Chapter 144

Chapter 144

In the center of the plaza, piles of bonfires were buried under heavy snow, only small sections of black charcoal visible—clearly a grand sacrificial ceremony had been held here yesterday.

On the main path through the tribe's center, ten carts stood ready. However, these differed from the bone-wheeled carts typically used in the tribe.

Over two months had passed since the first snowfall, and the world beyond the tribe was now blanketed in thick snow. Under these conditions, the carts' original thin bone wheels had become more hindrance than help, easily getting stuck in snowdrifts.

Thus, the tribe's carts had undergone simple modifications. Instead of wheels, these carts now had wide wooden boards underneath, with guardrails added around the edges. They now more closely resembled Blue Star's sleds than traditional carts.

Baskets were secured between the guardrails, containing animal hides and food supplies—this team clearly prepared for an extended period away from the tribe.

Sheep Luo placed his fingers between Qi Bai's eyebrows: "The Beast God will protect you."

Qi Bai's face was pale from cold, only his nose and lips showing red. After receiving Sheep Luo's blessing, Qi Bai pulled up his cloak's hood and climbed onto the sled pulled by Wolf Ze.

Monkey Yan instructed: "No matter how many stones you obtain, you must return to the tribe within ten days. If we don't see you by then, I will lead the hunting team to search for you."

Theoretically, as captain leading over thirty tribespeople, Wolf Ze's mining team shouldn't need excessive worry even in winter. However, their destination was the vermilion mountain range—the very place that had crushed hundreds of mighty oxen. No one could guarantee the Beast God wouldn't rage again.

Therefore, during the ironware sacrificial ceremony, Sheep Luo performed a separate ritual, receiving guidance that Black Mountain Tribe members must not remain at the vermilion mountains for more than ten days.

Regardless of whether the Beast God truly gave this guidance, Qi Bai fully agreed with Sheep Luo's ten-day limit: "We will definitely return on time."

The sky showed faint light, with scattered clouds drifting lonely across the horizon. The snowfield glowed with a pale blue hue beneath the firmament.

An immense silence enveloped heaven and earth, only the shadows on the snow closely following the advancing procession.

Qi Bai covered his mouth with an animal hide scarf, turning to look behind. The procession across the snow presented a spectacular sight—particularly the sleds pulled by wolf-formed and dog-formed horned beastmen at the front, whose imposing presence outshone the ox-formed and horse-formed beastmen behind. After all, such sleds were originally designed for sled dogs.

The vermilion mountains lay a full day's journey from the tribe. The ten vehicles made only one rest stop after departure, changing the pulling beastmen before continuing onward.

The weather remained relatively clear during daytime, but after nightfall, snow began falling from the sky. Fortunately, the snowfall wasn't heavy, and by concentrating, they could still see the shadows of the vehicles ahead.

Next morning, golden morning light rose from the horizon as the mining team reached their destination.

Qi Bai looked up at the exposed vermilion mountain cliffs when Rhinoceros Zhou jumped down from a nearby cart, pulling a stone axe from a basket: "Leopard Bai, should we go directly to the mountain to quarry the red stones?"

Wolf Ze transformed into human form. Qi Bai handed him animal hide clothing, shaking his head: "We should avoid disturbing the mountain's stones if possible. First check if the fallen rocks on the ground have what we need."

Qi Bai didn't know this area's condition during the previous earthquake, but judging by how the vermilion mountain range had shed over half its mass during the quake, this mountain's stability was highly questionable.

Coupled with the thick snow accumulation on the ridges, any carelessness could trigger an avalanche.

Since these stones all came from the same mountain anyway, and Qi Bai had previously collected stones from the mountain's base, mining the ground's boulders seemed clearly safer.

The only problem was that the large stones on the ground were buried under heavy snow. To mine the ore, they first needed to clear away the snow.

Wolf Ze agreed: "Good, we'll start now."

Except for a few horned beastmen who had traveled all night resting on the carts, everyone else took tools and approached the large stones.

Only Qi Bai and Cow Xi remained in the snowfield—the only two beastmen on this expedition. However, they played crucial roles in the team: selecting ore.

Although Qi Bai and Cow Xi were also semi-outsiders in this field, they had at least participated fully in the iron-making process. When it came to identifying iron ore, no one in the entire team had more authority than these two.

But now wasn't yet time for their expertise—they had more important tasks: creating a temporary camp for thirty people to rest before nightfall.

Building a camp in snow differed significantly from normal conditions.

Qi Bai's dark eyes scanned the surroundings before finally pointing at a three-to-four-meter tall tree, discussing with Cow Xi: "What do you think of that tree?"

Cow Xi examined it carefully before loudly telling Qi Bai: "I think it's good."

This selected tree would serve as the central support pillar for their temporary camp. Qi Bai had chosen well—the area around this tree was relatively open with stable terrain, truly an ideal spot for pitching tents.

The snow on the ground was at least half a meter deep, much of it freshly fallen powder. The soft snow surface easily trapped footsteps, making each step difficult.

Qi Bai and Cow Xi took pre-prepared stone shovels from the baskets, laboriously extracting their feet from the snow as they approached their chosen tree.

Qi Bai first kicked the tree trunk, shaking accumulated snow from the branches, before both began working with their stone shovels.

Not far away, Wolf Kuang, who had already started working, asked Wolf Ze: "Should I send some people to help them?"

Wolf Ze watched the figure bustling busily with a stone shovel like a little spinning top, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly: "We just need to focus on our own tasks."

Qi Bai and Cow Xi first cleared a clean flat area around the tree trunk. As snow was shoveled away, gradually forming a clearing enclosed by snow walls, they finally secured the animal hides brought from the carts—one end tied to the tree trunk, the other end weighed down on the cleared snow walls.

Qi Bai planted his stone shovel in the ground. This work had him sweating on his forehead while his feet felt frozen: "This tent should be enough for everyone to stay together."

Cow Xi plopped down onto the snow, her elbows sinking into the snowfield: "Plenty enough. How warm it'll be with everyone together."

Qi Bai said: "Don't lie on the snow—come inside the tent."

Shoveling snow proved much more exhausting than shoveling dirt. Both were thoroughly fatigued, but Cow Xi couldn't lie directly in the snow while sweating—if she caught cold, with Qi Bai's limited medical skills, he wasn't sure he could handle it.

Cow Xi sniffled, getting up from the ground and casually brushing snow from her clothes. Everyone was busy working—she couldn't slack off alone: "I'll bring the things from the carts over." Speaking, she crab-walked toward the cart direction.

Qi Bai smiled, taking his stone shovel to clear the snow outside the tent. Walking like this was too exhausting—Qi Bai planned to clear a small path from the tent entrance for everyone to walk along.

When the mining horned beastmen secured baskets filled with iron ore onto the carts and turned around, they were all astonished by the tent Qi Bai and Cow Xi had created. After all, none had ever seen a tent resembling a Mongolian ger like this.

Niu Cheng gaped: "This isn't a tent—this is a snow house."

Hearing the noise, Cow Xi lifted the animal hide door flap: "Come in quickly! The meat soup is ready."

Everyone entered the tent. Although the top was animal hide, the snow walls beneath let light through, making the interior quite bright.

A pottery pot in the tent's center bubbled with meat soup, while a fire nearby had Qi Bai patiently rotating skewers of roasted meat.

Venturing out in such cold weather, Niu Cheng had prepared himself for suffering cold and hunger. He never expected to be welcomed by such a warm tent, with even their sleeping hides neatly arranged on the ground.

Cow Xi waved a bamboo tube before Niu Cheng's eyes: "Don't you want meat soup? Leopard Bai made this—we don't usually get to drink such delicious meat soup."

Niu Cheng quickly accepted it, smiling at Cow Xi before taking the bamboo tube to sit on his hide. Blowing away the steam, he took a large sip of hot soup.

This meat soup differed completely from any he'd tasted before. Initially, there was a slight stinging sensation in his mouth, but quickly this transformed into a flavor he'd never experienced. Most remarkably, after the hot soup passed his throat, the warmth seemed to spread from his stomach to his limbs, warming his entire body.

No wonder Cow Xi said such meat soup wasn't ordinarily available.

Not just Niu Cheng—several wolf tribe horned beastmen also looked at Qi Bai with amazement.

"I added ginger and a special seasoning to the soup." As he spoke, Qi Bai took out a small hide bag containing the seasoning for everyone to pass around.

This spice tasted somewhat like Blue Star's pepper, with a slightly pungent flavor that could mask meat's gaminess in soup. More importantly, drinking such hot soup could warm one's entire body.

Wolf Pu pinched some seasoning from the hide bag, sniffing it before unable to suppress a sneeze: "I've seen this grass before. Eating it directly makes your mouth hurt."

Wolf Kuang also examined it, though having seen Wolf Pu sneeze, he avoided bringing it too close to his nose, simply nodding: "I've seen it too. These plants that even insects avoid eating actually make meat soup taste so good when added."

Qi Bai smiled: "I've found many plants with strange flavors like this. I'll prepare them for everyone to try over the next few days—see if there are any you like."

Ma Song said delightedly: "That would be wonderful!"

Outside the tent, snow began falling again, flakes landing on the tent roof with soft rustling sounds.

Wolf Ze sat somewhat awkwardly beside Qi Bai, biting heavily into the roasted meat Qi Bai handed him.

Qi Bai was already his mate. These foods should only be for him to enjoy. But since Qi Bai had already promised everyone, he couldn't say anything about it now.

Next time, he'd have to make everyone prepare their own food, Wolf Ze thought silently to himself.