Qi Bai, Yang Luo and Hou Yan stood on the observation deck and looked into the distance.
The scene of yesterday’s earthquake was still vivid in people’s minds. The Black Mountain Tribe must make a judgment as soon as possible to determine whether the Black Mountain was safe and if they needed to migrate again.
Since Lang Ze wasn’t in the tribe now, this heavy burden fell on the three of them, or Qi Bai alone.
Qi Bai let out a breath and tried hard to connect together everything he had experienced since coming to the Beastman Continent.
First, the tsunami and floods forced most of the tribes living in the east to migrate.
Second, the cold winter affected a wide area, extending the winter in the entire Northern Wilderness by nearly a month.
Considering these, Qi Bai had reason to suspect that this earthquake was definitely more intense than what they had experienced.
You know, during a major earthquake in China, Qi Bai felt the tremors from thousands of kilometers away.
However, yesterday’s earthquake produced two shakes in a short period of time but didn’t cause significant damage. This was very similar to what he had experienced before.
The location of the Black Mountain Tribe likely wasn’t the center of the earthquake. It might even be very far away from the center of the earthquake.
If this was the case, there was no need for them to leave the home they had built with so much difficulty.
However, the subsequent development of natural disasters such as earthquakes couldn’t be judged by common sense. Even in modern times when science was highly developed, it was impossible to make a 100% accurate prediction.
If Qi Bai made a wrong judgment, the members of the Black Mountain Tribe might face greater danger.
Qi Bai briefly described his guess to Yang Luo and Hou Yan. Both of them had shocked expressions on their faces. They didn’t know how Qi Bai knew such knowledge, and they couldn’t imagine what type of tragic situation the earthquake that Qi Bai described would be like.
For the first time, these two beastmen who believed in the Beast God felt fear toward nature.
Yang Luo put his finger on his forehead. “Since no place is safe, the safety under our feet is safest.”
Qi Bai hadn’t expected Yang Luo to have such a transcendent understanding. He couldn’t help turning his head to look at the vast mountains and rivers in the distance.
Yang Luo was right. This vast Beastman Continent was full of dangers and no place was absolutely safe.
The next moment after the three of them made their decision, a cold wind blew and snowflakes fell from the sky.
Yang Luo clenched the bear bone staff in his hand. “Winter has come early again this year.”
Qi Bai also frowned.
After a year of recording and combining it with the oral accounts of other elderly beastmen, Qi Bai roughly calculated that a year on the Beastmen Continent had thirteen months.
If he calculated it based on last year’s first snow, winter would probably not arrive for another month and a half.
Qi Bai and Lang Ze’s original plan was to try and build houses before winter came, storing more food along the way.
Now the sudden arrival of winter disrupted everyone’s plans.
Hou Yan asked, “What should we do now?”
If winter got longer, the tribe members would have less time to hunt but they would need more food.
Qi Bai said to Hou Yan, “Grandpa Chief, before Lang Ze set out, he told me that there was some abnormality with the prey. How has the situation been the past few days?”
Hou Yan naturally knew this. “The prey on the grassland has become harder to find, and they are more aggressive. Several people were injured in the hunt.”
Qi Bai pondered on it for a moment. “The hunting team shouldn’t go out these days. Divide everyone into two teams. One team will follow the gathering team to collect plants and firewood. The other team will build as many houses as possible for the tribe members to live in before the heavy snow comes.”
Qi Bai reached out to catch a snowflake, which quickly melted in his palm. “This winter might be colder than last year, and we must be fully prepared.”
In the middle of the square, Hu Xue and She Li added a few pieces of brown sugar and ginger to a clay pot with a broken corner, giving each member of the tribe a large bowl.
After yesterday’s chaos, in such cold water, a cup of warm brown sugar ginger tea was enough to warm everyone’s heart.
After breakfast, except for a few people who stayed in the tribe to clean up, the others formed a large gathering team.
The tribe’s main gathering place was the sweet potato mountain, but it was far away from the tribe and the mountain road was rugged and difficult to walk on. It was too dangerous to go there now.
They discussed it and changed today’s gathering target to radish. It grew in a forest with relatively flat terrain. There, they could gather food and collect enough dry firewood. This was what the tribe needed now.
Once the gathering team left, Qi Bai and his companions rushed to the sheepfold.
More than half of the shacks deep in the valley had collapsed. A faint smell of blood filled the air, and the four-eared sheep were huddled in a corner of a thorny fence.
Niu Yong ran to the edge of the mountain wall, counted the sheep again and again, and finally said with his head down, “Seven are missing.”
The shacks were similar to the wooden shed at the kiln. It wasn’t surprising that they collapsed.
Qi Bai said, “Let’s clean up the sheepfold first and see if there are any living four-eared sheep under the shed.”
Ci Yi was the first to step forward. He was most familiar with the environment of the shed. He quickly lifted up some soil and soon revealed several four-eared sheep who were crushed to death.
In the far corner of the shed, two living four-eared sheep were actually found.
Ci Yi said in surprise, “It is the pregnant ewes. They are both alive.”
The news made the originally depressing atmosphere a bit more relaxed.
Winter was coming soon. If nothing went wrong, new children would be born in the tribe soon. At this time, the pregnant ewes were undoubtedly the most precious creatures in the tribe.
However, the other five sheep weren’t so lucky. As expected, they were all crushed to death by the collapsed sheds.
Qi Bai smiled at the frustrated crowd. “It doesn’t matter if there are a few less. It just so happens that we can’t go out hunting these few days. These four-eared sheep have been raised for so long. It is time to put them to good use.”
Niu Yong looked at the remaining sheep and scratched his head. “What should we do with them?”
Qi Bai looked at the depressed four-eared sheep, who were no longer hostile to the beastmen. “There was an earthquake at the Black Mountain. I don’t know if the red bird island will be affected. We still have to be on guard against the red birds.”
Qi Bai looked at the remaining half of the sheds remaining, pondered for a moment and said to Niu Yong, “Drive them back to the shack first and seal the entrance with hay. We can deal with it for a few days before the new sheepfold is built.”
When Qi Bai and his companions carried the five four-eared sheep back to the square, the tribe was still in chaos. Qi Bai could hear Yang Luo’s screams of collapse from a long distance away.
Hou Yan was wandering around the door of the warehouse, trembling with fear. The moment he saw Qi Bai coming, he winked at Qi Bai and told him to leave quickly.
Just as Qi Bai turned around, he was caught by Yang Luo, who rushed out of the warehouse. Yang Luo pointed at the shelves on the ground with a trembling hand and said, “We had so much pottery in the warehouse but now they are all gone.”
Yang Luo couldn’t be blamed for being depressed. After all, he was reluctant to use the most beautiful pottery fired in the kiln in the past year, and stored them all in the tribe’s warehouse. Now almost all of them were gone.
Qi Bai looked at Yang Luo’s distressed expression and quickly reassured him, “Don’t worry, we will be able to make better pottery than these in a while. By then, you might not even like these.”
Yang Luo said dejectedly, “You are trying to fool me again.”
Qi Bai patted his chest. “I am definitely not trying to fool you.”
He squatted on the ground and picked up a few broken pieces of pottery. “These pottery can’t be considered completely gone. Look at how good the quality of these fragments are. If they are mixed with new pottery, better ones will definitely be made.
Hearing that Qi Bai was going to smash all his treasures into powder, Yang Luo was out of breath again. Hou Yan quickly supported him and said, “That’s right. Once there is free time, we can open a few more kilns and we will definitely be able to make better pottery.”
Qi Bai hurriedly nodded.
Yang Luo beat his chest in pain as he thought of opening the kiln. “Several pottery kilns were also smashed.”
Qi Bai hurried out. Before leaving, he added, “Grandpa Priest, the sheepfold has collapsed, killing a few four-eared sheep. I will lead everyone to build a new sheepfold now.”
“Ouch…”
Hou Yan supported Yang Luo, not knowing whether to laugh or cry as he pointed at Qi Bai. Qi Bai winked at him and quickly ran out.
The tribe suffered considerable losses this time. Two straw huts collapsed and countless items or equipment were damaged.
Several pottery kilns were also crushed by the large rocks that fell down during the second earthquake.
However, this didn’t mean that the losses were heavy.
The animal skins and food in the warehouse were still intact. Most importantly, everyone evacuated in time and no one died in the earthquake. This was a blessing in disguise.
Qi Bai looked at the intact new house in the middle of the square. This earthquake also indirectly confirmed that the brick houses built by them, laymen, still had a certain degree of earthquake resistance. This also strengthened Qi Bai’s determination to build houses.
But all of this had to be put aside for now. They still had to build the sheepfold quickly.
Previously when QI Bai rounded up the sheep for the first time, he chose a valley as the location mainly because wild beasts couldn’t get close to the beastmen, and would attack the beastmen in the tribe.
However, after a year of domestication, most of the four-eared sheep had gradually accepted the feeding of the Black Mountain members. Many of them were fatter than before entering the sheepfold.
Therefore, this time Qi Bai found an open area outside the kiln and decided to build a new sheepfold. This place was closer to the tribe, making it more convenient for the tribe members to feed the sheep in winter.
The structure of the sheepfold was very simple. They only needed to leave a main door, ventilation holes and feeding openings.
The materials for building a sheepfold were also readily available.
The large rocks that rolled down the mountain due to the earthquake came in handy. They not only ensured the sturdiness of the sheepfold, but also saved the trouble of carrying them back and forth. This was the only convenience that the earthquake brought to everyone.
The mountain wind swirled, carrying fine snowflakes that blew on the faces of every Black Mountain member.
Cartloads of dry firewood were pushed into the tribe. Some of it was stacked layer by layer against the mountain wall, while the other part was transported to the kiln, piled into cone shapes, coated with clay and burned into charcoal.
The other three remaining pottery kilns were firing bricks non-stop during the day.
In the square, dozens of beastmen were sweating. The wind and snow evaporated into water vapor before even touching them.
Everyone was hurrying to build the other two rooms of the new house.
In the rooms that had already been built, two stoves were burning firewood day and night. The loess on the ten meter long kang had been dried.
Hu Xue and She Li walked into the house from outside and were greeted by a warm feeling and the smell of dry earth.
She Li sniffed. “This is the first time I’ve ever felt that soil smells so good.”
Several people followed behind them, carrying two rolls of thick kang mats.
The kang mat made of hay slowly unfolded on the kang like a beautiful painting.
Dai touched the gradually warming kang and couldn’t help exclaiming, “It is so beautiful.”
Hu Xue added another handful of firewood to the stove and said, “You can move in tonight.”
Dai looked around, pointed to herself and whispered, “Me?”
Hu Xue nodded. “Yes.”
Dai said cautiously, “But I am a slave. How can I live in such a nice house?”
She Li patted her little head. “We have only one room now, so the priest decided to let all children under the age of 14 move in first.”
Dai rubbed the corner of her clothes. “I don’t know how old I am.”
She had learned counting from Qi Bai for a few days, but she had been in a daze for so many years. Her parents had passed away long ago, so no one knew how old she was this year.
Hu Xue looked him up and down and said with a smile, “You are so short. You must be under 14 years old.”
On the Beastman Continent, no matter whether they were horned beastmen or sub-beastmen, everyone was accustomed to having tall and strong bodies.
However, Dai didn’t feel despised. She felt very happy because Hu Xue said immediately, “You should eat more in the future so you can grow taller.
Dai nodded heavily, her whole face flushed. She didn’t know if it was due to the warm room or the warm people around her.
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