The sky brightened, and the wild chickens in the chicken coop were clucking. The one with its tail feathers plucked by Han Cheng didn't care about its appearance anymore, contentedly humming a tune.
Most of the people in the Green Sparrow Tribe were already awake. The shaman, who usually woke up early, stayed in bed.
The shaman was awake, lying comfortably on the new bed covered with soft fur, leisurely gazing at the ceiling.
There was a reason why he didn't get up. Firstly, his legs had cramped up for most of the night, affecting his sleep and leaving lumps on his left calf, making it difficult to walk straight.
Secondly, the bed was just too comfortable!
Underneath him was a thick layer of hay, topped with fur, extremely soft. But what mattered most was that the hay and fur were warmed by the earth stove below.
As soon as a person lay down, it was as if they were glued down, and getting up required a painful struggle to summon the courage to face the cold.
The shaman was no exception.
Originally, he could have gotten up, but with Han Cheng's words, the shaman felt his legs were uncomfortable. Since there was nothing urgent for him to do, after some deliberation, he decided to stay lying down.
The shaman lay on the bed, looking around the room with his eyes open. The warmth underneath him made him regret not moving here earlier.
He wouldn't have to suffer if he had moved earlier.
Thinking this way and recalling the prohibition against moving the totem pole, he felt relieved, lying on the bed even more peacefully.
The shaman turned his head back and forth on the bed, looking around the room. The longer he looked, the more he liked it. This new house replaced the decades he had spent in the inner cave.
Yes, the "smell theory" was indeed remarkable.
Han Cheng got up quite early. Climbing up the low wall with a ladder, he exhaled white mist and looked outside. All he saw was a vast expanse of white.
This wasn't snow but a thick layer of frost.
No wonder it suddenly became so cold last night. It turned out there was such heavy frost. Before the frost came cold, and after the snow came chill, the reputation was well-deserved.
The sun seemed afraid of the cold, just like the shaman lying on the bed not wanting to get up. It wavered and swayed for a while before finally rising from the east, presenting a rosy face as if it was still reminiscing about an inappropriate dream…
As the sun rose, the frost quickly disappeared, and the busy and fulfilling life of the Green Sparrow Tribe continued.
After breakfast, the Eldest Senior Brother and others carried bone shovels under their armpits, shrunk their necks, and rolled up their sleeves as they left the tribe's gate to continue working in the fields.
Most of the oilseed rape leaves, previously greenish from the frost, were now wilting and drooping on the ground.
Others, like Lame, Mu Tou, Cheng, and Hei Wa, didn't go to the fields but followed Han Cheng's instructions to collect tree branches about a centimeter in diameter.
Some people didn't understand why the Divine Child needed these branches, but they still did as they were told.
Of course, Han Cheng needed these branches for a reason, and it was significant concerning the tribe's safety.
As winter approaches, the safety issue must be taken even more seriously. Fire prevention, theft prevention, and protection against the Flying Snake tribe were not just empty words; they needed to be genuinely addressed.
Last winter, when the Flying Snake Tribe attacked, what left the deepest impression on Han Cheng wasn't the significant role played by the walls but rather the scattered dead trees hidden beneath the accumulated snow.
During that battle, these dead trees played a crucial role, causing significant damage to the Flying Snake Tribe even before they could approach the walls. Without them, the damage suffered by the Green Sparrow Tribe in the last war would have been much greater.
With continuous consumption, most of the trees around the outer perimeter of the walls had been cleared away. This was undoubtedly a loss of a powerful barrier for the Green Sparrow Tribe.
Although there were protective trenches on the outer side of the Green Sparrow Tribe, they would freeze over in the extreme cold of winter, greatly reducing their effectiveness.
Some wise individuals in the Green Sparrow Tribe had long proposed their views, wanting the Divine Child to leave these dead trees behind to defend the tribe. These people included the shaman, the Eldest Senior Brother, Shang, who had detailed knowledge of the battle, and the Third Senior Brother.
Han Cheng felt it was a pity to leave so much wood here to rot, so he insisted on clearing away these trees according to his own opinion.
However, before discussing this, he proposed a defense solution.
The solution was what Lame and others were currently working on.
Lame picked up a two-meter-long forked branch, estimated the distance, and placed it on a relatively thick trunk. Holding a stone axe of wood in his right hand, he chopped diagonally towards the trunk.
According to Han Cheng's requirements, the branches found by everyone were quite hard, and even a heavy axe blow barely made a dent.
Lame grasped the branch with his left hand, turned it halfway, and then chopped again. Finally, he put down the axe, grabbed the branch with both hands and broke it from the break.
Then he placed it on the left side, where there was already a pile of neatly cut branches about thirty centimeters long.
Seeing that Lame had already cut a pile of branches, Han Cheng asked the others to stop looking for suitable branches and instead started a fire not far away.
After bringing over the branches cut by Lame and putting them aside, they picked up a few, burned both ends in the fire for a while, and then began grinding them on the stones they had brought earlier.
After sharpening both ends, they stopped and put the finished wooden sticks together.
After gathering enough branches to form a large pile, Hei Wa and others also stopped and brought another stone axe to chop branches with Lame.
The rest of the people followed Han Cheng and Mu Tou's example, grinding the cut branches.
Swinging the stone axe was not an easy task. After a while, Lame was already dripping with sweat. Even though he opened up the animal skins wrapped around his body, his head was still steaming with white mist, as if he had achieved mastery in internal energy, reaching a state of perfection.
After watching for a while, Han Cheng let Mu Tou take over Lame's job of cutting branches and asked Lame to handle the lighter task of grinding the branches.
Hei Wa also had someone take over his task.
The sky brightened, and the wild chickens in the chicken coop were clucking. The one with its tail feathers plucked by Han Cheng didn't care about its appearance anymore, contentedly humming a tune.
Most of the people in the Green Sparrow Tribe were already awake. The shaman, who usually woke up early, stayed in bed.
The shaman was awake, lying comfortably on the new bed covered with soft fur, leisurely gazing at the ceiling.
There was a reason why he didn't get up. Firstly, his legs had cramped up for most of the night, affecting his sleep and leaving lumps on his left calf, making it difficult to walk straight.
Secondly, the bed was just too comfortable!
Underneath him was a thick layer of hay, topped with fur, extremely soft. But what mattered most was that the hay and fur were warmed by the earth stove below.
As soon as a person lay down, it was as if they were glued down, and getting up required a painful struggle to summon the courage to face the cold.
The shaman was no exception.
He had initially thought of getting up, but before he could, Han Cheng came over, mentioning his discomfort in the legs from last night's cramping, and advised him to rest in bed a bit longer.
Originally, he could have gotten up, but with Han Cheng's words, the shaman felt his legs were uncomfortable. Since there was nothing urgent for him to do, after some deliberation, he decided to stay lying down.
The shaman lay on the bed, looking around the room with his eyes open. The warmth underneath him made him regret not moving here earlier.
He wouldn't have to suffer if he had moved earlier.
Thinking this way and recalling the prohibition against moving the totem pole, he felt relieved, lying on the bed even more peacefully.
The shaman turned his head back and forth on the bed, looking around the room. The longer he looked, the more he liked it. This new house replaced the decades he had spent in the inner cave.
Yes, the "smell theory" was indeed remarkable.
Han Cheng got up quite early. Climbing up the low wall with a ladder, he exhaled white mist and looked outside. All he saw was a vast expanse of white.
This wasn't snow but a thick layer of frost.
No wonder it suddenly became so cold last night. It turned out there was such heavy frost. Before the frost came cold, and after the snow came chill, the reputation was well-deserved.
The sun seemed afraid of the cold, just like the shaman lying on the bed not wanting to get up. It wavered and swayed for a while before finally rising from the east, presenting a rosy face as if it was still reminiscing about an inappropriate dream…
As the sun rose, the frost quickly disappeared, and the busy and fulfilling life of the Green Sparrow Tribe continued.
After breakfast, the Eldest Senior Brother and others carried bone shovels under their armpits, shrunk their necks, and rolled up their sleeves as they left the tribe's gate to continue working in the fields.
Most of the oilseed rape leaves, previously greenish from the frost, were now wilting and drooping on the ground.
Others, like Lame, Mu Tou, Cheng, and Hei Wa, didn't go to the fields but followed Han Cheng's instructions to collect tree branches about a centimeter in diameter.
Some people didn't understand why the Divine Child needed these branches, but they still did as they were told.
Of course, Han Cheng needed these branches for a reason, and it was significant concerning the tribe's safety.
As winter approaches, the safety issue must be taken even more seriously. Fire prevention, theft prevention, and protection against the Flying Snake tribe were not just empty words; they needed to be genuinely addressed.
Last winter, when the Flying Snake Tribe attacked, what left the deepest impression on Han Cheng wasn't the significant role played by the walls but rather the scattered dead trees hidden beneath the accumulated snow.
During that battle, these dead trees played a crucial role, causing significant damage to the Flying Snake Tribe even before they could approach the walls. Without them, the damage suffered by the Green Sparrow Tribe in the last war would have been much greater.
With continuous consumption, most of the trees around the outer perimeter of the walls had been cleared away. This was undoubtedly a loss of a powerful barrier for the Green Sparrow Tribe.
Although there were protective trenches on the outer side of the Green Sparrow Tribe, they would freeze over in the extreme cold of winter, greatly reducing their effectiveness.
Some wise individuals in the Green Sparrow Tribe had long proposed their views, wanting the Divine Child to leave these dead trees behind to defend the tribe. These people included the shaman, the Eldest Senior Brother, Shang, who had detailed knowledge of the battle, and the Third Senior Brother.
Han Cheng felt it was a pity to leave so much wood here to rot, so he insisted on clearing away these trees according to his own opinion.
However, before discussing this, he proposed a defense solution.
The solution was what Lame and others were currently working on.
Lame picked up a two-meter-long forked branch, estimated the distance, and placed it on a relatively thick trunk. Holding a stone axe of wood in his right hand, he chopped diagonally towards the trunk.
According to Han Cheng's requirements, the branches found by everyone were quite hard, and even a heavy axe blow barely made a dent.
Lame grasped the branch with his left hand, turned it halfway, and then chopped again. Finally, he put down the axe, grabbed the branch with both hands and broke it from the break.
Then he placed it on the left side, where there was already a pile of neatly cut branches about thirty centimeters long.
Seeing that Lame had already cut a pile of branches, Han Cheng asked the others to stop looking for suitable branches and instead started a fire not far away.
After bringing over the branches cut by Lame and putting them aside, they picked up a few, burned both ends in the fire for a while, and then began grinding them on the stones they had brought earlier.
After sharpening both ends, they stopped and put the finished wooden sticks together.
After gathering enough branches to form a large pile, Hei Wa and others also stopped and brought another stone axe to chop branches with Lame.
The rest of the people followed Han Cheng and Mu Tou's example, grinding the cut branches.
Swinging the stone axe was not an easy task. After a while, Lame was already dripping with sweat. Even though he opened up the animal skins wrapped around his body, his head was still steaming with white mist, as if he had achieved mastery in internal energy, reaching a state of perfection.
After watching for a while, Han Cheng let Mu Tou take over Lame's job of cutting branches and asked Lame to handle the lighter task of grinding the branches.
Hei Wa also had someone take over his task.