Chapter 13: Chapter 13: Planning the Kiln

“Chang Xia, you’ve worked hard.” Muqin smiled as she stepped into the beast den. She looked around, and when her gaze landed on the variously sized vine baskets and hampers in the corner, her eyes lit up.

Seeing this, Gen immediately understood.

“Chen Rong wove those,” Gen said, picking up a vine basket and handing it to Muqin, his words full of praise for Chang Xia.

Muqin took the basket and examined it closely.

“This is good—perfect for picking and gathering,” she said.

The tribe’s beast cubs found regular baskets inconvenient, and they’d never thought to make smaller ones. Today, seeing all the different sizes of baskets and hampers in Chang Xia’s den, she immediately understood the benefit.

At the same time, Muqin wholeheartedly agreed with Gen’s praise for Chang Xia.

Aside from being a bit frail, Chang Xia was excellent in every other way.

It was a pity Nan Feng was female.

Muqin had even considered having Nan Feng live with Chang Xia, to take care of her in her later years.

“Chang Xia, Amu always knew you’d make a good life for yourself.” Muqin patted Chang Xia’s shoulder, set down the basket, and walked around the den, looking thoroughly satisfied. Especially when her gaze landed on the food on the stove—her face lit up with happiness.

The child they’d raised could finally live independently.

Along with the pride came a complex sense of reluctance to let go.

“Muqin Amu, please sit. Come taste my cooking—I made all this for you.” Chang Xia was overjoyed, inviting Gen and Muqin to sit. There were no tables or chairs in the den, so she pulled out a woven mat for them to sit on, and flipped over some baskets to serve as tables.

Fish ball and wild vegetable soup, fried meat with wild greens, braised meat, plus boiled river shrimp and steamed river crab—it was a feast.

Gen and his family were amazed.

The tribe’s daily fare was mostly roast meat and stews.

Roast meat was just that—raw meat roasted over a fire. Stews were chunks of meat cooked with various roots and wild vegetables. Meat was always the main ingredient, but since the beastfolk didn’t know how to remove the gamey taste, you could imagine how bad those stews could be.

But the fish ball soup was fresh and juicy, the fried meat with wild greens was crispy and fragrant, the braised meat was tender and easy to eat, the river shrimp springy, and the river crab delicious.

As soon as they started eating, Gen’s family didn’t even lift their heads.

“Ah, I’m stuffed!”

“Chang Xia, if you need anything at home, just tell Muqin Amu.”

Fifteen minutes later, the place was a mess of empty dishes.

Everyone lounged on the mat, bellies full, savoring the aftertaste and lamenting that they’d wasted decades of their lives eating poorly.

“Chang Xia wants to build a kiln, but she’ll need to trade with the tribe for resin. For wood and stone, she can use Nan Feng’s for now, but the rest will need to be traded,” Gen explained. Actually, even if he didn’t say it, the tribe would support Chang Xia’s kiln project to some extent.

Muqin nodded. “Chang Xia, just tell Nan Feng what you need and let her help you. In a few days, the shaman will come by. I’ll go back to the tribe and trade for a few more clay pots for you—can’t have a den without enough pottery.”

Before Chang Xia could reply, Gen and Muqin had already made the decision for her.

In their eyes, Chen Rong wasn’t much better than Chang Xia, who’d always been sickly.

Seeing this, Chen Rong could only keep silent and accept their help.

Chang Xia smiled happily. “Muqin Amu, I won’t stand on ceremony with Nan Feng.” With the tribe’s help, maybe she could finish the kiln before the rainy season. Just the thought made her excited.

She picked up a stick and started sketching on the floor.

“…To build a kiln, first you dig the foundation; second, carve out the kiln chamber; finally, build the gable walls and install doors and windows.”

Chang Xia had carefully checked the soil here.

It was thick and solid—perfect for building a kiln.

Digging was easy for the beastfolk.

The tricky part was the doors and windows. The door could be made of wood, but the windows were a problem. Chang Xia hadn’t found a substitute for glass yet, so if all else failed, she’d make lattice-style wooden windows and hang animal hides over them, just like the hide roof of the den.

But that would make the kiln much darker inside.

However, Nan Feng had told Chang Xia that the birdfolk had a kind of glowing stone.

Chang Xia planned to ask the shaman to help her trade with the birdfolk for some of those glowing stones, to use as lighting instead of torches or lamps.

The beastfolk, birdfolk, and fishfolk didn’t trade directly with each other.

Contact between the various tribes could only be made through the shamans, or by participating in the grand market at Normandy. The same was true within the beast tribe itself.

In Long Summer’s memory, the different clans of the beast tribe rarely interacted. Whenever they did, it was always at the sacred Mount Kana, where they would seek the shamans’ counsel. Only if the shamans nodded their approval would the clans communicate. Of course, there were exceptions—if a major disaster or calamity struck, the clans would come together regardless.

Though this system seemed closed-off and primitive, it actually greatly protected the development and survival of each clan.

“It sounds just like living in a cave,” Nan Feng muttered.

Long Summer shook her head and retorted, “Caves? You can’t compare those to kiln dwellings. I’m planning to build a ‘kaoshan kiln’—a kiln dug into the western slope, incorporating the entire hillside.”

Long Summer was ambitious. She hadn’t originally planned to build anything so large, but Nan Feng’s comment about kilns being like caves annoyed her. The hillside by the lake was vast, so Long Summer decided to go big: she would turn the whole slope into a series of kiln dwellings, laid out like a traditional courtyard house, combining the hillside and the kilns into a sunken, square-shaped complex.

As she compared her idea to the terrain, she realized it was actually quite feasible. The main entrance would face the lake, with two kilns dug on either side to resemble houses. Whether for living in or for storage, it would be perfect.

Long Summer loved to hoard things, but the beast dens were only a few dozen square meters—nowhere near enough space. If the kiln was big enough, she could organize everything by category. The more she thought about it, the more excited she became.

Nearby, Gen and the other three listened to Long Summer’s description, all stunned. Even the shamans’ dwellings didn’t sound as good as what Long Summer was proposing. Could they really build something like this?

Even Shen Rong, who was usually worldly and composed, fell silent.

“Long Summer, can we really build a kiln like that?” Gen asked cautiously, his eyes shining with excitement he could barely hide.

The Heluo tribe had lived on this land for countless generations. Their beast dens weren’t as good as the bird tribe’s nests, but they kept out the wind and rain. Unlike some beast tribes that lived in caves, the Heluo preferred their own dens, even if they got wet in the rainy season or cold in winter. The dens were still their first choice.

“Chief, how will we know if we don’t try?” Long Summer shot back.

In the apocalypse, when society collapsed, humanity regressed from a mechanical civilization to making things by hand. It wasn’t just talk—Long Summer had been forced to adapt to everything in the Heluo tribe because of her weak body. Now that she had a choice, she wasn’t about to settle for less.

Making use of everything around you—that’s what intelligent beings should do. Otherwise, what’s the difference between us and wild animals?

“I can’t help you myself, but I’ll let Nan Feng assist you. If any other tribe members want to help, I won’t stop them,” Gen said seriously.

As the chief, he couldn’t speak for everyone, but Nan Feng was different. She doted on Long Summer and could stay to help with her unconventional plans. Even if others had opinions, they wouldn’t make a fuss.

Long Summer grinned. “Thank you, Chief!”

As the sun climbed higher, Gen and Mu Qin got up to leave. Whether it was making straw sandals, fish balls, or fried meat, they had things to do—and more importantly, they needed to trade for the things Long Summer needed.

“Your dads really spoil you!” Nan Feng teased.

Long Summer stuck out her tongue and replied cheerfully, “Nan Feng, I picked a lot of white nuts this time, but we don’t have any clay jars to store the powder. This afternoon, you’ll have to help me make some wooden barrels.”

“Long Summer, aren’t we digging the kiln this afternoon?” Shen Rong asked.

“I want to turn the whole hillside into a big courtyard-style kiln, so I need to rethink the plan. You and Nan Feng can work on the barrels and process the salt crystals first,” Long Summer said after thinking it over. She wasn’t in a rush—if she was going to do it, she wanted to do it right, or not at all.