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Translator: Silavin
Su Bai was not confident about unknown plants in this primitive society. He needed to see everything with his own eyes to be reassured. After all, this concerned the Tribe’s water source.
He said to Yan Jiao, “Get me a Hollow Tree to check.”
“Alright,” Yan Jiao was about to dash towards the forest without hesitation.
“Chieftain, I’ll go,” Said another Totem Warrior who had been silent until now.
His name was Da Gua, and he quickly spoke up. “The strongest person should stay here to protect the Shaman.”
“Uh…” Yan Jiao realised only then that the Shaman was the most important.
*Tsk!* Yan Hua glanced at her embarrassed Father, unable to help but click her tongue. [He still can’t change his impulsive nature.]
Seeing his Daughter’s contemptuous look, Yan Jiao glared and shouted, “Don’t be lazy, quickly go help dig the hole.”
“Right…” The cow horned girl made a dissatisfied sound, but seeing her Father about to get angry, she quickly ran to dig the hole.
*Hmph!* Yan Jiao snorted coldly, then turned to see Su Bai’s amused expression. He also sheepishly ran to dig as well.
[What a straightforward Chieftain,] Su Bai commented in his heart.
He turned his gaze towards the small lake, paying special attention to the Stone Armoured Crocodiles on the shore. He was thinking about how to hunt one to eat. On Earth, many crocodiles were farmed and had already been served on dining tables.
“Crocodile skin is useful, not to mention these Stone Armoured Crocodiles. Their armour, if processed, could be made into natural armour…” Su Bai muttered to himself.
In short, he had his eye on the Stone Armoured Crocodiles in the small lake, and had even thought about how to cook them. [Braised, barbecued or fried…]
“What a pity, we can only look at them now but not eat them,” Su Bai sighed.
“Shaman, we’ve dug into water!” Hei Ya called out excitedly.
“Oh? So quick?” Su Bai turned in surprise, seeing Hei Ya covered in mud as if he had rolled in it.
Su Bai stepped to the edge of the depression, seeing that the three had dug a hole over two metres wide and one metre deep.
“Shaman, there’s already water here. If we dig deeper, there will definitely be more,” Hei Ya excitedly pointed to a corner of the mud pit where water was slowly seeping out.
“Keep digging a bit deeper. We need to line the sides of the pit with some stones. Later, we’ll need to cover the top of this water hole with branches,” Su Bai quickly instructed.
The water source needed to be hidden to prevent Ferocious Beasts from occupying it. They needed to prevent the polluting of the water source. After all, who knew where these Ferocious Beasts might relieve themselves?
“Understood!” The three responded excitedly.
“Shaman, you’re amazing. You can dig a hole anywhere and find water. We don’t need to go to the lake edge for water now,” Hei Ya said as he dug, feeling an involuntary admiration for the Shaman from the bottom of his heart.
“Yeah,” Yan Hua nodded heavily, her beautiful eyes secretly glancing at Su Bai. She suddenly felt grateful that she had been persuaded by the Shaman to bring him to the water source. Now, they have really solved the water problem.
Yan Jiao also understood at this moment why the Shaman did not want to fetch water from the cliff. Clearly, there was a better method of getting water here.
The three now felt genuinely convinced by Su Bai, as he had accomplished something they had never dared to imagine.
*Crack, crack…* The sound of tree branches scraping came from the forest, immediately making everyone tense.
“Shaman, step back.” Yan Jiao immediately appeared in front of Su Bai.
“What kind of Ferocious Beast could it be?” Hei Ya said in a low voice, his figure closely following on the left.
Yan Hua was about to move to the right when Su Bai pulled her behind the two men.
“…” A Humanoid figure emerged from the bushes, dragging two Hollow Logs, staring blankly at Yan Jiao, Hei Ya, and the others who had already taken up formation.
“Da Gua, why didn’t you make a sound?” Yan Jiao glared irritably.
“I…” Da Gua was at a loss for words.
If he had not seen the Shaman, he would have asked, ‘Don’t we always do it like this before?’
“What ‘I’? Quickly bring the Hollow Trees over,” Hei Ya called out awkwardly.
They had been so nervous about the Shaman’s safety that the two experienced Totem Warriors had momentarily failed to distinguish whether it was a Ferocious Beast. This had led to a huge misunderstanding.
“Oh. Right.” Da Gua was very perceptive, knowing that the two were embarrassed and angry. It was best to obey quietly, to avoid this being used as an excuse to throw him around once they returned back to camp.
He placed the two seven to eight metres long Hollow Logs in front of Su Bai, then retreated to the side.
“So this is a Hollow Tree? It’s quite unique,” Su Bai crouched down, examining the cross-section of the Hollow Log.
The two Hollow Logs before him were about as thick as a thigh, with brown bark. There was a hole in the middle of the log, about as thick as a thumb.
“Hollow Trees are great.” Su Bai said with a smile, very satisfied with the Hollow Trees. They were natural water pipes, and the ‘pipe walls’ were very thick.
Yan Hua’s red eyes sparkled with curiosity as she asked in a clear voice, “Shaman, what would the Hollow Trees be used for?”
“Hollow Trees will be used to transport water,” Su Bai said matter-of-factly.
“Huh? Transport water?” Yan Hua was stunned.
Yan Jiao, Hei Ya, and Da Gua were all confused, wondering why they could not keep up with the Shaman’s ideas.
It was the first time in their lives they had heard that Hollow Trees could be used to transport water. The Ancestors had never thought of this.
“Still don’t understand?” Su Bai tilted his head and asked.
“We don’t understand,” they all shook their heads in unison.
“When this hole we dig is full, won’t it overflow?”
Su Bai pointed at the half-dug water hole and slowly explained: “If we bury Hollow Log in the hole, won’t the water flow out from the middle of the Hollow Log? If we connect many Hollow Logs together, all the way to the Tribe, won’t we have water flowing into the Tribe?”
“Ahh…” They all drew in a sharp breath, completely amazed by this idea.
“That’s right, how come I never thought of this?” Hei Ya covered his head in disbelief.
Yan Jiao’s eyes widened as he exclaimed in sudden realisation, “Connecting all the Hollow Logs, this idea is brilliant!”
For people in a primitive society, this idea might seem simple, but no one would have thought of it or dared to think of such a thing. After all, for people who struggle daily just to fill their stomachs, they would never think of using Hollow Log to transport water. Everyone just fetched water from nearby lakes and rivers, carrying it in wooden buckets.
[Their thinking has been restricted due to their desperation to survive,] Su Bai shook his head, feeling that cultural and literacy education needed to be prepared.
It was just like how everyone knows there was oxygen in the air, but without being taught this, no one would know what gas Humans breathe to survive.
“Thinking of things others can’t imagine. Is this what it means to be a Shaman?” Yan Hua stared at Su Bai’s profile. Today’s events have shaken her 19-year-old unchanging view of life.
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