Jian Mo missed home.
The Jiu Nian Tribe understood this and worked hard for an entire day, managing to weave part of the cotton fabric Jian Mo needed before nightfall.
The rest of the fabric, along with cloth woven from tree fibers, was promised to be delivered during the upcoming Summer Harvest Festival. Jian Mo readily agreed to the arrangement.
Before leaving, Jian Mo offered a suggestion. “Cotton fabric is soft and comfortable. Once word gets out, people will definitely come to trade for it. By then, your tribe’s cotton pods might not be enough.”
Xin Jun was optimistic. “If we run out, we’ll just trade fewer supplies. Our tribe can still hunt and gather. We don’t rely solely on fabric trades for food.”
Jian Mo waved a hand. “That’s not what I mean. I’m saying you could increase your supply by planting more cotton pods. We’ve gathered a lot of seeds over the past few days. You could plant those in the mountains.”
The Jiu Nian Tribe had no tradition of farming, so Xin Jun asked, “How do we plant them?”
Jian Mo explained, “Find a clearing in the mountains, dig a hole, put two or three seeds inside, and cover it with soil. If you want better survival rates, pour a scoop of water over it. It’s very simple.”
Xin Jun nodded. “Sounds easy enough. Thanks for the suggestion. We’ll give it a try.”
Jian Mo smiled. “It’s nothing. Well, we’ll head back now. Hope to see you at the Summer Harvest Festival.”
As the sun began to set, Jian Mo and Wu Jiong loaded their belongings onto Chirpy and Ying Ao, waved goodbye to the Jiu Nian Tribe, and started flying eastward.
Chirpy and Ying Ao seemed to miss home as well, flapping their wings with extra vigor and flying at high speed.
They traveled until the moon was high in the sky, then found a suitable spot to camp.
Wu Jiong shifted into his beast form and went hunting while Chirpy and Ying Ao stayed to guard Jian Mo. Soon, Wu Jiong returned with game, and the two of them cooked a meal over the fire.
They made a large pot of stew, and after sharing it with the two winged beasts, cleaned up and lay down to sleep in the open.
Jian Mo rested on the giant wolf’s back, with the two winged beasts curled up nearby. The sound of their breathing filled the night, creating a sense of security. Exhausted, Jian Mo stretched out and quickly fell into a deep sleep.
The giant wolf nudged him gently with its snout and covered his stomach with a small fur blanket that had slipped off. Then it closed its eyes and drifted off as well.
With the wolf and the two winged beasts keeping watch, there was no need to worry about predators. Even if danger arose, the wolf and Ying Ao’s alertness would wake them in time, eliminating the need for night shifts.
After spending a peaceful night outdoors, they had some dried meat in the morning and set off early, traveling until evening when they finally returned to the He’an Tribe.
Although it was late, many in the tribe came to visit, curious about any new goods or news Jian Mo had brought back.
Qing Kuo and Min Dang thoughtfully brought over food for both the people and the winged beasts.
As they inspected the goods Jian Mo had brought back, their eyes fell on the rolls of uncolored cloth.
Qing Kuo couldn’t help but ask, “Why are there two different types of fabric?”
Jian Mo explained, “One is made from tree fibers, and the other is cotton fabric. This cotton fabric was something we helped the Jiu Nian Tribe weave. It’s exceptionally soft. If you think it’s suitable, you can trade for some to make clothes for the children or for undergarments.”
Qing Kuo picked up a roll of cloth and immediately identified the cotton fabric. “This must be the cotton fabric, right?”
Jian Mo nodded. “That’s right.”
Qing Kuo marveled, “This fabric is so finely woven. The texture is amazing.”
Jian Mo smiled. “That’s why the Jiu Nian Tribe is known for their textiles.”
Ye Luo, standing nearby, asked, “Why is all of it undyed white cloth?”
Jian Mo replied, “They just finished weaving it these past two days, so they didn’t have time to dye it. Since we can dye it ourselves, I thought I’d bring it back as it is.”
After chatting for a while and seeing how tired Jian Mo and Wu Jiong were, the tribe members let them rest, agreeing to visit the next day to discuss the fabric further.
Jian Mo had no objections.
Both he and Wu Jiong could sew, though their skills were average. If the others were willing to help, it would be a great advantage.
After washing up, Jian Mo lay down on his familiar bed, cuddled up to Wu Jiong, and declared with a nasal tone, “I’m sleeping in tomorrow, no exceptions.”
Wu Jiong retrieved a jar of salve from the bedside table. “If that’s the case, why don’t we stay up a bit later tonight?”
Jian Mo stared at the salve, considered for two seconds, and decisively pounced on Wu Jiong. “I think that’s a great idea!”
At home, with no one to disturb them, Jian Mo felt a comfort that spread through his entire being. Judging by Wu Jiong’s expression, he felt the same.
The two of them stayed up half the night. Wu Jiong, back in his wolf form, carried Jian Mo to a secluded spot to bathe, avoiding the patrols.
While they could bathe at home, hauling and heating water was too much trouble compared to the freedom of the outdoors.
They returned home in the early morning, their fur and hair dried by the cool night breeze, and went straight to bed.
The next day, they slept late.
Tribe members came by several times, but seeing the closed gate, they assumed Jian Mo and Wu Jiong were exhausted and refrained from disturbing them.
Meanwhile, poor Chirpy missed out on its usual grand breakfast and had to settle for berries and grass fed to it by Ying Ao.
When Jian Mo finally got up, he found Chirpy lying in its nest, ears drooping.
“What’s with that look?” Jian Mo asked, ruffling Chirpy’s head. “You don’t seem to be unwell.”
Chirpy remained motionless, only lifting its eyes to glance at Jian Mo, a far cry from its usual affectionate head rubs.
Just as Jian Mo was about to ask more, his sensitive ears caught a faint growling noise from Chirpy’s stomach.
Jian Mo laughed. “You’re hungry, aren’t you?”
Chirpy let out a pitiful “Chirr…”
Amused by its forlorn demeanor, Jian Mo said, “Alright, alright. I’ll make you a cake tonight.”
With plenty of eggs, milk, sugar, and summer berries on hand, Jian Mo could make a berry cake.
Chirpy’s eyes lit up instantly. “Chirp!”
As soon as Jian Mo was up, Qing Kuo and others heard the news and came over.
Seeing him, Qing Kuo looked him over and said, “We thought you’d sleep until the afternoon.”
Jian Mo replied, “Not quite.”
Qing Kuo glanced at him again and suddenly commented, “Your ears seem a bit perkier.”
Jian Mo reached up to touch his ears. “Really?”
After the previous night’s activities, they felt a bit numb, and he wasn’t sure about their current state.
Jian Mo massaged his ears, noticing some swelling but unsure whether they were standing upright or simply swollen.
Hesitating for a moment, he decided to wait until Wu Jiong returned to ask. He couldn’t possibly share this with Qing Kuo and the others—he’d be laughed at endlessly.
To shift the topic, Jian Mo asked, “You’re here to check out the fabric?”
Qing Kuo nodded. “Yes. We’ve got the dyes ready. What colors do you want to use today?”
Jian Mo thought for a moment. “Let’s keep the base white, and I’ll paint some patterns on it. We can use leaf printing to create designs.”
Leaf printing was simple. By pressing leaves onto the fabric to imprint their patterns, then painting over them with dye and letting them dry in the sun, the colors deepened with each layer. After several repetitions, the fabric could be treated with salt water and steamed to set the dye.
Jian Mo suggested, “Let’s make a four-piece set today.”
Ye Luo was curious. “What’s a four-piece set?”
Jian Mo counted on his fingers. “Two pillowcases, one bedsheet, and one quilt cover—that’s what we call a four-piece set. I want to make it with the cotton fabric.”
Since the cotton fabric woven by the Jiu Nian Tribe came in small pieces, the bedsheet and quilt cover would need to be pieced together, requiring excellent stitching skills. Jian Mo and Wu Jiong weren’t particularly adept at sewing.
Everyone agreed and gathered at Jian Mo’s house to help.
Jian Mo served tea, dried fruits, and jerky, planning to treat everyone to dinner and cake in the evening.
A lot of sub-beastmen came to Jian Mo’s house, so he took the opportunity to teach them how to make shoes, hoping they could finish a few pairs together.
In the summer, everyone wore sandals made from animal hide, typically with wooden soles.
Even though wooden-soled shoes were the norm, Jian Mo found them uncomfortable—offering no cushioning and prone to causing blisters.
He taught everyone how to make cloth-soled shoes using tree cloth. By brushing tree cloth with glue, drying it, and layering it together before sewing the layers into soles, the shoes became much more comfortable. The glue could be made easily by boiling flour at home.
Luckily, the sunny weather meant the glue would dry quickly, making the process more efficient.
Surprised by the method, everyone asked, “Won’t the soles rot?”
Jian Mo laughed. “Wood rots too, doesn’t it? As long as it doesn’t rot too quickly, it’ll be fine.”
Qing Kuo and the others considered this and agreed, “That makes sense.”
Jian Mo added, “Cloth shoes will be much more comfortable. If you’re worried about them wearing out quickly, just wear them inside the tribe. You can still use wooden-soled shoes when going out.”
With so many people helping, they divided the tasks, working efficiently.
By the evening, Jian Mo’s house had produced three sets of four-piece bedding and six pairs of cloth shoes—three pairs each for him and Wu Jiong.
The four-piece sets still needed time for the designs to dry and additional layers of color to be applied before they could be fully used. However, the shoes were ready to be tested immediately. Afterward, they would need to dry in the sun for a few more days to ensure the glue was completely cured.
Everyone washed their feet, put on socks, and took turns trying on the cloth shoes. They were amazed by how soft and comfortable they felt.
Jian Mo felt a sense of accomplishment. The shoes, made with multilayered tree cloth for the soles and double-layered cotton fabric for the uppers, were bound to be comfortable.
These shoes would last through the fall, and when winter came, they could be replaced with fur boots.
Qing Kuo commented, “Looks like we’d better arrange to trade for more fabric from the Jiu Nian Tribe soon.”
Ye Luo nodded in agreement. “We have so many young ones attending lessons in the tribe. Once they find out about these, other tribes will hear about them too. If we don’t act quickly, other tribes might beat us to it.”
Min Dang suggested, “How about we head over tomorrow?”
Qing Kuo agreed. “Sounds good to me.”
Jian Mo widened his eyes. “You’re deciding this just like that?”
Qing Kuo laughed. “It’s just a quick trip. It won’t take much time, and it’s been a while since we’ve gone outside the tribe.”
Ye Luo added, “I’ve been wanting to explore outside for a while now.”
And so, the plan was set. A few sub-beastmen representatives were chosen, along with some beastmen to form a group, ready to visit the Jiu Nian Tribe.
Wu Jiong assured them, “Feel free to take your time. You can take a few days if you like. The tribe has plenty of supplies, so it’s not a burden.”
With that, Qing Kuo and the others departed. The tribe felt noticeably emptier to Jian Mo, and he found the quiet a bit unsettling.
Fortunately, there was plenty to do—gathering resources from the wild and working the fields kept him busy enough to keep his mind off it.
One day, while at home, Jian Mo heard a commotion outside the tribe. Thinking Qing Kuo and the others had returned, he went out to check, only to find a group of pudgy bird beastmen instead.
The bird beastmen were sprawled across the rocks in the clearing, tongues lolling out in exhaustion.
Along with the bird beastmen were several familiar faces from the Jiu Nian Tribe.
As soon as they saw Jian Mo, the sub-beastmen and beastmen from the Bai Zhi Tribe, as well as the Jiu Nian Tribe members, greeted him enthusiastically.
Jian Mo waved back and asked, “What brings you here?”
The Jiu Nian Tribe members cheerfully explained, “The people from the He’an Tribe came to trade for fabric—quite a bit of it, actually—so we decided to come and deliver it ourselves, saving you an extra trip.”
The bird beastmen chimed in, “We just wanted to visit you! Our tribe leader figured we’d already be coming over, so he let us carry Min Yan and the others here to earn some extra supplies. So, we all came together.”
One bird beastmen, panting with its tongue out, added, “It was so tiring! We’ve never carried beastmen this big before. You wouldn’t believe how we managed to make it all the way.”
Jian Mo chuckled. “Thank you for your hard work.”
The bird beastmen waved it off. “It’s fine. It felt tough on the road, but once we got here, it didn’t seem like such a big deal anymore.”
Another added, “We usually carry two or three sub-beastmen for fun. That’s easy. But carrying someone for a long journey is a whole other story.”
Jian Mo patted one of the bird beastmen on the back. “Do you want to visit my home?”
The bird beastmen exclaimed in unison, “Yes!”
They shifted into their human forms, donned animal-skin skirts, and joined the sub-beastmen, jostling their way toward Jian Mo’s house.
Jian Mo invited the Jiu Nian Tribe members to join as well.
Jiu Nian Tribe members mentioned they would finish trading before heading to Jian Mo’s home.
As they walked, Jian Mo turned to the youths from the Bai Zhi Tribe. “If you find carrying people uncomfortable, don’t hesitate to say no. Carrying too much weight can affect your growth.”
The youths quickly replied, “It’s not that bad. We were just complaining a little.”
Seeing their grinning faces, Jian Mo nodded and led them back to his home.
Chirpy was still snoozing in its nest when the boys burst in, immediately surrounding it to play.
Remembering that the Bai Zhi and Jiu Nian Tribe members rarely visited, Jian Mo decided to keep his promise to treat them. He headed to the river to harvest Zhu Zhu algae.
Zhu Zhu algae, introduced from the Jin Tuo Tribe, had adapted well to the local environment over the past half year and now grew abundantly along many parts of the river.
Jian Mo gathered a basketful from the upper stream, planning to make pudding.
When ground and filtered, Zhu Zhu algae produced a liquid that could naturally solidify, making it perfect for puddings.
While the family had plenty of bird eggs, beast milk, and honey blocks in storage, Jian Mo hesitated to make another cake, having baked one just a few days ago. Cakes consumed too many resources.
Pudding, on the other hand, required fewer ingredients and could yield larger quantities, sparing their supplies from significant depletion.
The Bai Zhi youths, unfamiliar with pudding, eagerly joined in to help.
Before long, members from the Jiu Nian Tribe arrived to lend a hand, followed by several He’an Tribe locals who came to socialize with the visitors.
The yard bustled with activity as everyone gathered around to enjoy the pudding and chat.
One of the Bai Zhi boys commented, “Whenever I feel lazy, eating one of Brother Jian Mo’s dishes reminds me how rewarding it is to work hard and enjoy life.”
The sentiment resonated, and others chimed in, “Work may be tiring, but the enjoyment makes it worth it.”
Even Chirpy seized the moment, chirping in agreement: “Chirp!”
A boy playfully patted Chirpy. “Chirpy, do you even understand? You just chirp at everything!”
Chirpy huffed indignantly, “Chirp-chirp!”
The laughter spread through the group.
After the pudding was gone, the Bai Zhi boys approached Wu Jiong with a request. “Chief Wu Jiong, the Summer Harvest Festival is just a few days away. Can we stay here until it’s over? We’ll pay with supplies.”
Wu Jiong agreed readily. “Sure, but don’t wander around the tribe unsupervised. If you go out, be cautious.”
The boys nodded enthusiastically. “Our tribe leader told us to gain experience and avoid trouble. We won’t cause any issues.”
Wu Jiong added, “I’ll ask some of our tribe’s youths to accompany you.”
The boys eagerly agreed.
Wu Jiong called Ban Ming and his group over, gave them a few instructions, and left the youths in their care.
Ban Ming and his group were dependable in critical matters, so Wu Jiong didn’t worry much, and neither did Jian Mo.
That trust was soon tested.
The very next day, while Jian Mo was busy with his four-piece bedding in the yard, the bird beastmen and Chirpy came barreling in, flying and tumbling over one another.
A chaotic pile of Chirpies crashed into the yard, feathers scattering everywhere.
From Chirpy’s back, the bird beastmen dragged down an unconscious man, shrieking in panic, “Brother Jian Mo, help!!!”
Chirpy let out a sharp, panicked screech: “Skreeee!!!”
Jian Mo rushed over, thoughts racing as the phrase “dependable in critical matters” echoed in his mind. Dependable? Really?!
