I am a Primitive Man
Chapter 907: The Qinling Branch Tribe
The autumn wind continued to blow, and from time to time, yellow or red leaves fell from the branches.
Around the caves of the One-Eyed Tribe, where the female primitive lived, people were still scattered, gathering fruit and fishing.
This was the second day after Second Senior Brother and Third Senior Brother had left this place and headed for the Nose-Ring and Ear-Ring tribes.
The women of the One-Eyed Tribe who had already joined the Green Sparrow Tribe, along with the remaining survivors, were also gathering fruit here.
Having lived in this area for a long time, they were far more familiar than anyone else with where fruit grew nearby.
It was precisely because of their guidance that everyone had been able to gather so much fruit during this time.
These female primitives were still citizens of the Green Sparrow Tribe. They had not been classified as slaves by Han Cheng simply because he had dug up old scores regarding what their former chief had done.
On the one hand, that incident had already happened some time ago, and strictly speaking, it had occurred because Han Cheng’s people had entered the other party’s territory. In the end, their chief and some others died. Moreover, that incident was the very reason their tribe had reached its current state, while the Green Sparrow Tribe had suffered no real losses.
On the other hand, only twenty-one of them remained, all women. Apart from the female primitive whom Han Cheng had named “Yu,” who had a child, not a single other minor had survived.
Under such circumstances, these female primitives could very easily integrate into a new tribe.
After all, they had nothing left to cling to. Other than joining a tribe that appeared stronger and kinder—this tribe—there was no other path for them.
Han Cheng picked up a mountain fruit that was not fully ripe, rinsed it with water, and took a bite. The sourness made him squint his eyes.
Adhering to the principle of not wasting food, he squinted and forced himself to eat the remaining half, spat out the pit, then turned around and cast his gaze southward.
The weather was clear, and the view was wide open. Standing here, one only needed to lift their eyes to see the great mountains to the south.
Autumn had truly arrived. Looking out, all one could see was a vast expanse of red mountains, forests layered and fully dyed in color.
The multicolored mountain ranges were stunning.
Yet Han Cheng had little interest in appreciating the scenery, because his thoughts had once again drifted to Jincheng and the rice growing around it.
Even having traveled the route once and being familiar with the path, it would still take about twenty days to set out from here, cross these Qinling-like mountain ranges, and reach Jincheng.
No wonder he felt anxious. This southward journey was already a bit late, and every extra moment spent here meant that birds might eat more of the precious rice.
After mulling over this with growing unease, Han Cheng looked at the endless mountains blocking the way, and a bold idea suddenly arose in his mind.
His gaze moved back and forth between where he stood and the mountains. The more he looked, the more feasible this bold idea seemed.
The idea itself was simple: to build a branch tribe near the mountain entrance.
This thought arose because Jincheng was too far from the Green Sparrow main tribe.
The distance between the two was enormous.
Leaving aside everything else, just the lack of fixed food supplies along the way was already painful enough.
If food were no longer a concern, their journey would surely be much faster, and the development of Jincheng would also proceed far more quickly.
At the same time, having such a branch tribe would greatly strengthen the connection between the main tribe and Jincheng, binding them more tightly together, like parts of a single whole.
As for the main tribe and the Copper Mountain settlement in the north, unless the climate became unbearably harsh, Han Cheng would not abandon these two places and move everyone south to Jincheng.
This was not only because the main tribe was where the Green Sparrow Tribe had risen, and enormous effort had been invested in both places, but more importantly, the main tribe had a salt mountain, and the Copper Mountain settlement had copper ore.
Both copper and salt were critical resources for the tribe—indispensable salt.
With these two mineral resources present, neither the main tribe nor the Copper Mountain settlement could be abandoned.
Before anything capable of replacing these two mineral sources was found in the south, there was no way they could be wholly given up.
Even if winters became colder and longer, making it impossible for people to live there year-round, once the weather warmed, Han Cheng would still send people back to develop those resources.
Thus, building a branch tribe here was truly necessary.
It did not need to be very large—only strong enough to resist attacks from other tribes and capable of self-defense.
It would also need to open up farmland, producing enough grain to feed its residents and to provide food for travelers to eat and carry.
With such a branch tribe, the connection between the main tribe and the branch would become much closer.
Everything would become more convenient.
After thinking through all this, the anxiety and frustration in Han Cheng’s heart instantly settled into a calm clarity, giving him a sudden sense of insight.
After repeatedly and carefully reviewing the idea in his mind, his resolve only grew firmer.
He withdrew his gaze from the not-too-distant mountains and turned it toward the people laboring in this area.
When they first set out from the tribe, Han Cheng had brought forty adult citizens, sixty adult slaves, and twenty minors already capable of working.
This was the workforce he had prepared for building Jincheng.
Now, because of this unexpected turn of events, the entire group had suddenly grown much larger.
From the One-Eyed Tribe, they had gained twenty-one people, including the female primitive and the infant in her arms.
From the Nose-Ring and Ear-Ring tribes, they had gained a total of sixty-three adults.
This was even before Second Senior Brother and Third Senior Brother had returned. If the two of them came back leading people, the number gained from the Nose-Ring and Ear-Ring tribes could easily exceed one hundred.
Adding the twenty-one women from the One-Eyed Tribe, the number of people would surpass the original size of their expedition.
With so many people, perhaps there was no need to bring everyone south. Some could be left behind to begin building a new branch tribe here directly.
With more than two hundred people, it would be entirely possible to construct two branch tribes at the same time—
Especially since one of them only needed to be relatively small.
Thinking this through again and again, Han Cheng’s mood grew increasingly cheerful.
And when he was cheerful, someone else became unhappy—such as the Nose-Ring Tribe’s chief, who had one leg wrapped.
The reason for his unhappiness was that the divine tribe’s chief, who had been staring south at the mountains for a long time, had taken off and thrown away the nose ring he had worn for many years, a symbol of bravery.
Not only his, but every person in his tribe who wore a nose ring had their beautiful rings removed and thrown into the fire to be burned.
Moreover, the divine tribe’s chief, through that dark-skinned man who was very good at communicating, told them that they were no longer allowed to wear nose rings in the future.
Because nose rings looked ugly.
If this had happened in the past, whoever dared do such a thing—even if he had one lame leg—the Nose-Ring Tribe’s chief would still have leapt up and fought to the death.
But now, things were different.
The one doing this was the chief of the divine tribe—the man who could command thunder, the one whom everyone in the divine tribe treated with utmost respect.
If such a person removed his nose ring, then so be it.
And his unhappiness did not last very long.
After having his nose ring removed, he carefully observed the people of the divine tribe, then recalled the message that wearing nose rings was ugly.
After pondering it for a while and then comparing it to how his own people looked with nose rings, he realized that they really did not look outstanding.
Once this thought took root, he increasingly came to feel that nose rings were ugly.
He even began to feel a sense of inferiority about the hole left in his nose by the ring.
In the days that followed, he would often, consciously or unconsciously, cover the hole in his nose with his hand.
This was a common psychological state among the conquered.
They would unconsciously admire many things about the conquerors and deny everything about themselves.
Seeing the Nose-Ring Tribe’s chief and some of his people without their nose rings, Han Cheng immediately found them more pleasing to the eye.
Partly this was because his inherent aesthetic tastes could not appreciate such adornments, and partly because he wanted to save future generations some unnecessary expenses.
As civilization advanced and humanity progressed, forming partnerships would no longer be like now, where simply being strong was enough for a man to attract countless female primitives and become the most dazzling presence at celebratory gatherings.
Later on, physical strength would become less critical.
When choosing a partner, women would place more emphasis on other qualities.
And men, to marry and form a family, would need to display as many material resources as possible.
Leaving aside houses and vehicles, just wedding jewelry alone would require a great deal of effort.
Gold earrings, gold rings, gold necklaces, gold bracelets…
If Han Cheng did not nip the habit of wearing nose rings in the bud, who knew—when things developed further, people might need not only the complete set of four, but also an extra gold nose ring or even a diamond nose ring.
That would be far too cruel for future people—especially future men.
So it was better to put an end to such bad habits early.
After carrying out a small reform of customs among these people, Han Cheng did not idle away. Instead, he took Mao, the female primitive holding a child, and several others, and left this place, heading toward the majestic mountains to the south.
He wanted to take advantage of the time before Second Senior Brother and Third Senior Brother returned to thoroughly survey the area and determine the site for the branch tribe.
That way, once the two returned, he would only need to give additional instructions, reassign personnel, and leave part of the group behind, leading the rest onward to Jincheng—without wasting more time here.
Time slowly passed amid this exploration. By noon on the third day, Second Senior Brother returned to the One-Eyed Tribe’s location with his group.
By evening, Third Senior Brother also returned with his people.
Their trip had gone very smoothly. They encountered no difficulties, and both the guides and those remaining in the tribes were extremely cooperative—perhaps “submissive” was the right word.
The guides had been frightened by their own imagined idea of the “divine tribe.” When those who returned explained it this way, the rest were also led astray and firmly believed these people truly came from a divine tribe.
Many ghost stories spread in just this way.
Han Cheng himself had experienced something similar.
When he was young, a child from his village, the same age as him, fell into a toilet pit at school one day.
Back then, rural schools were poorly built. Classrooms were rows of tiled houses, and toilets were nothing more than open pits.
The commotion was something else.
That kid was clever—knowing it was embarrassing, he insisted that a ghost had grabbed his leg and dragged him down, not that he had fallen in himself.
The story became even more sensational. After that, Han Cheng and the others always went to the toilet in groups, hurried through it, and ran off immediately.
It wasn’t until middle school that the kid finally told him the truth.
Yet even after returning to the elementary school in high school, they could still hear the legend of a ghost in the toilet who had once dragged a child into the pit…
Back to the matter at hand.
Learning that everything had gone smoothly, Han Cheng smiled.
And there was another reason for his smile: this time, Second Senior Brother had brought back fifty-four people.
Young and old alike—though there were all ages among them, they were all people. Even the infants in arms would be able to contribute to the tribe in a few years.
Thus, because of a single accident, Han Cheng’s group had gained a total of one hundred and thirty-eight people—an extraordinarily unexpected harvest.
After initially settling matters here, Han Cheng began telling the two of them about his plan to establish a new branch tribe nearby…
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