“So, what are Yeli’s plans recently?” Soaking in the hot spring, Sha Yi continued to ask, “Has he had anyone watching us these past two days?”
“I heard from my mother that a few days ago, your negotiations with Yeli ended badly. Based on his usual habits, he should take some action.” Kapa pondered, “But this time is different from before. The problem is a bit bigger, and the situation is more complicated. It’s hard for us to guess what he’ll do.”
“How so?” Sha Yi raised an eyebrow.
“In the past, the groups Yeli wanted to annex rarely had as many people as yours. Although fewer than our total, it still puts pressure on him. Secondly, your situation is complicated because of Jialuo. Manlun is somewhat unreliable, and on top of that, Yelai is still in your hands.” Kapa explained, “And as I just mentioned, that man who directly confronted Yeli is also an unpredictable external threat. So, it’s impossible for Yeli not to be troubled.”
“I heard that your migration was your mother’s idea.” Glancing at Kapa, Sha Yi hesitated for a moment before slowly voicing her thoughts, “Because of this migration, there have been frequent annexations along the way, right? And many casualties, right?”
Hearing this, Kapa looked quite surprised, but after a moment, she nodded in silent agreement. “Yes.”
“Why did your mother choose to migrate?” Still staring intently at Kapa, Sha Yi didn’t intend to miss even the slightest change in her expression. “Do you know the reason and purpose?”
“Well…” Kapa lowered her head, looking troubled. After a brief struggle, she spoke again, “Our alliance with Jialuo means we’re standing together now, right?”
Sha Yi watched Kapa unblinkingly, a faint smile curling her lips.
Kapa was straightforward, but she still had her guard up. This honesty made Sha Yi feel at ease.
In reality, they were indeed on the same side.
So, there was no need to dwell on it further. Thinking this, Sha Yi quickly replied, “Yes, Jialuo mentioned this to us. You can rest assured.”
“Hmm…” As if reassured, Kapa didn’t hesitate and immediately began to share everything. “Actually, we didn’t have any major issues here before. But after gathering and moving to the far north, most of the women in our group gave birth to girls, with only one or two male infants occasionally. Worse still, these newborns often didn’t survive more than one cycle. The luckier ones might live a bit longer. Right now, there are several such children in our group.”
This matched Tuge’s description. It seemed this was indeed a serious problem.
She still couldn’t figure out why only girls were being born, but regarding the early deaths of the children, she vaguely suspected it might be related to certain conditions.
Without beating around the bush, Sha Yi got straight to the point: “How many men are in your group? Are they from various groups, or mostly from the same small group?”
“There are very few men in our group—only about ten or so. Most are from Yeli’s side, with just two or three from other groups.” Scratching her head, Kapa frowned in recollection. “After we merged with Yeli and migrated, these problems started not long after. It’s been over a dozen cycles now. Initially, it wasn’t so bad, but it worsened over time.”
Pausing, Kapa continued, this time getting straight to the key point: “Originally, our group’s total population was nearly double what it is now. But as time passed, the number of newborns didn’t increase, while many elders passed away. Faced with this inexplicable situation, Yeli forced my mother to find the cause. She searched for a long time but couldn’t figure it out. Yeli threatened that if no solution was found, he’d take action against our small group. My mother, fearing he’d do something even more ruthless, came up with this excuse.”
So there was a deeper reason. Still, Yeli was truly ruthless. But if they didn’t comply with his demands, he might harm even more people. At the moment, Kasan’s excuse had indeed saved their group, but it had also brought significant trouble to others.
Worse yet, it might trigger more conflicts and casualties. On this point, Sha Yi strongly disagreed with Kasan’s approach.
However, Kasan was ultimately just a person from ancient times, untouched by modern science. How could she possibly devise a real solution? So, she couldn’t really be blamed.
Still, Sha Yi was curious whether their situation had improved because of Kasan’s decision. Thinking this, she asked, “It seems your mother had quite a conflict with Yeli over the migration. Convincing him couldn’t have been easy. But I’d like to know—during the migration, how did your mother make Yeli believe her?”
“You might not believe it, but it’s true—some infants who were predicted to die within days actually survived. Though still weak and sickly, they did improve.” Kapa had no intention of hiding this from her. “It was an unexpected surprise. My mother gained more recognition and goodwill because of it. Yeli wasn’t exactly happy, but he became more wary of her and stopped resorting to violence at the slightest disagreement, like he used to.”
Hearing this, Sha Yi was slightly surprised.
Setting aside Kasan’s accidental success, just considering their original northern habitat, aside from the inherent issues she suspected, environmental factors also played a role.
Before this, she had assumed that the reason Yeli’s group mostly had girls was due to their diet of acidic foods.
In biology, female chromosomes are XX, while male chromosomes are XY. Modern science suggests that acidic foods can enhance the activity of X chromosomes while suppressing the survival rate of Y chromosomes. Conversely, in an alkaline environment, Y chromosomes are more likely to thrive.
Thus, she had initially thought excessive acidic food might be the cause. After all, Tuge had mentioned early on that Yeli’s people were skilled in farming, and Kasan had indeed given Jialuo rice, which supported this theory.
But now, analyzing further, Yeli’s group’s issues weren’t limited to this. According to Kapa, the infants’ health improved after leaving their original northern habitat. Sha Yi wondered if the far north had some unique magnetic fields or substances from meteorites that affected the infants’ health or the activity of XY chromosomes.
Of course, the biggest issue remained.
Imagine a group of over eighty people, with only about ten men. If the remaining seventy or so women became pregnant, most of the children would be related by blood. Over a dozen years, as unrelated men and women aged, the new generation would become the primary reproductive force.
The problem of newborns, initially sporadic, would grow increasingly severe. The consequences were predictable.
Siblings could produce offspring, and under such chaotic relationships, recessive genetic traits would have more opportunities to manifest. As a result, unhealthy or defective newborns would frequently appear.
In ancient times, conditions were harsh. Environmental influences and inadequate care meant these fragile infants had little chance of survival.
Sha Yi’s analysis boiled down to these three points. She couldn’t think of more, but at least these reasons explained the situation. For now, she’d accept this understanding. After all, explaining it might not benefit them, and others might not even comprehend. Given these constraints, she set aside the urge to point out the issues immediately.
With that, she nodded at Kapa, signaling she understood.
However, spotting the crumpled, soaked animal skin in Kapa’s hand, Sha Yi frowned again.
This was too much. This Kapa had come and immediately caused trouble, and now she’d even ruined her clothes. How was she supposed to wear them now?
There was no way she could put on wet clothes in winter.
But if she didn’t wear them, how could she leave the hot spring?
Scanning the area around the pool, Sha Yi considered wrapping herself in leaves. Unfortunately, most of the trees nearby had dry, sparse foliage, and the larger leaves had likely been blown away by the recent cold winds. The idea was impractical and unrealistic.
Resigned, she glanced at the large black animal skin lying on the opposite side of the pool and had an idea.
Since Kapa claimed she wasn’t afraid of the cold and saw it as a burden, why not borrow the black animal skin for now? Otherwise, catching a cold could lead to more problems. She didn’t dare overestimate her own resilience.
Besides, her current predicament was entirely Kapa’s fault. She couldn’t be blamed for this.
Having decided, she stood up slowly and moved to retrieve the black animal skin. Unexpectedly, the tall and sturdy Kapa turned her head, noticed Sha Yi’s target, and swiftly grabbed the large, heavy hide before Sha Yi could reach it.
Sha Yi was stunned, but before she could speak, Kapa handed the black animal skin to her. “You can borrow this.”
What a surprise.
But Sha Yi didn’t dwell on Kapa’s motives. With something warm to wear, she wasn’t about to argue.
At that moment, Kapa was squinting at her with a sincere smile.
Sha Yi also smiled slightly, her lips curving upward.
Just then, hurried footsteps approached from nearby.
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