With so many free laborers joining in, the cave that Lin Xi envisioned was excavated in less than two hours.
She held a torch and inspected the interior.
The originally twenty-square-meter cave had been expanded. Upon entering now, one could see that on both sides of the entrance, including the original space, an additional area measuring six meters long and five meters wide had been extended outward on each side.
This would temporarily suffice for living and functional space.
With the cave dug out, Lin Xi could finally begin building the kang bed.
The previously prepared stones were moved by the beastmen to the location Lin Xi designated inside the cave.
Since the interior space had been enlarged, Lin Xi decided to slightly increase the size of the kang bed.
So, while the tribe’s beastmen were excavating the cave, Lin Xi had Wu Chen prepare additional stones.
These stones had been meticulously polished by Wu Chen. Though their surfaces were somewhat uneven, they already resembled rectangular bricks.
Lin Xi crouched at the newly chosen spot for the kang bed and began constructing the outermost wall of the kang.
She didn’t allow any of the beastmen, including Wu Chen, to assist with this task. At most, she let Wu Chen hand her bricks and shovel mortar nearby.
This was the kang bed she would be sleeping on for at least one long winter. Compared to directing beastmen who had never even seen a kang bed before, she trusted her own hands a bit more.
Though slower, she could strive to perfect each step, ensuring the kang bed would be sturdier.
She certainly didn’t want to be sleeping soundly on the kang one day only for it to suddenly collapse!
The beastmen’s first attempt at building one could wait until they worked on their own homes!
After outlining the area with the outermost kang wall, Lin Xi built it up to half its height and then stepped inside.
She took the bricks from Wu Chen and, according to the pre-measured joining points for the kang platform, placed each brick at its designated spot inside, applying mortar as she went.
Once all the points were set, the construction of the kang wall and the internal support pillars progressed quickly.
All that was needed was to leave a fire hole in the kang wall and build it up accordingly.
With these preparations complete, Lin Xi looked toward the right rear section of the cave wall, where a flue opening still needed to be excavated.
While Lin Xi was building the kang bed, Bai Nu, Wu, and over a dozen beastmen they had selected stood behind, closely observing Lin Xi and Wu Chen’s actions.
They watched with intense focus.
When they realized Lin Xi needed another hole dug in the cave wall, two beastmen immediately stepped forward to help.
This time, Lin Xi didn’t refuse. Digging a hole didn’t require much technical skill.
Meanwhile, she took the opportunity to have Wu Chen bring over the prepared kang platform slabs one by one, placing them on top of the kang wall and support pillars.
By the time the flue opening in the corner of the cave wall was finished, the kang platform slabs had been laid up to that point. Finally, a thick layer of mortar was spread over the slabs and smoothed out.
At this stage, only one final step remained.
Lin Xi went outside the cave, located the flue opening, and used the remaining bricks to build a chimney around it.
With that, the construction was complete.
However, to sleep on it, the mortar on the kang needed to be dried by fire, and the smoke flow through the flue had to be tested.
Wu Chen brought in the dry branches usually stored outside the cave and, following Lin Xi’s instructions, stuffed them one by one into the stove opening before lighting them with a flint.
“Crackle…”
Bright red flames soon sprang up. After waiting a moment, Jin Guang, standing among the Beastmen, twitched his nose and suddenly widened his eyes in astonishment, exclaiming, “It’s true! There really isn’t any smoke!”
As his voice faded, the other Beastmen snapped out of their daze.
One Beastman took a step closer to the stove opening, sniffed carefully, then turned back excitedly to shout to the others, “There’s only a little near where it’s burning, but it’s not choking anymore!”
The Beastmen in the cave immediately burst into exclamations of surprise. Soon, those still waiting outside heard the cheers and couldn’t resist rushing in one by one.
Upon seeing the burning firewood in the stove opening and hearing Jin Guang explain that the wood in the heated kang bed produced no smoke, they all grew excited!
They knew all too well how harsh and interminable the cold winter could be!
Of course they understood fire could provide warmth, but Beastmen possessed keen senses of smell. While lighting fires outside their dwellings was tolerable, the smoke from fires inside caves or shacks made it impossible for them to stay indoors.
Thus every winter, they could only huddle inside their dwellings, minimizing movement and clinging together for warmth.
Even healthy, strong young Beastmen feared the long winter days.
As for the elderly Beastmen lacking sufficient furs and the inherently vulnerable young beasts, the winter’s bitter cold was even more difficult to withstand—many never lived to see the next spring.
But now, though they hadn’t yet experienced whether the heated kang bed could truly provide such warmth, at least they could light fires inside the cave—a significant change for them!
The mud plaster on the kang bed would take some time to dry completely.
However, it was already growing late, approaching evening meal time.
So Bai Nu dispersed the Beastmen crowding inside and outside the cave, planning to return tomorrow to see the final results of the heated kang bed.
But before he left, Lin Xi suddenly called out to him:
“Chief Bai Nu, although the heated kang bed provides excellent warmth, I wouldn’t recommend building them in wooden structures like the shack where Xue Tian Ama lives.”
Lin Xi watched as Bai Nu fell into thought at her words, then continued, “Because the wood in shacks can easily catch fire. And the heated kang bed needs to be built against the wall of the dwelling, otherwise the smoke won’t vent properly.”
Lin Xi felt it necessary to clarify these potential hazards—if accidents occurred later, it would not only be disastrous but also create complications.
“Also, the ashes inside the heated kang bed need to be cleared out after each use. You shouldn’t keep a fire burning in it overnight, or smoke might flow back into the cave.”
After Lin Xi finished speaking, Bai Nu and Wu exchanged glances. The two Beastmen pondered for a moment before Bai Nu nodded first and said:
“I understand. I’ll explain this to the tribe’s Beastmen tomorrow.”
Then Wu suddenly spoke up: “Little Beast Lin Xi, besides the heated kang bed, do you have any other heating methods that could be used in shacks?”
Lin Xi was taken aback.
But she quickly shook her head: “Other methods… we can’t manage them. At least not in time now.”
What she wanted to say was that they could build stone houses or carve stone stoves, but these projects would require too much labor and might not be feasible.
Take the furnace for example. Even if we could build one, the amount of heat that could radiate through the stones might not be significant! Moreover, it would be impossible to install a chimney above the furnace, and burning firewood all day long would be another hassle.
Lin Xi watched the disappointed expressions on the faces of the two tribal leaders and couldn’t help but feel admiration for these two young Beastmen.
As the tribal chief and the shaman who embodied the tribe’s spirit, these two young Beastmen truly possessed broader vision and higher intelligence than the other Beastmen!