Playing with the mixed-race clans in the Mud Forest with Lan...
The beastmen, carrying the fish baskets made by Lan, ran towards the river to harvest the prey from the traps.
Jiang Yunlan sat on Ah Bai's arm and suddenly looked up at the sky. She sensed the change in the weather, and her tense emotions relaxed slightly.
The clouds are getting thicker; it's likely to rain today.
She thought to herself, "It's good that winter isn't here yet; I want to prepare even more food for the winter."
As they drew nearer to the river, the beastmen dragged two fish baskets out of it. The baskets were filled with far more fish than the day before, almost overflowing.
The orcs were overjoyed to receive so much food for the first time. Laughing, they pulled the fish ashore, cleaned them with swift cuts, covered the fish with leaves to mask the smell of blood, and tossed them into vine baskets.
Jiang Yunlan picked out small fish fry from the fish basket and threw them back into the river, gesturing to show them that fish of that size shouldn't be eaten. The orcs were bewildered, but carefully remembered what she said.
"Splash—"
After Jiang Yunlan and the beastmen set up the new and old fish baskets, they led her to the lasso trap they had set the day before.
The vines used as a noose at the trap broke. An animal fell into the trap but managed to escape.
She was somewhat surprised and disappointed that the trap wasn't strong enough. She calmed herself and followed the trail left by the prey as it broke free of the vines, only to be pleasantly surprised to find it had fallen into the pit they had dug.
Jiang Yunlan immediately laughed, quickly pointed to the crater where the cover had been rolled through, patted Ah Bai's arm and said, "Go there!"
Ah Bai, seeing the direction she pointed, understood immediately and darted over. The other four orcs, seeing this, also ran over and peered into the pit.
A small, gray beast resembling a rabbit, with a pointed horn on its forehead and ears like tiny fans, appeared before Jiang Yunlan. It lay exhausted at the bottom of the pit, its icy blue eyes lifeless, and a ring of vines hanging around its neck.
It noticed the shadow cast from above, quickly stood up, bared its teeth, and showed two fangs, looking fierce.
Jiang Yunlan was taken aback by its appearance, blinked, and looked again, feeling quite puzzled. Wasn't this animal a beast-world version of a rabbit? How could it have such sharp, long tusks?
If she gets bitten, her arm will probably get a hole in it.
She was in a dilemma. She had caught the prey, but didn't know how to take it home. Having finally caught a living creature, she didn't want to risk killing it; she also planned to use it to test the toxicity of plants and mushrooms.
"Lan." Feng Hong called her name, and after she looked over, he made a killing gesture with his stone knife.
She shook her head, and the beastmen immediately understood that she wanted to live.
Mo Rong looked left and right, picked up a handful of pebbles, and handed them to Jiang Yunlan, who was standing in front of the pit. After Lan took the pebbles, he also took a few and threw them at the little beast, intending to knock it unconscious and take it away.
Jiang Yunlan understood his actions and also swung the stone in her hand. This was the safest method. If it unfortunately died, they could just turn it into food.
The small gray beast dodged several stones, but was unfortunately and luckily stunned by a smaller stone, and did not die on the spot.
Seeing it fall motionless, Ah Bai decisively jumped into the pit below, grabbed the little beast, and leaped back to the ground. The rabbit-beastman's hearing and jumping ability were among the best of all the beastmen in the forest, and he was also a standout in the rabbit-beastman clan, capable of leaping directly from the ground to a branch five meters high.
Unfortunately, he was born with white hair and red eyes, a symbol of "misfortune," and even though he had the strength to become a warrior, he was not loved. Fortunately, his clan did not abandon him directly, but raised him to adulthood before finally giving up on him this year during his flowering season.
They finally came to believe that the giant beasts had come here because of his presence.
"Lan." Ah Bai lowered his eyes, smiled shyly, bent down and handed the gray little beast to Jiang Yunlan.
Jiang Yunlan took the thick vines that Cotton had pulled out, tied the little beast tightly, and threw it into the wooden bucket carried by Maple Red. She then tied the little beast and the bucket together. Last night, she had only made one vine basket, which Cotton carried, and it contained fish and the newly found high-quality vines.
After retrieving the prey from the pit, Jiang Yunlan and the beastmen re-camouflaged the pit trap and made two new small traps before returning to the riverbank.
She walked along the riverbank, feeling the soil around it with her hands, and chose a spot to stand. She then pulled out her stone knife and dug into the wet mud.
Seeing her actions, the orcs surrounding her also drew their stone knives and began digging furiously into the mud on the bank. The two lemming orc cubs, however, didn't use stone knives; instead, they transformed their hands, using their sharp claws to dig out the soil. Lemming orcs are masters of digging, and their sharp claws are their weapons.
The two cubs had only dug a couple of times when Jiang Yunlan raised her hand to stop them, instructing them to keep watch. So, Ah Bai, who wasn't on guard duty, pulled out a stone knife and helped dig.
A short while later, Jiang Yunlan dug up some red clay and smiled brightly.
She didn't take the red clay she dug up with her. Instead, she squatted by the river, picked out a piece of red clay, removed the impurities, mixed it with water, and kneaded it into a lump. Only clay with good ductility that can be kneaded into a lump can be used as pottery clay.
The five orcs stared blankly at her playing with the mud.
"Is Lan playing in the mud? Should we join her?" Feng Hong asked hesitantly, her eyes blank.
Seeing Lan's serious reaction as if no one else was around, Mo Rong firmly said, "Let's do it together. Lan definitely needs this mud."
Several beasts squatted down together, picked up the clods of mud nearby, and started playing with the mud. When Ah Bai heard Mo Rong say that she wanted to play, she silently got up to stand guard for the two cubs and let them go play in the mud.
Jiang Yunlan kneaded the mud in her hands and looked up. Four heads were huddled together, whispering something to each other.
What to do if there are bugs in the mud? Kill them and throw them away.
What do you do if there are stones in the mud? They're rough on your hands, so throw them away.
What if there are grass roots in the mud? No problem, leave them there.
Maple Leaf kneaded and kneaded, looking at its shapeless lump of clay with a face full of confusion, then at its companion's round lump of clay, its confusion deepening.
They were all playing with mud, but the mud ball in her hand just wouldn't take shape. She stared longingly at the perfectly formed red mud balls of black soil and dark velvet, then poked her own dull gray mud ball in frustration, and heard Lan's laughter in her ear.
"You used the wrong kind of soil." Jiang Yunlan said helplessly, picking up a piece of red clay and handing it to her, gesturing to show her that she shouldn't use the kind of soil she had.
She tried to understand for a while, then suddenly realized, and her head started itching again, as if she needed to develop a brain. In her hazy, growing mind, Feng Hong vaguely realized that even soil has its differences; something that works with one type of soil might not work with another.
Just like plants, even if their leaves look alike, they are not the same plant. Slight differences can turn a non-toxic plant into a poisonous one.
Heitu and Morong used red clay, which they successfully shaped into round balls. Unfortunately, they didn't remove all the impurities, and the round mud balls were left on the riverbank.
The lukewarm cotton was still kneading the mud, its movements neither hurried nor slow, its force just right. Jiang Yunlan approached and saw that the mud in its hands was delicate and smooth, with all the impurities removed.
Seeing this, Jiang Yunlan made up her mind to let him be in charge of making pottery from now on.
His reactions are always a beat slow, but his meticulousness and patience make up for it. He's a talented potter.
Cotton belatedly noticed Jiang Yunlan approaching, stopped what he was doing, looked up, and saw her gesturing for him to continue kneading the clay. He blinked, lowered his head, and formed a ball of mud.
"Time to fill the clay." Jiang Yunlan turned around and called to the other three orcs, leading them to fill the clay for making pottery.
The orcs carried out all four wooden barrels from the cave. One was used to hold their prey, and the remaining three empty barrels were filled with clay.
The only vine basket contained miscellaneous items and today's harvest, enough fish for the orcs to eat for four meals, or two days' worth of food.
The clouds were heavy, and dark clouds gradually covered the white clouds. Jiang Yunlan saw the scene in the sky and hurriedly told the beastmen to carry the clay they had packed and set off quickly back to the cave.
She was carried on Ah Bai's back, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw Feng Hong talking to two lemming beastman cubs. The next second, Hei Tu and Mo Rong turned back to their original forms and jumped into the vine basket on Cotton's back.
The fluffy little lemmings clung to the edge of the vine basket, their clean, soft orange fur and round gray eyes meeting Jiang Yunlan's gaze. They looked so well-behaved and cute that they didn't evoke any disgust or fear.
Jiang Yunlan was witnessing a fully transformed beastman for the first time and doubted her own eyes.
She realized she might not be able to distinguish between ordinary animals and beastmen. She fell silent, because she had discovered something else. She didn't know how to transform into a beast. She had no memories of her original form, not even how to conjure claws.
If only she could turn back into her original form, then Ah Bai wouldn't have to carry her anymore. Jiang Yunlan, who had finally managed to teach Ah Bai to carry people, thought to herself, her brows furrowed in thought.
It wasn't until Ah Bai put her down that she realized they had returned to the cave.
The orcs from the gathering team returned too early today, which surprised Maple Sugar and Autumn Fruit. They were worried that someone might be injured, but they saw the orcs, who had returned unharmed, bring out a basket half full of fish from the vines.
Maple Syrup rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand, couldn't help but open her mouth wide, and the worry on her face was gradually covered by a smile.
"Lan is amazing," she exclaimed. She had already heard from her sister that the fish they brought back were caught using something Lan had made.
She thought that the people of the clan would finally no longer have to starve to death during the snow season. Lan would definitely bring them enough food to get through the snow season.
Jiang Yunlan, having entered the cave, glanced at the sky, rubbed her rumbling stomach, and decided to indulge in a late-night meal. She needed to start making pottery once the rain stopped, and she wouldn't have the energy to work on an empty stomach.
"Fenghong, Mianhua, Abai, quickly put the things down, let's have lunch." Jiang Yunlan smiled brightly and waved for them to carry the things into the cave.
The small, gray beast, just big enough to fit into the wooden barrel, was carelessly tossed to the ground. Several twisted vines were wrapped around its neck, and the entire beast was tied to the barrel filled with stones. Its fangs and horns had been violently broken off by Maple Red, so there was no need to worry that it would harm other beastmen.
To reduce the waste of bamboo tubes, Jiang Yunlan stopped making boiled fish and instead roasted a fish for each beast.
So, Maple Syrup learned to cook a new dish: grilled fish. Perhaps because she had experience making boiled fish, her first attempt at grilled fish wasn't bad; she controlled the heat very well, only slightly inferior to Jiang Yunlan's grilled fish.
The beastmen never expected to have food at noon. After their initial surprise, they were all delighted and eagerly anticipated their first lunch.
At that moment, they had no idea what they would encounter after lunch, and instead happily shouted, "Arashi is the best!"
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