Chapter 8
A gentle breeze swept through the dawn-lit mountain forest. The thin mist gradually faded, and the occasional chirping of birds and insects could be heard.
Morning dew fell like rain into the thickets, landing at the foot of the giant redwood trees that soared into the clouds. The beastmen, clad in grass skirts, were completely oblivious. They ran and leaped among the giant trees as if they had found a rare treasure, cheering with joy.
“Wow, did the beastmen hollow all these out? What beautiful, spacious tree hollows.”
“Aren’t the trees very hard? How did they do it?”
“An discovered this too. He said some big trees become hollow on their own.”
“He’s so amazing, he knows everything.”
“Yeah, yeah, if only he were a beastman, I’d want to be his mate!”
“Chief, Chief, can we start choosing now!”
…
Seven days had passed, and the group of giant redwood trees adjacent to the meadow had completely transformed. As if carved by the torrent of time, the thick trunks of the trees now had small, cozy, half-person-high holes.
The beastmen who had arrived early darted between the various tree hollows. Seeing that the impatient young beastmen were about to move in with their belongings, Chief Mu decisively clapped his hands and shouted, “Alright, alright, you’ve seen enough. Everyone come out of the tree hollows and listen to me.”
Only after the chief spoke could they choose their tree hollows and truly move in.
So, upon hearing the chief’s voice, the beastmen suppressed their excitement and eagerness, and all emerged from the tree hollows to gather in the open space between two giant trees where their belongings were piled.
Seeing that everyone was present, Chief Mu didn’t dawdle. He cleared his throat and said quite solemnly, “Everyone has worked hard these past few days, especially the gathering team that brought back food for us every day, and the beastmen who worked hard to hollow out the tree hollows for us. Thanks to everyone’s efforts, we have new tree hollows, water, food, and we’ve even found salt. Life is slowly getting better.”
The tribe members were already impatient, and a few whispers drifted from the crowd. Chief Mu waved his hand for silence and continued, “I know you’re all anxious to move into the new tree hollows, so I won’t say much more. Being able to escape from the Clear Sky Forest and survive until now is all thanks to the hard work of those young people. So, I’ve decided to let them choose their tree hollows first.”
More work, more reward—it had always been this way. The young people’s contributions to the tribe were there for all to see.
No one objected. The only ones who spoke were urging them to choose quickly so it would be their turn.
Chief Mu smiled with satisfaction and beckoned to Hua Shi’an, who was standing to the side. “An, you go first. You found food for the tribe, and you found salt. You’ll be the first to choose a tree hollow, to set a good example for everyone.”
The first one? Hua Shi’an hesitated for a moment and waved his hand. “No, the tree hollows were painstakingly hollowed out by the beastmen. It’s better to let them—”
“You go first. You have the right,” Yong interrupted him, but his eyes weren’t on Hua Shi’an. He looked at the expectant tribe members and said, “Choose quickly, everyone is waiting.”
He had to choose sooner or later. Hua Shi’an stopped being polite and looked up at the dense giant redwoods ahead.
Although he hadn’t participated in the hollowing of the tree hollows, he came here for a walk every day, so he was quite familiar with them. He had been inside most of the tree hollows. Their internal spaces varied in size, but the difference wasn’t too great.
It was less about choosing a tree hollow and more about choosing the environment, just like looking at a house.
If the group of giant redwood trees were considered a residential community, then this community had three types of “apartments”: the “river-view apartments” adjacent to the meadow and close to the creek, the “forest-view apartments” backed by the forest and close to nature, and the “street-view apartments” sandwiched in between.
The “river-view apartments” were undoubtedly the most popular. At first, the beastmen had considered only hollowing out the giant redwoods adjacent to the meadow. But the giant redwoods in this area were not very dense, with a certain distance between the trees. And with so many people in the tribe, if they hollowed out a row of tree hollows along the meadow, it would be too far and too spread out. The tribe members living at either end might have to walk for miles just to get a meal.
After looking around, Hua Shi’an already had an answer in his mind. He raised his hand and pointed to a thick but somewhat misshapen crooked-necked tree right next to the meadow and said without hesitation, “I want this one.”
It wasn’t the thickest tree, nor was it in the best location, and the tree itself was oddly shaped.
Chief Mu glanced at the crooked-necked tree, then turned to Hua Shi’an and frowned. “Don’t be shy. Why choose this crooked-necked tree? I think that one over there is good. Why don’t you choose that one?”
Thinking he was being shy, Chief Mu took the initiative to point out a thick, straight giant redwood tree that was much larger than the surrounding ones. Hua Shi’an was very grateful but politely refused, “I’ll take the crooked-necked tree. But Chief, I have a request. Can I live alone?”
In just a few days, it was impossible for the beastmen, no matter how strong, to hollow out a tree hollow for everyone, especially with over fifty people. The current tree hollows were just right for two or three people. Families with relatives would share one, and those like Hua Shi’an who had lost their relatives would live with other sub-beastmen.
Choosing a less desirable tree hollow and requesting to live alone, given his current status in the tribe, would most likely—
“Hahahaha!” As if seeing through Hua Shi’an’s thoughts, Chief Mu laughed heartily. “You should have said so earlier. You’ve made the greatest contribution, so you can live alone even if you don’t choose the crooked-necked tree. It’s not too late to choose again. Do you want to switch?”
Hua Shi’an touched his nose. “No need, Chief. The crooked-necked tree is fine.”
“Alright, then the crooked-necked tree is yours,” Chief Mu agreed readily. He then beckoned to the side. “Come, come, next one. Yong, Lang…”
The beastmen chose their tree hollows in turn. Hua Shi’an stood by and watched for a while. Seeing that most had chosen, he picked up his few belongings and walked toward the crooked-necked tree.
The crooked-necked tree was uniquely crooked. The base of the trunk was straight, and the top and canopy were also straight, but a section in the middle was crooked. About five or six meters from the ground, its main trunk grew out horizontally for a stretch, looking a bit like a lightning bolt from a distance.
The entrance was on the side, below the horizontal section of the trunk. The surrounding weeds and bushes had grown wild, taller than a person. Hua Shi’an had to put in some effort to reach the entrance. However, the green meadow on the side was very pleasant to look at, and the scent of grass carried by the gentle breeze was refreshing.
To block the wind and rain, the entrance was made very small and low. Hua Shi’an had to bend over and turn sideways to squeeze in.
The inside of the tree hollow was not spacious either. It was about one and a half meters high, so he could only move around by stooping. It was about two meters long and two meters wide, enough to accommodate two or three people without a problem. All in all, this tree hollow was equivalent to a double bed in modern society.
Compared to the crowded large tree hollow, Hua Shi’an was already very satisfied with this small one. The only problem was that the tree hollow was “handmade,” and the ceiling and walls were uneven, mottled with rotten wood, which was a bit unsettling to look at.
The weeds in front of the door needed to be cleared, and the inside of the tree hollow needed to be smoothed out. There was a lot of work to be done.
He didn’t have many belongings to tidy up. After laying out a simple bed against the wall with coir sheets, Hua Shi’an picked up his coir bag and squeezed out of the tree hollow.
In a short while, everyone had chosen their tree hollows, and the neighbors around him had already started weeding. Hua Shi’an pulled away the weeds blocking his view and glanced at the neighbor across from him. The ones weeding there were the beastman Yong and the beastman Lang.
In the less desirable “street-view apartment” diagonally opposite, a white-haired old man was bent over, pulling weeds at the foot of a tree. And beside him, struggling with the bushes, was—the beastman Shan.
Beastmen were exceptionally keen. Hua Shi’an had only looked at him for a couple of extra seconds when Shan, who was busy breaking bushes, suddenly looked up and accurately in Hua Shi’an’s direction.
Seeing that it was Hua Shi’an, his bright eyes curved, and he revealed an innocent smile. “I was wondering who it was. So it’s you, An.”
The distance was a bit far, so they had to shout to be heard. Hua Shi’an walked a few steps forward. “Just came out to meet the neighbors. I didn’t expect to see you.”
“Neighbors? What are neighbors?” Shan dropped the bushes, walked through the grass, and stood smiling in front of Hua Shi’an.
Hua Shi’an patiently explained, “Tree hollows next to tree hollows, those who live together are called neighbors.”
Shan chuckled. “I see. Then we’ll be neighbors from now on.”
Hua Shi’an didn’t respond. He looked at him thoughtfully and asked softly, “Why are you living here? Did you choose this tree hollow yourself?”
Beastmen had priority in choosing. Did an ill omen scorned by the tribe have that right? Shan had been hollowing out tree hollows with Yong and the others recently. Even if he hadn’t made a great contribution, he had worked hard. Surely his right to choose a tree hollow wouldn’t be taken away?
Not expecting him to ask this, Shan was taken aback. “Y-Yes, I chose it.”
Hua Shi’an said, “Oh,” and then asked, “Then why didn’t you choose a tree hollow on the meadow side? The environment is better there, and it would be more comfortable to live in.”
“I, I…” Shan scratched his head, a hint of embarrassment in his eyes. “It’s the same everywhere. As long as there’s a place to sleep, I, I don’t mind these things.”
Is that really so? The beastman’s slightly flustered expression already said it all.
His right to choose hadn’t been taken away, but with such a stigma, probably no beastman was willing to live with him. Worried about being criticized for taking a good tree hollow, he had chosen to live with the old man.
Doesn’t the old man mind?
Hua Shi’an looked at the old man whose face was darker than the bottom of a pot and silently thought: Not necessarily!
By the time the weeding was done, it was noon. The remaining finishing touches were left to the old and the injured. The others gathered their spirits, ready to follow Hua Shi’an to the salt spring to investigate.
Their minds and eyes were filled with a craving for salt, so much so that they had overlooked a problem.
Everyone was assembled, and the group was excitedly preparing to set off. Chief Mu, who was walking at the front, suddenly slapped his thigh and said to the crowd, “Oh no, I forgot! An said it’s a salt spring!”
“It’s a salt spring, so what’s wrong with that?” a young sub-beastman who hadn’t caught on asked.
Chief Mu scratched his head and stomped his foot anxiously. “What’s a spring? Water! It’s not like we’re going up the mountain to pick salt rock. We don’t have anything. How are we going to bring the water back? Cup it in our hands?”
“Oh, right. What do we do then?”
“Let’s hurry and find something while it’s still early!”
“Can we use stones? The stones we found to use as pots these past few days.”
“No, that’s too heavy. An said the place is far.”
The tribe members discussed among themselves but couldn’t come up with a perfect solution.
Just then, Hua Shi’an, who had been silent all along, stepped forward and said unhurriedly, “I have an idea. I don’t think we necessarily have to bring the salt spring back. We can also… extract, separate the salt from the salt spring.”
“Separate?” Chief Mu’s eyes widened. “Can salt really be taken out of water?”
Hua Shi’an grunted in affirmation. “It’s just a bit troublesome. We need to prepare some things, and it will take a lot of time.”
“We have plenty of time. We can even skip looking for food today. We have to get the salt back first.” The beastman Yong looked at Hua Shi’an and lifted his chin. “Tell us what you need, and we’ll go find it.”
Even if they brought the saltwater back to the tribe, they would still have to extract the salt. It was better to do it on the spot. Hua Shi’an rested his chin on his hand and thought for a moment before arranging things in an orderly manner, “We’ve found stones that can be used as pots, right? Pick the two largest ones and carry them over. Then everyone, gather branches and wood, the more the better.”
“Pots and firewood, are we going to make a fire?” a curious beastman asked.
Hua Shi’an nodded. “That’s right. We’re going to make a fire to boil the saltwater and cook the salt out.”
