Transmigrated to the Beastman World as a Veterinarian – CH30

Pottery-making had always been an important communal task for the tribe, and whenever a new round of pottery began, everyone participated eagerly.

With little else to do in winter, the tribe divided tasks among themselves.

The beastmen headed out to dig clay, while the sub-beastmen worked on shaping the clay into pottery.

Jian Mo was assigned to the sub-beastmen’s group. He sat with them in the village’s open space, soaking up the sun while working at a leisurely pace.

He wore beast-hide gloves, which made the work much more tolerable.

Sitting there, he could also overhear gossip from the various tribes, which he found entertaining.

While Jian Mo was molding clay and listening to the chatter, Ban Ming and his group returned with several large baskets of soil.

Jian Mo, feeling a bit drowsy and not entirely alert, spoke up, “That’s enough clay for now. We already have plenty. Any more, and we won’t be able to use it all. Let’s wait until the weather warms up before digging more. No need to suffer in this cold.”

Ban Ming, taken aback, asked loudly, “This is enough?”

Qingkuo looked up from his work. “We still need a bit more.”

Jian Mo glanced at the growing pile of clay. “We won’t finish using all this.”

Qingkuo chuckled. “We’re building a pottery cooker, so we’ll need more clay than usual.”

Only then did Jian Mo remember. Holding the pottery piece in his hand, he said, “Ooh..I was wondering why we needed so much clay!”

Everyone laughed.

After a moment, Jian Mo added, “I’ve been meaning to say this—burning pottery on the ground every time is so inefficient.”

Qingkuo asked, “What’s the alternative?”

“Build a kiln,” Jian Mo replied.

Hearing the unfamiliar term, everyone turned to look at him.

Jian Mo anticipated their questions and explained, “It’s like a small enclosed space, almost like a little house. When firing pottery, you place the pieces inside to keep the temperature consistent.”

Qingkuo caught on quickly. “Isn’t that similar to how we cover the pottery with mud?”

“Exactly!” Jian Mo nodded. “But instead of a one-time-use kiln, we’d build a reusable one. That way, we wouldn’t need to use so much clay to seal the pottery every time. Plus, a proper kiln would make firing pottery more efficient.”

“That does sound feasible.”

“But wouldn’t it collapse like our houses?”

“Our houses collapse because they’re too big. A small kiln wouldn’t have the same problem.”

“So, should the kiln be dome-shaped? We usually pile the clay in a dome for firing. Would a dome-shaped kiln hold up?”

“Probably not. What about the top?”

The questions came flooding in.

Jian Mo hesitated. He wasn’t particularly knowledgeable about construction, but he recalled seeing pictures of dome-shaped kilns in books.

Just as everyone turned to him for answers, Wu Jiong, who had been quiet, spoke up. “Could we fire pottery inside a cave?”

“A cave?” Qingkuo asked, puzzled.

Jian Mo immediately understood Wu Jiong’s idea and said excitedly, “That’s brilliant!”

Previously, Chirpy had fallen into a cave. If they opened a vent at the top of a natural cave, it could solve their problems.

Caves, having existed for so long, and were likely to be more stable than anything they could build from scratch.

Jian Mo’s eyes sparkled as he looked at Wu Jiong. “This is a great idea! If we can find a suitable cave to work with, it’d be much simpler than building a kiln ourselves.”

The surrounding group caught on and joined the discussion.

“If that’s the case, it’s worth a try.”

“It’s just digging a hole, right? I could shift into beast form and claw a hole in no time.”

“Exactly. And if that doesn’t work, you could always bite it open. Didn’t you collapse your house as a cub by biting through the walls?”

“Ban Ming! You think you didn’t chew a hole in your house when you were a cub?!”

The young beastmen now riled up, forgot about the sub-beastmen nearby and transformed into their beast forms, pouncing on each other in mock fights.

Watching the playful brawl, Jian Mo couldn’t help but think that none of them seemed particularly interested in impressing any sub-beastmen. Otherwise, they wouldn’t act so childish.

That said, late marriage and childbearing were common in this world. Even Qingkuo, a sub-beastman of Jian Mo’s generation, was still single, and no one gossiped about it. The culture was remarkably accepting.

Ignoring his son’s antics with the other beastmen, Qingkuo said calmly, “If we really want to use a cave as a kiln, a double-mouth cave might work.”

“A double-mouth cave?” Jian Mo asked.

“There’s a small cave by the river,” Wu Jiong explained. “I’ll take you to see it.”

Jian Mo couldn’t hide his excitement. “Let’s not wait. Can we go now?”

“Sure,” Wu Jiong agreed. He turned to the others. “I’ll take Jian Mo to check out the double-mouth cave.”

“We’ll keep brainstorming other cave options here,” Qingkuo replied.

Wu Jiong nodded, shifted into his giant wolf form, and carried Jian Mo toward the river.

In less than three minutes, they arrived downstream, just past where Jian Mo often set his fish traps.

Wu Jiong returned to his human form and picked up the beast-hide robe and socks that had fallen to the ground, putting them back on. “It’s here.”

Jian Mo, feeling shy, turned his back while Wu Jiong dressed and examined the cliff face. He quickly spotted a small cave.

The cave had a door made of wooden planks covered with dried grass. Despite frequently passing by, Jian Mo had never noticed it.

Struggling, he pushed the door open and found an assortment of jars and pots inside.

Wu Jiong, now fully dressed, walked up behind him. “This is where we store odds and ends. Those jars are filled with fruit wine.”

Jian Mo sniffed the air. “I can smell it.”

The cave wasn’t large but was quite deep—about six or seven meters from the entrance to the back. Its width, however, was only three to four meters.

Besides the main entrance blocked with a door, the cave had another small opening nearby.

No wonder it was called the “double-mouth cave.”

Wu Jiong watched Jian Mo pacing around inside and asked, “Will this cave work?”

Jian Mo nodded. “It should. We can make some adjustments—seal this larger entrance with mud, open a small vent at the top for airflow, block the deeper end with some clay, and widen the sides a bit. That should do the trick.”

Wu Jiong nodded in agreement.

Jian Mo added, “The main thing is to ensure the temperature inside stays as even as possible. The surfaces should have roughly the same area, or the pottery might crack during firing.”

“I understand,” Wu Jiong replied.

Jian Mo thought for a moment. “To be safe, we can collect some stones and build supports for the ceiling.”

The tribe was skilled at building with stone, as their houses were made of it, and there was no shortage of nearby quarries.

“Cover the stone pillars with mud as well?” Wu Jiong asked.

“Use clay for that,” Jian Mo suggested. “Mix in some dried grass or straw for extra binding. Once the clay is fired, it’ll harden nicely and should hold up well.”

The two of them quickly settled on the modifications for the cave and shared their ideas with the rest of the group, who all agreed it sounded promising.

Qingkuo promptly said, “Ban Ming and his gang have so much energy. They were just wrestling earlier. Let’s have them dig out the cave to burn off some of that.”

Jian Mo gave him a thumbs-up. “That’s some righteous leadership.”

Qingkuo shrugged, called over Ban Ming and the others, and instructed them to start digging.

Still in his feline beast form, Ban Ming sulked, his large cat face drooping as he muttered, “That’s gonna wear my claws down to stubs.”

Qingkuo replied without missing a beat, “You’re not hunting much this winter anyway. Worn-down claws will keep you from hurting anyone too much during your sparring matches.”

“And in spring?” Ban Ming retorted.

“Your claws will grow back by then,” Qingkuo said coolly.

The young felines and canines were sent to dig under Jian Mo’s supervision.

Surrounded by so many furry beastmen, Jian Mo couldn’t help but feel a surreal sense of humor, as though he were dreaming.

As a pet veterinarian, he’d spent plenty of time around animals, but this was a whole new kind of experience.

Life truly worked in mysterious ways.

Ban Ming, unbothered by deeper thoughts, asked as soon as they arrived, “Brother Jian Mo, how do we start digging?”

Jian Mo scanned the cave’s surroundings, ultimately feeling pity for the cats’ delicate claws. He pointed to two canines. “You two, start by widening the sides of the cave.”

Canines had sturdier claws better suited for digging, so they’d have an easier time with the task.

The rest of the beastmen helped by clearing out the cave’s contents and carrying out the excess soil.

Since the cave needed reshaping, the dug-out soil didn’t have to be disposed of. It was simply piled up to block off the entrance and reinforce other parts.

The canines ducked low and wriggled into the cave. The space was tight, just enough to accommodate two.

Watching the two large dogs awkwardly crouch and crawl in, Jian Mo couldn’t suppress a smile.

Ban Ming noticed and shivered. “Brother Jian Mo, what are you thinking about?”

“Nothing,” Jian Mo replied innocently.

In truth, he was reminded of his internship at a famous pet hospital, where he once walked eight large dogs at once. At the time, he didn’t know how the dogs felt, but he had certainly felt like one by the end of the day.

By comparison, this world’s “dogs” were far more obedient.

The two canines worked efficiently, their powerful claws making quick work of the soft soil inside the cave.

Meanwhile, the others cleared out debris, compressed the excess soil, and used it to seal the entrance.

Some climbed onto the roof to clear away grass and mark where they would open the vent.

Beastmen were immensely strong in their animal forms, making them excellent workers.

By the end of the day, Jian Mo and the group had finished hollowing out and reshaping the kiln cave.

The interior was now dome-shaped, with a small vent at the top and a side opening.

For ventilation, they could install a hand-crank fan outside the side opening, which would keep the fire inside burning steadily.

As they admired their work, the beastmen felt a strong sense of accomplishment.

One of them suggested excitedly, “Brother Jian Mo, since the kiln is ready, why don’t we test it by burning some charcoal and the pots?”

“Yeah! Didn’t you say we need to check how well it works?”

“I’d love to fire pottery, but the clay pieces haven’t dried yet. Let’s just do charcoal first.”

“Brother Jian Mo, if you agree, we’ll head out tomorrow to chop wood!”

Jian Mo had no objections. The principles of burning charcoal and pottery were similar.

The main difference was that burning charcoal required sealing the kiln for a slow, smoldering burn. During this process, the heat would also dry and strengthen the kiln, making it better at retaining heat.

The high temperatures would reveal any structural issues, allowing them to make adjustments if necessary.

Seeing the logic in this plan, Jian Mo agreed readily. “Go chop the wood tomorrow. The day after, we’ll burn our first batch of charcoal and see how the kiln performs.”

Ban Ming cheered and added, “Brother Jian Mo, could you ask the chief if we can keep a share of the charcoal? We worked pretty hard. I’d like to give some to A’Meng.”

A’Meng was a sub-beastman Ban Ming fancied, though he belonged to the Hero Tribe.

Jian Mo said, “I can help bring it up, but you’ll need to talk to them yourselves about the specifics.”

The technique for burning charcoal was considered a tribal secret, so Wu Jiong and the others would undoubtedly have additional instructions.

Ban Ming grinned. “No problem! If you ask, the chief and my dad will definitely agree.”

Jian Mo nodded, then added, “When you cut down trees, make sure to plant some saplings to replace them. Otherwise, the trees will keep getting fewer, and the mountains will end up bare after a few rounds.”

Ban Ming and the others laughed. “We know that too. My dad and the elders have already told us.”