Ch80 – Canoe
Xiong Ye had liked Zhu Zhan quite a lot before this. Zhu Zhan was very strong and easily drew other people’s admiration.
But that was all in a situation where Zhu Zhan wasn’t coveting his own mate.
People in the tribe knew that Zhou Ji was his, so nobody would try and snatch Zhou Ji away from him, and Xiong Ye had never felt this sense of crisis before. Now, however… When Xiong Ye looked at Zhu Zhan, he had a kind of impulse to go up and fight him.
On what basis did Zhu Zhan think that he should go and hunt for Zhou Ji? They weren’t relatives, and they didn’t even know each other well.
Xiong Ye glared hatefully at Zhu Zhan.
Zhu Zhan didn’t understand the reason for Xiong Ye’s hostility and was puzzling over it when his subordinates came over and pulled him away. “Lord, our own roasted meat is ready. Hurry and come eat.”
Zhu Zhan knew that his subordinates wouldn’t really call him over to eat just because the roasted meat was ready, so that meant that there was probably something else going on… He was a little suspicious as he followed them over, only to hear one of his subordinates say, “Lord, Xiong Ye probably thinks that you’re trying to steal Zhou Ji away from him.”
People outside the situation could see things more clearly. Zhu Zhan’s subordinate had already noticed that Xiong Ye hadn’t been happy with Zhu Zhan asking so much about Zhou Ji. His displeasure was even more apparent now.
Zhu Zhan: “……” Was that what it was? He really had no interest in Zhou Ji! He already had a mate of his own, and he wasn’t like Xiong Ye and Zhou Ji who had tied themselves to another man. His mate was the most beautiful girl of their Giant Pig Tribe!
Of course, many years had passed since then. The most beautiful girl had already given him several children and could no longer be considered the most beautiful…
“What a damned…. It’s already strange enough for those two men to find each other and become mates. I was just talking, is it really necessary to be on guard against me?” Zhu Zhan said.
Zhu Zhan’s subordinate: “If Xiong Ye was constantly asking about Zhu Zhu and said that he wanted to catch food that Zhu Zhu liked for her to eat… “ Zhu Zhan’s mate was called Zhu Zhu.
Zhu Zhan didn’t even think about it before exclaiming, “He dares?!”
Zhu Zhan’s subordinate said, “Isn’t that it?”
That was indeed the case. Nobody would allow anyone else to court their own woman… Zhu Zhan finally understood and turned to his subordinates, “Right, who allowed you to call Zhu Zhu so intimately? Call her sister-in-law! In the future, just address me as big brother. Calling me Lord makes me feel uncomfortable.”
Zhu Zhan’s subordinates: “…Big brother.” They had all grown up together and were used to calling her Zhu Zhu, but now they weren’t allowed to anymore…
Zhu Zhan added, “I wonder how Zhu Zhu is doing now… Do you think we’ll have a chance to go back?”
“Absolutely!” Zhu Zhan’s subordinates said.
“Exactly, that Zhou Ji must have a way!” Zhu Zhan said. “As for Zhu Zhu, mothers with children are the fiercest. She must be doing well.”
His Zhu Zhu was big and fierce. He often had to hide from her when she was angry; she had to be alright.
Zhu Zhu’s subordinates all nodded to express their deep approval.
They had all been afraid of Zhu Zhu when they were younger!
While they were chatting, Xiong Ye was also talking to Zhou Ji, “Zhou Ji, ignore that Zhu Zhan. I don’t think he has any good intentions!”
Zhou Ji felt that Zhu Zhan had been a bit wronged over this matter. A few days ago, Zhu Zhan had clearly been very suspicious every time he glanced at him, and even today… Zhu Zhan definitely hadn’t come to speak with him because he liked him, but because there was something he wanted to ask for.
But it wasn’t a big deal if Xiong Ye felt that way.
Xiong Ye added, “However, don’t worry… You’re my mate. We’ve received the Beast God’s blessing, and nobody can break us apart.”
Zhou Ji smiled, “Indeed.” He didn’t entirely understand exactly what it was he felt towards Xiong Ye, but one thing was for sure, which was that he liked having Xiong Ye by his side.
Some chili peppers had been added to the sauerkraut devil frog, making it particularly appetizing. Zhou Ji ate a bit too much again this meal. As for Xiong Ye, he always ate a lot.
There was no collective hunting the next day.
Xiong Ye got up early in the morning and said to Zhou Ji, “I’m going to go and catch you something delicious again today.”
Zhou Ji laughed and said, “Alright. Come back early.”
“Yes!” Xiong Ye agreed. He also wanted to leave early and return early. He needed to guard against Zhu Zhan!
However, Zhu Zhan came to find Zhou Ji as soon as Xiong Ye left.
At this time, Zhou Ji was lounging near the place where pottery was being made.
Pottery was made outside the valley. However, the shapes and things made out of mud couldn’t be rained on, so the priest had ordered people to build sheds out there. Unfortunately, the people of their tribe had very limited experience in building shelters from rain. They had been going at it for a few days without managing to build up anything.
Zhou Ji suddenly remembered a music lesson he had learned in school. The teacher had taught them to sing a ‘earth ramming song’.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rammed_earth
He had long forgotten how that song went, but he still remembered what the teacher had said about ramming earth.
The so-called rammed earth method was to use mud as the primary building material and press it together firmly until it could become a foundation wall. This method for building structures had been passed down from ancient times and had been used for countless years.
He had no experience with building structures. He knew that houses could be made out of wood, but he didn’t know any of the specifics. Besides, houses built with wood wouldn’t be warm enough for the people of the tribe, and would also attract snakes, insects, mice, and other pests.
But it should be better if they built a wall out of mud, right?
Zhou Ji immediately shared his thoughts with the tribe.
Rammed earth structures were definitely a time-consuming and laborious process, but the people of the Big Bear Tribe weren’t short on strength and had plenty of time!
Zhou Ji first had the priest draw out a square about twenty square meters large, then dig out three sides to insert two rows of wooden sticks. They filled the space between the wooden sticks with dirt, then had people continuously pound down the dirt in the middle.
The dirt would become very, very compact after it was pounded repeatedly. The mud wall that would be created this way wouldn’t be affected by wind or rain, and they wouldn’t have to worry about any grass or other such things growing in it. Structures built this way were very warm in winter and cool in summer.
Of course, Zhou Ji had no idea how to make windows in this kind of structure.
They could make one wall shorter than the rest? And then make a window frame?
Forget it. These things could be slowly considered later on. In any case, all they needed now was a good place to store the unfired clay.
Zhou Ji sat under a tree and discovered that the clay molding skill of the people of the tribe had already improved a lot compared to how it had been a few days ago.
Especially that old beastmen whose animal form was a monkey who Xiong Ye had asked to make their mattress––the clay bowl he crafted was the most well-made.
However, although the things that these people had made weren’t bad, the majority of those things would probably still break apart during the firing process… Of course, this didn’t matter. They would learn from their failures and succeed eventually.
What’s more, they really had no shortage of firewood in this tribe.
The firewood that the tribe had obtained from the mountain he had ‘raged’ through before hadn’t been used up yet, and new trees were already emerging… The oxygen content of this world should be very high. It was precisely because of the high oxygen levels that plants and animals could grow so tall.
Zhou Ji was considering all these things when Zhu Zhan approached him, “Zhou Ji, can we talk?”
“What do you want to talk about?” Zhou Ji asked.
“Do you have any way that would allow me to go back?” Zhu Zhan asked, “Back to the Beastman Continent.” The Beast God Temple had named the place where they lived the Beastman Continent. It had fertile plains, and many tribes thrived there. At the same time, the area that was separated from the Beastman Continent by a long, endless stretch of river that was so wide the other shore couldn’t be seen, was called the wild forest.
When beastmen were exiled, they were shoved into canoes and sent across the river into the wild forest. Nine out of ten died on the way over and returning was even harder.
In this large river lived giant crocodiles over ten meters long, as well as many huge fish that could swallow a beastmen in a single bite.
Zhu Zhan had been unconscious when he was placed into the canoe, but he woke up later during the trip and had to watch as the people who had followed him were swallowed up one by one by giant beasts right in front of his eyes.
And even without the giant beasts… The canoe would flip over if a large wave rushed by.
Zhou Ji: “……” Based on Zhu Zhan’s description, it should be a big river. Wanting to cross the river in a canoe… Was indeed impossible.
Not to mention that there were many terrible predators in this era… Even millipedes could grow to be ten meters long, let alone anything else!
Zhou Ji said, “I have a way to help you return, but it’s not possible to do it now.”
“Why?” Zhu Zhan asked.
“The technology is missing.” Zhou Ji said. If they wanted to cross the river, they had to have boats. But regarding how boats were built… Sorry, but he didn’t know how.
Of course, it was also possible to cross the river if they built a giant raft and found a group of strong fighters to cross over with. However, they couldn’t even build a good raft, so there was no need to even discuss finding powerhouses.
“What technology?” Zhu Zhan asked.
“The knowledge of how to connect many pieces of wood together to make a big ship.” Zhou Ji explained.
Zhu Zhan fell into deep thought.
Zhou Ji then said, “You can take some small sticks and try doing it yourself.”
Zhu Zhan nodded, but his face was twisted in confusion––he had never been able to do those things?
Although Zhu Zhan had shared many things about the outside world with Zhou Ji before, he hadn’t gone into much detail. This time, he told him everything he knew, allowing Zhou Ji to build a more thorough understanding of how things were on the Beastman Continent.
However, knowing these things held little meaning to him.
Even if the beastmen on the Beastman Continent were more developed, communication in this era still relied on walking and roaring. The Beastman Continent was so far away that it really had no impact on their lives.
By contrast, the Giant Tiger Tribe…
While Zhou Ji was worrying about the Giant Tiger Tribe, a group of slaves from the Giant Tiger Tribe were currently walking towards the Big Bear Tribe.
There were over one hundred slaves in all, one third of whom belonged to the Green Hill Tribe. The rest belonged to other tribes.
The Giant Tiger Tribe had caught a lot of slaves during their journey, over a thousand of them. This group contained the weakest ones amongst them.
It had already been several days since they had left the Giant Tiger Tribe. During this journey, quite a few of them had already died, and at this moment, everyone’s expressions were numb, their eyes blank.
“Move quickly! You all will be able to rest and eat meat every day when you arrive at the Big Bear Tribe.” Mao Huo said. He had already been to the Big Bear Tribe before, so he was the one leading this group of people over this time.
These people’s expressions changed when they heard Mao Huo’s words.
They would be able to eat meat when they arrived at the Big Bear Tribe? They absolutely didn’t believe these kinds of lies.
The bigger possibility was that… They would be killed when they arrived at the Big Bear Tribe.
With that in mind, these people began to grow desperate.
Seeing the situation, Mao Huo became a little anxious.
They had hoped that when these people arrived at the Big Bear Tribe, they would either be taken in by the Big Bear Tribe and end up eating all the tribe’s food, or fight against the Big Bear Tribe.
Yet as a result, looking at the appearance of these people now, they definitely wouldn’t put up a fight.
What a bunch of fools!
Forget it. They would have killed off these people in any case. It didn’t matter if they weren’t that useful…
While Mao Huo and his group of people were pushing on with their journey, Xiong Ye had returned back to the tribe. He was immediately surrounded by a group of children who ran over and announced, “Big brother Xiong Ye! That pig went over to find Zhou Ji today and talked for a long time!”