I am a Primitive Man
Chapter 64 – Drying the grass and hunting in the woods
From over two months ago, the children of the tribe were tasked with harvesting green grass.
The children and the women in the tribe who didn’t go to pick fruits were involved in this task.
The harvesting of green grass had been going on for a while, but the amount harvested was not significant back then. It was enough to feed the rabbits and provide some for the deer near the salt mountain.
But things had changed. Since the Shaman issued the command over two months ago. They had to harvest at least twice as much green grass every day compared to before.
The excess green grass was spread out in the large courtyard of the tribe to dry. Once dried, it was collected and stacked together.
It wasn’t directly piled on the ground; thick logs were placed at the bottom, followed by a layer of branches and then another layer of dried grass that rabbits and deer didn’t prefer to eat. Only after that did they begin stacking the dried grass on top.
This method allowed for ventilation, preventing the grass below from getting moldy or rotten.
Now, these dried grass stacks had grown into three substantial piles.
Han Cheng issued this command with a purpose, aiming to prepare winter forage for the rabbits in the tribe and, of course, to bribe the group of deer near the salt mountain.
The autumn grass naturally withered and dried in the fields, and the taste was entirely different from the freshly harvested and dried grass.
Herbivores welcomed dried green grass.
Han Cheng had ordered preparations in advance to avoid going out in the severe cold of winter to collect hay for the rabbits.
The adults in the tribe weren’t idle either. After picking a certain amount of fruits, under Han Cheng’s guidance, they built a row of low mounds inside the wall, close to it.
The mounds pressed against the inner side of the wall were one meter wide, one meter two high, and two meters long.
Every two meters, they built one.
Because they didn’t use stakes and dug a shallow foundation, this task didn’t consume too much time for the tribe. In less than a month, it was completed.
Han Cheng ordered the construction of these low mounds not as an unnecessary addition. This circle of low mounds had significant purposes.
First, it made the wall more robust and greatly enhanced the tribe’s defense capability.
Due to time constraints, the tribe’s wall was only built to a height of two meters. This height was suitable for defense against ordinary beasts, but it might be insufficient against other tribes or individuals skilled in climbing.
So, on the inner side of the wall, Han Cheng created this layer of low mounds, acting as a kind of short wall.
With this one-meter-high mound as a foothold, the people in the tribe could see the situation outside clearly. In times of danger, they could also use stones and javelins and throw spears from an elevated position to defend the tribe.
Looking at these low mounds every two meters on the inner side and the stones, javelins, and other items placed on them, Han Cheng felt secure.
Regardless, defense issues had to be taken seriously.
After all, it was the primitive era, not when one could wander alone on the streets at one or two at night without any issues.
After completing the construction of this circle of low walls, the Elder Senior Brother led the people from the tribe to go hunting. There was still a considerable amount of time left before the snowfall.
During this time, they could hunt and bring back some game.
Although the tribe now had fish traps and the technology to break the ice for fishing in winter, reducing the need to worry too much about food, the Elder Senior Brother still led a hunting expedition.
Their mouths had become somewhat picky due to the presence of the Divine Child. After eating many fish, they also wanted meat for their meals.
Moreover, this year was different from the past. In previous times, even if the weather got colder, they couldn’t store much meat for long. Now, with the method of curing and drying taught by the Divine Child, there was no need to worry about meat going bad.
In the woods where occasional falling leaves drifted down, the Elder Senior Brother led ten adult men and ten adult women from the tribe, holding sharpened wooden sticks, stone spears, and stones for throwing, walking carefully. Hei Wa and Tie Tou were also among them.
They were searching for prey.
Today’s luck wasn’t too good. Half of the day had passed, and they had only caught a rabbit.
While feeling a bit down, a disturbance suddenly came from ahead. Before anyone could prepare, an adult wild boar rushed out from the woods.
This creature hadn’t expected so many people here and abruptly turned, running westward.
The Elder Senior Brother and others from the Green Sparrow Tribe were excited to see this and immediately prepared to chase, brandishing their weapons.
At this moment, more commotion emerged from the woods. A group of people, similarly carrying sticks and draped in animal skins, charged out, shouting and chasing after the direction where the wild boar fled.
They were the ones who discovered the wild boar.
The Elder Senior Brother, who had just felt pleased, immediately lost that feeling.
Like others in the tribe who wanted to chase after, he stopped in his tracks, standing in place, looking enviously at the dozen or so people chasing the prey not far away.
The one at the front looked the strongest among the dozen or so people running past. He was the leader of this tribe.
Upon seeing this group of people standing outside the woods, he appeared vigilant.
Although encounters between tribes during hunting usually didn’t involve fighting over prey—what one discovered belonged to them—this was just a general situation.
With the weather becoming colder daily, it was a crucial time to store food for the winter. During this time, incidents of robbing prey were much more common than at other times.
Moreover, the people from the tribe before them were more numerous than those in their tribe. Most importantly, their tribe had only discovered the wild boar, not captured it yet. In such a situation, the other party was likely to compete for it. If such a thing happened, it would be quite troublesome.
He chased after the wild boar while occasionally looking back at the group not far away.
Seeing that they were just watching without intending to pursue, he finally relaxed.
He shouted something in their direction, leading the people of his tribe, and sped toward the direction the wild boar had run.
The Elder Senior Brother envied the good fortune of these people. In the glimpse just now, he had roughly identified this tribe. They had interacted with this tribe before but were limited to the annual joyful gathering.
They also survived in this territory, but it was not close to their Green Sparrow Tribe. It took more than a whole day of continuous travel to reach.
The Green Sparrow Tribe was friendly. Even before, the Elder Senior Brother wouldn’t have competed for prey discovered by another tribe first. Now that there was no need to worry about food in the tribe, he wouldn’t do such things.
Standing here and watching the wild boar run off and the other tribe for a while, he also set out with the people of his tribe to find their own prey.