Chapter 7: Mosquito Infestation

Recreating the habitats of the animals was tricky, but my father decided to simulate the original habitats of those animals in a small area, then placed a fence around it with a door for the tribespeople to enter when feeding the animals and collecting the eggs or cubs.

My father also instructed the tribespeople to make separate housing for the new hatchlings and cubs of the small animals for domestication. They even created a smaller version of the incubation room of the tribe for the incubation of the animal eggs with controlled temperature management.

The incubation room was a hut with a stone-made fireplace to heat the room, especially during autumn and winter. The fireplace was constantly checked by the elders to ensure the safety of the eggs while keeping them warm. Everything went smoothly after that, and so the livestock were slowly domesticated by the tribe.

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Slowly, more and more livestock were domesticated by the tribe to keep up with the food demand of the tribe, so the hunting of food became less.

My father constantly reminded the group assigned to the animals to always keep the area clean, dry all the manure collected from the animals daily, and use it as fertilizer for the vegetables we were growing on the mountain.

They also started helping me raise my silkworms, as they also used them as feed for the quails and chickens.

There's a river just a few meters away from the tribe, so access to the water supply was easy except in winter. Rainwater was also collected in huge clay jars to use during the winter. A constant water supply was needed for domesticating livestock to keep them hydrated and clean.

Keeping animals in the tribe took a lot of effort and could also invite mosquitoes and other insects if not handled properly.

Ever since the tribe started keeping livestock, mosquitoes and other small insects started to multiply, even though the tribespeople kept the animals clean.

So, when I went to the mountain with the Elder Healer to collect herbs, I asked her, "Grandma Lony, are there any herbs that can make insects go away?"

"Yes, there are several herbs you can find here in the mountains that can drive away insects because of their scent, such as lemongrass, lavender, marigold, rosemary, catmint, basil, and many more," she replied.

I smiled at her excitedly upon hearing her words as she continued to explain while pointing to some herbs: "These are called lemongrass, and mosquitoes dislike their scent and don't go near these types of plants."

"Grandma Lony, can we plant these in front of the treehouse so that the mosquitoes won't swarm inside?" I complained while showing her my smooth little legs. "I hate insect bites; look here at my legs—I have many insect bites."

She chuckled before responding, "Okay, take some of those herbs back to our tribe so that we can plant them later."

I took some of the plants and planted them around the treehouse with the help of Elder Healer Lony. I also secretly planted lemongrass around the tribe to protect others from mosquitoes.

Chicken and quail eggs became a delicious delicacy of the tribe since there were various ways to cook them, and they laid eggs all year round, especially during the hotter seasons such as summer. But the scent of the grass used for them attracts mosquitoes and other small insects.

Eggs cook faster than meat, so it became easier for the assigned females to cook meals for the tribe.

I suddenly missed eating rice and eggs. Rice was the most common staple food in my previous life. However, I was not familiar with how to grow them, and I haven't found any around the area, maybe because I failed to recognize them since I grew up in the city, so I was originally ignorant of farming. I only relied on watching video tutorials on the internet at that time to learn more about rural life.

One time, an infestation of mosquitoes occurred. Most of the houses were infested by mosquitoes, and all the tribespeople were baffled by the sudden increase in the number of the insects.

The Elder Healer's treehouse was the only one that was not infested with mosquitoes.

My father called for a meeting, so I looked for him before their meeting started. I ran toward the pavilion as fast as I could and saw my father standing near the entrance.

"F-Father, d-did the tribespeople remove the lemongrass I planted around the tribal territory?" I stammered, panting as I gasped for air upon stopping in front of my father.

He gestured that he had no idea by shaking his head lightly while furrowing his thick silver eyebrows, showing his confusion. "Grandma Lony taught me that lemongrass and several types of herbs can drive away mosquitoes, so Ari planted many of the grasses that we took from the mountain every morning around the tribe," I began to explain as I pulled him and let him smell the leaves to help him familiarize himself with and identify the plant.

Since summer is the peak season for mosquito infestations, I told him how important those plants were to our tribe. I even pointed it out to him: "Look at Grandma Lony's treehouse; there are no mosquitoes going in there because of those plants right there—those are lemongrass—they drive away mosquitoes and other insects due to their strong aroma."

After he understood the situation, he hurriedly brought me back to my room and talked to the Elder Healer before they went to the tribal meeting together.

During the meeting, they decided to educate the whole tribe about herbs that can drive away mosquitoes, and they started to gather the said herbs the next day to plant them around the tribal territory.

They also cleaned all the water reservoirs and smoked the whole tribe to drive away the mosquitoes.

After the herbs were planted, the mosquitoes naturally went away, so the tribespeople went back to their normal routines.

A few days later, there were a few hatchlings, cubs, and younglings who mysteriously fell ill. There were only a small number, and it started with an inconsistent low fever until they showed rashes all over their bodies and suffered from stomachaches and headaches. Even though it was not contagious, the whole tribe went into panic.

I knew what it was since I myself had experienced it in my previous life. It was dengue, a fatal illness brought on by mosquitoes. There was no cure for dengue, even in the 21st century. The only way to help the patients survive such an illness was to constantly hydrate them and boost their immunity by providing nutritious food or vitamins. Vaccines for dengue had been created, but they caused chaos in some countries because of the vaccine's many complicated side effects.

I pleaded with the Elder Healer to let me help the patients, especially since three of the infected were my brothers.

I secretly added salt to their drinking water and provided them with some fresh fruit juices to constantly hydrate them. Despite our efforts, some of the hatchlings still died, including two of my younger brothers, since they were still too young and weak, while Askook and the others luckily survived.

The tribe still moved forward despite the incident, thanking the Elder Healer for curing most of the patients while grieving for the young ones that didn't survive.