Chapter 41: The wind in the ears
Jian Mo knew that there were many stones on the river beach, but he had never noticed them before.
To him, these gray-white stones were just ordinary stones, and he would only look for them when he wanted to build a wall at home.
Now that he needed to burn lime, he couldn't fool around.
Everyone came to the river beach together, and Qing Kuang searched and asked Jian Mo: "What kind of stones can be burned into lime?"
Jian Mo: "I don't remember very well, try to find stones that have been used before. I'll record them after I find them, and next time I burn them, I'll know which stones can be burned and which can't be burned."
He tried hard to recall these days, and he really remembered that marble, limestone, calcite and other stones can be burned into lime, but he didn't recognize these stones at all.
It was useless to recall the past, so he could only go back and mine stones to experiment. Anyway,
he had already burned lime before, so he would surely be able to burn lime if he went back and mined stones now. Zhou Fu looked at Jian Mo taking a piece of wood and recording seriously, and envied him: "Your previous tribe was really good, it's so convenient to be able to write ." Jian Mo: "Yeah, when the weather gets warmer, I'll make some more paper, and then make the records and bind them into books, so it will be much more convenient to search." He actually wanted to teach the people in the tribe how to write, but unfortunately, after trying it once, no one was very interested. Catching the cubs to teach was even less effective. Every time Jian Mo saw the furry canine and feline cubs squatting below, staring at him without blinking, he would feel that it was a sin even if he just let it go in one ear and out the other. It was really too difficult for puppies and kittens to learn words. He tried several times and had to give up. Let's wait for someone who is really interested to teach them in the future. There were a lot of stones piled on the river bank. Jian Mo asked everyone to pick those stones with softer texture and whiter color first. After everyone picked for a long time, they soon picked out the stones he asked for. After picking them out, they had to be sent to the kiln for burning. Jian Mo remembered that lime burning did not require too high a temperature, so he asked people to burn it directly with wood. Using charcoal requires one more process, and charcoal must be made of hardwood as much as possible. Firewood has no requirements on the texture of the wood, so it is relatively simple to find, and it saves time and effort. Everyone piled up firewood and stones in the kiln and prepared to start burning. Qing Kuang asked, "What temperature is required to burn lime?" Jian Mo was not sure about this either, so he could only say, "Make the fire as big as possible, and it should be done by the evening. If we find that the temperature is not high enough tomorrow, we will burn it for a longer time next time. If we find that it is over-burned tomorrow, we will burn it for a shorter time next time." Qing Kuang knew that he really didn't know how to do it after hearing him say this, and smiled, "Okay, I'll do it." Jian Mo rubbed his shoulders, "Thank you for your hard work." Qing Kuang and his men stood guard in front of the kiln, and the fire burned for a whole day, with smoke going far away. The kiln was warm, so everyone simply brought animal hair or animal skins, stood in front of the kiln to work, and warmed themselves by the fire. The next day, everyone came over early in the morning and opened the kiln to see how the lime was burning. Jian Mo stood in the crowd, also a little nervous. After the kiln was opened, the stones inside cracked into white objects, like pieces of gravel, and felt quite hard. Everyone turned to look at Jian Mo. Jian Mo came over and grabbed a piece of lime and squeezed it. It could be crushed, but it was not easy to pinch. It should have been burned out. Jian Mo was not sure: "Why don't we just crush it and add water to try?" Seeing him like this, Qing Kuan had to instruct the beastmen to move the lime out, crush it with big stones, and see the texture of this batch of lime. Jian Mo felt that it was particularly troublesome to crush the lime in the cold weather, so he suggested: "Why not just take it to the mortar and crush it?" Qing Kuan: "Is the lime poisonous?" When adding water, the quicklime boils and releases a bitter taste. According to experience, things that taste bitter are generally poisonous. There are more people who eat lime crushed in the mortar, so Qing Kuan was not very reassured. Jian Mo explained: "Lime is sometimes used for food. After using the mortar, just wash it clean and it will be fine. There is nothing to worry about." Qing Kuan nodded: "Then take it to the mortar and crush it." Everyone then used baskets to pick up the burned stones and crush them in the mortar. Jian Mo observed from the side and felt that this batch of lime should be over-burned lime. After this batch of lime was crushed, the middle part was finer and softer, and it was easy to grind into powder. However, the outer circle was hard and difficult to grind, and there were many particles after grinding. The middle part was already burned, but the edges were probably overburned. It seems that burning lime is not easy. I don’t know why the stones used to build pillars in the kiln were burned better after being burned into lime. Maybe it was because he didn’t find the bad ones before and they had been cleared out by everyone? Jian Mo was a little frustrated. Qing Kuang looked at him and asked, "It should be usable after sifting it once, right?" Jian Mo cheered up: "I think it’s okay. We’ll know after trying it." Qing Kuang: "Then use the sifted lime first." They took a part of this batch of lime, added water and fine sand to make lime mortar, and applied it on the wooden board. When observing the next day, Jian Mo found that the lime mortar had completely hardened and felt fine. Wu Jiong and the others saw this and said it could be used. So, everyone in the tribe drew lots, and whoever drew the lot first could use it. With the first batch of lime, everyone hurried to burn the second and third batches. After watching it many times, Jian Mo quickly realized that the first batch of lime was over-burned. Later, they burned under-fired lime and lime with just the right temperature, and each batch of lime was different. After burning it several times, everyone had experience. Generally speaking, a kiln full of stones is burned with firewood, starting when the sun comes out, and burning until the sun hangs on the top of the distant snow-capped mountains. The lime in this kiln is burned just right.
As more lime was burned, every household made lime mortar and applied it inside and outside the house.
With lime mortar, the house was finally airtight and had better thermal insulation.
Most importantly, the house was much stronger, and they no longer had to worry about the house collapsing when it rained.
Seeing how easy lime mortar was to use, some people in the tribe used lime mortar to make grooves on the windows, inserted the glass inside, and when the lime mortar dried, perfect glass windows were made.
Making glass windows in this way is more beautiful and stronger than clamping the glass on the wood and installing the window when needed.
Jian Mo saw this and, while marveling at everyone's creativity, he also specifically reminded them to leave at least a stone-sized gap on the window, otherwise it would be poisonous to people when burning charcoal.
Wu Jiong and Dejiang checked every household, and helped to rectify any windows that failed to meet the standards.
Jian Mo felt relieved when he saw this.
He made these things in the hope that the tribe would become better, not to threaten everyone's lives.
After burning the lime, everyone hurried to burn pottery and glass.
This time, the same glaze was used, but the colors of the fired pottery and glass were different.
Jian Mo guessed that there was residual lime in the kiln, and the lime combined with the glaze or glass to change their color.
So he asked everyone to clean the kiln carefully, and the color of the products fired again turned out to be normal.
The tribe burned lime and specially burned two more kilns for backup.
Jian Mo remembered the disinfection function of lime, and specially asked for two more baskets.
The lime used for disinfection is slaked lime, which can be made by adding quicklime to water.
On this day, Jian Mo put on a mask, took a wooden pot filled with lime water and sprinkled water in the shed of the tuk-tuks.
Eight tuk-tuks were crowded together, chewing dry grass in their mouths.
Jian Mo wanted to drive them out and put them in again after disinfection. They refused to leave, so Jian Mo had no choice but to let them go.
Before he finished disinfecting his shed, he heard a voice calling him from outside: "Brother Jianmo--"
Jian Mo recognized it as Ban Ming's voice and walked out to see: "What's the matter?"
Ban Ming came over with several orcs and asked mysteriously: "We are going to fish for beasts today, are you going?"
Jian Mo suspected that he did not understand the orc language, otherwise why would this sentence sound so awkward: "Fishing for what?"
Ban Ming: "Fishing for beasts."
Jian Mo: "With a fishing rod?"
Ban Ming and the others were mysterious and refused to say anything, only asking: "Are you going?"
Jian Mo glanced at them and agreed: "Yes."
Ban Ming said: "Then Brother Jianmo, bring some seasonings, we will grill the beasts in the wild after we catch them."
Jian Mo: "Wait a minute."
Jian Mo took out the seasonings from home and followed the orcs to gather outside the tribe.
There were already young beastmen and sub-beastmen waiting outside the tribe.
Seeing Jian Mo, Xilu waved at him: "Come here quickly."
Jian Mo saw a familiar partner and asked: "How do you fish for beasts?"
Xilu smiled: "They won't tell me? In fact, it is to use salt to lure out the beasts that are hibernating in the cave. We go out mainly to catch arrowbone beasts, it doesn't work well for other beasts."
Jian Mo recalled and remembered the appearance of the arrowbone beast.
It was a small beast with a row of raised bone spurs on its back, about the size of a puppy, with fat, tender and delicious meat, without any strange smell.
Jian Mo was curious: "Is the success rate high?"
Ban Ming squeezed over: "That depends on luck. Come on, come on, the chief is not here, how about I carry you?"
Wu Jiong took the orcs in the tribe to the Mengshui tribe to discuss things early in the morning. Jian Mo was not very familiar with the other orcs, so it would be best if Ban Ming was willing to carry him.
Jian Mo readily agreed: "Okay."
Ban Ming turned into a big cat and instructed: "Brother Jian Mo, just hold on to my neck. I can't run as steadily as the chief, so hold on tight!"
Jian Mo nodded.
Ban Ming's beast form is actually more than three meters tall, like a small house, more than enough to carry Jian Mo.
Jian Mo quickly climbed onto his back and sat down.
The orcs changed back to beast form on the spot, carried the sub-beasts, and prepared to set off.
The wind was howling, and Ban Ming was running rather bumpy. Jian Mo held onto his neck tightly, and was almost suffocated by the wind.
After running for an unknown amount of time, they finally reached their destination.
Jian Mo jumped off Ban Ming's back, holding his waist and gasping for breath. It
was not the first time he sat on an orc, but this time it was particularly uncomfortable, and he was so tired that he was sweating.
Ban Ming changed back into human form, and excitedly shouted to his friends: "Let's not separate today, let's go directly to the spot we chose before to place the salt?"
Everyone agreed with a howl.
Jian Mo walked among the young people and went with them to place the salt.
Soon, the orcs led the team to a dark cave entrance in the wilderness, ready to place the salt.
Xilu's nose turned back into a beast's nose, and she sniffed the air inside: "The smell of very fresh arrow-bone beasts."
Jian Mo imitated him and tried to smell it, but he could only vaguely smell the fishy smell of the beasts. As for whether it was fresh or not, he couldn't smell it.
The beastmen put a handful of salt at the entrance of this cave, and then said: "Leave two people here to guard, we will go to the next cave."
Xilu took the initiative to say: "Jiuyin and I will stay here."
After leaving someone to guard, everyone went to the next destination.
Jian Mo followed and found that everyone's purpose was very clear. They should have stepped on the point in advance, and they didn't take any detours along the way.
Everyone moved very quickly.
Jian Mo estimated that in less than an hour, they had put salt at the entrances of seventeen arrow-bone beasts.
The reason they didn't put more was because there were only so many people out this time, and they couldn't be more dispersed.
Jian Mo and Ban Ming were in a group.
After putting the salt, they waited patiently in the dry grass.
Ban Ming lowered his voice and said to Jian Mo: "The arrow-bone beasts are particularly vigilant. We rarely kill this kind of beast when we hunt. However, they have a high demand for salt. It is not convenient to collect salt in winter, so it is convenient for us to use salt to lure them out."
Jian Mo: "Do they eat salt more?"
Ban Ming: "I don't know, anyway, they will die easily without salt."
Jian Mo nodded: "That may be because they have a high demand for salt."
After chatting for a while, the two stopped chatting soon for fear of disturbing the arrow-bone beasts.
They waited in the cold wind for a long time. Jian Mo saw a little beast sticking its head out of the dark hole, sniffing, and then retracting its head.
It must have smelled the salt outside, but it didn't dare to come out directly to eat, so it repeated the testing process.
It was too boring to wait outside. Jian Mo counted silently and found that the Arrow Bone Beast had poked its head out at least eleven times.
Despite this, it still didn't come out completely, and maintained a posture that it could run deeper into the cave at any movement.
Ban Ming had already turned back into a big cat beside him, lowered his body, dragged his long tail, and was ready to attack at any time.
Jian Mo turned his head to look at the big cat and found that his pupils had also shrunk slightly.
It was a posture ready to attack.
Ban Ming usually looked unreliable, but at this time he was particularly patient. The
Arrow Bone Beast was about to come out several times, but he didn't fall for it and kept squatting quietly beside him.
Jian Mo lay in the grass, feeling his feet go numb.
He usually collected a lot, but this was his first time to go out hunting. He didn't know hunting was so troublesome.
Because the waiting time was too long, he couldn't concentrate anymore, and his mind was full of many thoughts.
Just when he was distracted, the big cat beside him rushed out like a sharp arrow, leaving only a few afterimages in his pupils.
With a sharp cry, Jian Mo saw that the big cat had rushed to the front of the cave and firmly grasped the head of the Arrow Bone Beast.
The body of the Arrow Bone Beast was soft, and it was obvious that it had been killed by a single blow.
The big cat threw the arrow-bone beast aside, made a few "pooh" sounds, then turned to Jian Mo and said, "Brother Jian Mo, you can come over now."
Jian Mo dragged his numb legs and limped over: "Hunting is really not easy."
The big cat told the truth: "Our hunting skills are not that strong, so it seems a little difficult. If the tribe leader came over, they might have caught the arrow-bone beast in the first place and wouldn't have to wait so long."
Jian Mo turned to look at him.
The big cat swung its tail: "What's wrong?"
Jian Mo smiled: "I don't know why, but I always feel that your attitude today is special-"
Jian Mo searched in his mind and found a word to describe it: "diligent."
The big cat roughly understood what he meant, but pretended not to understand: "Let's go, let's go meet up with the main force. Someone must have caught the arrow bone beast."
Jian Mo didn't ask any more questions and climbed on his back: "Do you want to put the arrow bone beast on your back?"
The big cat: "No, I can hold it in my mouth."
After a while of running, they arrived at the agreed location.
As expected, most people had already returned, and they also brought back arrow bone beasts of all sizes.
Ah Hu turned into a big orange cat and was complaining to the people around him: "... I caught the arrowbone beast, but I didn't expect it to be a pregnant female beast, so I had to put it back."
The big fox beside him didn't believe it. The
big orange cat bared his teeth, revealing his sharp canine teeth in his mouth: "Really, you smell it, I still smell the blood of the arrowbone beast in my mouth!"
In such a large-scale hunting activity, the big orange cat didn't get any harvest, and felt very embarrassed. He grabbed his companions and asked them to smell it.
Fortunately, a few kind beastmen agreed with him after smelling it carefully: "It does smell like the arrowbone beast."
The beastmen and sub-beastmen who came back early went to pick up firewood.
They had to deal with the arrowbone beast on the spot and make a fire to roast meat.
Jian Mo didn't help in the hunting, so he just wanted to help peel the skin and take the meat, and do more things.
He took out the copper dagger that Wu Jiong gave him and prepared to work.
The people around him cast their eyes over and stared at his dagger.
Jian Mo: "..."
Ban Ming came over: "Brother Jian Mo, can I borrow your dagger for a while?"
Jian Mo handed it over generously: "Sure, be careful, don't let the blade bend."
Ban Ming: "I will definitely use it well, and will never let the blade touch any bone."
There was no water source nearby, and everyone didn't need water. They just used a knife to peel out the meat of the arrow bone beast, skewered it with branches, and roasted it over the fire.
The meat of the arrow bone beast has a charming snowflake pattern, which looks very tempting.
When it was roasted over the fire, it soon sizzled with oil and exuded a rich aroma.
Even Jian Mo's stomach growled a few times when he saw this quality of meat.
This meat is really good, much better than the hard and rough meat of other animals.
The meat of the arrowbone beast is extremely tender and cooked very quickly. After a while, the meat turned brown and a layer of oil appeared on the surface.
Jian Mo took out the seasoning powder he brought with him and put it in a special ceramic plate: "I won't sprinkle it on it. When you eat, just dip the meat in the seasoning powder to save waste."
Everyone had no objection. Seeing that the meat was almost cooked, they took it off and shared it with each other, and directly pinched the meat strips with their hands and dipped them in the seasoning powder to eat.
They were so hot that they kept switching hands and eating:
"Oh, delicious! This seasoning powder tastes so good!"
"Brother Jian Mo, what's in the seasoning powder? Why is it different from the seasoning powder we usually eat?"
"It smells so good! I wanted to come here to catch the saber-bone beast a few days ago. Fortunately, I didn't have time to come, otherwise I couldn't roast such good meat even if I caught it."
Jian Mo listened to their questions and didn't hide anything: "The recipe of the seasoning powder is a bit complicated. It's probably a mixture of pepper powder, honey powder, shellfish powder and salt powder. If you are interested in the specific recipe, come to me when you get home and I'll make it for you."
Everyone agreed quickly.
Ban Ming took a big bite of meat and said to Jian Mo, "Brother Jian Mo, you see, we don't usually eat raw meat. Roasted meat is much more delicious."
Jian Mo still remembered that incident and smiled, "Got it."
This roasted meat is really delicious, with rich gravy, tender meat, and a faint milky aroma. Dipping it in seasoning powder makes the taste even richer.
The spicy pepper powder, the sweet honey powder, and the fresh shellfish powder are all blended together by salt powder. In the end, all the flavors are combined into a salty and fresh taste, which makes the taste of the roasted meat even more wonderful.
Especially when the roasted meat is very hot, it is even more delicious when it is blown.
While eating, Jian Mo thought, I wonder if there will be more later?
If there is, bring some to Wu Jiong. If not, they can take time out to hunt again. It would be a pity for Wu Jiong not to taste such delicious meat.
Jian Mo's thoughts were all over the place until someone called him.
He came to his senses and Ban Ming said to him, "Brother Jian Mo, is this meat delicious?"
Jian Mo: "Delicious."
Ban Ming said, "There are more arrow bone beasts. You can take them back and eat with the tribe leader later."
The others chimed in, "Yes, yes, brother Jian Mo, take them back and let the tribe leader taste them too."
Jian Mo raised his eyebrows at their enthusiasm.
Ban Ming came over and said, "That's right, you see, our hunting skills are already very good. Can you go back and tell the tribe leader that we hunted very well?"
The others also looked at Jian Mo expectantly.
Jian Mo took a bite of meat slowly and smiled: "If I don't tell you, you won't be able to eat meat?"
Ah Hu grabbed a few skewers of meat on the other side: "No, we just want you to whisper in the chief's ear."
Ban Ming said bitterly: "Yes, yes, the chief said that he would train us hard during the winter when we have time. I am almost exhausted."
Jian Mo: "Will my whispering in his ear work?"
Ban Ming: "Yes! Your whispering in his ear is the most useful! In the whole tribe, I guess you are the only one who can whisper in his ear."
Jian Mo smiled, showing his small white teeth: "Then I can't whisper, so as not to affect Wu Jiong's judgment."
The surrounding Asian beastmen watched a big show and laughed out loud.
The beastmen became frustrated.
Jian Mo patted Ban Ming on the shoulder: "Work hard, you guys."
After everyone finished eating the meat, they carefully put out the fire, shoveled snow on the ashes, and then prepared to go back.
Jian Mo looked back with an unsatisfied look: "The meat of the arrow bone beast is really good, let's try fishing it next time."
Ban Ming: "Maybe not."
Jian Mo was curious: "Why? There are fewer of them, and we catch them more often. Is it easy to catch them all?"
Ban Ming shook his head: "No, they have a good memory. If you catch them twice more, they won't be fooled, so we only catch them once or twice a year."
Jian Mo: "I understand."
When everyone returned to the tribe, the beastmen forced Jian Mo to eat an arrow bone beast and asked him and Wu Jiong to eat it. Of course, it would be better if they could help talk after eating.
Jian Mo looked at their expressions and smiled as he told them: "I can't really help you with this, but I still have some seasoning powder here, do you want some?"
The seasoning powder he prepared was indeed delicious, and it was a great dip for barbecue. Everyone was delighted: "Yes!"
Jian Mo called them: "Then come in, I'll give you some."
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