After returning, I must make sure to smoke every nook and cranny of the caves in the tribe!
With a heart racing from anxiety, Han Cheng made up his mind.
That night, the people of the Green Sparrow tribe did not rest in the Flying Snake tribe's cave but instead camped in the open, about 100 meters away from the cave entrance, where it was sheltered from the wind. This was because the flames in the cave hadn't completely gone out yet.
At first, it wasn't necessary to camp outside. The main reason was that Han Cheng was preoccupied with the copper mine. Once they arrived, he focused solely on finding the mine. Only when it was nearly dark, and they were about to settle in did he remember smoking in the cave.
Luckily, it was summer, so camping outside wasn't too problematic as long as it didn't rain.
They lit several campfires, left two people on watch, and everyone else slept on spread-out hides, covering themselves with more hides. Soon, they were all fast asleep.
Fu Jiang and his group of loyal followers, along with Deer Lord and the others, were resting nearby. With Fu Jiang and his highly alert group on watch, camping outside felt much safer.
The following day, after breakfast, Han Cheng sent a few people to watch over the deer herd grazing near Copper Mountain. He and the rest of the group went up to Copper Mountain to continue their work at the mining pit they had found the day before.
As the copper mine pit grew larger and deeper, the speed of copper extraction gradually slowed.
It wasn't a big surprise, but as they dug deeper, some yellow copper ore appeared beneath the malachite.
Han Cheng felt a little melancholy, but the problem wasn't the extraction of copper ore but the transportation.
In this era, the best transportation method was by boat along waterways.
Not only could it carry large quantities, but it was also less labor-intensive and less dangerous.
Unfortunately, Han Cheng could only imagine shipping the copper ore by boat because no waterways connected this area to the Green Sparrow tribe.
Two small streams existed here, but after they merged about three or four miles away, they flowed north.
Han Cheng and his group walked another seven or eight miles from the merging point of the streams before they reached a winding small river.
The river water was not as abundant as the one in front of the Green Sparrow tribe, and although a narrow bamboo raft could barely travel on it, a boat carrying copper ore would not be able to make it.
That wasn't even the biggest issue—the most important thing was that this river curved northward and didn't seem to be flowing east. Han Cheng had walked over twenty miles along the river, but it showed no sign of flowing east.
Thinking about the width and constant flow of the river in front of his tribe, it was clear that this river near the Flying Snake tribe was not upstream.
After a whole day of searching, Han Cheng had to give up on the idea of water transport and switch to land transport.
Land transport was undoubtedly very labor-intensive, and even though the tribe had a herd of deer, it would still be challenging to manage.
However, without any better solution, they had no choice but to rely on land transport, which consumed more manpower and resources.
As they continued mining, the surface-level loose ores were easier to dig out, but as they dug deeper, it became increasingly difficult, and the pace slowed.
But as the saying goes, "persistence is key." By the eighth day, the amount of ore piled on Copper Mountain was substantial.
Han Cheng estimated the weight and the time, then called for the group to stop mining and begin rolling the ore down the mountain to the base.
Once all the ore was rolled down, they filled it into the leather bags they had brought.
Each bag was not packed too full, around 40 pounds each.
After packing everything, the two bag openings were tied together and placed on the deer's back, allowing the deer to carry the load.
The people were not idle either. They fashioned some simple carrying poles using makeshift tree branches, with two bags on each pole.
The load was lighter than the deer's, with each bag weighing about thirty pounds.
However, a lighter load doesn’t make for an easy journey. While 50-60 pounds might not seem too heavy initially, the thought of carrying it for several days made everyone feel weary.
Despite this, with almost everyone pitching in, the effect was evident.
In addition to their personal weapons, food, cooking utensils, deer fodder, rain gear, bedding, and other essentials, they had about 3,000 pounds of copper ore to bring back.
Three thousand pounds of copper ore should yield quite a bit of copper.
Unfortunately, Han Cheng had not found any tin or lead ores near Copper Mountain during the past few days.
They seemed to have to focus on refining the copper before worrying about tin or lead ores.
Han Cheng understood that some things can’t be rushed. While disappointed by not finding the other ores, he didn’t let it affect his mood too much.
Long journeys were never easy—carrying a load made it even harder.
The return journey was much slower than the way there. It was summer, and the heat made every step a struggle, with sweat pouring down, adding to everyone’s exhaustion.
After a long day’s travel, Han Cheng immediately adjusted their schedule: leaving early, resting in the shade at noon when the heat was unbearable, and continuing when the temperature dropped.
This made their pace even slower.
The sunlight filtered through the trees, the unbearable heat spreading relentlessly.
Han Cheng, shirtless, sat on a flat stone, leaning against a large tree, panting heavily, sweat dripping down like it was free.
He opened his water flask and gulped down some salted, cold, boiled water, feeling like he had just saved his life. Looking around, he saw a group of similarly exhausted, disheveled people, all in the same state.
If it weren’t for the increasing availability of linen clothes, Han Cheng would have given strict orders that no one could undress in public. He feared that, under these conditions, more people would be walking around "free" .
Looking at the bags of ore, the sweat-drenched people, and the tired deer, Han Cheng couldn’t help but sniffle.
The tribe had many bronze tools, which gave them a massive advantage in farming and warfare over other tribes. The thought of how much they could achieve with these tools was tempting, but the effort required to get there was grueling.
Things don’t come easily in this world, especially what you desire most.
Even if you sacrifice a lot for it, success is never guaranteed. It’s impossible to succeed if you try to take shortcuts or slack off.
As the sun began to set, Han Cheng pushed himself up from the tree after eating and drinking and called out to everyone.
Everyone moved, placing the bags on the deer and starting to shoulder their loads.
After giving the command, Han Cheng gritted his teeth and bent down, using his swollen shoulder to lift his load.
Though he had considered abandoning the ore more than once, he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Instead, he kept going, carrying the load back toward the tribe.