Chapter 55

Chapter 55

Xue Tuan was thrilled to hear that other tribes had wheat. So, it wasn't that the Beast World lacked it; it was just absent from their immediate region! They absolutely had to trade for some.

Rong Shan felt Xue Tuan squirming on his lap and knew he was very interested in something Yun Lu had just mentioned.

Yun Lu glanced at Xue Tuan, his eyes sparkling with equal excitement. The crops he spoke of were precisely the vital grains the Beast God had mentioned. With the tribe now researching cultivation, he naturally hoped they could grow a diverse range of crops.

"So, we must arrange a trade with Xiao Er’s tribe, no matter what," Yun Lu declared. In truth, he was even more eager to integrate Xiao Er’s small tribe into their own. The Mountain Water Tribe had so many areas needing development, which meant they required more people to work together.

Rong Shan said, "However, we still don’t know where their tribe is located." He drew Xue Tuan closer, adjusting him into a more comfortable sitting position.

"What if we have the patrol members scout a little farther out each day? They might run into someone from his tribe looking for him," Shi Hu suggested, stroking his chin thoughtfully.

This plan hinged on someone from their tribe actually searching for Xiao Er. Xiao Er had been gone for several days, making it difficult to estimate the distance to his tribe.

In a situation like Xiao Er’s, tribes typically wouldn't send out search parties for extended periods. Especially now, during the cold season, the probability was even lower. Unless it was his immediate family, voluntarily venturing out to search.

"His family must be very worried…" Rong Shan mused, imagining his own child going missing. He knew he would drop everything and search day and night to bring them back.

Just by Rong Shan’s expression, Xue Tuan knew his sentimental father was once again "empathizing," always prone to overthinking. Xue Tuan wriggled a bit, leaning against his father to reassure him of his presence.

Rong Shan hugged his soft, dumpling-like child, feeling a comforting warmth spread through his chest.

Feng Yan put an arm around Rong Shan and said, "Then let’s go with Shi Hu’s idea for now. It would be best if we could find someone." Anyone coming to look for Xiao Er would surely know the way back to their tribe, making things much simpler once they were found.

Everyone nodded—for now, that was all they could do. Yun Lu continued, "Then next…"

The adults still had other matters to discuss, so Xue Tuan got down from Rong Shan’s lap. Xue Tuan, along with Bing Qiu and the little black lion, decided to go see Elder Grandpa.

"Xue Tuan, wait! I have something for you." A distant call echoed from outside the cave.

Huh? Who was it this time? Bing Qiu turned around and saw a fiery red fox cub running over with a bag on its back.

Upon reaching Xue Tuan, the red fox cub quickly transformed into human form.

Xiao Xing pulled a stone he had found in the wild from his satchel and handed it to Xue Tuan. "I heard from Bing Qiu that you like all sorts of strange stones. I thought this one was quite special, so I wanted to give it to you."

Xiao Xing still felt embarrassed recalling how he had cried and begged Xue Tuan to save his father last time—he felt both he and his father, Le Hu, had lost face.

"Thank you, Xiao Xing!" Xue Tuan said, shooting a sidelong glance at his brother. He had no idea what his brother had been telling others about him. If there were any embarrassing stories, he wouldn’t let his brother off easily.

Bing Qiu began playing dumb, looking everywhere except at his younger brother.

"No need to thank me." Xiao Xing shook his head, then turned back into a little red fox cub. "I’m going to keep an eye on my father. See you tomorrow!" With that, he ran off, leaving behind a cheerful, bouncing figure.

"See you tomorrow!" Xue Tuan waved goodbye to the adorable furry creature, then looked at the stone in his hand—it was quite heavy.

The stone was oblong, with pine needle-like patterns and a unique color—it was a pine-patterned stone with purple and green bands!

Bing Qiu leaned over to take a look and realized it was indeed a type of stone he had never found before… Bing Qiu turned his head away. Fine, he’d let it slide this time.

Xue Tuan’s arms were getting tired, so he stuffed the stone into the little black lion’s backpack. "Thanks for carrying it," he said, ruffling the fur on the little black lion’s head.

The little black lion nuzzled Xue Tuan’s palm. "No problem." The weight of the bag on his back felt like nothing to him—effortless.

They continued strolling toward Elder Grandpa’s cave. Xue Tuan thought it would be perfect to give this pine-patterned stone to his grandfather and have him turn it into an inkstone.

In his previous life, his neighbor, Grandpa Big Tree, had been obsessed with human calligraphy and insisted on dragging everyone around him into it. As one of the beneficiaries, Xue Tuan had even earned extra points for his calligraphy skills when he tested into the youth training program of the Beast Bureau.

Inkstones had appeared very early in history, even in primitive times, when they were used mainly for grinding pigments.

Pine-patterned inkstones might not grind ink as quickly as Duan inkstones or produce as smooth ink as She inkstones, and they weren’t among the Four Famous Inkstones, but pine-patterned stone was still excellent material for inkstones—it didn’t absorb ink easily and was resistant to water.

Naturally, an inkstone needed inksticks to go with it. The main ingredient of ink was soot, with pine soot and oil soot inks being the highest quality, though their production processes were complex and tedious.

Items like brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones could take anywhere from a short time to several years to produce, depending on the craftsmanship and materials. But for now, they didn’t need anything too fancy—as long as it worked, that was the main thing.

The construction team, however, might need an inkpot for their building projects. As for Xue Tuan himself, he felt the charcoal sticks at home were still usable for now.

Ever since the tribe started producing charcoal, some cubs had picked up broken pieces to scribble on cave walls, and the beastmen learned that charcoal could be used this way. So when the arctic fox family saw Xue Tuan writing and drawing on animal hides with charcoal sticks, they simply thought he was "doodling" like the other cubs.

"Xue Tuan, where are you going?" As they passed by the area where the yaks were kept, a few more cubs tagged along with Xue Tuan’s group.

The elders were now splitting their time between the central cave and the workshop cave, so Xue Tuan and the others peeked into the central cave to see if Grandpa was there, busy guiding beastmen in pottery-making.

When a mischievous cub accidentally made the first wavy line on a piece of greenware, the beastmen embellished it with more lines to beautify the mark. This became the beginning of decorative patterns on pottery.

So now, when Xue Tuan saw beastmen drawing patterns on pottery in the cave, he thought it looked quite beautiful.

"Junior Priest Lord, you’re here."

"Xue Tuan, are you here to make pottery today?"

Seeing the cubs peeking into the cave, the beastmen greeted them warmly.

"We’re looking for Elder Grandpa."

Lu Meng, the apprentice of Elder Bai Xiang, was now primarily stationed here, and everyone would go to him with questions.

"Okay, goodbye, brothers and uncles." When it was just the cubs, the beastmen were always extra enthusiastic and loved teasing them. Xue Tuan, foreseeing this, quickly made his escape after hearing that Elder Grandpa wasn’t there.

The unlucky Sha Hu and Xiao Shu were caught on the spot and dragged off to make pottery—how terrifying.

"Come back next time—" The beastmen’s reluctant voices followed the cubs out of the cave.

Xue Tuan and the other cubs giggled as they hurried to the workshop cave, with Hui Hui fluttering his wings ahead to lead the way, as if beastmen were chasing them.

The afternoon sun slanted into the cave entrance, its golden rays somewhat dazzling. The cubs hurried inside, where the cave was bustling with activity.

The workshop was extremely busy now, with many tasks queued up. Because of this, the elders had to reorganize and start dividing the labor. Xue Tuan suggested that the elders form groups, each responsible for different projects.

Now, Xue Tuan would usually bring his requests to Elder Mu Shi. Elder Mu Shi and the other elders would outline the production process, assign tasks to their apprentices, and then the apprentices would lead different groups to carry out the work.

"Why are you in such a hurry? Come rest here." Elder Mu Shi waved Xue Tuan over when he saw him panting from running. The other cubs, being tough-skinned, weren’t included in the elder’s doting.

Xue Tuan obediently sat on a small wooden stool, accepting the warm water Elder Grandpa handed him.

"The cane you asked for isn’t ready yet," Elder Mu Shi said, thinking Xue Tuan had come for the cane. He explained that he had assigned the task to Bai Xiang, and it should be ready by tomorrow.

Xue Tuan shook his head and took the pine-patterned stone from the little black lion, placing it in Elder Mu Shi’s hand. "I came to give this to Grandpa. Grandpa, help me polish it."

"Wow, this stone looks… quite unique," Elder Mu Shi said, turning the stone over and over while listening to Xue Tuan.

After understanding Xue Tuan’s request, Elder Mu Shi realized that making an inkstone wasn’t difficult if they weren’t too particular about it. "Sure, I’ll make it for you when I have time."

"Thank you, Grandpa," Xue Tuan said obediently, holding his small pottery cup.

"Oh, you're welcome." Mu Shi affectionately patted Xue Tuan's head. "Ahem, well, see, Grandpa's run out of that 'tea' I had before, but my apprentices haven't been able to find anything similar for me..."

"Then next time, I’ll keep an eye out and find some more for Grandpa," Xue Tuan readily agreed.

Mu Shi immediately beamed, his eyes crinkling into slits. "Good, good. Grandpa will be waiting."

Then, as if remembering something, Mu Shi leaned close to Xue Tuan’s ear and whispered, "When you bring tea in the future, make sure Bai Xiang doesn't see you. Steer clear of him." If it weren’t for that old fellow insisting on taking a share of his tea leaves, he wouldn’t have finished them so quickly.

Xue Tuan nodded hesitantly. Though he felt it wasn’t quite right, even if they planted the tea later, it wouldn’t be ready to drink anytime soon. Since there wasn't enough to go around, there really was no other way; Bai Xiang Grandpa would just have to go without for now.

"You asked me to make the crutch while you’re here chatting?" Bai Xiang, taking a break from working on the crutch, spotted Mu Shi playing with the cub and immediately felt indignant. How come he was so busy he couldn’t catch his breath, while Mu Shi had all this free time?

"I was just about to go help..."

"Then why don’t you get up? Is your rear glued to that stool?"

...

Mu Shi and Bai Xiang started bickering again. Xue Tuan quickly made a quick escape with Bing Qiu from their "battlefield" and headed toward Ye Cong. Meanwhile, the little black lion had to stay behind to help Elder Grandpa and couldn’t slip away with them.

The workshop was now divided into many groups: the wall group, the raft group, the millstone group, the farming tools group, and so on... Fortunately, the cave was spacious enough, or it wouldn’t have been able to accommodate so many people. Ye Cong was currently with the wall group.

After hearing that the outer wall would be built using a new method, Ye Cong had listened carefully to Yun Lu and Shi Hu’s explanations. As he listened, it occurred to him that the same method could be applied to the new houses they were building—much better than simple fences.

So Ye Cong was learning from the wall group, planning to apply what he learned to the construction of the new houses.

The new wall method Yun Lu and the others had learned came from Xue Tuan’s Beast God Stone Slab. The "walls" they had previously known or seen were mainly wooden stake fences and trenches.

Originally, the inner wall of the Mountain Water Tribe was built with mud mixed with straw and stone piles. As long as it was thick enough, this method was considered quite effective before they learned to produce quicklime.

But after the beastmen learned to build kilns and fire pottery, Xue Tuan thought the outer wall could be improved.

Following the Beast God’s guidance, when constructing the new wall, the Mountain Water Tribe began making bricks and using quicklime produced by calcining limestone or dolomite, mixed with clay and gravel to create lime mortar.

There was an even better method, but it required an extra step: adding glutinous rice. Glutinous rice mortar could make the wall stronger and more durable, rivaling the strength and longevity of cement mortar. It was the best method currently achievable.

However, they had yet to even find ordinary rice, let alone glutinous rice. Fortunately, they now knew rice existed, and glutinous rice could be selectively bred. Ideally, they could complete this process before his special ability faded.

Seeing Ye Cong frowning thoughtfully by himself, Xue Tuan approached him. "Brother Ye Cong."

"Hey, little one! You came at just the right time!" Ye Cong, who had been worried, looked as if he’d been saved when he saw Xue Tuan. Having seen the "Beast God Stone Slab" so often and being influenced daily by the Beast God, Xue Tuan surely knew more than he did.

Ye Cong pulled Xue Tuan over to an area with sand and picked up a stick. As he drew, he explained, "We’re planning to add walls to the new houses, but the chief said that aside from the tribe’s planting areas, any family that wants to plant in their own yard can request it."

Ye Cong glanced at Xue Tuan—this included the arctic fox family.

Xue Tuan cleared his throat lightly but didn’t respond. Of course, they needed their own yard to grow vegetables! Being able to pick fresh produce anytime would be wonderful! This was the result of him constantly persuading his fathers. What was the point of having land if you didn’t plant anything?

But Xue Tuan understood Ye Cong’s dilemma. Sure enough, Ye Cong continued, "That means the originally allocated land per household won’t be enough..."

If every family was allotted the same size plot as the largest household, and they had to build "bedrooms, living rooms, kitchens, and so on," there would be no extra space left for planting.

"The houses don’t necessarily have to be built horizontally; they can also be built vertically," Xue Tuan said casually.

"Ver... vertically?" Ye Cong repeated slowly, then suddenly understood. "That’s right! I’ve heard before that the winged beastmen’s treehouses have multiple levels! How could we have forgotten?"

Ye Cong grew more excited as he thought about it. He erased the lines he’d drawn in the sand and quickly sketched a new plan. Whenever he got stuck, Xue Tuan offered a few suggestions.

Gradually, Ye Cong’s ideas became clearer. Though many details still needed discussion, the general direction was set. After a busy day, all his worries had finally vanished.

"Little one, you’re amazing!" Ye Cong gave Xue Tuan a big kiss on the cheek, overjoyed and relieved. Now they had time to visit other groups and see what everyone else was up to.

Xue Tuan wiped his cheek. Aside from family, Ye Cong was the most affectionate person he knew. Though Xue Tuan wasn’t entirely used to such displays from anyone other than family or furry creatures, he didn’t mind it from Brother Ye Cong.

Ye Cong took Xue Tuan to the raft group. The rafts were being prepared for beastmen to cross the river after the ice melted, to transport stones from the other side. The construction group would also need stones, so Ye Cong was particularly interested in this group’s progress.

The beastmen had wisely chosen mature bamboo with straight, thick stalks. They carefully selected each piece, ensuring uniformity for easier binding.

The cold season was also a good time for cutting bamboo, as its water content was lower, making it more resistant to decay.

Xue Tuan noticed that the bamboo had already been stripped to reduce water absorption and fire-hardened to form curved ends. All that remained was assembly.

"They’ll probably make a smaller raft first, as a test," Ye Cong whispered beside him.

The small raft would require twenty to thirty bamboo poles. If successful, they would attempt a larger raft, possibly needing over a hundred poles. For larger rafts, they would also need to add pontoons at the bottom to ensure buoyancy.

The beastmen laid the bamboo parallel to form the raft base. Then, working in pairs, one person held the bamboo in place while the other tied knots, repeating the process several times to ensure stability.

The beastmen in the raft group were quiet, practical workers, efficient and focused, so there seemed to be no concern about their progress.

"By the way, what are those plants you brought back today for?" Ye Cong asked, noting that the plants had a peculiar smell.

At first, Ye Cong thought the plants were for eating and had been misplaced by the subbeastmen. But they all said Junior Priest Lord had instructed them to leave the plants there.

Xue Tuan glanced at the pile of gray-green plants in the corner. "Oh, right. Uncle Yun Lu said the soapberries are running out. Since we just so happened to dig up some alkali sagebrush, we can make our own soap."

"First, we need to burn the alkali sagebrush into ash, then boil it to make alkaline water." Seeing Brother Ye Cong’s interest, Xue Tuan figured he'd give a quick rundown. The more people who knew, the more help they’d have later.

"Then we have to render animal fat." The tribe had stored plenty of animal fat, which could now be put to use. The rendered fat would be poured into the alkaline water and stirred until it turned cloudy and thick. Once foam appeared, it meant saponification had occurred.

"After that, it needs to cool for a few days before it can be cut into bars for everyone to use," Xue Tuan concluded.

"So that’s how it’s done..." Ye Cong and Xue Tuan chatted as they walked, planning to visit other groups when Bing Qiu called out to them.

"Xue Tuan! It’s time to eat." He hadn't noticed, but the sky outside was already getting dark. Xue Tuan quickly said goodbye to Ye Cong and ran toward Bing Qiu and the little black lion.

Xue Tuan: "Brother Ye Cong, we’re heading off now."

"Go on, go on. Eat well," Ye Cong waved without looking back, already jotting down a new idea that had just come to him in the sand.

Xue Tuan rode on the little white fox’s back, carried by his brother toward the central cave, with the little black lion following behind.

The evening glow bathed them in light, the distant sunset painting the sky in brilliant colors. Xue Tuan felt that time had flown by—another full and wonderful day had passed in the blink of an eye.

A few more busy days went by, with everyone in the Mountain Water Tribe diligently carrying out their assigned tasks.

Even Xiao Er, despite his leg injury, tried to find some handiwork to do. He didn’t want to freeload off the tribe for so long without contributing.

That day, however, a beastman on patrol came rushing back and sought out Yun Lu:

"High Priest! We’ve encountered Xiao Er’s tribesmen!"