Su Cheng had originally planned to use a stone to hold down the fire board, but since he had some ready-made helpers nearby, he might as well put them to work.
When he said they needed to hold down both ends of the Wooden Board with their feet, the Wolf-eared Girl eagerly stuck out her little foot and planted it firmly on the fire board.
The Cat-eared Girl wasn’t about to be outdone either. With a meow, she claimed the other side.
The remaining Cat-eared Girl looked back and forth, her mouth instantly drooping into a pout as she deeply regretted not getting to help.
“Hold it down tight, okay? Don’t let it move around.”
Su Cheng reminded them, then picked up the drill and knelt on the ground. He’d been about to say something, but when he glanced to the side by chance, he immediately shut his mouth.
Oh, damn.
Two Beast-eared Girls were crouching beside him, one on either side. They were wearing Beast-hide Dresses and had their feet up on the Wooden Board. At this angle, all he had to do was look up and—what was he seeing?
Luckily, it was nighttime. Everything was dark.
So why did it have to be nighttime?
Bah!
He was making a fire. How could he let himself get distracted?
Su Cheng swallowed, then gripped the drill tightly, set it against the little round hollow, and put all his strength into spinning it furiously.
He couldn’t stop during this process. If he did, all his effort could easily go to waste.
As the pieces rubbed rapidly together, fine wood dust kept falling, and the bottom of the drill gradually turned charred black.
The Beast-eared Girls stared unblinkingly at the tool in Su Cheng’s hands, the light in their eyes growing brighter and brighter.
The process wasn’t long, but everyone felt as if a great deal of time had passed. Some were even getting impatient.
—Su Cheng was even more anxious, because he really didn’t want to embarrass himself.
…
Meanwhile, at the other end of the Camp,
Rabbit-eared Girl Chun was sitting in a circle with several Beast-eared Girls, discussing their current predicament beneath the moonlight.
“How is it, Lin? Do we have enough food?” Chun’s left leg was injured, so she sat slightly turned on a hay pile. She asked with a grave expression.
Across from her sat the Cat-eared girl who had been in charge of distributing food at dusk. She shook her head in worry.
“No. We’re still short by one basket.”
“Didn’t we agree earlier that five baskets of food would be enough?” another Cat-eared girl said angrily. “The Wolf Ear Tribe is only asking for three baskets to trade for a Fire Seed with the Flame Earth Tribe, and we even promised to add another basket of Berries. What more do they want?”
“We might as well go trade for it ourselves,” another Cat-eared girl said in frustration.
“...”
Of course, they were just venting.
If they could go trade for it themselves, why would they have to beg the Wolf Ear Tribe?
For a while, everyone fell silent.
The Cat Ear Tribe had too few fighters left, and unlike the Wolf-eared Girls, they couldn’t travel long distances without getting lost. So they had to trade with whoever was nearby. Besides, trading for a Fire Seed with the Wolf Ear Tribe, who lived close by, was much safer than making the long journey to the Flame Earth Tribe.
The trouble was, their Tribe had already been driven into a corner of the forest. Their Territory was small, and the resources they could gather were limited. If they gave a large portion of their harvest to the Wolf Ear Tribe, it would only make their own situation worse.
“If only we had a shaman too. Then we wouldn’t have to worry about Fire Seeds, and Aguo wouldn’t have to keep suffering from Fever.”
One of the Beast-eared Girls muttered something, drawing a sigh from everyone.
If they had a shaman, would the Cat Ear Tribe have fallen into such a sorry state?
“How is Aguo? It’s been two days. Is she still not getting better?” Lin asked.
“Mm. She only drank a little water today, and she couldn’t eat much. She’s still burning up just as badly. Fufu is taking care of her.” At this, the Cat-eared Girls’ expressions darkened, their faces full of fear and worry.
In this era, Fever was a terrible illness. If someone couldn’t endure it, there was only one possible outcome.
They didn’t want to face that outcome, but they were powerless to do anything.
After a long while, Chun took a deep breath and spoke solemnly.
“Tomorrow, let’s try to hunt down as many wild beasts as we can and gather enough food. The Fire Seed has been out for several days already. We can’t put this off any longer. Once we have fire, perhaps Aguo’s Fever will ease a little too. Also, everyone should stay alert when sleeping at night these next few days, and keep an eye out for Fierce Beasts in the forest.”
“All right.”
“By the way, Chun, three of the five people you brought back today have already left.” To dispel the gloomy mood, Lin the Cat-eared Girl changed the subject.
Not long after the food was distributed, some members of the Tribe had seen the two Deer-antlered Girls and the Fox-eared Girl quietly leave.
“The other two stayed?”
“Mm. The Wolf Ear and that man.”
Chun seemed a little surprised at this. She had thought that once they saw the Cat Ear Tribe had neither a Fire Seed nor any men, no one would be willing to stay. She hadn’t expected that Wolf Ear to stay either.
Since it was what she had expected, Chun didn’t care.
“Where did you find that man?” Lin continued.
Everyone was curious about why Chun had brought him back.
Chun blinked. “I came across him on the way back. He was unconscious by the river, so I picked him up and brought him back. He has no Beast Ears or tail, so I can’t tell which Tribe he ran away from.”
So she’d picked him up. No wonder.
Everyone knew that even a male Beast-eared wanderer wouldn’t be eager to join a weak Tribe like the Cat Ear Tribe, let alone one that was barely hanging on.
No one had really expected anything to begin with.
Since they couldn’t make him stay, naturally none of the Cat Ear Tribe members wanted to spend their energy on him.
Still, Su Cheng was a rare sight to the Cat Ear Tribe, so Lin and the others were somewhat curious about him.
“Chun, do you think he’ll be willing to stay here?”
“How should I know?” Chun’s voice was cold. “Maybe he’ll leave in a couple of days. Even if he stays, what can he change? With the Tribe as it is now, does having one more man or one fewer man make any difference? Besides, he isn’t Cat Ear Tribe, so he can’t help you. Instead of wasting time on this, think about how we’re going to get through this Extreme Winter.”
For a while, the group fell silent again.
Because it was the truth: right now, one more man in the Cat Ear Tribe was nowhere near as useful as a few more baskets of food, which they could at least trade with the Wolf Ear Tribe for a Fire Seed.
Besides, he wasn’t Cat Ear Tribe. Even if they forced him to stay, he wouldn’t be much use.
Every Tribe knew that the chance of pregnancy between different species was very low, about half that between members of the same species. Many Tribes had tested it in the past. They really could enjoy the same kind of pleasure, and they could successfully Reproduce.
The only problem was that children born between different species were far weaker than normal children and had little chance of surviving. Almost nine out of ten would die.
This completely went against the original purpose of Reproducing and strengthening the Tribe.
Over time, different species stopped considering having children together.
So the women in a Tribe didn’t pay much attention to men from other species.
At that moment, another Cat-eared Girl snorted. “Chun’s right. If he wants to stay, let him. If he doesn’t, he can leave. We’ve managed just fine all these years.”
Lin said, “But we still have to think about our descendants. He is a man, after all. It’s worth taking a chance…”