Chapter 40

Chapter 40

Sunlight dappled the path as a group of cubs and furry creatures trotted briskly along the winding trail toward the cave. Many had streaks of gray on their faces and dirt clinging to their fingers.

Sha Hu, in particular, had dug up excessively moist clay and now looked as if he’d just rolled in a mud pit. Yun Lu had already cast several casual glances his way, but it was Xiao Shu who finally gave him a pointed look, signaling him to be more careful.

Rong Shan cleared his throat and announced loudly, "First, rinse the clay you’ve dug with water." Xue Tuan had already explained the specific process to Yun Lu and Rong Shan, but on-site, the adults still needed to take charge.

The little black lion, clutching a rattan basket, poured the clay he and Xue Tuan had collected into a wooden basin, then added a generous amount of warm water.

Now, Xue Tuan needed to knead and stir the clay with his hands to bring impurities to the surface.

The little black lion watched Xue Tuan’s movements, then glanced at his own paws, feeling he could contribute. So he dipped his paws into the wooden basin and began mixing alongside Xue Tuan: "Let me help you."

Xue Tuan looked at the suddenly inserted fluffy paws: "I wasn’t going to ask you to do this." He worried the little black lion’s paws would get dirty and be difficult to clean.

But kneading mud with a fluffy companion was quite fun. Xue Tuan felt playful and grabbed the little black lion’s paws, guiding them first into a clapping motion before pressing them into the clay: "Good boy."

The little black lion, docilely allowing himself to be maneuvered, looked endearingly blank.

After a while, Xue Tuan suddenly exclaimed, "Oh no, I forgot to make a sieve." It occurred to him that with a sieve, they could filter out larger impurities from the clay, making the process more efficient. He had momentarily forgotten about it.

"What’s wrong? Should I go make one?" The little black lion didn’t quite grasp what Xue Tuan meant, but if Little Dumpling needed something, he wanted to help.

Xue Tuan pondered for a moment and said, "Never mind, it’s not urgent."

Today’s batch would serve as practice, as he suspected most of it might end up discarded. Later, he would ask his dad and Brother Ye Cong to put in some effort and make a bamboo sieve. Once Elder Grandpa’s potter’s wheel was ready, they could use it together.

Ideally, the clay should be filtered to keep it as pure and uniform as possible. But without a sieve, they had to rely on keen eyes to pick out visible stones and plant debris.

Actually, sometimes adding other stone particles could make pottery harder. So, unless the particles were too large, Xue Tuan had everyone crush them and mix them into the clay.

This was what was called "clay blending." Whether adding different types of stones, shells, or other materials, it heavily relied on the maker’s experience. These were things the beastmen needed to slowly figure out and understand—even Xue Tuan didn’t know the exact ratios.

It was like a skilled chef who could effortlessly adjust seasonings—a bit more or a bit less—while an ordinary person would struggle to replicate the same flavor with the same ingredients.

Xue Tuan let the little black lion continue on his own while he went to check on the other playful cubs. After making a round and correcting mistakes, he managed to get the clay in everyone’s basins much cleaner.

Xue Tuan returned to the little black lion and said, "Pour out the water first, then dump all the clay onto the hide. Use the hide to squeeze out the excess moisture."

The hides they used were old and of poorer quality—able to absorb water but also let excess moisture seep out.

"Tuan Tuan, don’t move. Leave it to me." For the little black lion, squeezing out water was "right up his alley."

The little black lion gathered the hide and, without much effort, squeezed out the water completely.

"Don’t squeeze it too dry, though." This instruction was only necessary for the little black lion, whose strength made it possible—others couldn’t manage it anyway.

Xue Tuan poked their clay with his finger. He had thought they might need to sun-dry it further, but the consistency was unexpectedly perfect—just right for shaping by hand.

So Xue Tuan said, "Zhong Yan, go help the others." Tao Tu and Xiao Shu’s groups especially needed assistance.

The little black lion: "Okay." If Little Dumpling asked him to go, he would go.

The cubs didn’t refuse the little black lion’s help—they were self-aware. Though they didn’t interact with him much normally, everyone knew that as long as they didn’t get too close to Xue Tuan in front of him, he was perfectly normal.

The little black lion was very diligent, carefully squeezing each portion of clay to just the right plasticity.

The cubs, seeing how smooth and soft the clay became after squeezing, cheered, "Thank you, Zhong Yan!"

The adult beastmen didn’t trouble the little black lion for help—they had their pride, even if their faces turned red from effort.

Yun Lu stayed near Xue Tuan and the little black lion’s group, following Xue Tuan’s steps one by one. He pressed the clay and felt it was about right, then said, "Everyone, knead the clay a bit more to make sure there are no air bubbles."

This was per Xue Tuan’s instructions. Worried that others might not understand what "kneaded evenly" meant, he had Uncle Yun Lu describe it as a bubble-free state, which was easier to grasp.

Noticing Uncle Yun Lu’s thoughtful expression, Xue Tuan added, "Reducing bubbles means our pottery is less likely to crack during firing."

Yun Lu recalled their previous pottery-making steps. Neither picking out stones nor reducing air bubbles had been done properly, which explained why their pottery had so many issues.

"I feel much more confident about making pottery now. Thank you, Xue Tuan." Yun Lu looked at the clay in his hands, deeply moved, and sincerely thanked the little cub. The tribe was truly fortunate to have the arctic fox family—and such an amazing arctic fox cub.

Next came everyone’s favorite part: shaping whatever they wanted.

"Great!" The cubs cheered, hopping excitedly and eager to start.

"I want to make a clay pot for Dad." Cubs hoping to improve their fathers’ cooking skills all thought the same, starting with a challenging project.

"Can I make a jar this big?" Xiao Shu gestured a jar larger than himself, amusing the adults.

Xue Tuan wanted to make a clay bowl for everyone in his family—he shouldn’t be the only one with one.

Actually, his own bowl wasn’t of the highest quality, but he treasured it dearly. It represented the love from his grandfather—whom he hadn’t met since "waking up"—and his family. He wanted to protect that bowl.

He heard that Arctic Fox Grandfather was traveling while searching for herbs to cure him. Since he was already better, he wondered when he would get to meet his grandfather.

Qing Miao was practical and decided to make a few cups first.

"Brother, I want some." Qing Guo, eager to play with clay, rarely took human form. He clung to Qing Miao’s side, asking him to pinch off a lump of clay. Qing Guo clumsily shaped it with both hands.

Who hadn’t played with mud as a child? At first, everyone thought shaping clay into desired pottery would be easy.

Little did they know—while they could visualize the shapes, their hands wouldn’t cooperate.

"This is kinda hard." Er Hu was one of them. Initially, he found the clay uncooperative and struggled to control thickness. If the edges were too thin, they easily cracked and lost shape.

But after repeated attempts and adjustments, Er Hu seemed to gain some insight. He found that dipping his fingers in water to smooth the surface made the pottery easier to shape.

"Bro, little bro, look." Er Hu excitedly demonstrated to Da Hu and San Hu.

"Oh, hmm." It was smooth, but Da Hu looked left and right, utterly failing to recognize what Er Hu had made.

Xue Tuan felt that shaping a ball into a bowl wasn’t going smoothly. So he decided to use the coiling method—winding clay strips layer by layer, then smoothing them out. Perfect.

Xue Tuan worked quickly, making four large bowls and three small ones, including ones for Arctic Fox Grandfather, Elder Grandpa, and the little black lion.

The little black lion was able to help—he rolled the coils, and Xue Tuan stacked them, a clear division of labor. Even as a human-beast pair, Xue Tuan and the little black lion finished the fastest among the cubs.

The other cubs gathered in small groups, already helping each other voluntarily. Their faces were smudged with mud, but they set aside their earlier playfulness, focusing intently on shaping the clay—clearly eager to surprise the adults.

Once shaped, the greenware was complete. At this stage, the quickest way to finish the pottery was to place the formed greenware on the fire pit, surround it with wood, and fire it directly.

Their tribe already had experience making charcoal in the kiln, which could definitely be put to use.

So Xue Tuan shared his idea with Uncle Yun Lu. They would need to ask his father and Uncle Shi Hu for help.

Yun Lu nodded. He understood—the greenware should be air-dried first. Once the moisture evaporated, it would harden.

Yun Lu had an orc underling bring out a wooden rack and said to everyone, "Those who have finished, place your unfired pottery here. Once they dry tomorrow, we can start firing them."

Everyone was deeply engrossed in their work, and before they knew it, it was almost dark. The orcs carefully picked up the freshly shaped unfired pottery, their hands speckled with dried mud, but they paid no mind to wiping them off, their eyes filled with focus and anticipation.

The youngsters, even more so, were afraid of accidentally dropping the raw clay pieces they had worked so hard to create, so they all asked the adults to help place them.

"Big Tiger, be careful, okay?" Tao Tu followed closely behind Big Tiger, calling out with every step he took, worried that if Big Tiger wasn’t paying attention, his clay pot would be ruined.

Big Tiger’s ears were nearly ringing from the constant reminders: "I know, I know. If you keep shouting in my ear like this, I might really drop it, and then don’t you dare cry."

Tao Tu protested: "You can’t drop it! If you do, you owe me a new one!"

Big Tiger quickly replied: "Alright, alright, I won’t drop it. Don’t worry, you’re making me jumpy." Sometimes Big Tiger really regretted having a mouth—one sentence from him always seemed to make the youngsters even noisier.