LSLFBW: Chapter 124

The main force arrived at the Crimson Mountains two days later.

The wild bulls covered in ice and snow had been mostly consumed by the wild beasts of the mountains. Nevertheless, this free wild bull meat was a huge harvest for the Black Mountain Tribe.

The relatively intact bulls were loaded onto cards while the rest were butchered on the spot, with only the largest and freshest pieces packed into rattan baskets.

By the time the Black Mountain Tribe left the Crimson Mountains, only huge skeletons with bits of meat remained among the rocks. These scraps of meat and bones were enough to sustain the other wild animals in the forest for a long time.

Yang Luo watched the continuous stream of beef being carried into the tribe’s square and could no longer maintain his composure. He stood guard at the gate, nodding repeatedly to the horned beastmen carrying rattan baskets.

The food shortage caused by the addition of the Xishui and Xiaoniu Tribes was quickly filled. There was also the food the trading team had obtained from the trading day. The Black Mountain Tribe didn’t have to worry about anyone going hungry this winter.

The last horned beastman carrying a rattan basket entered the wall, and the tribe’s gate slowly closed. This signified the end of the Black Mountain Tribe’s large-scale hunting and the official start of winter.

Once frost descended, most tribes on the Beastman Continent fell silent, but this wasn’t the case for the Black Mountain Tribe.

Inside the tribe’s walls, enormous beast-like figures were tamping down the dug foundations while ten construction teams consisting of fifteen people worked behind them simultaneously. The houses, arranged in a staggered pattern, were beginning to take shape.

Due to the sudden increase in population, Qi Bai abandoned the original planned house layout and chose a structure that could accommodate more tribe members.

The appearance of the houses resembled the snow-covered villages in northern China, with sloping roofs to increase stability and prevent collapse from the weight of the thick snow.

All the houses were one bedroom, one living room layouts with the kitchen located at the front entrance. The stove was on the left side of the door, and the partition connecting the stove and the heated kang was made into a double-layered fire wall.

The only difference was that all the houses got rid of the courtyard, and five identical houses were connected together to form a row.

This was done to insulate the connected walls and make the tribe’s buildings more concise and orderly.

Centered around the tribe’s main gate, six rows of houses stood neatly facing the heart of the Black Mountain. It was a sight that instantly soothed the soul.

Each house was roughly fifty or sixty square meters. It wasn’t particularly large, but it was far more spacious and bright than most of the tribe’s caves.

Most importantly, this was the optimal plan within the Black Mountain Tribe’s resources. It avoided excessive material costs and ensured completion before the harsh winter arrived.

The horned beastmen were busy building houses and the sub-beastmen weren’t idle either.

Beneath two trees in the center of the square, the sub-beastmen were busily processing a small mountain of barbarian beef.

Due to this year’s unusual weather, Qi Bai had to guard against a sudden change. What if the weather suddenly warmed up again after everyone had frozen the meat? By then, any beef that wasn’t frozen solid would thaw and they might not have enough time to process it again.

Therefore, the tribe decided to cure most of the beef despite snowflakes falling outside.

Unlike last year’s simple salt-cured meat, the tribe allocated some fresh meat to be turned into smoked meat this year.

The method for making smoked meat was very simple. Sichuan peppercorns were ground into powder, salt was added and stir-fried and the mixture was evenly spread on the beef and marinated overnight. Then string them together with straw rope and place them on a bamboo rack.

The materials for smoking the meat were also readily available. Many pine and cypress trees grew naturally on the Black Mountain.

Pine and cypress branches were broken off, placed under the bamboo rack and lit to smoke the meat for a day or two using the smoke rising from the branches and leaves. This would result in smoked meat with a completely different flavor from cured meat.

For the beastmen, making cured and smoked meat was the most enjoyable activity of the year. No one complained even if they had to stay outdoors all day.

Niu Xu hung the cured beef from the rattan basket on the rack, watching the fire while turning to watch others salt the meat.

Just this small action of salting easily revealed where the tribe members originally came from.

Take the sub-beastman sitting under the tree. She casually tossed a whole piece of beef into the salt and pepper, rubbed it a few times with a flourish and lifted the cured meat. She gave it a light shake and tossed it into her rattan basket.

This was clearly the work of a member of the Black Mountain Tribe. They were the only ones who would treat precious salt so carelessly.

Other members had told Niu Xu several times that the Black Mountain Tribe wasn’t short of meat, but Niu Xu still felt uneasy every time she saw the scene.

The salt from this much cured meat alone would’ve been enough for their original Xiaoniu Tribe to survive an entire winter.

Meanwhile, Quan Nan, whom Niu Xu was observing, was completely oblivious to Niu Xu’s distress. She was excitedly discussing the mating day a few days later with those around her.

In previous years, the end of the hunting season, which was also the end of autumn, was the most anticipated time for everyone in the tribe—it was the mating season.

For the beastmen who didn’t have a concept of festivals, the grand mating season each year was undoubtedly the most eagerly awaited event.

Last year, the Black Mountain Tribe had too few adult beastmen. In addition, many beastmen like Shu Lin and Xiong Feng had already secretly paired up early. There was no need for the Black Mountain Tribe to hold a mating season.

This year was different. The tribe now had more than three hundred members, making it a proper small to medium-sized tribe. There were also many single horned beastmen and sub-beastmen in the tribe who needed to find partners before winter.

Autumn ended rather abruptly this year, but it didn’t diminish the beastmen’s anticipation for partners and children.

Therefore, after everyone transported the wild bulls from the Crimson Mountains back to the tribe, Yang Luo announced that the tribe’s three-day mating season was about to begin.

The mating day began on the day the tribe’s houses were completed. At that time, all the work in the tribe was temporarily finished and the newly paired beastmen could move into their long-awaited new homes.

The importance everyone placed on mating day could be seen in the attire of the sub-beastmen.

The usually impulsive Quan Nan neatly combed her messy hair. She carefully tied her two braids with animal skin ropes, each ending in two small gray feathers.

Quan Nan said with a flushed face, “It is mating day. Hurry up! I want Lang Ji to be my partner.”

Hu Xue and Diao Lan exchanged a smile. Quan Nan had no idea that her mischievous friends had already placed a bet on whether her partner would be Ling Ji or Hu Qiao.

They hoped Hu Qiao would step up his game. After all, Hu Qiao had been chasing after Quan Nan for half a year. It would be too embarrassing for him to lose to a gray wolf who had just joined the tribe.

However, Qi Bai’s attention was drawn to Quan Nan’s hair tie.

Why did these feathers look so familiar? They were the rucks’ feathers!

These uncles and aunties in the tribe really did remember the three of them. No wonder why his three duck daughters had refused to come out for a walk these past few days, or they would’ve been plucked bald.

Quan Nan completely ignored the feelings of the father, Qi Bai. He looked at Qi Bai’s attire, which was no different from usual, and reminded him, “Bao Bai, why don’t you dress up a bit?”

Niu Xi winked at Quan Nan. “People will look at Bao Bai even if he doesn’t dress up. He is different from you.”

Yang Luo heard this from where he was patrolling the crowd and tapped Niu Xi’s head. “You should mind your own business and stop thinking about others.”

Yang Luo held back a while before finally leaning close to Qi Bai. He looked into the distance while whispering in a voice that only Qi Bai could hear, “There are still many young and strong horned bestmen in the tribe. I think that Ma Song is quite good. He isn’t very strong now, but that is because his previous tribe was too poor. He will definitely become a strong beastman soon after coming to the Black Mountain Tribe.”

Originally, there were too few adult horned beastmen in the tribe. Yang Luo wasn’t satisfied with Lang Ze, but to be honest, there was really no one in the tribe who could compare to Lang Ze. Yang Luo could only accept it.

Things were different now. A lot of promising horned beastmen had suddenly appeared in the tribe, which started Yang Luo’s mind racing. He really wanted to find Qi Bai a better partner.

Qi Bai, “……” Grandpa Priest, your intentions are too obvious.

Qi Bai forcefully cut off a piece of meat, pretending not to hear Yang Luo’s words.

He didn’t need to worry because Yang Luo’s attention was quickly drawn away.

“Oh my, I’ve never eaten this type of smoked meat before.”

The newcomers were Hou Su and his student Ci Yi, who was following behind him. Hou Su picked and chose from under the bamboo rack, saying to Qi Bai, “This smoked meat looks delicious. I want to exchange for two pieces.”

Then he proudly handed over a small crossbow.

Qi Bai put down his bone knife and took the crossbow that Hou Su made.

Since arriving in the Black Mountain Tribe, Hou Su had been single-mindedly holed up in Ci Yi’s cave to research his weapons. He was like an invisible person apart from occasionally peeking at something new and interesting in the tribe. Even his food was collected by his student Ci Yi.

Hou Su pointed to a brick wall already half a person’s height in the distance. “Also, once this house is built, I want the outermost one.”

Yang Luo took the crossbow from Qi Bai’s hand, turning it around in his hand with some disdain. “What use can such a small weapon be?”

“This is very useful.” Hou Su snatched the crossbow back, pointing to the scope on it. “Look, this is the scope that Bao Bai mentioned that is used for aiming. I made it. It can hit its prey even at a great distance.”

This was the result of Hou Su’s research these past few days, adding a scope to the crossbow.

The principle of the scope was very simple. It was simply about aligning the crosshair, arrow and the target in a straight line. In this way, as long as the crossbow was stable enough, the arrow would generally not deviate too far from the target. This greatly improved the accuracy of the crossbow.

Yang Luo pointed to the massive bull behind him, which resembled a small mountain. He rolled his eyes and said, “We are facing prey this big. The tiny weapon you are holding wouldn’t even be able to harm a single hair.”

Hou Su’s pale face immediately turned red. He panted heavily and turned to look at Qi Bai. After a moment of consideration, Qi Bai surprisingly agreed with Yang Luo.

“Grandpa Priest is right. This type of crossbow is too big to be a concealed weapon and too small to be an offensive weapon.”

The angered Hou Su turned to leave, but stopped abruptly. It was because he heard Qi Bai continue, “However, with a bit of modification, we might be able to obtain a weapon capable of hunting huge beasts.”

Yang Luo and Hou Su were both stunned, asking simultaneously, “How is this possible?”

Qi Bai recalled the ancient Chinese crossbows and gestured in the air. “Putting everything else aside, just add a base to the bottom of this crossbow, and make it the height of half a person. Would there be any problems?”

Hou Su pondered for a moment before he suddenly burst out laughing. He clapped his hands and said, “Interesting, interesting! I’ve never considered this before! I’ll go back and try it out.” Then he turned and ran towards the cave.

Qi Bai smiled and handed the rattan basket containing the wild bull tendons to Ci Yi.

The bull was full of treasures, and even its tendons were thicker than those of ordinary bulls. He believed that a crossbow made from bull sinews would be even more powerful.

It was only when the two of them left that Yang Luo asked excitedly, “Can a weapon capable of killing a bull really be made?”

Qi Bai shook his head. “I don’t know if it can be made, but such a weapon must exist. So Grandpa Priest, don’t worry about Hou Su. The weapons he makes are very important to us.”

Yang Luo waved his hand. “If he can really make such a weapon, it isn’t a big deal if we keep supporting him.”

Qi Bai smiled. It was best if Yang Luo could be open-minded.

Just as Qi Bai sat down to continue working, Yang Luo suddenly turned as he was leaving. He said, “There are so many horned beastmen in the tribe. You must think this over carefully.”