I am a Primitive Man
Chapter 176 – Rattan Shield
Noon arrived, and the people staying in the tribe to cook had prepared the meal. They came out and informed the person standing guard on the low wall on the west side. That person shouted, notifying the busy people in the fields not far away that it was time for the meal.
The people of the Green Sparrow Tribe, holding large bowls, enjoyed the soup cooked with salt and felt very satisfied.
Although Han Cheng had only produced salt for a little over a year, it had already deeply ingrained itself in the essence of the Green Sparrow Tribe, much like a habit passed down through countless generations.
At this moment, if they were asked to eat meat soup without salt, most of them would find it difficult to swallow.
Salt was indeed a magical existence.
While eating, many people couldn’t help but look up at the well-constructed houses. Under the eaves not only were numerous pieces of drying meat hanging under the eaves, but several bunches of grains were hanging on the walls.
They could never get enough of this kind of scenery.
The Eldest Senior Brother finished his meal quickly, placed the two chopsticks across the bowl, discarded the empty bowl, wiped his mouth, and was about to take a break.
After a short nap, he planned to continue clearing the uncultivated land and finish this area before nightfall.
Han Cheng stopped the Eldest Senior Brother and told him to wait, as there was something to show him.
The Eldest Senior Brother stopped as instructed, anxiously looking at the Divine Child. He couldn’t help but wonder what extraordinary thing the Divine Child had come up with this time.
When Han Cheng spoke, he didn’t intentionally lower his voice, and many people heard him. They hastened their eating, eager to witness what was going on.
Well, curiosity is innate.
On the side, Lame, who quickly finished his meal, was even faster. Since the thing the shaman was talking about came from his hands, he was more eager to see everyone’s reaction.
When Han Cheng finished his meal, everyone else had also finished. Han Cheng rubbed his nose somewhat helplessly, smiled at the crowd, and gestured for them to follow as he walked towards the open space in the courtyard.
Facing the somewhat excited look from Han Cheng, Lame nodded and quickly limped to the three tiled houses. He came out again in no time, holding an oval-shaped wooden plank in his hands.
This wooden plank differed from the typical wooden planks used for building walls in the Green Sparrow Tribe. The weaving technique was much more complex, similar to the method used to weave latticework, but more intricate. The wooden plank was also sturdier.
The wooden plank was not large, about eighty centimeters long and fifty centimeters wide. It resembled the wooden sticks split from logs and the lids made from grass stems used in the tribe.
Looking at this familiar yet strange object, for a moment, no one could guess the Divine Child’s intentions or what this odd-shaped wooden plank could be used for.
Building walls was not possible due to its small size.
It couldn’t be used to cover the cooking pot either, as too many gaps allowed air to escape.
Han Cheng took the strange-looking wooden plank from Lame’s hands, grasped the handle in the middle on the back of his hand, and lifted it.
The wooden handle had an arc shape with a span of about ten centimeters. The highest point was approximately five centimeters away from the wooden plank. Similar to the handle of a latticework, both ends were directly woven into the wooden plank.
With this woven handle, even if force were applied, lifting more than two hundred kilograms of stones inside, the handle wouldn’t separate from the woven part. It was easy to imagine how sturdy the handle was in the middle of this peculiar-looking wooden plank.
Okay, I’m sure many people have already guessed what this thing is, so let’s not keep it a secret.
Yes, it’s a shield.
Although it looks strange and overly simple, it has everything a shield should have.
Han Cheng had been thinking about improving weapons for a long time. However, due to limited conditions, many things couldn’t be produced. Besides, various tasks were complex, and he hadn’t figured out what kind of weapon to make, what materials to use, and how to manufacture it. So, the idea was put on hold.
After a long period of contemplation, the perfect opportunity finally arrived. Hence, this shield woven from vines came into existence.
Initially, Han Cheng didn’t plan to create a shield; he wanted to make an offensive weapon. He had heard the phrase “the best defense is a good offense” somewhere and believed that offense was more stylish than defense.
This notion persisted until he saw the “bowl” of a primitive woman nursing a child. On this “bowl,” there was a green mark, a trace left by the people of the Flying Snake Tribe who had attacked last winter.
When Han Cheng saw it, it had been about three months since the Flying Snake Tribe attack.
Three months had passed, and the bruises on the primitive woman’s body had not completely disappeared, indicating that she had been seriously injured.
It was precisely this not-yet-healed bruise that made Han Cheng completely change his mind.
Taking up weapons to engage in battle, watching enemies fall one by one under one’s people, indeed stirred the blood. However, where in this world could one gain advantages without suffering losses?
The last time the Green Sparrow Tribe took advantage of the wall, there were still injuries, not to mention chasing and fighting with weapons…
Speaking of defensive weapons, Han Cheng’s first thought was armor, not the kind worn by armored warriors, just something ordinary.
However, given the tribe’s current level of expertise, creating such demanding items was impossible.
So, the next best thing was to make shields.
The materials currently available to the Green Sparrow Tribe were wood, stone, and clay.
Using stone to make shields was impossible. Clay could be fired into pottery, and given Hei Wa’s current level, it was not impossible to create pottery shields, but they would be too heavy and fragile…
Han Cheng’s subsequent idea was to split some roughly similar wooden sticks in half and then lay them flat with the surfaces facing up. This would be the basic shape of a shield.
Then, on the back, he would draw three lines horizontally—top, middle, and bottom. Along these lines, he would create grooves, each two centimeters deep, with the upper part narrow and the lower part wide. Finally, a wooden strip, narrower at the bottom and wider at the top, would be inserted into these grooves from the edge. This way, the loose wooden pieces would be firmly connected.
He explained this idea step by step to Lame, and they tried to manufacture it together. But then… they gave up.
This approach had too high demands for tools and techniques.
Thinking of the Nanman vine armor that Zhuge Liang had burned and seeing the ordinary wooden planks in his tribe, coupled with Lame’s proficiency in weaving latticework, the vine shield was born…