Chapter 260 - Clean up and expand
Translated by Lesyt Team
Edited by Ilesyt
Before the winter came, the ten teams sent to pick up the wanderers all returned to the Ferocious Beast Mountain Forest.
At this time, the brought back wanderers and those who had joined them already, together with the original members of the Flaming Horns tribe, totaled 8,000 to 9,000. Together with the wanderers from other tribes, now in the old land, there were about 10,000 people in the Flaming Horns tribe.
There were so many people, they had never imagined this happening. The more people, the livelier it was.
In the tribe, many houses had been built, basically they were huts. Simple huts could be built in a short time, they were just temporary shelter for them. Everyone could build different houses for themselves as they liked in the future.
Totem warriors guarded this place and took turns to hunt to get some food. They needed to hunt many ferocious beasts and beasts, for there was a large number of people in the tribe.
The wanderers of the tribe and the foreign tribes tried to be helpful. They took an active part in building huts, cutting trees, cooking, and so on. This was a chance for them to leave a good impression. Craftsmen, of course, were asked to help. Those who knew how to build ships, make pottery, process herbs, were asked to give a hand.
Therefore, in the tribe, it was also common that some wanderers pushed and pulled single-wheeled or two-wheeled wooden carts to transport things. Several old men, like Xing, who were interested in pottery, called on those who knew how to make pottery to find out which kind of clay was suitable for making pottery, and which was the best formula, and how to make quality pottery.
When Shao Xuan returned to the tribe, many people in the tribe used potteryware. Potteryware was better than the stoneware, but some people hadn't got used to them yet. For example, Ke Ke often broke potteryware, so Xing became irritated and went to punish him.
Shao Xuan had been to the pottery kiln, and the ancestors of the Flaming Horns tribe had also left records on the making of pottery. But a thousand years had seen many improvements in the making of pottery.
In the Ferocious Beast Mountain Forest, there was a lot of clay suitable for making pottery. Xing and the others were happy about this every day, and stayed there with a piece of animal skins in their hands to record things. They often did so in person.
Shao Xuan had made several potterywares for his family, and at the same time, he also tried to make some tiles and bricks that he could used to build a house.
His hut had changed into a brick house, bigger than the one he had built on the other side of the river. Next to the house, he set up a shelter for Caesar. Chacha did not stay here to rest, but went to the nearby mountain to build his own shelter. Shao Xuan went there and saw that his shelter was on a high cliff. Chacha had changed an indentation on the cliff into a cave and lived there.
The team had returned with livestock and seeds. These were given to the people who knew how to handle them. Among the wanderers of the Flaming Horns tribe from all parts, many were craftsmen. They could handle these better than the totem warriors.
Old He and the other people who came from the grasslands were responsible for the raising of livestock and building pens. When Shao Xuan went there, he noticed that several goats and cows that had become weak were now much stronger. They were very strong now, though sometimes they were scared by the roars of the beasts in the remote forest. They were bolder compared with those raised by the Lu tribe. They adapted to the environment after a period of time.
Shao Xuan was asked to come out by Tuo in the early morning. Today he didn't go patrolling. Later he would go out for hunting, but right now he was still free.
“What do you think? I built it by myself!” Tuo contentedly pointed to the newly built house.
Tuo had intended to build a stone house, for his family had been living in a stone house on the other side of the river. After he saw Shao Xuan’s brick house, he changed his mind. He visited Xing, had them make some bricks and tiles, and brought them back to build his own house. The moment he finished building his house he asked Shao Xuan to come over.
“It’s great.” Shao Xuan said after he looked at Tuo’s house.
The place where Shao Xuan lived now was not far from the houses of Tuo and the others. The distribution of houses in the tribe was similar to that of those houses where they had lived. People with higher status lived in the houses closer to the fire pit. Even though they no longer lived on a mountain, they still followed this rule.
In Shao Xuan’s family, no one had a high status, but everyone knew his contribution to the tribe. No one would oppose that his house was close to the fire pit.
“Where is Ke Ke?” Shaw Xuan asked. Ke Ke often acted together with Tuo, but he hadn't been seen recently.
Ke Ke’s home was nearby. Shao Xuan looked around, but did not see him.
“Oh, he,” Tuo laughed, “he has been hatching an egg.”
“...hatch an egg?!” Shao Xuan stopped his yawn in the middle and asked.
Tuo told Shao Xuan what had happened when he had left.
The tribe would settle here, but they needed a relatively safe environment. The totem warriors in the tribe were responsible for getting rid of all dangerous creatures.
They had to remove all lethal plants, large beasts and ferocious beasts, etc... Therefore, in this period of time, they did not travel a long distance or plan the hunting routes. As they cleaned the area and expanded, they could hunt for prey. The birds-of-prey living in this area moved their nests, but they were still caught and cooked by the warriors.
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“When we hunted those birds-of-prey, we also found some eggs and brought them back for cooking. Afterwards, Ke Ke kept some eggs and intended to hatch them to raise some birds.”
Ke Ke had tried to raise some beasts before, but in the end he threw them in the pot. Now he was hatching eggs, no one knew what would be the result.
Shaw Xuan became interested.
“Let’s go and have a look. He has been hatching the eggs for so long. Have the birds come out yet or not?” Shao Xuan went to Ke Ke’s house.
“Not yet, probably.” Tuo recently had been busy with his own affairs. He had to finish his tasks in the tribe and spent the rest of his time building his house.
When Shao Xuan arrived, Ke Ke was coming out and saw Shao Xuan. Ke Ke looked happy and said, “I was just coming to get you! Shao Xuan, what did Chacha eat when he had just hatched?”
Listening to the twitter in the room, Shao Xuan and Tuo also knew what had happened.
“I fed it some beast meat... You should feed them some beast meat now, rather than ferocious beast meat... Tear the meat into smaller pieces. Yes, like this.” Shao Xuan saw Ke Ke tear the beast meat into strips to feed those birds. He seldom showed so much patience.
“Why do you want to raise them?” Shao Xuan asked. These birds-of-prey were aggressive and vicious. They didn't have much flesh, so he shouldn’t be planning to raise them for food. If he wanted food, he should buy some large birds from the Lu tribe. Could it be that he wanted to raise them and have the Shaman brand them?
“They run fast.” Ke Ke said as he fed them, “I figured that if they can be tamed, then we can ride them in the forest.”
While chasing the people of the Wan Shi tribe, Ke Ke noticed that the birds ran very fast in the forest. Though they were not as big as Mai’s crane, which was a ferocious beast. However, it was undeniable that these birds could move swiftly in the forest.
If they could be tamed, they could be more helpful in the forest than horses.
“What will you do if you fail?” Shao Xuan asked.
“I will eat them.” Ke Ke said. It was common for the people of the Flaming Horns tribe to cook those they raised.
After giving some advice to Ke Ke, Shao Xuan left, as he had to go hunting.
Old Ke had polished the hunting tools, and Shao Xuan took them with him.
Winter was coming. Every day, some of them went hunting. They went out in the morning, and returned with prey before the sunset, because it was a short trip and they moved fast enough.
Shao Xuan met up with Mai and Lang Ga and went deep into the forest.
Because of the burning of the fire seed, some ferocious beasts had left the area of the tribe, but not all of them had gone.
Shao Xuan could see some marks left on the trees while walking. If totem warriors had gotten rid of the dangerous animals in the area, they would leave a mark on the surrounding trees. One group after another took turns and more and more marks were left across the Ferocious Beast Mountain Forest.
“There’s still a long way to the border that the Shaman drew.” Mai said as he looked at the last mark.
In the plan made by the Shaman and the leaders, the Flaming Horns tribe had a large site. In fact, it was not really a border they had drawn based on their personal opinion. Instead, they had drawn according to the map left by their ancestors.
The Flaming Horns tribe hadn't settled in the Ferocious Beast Mountain Forest. A thousand years had seen geographic changes and the disappearance of the old Flaming Horns tribe. The Ferocious Beast Mountain Forest had expanded like this. If the Flaming Horns tribe wanted to keep the old border, they had to remove all beasts and ferocious beasts gradually to occupy as large a site as before.
“If we’re going to grow some plants, we need a larger place. To keep a large number of animals, we also need more space.” Shao Xuan said.
“That’s true.” The others nodded and became excited as they began imagining that picture.
“OK, from now on, be careful!” Mai said.
Here, no one had ever cleaned up the dangerous creatures. Everyone needed to be careful about the poisonous and extremely threatening plants, and the hidden beasts and ferocious beasts.
They had plenty of hunting experience, and when Mai reminded them, they became alert immediately and stopped talking and laughing.
While others feared the Ferocious Beast Mountain Forest, the people of the Flaming Horns tribe did not feel it was hard to live here. Moreover, they even felt it was familiar. The environment here was very similar to that of their old hunting grounds. They soon adapted themselves to the environment of the Ferocious Beast Mountain Forest. They loved it very much, although it was indeed very dangerous.
Next day, the warriors began hunting. They struck the stone tools in their hands to kill their prey one by one. When it was close to the sunset, they left a mark on a surrounding tree. Another group of warriors would come here and finish the work. One day after another, they kept doing this until the snow fell in the winter.