Enforcing Clan Law

Blood kept spraying everywhere. The 1,500-jin behemoth finally began to buckle at the knees. Its four legs swayed a few times before they could no longer support its massive body, and the boar collapsed, its body still twitching fitfully.

Luo Chong took out the Bone Knife and stabbed its carotid artery again. Once the blade went in, the blood drained completely. They had to be extremely careful now—the smell of blood might attract other predators.

Luo Chong called his four little brothers over. The children had just watched their Chieftain single-handedly accomplish the feat of killing a boar, and they worshiped him for it. But when they actually approached the Wild Boar, their calves still trembled a little.

How the hell are we supposed to get this thing back? It weighs 1,500 jin! Even after draining the blood, it must weigh at least 1,400. Five children can't possibly pull it. And there's still a sow waiting to be slaughtered over there.

After thinking it over, Luo Chong decided not to kill the sow yet. He would use it to pull the boar back.

Just as before, he first led the sow around a tree in circles. Once it could no longer move, he used a rope to loop around its snout and tied it tight. The Wancchi Pig's bite was indeed extremely powerful, but that didn't mean it had much strength in opening its mouth.

With its snout tied shut, the pig couldn't bite anyone. Even if it cried out, all it could do was snort.

The children huffed and puffed as they dragged the boar beside the sow. They tied its two hind legs together, then tied the other end to the sow's waist. Finally, they used two more ropes to tie the sow's front legs separately. That did it.

Luo Chong led the way by pulling the sow's snout and guiding its direction. Big Mouth and Monkey each led one of the sow's front legs from either side. Whenever they noticed the sow intended to attack Luo Chong, the two of them pulled the ropes in opposite directions, forcing it into a split. It would immediately collapse onto the ground. Besides, it was dragging a dead boar weighing over 1,000 jin, so it couldn't run fast in the first place. This was merely a precaution.

Big Fur and Second Fur walked at the rear with clubs, keeping watch against animal ambushes. From time to time, they also smacked the pig's rump with their clubs to urge it onward.

This pig had it rough enough. It was clearly a pig, yet it had to play the part of an old ox. In the end, it still couldn't escape the fate of being stabbed, suffering utter humiliation—and it couldn't even fight back.

Although they had caught a live one this time, Luo Chong had never considered raising Wancchi Pigs. This species was too ferocious and utterly unsuitable for domestication. Any animal that could be raised had to be docile. At the very least, it couldn't attack humans.

They slowly made their way home. After walking all that distance, they still hadn't seen the group of Wild Boars that had fled. Who knew where they had run off to?

A scarlet trail had been dragged through the jungle. Who knew how many pairs of eyes lurked in the dense forest, coveting that plump slab of meat? Unfortunately, the prisoner-escort party was too fierce, and their formation was flawless. There was no direction from which they could launch a sneak attack.

They crossed the ridges and climbed over the dense jungle. At last, they saw the tribe's cave in the distance.

The children who were clearing brush outside spotted this strange procession first. Their Chieftain was leading it, his entire body plastered with mud. Without that distinctive hairstyle, they truly wouldn't have recognized him.

The children swarmed over, but they still didn't dare approach. They had never even seen a creature like this before. It looked terrifying no matter how they viewed it, and to be honest, Wancchi Pigs were truly ugly.

Lame was sitting at the cave entrance, sharpening his Bone Knife. The clay vessel had already been shaped and was being left to dry.

Qu Bing sat on a pile of grass wrapped in animal hide, basking in the sun. His mother sat beside him, sewing him new clothes. He was in much better spirits today. The moment he spotted Luo Chong's group from far away, he began pointing and shouting.

When Lame saw the Chieftain return, he limped over to greet him. Luo Chong told him to prepare a Water Jar and some salt, and he immediately hobbled away again.

The children and pregnant women gathered around to watch. None of them had ever seen such enormous prey. Even the Terror Bird from before hadn't been as large as these two pigs.

Qu Bing also fussed and demanded that his mother carry him over to join the excitement. When he saw Luo Chong looking at him, he pulled a face at him, only to get a smack on the head from his mother. He then pouted and threw a tantrum.

Once Lame brought over the Water Jar, Luo Chong dug a pit in the ground and placed the jar inside it, leaving its mouth only slightly above ground level.

Under Luo Chong's guidance, the sow walked over beside the jar. He then had Big Mouth and Monkey pull the ropes together, and the sow's massive body was brought crashing down. Big Fur and Second Fur hauled its head onto the Water Jar. The Wild Boar wailed desperately, as if it knew what was about to happen.

Without incident, Luo Chong gave it the final stab, driving the blade straight into its carotid artery. Not a single drop of blood was spilled elsewhere; it all sprayed into the jar. Before long, the jar was filled to the brim with blood.

He poured a bowl of salt water into the blood and stirred it evenly. It wouldn't take long to turn into delicious Blood Tofu. If they had water radishes, he could cut them into strips and stir-fry them with the pig's blood and lard. Luo Chong could eat five steamed buns' worth of it. Unfortunately, they had none, so it seemed they could only boil soup that evening.

Luo Chong still had to handle the butchering himself. He guessed the others had never dealt with such a huge animal.

Wancchi Pigs had very little hair and extremely thick hides, but the hides weren't suitable for making clothes and didn't keep anyone warm. Luo Chong planned to tan them for Leather Boots or backpacks instead. With two pigs this large, they should be able to make quite a few pairs.

Beneath the skin was a layer of pale lard a full four fingers thick. This was their reserve for winter. Now, however, Luo Chong scraped every bit of it off. Fat had countless uses: it could make soap, candles, and even explosives. At worst, they could still eat it. He would render it over a fire shortly.

He gutted them, and their colorful innards spilled all over the ground. The hearts, livers, intestines, stomachs, and two pairs of kidneys were all edible. The lungs were taken away to feed the fish.

The remaining bodies were chopped into pieces, and all the bones were removed. The larger bones could still be ground into weapons or something similar.

Butchering two giant pigs weighing over a thousand jin each in a single afternoon was exhausting. Skinning them, scraping off the fat, removing the bones, turning out the intestines, boiling the pig's blood, rendering the lard, and tanning the hides with wood ash—it was fortunate they had help. Otherwise, Luo Chong would have worked himself sick.

The results were gratifying. The smoking racks were hung with chunks of meat large and small, one jar was filled with cooked Blood Tofu, and three jars held pale rendered lard. The children grinned as they constantly picked at the cracklings. Even Qu Bing was eating happily, running back and forth in front of Luo Chong in his new clothes.

Just as Lame opened the kiln at dusk to take out the pottery, the large expedition that had been busy all day returned as well.

The Fishing Team brought back several hundred identical fish, a basket packed full of fish bladders, and two large jars of fish roe. The Hunting Team brought back three pheasants, two large snakes, more than ten bird eggs, over a dozen Groundhogs as large as rabbits, and a basket of nuts. They had probably raided some unlucky Groundhog's entire clan, even digging out the food stored underground.

The Gathering Team had also reaped a bumper harvest today because a newcomer had joined them: Qu Bing's maternal aunt, a young woman who had only recently reached adulthood. She had led the Gathering Team to a new food—a very, very sweet root with a texture resembling sugarcane. It was a surface-growing floating root, and it even had a few tubers as large as fists. When they cut open the outer skin, they discovered natural amber-colored syrup inside.

My heavens, what kind of monstrous plant is this? Its sugar yield is absurdly high! If they gathered enough, they could even refine White Sugar. For that, Luo Chong specifically praised the young woman.

Everyone ate happily. Sweet foods found in nature were incredibly hard to come by, after all. Yet one person happened to be different from everyone else.

The Elder stood there with a dark expression, his lips trembling with anger and his beard and hair bristling. In his hand was a Thorn Vine covered in red spikes, and he was chasing Qu Bing's maternal aunt and striking her with it.

Luo Chong remembered that Thorn Vine. In the memories of the body's original owner, it was the tribe's equivalent of Clan Law, used specifically to beat people who had committed serious offenses.

Minor offenses meant being denied food and going hungry for two days—a small punishment. But if someone committed a grave offense that endangered the lives of fellow tribesmen, they would be beaten with the Thorn Vine. Each stroke left a bloody mark riddled with tiny holes. In this age without medical treatment, the victim would inevitably rot to death all over.

How the hell could this be allowed? She's such a fresh, delicate young girl—and they even paid for her! How could that old bastard bear to hit her? Besides, what crime did she commit for you to beat her like you're trying to kill her?

Luo Chong stopped the furious Elder and asked why he was beating her. Even enforcing Clan Law required an explanation.

What he heard was an unbelievable reason. The Elder said that the roots came from a Demon Tree. Those sweet roots were the Demon Tree's bait, and the Demon Tree would kill anyone who stole and ate them before devouring the person.

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