Chapter 81.1
Face-Slapping the genius from another world (7.1)
Editor: chestnutwhale
Carefully re-examining the footprints, Zhou Xu still felt it was strange. And so, he hurriedly led the warriors forward, because he feared that the other things he wanted would also be taken away by the child.
The people from this world didn’t know what garlic was, and this was why Zhou Xu harbored suspicions in his heart : it was possible that this child had also transmigrated. After all, there was already Zhou Xu and Ruan Shijin, so the presence of a third person wasn’t impossible.
After walking a short distance, Zhou Xu found the potato. The white flower on it had already withered, so it should be in its growth period. However, Zhou Xu couldn’t wait any longer, because he wasn’t sure if the thing would be dug away by the child.
Thus, Zhou Xu talked to the warriors behind him, “While leaving some dirt, dig these potatoes up for me.”
“Potatoes?”
“Yes, this is a potato. The things growing from it are edible. Besides, it’s really good for the body. The key point is that it’s filling. Even if some catastrophe were to occur, with this alone our tribe will not starve.”
“So good? But won’t it have a bad taste, not at all comparable to the taste of meat?”
“That, you’ll understand when the time comes.”
Zhou Xu didn’t plan on explaining further. Because at the moment, his foot still hadn’t been thoroughly healed. He couldn’t walk too far, and besides, if the day darkened, it would be very dangerous.
The warriors he’d instructed dug out the potatoes, placing them in a sack with the dirt. Zhou Xu then led them onward.
If he didn’t misremember, there was a place in front where twenty to thirty stalks of corn grew. Besides, last time he saw, the corn was almost ripe. This time it should be ripe, Zhou Xu decided to directly pick them and establish an area to plant them. After three months, they should be able to eat corn.
Continuing to advance, Yan He suddenly held out his hand, stopping the other from advancing. He whispered, “There’s something up ahead.”
Everybody became instantly on guard. However, Zhou Xu said, “It’s all right, there should not be any danger.”
He didn’t feel any danger, meaning the animal ahead might be afraid of humans.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtYan He looked at Zhou Xu, then said, “Even if there is no danger, we should still be careful.”
Zhou Xu nodded and was about to walk forward, but Yan He pulled him behind him and walked in front of him.
Zhou Xu then heard a somewhat tiny and somewhat sharp voice scream, “Ah!”
Then, Zhou Xu saw a short child, carrying a huge sack on his back, running away in the other direction.
Zhou Xu quickly signaled to Yan He. “Go after them.”
As soon as Zhou Xu finished speaking, Yan He’s figure vanished. His speed was almost several times faster than the running child in front. A few minutes later, the child, with his huge sack, had been caught by Yan He.
When the child was carried in front of Zhou Xu, Zhou Xu realized that it was not a child, but a slightly petite woman.
“Who are you?”
The woman lifted her head in dismay to look at Zhou Xu, and lowered her head again.
Zhou Xu looked at the woman’s appearance, she was very beautiful. Her face cut a sorry figure because it was dirty, but even so, the woman’s temperament and the feeling she gave were different from the women of the clan.
Suddenly recalling his initial suspicion, Zhou Xu said to the people beside him, “You guys step back first, I have something to ask her.”
Apart from Yan He, the other warriors all consciously retreated a few meters.
Zhou Xu looked at Yan He and said, “You also step back.”
“Do you like her?”
“Ah?” Zhou Xu and the girl expressed their surprise in unison. Finally, Zhou Xu saw that Yan He really seemed to care, so he said, “Don’t worry, I don’t like her. I only love you.”
This time the woman was astonished. Satisfied, Yan He retreated some distance away, in order to let Zhou Xu and the girl speak.
Looking back to make sure of their distance and estimating that they shouldn’t be able to hear, Zhou Xu directly asked, “Did you transmigrate?”
Suddenly, the woman’s pupils shrank, and she looked at Zhou Xu with her mouth open, but she didn’t say anything for a long time.
Looking at her behavior, Zhou Xu knew that he was right, so he continued, “Since you, a woman, had to come looking for something to eat, that means that your clan is currently undergoing a crisis, right?”
The woman lowered her head dejectedly, and slowly answered, “I did transmigrate, I lived in modern times, but one day I was hit by a car, and somehow came here.”
Zhou Xu didn’t speak and quietly listened to her.
“The body I transmigrated in is the body of the daughter of the chief of the Lingshan Clan. The Lingshan Clan is not big but the people there are hardworking and live in seclusion, so it’s been peaceful and quiet. However, a few days ago, we were attacked by the Hexi Clan.”
As Zhou Xu listened, he understood the general idea. After the Hexi clan was defeated by them, they started to plunder those small clans like crazy.
“There were only three hundred people in our clan, and all the warriors combined didn’t even add up to a hundred, so we ended up getting merged with them. But after merging, the food allocated to our clan was only half of theirs. We could basically only eat one meal a day, and they didn’t even share food with us these days. We also don’t have other options. I know a little bit about crops and tried to come out and find something to eat because our clansmen started to get sick. They are so weak that they can’t even eat, so I am begging you, don’t kill me, don’t take my food ......”
Zhou Xu thought for a moment, then asked, “You understand agriculture?”
The woman replied, “En, I grew up in the countryside, and I went to an agricultural university.”
After thinking for a bit, Zhou Xu suddenly had an idea, so he said, “How about this, tomorrow you can bring one of your clan’s patients over and I’ll cure them, but you’ll have to promise me one thing.”
“You can treat illnesses?”
“I also transmigrated over. My original job was a doctor.” Zhou Xu said in all seriousness, and he didn’t feel that what he said was a lie, because he had been a doctor in one of the modern worlds.
“It’s too great, thank you.”
“I still haven’t told you what I want you to do.”
“Whatever it is, I agree. As long as you can save my father.”
“Good.”
The woman’s name was He Xiao. What Zhou Xu had asked her to do was to become an undercover agent for the Hedong clan.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmZhou Xu actually had a good impression of her, and since she was from the modern era, she must know a lot of things. She might even know more than Ruan Shijin.
In the end, Zhou Xu had He Xiao leave half of the garlic she’d picked behind. They gave her some of the meat they carried on them in exchange. And just like that, He Xiao became a member of the Hedong clan.
After letting He Xiao go, Zhou Xu went back to pick the rest of the corn. After that, Zhou Xu led them to look for chili peppers. However, they still didn’t find the wild wheat.
While resting together, Zhou Xu drew the shape of the wild wheat he had seen. As soon as he’d finished drawing, Yan He said, “I’ve seen this before, there are some around the foothills ahead.”
Zhou Xu asked in surprise, “Really?”
“I’ll take you there.”
Zhou Xu was very excited, and followed Yan He there. Upon arriving, he discovered that there was another thing even more delightful – these wild wheats were already mature. And there wasn’t just a small patch here, the whole area was covered with wild wheat.
Yan He looked at Zhou Xu, and puzzled, he asked, “What are the use of these things?”
“To eat.”
Yan He didn’t understand, could this kind of thing with needle-like tips really be eaten?
There was a patch of golden yellow wheat in front of him. Zhou Xu could even imagine that in a few years, their staple food would change, and instead of meat, they would eat pasta.
Right, he still needed to figure out how exactly a flour mill worked, and if he could, he would create a flour-milling machine.
Also, there was the issue of energy. Even if they didn’t have electricity, they may be able to use steam.
Zhou Xu even started to imagine a whole town in his mind. The people there wouldn’t have to go out hunting every day and there wouldn’t be unnecessary deaths.
But even before, Zhou Xu had known that he must harvest this wild wheat. It was the foundation for everything he dreamed of.
“Yan He, go back and call for more warriors. Those with swords should take their swords. We need to collect all of these and bring them back to our clan.”
T/N : So the “child” wasn’t the person who saved RSJ. I also thought it was some naive child who worshipped him... ~.~ Still 3 chapters left before the end of this arc. The next one is an eastern fantasy I think...
Okay nevermind, I just checked the first chapter of the next arc...it’s CULTIVATION world. I wanna cry... Let me die. Time to look for a co-translator ~ Lalala ~
PS : It’s been so long since I updated on time ~ I’m even early as it’s still Monday in France. Now, it’s time to continue playing Genshin. (The new event is so meeeeeeh.)