Chapter 271

The fruit wine produced by fermentation had a very low alcohol content and couldn’t reach the concentration needed to disinfect wounds. However, the concentration of fruit wine wasn’t fixed — depending on the length of time it was cellared, the alcohol level could increase to a level suitable for emergency use.

If Qi Bai remembered correctly, in some Western countries on Blue Star, there were historical cases of using red wine to clean wounds.

As for distilled alcohol with higher purity — that was well beyond Qi Bai’s knowledge as an art student. Trying to produce distilled spirits would be asking a leopard to climb a tree.

Qi Bai figured he could propose the idea, and maybe a few hundred years from now, distilled spirits would exist on the Beastman Continent — but definitely not now.

After briefly explaining the idea of alcohol disinfection to Lu Yan, Qi Bai also mentioned the possibility of stitching wounds together.

Normally calm and composed, Lu Yan’s eyes practically popped out: “S-sewing... wounds?”

Qi Bai said, “Two separate pieces of beast hide can be stitched together with bone needles and beast-hide thread. The same goes for torn-open wounds.”

Lu Yan hesitated. “That’s true, but... why would we want to stitch a wound closed?”

Qi Bai guided him, “Think about those wounds where the flesh is exposed — don’t they always heal little by little from the inside out? What if we sew the wound shut? Wouldn’t the flesh grow back faster?”

Of course, once a wound was stitched, the risk of infection from an open wound would also decrease significantly. In the Beastman Continent, where there were no antibiotics, many injuries weren’t fatal in themselves — what really killed was the infection.

Though the idea sounded a bit outlandish, Lu Yan had indeed seen many wounds heal just like Qi Bai described.

Seeing Lu Yan’s eyes start to burn with interest, Qi Bai said, “We still need to confirm whether this is truly viable — it can’t be used on beastmen just yet. But you could experiment on injured prey that are still alive.”

With that, Qi Bai pulled a small beast-hide bundle from his pocket. Inside were two bone needles, a pair of scissors, and a spool of wooden flower thread. “These are tools Lang Ze made for me — there’s only this one set. If you’re interested in stitching wounds, I can lend them to you for a few days so you can study the design and figure out how to make another set.”

The bone needles and scissors were small and delicate, reflecting the smooth luster of red bird bone. The wooden flower thread was also extremely fine.

“Of course I’m interested!” Even though he didn’t yet know how to use the tools, Lu Yan couldn’t take his eyes off them. He took the beast-hide bundle with both hands and said excitedly, “Thank you, Grand Priest. I’ll take great care of them and won’t let any harm come to these precious tools!”

After parting ways with Qi Bai, Lu Yan immediately began running around looking for people.

He couldn’t craft bird bone tools himself, but he knew several Black Mountain horned beastmen who could. While they weren’t on Lang Ze’s level, they could at least imitate the tools if given a model.

Most importantly, almost every Black Mountain beastman household had some leftover red bird bone. Lu Yan had already prepared himself to "bleed out" (i.e. trade heavily) for a single piece.

---

Outside the city.

Digging foundations, hauling sand and soil, chiseling stone blocks — the beastmen were all working in orderly fashion.

Unlike the quickly erected walls on Black Mountain, this city wall was to serve as permanent defense for Heiyao, so both its scale and materials had to be flawless.

Heiyao City was square in shape. The walls were 16 kilometers long, 30 meters high, 30 meters wide at the base, and 25 meters wide at the top. A drum tower would be placed every 400 meters, with watchtowers at each corner. Both the drum towers and corner towers would be fitted with large drums to serve as an early warning system.

In addition to stairs, the inner walls would have ramps so horned beastmen in their beast forms, as well as ballistae and catapults, could ascend.

Grooves on top of the wall would hold the ballistae and catapults. The four walls would be interconnected to allow for quick reinforcement.

But a city couldn’t rely solely on a strong wall.

Ancient Chinese cities often had moats outside the walls. These rivers would provide water during peacetime, and in wartime, the bridges in front of the gates could be closed to turn the river into a natural barrier.

However, this kind of defense wouldn’t work for Heiyao.

Situated in the north, Heiyao was covered in ice and snow for much of the year. In winter, rivers would freeze, and the moat would lose its protective function.

Still, Qi Bai wasn’t one to give up. If soft water didn’t work — they’d go with something hard.

Qi Bai planned to dig a deep and wide trench about 100 meters from the wall and plant it densely with a plant he named iron bramble. As the name implied, these thorns were extremely tough.

If another clueless tribe like Sanghuo came to attack, the city would be far more prepared than before.

First, enemies would be injured by the iron bramble trench. Then they’d face a hail of arrows from atop the walls. Even if a few managed to break through, the 30-meter-thick stone wall would stop even the largest beasts dead in their tracks. At that point, retreat would be impossible.

Of course, building something this sturdy required far more manpower and time.

Qi Bai estimated that they’d need about six million massive stone blocks, each two meters long. If it weren’t for the fact that the workers were beastmen, he’d never dare attempt a wall made entirely of stone.

Then again, if they weren’t in the beast world, they wouldn’t need a wall this high either.

---

Two months later.

It was mid-October. Though snow hadn’t yet fallen, the northern climate was already freezing. Beastmen had switched to thick beast-fur clothes.

Qi Bai was out inspecting the outer wall with Shu Lin and Xiong Xin.

The two had previously worked together on the city’s irrigation channels and now served as co-leads of the Construction Division, overseeing the wall’s construction.

Qi Bai touched the seam between two stone bricks and frowned. “This won’t do.”

Shu Lin and Xiong Xin both scowled at a brick with a chipped corner. Xiong Xin took a step back and shouted, “Xiong Yin!”

A dusty grey panda suddenly appeared, leaning on the stone with both front paws and tilting his head with his tongue out, looking at Xiong Xin blankly.

Behind him was an even bigger panda carrying a stone block. He kicked Xiong Yin right in the butt. Unprepared, the panda slid straight off the stone.

He fell from over ten meters high, but Xiong Yin just shook himself off and stood up like nothing happened.

“Hou hou.” (What’s up?)

Xiong Xin took a deep breath and silently reminded himself: Don’t get mad, Xiong Xin. The elders aren’t here. You have to watch over these dummies. You must stay calm... — Calm, my foot!

“WHAT IS THIS?! How many times have I told you?! The stones used for the outer wall must be the most flawless ones!”

Xiong Xin roared. The sound hit all three nearby like a shockwave. Qi Bai even saw his tiny throat vibrating.

Xiong Yin looked aggrieved. “Awooo?” (What? Isn’t this one fine?)

Xiong Xin slapped the wall. “Look at this huge gap! You can’t see it?!”

Xiong Yin placed his massive paw next to the gap. His claw tip just barely reached into it — like he was saying: See? My claw doesn’t even fit. Not a gap!

Qi Bai covered his face, laughing helplessly. No wonder Xiong Xin — normally a mild-mannered sub-beastman — had become increasingly irritable lately.

With these silly horned beastmen, Xiong Xin probably had to repeat himself hundreds of times a day and wished he could cram the entire wall-building manual into their panda brains.

Qi Bai explained, “To your beast form, this gap might not seem large. But to a sub-beastman’s beast form — even a half-grown cub’s paw could grip it. If we have too many gaps like this, enemies could climb the wall.”

Xiong Yin quickly withdrew his paw and nervously scratched his belly. “Awoo...” (I was trying really hard! I didn’t mean to mess up.)

Shu Lin said, “Since the next layer of bricks hasn’t been laid and the mortar hasn’t dried, quickly replace these blocks.”

The bricks were stacked at a slant. Once the next row was on, the ones beneath couldn’t be swapped out. Luckily, they’d caught this one in time. Otherwise, they’d have to fill it with mortar, which wasn’t ideal for a new wall — once patching started, more cracks would follow.

Beastmen came in all shapes and sizes. Even though Heiyao’s walls were 30 meters high, if there were gaps, some beast forms could still sneak in.

That’s why the inner and outer surfaces had to be perfectly smooth — no handholds whatsoever.

Xiong Yin hurried back up the wall to redo the work. Xiong Xin, still angry, yelled, “Once you fix this, go work on the inner wall. You’re not

allowed on the outer wall anymore!”

The five tribes had divided responsibilities, with each construction team handling specific sections. Xiong Xin was clearly annoyed that the War Bear tribe had made a mistake this early in the day — and he wasn’t giving Xiong Yin another chance to mess up.

“Aoww...” The three-meter-tall panda ran off, looking pitiful.

Just as Qi Bai and the other two were about to resume their inspection, a loud horn sounded from above.

The three exchanged glances — all of them had the same look of excitement in their eyes.

The hunting party was back!

Qi Bai climbed the sloped ramp of the wall and sure enough, saw a grand procession marching toward the city. At the front was the imposing white giant wolf.

Lang Ze had returned with the hunting party — and just as he’d promised before leaving, he brought back a group of dark-colored Ding Beasts and Ming Beasts. These wild animals weren’t especially large, suggesting they were females and young ones.

The return of the hunting party brought the wall construction to a temporary halt — all the beastmen gathered to celebrate the last great harvest of the year.

Back at home, Lang Ze — as city lord and commander of the Heiyao army — still couldn’t rest. First, he organized the storage of the prey, then secured the restless Ding and Ming Beasts.

By the time Lang Ze finally returned home, Qi Bai had already run back and forth to boil hot water. A large wooden tub in the room was steaming.

Qi Bai showed a row of white teeth, one hand stirring the water as he beckoned, “Come on, come on — a hot bath is the best way to relax.”

Lang Ze quietly closed the door behind him.

He seemed to have thought of an even better way to relax.