Chronicles of Primitive Civilization’s Growth

Chapter 22: Tree Tribe

The Wooden Bucket that had fallen to the ground was large, about the same size as the small water jar Luo Chong had made himself. It was crafted from an entire section of a log, by lighting a fire in the center of a solid tree stump and burning out a space inside. Ingenious, indeed.

Judging by the situation, the two women who had been there earlier must have come to fetch water. Now they had abandoned the wooden bucket and fled, likely to return soon with more people.

Luo Chong had no choice but to arm himself first. There was no time to worry about being wet. He donned his robe and leather boots, slung his quiver and longbow over his back, and began stowing away the gear in his backpack. He also repaired the broken shoulder strap. Depending on the situation, even if he couldn’t fight them off, he would make sure to flee with the most important items.

As Luo Chong sat by the river, starting a fire and skinning fish, a dense sound of footsteps came from the distant forest, followed by a group carrying torches.

Among them were the two women who had come to fetch water earlier. The group consisted of exactly ten people—four men and six women. They wore white animal skin robes, went barefoot, had long hair cascading down their backs, and their skin was pale, almost as if powdered with frost.

The leader of the group was a young man around sixteen or seventeen years old. He had a fair complexion, no facial hair, a robust build, and held a branch of Black Iron Tree as his weapon.

The group formed a semicircle around Luo Chong. They looked at the large fish behind him with astonishment. The scene was quiet; neither side spoke, leaving only the crackling sound of the burning torches.

They were also observing Luo Chong—a child with tied-back hair, wearing boots, and carrying a backpack.

The man locked eyes with Luo Chong and pointed at the wooden bucket nearby.

“Ah, so you want the wooden bucket? Why didn’t you say so earlier? Made me panic for nothing.”

Luo Chong rolled his eyes in exasperation and used his spear to lift the wooden bucket, offering it to the group’s leader while keeping his front facing them.

The leader took the wooden bucket and handed it to a youth with a peculiar hairstyle. This youth slowly walked around Luo Chong to fetch water.

“@#￥%……&*……%》” The leader muttered something incomprehensible and then pointed at the large fish behind Luo Chong.

This foreign language was hard to understand, but since he was pointing at the fish, Luo Chong decided to just give it to them. After all, it was too big for him to eat alone anyway.

Luo Chong shifted slightly, allowing access to the fish. Suddenly, the whole group rushed forward, striking the large fish violently. Some of the women even cried out loud.

The leading man smiled, pounding his chest with his fists before extending his hand toward Luo Chong.

What does this mean? A duel?

Confused, Luo Chong hesitated but eventually tapped his fist against the other’s. Seeing the man smile warmly, Luo Chong guessed it wasn’t meant to be a fight. The man laughed heartily, embraced Luo Chong warmly, and started chatting and gesturing enthusiastically despite the language barrier.

Even without a common language, eye contact, expressions, and body language allowed some communication.

Luo Chong told them he came from across the river and pointed at his clothes, indicating he was searching for animals with horns on their heads.

The man nodded in understanding and informed Luo Chong that many members of their tribe had been eaten by this fish in the past. They thanked him for killing the monster and extended an invitation for Luo Chong to visit their tribe.

Thinking it was already evening, Luo Chong agreed. The distance between his tribe and theirs was only half a day’s journey, so it was worth learning more. If they had any special goods, future trade might be possible.

Luo Chong gestured for them to carry the fish, explaining it was edible. The tribe was surprised, as they had always been preyed upon by fish rather than eating them.

Since the fish was too large, it had to be butchered and divided before being carried away. Luo Chong continued working, slicing through the silvery fish skin which measured four meters in length and three and a half meters in width. It was smooth, elastic, waterproof, and needed to be preserved carefully. The internal organs were discarded except for the swim bladder, though Luo Chong surprisingly found a lung inside.

“Damn, it’s a lungfish! Supposedly, these creatures can survive buried in the soil for half a year during droughts.”

The cleaned lungfish was cut into several large pieces and carried away. Luo Chong carried the fish head on his spear and followed them back to their settlement.

Their settlement was nestled deep within the woods. It took less than ten minutes to reach a massive treehouse encircling seven or eight Black Iron Trees. Only one tree hollow served as the entrance. The interior space was not very large, approximately 100 square meters, with a central hearth.

They had also carved smaller hollows into these trees to serve as rooms. The spaces were modest but sufficient for their needs due to their small population. Including the leader and infants, there were only thirty-two members in total.

This tree-dwelling tribe was named the Tree Tribe by Luo Chong. Among the adults, there were five men, including a nearly deceased elder, the strong leader Da Shu, a sturdy but short man named Tree Stump, a youth with an eccentric hairstyle named Mu Zhu who was responsible for burning the wooden buckets (though he accidentally burned his own hair), and a simple, honest man named Mu Zhu.

There were nine adult women, eleven youths above six years old, and seven children below six. Truly a sparse population.

Living in the dark forest all their lives, their skin was very pale, though they rarely basked in the sun, it didn’t mean they were unaware of the outside world.

The frail Tree Elder led Luo Chong and Da Shu up to a lookout platform, which was essentially the roof of the giant treehouse woven from tree branches. The platform stood higher than the surrounding black forest, providing a view of distant places.

The elder’s eyes were slightly cloudy, unable to see far. He squinted toward the direction of the sunset and then pointed eastward, muttering something under his breath.

Da Shu was trying hard to translate for the elder.

“From that direction, beyond the Black Forest, there is a mountain resembling clouds in the sky.” Da Shu translated while pointing to the fiery clouds in the sky.

“The previous elder told me that on that mountain, there are horned animals as tall as humans.” Da Shu mimicked antlers on his head and then indicated his height.

“These animals run as fast as the wind, with fur the color of the sky. No one has ever managed to catch them.”

Luo Chong watched Da Shu gesticulate, guessing roughly what he meant and thought inwardly that catching such creatures would be impossible. With two sharp horns, blue-gray fur, and a stature matching humans, these must be large antelopes. Even leopards might struggle to capture them. Traps would definitely be necessary.

Though Luo Chong appeared confident, neither Da Shu nor the Tree Elder held much hope for him. Once the elder stopped speaking, Da Shu recommended his tribe’s clothing to Luo Chong.

It was then Luo Chong noticed that everyone in the Tree Tribe wore the same type of animal skin clothes. According to Da Shu, these were made from the fur of rabbits over half a meter long, completely white, which fed on moss and mushrooms in the forest. There were plenty of them in the Black Forest.

Luo Chong’s eyes lit up. Rabbits were valuable! Knowing rabbits reproduced like rodents, often birthing litters of five or more, reaching sexual maturity within four months, and producing a new litter every two months on average, he contemplated domesticating them.

A pair of adult rabbits could produce six litters in a year, averaging five offspring per litter, totaling thirty rabbits. If the offspring began mating at six months, their numbers would grow exponentially.

Hmm, if he could bring back two pairs of adult rabbits, they could multiply into hundreds within a year. Luo Chong fantasized about raising rabbits, drooling at the thought.