The first year of the Vine Tribe's founding, April 16th.
"Boom..."
"Crackle..."
In the sky, dark clouds gathered, thick lightning madly struck, wild winds howled, and torrential rain poured down.
Inside the bamboo hut, Gan Song held a bowl of rice, squatting by the door, watching the rainwater flow along the gutter at the doorway, and glancing at the leak-free roof, feeling very conflicted.
"Even when the tribe was still around, we never lived in such a good house..."
Since losing an arm, Gan Song has been very pessimistic, without any hope for the future.
Because for a Warrior, losing an arm means being unable to participate in hunting.
Without being able to hunt, one couldn't get much food, forced to gather wild vegetables to barely survive. Encountering winter was truly a nightmare.
But now, they had arrived at the Vine Tribe.
Here, they didn't need to fight fierce beasts in the forest, nor did they need to eat roots and bark, just needed to do work that Gan Song found very simple.
They lived in leak-free bamboo huts, ate their fill, and kept warm; surprisingly, their life was better than in the previous tribe!
Gan Song looked down at the pottery bowl; such fine items, only the Vine Tribe would provide to wanderers like them.
Gan Song placed the pottery bowl on his leg to steady it, then clumsily grabbed some rice with chopsticks and shoveled it into his mouth. A faint salty taste, mingled with the aroma of the food, spread in his mouth.
"This is precious salt!"
Gan Song held the rice in his mouth for quite a while before reluctantly swallowing it down.
The Vine Tribe was too kind to them, Gan Song felt like he was dreaming.
"If this is a dream, I hope this dream never ends."
Gan Song ate his meal and watched the pouring rain, feeling the oppressive pessimism in his heart being somewhat washed away by the rain.
Summer rains came fast and left quickly.
An hour later, the rain stopped, and the clouds in the sky dispersed. Sunshine once again bathed the earth.
Gan Song washed his bowl and chopsticks clean, carefully put them away, then picked up the Bone Plow and called to the other wanderers: "The rain has stopped, time to work!"
The wanderers in the bamboo huts stood up one after another, took their tools, and walked to the fields.
Everyone was very eager to work because they had seen the goodness of the Vine Tribe and wanted to stay permanently.
To stay in the Vine Tribe, one must work hard.
Because the leader said, those who perform well can become true Vine Tribe members, but laziness might get one expelled from the tribe!
Today, the task was to dig deeper drainage ditches in the fields.
As summer arrived, the rainfall increased. If the ditches were too shallow to drain the water, the crops in the fields could easily be flooded.
Gan Song, holding the Bone Plow with one hand, started working as soon as he got to the field.
Though he had only one hand, being a One-Color Warrior, his strength was much greater than ordinary people, and he didn't lag behind others in work.
The other wanderers also started working, and no one minded the mud after the rain because they had been through tougher environments.
...
Jiang Xuan walked out of the bamboo house, the air after the rain especially fresh, carrying the unique fragrance of grass and wood, making one feel relaxed and happy.
Nearby, Chi Shao and Shi Qiu were patrolling the pond, checking the vine nets at the outflow, ensuring that fish in the pond couldn't escape.
In the distance, those wanderers were busy digging drainage ditches, chatting and laughing, working with great zeal.
A smile also appeared on Jiang Xuan's face, even though life was a bit hard and tiring, days full of vigor filled one's heart with hope for the future.
"Eh, what's that?"
Just as Jiang Xuan was about to check the fields, he suddenly saw a giant insect flying towards them from afar, the sound of its wings flapping very loud, like the sound of a helicopter.
"Is that... a dragonfly?"
Jiang Xuan's eyes widened as he looked at the giant figure in the air.
In the sky, a giant dragonfly with a wingspan of at least six meters and a body length of four meters flew. Its two pairs of transparent wings flapped at a rapid pace, almost invisible to the eye.
Jiang Xuan suddenly recalled an introduction to a prehistoric giant dragonfly he had seen in his previous life:
Its large eyes were like 360-degree, no-blind-spot cameras, its black mandibles like huge pliers, capable of easily crushing animal bones.
All six of its long legs were spiked, able to easily grasp prey, and each of its wings could be controlled individually, allowing it to fly freely in the forest.
This giant dragonfly was a formidable overlord of the sky, not inferior to ordinary birds, very terrifying.
This description closely matched the giant dragonfly Jiang Xuan was witnessing, but this one appeared even larger and more intimidating.
Although he had seen various large insects, including half-meter-long centipedes and spider as big as pumpkins,
this giant dragonfly gave him a stronger sense of shock because it was simply like a small fighter jet!
When the giant dragonfly flew closer, Jiang Xuan felt its terror even more keenly at this nearer distance.
As it flew over Jiang Xuan's head, he could clearly feel a strong wind stirring the ground, making the bamboo forest rustle with noise.
"So big!"
Jiang Xuan kept watching the sky until the giant dragonfly flew over the bamboo forest and settled on the middle part of Stone Mountain, gripping the massive Ancient Vine.
Jiang Xuan felt a wave of nervousness, fearing that the Ancient Vine might thrash the giant dragonfly to death with a single vine, just like it had killed the giant bird before.
That would be such a pity because it was Jiang Xuan's first time seeing such a large dragonfly, and he couldn't recall any information about such giant dragonflies in his memory.
Luckily, the Ancient Vine remained motionless, seemingly indifferent to the giant dragonfly settling on it.
Chi Shao and Gou Teng came over, too.
"Sister, have you seen such a dragonfly?"
Chi Shao shook her head and said, "Never seen one so big."
"That's strange. Could it have flown from elsewhere?"
Jiang Xuan was puzzled, but that didn't stop him from yearning for such a giant dragonfly.
To Jiang Xuan, it was like a small helicopter!
If it could be tamed, wouldn't it be possible to ride it and fly everywhere?
The thought of flying around on a giant dragonfly made Jiang Xuan's heart race with excitement.
However, taming a bird was easy; taming an insect was much harder, and whether it could be successfully domesticated was anyone's guess.
Moreover, catching this giant dragonfly, with its strong attack power and fast flight, was challenging enough, let alone taming it.
"If only I could find its larvae, raising it from a larva would be easier."
But where to look for its larvae? Jiang Xuan had no clues for now, and this dragonfly flew too fast to be followed.
Jiang Xuan could only ponder while observing this giant dragonfly.
Surprisingly, in the days that followed, this giant dragonfly did not leave, foraging nearby by day and resting on Stone Mountain at night, accompanied by the Ancient Vine.
This made Jiang Xuan quite happy, for as long as this giant dragonfly didn't leave, the chance of approaching it or finding its larvae increased.
Over time, the people of the Vine Tribe gradually got used to the presence of this giant dragonfly.
This giant dragonfly did not attack people, merely catching some giant insects to feed on, living peacefully alongside the Vine Tribe.
...
Thanks to the book friend "Zi Fengling" for rewarding 10,000 book coins and becoming the helmsman of this book.