Chapter 24
Corn has a huge advantage—its high yield.
Bai Tu had always worried about food shortages. Even though the tribe’s situation had improved significantly compared to before, in his eyes, it was still not secure enough.
That was one of the main reasons he came to the market this time: to see if he could find any grain. However, he also understood that finding suitable seeds was a matter of luck and not something he could count on. What he hadn’t expected was to stumble upon corn, brought by Bao Duo.
As Bai Tu thought about the yield and short growing period of corn, he couldn’t help but feel overjoyed.
Bao Duo, on the other hand, was feeling incredibly anxious. Seeing that none of them were speaking, he assumed Bai Tu was dissatisfied with the gift. Gritting his teeth, he added, “I’ll throw in a basket of meat, and I’ll bring more at the next market—”
Bai Tu raised his hand, cutting him off. “I don’t need the meat. This is enough.”
Corn didn’t need to be planted densely. A single basket could cover dozens of acres of land, and with new seeds available next year, this was more than enough as a token of appreciation.
Hearing this, Bao Duo let out a sigh of relief. It wasn’t that he was unwilling to give more, but their tribe had already brought much less food than usual this time.
The portion belonging to the Leopard Tribe itself was less than half, barely enough for the salt they needed. Giving too much would lead to disputes with the other tribes they shared food with.
Still, Bao Duo was genuinely grateful to Bai Tu. Even though Bai Tu had said it was enough, Bao Duo silently resolved to bring more resources as thanks before the next market.
Since the Leopard Tribe hadn’t yet exchanged salt, Bao Duo quickly left with his people after handing over the corn.
The price of salt would go up tomorrow. He had handed off the salt exchange task to someone from another tribe earlier, but now he needed to rush back and take over. After nearly being scammed once, Bao Duo was even more cautious now.
“Tu, does this stuff taste good?” Lang Ze had somehow shifted back into human form and was now staring at the basket of corn with a face full of expectation. If Bai Tu was this happy about it, it must taste amazing, right?
“It tastes good, but you can’t eat it now,” Bai Tu said, placing the basket next to the salt to signify its importance. “This is for planting. We’ll plant it when we get back to the tribe, and by the snow season, we’ll have a harvest.”
The Beast God Continent’s summer was abundant with rainfall. Bai Tu planned to plant a portion of the corn immediately upon returning to the tribe and another portion closer to the end of the rainy season to see which batch grew better.
Most beastmen didn’t have the habit of farming.
The fruits they ate were generally gathered from the wild, but wild plants were limited in number.
The wolves, living not far from the rabbit tribe, had naturally adopted the same habits.
Bai Tu explained to Lang Ze and Lang Qi, “This is called corn. When it’s almost ripe, you can boil it—it tastes slightly sweet. Once it’s fully ripe, you can dry it and remove the kernels, and it can be stored for years.
“When we get back, we’ll clear out a patch of land—just pull up the weeds and dig holes in the soil like this.” Bai Tu gestured with his hands. “Put the seeds in the holes, water them, and water them a few more times over the next few months. In a few months, it’ll be ready to harvest. Each corn stalk will produce a cob about this long, covered in kernels like these.”
Bai Tu gestured to show the length of the corn cobs he’d seen in his past life. The kernels on Bao Duo’s corn were even larger than what he remembered, so the cobs themselves would likely be bigger as well, meaning the yield would be high.
Lang Qi listened carefully to Bai Tu’s description, already picturing how much food they could harvest if they planted the corn. It might even exceed the amount they could bring in through hunting.
He now understood why Bai Tu was so happy—finding food was always a cause for celebration, no matter the tribe.
“These kernels won’t all be planted in one season,” Bai Tu calculated, then turned to Lang Qi and said, “There should be a lot of idle people in your tribe, right? They could clear out some land and plant more corn.”
The wolf tribe’s population was several times that of the rabbit tribe. Bai Tu thought it would be a good idea to give them some corn.
After all, the rabbit tribe had fewer than a hundred members, and even if everyone participated in farming, they wouldn’t be able to plant much. Not to mention, they also needed hunters to bring in meat and had children to care for.
Lang Qi froze for a moment. “Us?”
“Do you not want to plant?” Bai Tu paused, then added, “That’s fine too. As long as your food supply is sufficient.” Beastmen generally preferred meat, and with the wolf tribe’s hunting capabilities, they might not feel the need to farm at all.
“It’s not that we don’t want to…” Lang Ze glanced nervously between his older brother and Bai Tu.
Lang Qi spoke again. “This was given to you by Bao Duo.”
Since Bao Duo had specifically gifted the corn to Bai Tu, the wolves assumed it was Bai Tu’s personal possession. To them, food that belonged to someone was naturally meant to be eaten or used by its owner—not distributed to others.
As for the wolf tribe, it wasn’t a matter of whether they wanted to plant crops but whether they had seeds to begin with.
Life for the wolves wasn’t as ideal as it might seem. No matter how skilled they were at hunting, the availability of prey was seasonal. If there were no prey in their territory, even the best hunters would go hungry.
The wolves’ exceptional hunting abilities also came with a high demand for food. Their large population meant even more mouths to feed daily.
Even for a fierce tribe like the wolves, winters were harsh, and hunger was inevitable.
While they didn’t face the same extreme starvation as the rabbit tribe, they still struggled during that season. So when Lang Qi heard about corn’s high yield, he had already been planning to negotiate with Bao Duo for seeds in the future. He hadn’t expected Bai Tu to suggest they start planting right now.
“Oh,” Bai Tu suddenly understood their hesitation. “We can’t possibly plant all these seeds with just our tribe. It only makes sense to split them. Besides, you’ve helped us a lot on this trip—it wasn’t just me who contributed.”
Bao Duo’s gift was indeed a token of gratitude for Bai Tu, but without the four of them present during the incident, Bai Tu wouldn’t have dared to casually step in and give a warning. So, in his eyes, this was a collective reward, not something he could keep all for himself. That was also why he had explained the planting method earlier.
Bai Tu turned to Lang Qi and Lang Ze. “You both remember what I explained about planting earlier, right?”
Lang Qi thought for a moment, then summarized: “Dig holes, drop seeds, water, harvest.”
“Exactly!” Bai Tu nodded enthusiastically. “Most plants are grown this way. If you come across any fruits or edible plants you want to grow, give it a try. Just remember to water them. Most plants need water to sprout, and watering increases the germination rate.”
If they wanted strong seedlings, they could also pre-sprout the seeds, but that method was too time-consuming. Pre-sprouting, sowing, and then transplanting were only suitable for smaller quantities of plants. With so much corn, it was better to keep it simple and plant directly into the soil.
Lang Qi nodded, making a mental note of his words.
Seeing that Lang Qi had absorbed the information, Bai Tu felt very satisfied. Although there wasn’t much he could do now, he was more than willing to help others within his capabilities.
It was getting late, and with the corn in hand, Bai Tu decided to postpone further shopping for seeds until tomorrow. It wasn’t practical to plant too many crops at once—there were limits to both manpower and tools. For now, their goal was simple: have enough food for this year to get through winter. That would already be an improvement.
Bai Tu poured out the corn kernels and instructed everyone to sort them, separating the broken ones. The beastmen, who had finished eating watermelon and were idle, eagerly took up bowls to help with the sorting.
Since the corn had been somewhat immature when threshed, nearly a fifth of the kernels were incomplete. In total, they separated out about 5 kilos of broken kernels. These couldn’t be planted, but they were still edible. Bai Tu retrieved the stone mortar they had used during the journey and asked everyone to grind the broken kernels into cornmeal.
That night, for the first time ever, the group got to enjoy steaming bowls of corn porridge. Slowly simmered over high heat, the porridge filled the air with a rich corn aroma. It was a completely new texture and flavor, unlike anything they had eaten before. Drinking even one bowl left everyone feeling content and refreshed. The only downside was that it was a bit too hot to handle.
“This would be even better in the winter,” Lang Ze said, rubbing his slightly stuffed belly. Recalling the flavor of the corn porridge, he was thoroughly satisfied. The thought of being able to drink it anytime in the future filled him with excitement. “Tu, you should just join our tribe!” he exclaimed.
There was a sudden silence.
Whether they were from the wolf tribe or the rabbit tribe, everyone turned to Bai Tu, waiting for his response.
The wolf tribe’s feelings were simple—they wholeheartedly supported Lang Ze’s suggestion. Although their tribe had never been fond of healers, Bai Tu was clearly different from those unpleasant individuals. If he were to join their tribe, the entire pack would welcome him without hesitation.
The rabbit tribe, on the other hand, was worried. The Snow Rabbit Tribe was much smaller than the Blood Wolf Tribe. If given a choice, a healer would likely choose the larger tribe. The wolves’ current attitude toward Bai Tu was quite welcoming, and they seemed open to him joining. No matter how one looked at it, the wolf tribe appeared to be the better option.
“I don’t have to join your tribe for me to share food with you,” Bai Tu said with a warm smile. “You’re welcome to visit the Snow Rabbit Tribe anytime. I’ll make you something delicious.”
He had no intention of switching tribes. After living in the Snow Rabbit Tribe for so many days, Bai Tu had grown close to its members and enjoyed their company.
His relationship with the wolf tribe was purely one of travel companions; he only knew a handful of them. Abandoning his own tribe to join another was unthinkable.
He did admit to having been tempted by the thought of playing with wolf cubs before. But it was only a passing thought.
If the wolf tribe had abandoned cubs, he’d be willing to take them in. If not, he wouldn’t force the matter. In short, he’d leave it up to fate and certainly wouldn’t switch tribes just to hold fluffy little wolf pups.
This was a clear rejection of the idea of joining the Blood Wolf Tribe. Bai An, along with the other members of the rabbit tribe, sighed in relief. While they had no authority to interfere in the healer’s decisions, they couldn’t help but hope he would stay with their tribe.
Lang Qi slowly withdrew his gaze, his eyes briefly landing on Lang Ze. For once, his younger brother seemed a little less irritating today—perhaps he’d just gotten used to him.
Even though many beastmen could see well at night, the market didn’t operate after dark. By the time they’d finished dinner, the beastmen at the market had dispersed. To ensure the safety of their goods, tribes made sure to keep some distance between their camps. Occasionally, the faint sounds of neighboring tribes could be heard.
Shortly after dinner, Bao Duo arrived with the remaining three back-baskets of lime, and he also took the opportunity to explain the full story of what had happened at noon. “In total, there were four baskets of this white powder. Those guys weren’t even from the Yellow Monkey Tribe—they were from the Brown Monkey Tribe. When they visited the Yellow Monkey Tribe, they saw this stuff and thought it looked like salt, so they decided to use it to scam food for their trip back.”
The Yellow Monkey Tribe was located on the other side of the market.
Most of its beastmen were friendly and had a good reputation, which was completely different from the Brown Monkey Tribe. That’s why those scammers had pretended to be from the Yellow Monkey Tribe, a distant relative of theirs, to deceive others.
If they had claimed to be from the Brown Monkey Tribe, almost no one would’ve trusted them. But by invoking the name of the Yellow Monkey Tribe, they managed to fool a crowd.
Those scammers had deliberately set a very low exchange rate at first to attract large clients like Bao Duo.
Large clients with plenty of food typically went directly to the big salt-exchange tribes near the coast. For smaller vendors like them, offering an attractive deal was the only way to lure in customers.
Initially, everything went according to their plan—until they ran into Bai Tu. The middle-aged beastman scammer couldn’t wrap his head around why Bao Duo suddenly insisted on pouring out the salt, even though they’d initially agreed not to switch baskets!
As Bao Duo recounted the story, guilt was written all over his face. “I got injured chasing them. One of our people even hurt their arm from a bad fall.”
Upon hearing someone was injured, Bai Tu immediately asked, “Is it serious? I have some medicine you can take back for them to apply.”
Hearing this, all the wolves present looked at Lang Qi.
Really enjoying this one! Thank you for the update!