The Survival of the Wild Tribe

144

It took a while, but when Luo Zhen called for a halt, both Heiyuan and the onlookers breathed a collective sigh of relief. Without the protective barrier of flame, Heiyuan nearly scalded himself with the grayish-white mud bowl that had completely changed color in his hands. Hastily setting it aside, he blew on his hands, but despite maintaining the flames for so long, Heiyuan's hands showed no signs of burns.

The burnt clay bowl had a dull sound when tapped, indicating it had turned into pottery rather than porcelain. Porcelain was harder and more refined, which was Luo Zhen's original goal. However, Heiyuan's flame temperature fell short. Perhaps they could build a kiln for calcination in the summer to achieve the desired outcome.

Luo Zhen explained that Heiyuan had tried to evenly spread the flames on the mud bowl's surface, but it was clear Heiyuan lacked experience in such meticulous work. Additionally, there may have been issues with the soil preparation or kneading process. Several cracks marred the fired pottery's surface, disappointing Luo Zhen.

"Zhenzhen, did we mess up?" Heiyuan wiped sweat from his brow, peering at the pottery alongside Luo Zhen.

Others gathered around, inspecting the pottery. "It feels more like stone," someone remarked.

"It's thinner though."

"Is this what the great witch meant by ceramics? Turning into stone when fired?"

The group murmured amongst themselves. Dissatisfied, Luo Zhen decided to rework the flawed pottery rather than continue with Heiyuan's burning. With a heavy heart, he took the imperfect pieces and began anew.

This time, Luo Zhen crafted rectangular tiles instead of bowls, each with a slight bulge in the middle to facilitate rain runoff.

Once the raw tiles dried, Luo Zhen enlisted Heiyuan's help again. This time, they built a simple clay kiln to retain heat during Heiyuan's flame-burning.

Heiyuan squatted by the mouth of the kiln, conjuring an orange flame from his fingertips. The heat filled the kiln, and even bystanders could feel its intensity.

Luo Zhen's decision to prioritize tile firing was influenced by the house they were building. The current mud-brick houses relied on makeshift roofs constructed from tree saplings and mud paste. These roofs were heavy and prone to collapse, especially under heavy snowfall.

Learning of Luo Zhen's plans to use the tiles for house construction, Heiyuan approached the task with renewed seriousness. With their combined efforts, the tile firing proved more successful than the pottery, producing some of the best pottery the wild world had seen.

To prevent the tiles from cracking easily, Luo Zhen made them slightly thicker, but he was still very pleased with the hardness of these terracotta tiles. However, seeing Heiyuan lying on the ground, exhausted, Luo Zhen felt a pang of sadness.

"When summer arrives, let's build a special kiln for pottery," Luo Zhen said, smiling as he ran his hand over the tiles' slightly rough surface.

"Can these be used for roofing?" Heiyuan asked, inspecting a tile. Its gray-white color and stacked appearance resembled fish scales. "Alu would love these."

"Absolutely, but we'll need a lot more if we want to cover the entire roof," Luo Zhen replied.

"Do you like them?" Lu Zhan interjected.

"If it's pottery, then yes. It's very practical. I'll think about what else we can fire," Luo Zhen replied excitedly, although he was originally just testing the river mud's viability for pottery making. He didn't want to waste wood during the cold winter months.

Despite Luo Zhen's conservation efforts, Heiyuan, who could conjure fire at will, didn't see the issue. He eagerly assisted Luo Zhen with the tile-making process, only pausing to learn the technique himself.