Chapter 73: Poisonous snakes that do not hibernate
The early snowfall had little impact on the Green Sparrow tribe. With sufficient food, they could leisurely view the world draped in silver.
Having consumed a lot of salted fish and meat, they could venture outside the walls, drill holes in the ice on the small river, and catch some fish to enjoy fresh fish.
In previous years, winter brought abundant fruits, both the most plentiful and the least popular, because they were not satisfying when hungry.
This year was different. Those who had eaten plenty of fish wanted to change their taste and consume more fruits.
At present, fruits in the Green Sparrow tribe were no longer considered a staple but a decoration after meals.
This demonstrated the tribe's abundant food resources.
While the Green Sparrow tribe had no worries about food, the same could not be said for other tribes.Updated from novelbIn.(c)om
For other tribes, which had at least ten days less of stored food, the early snowfall was a disaster.
The Flying Snake tribe was currently facing a crisis of food scarcity.
The Flying Snake tribe was a medium to large-sized tribe with a population of nearly three hundred. The number of adult males alone was as many as sixty-three.
This formidable force, comprising mostly adult males, was nearly twice the number of adults in the Green Sparrow tribe.
If more females were included, the fighting force of the Flying Snake tribe could reach almost one hundred and sixty people.
In this era, at least in the vast region nearby, this was an intimidating and formidable force.
With more people, there was more strength, but while collecting abundant food, the daily food consumption was also substantial. Especially in the Flying Snake tribe, where the food consumption of the able-bodied warriors was not usually restrained, the consumption was astonishing.
The shaman of the Flying Snake tribe, seeing the decreasing food in the cave day by day, finally summoned the four leaders of the tribe to discuss the upcoming plan of plunder.
This included selecting the targets for raids and the number of people going out for the raid.
The second leader of the Flying Snake tribe was very excited. When he learned from the shaman that this year's heavy snowfall was much earlier than usual, he began to eagerly anticipate it.
The speeches of the four leaders annoyed the second leader a bit because it might make the shaman and the big chief change their original decision.
After discussing for a while, the shaman and the big chief split into two groups. The most powerful chief and the weakest of the four leaders would lead their respective groups to raid the tribe mentioned by the four leaders.
The second leader of the Flying Snake tribe, along with the third leader, would lead their people to raid the tribe mentioned by the second leader, which was the Green Sparrow tribe.
The Flying Snake tribe had enough manpower. Leaving more than sixty adult females to defend the tribe, they split into two groups, and the number of people on each route still reached a terrifying fifty.
The four leaders of the Flying Snake tribe, divided into two groups, led the tribe's adults towards the north and east, starting their raiding activities.
The shaman stayed behind with the remaining people to guard their main camp and protect the tribe's underage individuals.
The people who left the tribe did not bring much food because, during the exploration and food collection process, several teams, like the second leader of the Flying Snake tribe, left enough food at suitable locations along the way.
This approach was reasonable.
When they went out to gather and hunt previously, the distance from the tribe's main camp was too far. Transporting food back to the camp midway was not efficient.
Therefore, finding a nearby place as a temporary gathering point and food storage was essential.
After collecting enough food, they would transport it from these temporary storage points to the tribe's main camp.
However, they wouldn't transport everything but leave a considerable portion.
This served as the tribe's reserve food.
If the tribe lacked only a small amount of food, the shaman would send people to bring back the stored food, resolving the tribe's food shortage.
If the food deficit was significant, as it was now, the stored food could well support the raiding teams.
This back-and-forth approach saved a lot of effort and accomplished many tasks.
These were the wisdom and practices the Flying Snake tribe had summarized and passed down over many years of development.
