After several years of recuperation, the community has begun to return to its peaceful life.
Gradually, the previous clan leader grew old, and a woman became the new clan leader.
The woman in the painting is heroic and spirited, holding a bow in her left hand. She is no shorter than the man and wears a brown animal skin coat. Her hat is adorned with a fox head, a symbol of the chieftain's style.
She really looked like a female warrior, and a spark of inspiration flashed in Jiang Xi's heart.
The following scenes show men hunting and farming, as well as women raising children, making pottery, and doing woodworking.
The painting that impressed Jiang Xi the most was a picture of a mother with a little girl. The little girl had her hair in two buns, and the two of them were sitting around a table with a ceramic vase painted on it.
The lines are used so vividly that you can feel them even after hundreds of years, and you can feel the warm expression on the mother's face when she teaches her daughter to make pottery.
After some time, while hunting and farming, they discovered that vines could be used to produce silk threads, and thus began to use them to weave cloth.
So humans stopped wearing animal skins and started making clothes from the threads drawn from vines.
They also mined the surrounding mines to smelt iron and make iron pots and ironware. The boys, even those who were only a few years old, would work alongside their fathers, sweating profusely as they forged iron.
Gradually, the number of villagers began to increase again.
So, about two generations passed.
Unexpectedly, the plague has returned after decades.
The plague happened to occur in the autumn. With no doctors available and food shortages looming in winter, they turned to superstition and began offering sacrifices of hunters' heads, but to no avail.
In just one month, half of the tribe died. Most of them were newborn children and the elderly.
Later on, there were fewer and fewer women.
The plague lasted a long time, and when it passed, only fourteen men and two women remained in the tribe.
The remaining content of the mural is what the cave no longer contains.
Then, a few years later, a woman died in childbirth, and ten years later, another woman encountered a giant crocodile in the swamp and also died.
From then on, a group that originally numbered over a hundred people was reduced to only about ten men due to disease.
The mural is nearing its end here. In the final scene, there are only four men in the painting. One of the men's arms is being fiercely bitten by a bear, while the other three men are attacking the bear with weapons.
Seeing this, Jiang Xi sighed: "This should be the man with the missing arm. He survived in the end, but the other three died."
Yan Zheng nodded and said, "In the end, he probably didn't even have the will to live anymore."
There were no words on the murals, only lines and blocks of color, and the painting technique wasn't particularly outstanding. Yet, through these images, Jiang Xi could feel the emotions of the artists at the time.
Some are happy, and some are sad; they record the history of their people in this way.
Yan Jing'an, who was listening nearby, suddenly said, "I think we shouldn't move into that cave."
“Let’s just move to the brick courtyard in the middle of that mountain ridge. The rooms there are big enough. The map says it’s also close to the fields they’ve cultivated. So next spring, we can just plant some crops on that land.”
"Once everything is settled, we'll tear down the outer walls of those courtyards and use the stones to build a new large wall to enclose all those rooms. This way, we'll not only have readily available materials, but it will also be safer for people."
"If you ask me, we should start moving in the next few days."
The previous cold snap had a profound impact on him. He was eager to leave the cave, fearing that one day a flood would come and they would all become sacrifices to it.
Yan Zheng remained unmoved upon hearing this. He kept staring at a painting that was nearing its end. The painting depicted the last woman of the tribe, half of her body swallowed by a giant crocodile, her hands struggling helplessly.
Yan Zheng said in a deep voice, "I don't know if moving here is the best choice. There are too many wild animals here."
Jiang Xi sensed his emotions. She went over and took Yan Zheng's hand.
Jiang Xi looked at him and said, "Don't be afraid, I won't do that. Besides, I already thought that once we've settled down, you'll teach me swordsmanship and archery."
As he spoke, he walked up to the painting of the female clan leader and pointed at her.
“Just like her, how amazing she is! I can do it too.” Jiang Xi said, her eyes filled with hope.
Before Yan Zheng could even finish speaking, Yan Jing'an agreed, saying, "Great idea! I'll teach you fencing; I'm the best in the country."
Before he could finish speaking, Jiang Xi, who was standing next to him, gave a soft chuckle.
"Oh"
“I’m also number one, and…”
As he spoke, he took out a bow and arrow from his shoulder and said defiantly, "I can also shoot arrows."
After saying that, he pulled Jiang Xi and walked eastward.
Yan Jing'an thought to himself, "It's like everyone else can't do it. What's there to brag about? You can make yourself look good anywhere."
Yan Jing'an quickly caught up, and said defiantly, "I also know kung fu. I specifically sought out the founder of the Mei School in Jiangnan to teach me."
Seeing that the two people in front of him ignored him, he continued speaking.
"Let me tell you, if you wanted to learn kung fu from me in the past, you would have to become an apprentice."
As soon as he finished speaking, Yan Zheng suddenly stopped and said sarcastically, "So you mean Jiang Xi doesn't need to become your apprentice?"
Upon hearing this, Yan Jing'an said, "Of course not. What kind of relationship do we have? I'd teach her for nothing."
After hearing this, Yan Zheng smiled and said, "Okay, then you can teach her when spring comes."
"no problem."
Jiang Xi, standing to the side, smiled brightly.
Yan Jing'an tightened his cloak and hurried ahead of the two, like a proud peacock.
Half a minute later, he realized that he had fallen for their provocation.
I didn't get any benefits, and I even had to be someone's mentor for free.
He was so angry that he didn't give Yan Zheng a kind look the whole way.
After the three emerged from the cave, they returned to the stone house nestled in the mountains. Yan Zheng carefully recalled the contents of the painting. About ten minutes' walk from the house, they found a fork in the road.
Although there are still weeds and trees here, they are noticeably sparser than in other places.
So he took his sword and led the way.
The road was difficult to travel, and it took the three of them nearly half an hour to get into the mountains.
If the road is smooth, it should only take about ten minutes to get there.
Upon entering the mountains, all three were astonished by the sight before them.
A flat area of several dozen acres is surrounded by several mountains, and at this moment, it is covered with winding water lines and misty fog.
Jiang Xi exclaimed incredulously, "There's geothermal activity here!"
Yan Jing'an didn't understand why there was fog at first, but after hearing her explanation, he finally understood.
There is a heat source underground, so the water temperature above is high. Combined with the low temperature in the mountains, this naturally creates a misty landscape, making it seem like you've arrived in a fairyland.
"Because of the geothermal heat all year round, the water flowing down from the mountain never freezes, and in winter and spring, this water source can effectively irrigate this land."
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