I am a Primitive Man
Chapter 218 – Dogs that can’t eat bones and crazy earth walls
The Shaman, with fewer teeth, slowly gnawed on the chicken wings. The chicken wings cooked with charcoal tasted better than those cooked with ordinary firewood, but the improvement in taste was nowhere near the terrifying level it had reached when salt was first introduced.
Plus, he had been preoccupied with something these past two days, so he didn’t feel the same joy and excitement as before.
Although charcoal was more efficient than firewood in their current life, it didn’t make a significant difference.
One major reason the people in the tribe didn’t cheer and celebrate like before when Han Cheng produced charcoal was their limited perspective due to their environment.
Han Cheng didn’t mind. He knew it was due to the limitations of their living conditions.
When the time came to find iron or copper ore, the tremendous value of charcoal would become immediately apparent.
Looking back then, people would realize their foresight.
This was what the shameless “Divine Child” thought.
Just as he was about to throw the gnawed chicken wings to Fu Jiang, he suddenly remembered something and quickly stopped his motion.
Fu Jiang looked at the bone that had nearly reached his mouth flying away and couldn’t help but feel anxious, looking at Han Cheng expectantly.
However, unlike when Fu Jiang’s owner would always give him bones to gnaw on whenever they ate meat, this time, despite Fu Jiang’s eager expression, Han Cheng forcefully threw the chicken wing bones into the charcoal brazier.
He even instructed the Shaman to throw the gnawed chicken wing bones into the charcoal brazier, never letting Fu Jiang have them.
This instruction was because he suddenly remembered something he had heard in his childhood. It was said that a certain family’s dog got pregnant, and since the family didn’t want the puppies, they stewed chicken bones and fed them to the dog.
After the mother dog ate the chicken bones, the puppies in her belly dissolved…
This was hearsay, and Han Cheng wasn’t sure if it was true. After thinking for a moment, he still felt it was better to believe it than to dismiss it.
Fu Jiang, that rascal, had been sneaking out and fooling around for a few days. There was a good chance she was pregnant now, although it wasn’t evident yet. But Han Cheng had to be cautious.
If chicken bones really could dissolve puppies, it would be truly regrettable.
Han Cheng pulled Fu Jiang, who was circling the brazier, as if wanting to grab the chicken bones from the fire, and left, heading towards the riverbank, then began to search for burning charcoal.
The appearance of charcoal had given him great confidence.
The flames soared atop the kiln, radiating intense heat that even the winter chill didn’t dare to approach.
Considering that many of the woods weren’t fully burned last time, Han Cheng, risking the chance of singeing his eyebrows and hair, approached the kiln to inspect how the firewood was burning inside.
After seeing that most of the firewood was covered by flames, he instructed Hei Wa to seal the entire firing port.
Han Cheng waited here for a while, and gradually, the flames inside the kiln extinguished.
At this moment, Lame walked out from inside the compound.
He said the wooden sticks had been polished many times and asked Han Cheng what they should do next.
Seeing the flames extinguished in the kiln, Han Cheng knew it wasn’t time to open it yet, and there was no point in waiting there. So, he walked back to the tribe with Hei Wa and Lame.
It must be said that with Lame, the carpenter, and Black Wa, the stonemason, working together, their speed was indeed fast.
One of them cut the wooden sticks, and the other polished them. With their cooperation, they worked very smoothly.
Han Cheng instructed Hei Wa, Lame, and Mu Tou to bring a dozen or so polished wooden sticks, as well as rope, a measuring tape, and a stone hammer made with a wooden handle according to the method of a stone axe.
The group climbed the wooden ladder and walked along the low wall on the west side until they reached the northernmost point, which connected to the mountain wall.
The place where the Green Sparrow Tribe is located receives quite a bit of rain during the summer and autumn seasons.
And since the wall is made of rammed earth, due to Han Cheng’s rush to build houses, once the wall was rammed, it was neglected after that.
Due to the lack of necessary rainproof measures, traces left by wind and rain appeared on the top of the wall.
Some walls have been eroded by rainwater running down, forming shallow grooves.
Given the thickness of the wall, it wouldn’t be a problem for it to last three to five years without any attention.
However, Han Cheng was reluctant to let this thing, which was of great use to the tribe and had cost the Green Sparrow Tribe a great deal of effort to make decay on its own.
The things he had the people make these days were to solve this problem.
After measuring for a while, he made a mark every 1.5 meters at the center of the top of the wall.
Then, Lame used a stone hammer to pound the sharpened wooden sticks brought up along these marks.
Because the wall was wide enough and the tree sticks were not too thick, driving these sticks into the center of the wall wouldn’t affect the solidity of the wall.
When the wall was built, it was rammed forcefully, so it was difficult to drive wooden sticks into it. It was much more difficult than driving them into the ground. Fortunately, Han Cheng directed Mu Tou to create a stone hammer specifically for smashing things, imitating the method of a stone axe. Otherwise, it would have been even more difficult.
After the wooden sticks were driven into about ten centimeters, they stopped. At this depth, the wooden sticks were firmly wedged into the top of the wall.
Watching this scene, Han Cheng couldn’t help but recall a story he had heard about constructing rammed-earth walls in the Western Kingdom.
It was said that after a section of the city wall was rammed, people were instructed to nail it into the wall. If the nail went in an inch, the person who rammed the earth would be killed; if the nail didn’t, the person who nailed it would be killed.
Looking at the wooden sticks firmly wedged into the top of the wall, Han Cheng couldn’t help but snort. If, according to such a bizarre standard, he and the others wouldn’t have survived!
After Lame had driven in six wooden sticks in a row, Han Cheng instructed him to stop temporarily. He then took a ruler to measure for a while and asked Lame to cut six sticks that were 70 centimeters long and twelve sticks that were 55 centimeters long.
He asked Mu Tou to help Lame.
Hei Wa brought twisted ropes and a thin stone knife.
Before long, Lame and Mu Tou brought up the cut wooden sticks, and Hei Wa had already brought up the ropes and stone knife.
The three looked at Han Cheng together, waiting for their Divine Child’s next move.
They had already learned from the Divine Child that he would make something like a hat and put it on top of the wall so that the wall wouldn’t get wet from the rain.
Although they knew what the Divine Child would do, they didn’t quite understand the specific method, so they all seemed a bit expectant, wanting to see how the Divine Child would use these materials to put a hat on the wall.
Han Cheng didn’t let them wait long. He immediately picked up a stick 70 centimeters long from the low wall and placed it horizontally on top of the wall, next to the wooden stick that Lame had just nailed into place, forming a right angle.
Because the width of the wall was only 60 centimeters, this stick placed horizontally was wider than the wall, protruding about five centimeters on one side.
Han Cheng firmly tied this stick to the post with a rope and used a stone knife like a saw to cut off the excess rope.