Su Bai and the others strode into the Tribe, with Lu Zi and her companions following behind.
Their amazement did not stop at the wooden houses outside the gate or the neatly turned soil; after entering the Tribe, they were even more astonished.
Looking around, construction was happening everywhere, with few wooden houses remaining and mostly two-storey cement houses visible in all directions.
"What are all these things?" Lu Zi was utterly astounded; it was completely different from what she had imagined.
Previously in her Tribe, such structures were impossible; they only had dilapidated Teepees. Those Teepees seemed as if they might collapse at any moment, and not everyone had one.
"This is really amazing" A boy added, shocked beyond measure. He was also from the Mountain Elephant Tribe. He was seventeen years old, standing at 1.75 metres tall, with notably short black curly hair.
His purple eyes stared intently at the Flame Dragon Tribe’s environment, his slightly chubby face still showing traces of childishness.
"These are all cement houses, used for living." Sha Lan explained.
Su Bai paused, looked at Sha Lan and instructed. "Ah’Lan, I need to return to handle some matters. You take them around to familiarise themselves with the Tribe first."
*Step step step…*Sha Lan watched Su Bai’s retreating figure, then turned to the group and instructed. "I’ll now help you familiarize with the Tribe. Make sure to stay close to me and don’t wander off."
She worried that they had not been in the Tribe long enough, and if they wandered off, they would not only get lost but also become the subject of gossip among the Tribe’s people.
"Why are so many houses suddenly being built?" Lu Zi asked curiously.
"That’s because the snow season is approaching, which is why we’re building so many cement houses," Sha Lan explained.
"I still don’t understand what exactly the snow season is. Why do you need to build houses when it arrives?" Lu Zi was thoroughly confused.
"When the snow season comes, it becomes extremely cold, with snow everywhere. Walking becomes impossible, let alone hunting. These cement houses are built to withstand the cold of the snow season." Sha Lan explained.
"Based on what you’re saying, this snow season sounds quite interesting." Lu Zi thoughtfully remarked.
After all, she had never experienced the snow season before, with phenomena like now everywhere or difficulty moving about—these were all things she was hearing about for the first time.
"But, this year the Tribe should have no problem getting through the snow season. We have abundant food, and with these cement houses, it certainly won’t be too cold." Sha Lan said.
"Do you have enough Animal Hide here? What will you do if it gets very cold? Should we give some Animal Hide to the Shaman?" Lu Zi kindly asked.
During their time living in the forest, they frequently hunted, so they often collected Animal Hide. The Animal Hide they now wore was stripped from the beasts they had hunted, though judging from the tattered appearance, it seemed they had been wearing them for a considerable amount of time.
"If you have extra Animal Hide, why not change into fresh ones?" Sha Lan asked.
She noticed that the Animal Hide they wore was truly too worn, with holes everywhere.
"Because we save them for use at night, but the nights here aren’t that cold, so we don’t really need them. But we thought we might need them someday, so we’ve kept them as spares," Lu Zi explained.
"Our nights are cold but not that cold. Only during the snow season would we need extra Animal Hides." Sha Lan said, flicking her blue hair.
"How strange. From where we come from, it gets very cold at night, and we need to cover ourselves with Animal Hide or wear many layers of Animal Hide to sleep." Lu Zi said, perplexed.
Deserts were typically scorching hot during the day, but temperatures greatly plummet at night.
"Perhaps it’s due to the different weather in our regions, just as you’re unfamiliar with our snow season?" Sha Lan speculated.
Lu Zi nodded thoughtfully, looking at the cement path beneath her feet, and asked. "Are these also made of stone?"
"Well… strictly speaking, no, but they’re quite similar." Sha Lan responded after some consideration.
She did no t want to explain too much to the girl yet, as they had not fully become members of the Flame Dragon Tribe, so some things were better left unsaid.
"But why make them this way? I think the soil here is quite good." Lu Zi asked, puzzled.
"Because this way, when the rainy season comes, the soil won’t become muddy, making it more convenient to walk," Sha Lan explained.
"What is ‘muddy’? But even without stones, walking is convenient, isn’t it?" Lu Zi said.
"It’s completely different. You’ll understand when you stay in our Tribe until the rainy season comes again. Besides, these paths are also built to make the carriage travel go more smoothly," Sha Lan continued to explain.
"Carriage? What is a carriage?"
"It’s something pulled by horses. The Shaman calls it a transportation vehicle, something that allows us to travel far without walking." Sha Lan explained in detail.
"Something pulled by horses? What are horses? What is a transportation vehicle? Isn’t something that lets us travel far without walking just a Double Mountain Beast?" Lu Zi seemed to have thousands of questions. She had originally intended to properly examine the Tribe but was instead gaining so much knowledge.
Moreover, this knowledge was entirely new to her and was all quite peculiar.
"I’ll take you to experience it later. As for what you call a Double Mountain Beast, I don’t know what that is." Sha Lan shrugged.
"A Double Mountain Beast is a unique beast in our region. We ride on their backs when travelling," Lu Zi explained.
"It seems the differences between our regions are a lot. We should have a good chat about this in the future." Sha Lan smiled.
Having heard much about the girl’s homeland, she had become quite curious and wanted to know what their previous living environment was like.
"Of course, I’m also eager to know what your place is like. The differences are too great. I can’t even imagine them." Lu Zi nodded.
She was curious about how these pale-skinned people lived and wanted to know what had caused their skin colour to differ. But perhaps she already knew. It might be due to the living environment here, which was completely different from her own.
Not only that, even everything else here was something she had never seen before.