The pottery from the Rainbow Sun Tribe is of high quality. With this batch, he wouldn’t have to treat the pot in his space as a family treasure anymore. 

Wen Ze rubbed his hands together, eager to get to work. 

But the moment he began shaping the clay, he realized just how far apart dreams and reality could be. 

Without any tools and relying solely on his hands, he couldn’t form a proper mold, even after working for half a day. 

When he finally managed to make something, the thickness was uneven, and it would likely break the moment it went into the kiln. 

Wen Ze looked at his hands, now covered in clay, and sighed deeply. Why could his brain understand it, but his hands just wouldn’t cooperate? 

Looks like he wouldn’t be taking advantage of the Rainbow Sun Tribe’s pottery after all. 

“How’s the molding going?” Zhuo Mu asked from nearby, looking up at him. 

Wen Ze pressed the clay piece in his hands and replied embarrassedly, “Not bad.” 

Zhuo Mu looked at the clay in his hand, then pointed to a few of the pottery jars he had molded himself. “Is the size alright?” 

Wen Ze took a look. 

Although Zhuo Mu was a beastman and not particularly skilled at delicate tasks, and his work wasn’t as good as Sang Hui’s and the others’, it was actually better than Wen Ze’s. 

“Looks good. They’d work for storing food or water.” 

“Good,” Zhuo Mu said. “If these can be fired successfully, I’ll give them to you.” 

Wen Ze blinked. “But I’m still making my own… don’t you need them?” 

“We already made a batch last time and they should last for a while.” 

Wen Ze hesitated, but Zhuo Mu added, “We’ll use them together anyway once we’re back.” 

That made sense. Wen Ze stopped refusing and smiled brightly. “Alright, then I’ll pretend I made them myself!” 

The group had gathered on the open ground not far from the kiln to shape their pottery, and many people around had overheard their conversation. 

While adding the final touches to his clay mold, Sang Hui said, “Wen Ze, wait a bit. Once I’m done with this one, I’ll make you a couple more.” 

Wu Ye and Ji Sha’s attempts at pottery were practically useless, so they had the intention but lacked the skill. 

Yi Yan’s works were quite decent, but due to his age, after making two, his eyes grew blurry, and now he was watching Chi Yu and others filling the kiln with firewood. 

Wen Ze smiled and nodded at Sang Hui. “Thanks, Uncle Sang Hui.” 

Seeing this, Huo Lan’s eyes flickered. He picked up a finished clay mold and placed it in front of Wen Ze. 

“Wen Ze, this one’s for you.” 

Wen Ze was stunned and made a move to stand up. “Ah, this is too much.” 

Huo Lan waved his hand, signaling him to stay seated, and said seriously, “Today’s time is too tight. We need to start firing the pottery before dark, or else you can take your time molding more. Since we promised you, we can’t let you leave with too few pieces. It wouldn’t reflect well on our tribe.” 

Before Wen Ze could decline, Huo Lan added, “Don’t even think about giving it back—I won’t take it!” Then he ran off in a hurry. 

Wen Ze watched his retreating figure and couldn’t help but chuckle. 

“Thank you.” 

Huo Lan smiled, turned his head, and waved his hand. 

With his lead, more than a dozen people from the Rainbow Sun Tribe arrived one after another, handing over the clay pieces they had molded to Wen Ze, giving him one or two each. 

One of them was a beastman. Wen Ze saw him during the meal, but the two didn’t speak. 

The beastman silently placed his best clay mold next to Wen Ze, nodded, and walked away. 

Wen Ze looked up and thanked him. He noticed the tips of the beastman’s ears were turning red. 

When the beastman left, Wen Ze felt something and looked up, just in time to meet Zhuo Mu’s deep gaze. 

For some reason, Wen Ze grew uneasy and subconsciously touched his nose. 

Feeling a cool spot on the tip, he remembered his hands were dirty. Hurriedly, he wiped it with his still somewhat clean hand, unsure if it had helped. 

With everyone’s help, Wen Ze ended up with a significant number of pottery pieces — forty-three clay molds in total. 

As the molds were being moved, Wen Ze noticed most of the Rainbow Sun Tribe members had left as usual, and the remaining ones seemed to be the “leaders” of the tribe. 

It appeared the kiln’s construction was kept secret from most of the tribe. 

The South Mountain Tribe members followed Chi Yu and his group into the kiln and carefully studied the method for arranging the molds. 

Once everything was ready, everyone exited, and Chi Yu signaled for the fire to be lit. 

The fire roared fiercely, and even standing outside, Wen Ze could feel the heat hitting his face. 

Hmm, Chi Yu wasn’t wrong—this pottery kiln really wastes a lot of heat. 

“Alright, I’ve left two people to keep watch here. Let’s head back for now.” After working all day, Chi Yu, with a dusty face, clapped his hands and called out to everyone, who looked just as dusty. 

Sang Hui asked, “Will it burn all the way until morning?” 

“Yes,” Chi Yu replied as they walked. “But once it’s done, we still have to wait for the kiln to cool down before we can open it. If we’re lucky, that’ll be by afternoon. We’ll come back then.” 

He pointed to the right. “There’s a river over there. I’m planning to wash up.” 

Wu Ye quickly said, “I’ll go too. I’m all sweaty, and my clothes need a good scrub.” 

In the end, everyone agreed to take a bath first before heading back to the tribe. 

The river wasn’t far, so they walked quickly without changing into their beast forms. 

A crescent moon rose through the branches, casting soft moonlight over the earth and reflecting on the gently flowing river. 

The wide river, several dozen meters across, resembled a bright belt across the land. It looked majestic and serene. 

The beastmen went downstream by instinct, while Wen Ze and the few half-beastmen stayed upstream. Without much hesitation, they dived into the river and swam back and forth a few times. 

Afterward, everyone had a good wash and took off their clothes to scrub them carefully. 

After getting his body wet, Wen Ze pulled out a bar of sulfur soap from his space and rubbed it on his hair, arms, and chest. Soon, foam started to form. 

It was actually the leftover scraps from the batch of soap he made last time. He didn’t want to waste it, so he mixed it together. 

Originally, he had agreed with Zhuo Mu to go collect sulfur ore, but they were delayed by the pottery kiln issue. 

The sulfur, after being mixed with animal oil and saltwater, isn’t as strong, but it still has a bit of an unpleasant smell. 

Wen Ze was carefully rubbing the soap, thinking about when he could go to the hot springs, when he saw Huo Lan swimming over to him. Looking at the sulfur soap in his hand, Huo Lan asked, “Wen Ze, what is this? I’ve seen you and Sang Hui both using it.” 

His expression seemed a bit awkward, as if he were too embarrassed to directly ask why they were rubbing something that smelled like rotten bird eggs on their bodies. 

Wen Ze smiled and said, “It’s something to clean the body. It’s called sulfur soap.” 

He handed it to him slightly, so he could see it more clearly. 

“Oh, I see. You two seem to be living quite well,” Huo Lan said. 

Wen Ze laughed. “Not really. Someone in our tribe had lice before, so I made this to wash their hair. There were some scraps left, so I kept them.” 

Hearing that, everyone, except Sang Hui, swam over curiously to take a closer look at the sulfur soap. 

“This little thing can kill lice?” someone asked. 

Wen Ze nodded. “Yes, and it can also deal with other small bugs.” 

“Is washing with it enough? Could it cause the skin to tear while removing the pests?” 

“It won’t. Plenty of people in our tribe have used it already.” 

“It seems like a really good thing! Do you have any left? I’d like to exchange something for a piece,” Huo Lan said. 

Wen Ze thought to himself, “They don’t even ask if it’s expensive. The Rainbow Sun Tribe people really aren’t short on supplies; even Chi Yu has his own metal knife.” 

“I’ve run out of the materials to make sulfur soap, and I haven’t had time to gather more,” he replied. 

“Oh…” Huo Lan looked disappointed. “When will you make more? I want to reserve one.” 

“I want one too! You have no idea how annoying it is when bugs grow on you. Especially for us half-beastmen. We can’t change into our beast forms, so we can only shave our heads. It’s so ugly.” 

“Exactly! I want one too, for my little cub.” 

Wen Ze hadn’t expected that simply taking a bath would attract so much business. The enthusiasm from everyone made him feel like sinking into the water. 

Thankfully, Sang Hui swam over to help him out. 

“Everyone, don’t worry. Our tribe also has quite a few people who have reserved sulfur soap with Wen Ze. If there are any leftovers, we will have the patrolling beastmen inform you.” 

Upon hearing this, several half-beastmen grew even more anxious. 

“Wow, sulfur soap is in such high demand! Wen Ze, you’ve got to make more!” 

“Yes, yes! We’ll make sure to prepare the supplies!” 

“I want to reserve two bars—no, make it three!” 

Wen Ze exchanged a glance with Sang Hui, who smiled with a calm and gentle attitude. Yet Wen Ze had a feeling Sang Hui was doing it on purpose. 

He spoke up. “I’ll see how many materials I can gather. As long as I can make some, I’ll make sure to set aside a batch for you.” 

“Oh, that reminds me. I’m also planning to make a batch of regular soap without sulfur. It won’t kill the pest, just for cleaning, and it’ll be a bit harder than the one I’m using now.” 

As he spoke, Wen Ze handed the sulfur soap to Huo Lan and the others. 

“Try it out, see how it feels.” 

Huo Lan and the others carefully held the sulfur soap, feeling too shy to use it on their bodies, so they just rubbed a little on their hands. 

After rinsing off the foam with river water, they inspected their palms carefully under the moonlight. 

“Wow, so clean and refreshing! This sulfur soap is amazing!” 

“I don’t get bugs often; I want regular soap! I’ll save it for washing my body and hands.” 

“I’m reserving three bars of regular soap!” 

Wen Ze smiled. “Sure, there’ll be plenty of regular soap, and the supplies I’m asking for are also less than for the sulfur soap.” 

When everyone heard that they could exchange a half piece of animal hide, a large piece of meat, or a length of fabric for a bar of regular soap, their eyes lit up, and they rushed to give Wen Ze their advance payment. 

Ash water was easy to get, saltwater could be collected from the Salt Sea with just a bit of time, and animal fat wasn’t hard to obtain either. 

Wen Ze was thrilled—such a small bar of soap could be exchanged for so many supplies! 

The people of the Rainbow Sun Tribe were also very excited. After getting on shore and putting on their clothes, they eagerly discussed it with Wen Ze. 

When they met up with Zhuo Mu’s group, Chi Yu smacked his leg in frustration upon hearing about the soap. “Wen Ze! Why didn’t you bring this out sooner? I’ll take ten bars!” 

The other beastmen from the Rainbow Sun Tribe, not wanting to be left out after hearing their leader, declared confidently, “I’ll take ten too! That reminds me, you’re building that… what’s it called? A house, right? Do you need wood? I’ve got some that’s been air-dried.” 

Wen Ze’s eyes lit up, and he eagerly replied, “Yes, yes, I need it!” 

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