Making a Statement
Chief Ya finished speaking and left with two beastmen.
The Bai family stood outside their hut, their faces grave.
Bai Wu plopped down on a wooden stump by the fire pit, muttering, “Go ahead and curse me, but my decision won’t change.”
Chuan slapped him on the back. “Still not changing it?! Where are you going to find food if you don’t?”
“There’s plenty of food. In a while, the food I planted will grow, and I won’t need to gather it.”
Chuan slapped him again, making a loud thud. “Are you going to live on air all this time?!”
Bai Wu shrank back. “There’s plenty of food in the wilderness outside the tribe. I can feed myself.”
“Chuan,” Mo called to his partner, “Don’t hit the child.”
“Don’t hit him! You spoil him rotten. What are we going to do now? Aren’t you worried at all?”
“Putting everything else aside, Wu is a spirited sub-beastman.”
Before Mo could finish speaking, he was hit. Chuan’s slap landed on his back, much louder than the one on Bai Wu. Bai Wu was startled and silently moved further away.
Mo smiled, pulled Chuan’s hand down, and rubbed his palm.
Chuan raised his head and asked seriously, “Tell me, what do we do now? Wu, are you really determined to go against the tribe?”
“It’s not about going against the chieftain. That’s the best place—quiet, safe, spacious, and with beautiful scenery.”
“Then how will you support yourself? Even now, if you resolutely refuse to change your ways, and your father and dad don’t make sacrifices for your decision, can you really find enough food in the wild to support yourself?”
“I really can.”
If his health hadn’t deteriorated, he would have been old enough to support himself long ago.
After asking, Chuan said nothing more, nodded, and fully respected his opinion.
Mo didn’t even have time to speak up.
The next day, news spread that Bai Wu was going to build a house on the other side of the mountain where the priest lived, and that he had been punished for ignoring the clan chief’s advice.
The clansmen talked about it all day long.
Upon hearing the news, his cousin Ta came to find him with a basket of wild fruit. “Wu, are you really not going to go gathering with the tribe?”
“Mm, father and dad have both agreed.”
Ta looked at him with admiration. “The chief is so fierce, and you dare to go against him?”
“…” Bai Wu asked, “What brings you here?”
“Nothing much, just asking if it’s true.” Ta scratched his head. “If you have nowhere to gather, come with me to the hunting area. It’s not the tribe’s newly developed area, so it won’t violate the chief’s orders.”
“No need. I’m clumsy and will hinder your hunting. I’ll walk along the river these few days and gather some food. If there’s extra food, I’ll plant it; I won’t go hungry.”
Ta tried to persuade him, but to no avail, so he had no choice but to go with Bai Wu.
Other sub-beastmen of similar age from the tribe came over, urging Bai Wu to follow them to gather resources. They said they wouldn’t bother gathering in the tribe’s newly developed areas, and they’d help persuade the chieftain once he was less angry.
Bai Wu hadn’t expected this group of sub-beastmen to be so loyal. After thanking them, he still refused.
He meant what he said and didn’t want to do anything sneaky.
It was very rare for sub-beastmen to announce they wanted to build a nest.
Especially since the nest was near the mountain where the priest lived.
Soon, besides voices of sympathy and encouragement, some rumors began to circulate.
Some speculated that Bai Wu might have fallen for the priest, and that’s why he built the nest at the foot of the mountain to get closer to him.
The rumors reached their peak when the priest said not to stop Bai Wu from building the nest.
Upon hearing the news, An rushed back to the nest and shouted to Bai Wu, who was planting wild scallions, “Wu! The High Priest said you can’t be stopped from building your nest! You’re alright!”
Bai Wu straightened up and wiped his sweat. “Who did the High Priest speak to?”
“The Chieftain. I think you’re alright.”
“Even if I’m alright, I won’t go hunting in the territory the tribe has developed.”
An walked over, frowning, and asked, “Why?”
“I thought about it. The Chieftain has his reasons. I don’t agree with them, but I respect his decision.”
“Then there’s no need to insist on this in a place like this. Are you waiting for the Chieftain to come and apologize to you?”
“No. I promised, and I will keep my word.”
An was anxious.
That evening, during dinner, An asked his two fathers to persuade Bai Wu.
Both fathers only said they respected Bai Wu’s decision.
An sighed helplessly, scooped a large spoonful of food into his mouth, and mumbled, “I don’t quite understand what you’re insisting on.”
Bai Wu smiled. “Probably because I have to keep my word.”
Bai Wu refused to go out gathering with the tribe’s sub-beastmen anymore, nor did he go to the tribe’s newly developed areas.
After several days of this, Ya came to see him personally.
The young beastman chieftain gave him a cold look. “The High Priest has spoken; the previous punishment against you is rescinded. However, you’d better not let me find out you’ve disturbed the High Priest. Even if you are a sub-beastman, I won’t forgive you.”
Bai Wu met his gaze, his expression slightly helpless. “Why would I disturb the High Priest? What are you all worried about?”
Bai Wu ignored the gossip outside. He went to ask Ta, who was also building a nest, where he could collect stones.
Ta told him that when the tribe needed to build nests, they usually went to a quarry in Baishan. There were many very hard stones there, and besides using them for building nests, they also frequently went there to find stones to grind into stone knives, hammers, axes, and so on.
Bai Wu asked, “Besides there, are there any other places?”
Ta was surprised, “You still abide by the agreement not to go to areas the tribe has developed? Didn’t the chief say the punishment was abolished?”
“Just tell me, are there any?”
“Yes, there is. There’s a large stone forest not far from the tribe. Not many people go there; it’s not part of the tribe’s development area. However, most of the rocks there are large, and they’re difficult to break.”
“Where exactly is it?”
“Not far, just that riverbank upstream. I’ll take you to see it.”
Ta, having nothing else to do, immediately urged Bai Wu to take his basket, wanting to take him there.
Bai Wu followed him, flying upstream along the river.
The river in front of their tribe was a large river, several meters wide.
The river meandered, flowing from the mountains, following the current through the forests.
They followed the river, flapping their wings and flying upstream until they reached a riverbank.
The riverbank was overgrown with knee-high weeds, burying half of the stones, some larger than tables.
Bai Wu looked around; the long riverbank contained at least several thousand large stones—more than enough for him.
Ta said, “This used to be our tribe’s quarry. When we ran out of suitable stones, we had to go further afield. Keep going around this mountain, and there’s another long stretch of stone bank—enough for you, but it’s not easy to find.”
Bai Wu squatted down and gently tapped the large stone beneath him. It was cold and hard to the touch, and very smooth.
He looked down.
Below the large stones were small pebbles. They were round and white, very pretty, but almost no stones of suitable size were visible.
He searched the vicinity for a while before finally finding a stone slightly larger than his fist.
He twirled the stone in his palm, adjusted the angle, and then slammed the small stone hard against the larger one.
“Bang—”
Ta was startled and whirled around.
The two stones collided, almost sparking, and the enormous recoil made Bai Wu’s palm sting.
There were only faint white marks on the two stones below.
Bai Wu dropped the stone in his hand, shook his hand, and his palm was bright red.
Ta strode over. “Your hand is hurt?”
“No,” Bai Wu frowned. “This stone is really hard to mine.”
“Let me see.”
Ta took the stone he had thrown away, squatted down, and smashed it against the large rock several times.
The loud “bang, bang, bang” made Bai Wu instinctively take a small step back.
“It’s broken.” Ta held out his hand to show Bai Wu the small broken stones in his palm.
Bai Wu looked at his palm, then at the large rock below.
There was a shallow crack in the large rock, only two or three centimeters deep.
Bai Wu frowned.
It seemed that the tribe’s rudimentary dwellings weren’t entirely due to the poor construction technology of this era.
Damn.
Building materials were so hard to come by these days.
Ta panted with his hands on his hips, “What do we do now? Shall I take you to another quarry?”
“No need, I’ll go back and think of something.”
“What can you possibly do? I think you should just stop building your nest and wait until you find a beastman mate.”
“I’m not looking.” Bai Wu didn’t even look up. “If all else fails, I’ll just fire some bricks. There’ll always be a way.”
“Why won’t you look? Fine, fine, I won’t say anything more. Don’t glare at me. What are bricks?”
“Something similar to stone. It can be used to build houses, but it’s a bit troublesome to fire.” Bai Wu said, “Let’s go back first. I’ll think about it carefully.”
“At a time like this, what other solutions do you have? Just tell me if you need my help.”
Bai Wu smiled. “If I really need your help, I certainly won’t hesitate.”
The two flew back to the tribe.
Ta said goodbye to Bai Wu and went to attend to his own business.
Bai Wu was left alone by the fire pit. He wrote and drew on a wooden board and a piece of charcoal.
He spent a long time calculating on the wooden board.
In the afternoon, An returned and caught him scribbling on the board. He looked at it closely for a while. “What are you drawing? It looks quite nice.”
Bai Wu glanced down at the neatly written Chinese characters on the charcoal, wiped them away, and asked, “Why didn’t you go out with your friends today?”
“Nothing fun. I heard from Ta that you wanted to go to the riverbank to collect stones?”
“It’s just a preliminary idea; I’ll think about it some more.”
“Don’t even think about it. The stones there are so big. Even if a beastman went, let alone a sub-beastman, there wouldn’t be much of a way.”
“That’s not necessarily true. Sub-beastmen aren’t necessarily weaker than beastmen.”
An snorted twice. “Whatever. Just tell me if you need help.”
Bai Wu thought for two days and actually came up with a plan.
However, whether it would succeed or not, he would have to test it first.
He still wouldn’t go to collect with the tribe members, nor would he go to the tribe’s developed areas.
He had been acting alone for the past few days.
His family knew his temperament, so no one tried to persuade him otherwise.
Taking advantage of his solitary activities, Bai Wu went into the forest and collected a large amount of firewood, which he then carried to the riverbank.
He also cut the grass from the riverbank and piled it on the rocks to dry.
The weather was fine in early summer; several days passed with clear skies, and occasional showers were insignificant as the rainwater dried quickly.
He busied himself on the riverbank.
The sun was intense; instead of tanning his fair skin, he suffered sunburn and peeling skin.
Worse still, from walking so much and navigating the many stones and debris on the path, his fragile animal-hide boots were torn, causing a minor injury to his feet.
In this era, injuries were commonplace, and he paid them no heed.
His family didn’t have many supplies stored; they only had a few pieces of animal hide.
He rummaged through the scraps and repaired the animal hide shoes, making do with what he had.
Because of his injured foot, his range of movement was greatly reduced. Unable to travel far to collect firewood, he simply cut down all the grass on the riverbank.
The grass held a lot of hidden things.
Bai Wu no longer needed to gather food; just by cutting grass, he could find enough insects, bird eggs, and wild vegetables.
All in all, his foraging efficiency was even higher than his brother’s.
Their family could eat a different meal every day.
Early that morning, Bai Wu, as usual, flew over to this side of the riverbank with his basket on his back.
Before he even landed, he saw a person standing on a large rock with their back to him.
The person was tall and robust, wearing a black animal hide skirt around their waist, their smooth skin gleaming like satin in the sunlight.
Just from their back, Bai Wu knew this person was no ordinary person.
Bai Wu landed warily a dozen meters away from the man, and after a careful look, he realized it was a priest.
He stood on a large rock and called out from afar, “Priest!”
The man turned around; it was indeed Nan Yao, the priest of the bird-beastmen.
Nan Yao turned his head, meeting Bai Wu’s eyes. “I smelled the blood of my race when I flew overhead today.”
Bai Wu, now understanding why he was standing there, felt a slight sense of relief and said to Nan Yao, “I accidentally cut my foot yesterday, bled a little, probably from falling on the rock. It’s nothing serious, thank you for coming to check on me, Priest.”
“Which foot is injured?”
Seeing Nan Yao looking at him, Bai Wu subconsciously took a step back. “It’s not serious.”
Both his feet were injured; there were several puncture wounds, several cuts from grass, and wounds on the soles, insteps, and ankles.
Having walked for a long time through the woods and bushes, he had suffered numerous cuts and scratches.
If the priest were to see him, he would appear far too delicate.
Moreover, in this desolate place, standing before a beastman far superior in both height and imposing presence, Bai Wu felt a strange sense of unease.
Perhaps it was his biological instinct that kept him away from danger.
Nan Yao walked over.
Bai Wu took a few steps back, retreating to the edge of the bushes. He clutched a blade of grass, and refused again, “I’m really fine, no need to trouble you, High Priest.”
Nan Yao stopped, reaching into a leather pouch hanging from his waist and pulling out a packet wrapped in withered leaves. “Your foot injury will fester if left untreated. Here’s some medicine; use it yourself.”
Nan Yao’s expression was calm.
Bai Wu secretly breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you, High Priest.”
Nan Yao nodded.
Bai Wu took the medicine and, seeing Nan Yao still standing there, was about to try and strike up a conversation.
Nan Yao said, “If you really want to build a nest on that mountain, find a beastman to accompany you.”
“No need for a beastman, I can manage alone.”
Nan Yao’s gaze fell on his feet.
Bai Wu shifted his feet uncomfortably.
The moment his foot moved, Bai Wu immediately realized he was utterly helpless in front of this beastman.
He was afraid of this beastman!
He was actually afraid of a beastman from a primitive society.
How pathetic!
Bai Wu inwardly despised himself, yet he couldn’t relax. His voice tightened as he changed the subject, “Priest, do you know when it will rain heavily?”
Nan Yao withdrew his gaze. “It will rain the day after tomorrow.”
“In the morning or the afternoon?”
“You’ll see.”
Nan Yao turned to leave.
Before leaving, Nan Yao turned back and asked again, “Why are you asking this?”
“It’s a secret.” Bai Wu stood on the riverbank, blinking and smiling. “If Priest is curious, come to the riverbank when it rains heavily the day after tomorrow and you’ll find out.”