Loriste planned to build a house for the winter. In the morning, he was about to look for the Mountain Barbarian's attendant, Ashu, but Ashu had already come on his own. He even brought two pieces of demon sheepskin and a small bag of jerky.
Ashu said apologetically that he did not have any other assets. These two items were the only things he could take out. He hoped that they could help Lorist and Redi survive the long winter.
Lorist thanked Ashu and asked, "I'm going to build a house. I'll freeze to death if I rely on this shack. Can Ashu help me borrow some tools?"
"Building a house?" Ashu asked curiously. "There are only twenty days left until winter. Can we make it in time?" "It took more than two months to build the broken wooden house that the old Hunchback Mountain Barbarian lived in. Can the two of you do it?"
Lorist nodded and smiled. "Don't forget that I'm a Gold-ranked architecture instructor of Dawn Academy. If I can't do it, no one can."
The Mountain Barbarians were more straightforward, so Ashu easily believed Lorist's words. He nodded. "Alright, I'll go ask the Mountain Lord. If she agrees, I'll bring the tools over."
Ashu came back as quickly as he left. He happily told Lorist that the Mountain Lord had agreed to their request to build a house, but she would not send anyone to help them apart from providing the tools. Ashu, on the other hand, volunteered to take on the task of supervising them.
Laurist looked at the so-called tools Ashu had brought. Other than axes, shovels, hoes, and two rusty saws of different sizes, the rest of the sickles, harrows, and forks could only be considered farming tools. However, Ashu said that the Mountain Barbarians did not have the habit of farming. They would at most take care of the vines that grew kudzu roots. These tools were left behind a long time ago. Other than the one he used to build the broken wooden house when he was young, they were usually left in a corner of the warehouse and ignored.
If Lorist still had his internal energy and Redi's fighting aura, it would be easy to build a house that could last through the winter. However, Laurist and Redi could only be considered as two strong commoners. Laurist had also lost his sword and could only make do with these broken tools.
Today was the first day. Laurist and Redi tore down the broken shack together, and with the hole in the shack as the center, they drew a three by five meter square and started digging. Ashu was in a daze. He stopped Lollister and said that with such a big house, it would be very cold in the winter. The smaller the house, the warmer it would be …
Lollister smiled and said, "No, the bigger the house, the warmer it will be. You'll know when it's done."
Ashu was skeptical.
On the second day, Laurist asked Ashu where he could get some clay. In the morning, he and Redi picked up a lot of clay from a small river at the foot of the mountain. In the afternoon, they mixed the clay with the soil they dug yesterday, and mixed in some tough vines and dried grass to make mud bricks.
On the third and fourth day, under Ashu's supervision, Laurist and Redi chopped down more than fifty trees that were twenty to thirty centimeters wide. Ashu was a great help in the process. He got four draft horses to move the trees into the village. Otherwise, it would have taken Laurist and Redi two to three days to move all the trees.
On the fifth and sixth day, Laurist and Redi sawed the trees in half. The Mountain Barbarians in the village had nothing to do and gathered around to watch the show. As they watched, they discussed what kind of house these two foolish slaves were going to build.
On the seventh day, Laurist and Redi placed the almost dry mud bricks around the big hole they dug. They used a paste of clay between the bricks. Then Laurist sharpened one end of the tree trunk and stuck it along the wall of the hole. He smashed the smooth side of the tree trunk into the ground, quickly filling up the hole. From the inside of the hole, one could see that there was only a flat wooden wall. Other than the door opening, there was not even a window.
Ashu was curious and asked Laurist, "Why is there a layer of wood inside the mud wall?"
Laurist and Redi poured a paste of clay into the gaps between the tree trunk and the mud wall. He answered Ashu, "If there is only a layer of mud wall, it will freeze when winter comes, and the house will not be able to retain heat. Adding a layer of wood inside will prevent the heat from escaping. This is called double insulation."
Ashu nodded, not really understanding. He asked the second question, "Why is the top of the wall not flat, but the top of the wall slanted down?"
Laurist drew a human shape on the ground and told Ashu that the roof had to be pointed so that it would not collapse from the weight of the snow. That was why the wall had to follow the roof.
Ashu finally understood.
On the eighth to tenth day, Laurist worked on the roofs. The roofs on both sides were slanted to the ground. From the side, it looked like a triangle on the ground. There was a hole in the middle of the front, and the hole was the entrance.
On the eleventh day, Laurist started to build the fire pit and stove. The flue had been buried in advance, but the problem with the fire pit was that there were no boards on top. They could not place wooden planks, so they had to separate the fire from the planks.
Laurist took off his outer robe and took out six thin pieces of steel from his chest, back, and shoulders. These were armor pieces to increase the robe's defense. Laurist took two pieces of armor and asked Ashu to invite Wuler, who had the strength of the Mountain Spirit at the eighth circle, which was equivalent to a two-star Silver-ranked swordsman. He had Wuler use his sword to carve out three limestone slabs that were one meter long, eighty centimeters wide, and one inch thick. He placed them on top of the fire pit and covered them with wooden planks.
Laurist then used the two pieces of armor to exchange for sixty kilograms of kudzu root and half a piece of lamb, as well as a large jar. The bag of kudzu root that the old hunchback barbarian had said was a month's worth of rations was almost finished.
The last two pieces of armor were given to Ashu by Laurist to thank him for his help during this period of time. Ashu felt apologetic and gave Laurist a dagger in return.
Laurist was very busy for the next few days. He had to make the door, sew leather clothes for Redi, and get enough charcoal to carve two wooden bowls and spoons. Most importantly, he had to get food for the winter and salt.
After Laurist's house was built, Ashu respected him like a god. He did not expect that in just ten days, the shabby shack would become such a comfortable house, especially the fire pit that took up half of the room. Especially the fire pit that took up half of the room. He never thought that a fire could be lit under the bed, and the whole house became so warm, which made him amazed.
During the time he was building the house, Laurist had learned more about the Mountain Barbarian tribe that the White Snow Mountain Lord belonged to through Ashu. Ashu said that the Mountain Barbarian tribe was originally called the Nubike tribe, and Ashu and the White Snow Mountain Lord were originally from the Habibaba tribe. A few years ago, the leader of the Habibaba tribe went to Mount Smolmegen to participate in the Kupavisen Festival, which was held every twelve years. During the Bevis Conference, he was conferred the title of 'Qiangbasen' of this region, the commander of this region.
After he returned, the leader of the Habibaba tribe called himself 'Qiangbasen' and led the warriors of the tribe to conquer the other seven Mountain Barbarian tribes, and the Nubike tribe was one of them. However, after the Nubike tribe surrendered, Qiangbasen did not merge them into the Habibaba tribe like the other six tribes. Instead, he sent his most beloved daughter over to be the leader of the Nubike tribe, and divided the mountain ridge and the surrounding area into the territory of the Mountain Barbarians. He even gave his daughter the title of the White Snow Mountain Lord. Thus, the Nubike tribe changed its name to the White Snow Tribe.
Ashu had been the playmate of the White Snow Mountain Lord since he was young, so when the White Snow Mountain Lord came to the tribe, he followed her as a bodyguard. Ashu told Laurist that the current White Snow Mountain Lord had more than one thousand three hundred people. Laurist found it strange, because he had never seen so many people. During this period of time, he only saw the elderly, women, and children of the Mountain Barbarians going out to collect wild fruits, vegetables, and firewood. Apart from the one hundred or so male Mountain Barbarians who came back from the Barbarian Plains, he did not see any other Mountain Barbarians.
Ashu said that it was not strange, because the tribe's Wu Le and about four hundred other male Mountain Barbarians had followed Qiangbasen of the Habibaba tribe to war. A year ago, Habibaba Qiangbasen and the neighboring Mountain Barbarian Tribe's Qiangbasen had a conflict. Both wanted to annex the other's tribe and territory, so they started fighting. The White Snow Mountain Tribe had also sent four hundred male Mountain Barbarians to fight, and they would return when the first snow fell this year.
Laurist suddenly understood. No wonder the Mountain Barbarians hadn't harassed or invaded the Mountain Barbarians despite the vigorous development and construction in the family's territory. Two years ago, the military camp at the junction of the two mountains had been besieged by a thousand Mountain Barbarians. Instead, they had been caught in a pincer attack by Joske's archer cavalry battalion and Paciko's garrison squadron. After that, there had been no more large scale attacks by the Mountain Barbarians. It seemed that the Mountain Barbarians had changed their target. At this moment, he really hoped that the Mountain Barbarian tribes would fight for a long time.
What amused Laurist the most was that Ashu had told him that although the White Snow Mountain Lord, Golden Crown Mountain Barbarian Lady, said that Laurist was her first slave with status, it was actually her first time capturing a Flatlander. She also did not know what to do with Laurist and the others.
It was not that there were no slaves in the past. The shacks that Laurist and Redi were staying in were used to house slaves. However, those slaves were Mountain Barbarians. They would stay here for two to three months, gather and hunt like the others, and then quickly assimilate into the tribe and become a member.
Laurist and Redi were the so-called Flatlanders. Even if they became slaves, they would not be able to assimilate into the tribe after a period of time like the Mountain Barbarian slaves. Other than waiting for Habibaba Qiangbasen to return with his army and bringing Laurist and Redi to her father to show off, the White Snow Mountain Lord did not know what to do with Laurist and Redi.
Winter was about to arrive, and everyone in the White Snow Mountain Tribe would enter the large cave for the winter. As slaves of the Flatlanders, they could not enter the cave. Because of this, the White Snow Mountain Lord allowed Laurist and Redi to build a house as long as they did not run away. In fact, with Laurist and Redi's bodies, it was a dead end if they tried to run away.
If Laurist and Redi were not slaves, Ashu would have wanted to move in with them. He told Laurist that the cave was actually a large karst cave, and there was even an underground river inside. However, the entire tribe had been cooped up in there for more than three months. It was not obvious at first, but after a month, the stench became unbearable.
Even though the karst cave was made up of many smaller holes with a few ventilation holes, the stench from the thousands of people, horses, and livestock would slowly fill the entire cave. Everyone who came out after winter would stink. Even though the old Mountain Barbarian could not enter the cave due to his disability and could only stay in the broken wooden hut outside to watch over the slaves, many people in the cave were envious of him.
Ashu pointed at the broken shacks in the village. "Look, other than this area where the slaves lived, the other shacks in the village are not much better than this. It's better in summer and autumn, but in winter and spring, when it rains, it's impossible to stay there, and people have to hide in the caves again." He hoped that after winter, the White Snow Mountain Lord would give the order for Laurist to help the people of the tribe live in such good houses.
Laurist thought to himself, "Forget it, I'll return to the family territory once I recover my qi. I'm not interested in staying here for a few years to help you build houses." However, he still smiled and asked Ashu how he could get enough food and salt for winter.
Ashu said that you're slaves, so the tribe can't share the communal food reserves with you. Giving you a bag of kudzu every month is already very difficult. If you want more food, you'll have to rely on yourselves. The best way is to go hunting, and the prey you catch will belong to you. As for salt, there is a saltwater lake beyond the mountain, and there is a lot of salt by the lake. The tribe will be sending a team there in two days, so I'll get someone to bring you a large piece. "
So slaves had to rely on themselves. However, Laurist did not expect that being a Mountain Barbarian slave was much more fortunate than being a Lord's citizen. As a Mountain Barbarian slave, all the prey he caught belonged to him. As a Lord's citizen, at least half of the prey he caught belonged to the Lord. Some were stricter, such as three-quarters or four-fifths. For example, if you killed a wild boar, and the Lord came to collect taxes, you would at most go home with the boar's head.
Who knew how many people would come crying and begging to become a Mountain Barbarian slave when word of this got out … Laurist shook his head and tossed these absurd thoughts out of his mind. As a slave, he had to have the self-awareness of a slave. He was the so-called Flatlanders, so he could not be too far away, nor could he carry weapons. The large prey nearby had long since disappeared, and he could only catch small animals like hares and pheasants.
He did not need weapons to catch hares and pheasants, and Laurist knew how to set traps. This was a practical survival skill he had learned when he was a mercenary. He used thin vines and cut sheepskin to make dozens of traps, and set them up under the bushes and in the grass overnight. When he checked the next day, he found that his harvest was not bad. He had caught three pheasants and four hares. Winter was coming, and these prey were all plump. Laurist was very happy. With today's harvest, he would soon have enough winter rations.
He used a pheasant and a hare to trade with the old hunchbacked Mountain Barbarian for a twenty-five jin bag of kudzu root, and then used two hares to trade for a piece of demon sheepskin. He gave Ashu a pheasant, cooked another pheasant at night, and smoked the remaining hare for winter rations.
After one night, he went to look at the traps again, and caught two pheasants and three night hares. This time, he used a pheasant and a hare to trade for a wooden bucket of water. Soon, the daily necessities in the small house were ready.
Ashu was very surprised, so Laurist taught him how to set the traps step by step. However, he did not expect that after Ashu learned how to set the traps, all the wild children of the Mountain Barbarians would learn this skill. Two days later, when Laurist went to check the area where the traps were set up, he found that all the bushes and bushes were filled with traps. It was insane. How were the pheasants and hares supposed to rest in such a place?
Seeing Ashu's innocent expression, Loriste couldn't help but feel a surge of anger. Without the pheasants and hares, Laurist turned his attention to the small river at the bottom of the mountain.
The Mountain Barbarians rarely ate river fish. Firstly, they did not have a net. Secondly, they did not know how to fish. Thirdly, there were too many fish bones in the river. Fourthly, they only knew how to use spears to stab the fish, especially the big ones, but they rarely succeeded.
Laurist also did not have a net or fishing gear, but this did not stop him from using his brain. He spent a day digging a large hole with Redi on the riverbank, and then dug a deep trench to connect to the river. On the second day, he used tree branches to weave a long wooden raft into the river. He then turned the raft around and chased the fish into the large hole. Finally, he blocked the ditch and scooped up the water in the large hole. In the end, he caught more than a hundred fish, and among them, there were more than twenty large fish that were half a meter long.
The harvest was good, and Laurist prepared to continue after one night. As he was pulling the raft with Redi in the small river, he saw the barbarian girl from Golden Crown Mountain leading a group of attendants to the riverside. She said to the two of them: "Come up, I want to bring you to see my father."
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