This Is My Primitive Tribe
Chapter 150 - 120 Wax Tree and Wax Worm_2

Chapter 150: Chapter 120 Wax Tree and Wax Worm_2

Jiang Xuan patted his shoulder and said, "Mai Dong, be strong. Although the Rock Sheep Tribe is gone, we still have the Vine Tribe."

The Old Witch also comforted him for a long time before Mai Dong finally emerged from that deep sadness.

Mai Dong held a remnant bone and said, "Chief, I want to dig a pit and bury them in the ground."

Jiang Xuan nodded and said, "I’ll dig with you."

This time when they set out, they brought along the Bone Plow and Bone Hoe, which Jiang Xuan intended to use to dig up wax tree saplings to see if they could grow on the mountain near the Vine Tribe.

Now, they were just right for digging the pit.

Jiang Xuan and Mai Dong picked a good spot and then began digging a pit, while the Old Witch helped gather the remaining bones.

Though there were many stones where the Rock Sheep Tribe lived, the soil was relatively loose, making it not particularly strenuous to dig.

With their vigorous digging, they quickly had a large and deep pit ready.

The Old Witch collected human bones into one pile and rock sheep bones into another, and Mai Dong personally placed them into the pit.

Mai Dong then kneeled down and cried bitterly once more before slowly filling the soil.

Soon afterward, a lonely large grave appeared atop the ruins of the Rock Sheep Tribe, where Mai Dong’s former tribesmen and those rock sheep were buried.

Once everything was done, the time had already progressed to the afternoon, but there was still some time before sunset.

Mai Dong led Jiang Xuan and the Old Witch to a vast wax tree forest beside the Rock Sheep Tribe’s living area.

In this world, the wax trees are trees that grow on high mountains; most are seven or eight meters tall, with very thick trunks and many branches.

The leaves of the wax tree are rich in oils and fats; after being eaten by wax worms, they can be converted into insect wax.

"The wax worms have indeed laid eggs."

Standing beneath a wax tree, Mai Dong found many dead female wax worms on the ground and quite a few living female wax worms among the leaves of the tree, but they hardly moved.

The male wax worms died after mating last fall.

The female wax worms live a bit longer; they bore into the trunk or thick branches of the wax trees to hide for the winter.

When spring arrives, the female wax worms climb out from the holes and eat the tender leaves on the wax trees. After feeding for a while, they lay eggs and then die.

Mai Dong quickly climbed up, searched for a moment, and then picked two wide leaves from the wax tree.

"Chief, Old Witch, look here; these are the wax worm eggs."

Mai Dong flipped over the wide wax tree leaves, revealing a multitude of eggs sticking to the underside.

Mai Dong continued, "I want to pluck all the leaves that have eggs and make many insect bags, placing these leaves inside them."

"Back when the tribe was still around, these insect bags would be placed inside the huts. After the young worms hatched, they would be hung on the trees so they could eat the wax tree leaves."

"But now, we don’t have the time to wait for them to hatch. We can only make the insect bags and hang them directly on the trees."

As he said this, Mai Dong’s gaze turned dim again, but he quickly adjusted his mood.

"Once the young worms hatch, they’ll shed their skin once, then grow larger. In autumn, they’ll start producing insect wax, covering many branches with a thick layer of white wax that looks like snow."

Thinking of that scene, there was a glimmer in Mai Dong’s eyes.

After hearing Mai Dong’s introduction, Jiang Xuan and the Old Witch gained some understanding of these peculiar-looking wax worms.

Jiang Xuan sighed internally: In this vast world, truly nothing is too strange.

"Alright, it’s getting late. I need to quickly pick the leaves with worm eggs."

Mai Dong tied a beast hide bag to his waist, climbed the tree again, and accurately picked one by one the leaves with worm eggs from among the many leaves, then placed them into the beast hide bag.

This wax tree forest has hundreds of wax trees of various sizes. Picking all the leaves with worm eggs is no easy task.

"I’ll help too."

Jiang Xuan also tied a beast hide bag and climbed a wax tree. With his exceptional eyesight, he carefully searched for the egg-laden leaves and picked them.

Given the workload, they definitely wouldn’t return today.

The Old Witch sent the giant eagle to hunt down prey while he himself started a fire and built a temporary shelter by the wax forest, preparing to spend the night.

After the Old Witch finished building the temporary shelter and had the fire going, the giant eagle returned with a large prey.

By this time, the sun was setting, and dusk was gradually falling.

Jiang Xuan and Mai Dong had only collected eggs from half of the forest, appearing as if they needed to continue working the next day.

When darkness fully descended, Jiang Xuan and Mai Dong finally climbed down from the trees and entered the temporary shelter where the Old Witch had already roasted plenty of meat.

They ate some meat, and Mai Dong gathered quite a bit of dried grass, taking advantage of the free evening to start weaving insect bags.

The insect bags that Mai Dong wove looked more like bird nests or even hornet nests made of dried grass in Jiang Xuan’s eyes.

The insect bags were oval-shaped, tightly woven at the top and windproof, hollow in the middle, with several openings at the bottom for the newly hatched larvae to enter and exit.

Once woven, Mai Dong placed the leaves with worm eggs inside the insect bags, and using the firelight, hung them on the thickest branches of a nearby wax tree with grass ropes.

"That’s it. In a few days, the wax worms in the insect bags will hatch and crawl onto the tree to eat the leaves."

Looking at the hanging insect bags, Mai Dong felt content.

Then, using the firelight, he started weaving more insect bags.

Jiang Xuan asked Mai Dong to teach him how to weave the insect bags, then helped weave them together.

The Old Witch learned even faster than Jiang Xuan; after watching a few times, he could weave them himself.

They ate roasted meat and then wove many insect bags until sleepiness overcame them, finally lying down to sleep in the temporary shelter.

This night, guarded by the giant eagle, was calm.

Early the next morning, Jiang Xuan and Mai Dong resumed climbing trees to collect worm eggs while the Old Witch handled weaving the insect bags on the ground.

By noon, all the worm eggs were finally collected.

Through their collective efforts, they wove a large number of insect bags, placed the eggs inside, and hung them on the trees.

After a busy day, they finally completed the task.

Once everything was done, Mai Dong stood at the edge of the wax forest, gazing at the insect bags of various sizes hanging on the trees and prayed, "May the Sheep God protect you to grow smoothly and produce lots of insect wax in the autumn."

Jiang Xuan then dug out several wax tree saplings, packed them with soil into a beast hide bag, intending to take them back to the Vine Tribe and find a mountain to try planting them.

If they can grow successfully, they can gradually move the wax worms over there, saving the long journey to manage them.

After all, without the giant eagle, traveling such a far distance poses great risks.

"Alright, we should head back."

After digging up the wax tree saplings, the sun was setting again, and they decided not to spend the night here.

"Let’s go."

The Old Witch covered the fire pit with soil to ensure it was thoroughly extinguished and then climbed onto the giant eagle’s back.

Jiang Xuan also went up with the wax tree saplings.

Mai Dong looked around reluctantly, engraving every grass and tree here deeply into his mind, then climbed onto the eagle’s back.

"Caw!"

The giant eagle took off, carrying them toward the Vine Tribe.

Looking back at the Rock Sheep Tribe and the lone grave from a distance, despite the deep reluctance, Mai Dong understood that to integrate into the Vine Tribe, he must let go.

In the nocturnal forest, many predators roamed, even unknown large birds flying frequently across the sky.

But no large bird dared provoke the giant eagle, staying far away instead due to its overwhelming strength.

Several hours later, the giant eagle flew back to the Vine Tribe, landing on the open space beside the bamboo huts.

By now, most of the Vine Tribe had fallen asleep, leaving only the night watch warriors running over with torches to greet them.

The Old Witch went into the bamboo hut to sleep, while Jiang Xuan and Mai Dong, escorted by the night watch warriors, returned to their residences to rest.

...

Meanwhile, the Crow Tribe, continually forced by setbacks, had no option but to press on, seeking a suitable place to settle.

After moving away from the Jackal Tribe territory, they finally reached the Great Swamp and set their sights on the Mountain Turtle Tribe’s dwelling!