I am a Primitive Man
Chapter 861 – Marking the Ground as Prison, Erecting Wood as Guard
“Come, eat!”
Under the arrangement of the Eldest Senior Brother, after everyone in the Green Sparrow Tribe had eaten their fill, they began preparing meals for the newly captured and “reformed” slaves.
The food wasn’t anything fancy. Water was added to a large pot along with some hulled millet and boiled. When nearly done, they added a large amount of chopped wild vegetables, sprinkled in two handfuls of salt, and stirred vigorously with a long-handled spoon. Out came a kind of vegetable porridge.
More than twenty people started untying the ropes from the new slaves’ hands, while others began serving the porridge.
The leader of the Grass Tribe quickly received a bowl of the same food.
Holding the slightly hot bowl, she didn’t immediately eat the fragrant porridge. Instead, she studied the bowl carefully.
Memories of Green Sparrow Tribe legends surfaced in her mind:
“That tribe has pottery that can make all sorts of exquisite items. Large ones for cooking, small ones for holding food or water… very convenient.”
Previously, the Grass Tribe leader hadn’t understood because she had never seen pottery and could not imagine what it was like.
Now, holding the bowl, she immediately understood what pottery was and why it was so valuable.
It was truly a fine thing—beautiful to look at and practical to use.
While she examined the bowl, many others had already started slurping the unusual porridge, including members of her own tribe.
She felt somewhat displeased. In her tribe, she had always eaten first. Now, before she could even take a bite, others were already eating.
She considered scolding them but quickly dismissed the thought, realizing they were now captives of the Green Sparrow Tribe, no longer in her own tribe.
She awkwardly lowered her head to the bowl, slurping hard. Because she sucked too forcefully, she took in more than intended.
The surface of the porridge was a bit cool, but the inner portion was still hot. The first bite burned her mouth.
Despite the burn, she did not spit it out. On one hand, in this era, people cherish food greatly. On the other hand, the porridge was incredibly delicious—more than she had ever tasted.
This sensation thrilled her entire nervous system. Only now did she understand why members of her tribe had twitched when eating similar food before.
The heat was not enough to deter her. After swallowing and taking a few deep breaths, she eagerly buried her head in the bowl again.
This time, wiser from experience, she did not use excessive force. She ate the top layer first.
Once the salted vegetable porridge was no longer burning, the flavor was even more delightful.
For a moment, she forgot where she was or the events that had led her here. She wanted only to revel in this unprecedented gustatory pleasure.
She continued eating until her face almost completely covered the bowl. The bowl was too small for her face, so she could not reach the remaining food, forcing her to stop.
Seeing the untouched porridge, she felt anxious. Only now did she notice the two small wooden sticks that had been given to her earlier.
She took the sticks, speared the porridge, and lifted a small portion.
After tasting the food on the sticks, she prepared to scoop more.
“Look here!”
A Green Sparrow Tribe member shouted.
Though she didn’t understand the language, she could not ignore it.
Following the demonstration, she finally realized how to use the two small sticks properly. The proper method was not to lean over the bowl but to bring the edge of the bowl to the mouth and eat carefully.
She imitated the demonstration and immediately experienced the benefits. What she couldn’t reach by slurping before now came easily to her mouth. Aside from the slight inconvenience of the sticks, everything else was perfect.
The high walls had already blocked the red sun. Night fell gradually. The Grass Tribe leader, holding the bowl, looked at the walls and the strange stone-and-branch enclosures, walking around, and let her mind focus entirely on the food’s exquisite taste.
She savored the flavors, rubbed her slightly full belly, and felt astonished.
Partly due to the deliciousness of the food, partly due to the generosity and wealth of the Green Sparrow Tribe.
She and her people had attacked the Green Sparrow Tribe, been defeated, and yet these people still served them such food, enough to fill them to the point of being slightly stuffed.
In this era, a tribe’s wealth was measured by its food stores. The generosity she saw displayed the Green Sparrow Tribe’s richness far more vividly than any stories could.
If they could eat such food even occasionally, life in the Green Sparrow Tribe seemed acceptable. Just a few days between meals like this would suffice to satisfy them.
Unconsciously, their attitudes had shifted drastically—from unease to a tentative sense that life here might not be so bad.
Night fell. The moon rose, casting a dim glow over the land and Copper Mountain settlement.
The Grass Tribe leader lay on a soft haystack, covered with dry grass. Around her, members of her tribe slept together.
Like the other captured tribes, they instinctively huddled together, day or night.
Unlike daytime, distinctions between tribes became clearer at night.
She had not yet fallen asleep, staring at the glowing moon.
All was silent, as if no one existed.
In this quiet, a thought quietly emerged: to take this opportunity to escape and return to her tribe.
Their hands and feet were now free, and no one was guarding them. Escape seemed very easy.
She rolled over slightly, the movement making a slight noise that quickened her heartbeat.
Her gaze fell on the sparse, semi-circular branches planted nearby at dusk.
These, combined with the stone enclosures, formed a crude pen around them.
The branches could easily be removed, but she hesitated. The Green Sparrow Tribe had left a deep impression.
Earlier that day, she had witnessed their ferocity firsthand.
It was night, far from her own tribe, and she could barely remember the route home. Shu Pi, who had guided them before, was now dead.
The moon moved slowly across the sky. Night deepened. The Grass Tribe leader remained motionless.
“Phew~”
She exhaled, dismissing the thought of escape, and began to sleep. Not thinking of escape made her feel light and relieved.
Through a slightly open window, Eldest Senior Brother yawned, observing outside. Not a single person had tried to flee. He felt both relieved and disappointed.
He had planned to seize and punish two escapees as a warning—a tactic borrowed from the mischievous Divine Child.
After yawning, he nudged Shang awake to keep watch, then returned to sleep himself.
The next day, a terrifying event occurred for the Grass Tribe leader.
After eating the delicious porridge again, the captives were individually taken outside by the person who appeared to be the leader.
Those pulled out stood in one area; those left stayed put.
This strange action terrified the captives. Some feared they might be killed for food.
The Grass Tribe leader was less worried—yesterday, the tribe had burned the bodies of the dead. They would not be eaten.
Still, her fear remained. A more terrifying realization dawned: all captured tribes were separated.
No tribe was kept intact.
Her own tribe had only a few members—about as many as her fingers—left behind.
The Eldest Senior Brother ignored their thoughts. He tied the pulled captives’ hands, then bound them into long clusters.
These captives would be taken to the main tribe. The remaining forty would stay at the Copper Mountain settlement to live and work.
Breaking up tribes was a longstanding Green Sparrow practice. Han Cheng had already done this with the original Pig Tribe captives, mixing them with elder workers.
Once houses were built, the separation became even more distinct.
For the Eldest Senior Brother, who emulated Divine Child in everything, it was natural to continue and develop this method.
Identifying different tribes was easy—they naturally grouped.
“We’re going back. We still need to plant millet…”
After separating and binding the captives, Eldest Senior Brother instructed Shang and the Copper Mountain residents.
“Good work today. If this happens again, do the same.”
He pointed to seven or eight tethered donkeys.
The Copper Mountain residents smiled knowingly and nodded vigorously.
Without lingering, they raised the Green Sparrow flag, exited the settlement, and traveled east along the bronze road.
The Grass Tribe leader kept looking back at the few tribe members left behind, wishing she could take them, but dared not. She followed, step by step, toward the unknown.
The few left behind were terrified, wanting to follow, but were pushed back if they tried. They watched helplessly as the main group vanished from sight, some even crying.
Shang and the remaining Copper Mountain residents quickly organized the leftover captives.
There were fifty fully trained old slaves; each old slave was assigned to mentor a new one, twenty pairs sharing one new slave.
They taught language, rules, and labor—like hoeing fields—while preventing escapes.
Sleeping arrangements were also reorganized: each old slave shared a bed with their assigned new slave for constant supervision.
Shang made it clear: if a new slave escaped under your watch, there would be no hope of becoming a Green Sparrow citizen—a terrifying punishment.
The old slaves resolved not to let any new captives escape.
In the coming days, old and new slaves ate, slept, and worked together, even going to the toilet simultaneously.
The new slaves, far from their original tribes and seeing most of their people taken away, were even more helpless and fearful. Escape was impossible.
Under the guidance of the old slaves, they quickly adapted to life in the Green Sparrow Tribe.
In the fields, watching the new slaves hoeing the leveled land under supervision, Shang and the residents smiled.
They had vowed to have these captives work the tribe’s fields, and their plan had succeeded.
At the gate, the shaman, watching Eldest Senior Brother’s victorious return, beamed with pride.
He was especially pleased to learn that, due to the tribe’s strategies, only a few participants were lightly injured, with no fatalities.
Seeing the captured slaves brought back, the shaman’s joy rivaled Han Cheng’s first success in retrieving Deer Lord and others from Salt Mountain.
“Good! Well done!”
He praised the returning warriors loudly, while the main tribe looked on with admiration.
Guided by Han Cheng, the tribe highly respected defenders and warriors.
Many minors in the tribe gazed at the returning heroes with bright eyes, inspired by courage, skill, and honor. Seeds of aspiration were planted, some already beginning to grow.
For the captured Grass Tribe leader and others, their shock had only deepened.
During the return journey, they had seen spacious, comfortable caves—more than they had imagined.
They assumed these were permanent homes, but were moved on after a single night.
Finally, they beheld a scene that left a lifelong impression.
Before seeing this new cave, they thought the Copper Mountain settlement was the largest and most impressive.
Now, the Grass Tribe leader realized how wrong she had been.
The cave exceeded all her prior conceptions, leaving her speechless.
In this overwhelming astonishment, she thought: “We were defeated, and yet, it is not a loss at all.”