Chapter 39

Chapter 39

The fluffies rushed forward, encircling Xue Tuan. Laughing, Xue Tuan squeezed out of the furry embrace, patted the large head of the sun bear cub, and scooped up the little rabbit that had jumped into his arms, gently stroking their soft fur.

"Alright, alright, I'm back!" Enveloped by a horde of fluffballs, Xue Tuan felt utterly blissful, almost melting. This world truly couldn't exist without fluffiness! Immersed in their cuddles, Xue Tuan's expression was one of pure contentment, as he slipped back into his "all I need is fluffies" mode.

"Ahem." Yun Lu had initially given Xue Tuan and the fluffies some time to play on their own. But after a long wait, seeing no sign of their return, he had to come out personally to find them.

"High Priest."

"Uncle Priest."

The cubs greeted Yun Lu warmly upon seeing him, addressing him casually without realizing he was there to round them up.

It was Xue Tuan, utterly captivated by the fluffies, who snapped out of his reverie at the sound of the voice.

Xue Tuan: "Uncle Yun Lu, I'll go check the slab right away."

Sha Hu and Xiao Shu, restless after a few days with Elder Grandpa, had been eager to play with Xue Tuan. Qing Miao brought Qing Guo over today, only to find Xue Tuan gone, so they waited expectantly at the cave entrance.

Usually, the little black lion served as Xue Tuan's backrest, but today Qing Miao arrived and promptly nudged him aside. The two little sun bears immediately claimed the spot behind Xue Tuan.

The little black lion could only glare resentfully at the two brothers for a moment before reluctantly settling down to Xue Tuan’s right. Qing Miao was a Subbeastman and Xue Tuan’s good friend. The little black lion couldn't just push Qing Miao away like he did Sha Hu, and Qing Miao, emboldened by Xue Tuan’s support, wasn't afraid of him at all.

Xue Tuan warmed his hands by cradling the little rabbit, while Xiao Shu dragged a stone slab over and leaned against it, propping it up. Even while serving as a "fluffy stand," Xiao Shu wasn’t idle. He pulled out a fruit from who knows where and began munching away eagerly with his two little paws.

Xue Tuan glanced at the stone slab in front of him and suddenly remembered something. He quickly patted the little black lion, motioning him to open the bundle. Xue Tuan took out the two pieces of tree bark they had cut and handed them to the little black lion, saying, "Zhong Yan, please take these to Father for me."

There was no need for lengthy explanations. Father would surely ask the little black lion where he found them. The little black lion was usually very good at remembering routes and would describe the location clearly to Father.

"Okay," the little black lion nodded, picked up the bark with his mouth, and headed off.

On the other side, Rong Shan and Shu Yi were chatting while sewing down-lined fur coats. Most of the previous monster beast pelts had been used to make cold-resistant fur clothing for the cubs. Later, they discovered that adding goose down to make down-lined fur coats also provided excellent warmth, so they decided to make some for the beastmen who often needed to go outside.

Generally speaking, cubs in other tribes on the beast world weren’t given such high priority. Other tribes tended to believe in "survival of the fittest." But the Mountain Water Tribe seemed to be an exception. They all agreed to make fur clothing for the cubs in their families first.

Shu Yi gently stroked a newly finished down-lined coat. He had never imagined that one day his tribe could produce such warm clothing. He no longer had to worry about his partner freezing during long periods outdoors.

"Zhong Yan is coming," a Subbeastman noticed the little black lion approaching from the cave. Subbeastmen were usually very friendly toward cubs. As the little black lion passed by, they smiled and reached out to pat his head.

There had been bad rumors about the little black lion in the tribe before, but after the new tribe was established, the little black lion broke the beastmen’s "bad luck reputation." More and more people were willing to interact with him.

After spending so much time with Xue Tuan, the little black lion was no longer awkward about having his head patted. He knew it was the tribe’s way of showing friendliness, just like how Little Dumpling treated him.

Before the little black lion returned, Xue Tuan pretended to study the slab for a while and then asked Sha Hu to call Uncle Yun Lu over.

Xue Tuan finally asked the question he had been pondering for a long time: "Uncle Yun Lu, has our tribe ever tried making clay pottery?" Aside from the small pottery bowl in his hand, he hadn’t seen any other pottery.

"Of course we have! Ever since a traveling beastman traded a pottery bowl with us many years ago, we’ve been trying to fire our own pottery, but we always failed. Gradually, no one tried anymore…" Yun Lu explained. Later, even the traded pottery bowl accidentally broke, and everyone forgot about pottery altogether. Pottery was lightweight, heat-proof, and so on—things they had only heard about but never actually used. Since they couldn’t make it themselves, it was easy to selectively forget about it.

However, when the beastmen brought back wild charcoal before, there were a few strange pieces mixed in…

"Wait a moment."

Yun Lu dug through a nearby rattan basket and pulled out two pieces, handing them to Xue Tuan.

"These were grabbed by a beastman when we collected the wild charcoal. I thought they looked like pottery shards." At the time, when they first discovered the charcoal, Shi Hu insisted that not a single piece be left behind. That beastman grabbed everything in sight, which is how these fragments ended up with them.

But Yun Lu was puzzled. Why would there be fragments in that place? Were they left behind by other beastmen?

Xue Tuan examined the oddly shaped fragments—they were indeed made of pottery. But when Uncle Yun Lu mentioned they were found near the wild charcoal, he realized what must have happened.

The soil there must be clay. One of the key characteristics of clay is its plasticity. Combined with the moisture from the rain and the small fire that had occurred, not only was charcoal formed, but some of the clay had also hardened into pottery shards.

"Uncle Yun Lu, this is the clay from the Beast God Slab," Xue Tuan said earnestly, holding the fragments. "With this clay, we can make pottery."

Yun Lu was baffled. Had their inability to make pottery all along been due to the type of soil?

"You’re saying that as long as we find this kind of soil, we can make pottery?" Yun Lu slowly fingered the fragment.

The pottery they had tried to make either couldn’t keep its shape or would crack even if it did. Without exception, it was all brittle. Impractical and easily broken items were hard to catch on with the beastmen, so eventually, they stopped trying altogether and continued using stone or wooden bowls instead.

They had heard that people in medium and large tribes used pottery pots and bowls that were very durable and practical.

It would be a lie to say they weren’t envious. Who wouldn’t want lightweight, practical pottery? Unfortunately, their small tribe had nothing valuable to trade, let alone the means to acquire the method of making pottery.

In Yun Lu’s eyes, all the soil on the ground looked the same. How could they have known there were differences?

Xue Tuan: "Of course, it’s not just about the soil." But now they had charcoal, which could burn at much higher temperatures than ordinary wood.

With some effort, the beastmen could probably produce passable pottery. But in the long run, everyone would want better quality. After repeated failures, without someone persistently researching and improving, success would indeed be difficult. Besides, back when they were struggling to get by, if their existing tools were still functional, they wouldn’t have thought to change anything.

His eyes lit up. He knew Xue Tuan would have a solution and quickly pressed further: "So, how exactly should we make it?"

For shaping the pottery, they could start by trying coil-building and hand-shaping. A more efficient method would require Elder Grandpa's help.

Xue Tuan sat up and called his fluffies to follow him to the craft cave, where they found Elder Grandpa.

The little black lion said flatly: "Grandpa, we meet again."

Xue Tuan, as always, wore a sweet smile: "Grandpa, can you help us make a few things?"

"Of course." Elder Mushi took one look at the situation—Priest Yun Lu and Deputy Chief Rong Shan had also come along—and knew it must be tribe business. He agreed without hesitation.

Starting with the basics, Xue Tuan described the appearance of a pottery wheel to Elder Grandpa—a rotating platform. It could be made of stone or wood, but it needed to be fixed on an axle with a base that lets it spin, allowing the wheel to be turned easily by hand or foot.

The cubs were initially very interested in this new thing, but as the explanation went on, their eyes went crossed, and they almost nodded off.

However, when Xue Tuan demonstrated how to draw a circle, they "came back to life."

Xue Tuan tied two wooden sticks with vine rope at both ends, stuck one end into the ground, pulled the rope tight, and drew a circle around the fixed end. A perfect circle appeared.

"Wow."

"Let me try."

Everyone loved new gadgets. Whether adults or cubs, everyone knew what a circle was, but they usually drew them freehand. Now they learned there was a method to draw a circle so perfectly!

The cubs became engrossed in drawing circles, while Xue Tuan used his finger to sketch a rough design of the pottery wheel on the soft ground. The elder was always very interested in new things and immediately asked for more details.

"I think I understand roughly. Wait for us," Elder Mushi said, calling over a few of his buddies to help. They were determined to make a pottery wheel to show everyone.

Yun Lu: "Next, we need to go to the place where we found the wild charcoal, right?" They had to dig up the soil and bring it back.

Xue Tuan replied unsurprisingly: "Exactly!"

A group of fluffies, some riding on others, made their way back to the place where they had previously discovered the wild charcoal.

Xue Tuan thought they could go dig up a little first to test it out, and then have Uncle Shi Hu and the others dig up larger quantities later.

That place was also familiar to the little black lion, who effortlessly carried Xue Tuan on his back and led the way to the destination.

They still found it difficult to weave very fine baskets, so to make it easier to transport the clay, they had to place a hide inside the rattan basket to prevent leaks.

Yun Lu: "When everyone collects clay, make sure not to include sand or broken leaves, understood?"

"Understood—"

It was unclear whether the cubs were really paying attention—they were just thrilled about digging. Usually, the adults scolded them for getting too dirty and forbade them from playing with soil, but this time, the adults were actually joining them in digging. How fun!

Some used wooden shovels, some used bone tools, and some even transformed into their Beast Form to dig with their paws—they were having a blast.

This time, when they heard Priest say he was taking them to make pottery, they definitely had to come help. With clay pots, surely Dad's cooking skills could improve and make delicious food, right? Their fathers always said the weird-tasting dishes at home were because of the poor-quality stone pots, which were holding Dad back.

With the cooperation of both adults and cubs, they quickly filled several baskets with clay.

Yun Lu: "This should be enough for now. We can come back for the rest another time."

"Ah—?" The cubs groaned—they hadn’t had enough fun yet!

Xue Tuan: "There’s something even more fun later."

"Then let’s hurry back!"

"Uncle Priest, let’s go, let’s go!"

And so, the group of furry cubs were easily persuaded by Xue Tuan and were soon eagerly hurrying back.