Chapter 258

The temperature was gradually warming, the long winter finally drawing to an end.

Though the spring air was still chilly, especially mornings and evenings, Qi Bai bundled himself in a gray-white fur coat and, at daybreak, stood with the others on the eastern edge of the city.

After a month of construction, the land within Heiyao City had already been leveled and prepared. The four main avenues and the crisscrossing streets inside the city were already beginning to take shape.

The spot where Qi Bai stood was at the eastern boundary of what would one day be Azure Dragon Avenue—destined to become one of the city’s main gates.

For now, though, there were no walls, let alone gates.

Everywhere inside the city were construction sites—deep trenches cut into the earth, piles of timber and stone stacked on open ground, beastmen moving busily to and fro.

But compared to the usual bustle, today felt slightly emptier.

After the Courtship Festival, Qi Bai had conducted a careful census of the five tribes.

The current population of Heiyao City stood at 12,360, not including the unborn cubs carried by sub-beastmen.

By Qi Bai’s estimate, by early summer the number would rise to around 13,000.

That many people would make Heiyao one of the most populous settlements not only in Beihuang, but across the eastern wilderness.

But numbers alone were meaningless without the ability to feed them.

Thanks to the spoils seized from the Sanghuo tribe, the five clans had survived this winter in relative comfort. The coming days, however, would not be so easy—food would not fall from the sky a second time. The two great hunts of the year could not be missed.

Yesterday, a hunting party of nearly 4,000 warriors had been finalized. Lang Ze himself led the column with supplies toward the spring hunting grounds.

With a third of the population gone overnight—and all of them horned beastmen strong enough to take beast form—the city naturally felt spacious and quiet.

Because of the larger population, the old Niuniu tribe hunting grounds might no longer be enough. Most likely, Lang Ze’s party would have to push south to search for new ones.

That meant they would not return for at least a month.

Qi Bai rubbed his palms together and tucked his hands into his sleeves. Living off the land felt far too unstable.

It wasn’t just that animal gathering grounds might shift at any time—even if they were fixed, as Heiyao’s population grew, relying on only one or two spots would inevitably strip them bare.

And since meat was the beastmen’s staple food, it could never be allowed to run short.

Their animal husbandry would have to expand, and quickly.

“Da-da-da.”

As Qi Bai’s thoughts wandered, the sound of hoofbeats reached him from the forest.

Soon after, a caravan of dozens of wagons came into view.

The spirits of the crowd lifted. It was Ma Shu, leading the team that had gone to quarry limestone in the mountains.

Transforming back to human form before them, Ma Shu snatched a fur coat from the wagon, shrugging it on as he reported their gains from the trip.

The city’s construction required large quantities of lime mortar, and the Heishan tribe’s old stores had long since been exhausted.

Ten days earlier, Ma Shu had led two companies of workers up the limestone mountain to mine stone.

To Heishan’s people, quarrying stone was routine; the trip had passed without danger.

But upon hearing the hunting party had already departed, the horned beastmen looked disappointed. They had hurried nonstop to return before the hunters left, yet had still arrived too late.

After reporting the stone quantities and the team’s expenses, Ma Shu’s gaze fell on the large kilns behind Qi Bai and Luoguo.

There were two industrial zones in Heiyao City:

• The southern workshops, for food processing and textiles—future home of yogurt, butter, yarn, and cotton weaving.

• The eastern workshops, for pottery, iron smelting, and leather tanning.

Both were positioned by the city gates for easy transport of raw materials.

Ma Shu’s eyes widened. “Already finished? These kilns are far bigger than ours back in the tribe—they look magnificent!”

On the mountainside, space had been limited, and kilns could only be built small. Here, the city’s pottery yard sprawled across 240 mu of land.

Qi Bai nodded with a smile. “Luoguo tested the brick kiln yesterday. One firing here produces as many bricks as ten back in the tribe. The limestone you’ve brought will be ready soon.”

From Qi Bai’s first charcoal pit, to pottery and brick kilns, to lime kilns—the Heishan tribe had grown adept at kiln-building.

In less than ten days, Luoguo and her workers had raised seven kilns, each three to four meters tall.

Though pottery production was the most advanced craft in the city, the entire zone was still far from Qi Bai’s envisioned industrial base.

Despite the name, the pottery yard wasn’t just for clay vessels. Charcoal, bricks, lime—anything requiring firing would be concentrated here.

For now, however, bricks and lime took priority.

As workers unloaded limestone from the wagons, Qi Bai gave Luoguo a few more instructions. With that, his task for the day was complete.

He was only here to confirm the limestone tally and set the schedule for the next expedition.

As for the burning itself, Luoguo could handle it better than he could—she had always overseen the tribe’s kilns. When the city was fully established, she would surely be the master of the pottery yard.

Leaving the workshops, Qi Bai followed the main road west.

Wherever he passed, beastmen stopped their work, staring at him in awe.

By now, everyone in Heiyao knew their Great Priest. Even after a month of daily interactions, when they’d seen how approachable he was, their reverence hadn’t faded.

To those who had watched empty wilds sprout houses at his guidance, Qi Bai was nearly divine.

Qi Bai only smiled and waved, telling them not to mind him.

Near the city center, he spotted Xiong Xin crouched by a trench.

The young bear warrior wore a simple fur coat, a piece of cowhide for notes tucked in his arms, and a charcoal stick stuck behind his ear that had already smudged one cheek black.

On seeing Qi Bai, Xiong Xin leapt up and saluted with a fist to chest. “Great Priest!”

Qi Bai returned his smile. “How goes it?”

Before Xiong Xin could answer, Shu Lin came running over.

Though the residential zones of each tribe were built by their own, the city’s public works required cooperation from all five.

This engineering team, drawn from every clan, was co-led by Xiong Xin and Shu Lin.

Their first major task: constructing two sets of canals—fresh water and sewage—according to Qi Bai’s plans.

Shu Lin had some experience with canals, having dug the irrigation ditch around the farmlands.

But urban canals required lining with stone or brick to prevent leaks and collapse—a much bigger project.

“The main canals are nearly dug,” Shu Lin reported, unrolling his bamboo slip. “You said to find a separate river for drainage—how about this one?”

“Though it’s farther from the city, we checked: it doesn’t connect with the two rivers inside the walls, nor with the outer lake. That way, we won’t risk drinking foul water.”

Qi Bai asked, “Is it wide enough?”

Xiong Xin replied, “Not as wide as the Man-Eater River, but about the same as our inner river.”

Qi Bai recalled the location. He hadn’t accounted for every little detail when planning the city, so some corners were new to him.

“All right—use this one. Extend the sewer line outward to meet it.”

That area was lower in elevation, which would also help prevent backflow during floods.

Though more trouble, Qi Bai refused to cut corners. With so many people in one place, sewage must be carried out cleanly. Otherwise, in time the whole city would reek of filth.

History, whether in Huaguo or beyond, had plenty of cautionary tales. Heiyao would not become another cesspit.

After discussing with Shu Lin and Xiong Xin, Qi Bai walked through the four residential quarters.

Progress varied.

• Heishan’s quarter: With existing houses on the mountainside and dormitories, they weren’t rushing. Most had only dug foundations.

• War Bear, Giant Deer, Giant Wind: Still fumbling. Especially the Giant Wind, whose massive beast forms demanded larger houses, making progress slower. Fortunately, Heishan builders were stationed in each zone to guide them.

• Cloud Valley: Completely different.

Hiring Heishan’s builders, their district looked transformed.

In just a short walk, the clutter of wood and stone gave way to neat rows of new houses, smoke rising from chimneys—a picture of life amid construction.

Unlike the Heishan tribe’s row housing, here most houses were standalone with small courtyards.

And the Cloud Valley people hadn’t held back: using all five designs provided by Shu Lin and Xiong Feng, they built a dozen of each.

Qi Bai was pleased. Model houses would guide the others when they began building their own.

Still, even here, hundreds of families meant months more work.

Qi Bai soon found his destination—the central house. In the courtyard, Yun An was splitting firewood.

On seeing him, the youth grinned. “Great Priest, here to see my grandfather?”

“Yes. Is he home?”

“In there,” Yun An pointed at the main hall. “Priest Yang Luo and the others too.”

Qi Bai thanked him. Of course he already knew—they were why he had come all this way.

Inside, the heated kang and fire-walls blazed, filling the air with warmth even before he stepped in.

Freshly built, the room still smelled of dust, but the elders didn’t seem to mind.

Qi Bai entered to find six old men sprawled side by side across the kang.

He couldn’t help but laugh. The others he understood—they’d never slept on a kang before. But Yang Luo? He’d had one for a year, and here he was lying there all solemn too.

The first to notice Qi Bai was Elder Yun Tan, who sat up. “Great Priest! Come, warm yourself with us.”

Since the city’s founding, Yun Tan, Xiong Han, and Lu Yan had all stepped down from chieftainship to serve as elders—something long agreed upon. Yun Tan seemed perfectly at ease with it.

Qi Bai waved his hands. “I’ll pass. I came today to discuss spring plowing.”