The morning fog was thick.
Bai Wu sat by the hearth, pulling an extinguished wooden stick from the stove. Holding his hair in his left hand and the stick in his right, he pressed the still-hot, blackened stick against his hair. A pungent burnt smell filled the air as the ends of the hair were burned off.
Bai Wu tossed aside the hair in his hand and moved on to burning the next handful.
Gradually, a pile of hair spread on the ground.
Bai Wu’s hairstyle changed from shoulder-length back to neck-length, resulting in a neat new look.
He dared not cut it too short, afraid of accidentally burning himself.
Having finished his hair, he opened the water vat, stood in front of it, and looked at his reflection. Then ruffled his hair, trying to make it look better.
Just as he was admiring himself, a hand reached out from behind and slapped him on the shoulder. “What are you doing twisting around like that?”
Bai Wu jumped, goosebumps rising on his skin.
He turned and glared angrily, “You scared me! You’re terrifying! Don’t you know that?”
“What are you talking about? Alright, stop looking at me. You told me to go get the others, and I’ve already done it. They’re all waiting for you down there. When are you coming down?”
Bai Wu had arranged to go pick black fruit with the tribe’s sub-beastmen today.
He shoved the wooden stick he was holding back into the fire pit, picked up his basket, and said, “Let’s go down now. Is everyone here?”
“Everyone’s here, five extra people, is that alright?”
“How old are they?”
“They’re all over fifteen, they won’t hold us back. Besides, we older brothers are here to watch over them.”
“That’s fine, let’s go together.”
Bai Wu and An went down and received a warm welcome from the sub-beastmen.
The sub-beastmen were very excited, chattering excitedly around Bai Wu.
Somewhat disheveled, Bai Wu rushed out of the crowd. “I’m not familiar with the gathering points in the tribe. Who will lead the way? Today, we’ll focus on gathering black fruit.”
“An! An knows where to find big black fruit!”
“Right, An will lead the way. Mi, you little sub-beastmen, come to the middle; it’ll save you energy when we fly later.”
An was chosen by the group. Without hesitation, he stepped forward, quickly transformed into his beast form, and with a flap of his wings, took flight.
A flock of large white birds followed, spreading their wings and taking off with the strong wind.
Bai Wu, seeing the scene of “a crane soaring into the clear sky,” flapped his powerful wings and took flight with agility.
The sub-beastmen were very familiar with the tribe’s territory.
They flew for a short while and reached the hillside where they would gather black fruit.
Everyone landed on the ground, transformed back into human form, and went off in twos and threes to gather black fruit.
The black fruit tree was a shrub.
The grass was plentiful where the bushes grew, and Bai Wu, wearing a long robe, walked through it, the robe shielding him from blades and branches.
He walked through without sustaining any scratches.
The other sub-beastmen, also wearing robes, had significantly less exposed skin, and almost no wounds were visible on their bodies.
As they walked through the bushes, they exchanged glances, a strange feeling welling up within them.
One sub-beastman touched his robe with appreciation, “This robe is so convenient.”
Those around him nodded in agreement.
The weather was fine, and everyone was in a good mood. One sub-beastman began to sing, his clear voice carrying far and wide.
Soon, most of the sub-beastmen joined in. Their voices, some clear and crisp, others high-pitched and powerful, resounded through the fields.
Bai Wu listened as he picked wild berries, his feet tapping along to the rhythm unconsciously.
He didn’t hum along, but his eyes remained curved in a smile, brimming with contentment. As they sang, the distant sound of beastmen singing drifted over.
The beastmen’ voices grew even more rugged, providing accompaniment for the sub-beastmen.
Suddenly, someone stopped and called out to Bai Wu from afar, “Wu—”
Bai Wu looked up. “What is it?”
“Didn’t you say you wanted to find some spices to remove the fishy smell? Come here quickly, let me show you Jiji grass!”
“Oh, I have Jiji grass here too.”
Bai Wu had been searching for local spices, something the sub-beastmen had all heard of.
“Coming right now!” Bai Wu’s eyes lit up. He quickly plucked the ripe fruit from the nearby black-fruited tree with both hands, then ran over with his basket. “Where?”
“Here, there’s so many!”
The sub-beastmen had already parted the grass, gesturing for Bai Wu to come and see.
The Gigi plants were entirely green with opposite leaves and white hairs covering their stems. Bai Wu picked one up, and from the broken end, he could smell a pungent aroma.
Bai Wu took a deep breath of the fragrance. This aroma, if nothing else, would be perfect for marinating fish or cooking mutton!
“Wu, is this Jiji grass useful?”
“Very useful. I’ll dig some up and plant it near my nest.”
“There’s plenty on this mountain. Whenever you want some, just come and pick it. Why dig it up?”
“If I plant it near my nest, I can eat it on rainy days or when I don’t want to go out. It’s not much trouble anyway; I can just dig a hole and plant it.”
“Oh? Then I’ll dig some too.”
“Me too!”
The sub-beastmen followed suit digging up a bunch of Jiji grass, roots and all. They wrapped it in leaves, and placed it in a corner of their baskets.
The mountains and fields were full of black fruit, and every sub-beastman returned laden with their harvest.
On their way back, they made a special detour to the salt lake to collect salt water and salt.
It was Bai Wu’s first time at the salt lake. He saw a vast expanse of barren, shallow lakes situated on the desert. Looking out, he could see some grayish-white salt settled at the bottom.
There were some sparse, withered grasses along the lakeshore.
Across the lake, a flock of sheep-like creatures were licking salt water. They seemed unconcerned about the sub-beastmen they encountered.
Bai Wu glanced at the sheep.
An nudged him with his elbow. “What are you thinking about?”
Bai Wu lowered his voice. “Brother, look at those sheep—we…”
An looked up. “Those horned beasts? The priest said there are too few horned beasts in our bird-beastman territory. We can’t catch them for the next few years; we’ll wait until their numbers increase.”
Bai Wu was taken aback, then looked again at the sheep in the distance.
The priest cared about this? And this idea was so ahead of its time!
Bai Wu clutched his clothes, feeling somewhat shocked.
Everyone returned to the tribe in the afternoon; it was still early before sunset.
As soon as the sub-beastmen transformed back into human form, before even putting down their baskets, they eagerly asked, “Wu, what do we do now?”
“Everyone, find buckets first, and peel the black fruit.”
“What about the pulp?”
“Put the pulp in another bucket; we’ll make jam later.”
After hearing Bai Wu’s explanation, the sub-beastmen scattered in all directions.
They went back to their own nests to get buckets and basins, washed their hands, and sat together on the open ground below to peel the black fruit.
This year’s abundant rain had made the black fruit large, black, plump, and juicy, making them very easy to peel.
The sub-beastmen chatted excitedly as they worked, piling up the black fruit peels at a visible speed.
Soon, the beastmen who had returned from hunting also came to help.
Smoke began to rise from the village chimneys.
Bai Wu instructed everyone to take the peeled black fruit skins to the stone mortar and pestle to grind them into powder. He then poured the powder and juice into a bucket.
He started a fire, and once the black fruit skins were ground, he used a new earthenware pot to boil the powder and juice.
After the juice boiled, he added salt lake water and salt.
Minerals can fix the color, and the salt lake water would have some effect.
When the purplish-black liquid in the pot boiled again, Bai Wu looked up and called to the surrounding sub-beastmen, “Everyone can bring your cloth and robes now; we can start dyeing them immediately.”
The sub-beastmen scattered, returning to their homes to bring their woven cloths to Bai Wu, eagerly surrounding him.
“Wu, here you go! Should I just throw it in to dye?”
“No rush, let me dye a piece of cloth first so everyone can see the effect.”
Bai Wu tossed a scrap of cloth into the pot and stirred it with a wooden stick. “Everyone, see if you like this color later. If not, we’ll dye it again when we find other dyes.”
After boiling for a while, Bai Wu used the wooden stick to lift the purplish-red cloth high in the pot, gesturing in all directions. “This is roughly the color.”
“This color is beautiful! I want to dye it this color!”
“Me too!”
An quickly helped maintain order. “Don’t push, be careful of the heat, and take your time. Everyone will get dyed.”
Bai Wu took the pieces of cloth one by one, slowly placing them into the earthenware pot, pressing them down with the wooden stick, and slowly soaking them.
After more than ten minutes, he lifted the first batch of cloth.
The originally off-white cloth had been dyed a uniform purplish-red, and was very eye-catching in the twilight.
“It’s really dyed!”
“This cloth is so beautiful, even more beautiful than the feathers of many bird-beastmen.”
“Wu, can I touch it?”
As the sub-beastmen asked, seven or eight hands reached out from the crowd, wanting to touch it.
Almost everyone’s eyes shone with amazement.
“You can touch it, but be careful, it’ll burn you.”
“Wow!” The sub-beastmen immediately devoured the freshly dyed cloth, holding it up to their eyes to examine it closely.
Bai Wu said, “Be careful not to get it dirty. After you’re done looking at it, hang it up on a tree to dry.”
After giving these instructions, Bai Wu began dyeing the second batch of cloth.
The steaming hot pot was surrounded by layers of sub-beastmen and beastmen.
Bai Wu stood in the crowd, drenched in sweat, hot and tired, but a smile remained on his face.
Every time he finished dyeing a batch of cloth and picked it up for everyone to take to dry, a cheer would erupt around him.
Gradually, some of the bolder sub-beastmen asked to try it. Bai Wu entrusted them with the dyeing task while instructing them from the sidelines.
Darkness fell.
They lit a fire for light.
Looking at the flickering fire, Bai Wu remembered something, “We can also dye some patterns.”
The others were puzzled.
Bai Wu slapped his forehead and said, “Where are the bone needles? Bring the bone needles and thread; I’ll demonstrate for you.”
A sub-beastman rushed back to their nests, returning moments later, panting, carrying bone needles and thread.
Bai Wu took the needle and thread, picked up a larger piece of cloth, pinched it in the middle, folded it several times, and then tightly bound the folded parts together, forming a knot. He then tossed the knot into the pot to boil.
The onlookers craned their necks, peering in.
The knot took a little longer to boil than the cloth.
Once boiled, Bai Wu scooped the knot out. “It’s done.”
“That’s it?” An stood beside him, standing on tiptoe to look at the knot he held high. “It doesn’t seem any different.”
“You’ll see when you take it apart.”
A beastman volunteered. “I’ll do it!”
The beastman took the knot, painstakingly unraveling the tightly sewn threads, and laid the cloth flat.
The moment the cloth was unfolded, a gasp rang out from the crowd. In the middle of the fabric was an exceptionally beautiful white flower!
Bai Wu looked at the fabric and smiled, “That’s the pattern.”
“Ah—Wu, you’re amazing!” An was the first to jump onto Bai Wu and hug him.
The surrounding sub-beastmen snapped out of their daze and rushed over to hug the brothers. “This cloth is so beautiful!!!”
Bai Wu was quickly surrounded by the sub-beastmen, their joyful screams and laughter carrying far.