Chapter 46 Metal Knife! What a great knife! So satisfying!
Yu Yan flapped her wings and flew to the big banyan tree where Cang Feng and the others lived.
This banyan tree is quite old; its canopy is a deep green and stretches out vigorously in all directions. Looking up from under it, one gets the feeling that it blocks out the sky.
Cangfeng and his family of three built a bird's nest on each side of the tree.
The one he and Xin Yu lived in was bigger, while the one Shuo Xing lived in alone was smaller; both were round.
At this moment, Shuoxing was playing in the woods, while Xinyu and Cangfeng were preparing dinner under the trees.
"Cangfeng, Xinyu!"
Hearing his call, the two looked up.
Cangfeng: "Yu Yan!"
Xin Yu: "We just heard the patrolling orcs' calls, so we know you're back. How was it? Was the Mingyuan Tribe fun?"
Yu Yan landed steadily, retracted her wings, unloaded her basket, and said with a smile, "It was quite fun. There are so many lakes, and the scenery is beautiful! We dug up a lot of lotus roots this time, and these are for you, Yin Qing, and Xue Fei."
Xin Yu said with delight, "Thank you! I'll take it and share it with them later."
Cangfeng: "We've already fed the sheep beast for you, and turned over the vegetables that were drying."
"Yes, thank you."
Yu Yan glanced around. Under the tree were piles of stones, wood, animal hides, pottery, food, processed kudzu, and so on...
He said, "You have quite a lot of things here too."
Cangfeng: "Yes, not only our family's things, but also things from the tribe are kept here, such as pottery that are to be traded."
Xin Yu: "However, we have already prepared the timber and plan to build the thatched shed when we have some free time, so that we won't have to worry about the sun and rain."
Yu Yan said sincerely, "Thank you for your hard work."
Cangfeng laughed and said, "It's not hard work. We're all happy to see the tribe getting better and better. Come, let's sit over here."
Yu Yan said apologetically, "I'm sorry to bother you. I came here today to talk to you about metal smelting."
The two exchanged a glance and asked in unison, "When should we burn it?"
Yu Yan countered, "How much metal ore have we accumulated?"
Cangfeng: "I got several dozen coins from other tribes. They're over there. Come on, I'll show you."
Yu Yan was surprised: "So many?"
The two pieces of gray ore that Senbo brought back from the highland tribe were quite expensive. How much resources must have been spent to buy those dozens of pieces?
Seeing his confusion, Cangfeng smiled and explained, "We didn't use many supplies. Our tribe now has the best cloth, pottery, and paper, and other tribes are vying to trade with us."
Xin Yu: "Yes, they have no use for metal ores if they keep them, so they don't need many supplies."
Yu Yan was relieved: "That's good."
As they spoke, the group arrived in front of the pile of metal ore.
These ores are basically black, brown, and earthy in color, and vary in size.
Yu Yan picked up a small piece of black ore, held it to her nose and sniffed it. She could smell the metallic scent, but she wasn't sure what kind of metal it was.
Cangfeng said, "We checked and confirmed it was metal ore before we replaced it. Oh right, take a look at this."
He handed me a piece of ore with an earthy surface and white edges.
“If you hadn’t come looking for us, I would have come looking for you after dinner tonight. This ore was discovered by our tribe within our territory. I led some people to dig it up, and there’s quite a bit on the mountain.”
Yu Yan was overjoyed: "Our tribe has metal ore now? That's wonderful!"
Cangfeng laughed and said, "It's very good. Take a look. If you need it, we'll go and dig up more."
Yu Yan put down the ore in her hand: "Let's refine these we've accumulated first. We produced quite a lot of white charcoal last time, and I'm thinking of starting smelting tomorrow morning. What do you guys think?"
Cangfeng's gray eyes brightened slightly as he looked up at the sky: "Great! Tomorrow's going to be a nice day."
Yu Yan: "Hmm, we can select some strong orcs to participate in metallurgy. If things go smoothly in the morning, you can continue to follow me to burn charcoal in the afternoon, and we can burn more charcoal."
Cang Feng nodded: "Okay."
After discussing for a while, Yu Yan, thinking about the little duck he brought back, made an appointment with Cang Feng and Xin Yu to meet again the next day, and then flew home.
Yu Yan landed and saw Lan Xiu and Feng Gui busy behind the two trees where the sheep were tied up, so she walked straight towards them.
"Father, Lanxiu, what are you doing?"
Lanxiu put down the dozen or so logs he had carried and said, “These little green-headed birds will run away as soon as they set off, and there are no suitable caves nearby, so we want to use the logs to enclose them.”
Yu Yan nodded: "That makes sense, I'll help too."
The wood was cut down by Lan Xiu in the distant forest, and it was about as thick as an adult's calf. Feng Gui was bending over and breaking off branches.
Several baskets of ducklings were quacking inside. They were a bit clumsy; even though the basket lids were open, they didn't seem to know how to jump out.
"Have you reached an agreement with Cangfeng and the others?" Feng Gui asked while working.
"Yes, we'll start smelting the metal tomorrow morning. And there's more good news: our tribe has discovered metal ore within our territory, and quite a lot of it!"
Upon hearing this, Feng Gui and Lan Xiu were both delighted.
“That’s great,” Feng Gui said. “Actually, I’ve seen metal ores while collecting in the wild before, but they were useless when I brought them back, so I didn’t pay much attention to them.”
Yu Yan smiled and nodded: "From now on, I can pay more attention to it."
Lan Xiu was strong and chopped wood easily. Feng Gui and Yu Yan wore gloves and worked quickly. In no time, they had finished processing a tall stack of wood, each piece reaching as high as Lan Xiu's head.
"That should be enough. Let's dig a trench and bury these logs," Yu Yan said, patting the dust off her gloves.
Lan Xiu volunteered: "I'll dig."
He transformed into beast form and dug a deep trench around the area circled by Yu Yan.
Yu Yan and Feng Gui placed logs vertically into the ditch, leaving gaps about the width of a wrist between the logs.
Then, Yu Yan had Feng Gui hold the log while he and Lan Xiu buried it in the soil.
The part of the buried wood that was exposed above ground only reached Yu Yan's chest.
However, the wooden fence was still not sturdy enough. Yu Yan then brought over some thinner pieces of wood and some thicker hemp rope.
He gestured to Yu Yan to place the wood horizontally on the upper part of the wooden fence, and then he took a rope and tied the wood to the fence.
After tying up one row, he pressed down on the fence and shook it.
"The fence isn't particularly sturdy, but it's much better than before," Yu Yan commented. "Let's leave it like this for a few days. If we can make metal nails and wires, we'll reinforce it again."
Lan Xiu nodded: "Okay."
Feng Gui: "The little green-headed bird is clumsy; it's good enough for now."
Time was tight this time, so Yu Yan didn't leave a gate in the fence. Anyway, he and Feng Gui could both fly, so they could fly in and feed and water the little green-headed bird.
After discussing it, the three of them continued to secure the other three sides of the fence, which consumed a lot of wood and hemp rope.
Fortunately, the wood and hemp rope can be reused after this makeshift "duck farm" is demolished.
Yu Yan walked around the fence to make sure everything was okay, then put the ducklings inside.
The sun gradually sank behind the western mountains, and the light in the forest dimmed.
The ducklings weren't as lively as they were during the day. After eating the grass seeds that Feng Guitian had given them, they huddled together and went to sleep, occasionally letting out soft quacks.
Although Feng Gui had no experience raising ducks, he was a sub-beastman of the Black Swan type, understood bird habits, and knew that the ducklings were quite comfortable, so he didn't bother with them.
The three returned to the ginkgo tree and quickly fed the sheep, milked them, tidied up, and cooked.
When I lay back down in the nest, the bright moon had already risen high in the sky.
The next day, Yu Yan didn't stay in bed. As soon as it was light, he got up, dressed, and climbed down the tree.
Feng Gui was boiling water in front of the stone stove, while Lan Xiu led the sheep to the stream to drink.
Yu Yan stretched and strolled to the fence to look at the ducklings inside.
There were two clumps of fresh water plants on the ground near the fence, with small fish and shrimp jumping around among them.
The ducklings were very excited, pecking at the water plants, and the morning breeze made their gray-black downy feathers sway this way and that.
Yu Yan smiled and said, "Your breakfast this morning was pretty good. Is this your first time eating seaweed and seafood? Was it delicious?"
Upon hearing this, Feng Gui, who was not far away, said, "It must smell very good; they've been excited all morning."
Yu Yan admired the sheep for a while longer. When Lan Xiu returned, he took the rope and tied the sheep back to the tree.
Then they brought out an earthenware jar and milked the goat.
After a quick breakfast, they added hay and fodder to the sheep and ducks, and asked the patrolling orcs to keep an eye on them. The three of them then went to the pottery kiln together.
There are already some people waiting here.
Upon seeing Yu Yan, they greeted her excitedly: "Yu Yan, you're here!"
Yu Yan smiled and said, "Mm."
Around seven or eight in the morning, everyone was present. Yu Yan and Cang Feng exchanged a glance, and Yu Yan stepped forward and said, "Today, our Peninsula Tribe will start smelting metals. If all goes well, we'll have metal tools to use in the future."
People nodded, their bright eyes filled with joy and anticipation.
Yu Yan: "Next, I'll assign the tasks..."
He led a group of people to slightly modify the firing chamber of the pottery kiln, so that metallurgy and pottery could be fired simultaneously.
Another group of people took advantage of this time to mix clay and shape pottery blanks.
Since firing pottery was just a side project, not many clay blanks were made. Yu Yan mainly wanted to see what the difference would be between pottery fired with white charcoal and pottery fired with black charcoal.
The combustion chamber was modified, the clay blanks were shaped, and they were put into the kiln.
Yu Yan had someone fill the combustion chamber with white charcoal, and under everyone's tense gaze, she said, "Light it!"
The dry grass and twigs used for starting the fire quickly caught fire, igniting the charcoal.
A terrifying wave of heat surged out of the combustion chamber, forcing even the mighty orcs to change their expressions slightly and take two steps back.
The orc who participated in the last charcoal-fired pottery session exclaimed in shock, "Charcoal is hot enough when it burns, but white charcoal is even hotter!"
"Yes, this hasn't even had the bellows installed yet! After it's installed, will people still be able to get close?"
Yu Yan was prepared for this: "It's okay, I brought my tools."
He then pulled out a ceramic container that resembled a small pot.
Unlike the pot, this container has no handle.
Lan Xiu asked, "What is this?"
Yu Yan replied, "I asked the tribe to help me burn this last time; you can call it a crucible. In a moment, put the metal ore into the crucible, and then put the crucible into the charcoal furnace."
Cangfeng: "Aren't you afraid it will explode? When I used to cook, the pot would always explode."
Yu Yan: "I'm not sure if it will burn or explode, but let's try it first. The heat of burning firewood is only low compared to burning charcoal. Some containers are amazing; they can withstand high heat but not low heat."
Many people don't understand the difference between low-grade fever and high-grade fever; they just think Yu Yan is really amazing and knows a lot.
As the combustion chamber continued to heat up, everyone moved back a little further.
Yin Qing asked again, "Can't we just throw the ore in and burn it? Why do we need a container?"
Yu Yan smiled and said, "What if the ore melts and turns into water?"
Yin Qing's mouth dropped open: "Huh? That can't be right! How can a stone be boiled into water?"
Many people chimed in: "Yeah, at most it'll get soggy, like last time."
A few people, like Lan Xiu, looked at Yu Yan thoughtfully.
Yu Yan smiled and didn't explain further.
Once the white charcoal in the combustion chamber was burning brightly, Yu Yan took out his gray ore and threw it into the crucible.
Then he said to Lanxiu, "Put it in for me."
Lan Xiu: "Okay."
He took two wooden sticks, placed them on either side of the crucible, and carefully placed it into the charcoal stove.
After he returned, Yu Yan nodded to Senbai and gestured, "Pull the bellows."
"Okay!"
Whoosh! Whoosh! With the bellows pounding, the temperature of the charcoal oven rose again! It felt like your skin was about to burst from the heat.
This time, everyone, including Yu Yan, stared nervously at the bright red stove.
The crucible quickly turned red-hot, and Cangfeng and the others prayed silently: Please don't let it explode.
After a while, the crucible remained stable.
Their thoughts turned to shock: "Beast God, it didn't explode?"
Feeling that the time was almost up, Yu Yan asked them to take the crucible out.
The orcs worked together seamlessly. After Lanxiu took out the scorching crucible, he immediately poured its contents onto the prepared stones.
The gray ore wasn't melted, but it had been heated until it was very soft, and when it was poured out, it swayed back and forth!
Yin Qing and the others stared wide-eyed!
Mo Ye, who was waiting on the side, was already prepared. He raised the stone and smashed it down on the softened ore.
The ore was visibly flattened by him!
After a couple of blows, the stone in Moye's hand shattered, and Cangfeng quickly took over and continued to hammer the ore.
After hammering several people, the ore cooled and hardened, making it impossible to smash anymore.
Yu Yan was very satisfied with this and said, "This time, we'll put it in and heat it directly. Once it's softened, we'll take it out and continue forging it."
"Great!!!" they responded with great enthusiasm.
Yin Qing gripped Yu Yan's arm, her eyes reddening.
"Yu Yan, I believe you now. That gray stone almost boiled into water just now!"
Xue Fei, who was not far away, exclaimed in astonishment, "So stones really can melt!"
On the other side, Lan Xiu and his group continued to smelt and forge the gray ore.
Yu Yan took out a new crucible and handed it to Wen Lie, Qing Hui and the other team, so that they could smelt other metal ores.
In the continuous experiments, some metal ores were melted into water, while others remained completely still.
Most metal ores, like the gray stone of the highland tribes and the earth-colored stone found by the peninsula tribes, are only softened by burning.
Yu Yan took out a new notebook and carefully recorded the smelting process of various ores.
He moved between several forging teams, making his judgment methodically: "For ores that can be melted into water, let's not forge them yet. I'll make containers and cast them directly later."
"Don't bother with the ore that can't be melted at all; we won't buy that ore anymore."
"Wait a moment over there, gray stone. Someone go and fetch some water for me. Once the gray stone is red-hot, quickly put it into the water. After it cools down, put it back in to heat again. Repeat this process."
"Put the earth-colored stone a little thinner."
...
Most of the day was spent in a busy state.
The good news is that, through continuous smelting and forging, most metal ores have been transformed into tools.
The gray stone and earth-colored stone were used by Yu Yan to forge knives.
A knife consists of two parts: the blade and the handle. Forging a knife takes longer and requires more force.
Other ores were used to craft tools such as hammers, axes, clubs, and metal sheets.
When Lanxiu, Cangfeng, Moye, and the other young and strong orcs stopped, their hands were trembling from exertion, and their faces and bodies were covered in hot sweat.
But none of them suggested taking a break; they all looked at Yu Yan with anticipation.
Cangfeng said, "Yu Yan, you're the one who led us to create these metal tools. Why don't you try them out?"
Yu Yan smiled and nodded: "Okay."
He took the two knives and then took out the whetstone he had prepared beforehand to sharpen the knives.
Both knives were silver-gray, but Yu Yan could feel the difference as soon as she picked them up.
Knives made of grey stone are heavier and harder than those made of earth-colored stone.
If he is not mistaken, the gray stone should be iron ore, and the earth-colored stone should be aluminum ore.
Aluminum is much softer than iron, so it's not suitable for making knives. However, it's good for making aluminum basins and bowls, as it has good heat insulation and is easy to use.
"Swish, swish," he continued, his speed in sharpening the blade undiminished as he pondered.
If the temperature gets too high, use water to cool it down.
Before long, both knives were sharpened.
He handed the iron knife and aluminum knife to the people around him: "Would you like to take a look?"
"Look, look!" Everyone eagerly reached out their hands.
As soon as the knife landed in their hands, they were immediately amazed by the unique, icy touch of the metal.
"It feels heavy...and cool to the touch."
"It's much heavier than a bone knife and a shell knife."
"Listen, the sound when you tap it is very crisp!"
"Beast God, did we really turn the ore into the shape of a knife? Someone pinch me, am I dreaming?"
"I'll do it!"
"Ouch, be gentle, you're hitting too hard!"
"Hahaha!"
While everyone was looking at the knife, Yu Yan brought over animal legs, as well as stems, fruits, and other items.
"How's it going? Let me try it on?"
The knife immediately returned to his hand.
Yu Yan first gripped the aluminum knife, twirled it, and then chopped down hard on the stems and fruits!
With two loud bangs, the tuber and fruit were easily split open!
A gasp rippled through the crowd: "So sharp!"
"As expected of a metal knife!"
However, when Yu Yan chopped the animal leg, she could only chop the meat open, but she couldn't chop the bone at all.
Not wanting the blade to become dull, Yu Yan put down the aluminum knife and picked up the iron knife.
"Hey!"
He swung his sword down hard, and with a "crack," the hard leg bone was chopped in half!
Yu Yan's hand trembled, her eyes lit up, and she picked up the knife to chop again.
After two sharp blows, the leg bone was completely split in two.
If he were a stronger orc, he might have been able to cut it in half with the first blow.
Looking at the neat cut on the beast's leg, Yu Yan gripped the knife, feeling a surge of satisfaction.
Great knife! So satisfying!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
