The Primitive Adventures of a Chipmunk 80

Chapter 80

Two days was a bit tight. With no time to find other materials, Hua Shi’an could only have the beastmen make some simple weapons with the existing materials, such as the beef bones left over from eating meat.

The thick and hard beef leg bones were most suitable for making weapons, but they were quite troublesome to process. The beef bones were washed, and the femoral bones at both ends were first knocked off with a stone, leaving the straight tibia in the middle. The tibia was then split open from the top, dividing it into two.

After removing the surface fat and sinew and scraping out the residual bone marrow, the beef bones were put into a pottery pot with plant ash water and boiled over a high fire for half an hour for degreasing.

When the beef bones had cooled, he found a rough-surfaced stone and started to polish them.

The split tibia was flat and strangely shaped. The two sides had to be polished to be regular and symmetrical, the edges had to be sharpened, and the tip had to be sharpened. In short, he had to rely on a stone to polish the flat beef tibia into a dagger.

At the same time, the bottom also had to be polished, made smaller for easy fixing in the end.

After the beef bones were polished, he found a long, straight, and not-too-big, not-too-small peeled tree. The trunk had to be chosen by the user himself. The thickness didn’t matter, the most important thing was that it was suitable to hold and easy to use.

He peeled off the bark and used a stone knife to split a crack at the top of the trunk. He had to be very careful when splitting. The crack could not be too deep. The ideal state was one-third of the length of the beef bone, to prevent the peeled tree from cracking and deforming after it dried.

The beef bone was inserted vertically into the crack and squeezed tightly. Finally, it was wrapped repeatedly with coir rope to firmly fix the polished beef bone to the top of the trunk. A few scratches could be made with a stone knife where the coir rope was to be wrapped to prevent the coir rope from shifting and slipping during use.

Finally, a few circles of coir rope were wrapped around the middle or bottom of the trunk according to personal habit to enhance the grip. A sharp and indestructible bone spear was thus made.

The tribe used to make similar spears before, but at that time, the main threat came from the goshawks flying in the sky. Spears were not of much use, so the tribe’s weapon-making skills… were just a sharp stone tied to a branch, not worth mentioning.

The bone spears were exquisite and sharp. The beastmen loved them and took them to the grass to brandish them as soon as they were made, pretending to fight with their companions.

More than ten people were laughing and joking, in a chaotic mess, like a chaotic dance of demons.

That’s right, there were not just four bone spears. Hua Shi’an and the beastmen of the hunting team each had one. Teaching one was the same as teaching a group. Each beastman was equipped with a bone spear, which might be useful for hunting in the future.

They had close-range weapons, and they also needed long-range weapons.

Based on the existing materials, Hua Shi’an decided to teach them how to make—a slingshot.

The frame was made of hard and not-easy-to-crack mulberry wood. He took a branch that had naturally grown into a Y-shape, of a suitable size and thickness for holding.

The elastic material was the uncooked beef tendon. It also had to be degreased, then pounded, stretched, and dried. The already elastic tendon became like a flat rubber band, easily stretched and quickly recovering.

The pouch was made of tanned cowhide, cut into an oval shape, and finally, holes were drilled on both sides and fixed in the middle of the tendon.

It was easier said than done. Processing the tendon was very troublesome.

The beastmen were sweating profusely, anxiously scratching their heads. They all said it was more tiring than hunting. They started in the afternoon and only finished the next day at noon.

The elasticity of the tendon was not as good as a real slingshot rubber band. The slingshot was made, but its range and lethality were not very ideal. It was said to be a weapon for self-defense and hunting, but it was actually more like a child’s toy.

Stones were used as projectiles. When the tendon was pulled to its maximum, it could knock down a bamboo tube filled with water from twenty meters away and leave a mark on it. From thirty meters away, it could also knock down a bamboo tube, provided that the bamboo tube was only half full. At fifty meters… an empty bamboo tube would only make a sound when hit and then not move at all.

This was an expected result. Hua Shi’an was not very disappointed, because small weapons like slingshots (except for specially made ones) were not very lethal. They posed no threat to large, fierce beasts and were mainly used to drive away wild beasts from a distance, serving as a deterrent.

Making the weapons had taken too much time. They were setting off early tomorrow morning, and there was not much time left.

At noon, under the bright sun, after practicing with the slingshots by the river for a while, Hua Shi’an and the three beastmen returned to the camp and began to prepare the tools and food they would need on the road.

An essential for jungle exploration, he made ten fire starters.

When one was used up, he would light another. Even if one fire starter could only be used for three days, ten fire starters would be enough for them for thirty days.

Pottery pots were fragile, and stone pots were too heavy. They didn’t consider bringing cooking utensils. The cooking would mainly be roasting. For boiling water, they could choose to bring some more light bamboo tubes and throw them away after use.

Unexpected situations were inevitable when you were out. Besides the bone spears and slingshots made these two days, they also had to bring coir ropes, coir sheets, bone knives, stone knives, stone axes, and other utensils, just in case.

The weather was warming up, and there were more mosquitoes and insects in the dense forest. Hua Shi’an sat in the camp and fiddled, making a few simple insect repellent bags with the leaves of plants such as mugwort, sage, and rosemary.

The tools were ready. Next was the most important thing, food.

It was a pity that there were no filling and easy-to-carry foods like pine nuts and chestnuts. Fortunately, they had found filling sweet potatoes in the forest when they were digging for kudzu root. Sweet potatoes could be cooked or eaten raw, and they were delicious and filling. The only problem was that they had a lot of water and were too heavy, so they could only carry a small amount.

The semi-dried kudzu powder was undoubtedly the most suitable food for going out. It was light, delicious, and filling. But it also had a problem, which was that it could not be eaten immediately and had to be eaten with boiling water.

This was troublesome, and that was troublesome. In the end, the most convenient food was actually—meat.

The cured beef was cut into thick slices, first pan-fried and then roasted, to remove as much excess moisture as possible, until it was dry. It was then wrapped individually in leaves and could be kept for six or seven days without spoiling.

Before eating, it could be roasted on a fire, and it would be fragrant and chewy.

Dried mushrooms and wild vegetables, honey for energy, dried crayfish, dried fish, salt… they brought a little of everything. And the most important, and also the most troublesome, they also had to bring some water.

There must be a water source in the dense forest, but a river as large as the one around the tribe was not common. The small streams hidden deep in the jungle were not easy to find. If they had to look for water as they walked, it would not only take time, but they might not even find it. To be on the safe side, they had to bring water with them.

The tribe was not short of water, but of containers to hold it.

In the evening, as the sun was setting, Hua Shi’an and the three beastmen were busy with the bamboo in the camp again, cutting bamboo tubes, carving grooves in them, carving screw threads, and making lids…

As the sky gradually darkened and the gathering team returned one after another, the bamboo tubes were screwed on with bamboo lids and turned into cups. Finally, they were filled with cool, boiled water and put into the back baskets. All the supplies needed for the trip were ready.

Food, water, and tools were all in place. It was just that the quantity…

It seemed a little small.

“Hong Yong, Lord Priest, well, are you guys packed?”

After checking one last time and confirming that everything that needed to be brought was packed, Hua Shi’an was just about to sit down and rest when, before his butt could touch the ground, Chief Mu’s voice came from not far away.

It was clear that he was not at ease with them. As soon as he returned, Chief Mu ran over without stopping, panting as he stood beside the three of them. And when he looked around and saw only two back baskets in the middle of the open space, he was slightly taken aback and said, out of breath:

“What’s the meaning of this? You’ve been busy for two days and you only have, only these two back baskets? Are you playing? There are four of you, and three of you are beastmen with big appetites. Who is this little bit of stuff for? How many days can it last?”

“It’s not a little. Don’t worry, Chief,” Hua Shi’an smiled and patted the back basket closest to him. “Most of it is beef and kudzu powder. It’s very filling. If we eat sparingly, it will be no problem for more than ten days.”

Chief Mu’s brow furrowed. “More than ten days and you still have to eat sparingly? No, it’s too little. We don’t even know how long this trip will take. Sweet potatoes, mushrooms, wild vegetables, bring as much as you can.”

“It’s heavy, Chief,” Hong Yong leaned against a tree trunk and yawned, shaking his slightly sore arm. “The more things we bring, the slower we’ll be. If we want to go and come back early, we can only travel light, as the Lord Priest said.”

He was so nonchalant that it was infuriating. Chief Mu glared at Hong Yong. “It’s light, alright. But what if the food is not enough? Are you really going to do as Shi’an said and open your mouth wide to drink the wind?”

They all learned so quickly. Hua Shi’an chuckled softly. “It’s not that serious. It’s not like the forest is barren. We’ll also look for some wild vegetables and fruits along the way. We’ll only eat the food in our back baskets if we really can’t find anything.”

“You said the forest is different. What if you can’t find—”

He suddenly stopped. Chief Mu had reacted. He pointed four times in the air. “Wait a minute. Aren’t there four of you? Even if Shi’an turns into a beast, there are still three of you. Isn’t one back basket for each person just right? Why is there one missing?”

“Wait. I’ll go and get another back basket and pack some sweet potatoes for you.”

“No, no. You should rest, Chief.”

Yan Qiuyu stopped Chief Mu, who was about to go and get a back basket, and grabbed his arm, explaining, “This trip might take a long time. It’s very tiring to travel every day. We’ve discussed it and decided that two people will carry the back baskets and travel, and the other will change back to his beast form and sit in the back basket with the Lord Priest.”

“The three of us will take turns. We’ll travel for two days and rest for one. That way, we won’t waste time, and we can have a good rest. It’s much better. We’ll be faster if we balance work and rest.”

Chief Mu looked at him suspiciously. “Discussed? Was it Shi’an’s idea?”

“How did you guess? You’re so amazing, Chief!” Yan Qiuyu chuckled.

Chief Mu: “Nonsense. How could you have thought of that?”

Taking turns would indeed be much easier, but it was destined that they couldn’t bring too much food.

Seeing that the two back baskets were already full, Chief Mu no longer tried to persuade them. He bent over the back baskets and checked them once, his expression serious as he looked at the four of them. “This trip is very dangerous. You must be careful on the way. Don’t just bury your heads and rush. Observe your surroundings more. If there’s any disturbance, run immediately. Change back to your beast form and hide in a secluded place.”

“Eat when you should eat, and rest when you should rest. At night, find a high tree branch to sleep on. Don’t travel in the dark. You can’t be in a hurry to find people. Take it slow. Your safety is the most important thing. And, protect the Lord Priest.”

His tone was too heavy, and the atmosphere became dull and oppressive.

The playful Yan Qiuyu fell silent. Hua Shi’an and Mo Huaishan hung their heads and said nothing. Only Hong Yong let out a soft sigh, his gaze firm, his tone full of confidence. “Don’t worry, Chief. We’ll be careful.”

“We’ll go and come back early, and we’ll bring back all the separated tribe members.”