I'm involved in poverty alleviation in a primitive tribe.

Once the sacrificial ceremony is over, the busy autumn harvest will begin again.

Besides hunting, Jiang Ning was busy collecting star anise and Sichuan peppercorns.

She had already eaten all the ones she had collected before. When she was hunting recently, she paid special attention to the star anise and pepper trees in the vicinity, and sure enough, she found quite a few.

Even in this primeval forest full of giant trees, the star anise tree appears very tall. When Jiang Ning is not hunting, he takes people to the vicinity to pick star anise.

The star anise is still green at this time of year, and Jiang Ning climbs the star anise tree with a basket on her back to pick star anise.

After harvesting, remove the leaves from the star anise, blanch it in boiling water for a few minutes, and then dry it in the sun. Star anise dried in this way not only loses its bitterness but also lasts longer.

The Sichuan pepper tree isn't as tall as the star anise tree, but its branches are covered in thorns, so even the most careful person can easily get pricked.

Evening, inside the cave.

Qingpan was intently sharpening his bone knife while simultaneously scolding Wu, who was standing nearby.

“Boar and Kun are both going, why aren’t you going?” Qingpan questioned.

“Kun goes every time, but he always comes back alone?” Wu retorted softly, clearly unconvinced by Qingpan’s accusation.

Pu Ye glared at Wu: "At least he tried! What about you! Last time you said you weren't a level one warrior yet and didn't go! What about this time? You've already broken through!"

“My Da Hong isn’t grown up yet!” Wu hugged Da Hong, who was standing to the side. Da Hong’s fur was reddish-brown, so he named him Da Hong.

"It's you who wants to find a mate! What's the point of letting it grow up!" Qingpan was furious, looking like he wanted to punch Wu.

"When Da Hong grows up, I'll take it with me. When people see that I'm a level one warrior and have a battle pet, they'll definitely want to come back with me. I don't want to be like Kun, coming back alone and being laughed at!" Seeing that there was no way to avoid it, Wu finally revealed his true thoughts.

Qingpan was speechless, completely stumped. He could only say, "Next time! If you don't go next time, I'll throw you out! I don't care if you have a partner or not, you can go out and dig a cave and live alone!"

Tomorrow, Team One will take people to the trade fair and also meet potential partners from nearby tribes, Team Two will go to collect salt, and Teams Three and Four will stay behind in the tribes.

Originally, the hunting team was supposed to collect salt on their way to the trade fair, but this year there are many things to be pickled, and the demand for salt is huge, so they can't wait that long.

The four members of the family are all members of the hunting team. They rarely get together throughout the year, so this moment of reunion is a rare treat, allowing everyone to sit down and chat.

Jiang Ning listened quietly from the side. Logically speaking, Wu could have gone to the trade fair with the hunting team to find a partner last year, but he has been putting it off until now and is unwilling to go. Even in primitive society, it is inevitable to be pressured to get married.

The system suddenly spoke up: "With such a small population in your tribe, if they don't pressure each other to get married, they'll probably become extinct very soon, right?"

"That's true."

"It is very common for two tribes to fight on this continent. It is rare for a tribe to be wiped out like yours against the Fire Tribe."

"To increase the population?" Jiang Ning walked towards his cave.

"That's right. Defeated tribes are taken back as spoils of war by the victors. Some tribes will directly accept these losers as their own people, while others will look down on them and take them as slaves."

Jiang Ning sat by the bed, watering the cliff vine. Since it sprouted leaves, the cliff vine has grown much faster. Now, several branches have grown from the side of the main stem. Once this cold winter is over, it can be transplanted to the ground.

"What are the tribes like outside?" Jiang Ning asked the system.

"Large tribes have a large population, and they can freely marry within the tribe without worrying about the dangers of inbreeding. Small tribes have fewer people, and in order to ensure the continuation of the tribe, they maintain good social relations with neighboring tribes to intermarry. Slaves are an exception. Slaves are divided into tribe-owned slaves and private slaves. In addition to doing hard labor, they are also required to provide other services to their masters. Children born to slaves are still slaves and are raised by the tribe."

Don't their partners care?

"What's the big deal? We're all warriors, it's a matter of mutual consent. Besides, the big tribes aren't short of people. If you're not willing, just find another partner. There's no need for divorce here. If you want, you can find several partners too."

"Can witches also find partners?"

"Of course, but no tribe dares to pressure the shaman into marriage; it's just the shaman's personal choice."

Jiang Ning closed her eyes, preparing to begin meditating. "I never imagined that being a shaman would have such benefits."

After a while, she suddenly opened her eyes, her brows furrowing slightly: "Why do I feel like there are fewer insects in the cave?"

"Your feeling is correct, there is indeed a significant reduction."

After hearing this, Jiang Ning stood up and carefully observed her surroundings. The cave was originally infested with many crawling insects and flying mosquitoes, and even the insect-repelling herbs were not very effective.

She hadn't noticed before because she wasn't used to living there, but now she saw that there were indeed far fewer bugs. Her gaze finally settled on the potted vine on the cliff edge.

The cave was poorly lit, and pitch black at night. To provide light, Jiang Ning made a small oil lamp inside the cave using pine resin.

Jiang Ning walked to the cliff vine. The vine was still lush and green in the dim cave. Several leaves hung on the vine, curled up as if they were wrapping something.

Seeing this, Jiang Ning was startled: "Does this guy eat meat?"

"Yes, if its strength can be restored smoothly, it should be able to hunt for food using its vines."

Jiang Ning recalled the broken vines she had seen at the bottom of the cliff and gasped, "How much must it have eaten to grow so big? It doesn't even have a mouth, how could it eat?"

The system replied, "Its leaves and roots can directly absorb nutrients. As for how much it needs to eat, that depends on its strength."

"Not bad, not bad. I'll share some of my food with you from now on. When you grow up, you must protect the Sky Wolf Tribe well." Jiang Ning touched the leaves of the Cliff Vine and said happily to the Cliff Vine.

The system had a different opinion: "There's no need for that. It doesn't need to be kept warm anymore. You can put it in your tribe's communal kitchen. The blood from killing chickens and rabbits is enough for it to absorb."

"I need to make a lot of jerky right now, so I'll send it over tomorrow." Jiang Ning only picked it up out of a moment of pity, never expecting it to be so magical.

early morning.

The square was once again filled with various kinds of food that needed to be dried. The hunting team, carrying large and small bags, carefully avoided the food to prevent accidentally knocking it over.

The trade fair is about to open; they're heading there.

The group also included several tribesmen who had recently come of age and were preparing to find mates. Some of them did not have a seraphim, but the tribe had unclaimed seraphim for them to ride.