Chapter 403
The Secret of the Cloud Patterns
After being fed meat of wild fearsome beasts, the Thousand Grain Golds seem to despise regular wild animal meat . When they brought it regular animal meat, another two died . Qi Qi and the rest quickly tossed several pieces of fearsome beast meat on the ground when they saw this .
If it wasn’t for the fact that Shao Xuan was the Elder, he would probably have been beaten up by both Qi Qi and Quan Bai . They had the opinion that Shao Xuan did not care about the plant . In truth, he definitely did not place much importance on the plant . After that, he spent more time deciphering on the cloud patterns so he did not spend much time on the plants .
Shao Xuan had eaten the Thousand Grain Gold before and felt the benefits of it . However, he did not think it was anything special . There were at least three types of plants from the Taihe tribe that could achieve the same effect . Those plants were way easier to plant!
It was not worth it to keep supplying the plants with fearsome beast meat . The tribe’s main occupation wasn’t agriculture anyway, and they brought back plants and fruits of medicinal value from the forest after every hunt . Why spend so much effort on this one? Hunting fearsome beasts requires risking your life, just to feed a few plants? Not many people would be willing to do this .
Qi Qi, Quan Bai and the rest had not eaten the grain before . He wondered if they would still be this passionate if they tasted it after so much hard work .
One day, Shao Xuan walked out of the house while rubbing his tired eyes . He walked into the yard to check on the plants he hadn’t seen in a long time and suddenly stopped .
Perhaps due to competition for resources, even though several kinds of beast meat and fertilisers were used, several still died . There were thirty-four left now . They were as tall as his shoulders, not sure when they would be ready for harvesting .
Shao Xuan was shocked when he saw the plants . The leaves were wider and longer than he remembered . Every plant was way healthier and fatter than the plant the mice were fighting over .
He touched a needle-like leaf . It felt different .
Was it due to better environmental conditions? So it’s healthier?
If that’s true, would the grains have a stronger medicinal effect?
Shao Xuan checked on all the thirty plants . Every plant had larger leaves than he remembered . Qi Qi said they were still growing and would grow much taller . No one knew what would happen then .
If the outcome was worth the hard work, they would try planting more . However, if it wasn’t worth it, he would just distribute them to be eaten . Who knew how long these grains could last? He didn’t ask Ji Ju . Here, even the most experienced farmers didn’t know .
Shao Xuan tapped on a leaf, whispering, “We’ll see how well you do . ”
It had been half a year since last year’s winter when he started deciphering the cloud patterns . There was progress, at least he could feel the ‘door’ where Taihe’s ancestors couldn’t . This was because he built on their work . Opening this door would be difficult and he was stuck .
It was as if he desperately wanted to open this door but it was locked and he didn’t know how to open it . He could see the view behind the door!
After talking to Duo Kang and Guang Yi, he knew that the shamaness and the chief had sent a team to the coast where Shao Xuan arrived . Shao Xuan had brought them there once . A team stayed to watch the area and every now and then, the shamaness and the chief would send another team for exchange . They were there to observe any changes in the coast . Perhaps one day there would be a change .
Sponsored Content
After a stroll, he saw Qi Qi and Quan Bai in his yard checking on the plants . They came twice a day, and sometimes when the climate changed, they would come more often, sometimes even staying on the hill .
The relationship between Taihe and the Flaming Horn people improved a lot because of this plant . They even revealed several ‘secret techniques’ . If they wanted these plants to grow, they had to be honest here .
When Shao Xuan stepped into his backyard, Quan Bai was holding an animal skin scroll, talking to the Flaming Horn people .
“A long time ago our ancestors found Green Drought’s Spring here . ” Quan Bai spoke with glee and pride .
“Green Drought’s Spring” was a type of medicine . They grew in a very special environment- when they were young, they preferred dry soil . Wet soil would cause the seeds to rot and not germinate . After living in dry soil for a while, due to the rain in the mountains, the places with active springs would trigger the second phase of these plants . They would then grow flowers, bloom and bear fruit .
The seedling, flowers and fruits were all green, hence the name . It was a mild medicine used for inner and outer injuries . Both tribes often traded using this plant because the hunters brought some with them during hunts .
They said that most of the plants were found from the wild and it took them tens of generations to attain the best method of planting the plant . As for where they found the plants, that was a secret because the Green Drought’s Spring was one of their main sources of income .
They reveal part of the secret because of the Thousand GRain Gold but most of it was vague and they never went into detail .
Out of curiosity, Shao Xuan leaned in to read the scroll too .
Sponsored Content
There was a map . Or more specifically, a simplified map . Quan Bai had made a simplified copy of the map with vague details before bringing it here .
However, when Shao Xuan looked at the lines, his eyes flashed . It was… familiar .
After some thought, Shao Xuan’s pupils dilated .
“What are these curved lines at the top?!” he asked .
Quan Bai was explaining with much vigour and did not notice Shao Xuan behind him . He leapt in fright when he heard him . He dared speak with arrogance in front of others but not Shao Xuan . Thousand Grain Gold belonged to him, and he had helped them too .
After he heard Shao Xuan, he regained his composure with a smile . “These are rivers . The thicker lines are wider rivers, finer lines are smaller streams . This is a river that cuts into your hunting area . ”
Since it was a river in the Flaming Tribe’s territory, it was not drawn in detail . This map was drawn a thousand years ago when the Flaming Horn people were here . They did not draw much detail so they did not draw the branches that led into this river .
Shao Xuan knew of the river because it was the river connected to where they fished the glowing rocks . It should be filled now, although this river was not on the map .
Shao Xuan did not care about the smaller branches . He was focused on the thickest line and a few of the most important branches .
Sponsored Content
The main river was curved, only one portion was on the map . One side was the ocean, another was the centre of this piece of land . However, the curves were already of great help to Shao Xuan .
One of the questions he had while deciphering the cloud patterns had been solved .
Quan Bai thought Shao Xuan was going to ask about their secret and was thinking about how he was going to avoid them . However, Shao Xuan only asked about unimportant details and did not ask where his ancestors got the herbs so Quan Bai heaved a sigh of relief in the end .
After getting the information he needed, Shao Xuan patted his shoulder happily . “Thank you!” Then he rushed into his house .
Everyone was stunned . Quan Bai asked Qi Qi, “What’s the matter with your tribe’s Elder?”
“Who knows . ” Qi Qi did not know what he was thinking either . She would not ask, plus she wouldn’t tell them if she did know . While two tribes communicated, there was some information they could not tell the other party without the chief and shamaness’ permission . The Elder must be mulling over something important too .
Shao Xuan rushed into the house, closed his door and lifted the stack of leaves on his desk . This was the stack of cloud patterns he could not decipher, not even a bit . However, after he saw the lines on Quan Bai’s map, he realised they were not words, they were maps! A map of somewhere!
Shao Xuan had been staring at the Ding Cauldron for days due to the bottleneck . While he couldn’t draw the patterns from memory, he was familiar with the entire thing . Everything he saw outside could be related to the patterns . That was why he could relate the map and the cauldron .
He scattered the leaves and then arranged them in order according to the picture on the cauldron . Then, he tried to draw on his sand tray using a branch . He only drew the important lines and left out lines meant to mislead the reader .
The cloud patterns on the cauldron were words and a map!
Please download our sponsor's game to support us!