Chapter 727: The Farmer’s Donkey Runs Out of Tricks (Please Subscribe)
Inside the Green Sparrow Tribe, the donkey that had been shot in the rear was now lying on the ground, its four limbs held firmly to keep it still.
Liang, who aspired to become a divine farmer, was now also acting as a veterinarian, using willow branch water and other things to clean the donkey's wounds.
Han Cheng gave this instruction.
Although donkey meat was delicious, the tribe still had too few donkeys, far from the point of eating them.
Compared to being eaten, these donkeys should be put to more important uses. That's why this injured donkey was receiving such special treatment.
These donkeys were also locked inside the deer pen. Since their numbers were still too small and they had just joined the tribe, it was not yet time to give them a separate enclosure.
However, the donkeys were treated very well.
Not only were they given salt water to drink, but also high-nutrition feed, such as tofu dregs.
Such behavior might seem trivial to others, but to Deer Lord, it was a different story.
Such special treatment was usually reserved only for him, and today these newcomers had stolen his spotlight — how could the proud deer tolerate that?
So, when the two-legged creatures (humans) were absent from the deer pen, leaving only the four-legged beasts, Deer Lord began to cause trouble deliberately.
"Geng-ao~ Geng-ao~"
For Deer Lord, who was quite a bit larger than a normal deer, the relatively timid donkeys were highly alert.
As soon as he approached, one donkey immediately opened its mouth and started braying loudly, much louder than Deer Lord's calls.
Startled, the mischievous Deer Lord quickly fled a few steps, then stopped at a distance, watching these strange creatures warily.
After waiting a while and seeing the donkeys calm down, Deer Lord cautiously tried to approach again.
Before he could get close, the donkeys started braying loudly once more.
But this time, with the previous experience, Deer Lord was not scared off. He paused briefly and continued edging closer.
"Whoosh!"
One donkey suddenly kicked backward with its hind leg — a textbook donkey kick.
Although it didn't hit Deer Lord, it startled him enough to make him run away, not daring to approach again for a long time.
The donkeys were delighted to have scared off the guy with the many dry branches on his head. Each of them felt triumphant.
However, they underestimated just how shameless this nearly sentient Deer Lord could be. Not long after, he kept coming closer again…
After a while, surrounded by donkeys braying and kicking, Deer Lord, having sized up their strengths and weaknesses, stood there proudly, full of disdain, occasionally snorting at them arrogantly, displaying supreme arrogance that won the admiration of a group of young does.
This amusing scene was witnessed by Shi Tou, who had come to milk the deer. That evening, he used a brush dipped in ink to record the event.
Hundreds of years later, as the Green Sparrow Tribe continued to develop, many of the earliest records became classics.
The story of the Farmer's Donkey spread widely and eventually evolved into the phrase "The Farmer's Donkey Runs Out of Tricks".
This phrase gained a somewhat derogatory meaning over time…
In an idle pig pen in the Green Sparrow Tribe, four people captured from the semi-agrarian tribe were now imprisoned.
By now, they had somewhat recovered from their initial shock.
As they came to their senses, they began to contemplate their own and their tribe's fate.
Although they weren't smart, having witnessed the wise female shaman's treatment of the Sheep Tribe leader and the affection these people showed their livestock, they instinctively understood that bad things were likely to happen to them.
Just like how the shaman of their tribe forced people to submit and betray the tribe, similar fates might befall them.
The saying "Three cobblers together are worth one Zhuge Liang" is wrong; otherwise, the lord wouldn't have needed to visit Zhuge Liang three times but gathered many cobblers.
Although the saying was incorrect, it did contain some truth.
Take their current situation as an example.
The four bruised and battered men huddled together, resolutely deciding never to reveal the location of their tribe to these people.
They even used the Sheep Tribe leader as an example, saying they'd rather face a similar fate.
An older primitive man from the Sheep Tribe had come to see Han Cheng, worried about his tribe's leader and hoping to get news through these prisoners.
Compared to this person from the Sheep Tribe, Han Cheng, who was still immersed in the joy of acquiring donkeys, was somewhat negligent.
Only after being reminded by the Sheep Tribe man did he remember to interrogate the prisoners.
He immediately stood up, ready to call Mao, the translator, to interrogate them.
But not far from the door, he stopped, feeling that immediately interrogating them might not be wise.
If people were interrogated right after being captured, it would be easy to get some information.
However, after the four had been together for a long time, asking questions directly would likely be less effective.
Thinking this through, Han Cheng stopped.
"Let's not interrogate them now. We'll wait until tomorrow; it's not a good time to get information now."
Facing the questions from the Sheep Tribe man and Mao, Han Cheng explained.
This answer puzzled Eldest Senior Brother Mao and the older Sheep Tribe man whom Han Cheng had nicknamed "Old Yang." (Translator's notes: Yang means goat or sheep.)
What difference does asking today or tomorrow make? Isn't it all the same eventually?
There was, of course, a big difference.
Han Cheng smiled and told them so.
He then added that if anyone wanted to interrogate them now, they could, even using some punishments, but they must not kill or maim the prisoners.
Hearing this, Eldest Senior Brother, Mao, and Old Sheep eagerly went off to interrogate them.
Han Cheng did not go himself. On one hand, he was pondering how to extract more information from them.
On the other hand, he wanted to avoid the awkwardness if Eldest Senior Brother got something out of them while he stood there.
After nearly an hour, Eldest Senior Brother, Mao, and Old Sheep returned looking somewhat dejected.
Han Cheng, who had been worried, immediately showed a calm expression, as if to say "Just as I expected," and casually acted cool, carrying quite an idol-like aura.