Chapter 60: Battle at the Orchard
The Autumn breeze is a magician; the vast land is adorned with a colorful robe after it passes. The greenish fruits turn golden, some as red as fire, resembling young girls teased by the autumn wind.
The Elder Senior Brother climbed the tree skillfully, one hand holding onto the trunk, the other continuously picking and causing a shower of fruits to fall into the grass below.
The thick grass awaited gently to ensure the falling fruits were not harmed.
As the fruits fell, great joy filled those who picked them up. Even if a fruit hit someone, they still smiled and continued enthusiastically.
During the harvest, endless happiness was brought to the people.
The happiest ones were not the young adults like Zhuang and Tie Tou but the plump Second Senior Brother. Due to his body size, he couldn't climb the tree to pick fruits. Instead, he could only pick them up from below into jars or wrapped in animal skins.
His joy came from scenes like a ripe fruit smacking his head. Instead of rubbing the slightly sore spot, he quickly caught the fruit and ate it in two or three bites.
After that, he would continue picking fruits into the jar, anticipating the next ripe fruit to hit him.
The jars and animal skin wraps were filled with fruits and carried by people with poles toward the tribe. Due to the distance from the tribe and concerns about potential dangers on the way back, half of the people needed to return together, according to custom.
However, this time was different. Under the command of the Elder Senior Brother, after filling the jars and animal skin wraps, everyone would return together and then come back again.
People felt slightly puzzled by the Elder Senior Brother's actions, but no one questioned him because he was the leader.
The Elder Senior Brother was wise, and he surely had a purpose for doing this.
His main goal in coming today was not to pick fruits but to prepare for a fight against the tribe that raided their orchard last year.
For this reason, the Elder Senior Brother was full of energy.
Unfortunately, after arriving today, they did not see that tribe, and judging from the marks on the ground, this forest had not been picked yet.
However, the Elder Senior Brother did not relax because such an orchard was quite precious to the tribe. He believed that the detestable tribe would come.
He did this today to prevent the tribe from coming when their tribe was short-handed, avoiding a defeat.
This joint action could help prevent this.
The appearance of poles and clay jars increased the amount of fruits transported by one person by more than twice. Even if everyone returned to transport fruits, it would delay fruit picking, but the efficiency was not much different compared to previous years.
As the fruits inside the cave increased daily, the tribe the Elder Senior Brother had been waiting for did not appear. This made him unwilling.
Today was the last day of picking fruits this year. Because there were many salted fish and fresh fish that could be caught at any time in the tribe, they didn't need to store too many fruits.
Standing on the tree, the Elder Senior Brother occasionally looked around, hoping the tribe would arrive at this last moment. Otherwise, he really wouldn't have a chance to fight them.
"May the gods bless us."
The Elder Senior Brother exhaled and slid down from the tree in three or two steps, shouting for the others in the tribe to stop picking or gathering fruits and take their weapons. He had already picked up the tree stick lying on the ground.
The commotion here alarmed a group of primitive people who had already reached the forest's edge. They were originally walking casually, but upon hearing the noise, they became alert.
However, they were not afraid because of it.
The leading black and robust leader said a few words to the people behind him, carrying animal skin wraps and baskets woven from grass. Then, he led the crowd towards this direction.
On this side, the Elder Senior Brother also led the people of the Green Sparrow tribe to walk towards them.
"These are ours, you go."
The two tribes stopped about three meters apart, and the Elder Senior Brother conveyed his meaning to the people on the opposite side through words and gestures.
The other side had already recognized the Elder Senior Brother and his group, considering they had beaten them twice last year.
"The orchard is ours."
The leader of the black and robust tribe sneered at the words of the Elder Senior Brother, unreservedly counterattacking.
The black and strong leader of the tribe did not care about the group of people in front of him. Moreover, he was somewhat angry because this area, which he already considered their tribe's orchard, had been picked by these weak guys, taking away many fruits.
They even dared to touch the belongings of their Flying Snake tribe.
The black and strong leader was very angry. After saying this, he threw the stick to the ground and rushed toward the Elder Senior Brother, who was about to say something more.
The rest of the people behind him also took action, throwing away their weapons, filled with a bit of anger and more excitement, rushing towards this tribe that they had beaten twice and still showed no remorse.
The Elder Senior Brother felt a bit embarrassed; he hadn't finished speaking yet, and this damn guy rushed up. It was annoying.
He dropped his weapon and faced the leader of the black and robust tribe.
The two collided without any fancy moves.
The black and strong leader of the tribe looked much stronger than the Elder Senior Brother, and he didn't put this seemingly powerless guy in front of him at all.
He hoped to knock down the Elder Senior Brother in one go and beat him up. He had previously won many people using this method, including the guy in front of him.
However, the result this time surprised him. After the two collided, the seemingly weaker guy did not fall.
Instead, he seized the opportunity to grip both of the leader's arms with his hands, preparing to throw him to the ground.
This surprised him and brought a sense of shame. He couldn't believe he couldn't knock down this smaller guy in one go.
He exerted force with both hands, trying to throw the Elder Senior Brother to the ground, but instead, the Elder Senior Brother grabbed his waist.
As they struggled, the others also found their opponents, pairing off and grappling with each other.
The Green Sparrow tribe had one more person than the other side, and that person was Tie Tou.
He had no opponent and could only stand here staring.
Only when a woman from the Green Sparrow tribe was knocked down did he grit his teeth and rush towards the Flying Snake tribe man who was panting and laughing.
After knocking down the person from the Green Sparrow tribe, the Flying Snake tribe man reached out to hit another person from the Green Sparrow tribe who was entangled with their tribe, disregarding any rules.
Tie Tou was especially angry when he saw this. Who fights like this?
So, while running, he straightened his chest, bent down, lowered his head, and fiercely collided with the waist of the guy in front of him.