in the air, looking at it through the sunlight. “It looks quite beautiful.”

“Ahem.” Fei coughed lightly into her fist and reminded him tactfully, “This is not clean. Don’t play with it in your hand. Hurry up and throw it away.”

Yan Qiuyu: “Why are you all telling me to throw it away? What is this for?”

He had come up and was playing with someone’s “toilet.” He had completely lost face.

Hua Shi’an was so embarrassed. He glared at Yan Qiuyu through gritted teeth and said, one word at a time, “You should have heard last night. They have more than thirty tribe members who can’t change into their human form. This thing in your hand is what they usually use for excretion.”

The air seemed to freeze. Yan Qiuyu’s ears were visibly red. He held the pitcher plant in a daze, his face turning green and purple. And after a few seconds, a wail echoed through the tribe.

“Ah ah ah ah ah—Lord Priest, why didn’t you say so earlier!”

Yan Qiuyu ran away with the pitcher plant. Hua Shi’an let out a long sigh of relief, but before he could relieve his embarrassment, Fei walked up to Hua Shi’an, her expression serious and solemn. “You actually know what a pitcher plant is used for. You’ve definitely seen tree shrews before, and even lived with them.”

Didn’t this topic already pass? Hua Shi’an didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He helplessly slapped his forehead. “Chief, we’ll be neighbors in the future. We can chat whenever we want. There’s a lot to do today, and everyone is busy. We can’t just stand here all the time, can we?”

It was just dawn, and the tribe members of both tribes were busy. The beastmen were cutting trees and polishing stones, making weapons for self-defense. The sub-beastmen were picking vines and weaving rattan baskets, weaving containers for carrying food.

Everyone was busy, and only a few of them were idle. Mo Huaishan looked around, his expression changing slightly. He quickly handed the chili peppers to Hua Shi’an and hurried away.

And looking at the busy tribe members, Fei’s lips curved up, and she nodded to Hua Shi’an. “You’re right. I’ll go and help first. You can take a look around. Lord Priest of the tribe, you don’t have to do these odd jobs yourself.”

Everyone was busy. How could he be idle? Hua Shi’an’s eyes drooped slightly, his peripheral vision sweeping over the dried chili peppers that Mo Huaishan had stuffed into his hands, and an immature idea suddenly popped into his head.

Mature or not, something is better than nothing. Hua Shi’an suddenly looked up and called out to the departing Fei, “Chief, do you have a lot of chili peppers? Only this dried kind? Do you have any fresh ones?”

“Yes, there are still some that haven’t been dried. Do you want them now?” Fei turned her head and gave him a meaningful look, as if to say: Are you really after our chili peppers?

Hua Shi’an asked again, “Are there any poisonous grasses or fruits around?”

“There are, but why are you asking about these things?”

Without much explanation, Hua Shi’an said, “Chief, bring all your chili peppers over. And help me arrange for a few people who are familiar with the environment to go and pick some poisonous grasses and fruits. And find two people to pick up some dry firewood nearby. Oh right, and help me tell Hong Yong to have them cut some trees and make some containers that can hold liquid, like bamboo tubes.”

“What on earth are you trying to do? The poisonous grasses and fruits around the tribe are very potent. If you eat them by mistake, it will be terrible.” Fei couldn’t move and stared at Hua Shi’an without blinking.

Hua Shi’an smiled slightly. “It’s good that they’re potent. I’m looking for ones with strong toxicity. A stone spear is not sharp enough. I’m afraid it won’t be enough against a black bear. But if we soak the stone spear in a strong and fast-acting poison, our chances of winning will be greater.”

“Of course, in a direct confrontation with a black bear, we can’t come out unscathed, whether we win or lose. We should avoid it as much as possible. Chili peppers, which have an irritating smell and can produce a burning sensation, can help us avoid a black bear’s attack. I’m planning to boil some chili water and splash it on the damn thing.”

The main component of bear spray is capsaicin. Chili water is also effective, but a spray bottle can’t be made for now. Hua Shi’an’s simple version of bear spray was called—bear-repellent chili water.