LSLFBW: Chapter 41

If one had to give a reason as to why Yang Luo was in a hurry to light the fire, it was due to the pottery kiln over there.

According to what Qi Bai said on the day he sealed the kiln, they should’ve opened the kiln to check it yesterday. However, things had to be prioritized. Yesterday, Qi Bai was helping Lang Ze and the others prepare supplies for their trip. This was why Yang Luo didn’t come to disturb them.

But it was almost dark. There was still no movement in front of Qi Bai’s cave, and it snowed so heavily today. Yang Luo felt more and more uneasy. Finally, he couldn’t help coming to check, only to find out that Qi Bai had actually slept until now.

Qi Bai was awakened by hunger. The cave was pitch black with only some light coming in from the entrance.

He rubbed his sleepy eyes and sat up. He saw a black figure standing by the bed, and it scared him to death.

Once his eyes finally adjusted to the darkness, Qi Bai realized that the person coming was Yang Luo.

Qi Bai said with some lingering fear, “Grandpa Priest, why are you here?”

Yang Luo couldn’t stop talking after seeing that Qi Bai finally woke up. “How can you be so careless? You just left the pottery kiln there and didn’t care about it? What if pottery is really fired but broke in the kiln?”

After Yang Luo reminded him, Qi Bai remembered the pottery kiln. He had been busy since he came back yesterday and really forgot about the pottery being fired in the kiln. He quickly comforted Yang Luo, “Don’t worry. The fired pottery won’t be damaged. Besides, didn’t you say before that I couldn’t fire pottery? Then why are you so anxious?”

Yang Luo ignored his teasing. Even though he said he didn’t believe it, he still held hope in his heart. After all, the value of a good pottery jar could even be compared to a bird bone knife. If they could really make pottery jars, how much meat could they exchange for it on the trading day? The tribe members would no longer have to worry about not having enough to eat.

The ground of the room was littered with stones and charcoal that hadn’t been cleared away. There were also several baskets of venison by the wall. Most of it was Qi Bai’s own share, and the rest were from XI Zhou’s group. Not all of it was processed yesterday. Qi Bai would help them cut all the meat and freeze it later.

Qi Bai was somewhat impressed by Yang Luo’s ability to walk to his bed without making any noise in such a messy room. He was in a daze and almost stepped on the tools on the ground several times.

Of course, this also reminded Qi Bai of another thing. It was that he really needed to build a door. It would be fine if the tribe members entered, but what if the wild beasts in the mountains smelled the meat and sneaked into his cave while he was sleeping? He lived in the most remote place. He might be dead by the time everyone found him.

Qi Bai carried the bamboo kettle and crouched on the hillside. He brushed his teeth with a homemade toothbrush, washed his face, and finally wiped his face and hands with a small piece of animal skin.

Yang Luo had never seen anyone more particular than Qi Bai. Even the priests in the tribe weren’t as busy as him in the early morning.

Of course, for Qi Bai, he felt that he had already used the fastest speed. Qi Bai put down the animal skin and grabbed some dried meat from the stone slab on the ground. He handed some to Yang Luo. He planned to eat while walking. He signaled to Yang Luo that he was ready and could set off at any time.

Yang Luo didn’t take Qi Bai directly to the kiln, but instead walked towards Hou Yan’s cave. Hou Yan’s cave was on the right side of the collective cave. It was the only way to the kiln and also the center of the tribe.

After Qi Bai entered the cave, he found that there wasn’t only Hou Yan there. Hu Huo and Xiang Yu were also waiting here. They looked like they were going to go together. Qi Bai thought for a moment before saying, “Grandpa Priest, I want to call someone else.”

The person Qi Bai was talking about was Lu Guo.

Qi Bai was sure that it was only a matter of time before he could fire pottery that could be used. But he wasn’t confident enough to think that he could succeed in one go. Moreover, even after firing it successfully, it would take more than a day or two to make pottery that could satisfy the needs of the tribe members. Therefore, Qi Bai now needed help. After so many days of observation, Qi Bai felt that this person was Lu Guo.

Or maybe everyone had different talents. The firewood chosen by Lu Guo always produced the highest charcoal yield. Even if everyone had later switched to the same charcoal-making materials, the charcoal produced by Lu Quo was still more complete and durable than that of others.

Luo Guo, who was called over, didn’t ask the reason. He just followed quietly behind everyone. She vaguely felt Qi Bai’s intentions. She knew this was her chance, and she couldn’t miss it no matter what.

Lu Guo was an independent-minded sub-beastman, as could be seen from the fact that she dared to seize the opportunity to let her daughter escape from slavery before the establishment of the tribe. Such independent-minded people weren’t common in primitive tribes, not to mention that she was a slave.

Qi Bai was impressed by her courage. He believed that Lu Guo would be able to bring him a surprise.

Today’s snow was heavier than the previous two. In just one day, the amount of snow piled up on the ground was almost as much as the previous two snowfalls combined. Qi Bai pulled up the collar of his fur coat, trying to cover his ears.

However, after arriving at the kiln, he found that the area outside the pottery kiln was very clean. After getting closer, he discovered that Ma Shu and Ma Ling were sweeping the snow tirelessly with large brooms. They were trying their best to prevent snow from accumulating on the charcoal kiln and the pottery kiln.

Seeing Qi Bai’s group coming, the two of them approached the pottery kiln with brooms in their hands.

It was already very dark at this time. Due to the heavy snow, it was difficult to see people clearly.

Fortunately, there was a lot of firewood piled here. Hu Huo used the torches they brought to light several more pieces of firewood.

Qi Bai took a stone shovel and dug open the sealed kiln entrance bit by bit. Everyone was staring at the illuminated exit with bated breath.

However, the first pottery bowl taken out broke right in the middle.

Qi Bai accepted this result well. After all, the pottery bowl placed outside was made of soil from the slope next to his cave. Qi Bai didn’t have much hope for it and mainly used it as a reference.

It didn’t take shape directly, but it was indeed a piece of pottery. Yang Luo took the piece of pottery with both hands and rubbed it gently. His voice was trembling. “Blessings of the Beast God! The Black Mountain Tribe really has pottery!”

The people following nearby were also excited. They looked expectantly at the objects that hadn’t been taken out of the pottery kiln yet.

The new few pieces of pottery weren’t fired successfully either. Out of the two pottery jars, the bottom of one fell off when it was taken out while the other one was slightly better and looked relatively intact on the outside. However, a closer look revealed that there were several cracks in the jar. It barely looked good.

The last thing that was taken out was a bowl. Qi Bai turned it around and didn’t see any obvious cracks. Then he tapped the edge of the bowl gently with his hand. It made a clear sound.

It looked like it was almost done, but when it came to pottery, appearance alone didn’t mean much. If it wasn’t fired successfully, it would leak when filled with winter and might even crack when placed on fire.

This time, Qi Bai fired a total of six pieces of pottery, but only one and a half were usable in the end. Still, at least Qi Bai proved to Yang Luo that he wasn’t talking nonsense and that he could really use a kiln to fire pottery.

The winter of this year wasn’t as idle as everyone imagined. At the very least, Qi Bai didn’t have a single free day.

Ever since the first piece of pottery was produced in the tribe, the kiln had become the place where most people in the tribe gathered.

Looking around, the Black Mountain Tribe’s pottery factory had grown to a considerable scale.

The number of pottery kilns for making pottery had increased from one to three. Each kiln was much larger than before. Unlike the small earthen kilns built by each person, these kilns that were time-consuming and labor-intensive to build were the common property of the tribe members. The fired pottery needed to be distributed according to the rules of the tribe.

A wooden shed was built covering the kiln to shelter it from the wind and snow. Thick straw mats woven with hay were built around the shed to provide a place for the tribe members who were guarding the kiln to rest.

Dozens of pottery blanks were drying under the wooden shed. Charcoal and firewood for burning the kiln were piled next to it. Since there was always a fire burning on this side, many young beastmen would even pin the animal skins half-open on their bodies and wear them only when they left the kiln.

Three or four new pottery kilns had been opened. In the beginning, Yang Luo would carefully take away the best pottery. His idea was simple. These precious materials needed to be preserved and exchanged for food with other tribes in the future.

However, after finding the right soil and continuously improving the temperature of the kiln, the pottery produced by the kiln became better and better. There were more and more of them. Yang Luo had long lost the idea of collecting them.

Qi Bai heard Yang Luo muttering to himself many times, “How come such precious pottery is so easy to make?”

Qi Bai just smiled and said nothing. He certainly wouldn’t tell Yang Luo that even though it looked like a simple pottery kiln, it had been developed and evolved for hundreds or thousands of years. Perhaps if they tried harder, they might be able to make porcelain in advance. It would be really smooth and beautiful, and definitely worth a lot of money.

Even Yang Luo thought so, let alone others.

The tribe members of the Black Mountain Tribe felt that their lives weren’t real. Now everyone in the tribe had several pottery pieces in their cave. Even the home of their former tribe leader didn’t have such a luxurious life.

Qi Bai finally got several pottery bowls, plates, a kettle, and two large jars.

For this purpose, he went to the bamboo forest and took great pains to dig out two winter bamboo shoots. Then he added salt and mountain spring water to pickle a large jar of sour bamboo shoots.

Qi Bai’s life was now very regular. After eating breakfast in the morning, he dug a basket of soil from the side of the cave, carried the processed bamboo strips to the kiln, made some utensils for household use, and watched the situation of the pottery kiln.

After so many days of hard work, he had repaired and leveled the small hillside next to Qi Bai’s cave. He had recently started digging the soil on the mountain next to it, which was considered as advance preparation for land reclamation next spring. He would start farming as soon as the temperature was suitable.

At the kiln, the little tribe members followed the adults to play with mud every day. No, they made pottery. The little beastmen such as Bao Xing and Sun Yuan had now been able to shape many types of pottery.

The work at the kiln was basically completed by noon. Sometimes, Qi Bai would follow everyone and carry rattan baskets to the Man-Eating River to catch fish.

As the weather grew colder, the water from the waterfall hung on the mountain wall as if frozen overnight. Then even the wide river started to freeze.

The freezing of the river wasn’t bad news for the beastmen. Qi Bai had been waiting for this moment.

They just needed to chisel a hole in the ice and the fish trapped in the river due to the lack of oxygen would rush out. It wasn’t until now that Qi Bai realized that there weren’t only piranhas in the river, but also many strange fish much larger than them. The bigger they were, the more terrifying they looked.

But even though they were the overlords of the water, they couldn’t escape the fate of being eaten on land. For example, steamed fish, stewed fish, grilled fish, fish balls, and pickled fish.

Qi Bai couldn’t help giving a thumbs up. The fiercer they looked, the more delicious they tasted. He was a bit picky and didn’t like eating piranhas.

On days when he didn’t want to eat fish, Qi Bai would get off work at the kiln, go home, and build his open-air kitchen.

The stone platform that Yang Luo had looked down on had now taken shape. There was a large water tank connected to the stone wall, a stone trough for washing the face, and a stone table and bench that had been carved out almost fully.

Qi Bai’s heart was filled with satisfaction seeing the stone platform outside his cave being carved bit by bit into the shape he wanted.

Now that the weather was cold, the water tank could no longer hold water. Therefore, Qi Bai put some pickled food in the tank. Then he pressed it down with a thick stone slab, making it the most convenient refrigerator to use.

Qi Bai took out a piece of frozen venison meat from the stone jar and prepared to take it into the cave to thaw it. He would eat venison fried with sour bamboo shoots tonight.

As he passed by the bamboo rack next to the stone jar, he also picked up two rabbit skins that were dying on it.

Since Qi Bai’s group had discovered traces of other beastmen, Yang Luo and Hou Yan had forbidden the beastmen in the tribe to hunt too far away. However, before leaving the tribe, Lang Ze had told him the locations of several traps set around the tribe.

Qi Bai would check them every two or three days. He actually picked up two wild rabbits, which was a complete surprise.

There were two braziers burning in the cave. A larger charcoal brazier was placed under the bamboo table while a large piece of deer skin covered the table. He just needed to cover his legs with the skin, and he would feel warm all over.

There was a small charcoal basin at the corner of the table. On it was a pottery kettle where berry ginger tea was brewing.

Qi Bai soaked the frozen venison in water, placed it next to the charcoal basin, put away the rabbit skin, and took out the stone tablet he used for counting from the shelf.

This was a nearly black stone tablet, the surface of which had been carefully polished by Qi Bai. At this time, there were already 13 neatly written ‘正 ‘on the stone tablet.

This recorded the time since Qi Bai came to this world. Today was the 66th day since he came to the world and the 55th day since the Black Mountain Tribe was established.

Looking at the mark on the stone tablet that indicated the days that Lang Ze’s group had left, there were exactly five ‘正’ characters. He didn’t know where they were now, or if they had already reached the vicinity of the tribe.

Thinking of this, Qi Bai picked up the red bird bone next to him. He was just about to use the stone hammer to make a new mark on the stone slab.

“Awoo!”

A wolf howl pierced the night.

Qi Bai stood up. But before he could feel surprised, his heart suddenly sank.

No, this wasn’t Lang Ze’s voice!

As if to confirm his thoughts, screams were heard outside the cave the next second.

Qi Bai threw down the red bird bone, grabbed the bone knife given to him by Lang Ze, and rushed out.

The sound came from the valley below. Qi Bai didn’t take the mountain road next to him. He jumped directly from the platform in front of the cave.

The moment he landed, QI Bai met a pair of eyes emitting a faint green light in the darkness.

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