All The Furry Creatures In The Beast World Are Farming With Me – CH21

Chapter 21

The other members also knew the young wolves’ secret. They simply had not interfered. After all, the sub-adult team had quite a lot of people, and the Black Wolf Tribe was the largest tribe nearby, so the chance of danger was very low. As for low-probability incidents, they did not care at all. If they encountered one, then they could just fight.

If they could not return alive, that proved this batch of sub-adults was too weak.

It was not that they were heartless. Every generation of sub-adults had grown up this way.

During the sub-adult stage, beastmen’s physiques changed very obviously, but their thinking did not switch back from cubhood as quickly. Their temperaments were unpredictable. Some were relatively steady, while others were so mischievous that even their parents had headaches. Because of this, young wolves at this age were extremely difficult to manage.

Forcibly interfering with the behavior of sub-adults might have the opposite effect. In any case, the Beast God Continent was already full of danger everywhere. If the sub-adults insisted on taking risks, the adult wolves would not stop them.

Young wolves always had to suffer a little before they grew up.

At this moment, the young wolves had indeed suffered a little. It was just different from what the adults had imagined beforehand.

After watching for a while, the adult wolves’ gazes gradually shifted to the back baskets behind the sub-adults.

Lang Yong, the leader, was very sharp at this moment. Sensing that something was wrong, he immediately shifted slightly, wanting to block the back baskets behind him.

Every day when they returned to the tribe before, the young wolves had remembered to hide the back baskets given by the Snow Wolf Tribe behind the mountain. Today, their mood was bad, causing their already insufficient brains to become even more insufficient.

As soon as they thought that the Snow Wolf Tribe would no longer supply them with food in the future, the sub-adult black wolves felt there was no hope in their future lives. They completely forgot about hiding the back baskets and brought them back directly. Now, seeing all the tribe members looking at them, and with Lang Yong’s reminder, the group of sub-adults finally remembered to act.

However, it was already too late. Most of the members had seen the back baskets. Their tribe had one of this kind of thing, brought over last time when the Snow Wolf Tribe sent food. Because there was only one, it was used only to hold salt. It was more convenient than animal hides.

Now, seeing so many at once, quite a few wolves, including the sub-adults’ parents, felt their claws itch.

If they had such good things, why had they not taken them out earlier?

Like most tribes, the Black Wolf Tribe did not have large containers. The tools they used more often were animal hides.

When animal hides were used to hold fruits and other food, it was still fine. They only needed to tie several corners together. But when holding highly mobile items like salt, it became troublesome.

Part of the tribe’s salt was directly distributed to the members, while half was managed by the tribe collectively. Every time they returned from the market and sorted supplies, salt was the most headache-inducing thing. Often, one corner would be tied properly, only for another corner to leak. It needed to be wrapped tightly in layers inside and out. But once it was wrapped too tightly, it became inconvenient to use.

The back basket the sub-adults had brought back a few days ago had been extremely useful. The member responsible for managing the tribe’s supplies had washed the back basket clean, lined it with an animal hide, and placed all the salt inside. From then on, whenever they needed to use it, they only had to open the animal hide at the top. They no longer had to worry about salt scattering everywhere.

Even though the Black Wolf Tribe had sufficient food and enough to exchange for salt, they still used salt very sparingly. The road to the market was full of danger. If they could go one time fewer, they would go one time fewer.

Everyone used one back basket with great care, afraid of damaging it. Yet this group of sub-adults had so many and had been hiding them away.

The sub-adults only felt that these adult wolves had all taken a fancy to their food, so they guarded it even more tightly.

They only had this little bit left. There would be no new food in the future. They absolutely could not let the adult wolves snatch it away.

Lang Yan looked at the reactions on both sides and silently sighed. Then he said, “Take the meat back to your caves. Bring the back baskets out.”

Hearing that the chief only wanted the back baskets, the sub-adults reacted quickly. They abandoned the two prey animals and returned to the cave to put away the roasted meat.

After Lang Yan got the back baskets, he asked, “Are there any more?”

Since the Snow Wolf Tribe’s young wolves were no longer roasting meat for them, hiding the back baskets was useless.

As expected, Lang Yong walked toward the back mountain. Before long, he took out two back baskets, both given by Lang Nuo and the others.

Lang Yan took them and handed them to a member beside him, who carried them away to wash.

Containers that had held meat had to be washed. Otherwise, after a long time, they would give off an unpleasant smell.

Lang Shuo, who was busy stockpiling food, had no idea that the back baskets woven by their tribe had become scarce goods.

The Snow Wolf Tribe members’ weaving skills had been getting better and better. The later ones were woven more firmly. As for the earlier ones that were not very easy to use, there had never been a specific count. When the young wolves took them out and did not bring them back, Lang Shuo and Lang Yun both thought they had been lost. After all, the young wolves’ style of doing things carried a bit of instability, so they did not care much. In any case, the tribe still had many.

Woven items like back baskets and large baskets could be made by most members of the tribe. The gathering team and hunting party would also weave for a while after returning at night. They truly did not lack them.

After the jerky that had been dried over the past few days was all steamed, it could be eaten once it was placed on baskets to dry out the moisture. The texture was a little different from roasted jerky, with less of a smoky flavor. Both types were delicious. However, steaming was more convenient. Several layers could be steamed at once, while roasting was more troublesome and required constant watching. Therefore, aside from the portion they had been in a hurry to eat and roasted a few days ago, the rest was all steamed.

This jerky was not all distributed. Every time a batch finished drying, some would be kept. The weather later would become colder and colder, and it would be impossible for every day to be suitable for drying. The food they stocked up was meant to help them through the later part of the snow season.

In Lang Shuo’s memory, in the later period of the snow season, everyone would try their best to hide in the cave and not come out, including the strongest hunting party in the tribe. The temperature during that period was even lower than the temperature in the modern north. Even with their extremely warm fur, beastmen could not move freely in that kind of weather. In order to preserve strength, all beastmen would reduce activity as much as possible.

However, there were some things they had no choice but to do, such as preparing food. Lighting fires inside the cave could raise the temperature, but it made people uncomfortable. Therefore, even if the beastmen did not understand too many principles, they would not light too many fires inside the cave. When eating, they still had to go outside.

The weather was cold, and there was wind. Even with a fire beside them, they still could not feel warmth on their bodies. Every time they prepared food, the members watching the fires needed half a day to recover afterward.

So Lang Shuo planned to take advantage of the fact that the weather was not yet that cold and make more cooked food. When it became truly cold, they could eat after simply heating it up, saving time.

Aside from food, Lang Shuo also wanted to alter the cave’s structure. Right now, aside from the stone pillars acting as support columns, there were no partitions inside the cave they lived in. The space was very large. Even after all the tribe members lived inside, there was still room left over.

He wanted to build a stove inside the cave and have the chimney run horizontally through the cave, turning it into a smaller heated earthen bed. If it succeeded, they could cook inside the cave in the future, and the residual heat could provide warmth. The later part of the snow season would not be so difficult to endure.

In truth, it would be even better if the tribe had more stone pots. Unfortunately, beastmen’s claws were not made of iron, and they could not carve stone pots in a short time. In any case, whether or not there were stone pots, the stove and heated bed had to be built. Even if they did not cook and only used it for warmth, that would still be good.

Lang Shuo recalled the way heated earthen beds were built. The first thing they needed to make was mud bricks.

Waiting for mud bricks to dry naturally was too slow. Lang Shuo decided to place them beside the fire to roast dry. Even if they cracked easily, the efficiency was still higher than waiting for them to dry naturally. Besides, even cracked ones were not unusable.

To do this work, the main force was still the tribe’s sub-adults.

Whether hunting or gathering, including processing ingredients in the tribe, sub-adults could not compare to adult wolves. Letting them go out to search for food was only to train them a little and let them become familiar with the environment. In the entire tribe, the cubs and sub-adults had the least pressure and the most free time.

Now that they could not help the Black Wolf Tribe process food, the sub-adults were just idling around with nothing to do. Suddenly hearing that Lang Shuo wanted their help, they ran faster than one another.

Lang Nuo was the first to find Lang Shuo. “Shuo, what is it?”

“Find a place and dig down. Dig out some soil.” They could not dig stone pots, but digging some soil was still possible. Beastmen’s claws were the best tools.

As soon as the young wolves heard this, they immediately agreed. One after another, they transformed into beast form, raised their claws, and were about to start digging.

“Wait!” Lang Shuo hurriedly stopped their claws, which were about to swing down. “Go over there. We still need to walk here.”

This road was the one the sub-adults liked walking on most. He really did not know who they were trying to trap.

Hearing this, the young wolves walked to a corner and buried their heads in digging. It did not take long for them to dig a pit that reached the knees of an adult beastman.

“Stop for a moment. First move this soil somewhere else.” Lang Shuo discovered that the soil they had dug out was already very fine and had them move the previous soil away first.

The top layer of soil was mixed with too many impurities: grass roots, withered branches and rotten leaves, small stones, and so on. Picking them out bit by bit was too troublesome. The young wolves definitely did not have that patience, and Lang Shuo himself could not finish picking them either. If they did not pick them out, it would affect the final product. Therefore, it was better to discard it directly and use the clean soil underneath that did not have many impurities.

Water was added to the dug-out soil and mixed until it could take shape when beaten with force. Using too much water would make it harder to shape. They placed the moist soil into molds made from wood and repeatedly pounded it. After the soil took shape, it was removed from the mold and carried beside the fire.

Every night was the liveliest time in the tribe. A circle of fires would be lit below the cave, and several mud bricks could be placed beside each fire.

The adult wolves thought the young wolves were playing around again and were just about to say a few words, but when they heard that it was Lang Shuo’s idea, they immediately shut their mouths.

If Lang Shuo said it, then it must be something important. After all, Lang Shuo was different from those unreliable young wolves and would not mess around.

With the foundation of teaching everyone skills and improving recipes during this period, the matter of roasting mud bricks began without any effort at all. After all, mud bricks were only soil. They only needed to pay some attention and be careful not to step on them. There was no need to put in too much thought. It was even simpler than roasting meat.

There were people keeping watch at night. Lang Shuo pointed out the mud bricks that were not quite dry to them and troubled them to help roast them while keeping watch. After all, the sooner they dried completely, the sooner they could build the heated bed.

Lang Shuo prepared a large number of mud bricks. For four days in a row, the first thing the sub-adults did after returning was make mud bricks. On the fifth day, while they were mixing mud, Lang Shuo said, “Add a bit more water.”

“Ah?” The sub-adults were surprised. These past few days, once it reached this degree, they had started pressing the mud bricks. Why did they need to change it today?

“We’re not making mud bricks today,” Lang Shuo explained. “We’ll build two stoves first to practice.”

The cave they lived in was a little higher than the outside. Carrying things required climbing up and down. If they directly started making the heated bed and something went wrong, it would be too troublesome. So he planned to try at the foot of the mountain first. It just so happened that the stone pot also lacked a stove.

The simple stoves the tribe currently built were directly made by stacking stones they picked up from the surrounding area. Because the stones were irregular, these stoves were actually quite dangerous. If they were bumped slightly carelessly, they would collapse. They also leaked wind everywhere. It was still fine when there was no wind, but when the wind blew, Lang Yun had to circle around trying to find a direction where she would not be choked. Using them was practically a nightmare.

Building a stove could both serve as practice and provide a place to set the stone pot. It achieved two things at once. The main point was to see whether the mud bricks they made were qualified. If they were not, then making all of them would be a waste.

This time, Lang Shuo did not let the young wolves do it themselves. He only had them bring the tools over, then slowly built it bit by bit himself.

At the bottom, he first spread a layer of mud, placed the mud bricks on top, and used mud to bind the mud bricks together. After everything was done, he plastered both the inside and outside with mud.

A newly finished stove could not be used immediately. Lang Shuo lit dry grass and slowly dried it. While waiting for the stove to dry, Lang Shuo suddenly remembered something.

Before he transmigrated, he had come across several food bloggers online who made homemade bread ovens. The food baked in those bread ovens seemed pretty good.

They did not have tools like iron wire, iron nets, or iron racks here, but they could try first. Even if it failed, the only things they would lose were some mud bricks and mud. These were the things the tribe lacked least.

Once he decided, he acted. Lang Shuo did not hesitate at all. He had Lang Nuo bring some mixed mud over, then drew a diagram on the ground, marking several important locations according to his memory.

A bread oven was not suitable for being placed directly on the ground, because later, they would need to check the fire and place or remove ingredients. If it was too low, a person would have to lie on their stomach the entire time. It was truly inconvenient.

Lang Shuo looked around and finally fixed his gaze on a raised area beside the cave.

This place was relatively out of the way. Normally, everyone did not walk here. At this moment, only a layer of snow covered it. The protruding area was about half a person tall. If they built the bread oven on top of it, it would be very convenient for roasting meat and other ingredients.

It was just that building at this height would be a little difficult for him. Although his leg injury no longer hurt, he still could not stand for long periods. Lang Shuo’s gaze wandered over the young wolves, wanting to choose someone reliable from among them.

The young wolves did not know what Lang Shuo wanted to do, but they consciously sat up straight.

Lang Shuo looked over them one by one. Thinking about their usual style of doing things, he finally chose the helper.

“Brother, come help.”

Lang Yu had returned a little late today. When Lang Shuo was building the stove just now, he had been eating, but he had been watching this side the whole time. Now that he had finished eating, he heard the call and walked over.

“What do you need help with?” Lang Yu looked at the stove that was being dried. Was this one not enough?

“Let’s go over there.” Lang Shuo pointed at the protruding area outside the cave.

After reaching the place, Lang Shuo first found a higher spot and sat down. This way, he could both rest and observe the progress of the bread oven, making it convenient to guide them.

The bottom of a bread oven needed to be paved with bricks, which helped preserve heat. They were using mud bricks, and Lang Shuo did not know how good their heat preservation effect would be, so he had Lang Yu lay two layers.

After the bottom was paved, they began building the main body. The bread oven was arched, so it needed something inside to support it. Lang Shuo chose a large carrying basket with a broken handle. He snapped off the broken handle, placed the basket upside down in the middle of the base, and then stacked mud bricks upward along the carrying basket.

Overall, it was about the same as making the stove. However, making the arch took some time. After all, they had to close the top together. If it cracked open, that meant failure.

Lang Yu’s hands were very steady. He placed the bricks one by one. After finishing, he smoothed the surface and asked Lang Shuo, “Do we need to smooth the inside too?”

Lang Shuo said, “Not for now. The carrying basket is still inside.”

The sub-adults, who were watching intently, heard this and looked at the door, which was not even half the size of the basket. Curious, they asked, “Shuo, how do we take the carrying basket inside out?”

“We don’t take it out,” Lang Shuo explained. “Later, go get branches. When we light the fire and dry it, the carrying basket will burn.”

In any case, it was just an ordinary carrying basket. The only difference was that it was a little bigger. Their tribe had many.

Lang Nuo understood and did not keep asking.

Drying the stove and bread oven was the first test of patience. The fire could not be too large. If it was too large, they would crack easily. But the fire could not go out either, or they would not dry today.

This task was even less suitable for the young wolves. Lang Shuo glanced at the sky and drove them off to sleep. The sub-adults went out every day and had to maintain enough sleep, so they would not feel sleepy during the day.

However, the young wolves were at the age of abundant energy. How could they sleep? They insisted on staying to watch.

Lang Shuo extended one hand and waved it in front of the young wolves. “Today is the fifth day. Even if I roast food, you still can’t eat it.”

The young wolves seemed to be struck by lightning.

These past few days, they had only cared about making mud bricks and had completely forgotten that they were still being punished.

Lang Shuo was only urging them; he would not really roast anything today. He said, “All right. Hurry and sleep. Things will only start roasting tomorrow afternoon. Set off earlier tomorrow and come back earlier.”

The young wolves obediently returned to the cave. Lang Shuo also did not stay outside too long. He handed the bread oven over to an adult wolf. As for the stove, it had been drying since it was made and was almost done now. They could try using it tomorrow.

The next day, before setting off, the young wolves first went to inspect the bread oven. They sniffed it inside and out, confirming that there was no food smell before leaving.

Lang Shuo woke a little later than them. As soon as he woke, he heard Lang Yun talk about what the young wolves had done that morning, and he immediately did not know whether to laugh or cry.

After eating a simple breakfast, Lang Shuo examined the two finished products from yesterday. There were some small cracks. Although they would not affect anything, Lang Shuo still smeared them over with wet mud, then considered what to make today.

Lang Yun was watching the stone pot, so he did not need to worry about that. Lang Shuo mainly pondered the bread oven.

Although the bread oven carried the word “bread,” it could roast many kinds of food. It did not have to be bread. As for the tribe’s food, meat still took a far lead. Aside from meat, there were only the few small prey animals in the cave.

The prey definitely could not be killed casually. They had saved them up with difficulty, and Lang Shuo was still counting on the existing cluck-cluck birds and long-eared beasts to reproduce more.

After thinking for a while, Lang Shuo chose the tribe’s ribs.

The foods beastmen liked eating most were the prey’s internal organs and meat. Internal organs had high calories and replenished more energy, while meat chunks were convenient and could be eaten directly after cooking.

Bones were different. Beastmen had no patience. Slowly gnawing meat off bones would only make them angrier the more they gnawed. Therefore, when distributing food in the tribe, they first divided the pure meat and internal organs. The parts with bones, as well as the prey’s hooves, tails, ears, and so on, were eaten later.

The hunting party’s harvest had been decent recently. They had caught several prey animals, and the food storage area had piled up many ribs. There were ribs from curved-horned beasts and long-horned beasts, as well as ribs from the humming beast caught a few days ago.

Lang Shuo had Lang Yun help him bring a few pieces over and place them beside the fire to thaw. Then he asked for some large tree leaves that had wrinkled because of lack of water.

There were few leaves that had not withered in this season. The gathering team had only brought them back two or three times. They could not be eaten, but they were quite good for holding food.

Lang Shuo did not make a complicated dish. The sub-adults had endured for five days, and their appetites tonight could be imagined. Preparing complicated food would only tire him out in the end.

He divided the ribs into individual sections, rubbed them with salt, wrapped them in tree leaves that had spread open after soaking in water, then wrapped a layer of mud around the outside and placed them into the bread oven himself.

The method was similar to making beggar’s chicken, but the mud on the surface was not as thick. Its main purpose was to lock in the moisture inside the food.

The advantage of a bread oven was that it heated up quickly and retained heat for a long time. Unlike an open fire, where all the heat escaped, the bread oven kept the heat inside.

However, because of this advantage, it was not suitable to put in too much firewood. Otherwise, it would easily roast everything into charcoal.

Because this was his first time roasting with it, Lang Shuo could not grasp the time well. He would rather roast for a shorter time than burn it. After not too long, he took out one mud ball while letting the rest continue roasting.

He smashed open the mud ball, and the aroma inside spread out. It was clear that it was already cooked, but it was not soft enough. Eating it took a bit of effort on the teeth.

Lang Shuo tasted a bite, then used a stone knife to shave off the meat on it. The members who had come over to watch the excitement all tasted some.

This roasting method did not make the meat as dry as direct roasting, and compared with stewing soup, it had a bit more flavor. To everyone, it was also a pleasant surprise.

Lang Shuo gave several ribs to the children led by Lang Hui. Children of this age also needed nutrition. A single piece of meat was far from enough.

The young wolves gnawed on the ribs, their gazes still fixed on the bread oven. After they finished gnawing, Lang Shuo smashed open another mud ball.

Just like this, roasting while tasting the flavor, by the fourth one, Lang Shuo was satisfied. The timing was suitable. The ribs inside this mud ball had already separated from the bone. With one stroke of the knife, the meat fell onto the plate.

Lang Shuo recorded the time and shared it with the surrounding tribe members. “If you’re eating it directly, roast it for this long. If you want to let it sit for a while before eating, stop the fire a little earlier.”

The group of members nodded.

Lang Shuo began roasting the second batch. Since he knew the sub-adults would eat a lot tonight, of course he had to prepare in advance to avoid being flustered later.

This time, Lang Shuo controlled the time, making it slightly shorter. After roasting, he directly buried the mud balls in the ground to keep them warm.

By the time the sub-adults returned at dusk, Lang Shuo had already roasted several batches.

The sub-adults moved very quickly. As soon as they entered the tribe, they shouted, “Shuo, we’re back!” While shouting, they showed Lang Shuo their harvest for the day.

One male and one female cluck-cluck bird, and more than ten eggs.

Lang Nuo and the others were much more careful when catching prey now. They were not like Lang Yong, who crushed two-thirds of the prey as soon as he acted. When they saw the cluck-cluck birds, several of them split up and lay in ambush. In the end, one person deliberately frightened them, and while the cluck-cluck birds were panicking, they caught the whole nest.

Lang Shuo was naturally happy to have bird eggs. It was just that the weather was too cold now, so they could not be hatched and could only be eaten. That was a bit wasteful, and Lang Shuo felt regretful in his heart.

However, he did not say these worries aloud. He pointed beside them. “Go wash your hands. After washing, come back and eat meat.”

“Did you roast meat?” Lang Nuo was puzzled. When they entered the tribe, they had not smelled anything.

“It’s already roasted. It’s all here.” Lang Shuo used a wooden stick to draw a circle on the ground. “Dig it out yourselves. It’s a little hot. Use branches to dig and be careful.”

The sub-adults nodded and took branches to start digging.

Not far away, a group of sub-adult black wolves looked at Lang Yong suspiciously. “Is it here? Did you go the wrong way?”

Lang Yong insisted that he had smelled the fragrance here last time, but they had smelled for a long time and there was no scent at all.

“It’s here. It’s definitely not wrong.” Lang Yong vowed confidently. “Maybe they haven’t started eating yet. Let’s wait a little longer. Hide well. Don’t let their chief find us.”

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