Chapter 8

As Zhuo Yan made his way back, carrying the rattan basket on his back, he fell into a thoughtful silence. The joy he had felt earlier from receiving meat and bones was now overshadowed by the weight of the news about the white-furred creature.

In this era, it was clear that modern ways of thinking did not apply.

The tribe leader had his own criteria for making decisions, bearing the responsibility for the safety and future of the leopard tribe. To some extent, the additional meat and bones given to him by the tribe leader and the uncle were because he was an ya shou ren (sub-human), capable of bearing offspring and contributing to the tribe’s continuation, making him beneficial to their future.

However, the white-furred creature truly had no “benefits” to offer. It couldn’t transform into a beastman, it was still a cub, and it couldn’t participate in the tribe’s hunts. With winter approaching, there were potential dangers looming for the tribe—even if these were just speculations at this point, the threat had not yet manifested.

“The tribe leader giving the white-furred creature meat, allowing it to eat its fill before leaving the tribe, can actually be seen as a small act of kindness…” Zhuo Yan could only think this way.

Perhaps it was just a comfort before death.

Zhuo Yan lifted his gaze to the dazzling array of stars overhead. The night was serene, with the moon not particularly bright or large, but the multitude of stars scattered across the sky created a stunning sight, resembling a galaxy. During the day, the weather was also lovely, with clear blue skies and fluffy white clouds, sometimes even adorned with vibrant red hues at sunset.

However…

Zhuo Yan let out a sigh and turned his gaze away. He couldn’t quite pinpoint what was bothering him, but he felt a sense of emptiness within. His sympathy for the white-furred creature lingered, perhaps intensified by the solitude of the night, which often made one more prone to melancholy thoughts.

Determined to shift his mindset, he resolved not to dwell on things beyond his control. Instead, he focused on practical matters, like what he would eat the next day.

With this thought, his spirits brightened, and he felt a wave of happiness wash over him.

The bones with the meat still attached weren’t very clean, more so than the ribs he usually bought at the supermarket. “Hehe,” he chuckled to himself, imagining the three meaty bones he now had. Tomorrow, he could smoke the meat to make some smoked delicacies and dry it to preserve it as much as possible. Meanwhile, he could simmer the bones to satisfy his cravings.

With this thought, Zhuo Yan swallowed hard and felt his steps become lighter.

“I wonder when the tribe will go to the Feather People’s market. If we actually go, what will I trade for salt…”

He continued to mull over these matters as he finally reached the bottom of the slope leading to his home. Subconsciously, he glanced at the tall wild grass swaying in the distance. A gust of wind blew through, rustling the grass, but there was nothing there.

Zhuo Yan then made his way up the slope toward home.

Unbeknownst to him, in the opposite direction he had been looking, hidden among the wild grass farthest from the water, the white-furred creature was struggling to prop up its front paws. Through the dense grass, its gaze fixated on Zhuo Yan’s location, patiently waiting to confirm that it was indeed that sub-beastman.

The white-furred creature collapsed weakly onto the ground, its mouth stained with clotted blood. This wasn’t the blood from the meat it had eaten earlier in the afternoon; rather, it was blood that it had coughed up multiple times. Its once fluffy and white fur was now matted and tangled, mixed with blood and dirt, giving it a disheveled and wretched appearance.

Lying amidst the grass, the creature stared blankly up at the sky, its gaze numb and hollow. Despite having a piece of meat still hidden in its belly, it showed no signs of wanting to eat. The pain was too intense; its stomach felt as if it were rotting from within.

That night, Zhuo Yan also had a restless sleep. His dreams were filled with images of snow and waves of beasts. The memories felt fragmented and blurry, like events that had happened but also seemed dreamlike. He kept jolting awake, only to drift back into a disoriented sleep, caught in a cycle of unsettling dreams.

Finally, they had made it to dawn.

Zhuo Yan immediately stopped sleeping and stood at the entrance of the cave. The sunlight of the early morning, lacking warmth, bathed him, making everything feel more real.

Today’s tasks included tanning, cleaning the hides, hanging them to dry, making doors for installation, and air-drying the cured meat.

If there was time, he also wanted to gather some firewood.

Zhuo Yan first took the hides to the riverbank. The hides that had been tucked away for the entire night were still damp; they had not dried out at all. Last night, he had stuffed the hides into a stone pot, and now they were nestled in the rattan basket he carried on his back.

Early in the morning, there were already beastmen and sub-beastmen gathered around the water source, busy washing and working.

Zhuo Yan’s home was conveniently close to the water source, which had its pros and cons. The advantage was easy access to water, while the downside was the danger that came with it. Some animals, driven by thirst and unable to smell the territorial markings, would wander in to drink. Zhuo Yan’s beast father had once caught an antelope here.

Meat, oh meat!

With that thought in mind, Zhuo Yan got to work energetically. He placed the hides on a flat stone in the river and used a wooden stick to beat and clean off the “detergent” from yesterday. The more he pounded, the more bubbles appeared. He repeatedly kneaded the hides until the foam disappeared, indicating they were ready to be hung up to dry.

“What are you doing, troublesome beast?”

Without needing to turn around, Zhuo Yan immediately recognized who it was. Just in time, he thought, “Brother Aman, could you help me wring out the water from the hides?”

“Don’t call me that,” Aman said as he approached. “Give it to me.”

Zhuo Yan handed one end of the hide to Aman, who looked momentarily confused, unsure of how to assist the troublesome beast. Zhuo Yan directed, “You need to pull it in the opposite direction.”

With both of them putting in effort, water splashed everywhere as they wrung out the hide.

“This is actually working quite well, but I could have done this alone,” Aman remarked, observing the hide in his hands, which was no longer dripping. He then glanced at Zhuo Yan and added, “You need to eat more.” It was no wonder they couldn’t find any beastmen around.

Zhuo Yan shrugged, “I plan to have some meat and bones for lunch.” He couldn’t help but swallow at the thought.

The bones were meant for the young ones to chew on, and only the troublesome beast seemed to be craving that. Aman wanted to voice this concern, but seeing Zhuo Yan’s thin figure, with barely any meat on his back, made him swallow his words instead.

As they talked, the two hides were successfully wrung dry. Zhuo Yan decided to hang them to dry on the crooked branch of a large tree just a few meters outside his cave. At the same time, he planned to carry the large stone pot down to clean it in preparation for cooking the meat at noon.

Aman joined him as they carried the stone pot out of the cave, insisting, “Let me handle it.”

“It’s really heavy,” Zhuo Yan replied.

“It’s not too bad. If it were my sister, she could lift it with just one arm,” Aman remarked.

As they stepped out of the cave again, engaged in casual conversation, Zhuo Yan remembered that Aman had an older sister who was a beastman and already had a family. Zhuo Yan nodded, thinking it was just small talk. Then Aman switched topics, saying, “I also have a younger brother who is a beastman, a few years younger than you.”

“Oh, has he already transformed?” Zhuo Yan asked, curious.

Aman shot him a glare. “What are you asking that for?”

Zhuo Yan looked innocent. “What did I do?”

“I already said my brother is a beastman,” Aman replied, a hint of annoyance in his voice. “Why would you even ask if he’s transformed?”

Zhuo Yan was left speechless for a moment. He couldn’t help but sincerely explain, “I didn’t eat anything this morning, and now all I can think about is boiling meat bones.” That was why his mind had wandered during their conversation.

Aman glanced at Zhuo Yan again and then finally took the lead, carrying the stone pot with steady and swift steps. He muttered, “Forget it, I’ll just wait until later to talk about it.”

As the two of them made their way down, they spotted Qiao and a few others by the riverbank. Zhuo Yan could clearly hear their conversation thanks to his keen hearing, especially since Xiao Xian was speaking a bit louder due to his excitement.

“Should we tell Zhuo Yan?” Xiao Xian asked.

“I think it’s better if we do, but… oh no, what if he gets sad? Maybe we shouldn’t tell him,” another voice chimed in.

“The beastmen don’t like him, and the only white-horned cattle is dead…”

Zhuo Yan felt a moment of shock. Had the white-horned cattle really died?

Qiao added, “But we didn’t see its body.”

“But over there in the grass, a lot of blood was found,” Shitou said. After a pause, he added, “Someone saw the white-horned cattle leave the tribe.”

Xiao Xian’s face twisted in concern as he exclaimed, “I didn’t dare to tell Zhuo Yan yesterday, but the white-horned cattle was carried back! It was stomped on by the white-horned cow several times. My brother said it spat out a lot of blood.”

“My father said the white-horned cattle won’t survive,” another voice chimed in.

“Sigh,” they all lamented.

“What will Zhuo Yan do?”

Zhuo Yan pondered this in silence. Had he really come to care for the white-horned cattle that much without even realizing it? Just then, Aman suddenly called out loudly, “Ahem, we’re coming down!”

Zhuo Yan thought to himself: …Aman really knows how to make it obvious.

The others looked at him with concern in their eyes. Aman set down the large stone pot and said, “If the white-horned cattle is gone, then it’s gone. But Zhuo Yan said he wants to eat meat and bones today.”

“I brought some meat, Zhuo Yan!” Xiao Xian said, shaking his backpack to show it off.

Shitou, Qiao, and the others nodded in agreement, sharing in the moment.

Zhuo Yan’s eyes lit up. “! Then we can have a barbecue by the river for lunch!”

“But don’t you still need to make the door?” Aman asked.

“Right, I’ll finish my work first and then we can barbecue by the river.”

With the topic shifted, no one brought up the white-horned cattle again. Zhuo Yan set about washing the large stone pot and the meat bones before hauling them back—

“Next time, we should get a water bucket instead,” he mused. “Carrying this stone pot up and down every day is going to wear my back out!”

“What’s a water bucket?” one of the others asked.

Zhuo Yan thought for a moment before replying, “The simplest thing right now would probably be a large, thick tree trunk. We could hollow it out in the middle. It should be about this high and this thick, with a handle. Wood is lighter than stone, making it easier to fetch water.” He demonstrated with a series of gestures, showing the height and thickness he envisioned.

If he were to construct it using wooden planks, he figured that tightly woven vines might still cause it to leak. But even if a water bucket lost a third of its contents while he ran quickly, that might be acceptable. However, he wondered how to manage the bottom of the wooden bucket.

Just then, Qiao chimed in, “That sounds great! I also want a water bucket. Zhuo Yan, we can go look for a big tree tomorrow to make the bucket you described!”

“Really?!” Zhuo Yan exclaimed, surprised and excited. “Are we actually going to do that?”

“Of course not,” Aman interjected confidently. “Ada will definitely come with us.”

Qiao seemed a bit pleased as he added, “He’ll have time later.”

Thanks to the bounty from yesterday’s hunt of the white-horned cattle, the pressure of storing meat for every household in the tribe had eased significantly. Everyone had been busy for an entire month, unlike Zhuo Yan, who felt a sense of helplessness after his mother’s passing. He hadn’t prepared any food in advance and had been solely focused on finding the beastmen.

Having Ada’s help would be great. Zhuo Yan knew that Qiao had also brought up wanting a wooden bucket because she wanted to help him.

When everyone returned to the cave, they pulled the wooden planks out onto the flat ground at the entrance. Aman and Xiao Xian noticed that one end of the planks had a slight indentation.

“I’ll smooth it out when I have some free time and then work on the door frame. I’ll also make wooden hinges,” Zhuo Yan said. As he spoke, everyone quickly divided up the tasks and squatted down to discuss. “You see this slot here? The plank should go on top—”

“It won’t fit!” Xiao Xian interrupted, pointing at the slot. “It’s too small here.”

Zhuo Yan frowned and looked closely, realizing that he had indeed miscalculated the size of the slot. He knew they would have to make adjustments to ensure everything fit properly.

“It’s a bit small, which will make it tight. We can use stones to hammer the wooden planks into place, so they fit snugly. If the dimensions were perfect, they’d fall out too easily,” Zhuo Yan explained, laying a board across to be used as a ‘nail’ for the door. This board was narrower, and there were a total of three, which he positioned at the top, middle, and bottom to secure them in place. “Now, you see, all the slots need to align perfectly…”

Qiao and the others listened intently, watching as Zhuo Yan explained and gestured. Their eyes widened in admiration. Once Zhuo Yan finished, Xiao Xian clapped and exclaimed, “Zhuo Yan, how did you think of this method? You’re so clever!”

This, after all, was the wisdom of their ancestors.

“Well, I’d say I’m just somewhat clever,” Zhuo Yan replied modestly. He thought about how, if history continued along its current path, in a few thousand years, they too would be considered ‘ancestors.’

Perhaps one day, archaeological discoveries would reveal the ‘prehistoric civilization of beastmen.’

“You all handle this; I’ll go make the wooden hinges.” This task required considerable effort, as it involved drilling holes and preparing wooden wedges. The wedges needed to be a bit thicker; otherwise, they wouldn’t be able to secure the door properly.

Actually, there was a simpler method: they could dig out slots at the top and bottom of the cave entrance, fitting the wooden boards together piece by piece every morning and before bed. However, Zhuo Yan found that cumbersome. In an emergency, it would take half a day to open the door, and a proper door would be much more convenient.

Given the size of his cave entrance, a single door would place too much strain on the wooden hinges, and they would likely wear out quickly. Fortunately, he had cut down trees according to the dimensions of the entrance. If they made two doors, each door would be lighter, and the wooden hinges would definitely be strong enough. They could secure the doors with a bolt in the middle and temporarily pin one door to the ground with a wooden stake, leaving the other half open for easy access.

Thus, Zhuo Yan demonstrated to his friends how to assemble the doors, emphasizing that the door panels should be symmetrically wide.

The entire morning was spent on making the door. The round logs serving as door frame pillars were already wedged into the walls of the cave entrance. Zhuo Yan leveled the ground to facilitate the door’s movement. After a busy morning, they were nearly done—only the installation remained.

“Let’s eat lunch first; we can install it this afternoon,” Zhuo Yan suggested, noticing that everyone had been busy all morning and could use a break.

To his surprise, Qiao and the others all claimed they weren’t hungry.

“Let’s install the door first,” Aman said.

Qiao chimed in, “I want to see how this door turns out, and what you’ve been working on all morning. How are you going to fit those two doors together, and where will they go?”

Shitou and Xiao Xian also looked at Zhuo Yan expectantly.

Zhuo Yan sighed, “…Alright.” He hadn’t anticipated that everyone would be so curious about the door.

After spending the morning making four wooden hinges, a labor-intensive task that required precision, he figured they could start by installing one door to see how it worked. Zhuo Yan felt a little curious himself as he positioned one end of the wooden hinge into the hole of the door frame pillar. “You guys need to align the side with the holes towards me,” he instructed.

As they worked together, Zhuo Yan felt a surge of excitement and anticipation. Would the door work as planned? Would it hold up? He couldn’t wait to find out, and it was nice to have his friends involved in the process. The camaraderie made the effort even more worthwhile.

“Here it comes!”

Aman and Shitou each carried a side of the door, with Shitou saying, “I don’t have a hole on my side.”

Aman quickly adjusted his position to find a place for the thin wooden wedge.

“Look, just align this wooden wedge with the hole and push it in,” Zhuo Yan instructed. It was actually quite simple; the hardest part was cutting the grooves and drilling the holes to fit the cylindrical wooden wedges. Once the components were ready, assembly would be straightforward.

With the door aligned, Zhuo Yan turned to Shitou, who had the most strength. “Shitou, push the door in,” he said. At first, Shitou hesitated, worried he might break something. He cautiously tapped the door with his fist, applying pressure little by little until the wooden door gradually slid into the hinges and the wedge, one tap, then two…

Qiao and the others watched intently, silent, their eyes focused on the task.

As the four holes snugly fitted together with the wooden door, the tension in the air built up.

“Is it on? Did we install it?”

“Is it good? Can we let go now?” Shitou asked anxiously.

Zhuo Yan checked the alignment and smiled. “You can let go now. Don’t be afraid; even if it falls, it’s just wood. It won’t break,” he reassured them, noticing that Aman and Shitou were still gripping the door tightly, hesitant to release their hold.

With a little more encouragement, they finally relaxed, and Zhuo Yan felt a surge of accomplishment as the door stood firm and stable, ready for use. The team effort made the installation feel even more rewarding.

Under Zhuo Yan’s encouragement, the two of them carefully released their grip on the wooden door.

The door—miraculously—didn’t fall down!

“Wow!”

“This is so amazing!”

The group stood before the newly installed wooden door, their eyes wide with wonder as they gazed at the door leaf that had indeed been set in place. No one had touched it, and it remained securely in position, as if it were glued to the pillars of the cave wall.

Seeing their astonishment, Zhuo Yan decided to tease them a little. He gently pushed the door leaf with one hand, causing the others to step back half a pace in surprise. Shitou and Aman instinctively opened their arms, ready to catch it, but the wooden door remained steadfast, merely swinging inward in a graceful arc.

It worked!

This was a significant achievement for prehistoric beastmen—a mortise and tenon structure wooden door—successfully installed at the small entrance of the cave by five sub-beastmen working together. The sense of teamwork and shared accomplishment filled the air, solidifying their bond and marking a milestone in their efforts to improve their living conditions in the tribe.