Chapter 11: Building a Tribe
Peaceful days always pass quickly.
In the blink of an eye, spring has arrived.
The warm sunshine shines on the earth again, and the ice and snow melt quickly.
“Squeak…”
The door of the bamboo house was pushed open, and Jiang Xuan, wearing a fur coat, fur pants, and fur boots, walked out of the bamboo house.
These animal-skin coats, animal-skin pants and animal-skin boots were all made by them during the long winter.
They first cut the soaked animal skins into the shapes of clothes, pants, and shoes, then used sharp stones to drill a row of small holes in the animal skins, and finally sewed the animal skins together with thin ropes made from tree bark.
Although the workmanship is rough and not very good-looking, it can keep you warm.
“Crash…”
Behind the bamboo house, many bent bamboos shed ice chips after the ice and snow melted, and then slowly rose up.
When the heavy snow fell, most of the bamboos were bent down.
Fortunately, Jiang Xuan cut down all the bamboos in front of and behind the house in order to build a bamboo house, bamboo bed, bathroom and toilet. Otherwise, the bamboo house might not be able to withstand the pressure of so many icy bamboo tails.
“It feels so good to bask in the sun!”
Jiang Xuan basked in the sun and stretched himself. He had stayed in the bamboo house for a whole winter. Although he had no worries about food and drink, he was almost going crazy from being suffocated.
Chishao and others also came out. Like Jiang Xuan, they were also wearing animal skin coats, animal skin pants, and animal skin shoes.
Chishao said, "Winter is over, we can go hunting again."
Uncaria added: "It can also catch fish."
Shi Qiu said, "Dig a pond."
Nanxing said: "I want to go for a walk in the mountains."
Nan Xing's words brought up an idea that had been in Jiang Xuan's mind for a long time.
He turned around and looked behind the bamboo forest, at the tall stone mountain and the huge ancient vines wrapped around it.
"Actually, I want to follow the ancient vine and climb to the top of the stone mountain to take a look."
As soon as these words were spoken, the four of them focused their eyes on Jiang Xuan. From their expressions, it could be seen that they were obviously a little tempted.
Seeing this, Jiang Xuan said, "How about we wait until the snow melts and then climb up and take a look together?"
The four of them nodded without hesitation.
The tribesmen have a spirit of adventure, and climbing stone mountains and ancient vines has a strong appeal to them.
They also wanted to climb up to see what the scenery around the forest was like.
The rocky mountain is so high that the snow on it is difficult to melt. If you want to climb up, you will probably have to wait two or three days.
Jiang Xuan moved around the bamboo house for a while, then returned to the house, found a suitable bamboo tube, and used a sharp stone to carve the character "one" on the top of the bamboo tube.
"The ice and snow are starting to melt today, so let's just consider it the first day of the new year."
"I don't know how this world works, so for now I'll just record it like I did in my previous life."
"From now on, carve a number on the bamboo tube every day. After 31 days, it will be the first month. Continue until the next day when the ice and snow melt, it will be a year."
Jiang Xuan doesn't want to live his life in a muddle, he wants to make a calendar for himself.
He even planned to carve the solar terms into the calendar. For example, the first rain of the year would be designated as Rain Water, the first thunder would be designated as Jingzhe, and so on.
This matter is very important, at least Jiang Xuan thinks so.
When people have a sense of time, they can arrange their work more appropriately.
After carving, Jiang Xuan solemnly placed the bamboo tube and stone beside his bed.
He will carve it and look at it every day, and in the future he will make certain adjustments based on actual conditions to make this calendar more suitable for this world.
Three days later, the sun was shining, the ice and snow had completely melted, the streams were flowing again, and the birds and animals in the mountains became active again.
Jiang Xuan and his four companions prepared ropes, dried meat, and weapons, and excitedly walked through the bamboo forest and arrived at the foot of the stone mountain.
Tall and steep stone mountains and huge ancient vines.
The trunk of the ancient vine is like a towering tree, and its thick branches almost cover the entire stone mountain.
Everyone who sees the ancient vine will be shocked.
Jiang Xuan tied a strong bark rope around his waist and tied a wooden hook to one end of the rope. When climbing, he could hang the wooden hook on the vines to serve as a safety rope.
The others had the same rope and wooden hook.
Jiang Xuan looked up at the ancient vines on the stone mountain and said, "Everyone, be careful when you go up. Remember to always hook the hook on a strong vine. It is better to climb slowly to ensure safety."
Chishao and others nodded, they would not joke about their own lives.
"Set off!"
Jiang Xuan was the first to climb up the ancient vine. The trunk of the ancient vine was very huge, and there were vine branches all over the stone mountain. When climbing, as long as he held on to the vines and didn't look down, it was relatively easy to climb up.
Uncaria Rhizoma, Arisaema Confusa and Shiqiu followed behind Jiang Xuan, and Chishao was at the end. If the people in front were in danger, she could find a way to save them.
The stone mountain is hundreds of meters high and very steep. If it weren’t for this ancient vine, few people could climb it.
The climbing process was relatively smooth and there were no accidents. The vines all over the mountain provided them with a place to hold on at all times, and the huge ancient vines also allowed for a relatively gentle ascent.
Three hours later, Jiang Xuan and others climbed to the top of the stone mountain.
Jiang Xuan stood on the top of the mountain, holding the branch of the ancient vine, and looked down.
It was already noon, and all I could see were endless and vast mountains rising and falling. Various birds were circling in the sky from time to time, and the scenery was very spectacular.
When people stand on the top of the mountain and feel the earth under their feet, it is easy to develop lofty ambitions and passions.
Jiang Xuan turned around and looked at Chi Shao, and said, "Sister, do you remember what I said?"
"What?" Chishao didn't know what Jiang Xuan was talking about.
"At that time, we were on the run, and you said, our tribe is gone, what should we do in the future?"
Jiang Xuan said word by word: "I say, at worst, we can rebuild a tribe!"
Chishao looked at Jiang Xuan in astonishment: "Could it be that you want to..."
Jiang Xuan nodded affirmatively, then looked at Uncaria, Stone Eel, and Nanxing and said, "Are you willing to establish a new tribe with me?"
Uncaria said in disbelief: "Just... just the five of us, can we form a tribe?"
Jiang Xuan said: "There are only five of us now, but I promise that we will have more people in the future!"
Red Peony Root, Uncaria Rhynchophylla and Stone Eel were all shocked by Jiang Xuan's words and didn't know how to respond for a moment.
"Xuan, I am willing to establish a new tribe with you!"
Nan Xing, the youngest, was the first to agree, because he didn't need to think too much and only knew that he was living well with Jiang Xuan.
Stone Loach and Uncaria looked at each other, hesitated for a moment, and finally nodded together: "We are willing too!"
Jiang Xuan looked at Chi Shao again and said, "Sister, they all agreed. What about you?"
Chishao's expression was a little complicated. After the winter, she was already fourteen years old and her thoughts were much more mature. In her opinion, the tribe of five people was like a child's farce.
But after going through so many things, she had an inexplicable confidence in Jiang Xuan. Perhaps, this small tribe could really grow stronger in the future?
Finally, she nodded.
Chishao asked: "Since this is a new tribe, we need a name. What should we name our tribe?"
Jiang Xuan looked into the distance, then looked at the ancient vines on the stone mountain under his feet, thought for a moment, and said, "Since we came here to live, everything has been going smoothly. We haven't even encountered any ferocious beasts. I think it should be because we are protected by the ancient vines."
Jiang Xuan stroked the branches of the ancient vine and said, "In this case, our new tribe will be called the Teng Tribe. From now on, the ancient vine will be the patron saint of our tribe!"
Every tribe has its own patron saint, also called a totem god. He is the spiritual sustenance of the tribe members and is very important.
It is said that the totem god of the tribe possesses supernatural powers and can protect the tribesmen in the tribe. There were many legends about the totem god of the Deer Tribe in the past.
No one knows how many years this ancient vine has been growing. It is so huge that everyone who sees it will be deeply impressed and easily regard it as a god.
Since Jiang Xuan decided to establish a new tribe here, what could be more suitable as a totem than this ancient vine? Chi Shao said, "Okay, we will call it the Vine Tribe from now on. Xuan, you will be the leader of the tribe!"
Chi Shao didn't wait for Jiang Xuan to answer, and asked the three young men, "Do you agree that Xuan should be the leader of the tribe?"
"agree!"
"agree!"
"agree!"
The three young men already admired Jiang Xuan, and it was Jiang Xuan who proposed to build a new tribe, so how could they not agree? Chi Shao smiled and said to Jiang Xuan: "Xuan, everyone agrees."
Jiang Xuan was silently moved. In fact, in terms of strength, Chishao was more suitable to be the leader, but Chishao gave it to him without hesitation.
Jiang Xuan nodded solemnly and said, "Okay, from now on I will be the leader of the Teng Tribe, and I will do my best to develop and expand our Teng Tribe!"
Everyone laughed, and they began to look forward to the day when the tribe would become stronger.
After staying on the stone mountain for half an hour, they climbed back down along the ancient vines and returned to the ground.
Jiang Xuan stood in front of the ancient vine and carefully carved a pattern on a large stone next to it.
What he carved was a smaller and simplified version of an ancient vine.
"From now on, this pattern will be the totem of our Teng tribe!"
Jiang Xuan announced this very important matter and asked everyone to remember this totem pattern firmly, as it would be engraved on all the territories of the Teng tribe in the future.
He found a moist brown soil at the foot of the stone mountain and carefully painted this new totem pattern on the faces of Chishao and others.
He asked Chishao to draw the totem pattern on his face.
After drawing the totem pattern, Jiang Xuan, wearing animal skin clothes, stood in front of the ancient vine and led everyone to pray devoutly to the totem god of the tribe, asking the vine god to protect this new tribe.
For some reason, after completing this simple ritual, the five people could clearly feel their wandering hearts slowly settling down. Perhaps this was the benefit of having a spiritual sustenance.
Thanks to the book friend "It's Hard to Come Up with a Name" for the reward.
(End of this chapter)
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