The Survival of the Wild Tribe

45

The first snow arrived later than Luo Zhen had anticipated. After gathering wild fruits, everyone once again dedicated themselves to house construction. However, due to time constraints and issues arising from expanding the house, the final structure would likely only consist of two rooms at most.

Luo Zhen conceived the house idea, and Lu Zhan led them to their current living spot. Therefore, when the last house was completed before winter, the best one would be allocated. If there were two individuals living alone, or some others were alone, they would still need to share living quarters.

After the first snowfall, continuing construction wasn't feasible. Their tools were too rudimentary, and digging through the frozen ground required considerable effort. With snow all around, it became challenging to rebuild the mud walls. Therefore, they had to abandon construction for the time being.

During this period, some warriors ventured nearby to seek out any remaining prey, while ordinary people and half-orcs learned clothing and shoe making with Granny, or furniture and bone crafting with Black Cliff.

Every day, a group of children followed Ah Cao to find non-yellowing wild grass to feed the animals in the enclosure. Although Luo Zhen had moved the two cuckoo birds to their new home, Ah Shui still tended to them. Now, they had resumed laying eggs every few days, and the wooden bowl used to collect bird eggs at home was already more than half full.

The children knew that when the wooden bowls were filled, Luo Zhen would make steamed eggs for them. Consequently, they selected the finest forage for the cuckoo birds, hoping for them to lay eggs soon. However, Luo Zhen did not inform them of his intention to see if the cuckoos could hatch a bird in the room warmed by the fire.

"Luo Zhen, Luo Zhen."

As the animal skin blanket was lifted, the draft, despite the nearby fire, still made Luo Zhen shiver. He opened his eyes groggily and saw Lu Zhan mysteriously handing him clothes.

"What's wrong?" Luo Zhen's tone retained traces of sleepiness from being awakened. Last night, he had expended much wood in an attempt to craft a bow and arrow from his memory. Consequently, his hands still felt sore and weak; he just wanted to sleep and forget the discomfort.

"I'll show you something good." Sensing the other party about to fall asleep again, Lu Zhan lifted him, grabbed the clothes, and dressed him. Since Granny had provided everyone with a set of clothes, Lu Zhan had become proficient in dressing himself. However, since he hadn't dressed others, his actions lacked finesse.

"What good thing?" Luo Zhen was becoming more alert, and the chilly wind made him sneeze. Rubbing his nose, he scrunched his face. "What's that smell?"

Lu Zhan froze momentarily, then raised his arm to sniff. "Really?"

"Yes." As if to confirm, Luo Zhen leaned closer to Lu Zhan, sniffing a few times. "Definitely. And it's somewhat familiar, like I've smelled it before, but I can't remember where."

"Don't worry about it, hurry up. We might miss it if we're late." Lu Zhan draped the final animal skin coat over Luo Zhen, hoisted him onto his shoulders, and opened the door to leave.

Luo Zhen was taken aback by this sudden inverted position. Lu Zhan's shoulder pressed into his stomach, making him uncomfortable. Annoyed, he punched Lu Zhan's back. "What are you doing? Put me down. If you keep carrying me like this, I'll throw up on you when I get down."

Upon hearing this, Lu Zhan quickly changed his approach. Not pausing, he switched to carrying Luo Zhen piggyback style. Startled by the sudden 180-degree rotation, Luo Zhen nearly jumped off, fearing Lu Zhan might break his neck if he fell.