Chieftain, Dead

Luo Chong wanted to store food, which meant he needed tools. But looking across the entire tribe, they were truly poor beyond measure, with nothing at all. Adult tribespeople had to gather food outside, so resources such as tools and animal hides were distributed to them first. Boys like Luo Chong, whose body had only just turned ten, were still running around bare-assed.

At night, all the children could only squeeze together in a huge pile of grass for warmth, burying their entire bodies beneath the grass. But they could not get too close to the fire pit, or they might never wake up again.

In this tribe, one generally had to reach twelve or thirteen years old, grow to around 1.6 meters tall, and become an adult before receiving priority in resource distribution. The standard for that height was the Elder's broken wooden staff.

Still a minor and without any resources in hand, Luo Chong could only think about what method would let him obtain food in the simplest and most efficient way, so he would not have to gnaw on tree roots alongside the others in the days ahead.

While Luo Chong was deep in thought, at the edge of the distant forest, the bearded Chieftain wearing a green Feather Crown came toward the cave with two burly men clad in animal hides. They carried a dead wildcat whose head had been smashed open and was bleeding everywhere, chuckling foolishly as they walked. It was a feline creature that looked both like a cat and a leopard—probably an early lynx. Luo Chong did not recognize it either. It did not look too big, but it probably had over ten jin of meat on it.

These foolish men were so easily satisfied. Catching one wildcat was enough to make them happy for half the day. At their rate of gathering food, who knew how many more people would starve to death this winter?

When the Chieftain reached the cave entrance, he handed the dead cat to one of the women staying behind to guard the cave and told her to skin it, cut up the meat, and dry it. Then he turned and stared at Luo Chong's ankle again.

The wound, sterilized by high heat, had already dried out, while the area around it was slightly red and swollen. That was a sign of inflammation.

Seeing that Luo Chong looked as though nothing was wrong, the Chieftain smiled and handed him a plant he had been clutching in his hand, telling him to chew it into a paste and apply it to the wound.

Luo Chong was stunned on the spot—not for any other reason, but because what the Chieftain had handed him was a dandelion. How did he know that dandelions could reduce inflammation when applied externally? It seemed he had underestimated the wisdom of these primitive people.

This simple treatment was something Luo Chong had learned while studying wilderness survival in the army. Ordinary people only knew that dandelions could be eaten as a wild vegetable; few knew much about their other effects and uses.

Having obtained the dandelion, Luo Chong treated it like a priceless treasure. He hurriedly stuffed it into his mouth, chewed it up, and smeared it over the wound. Whatever its medicinal effect, medicine was better than no medicine. Luo Chong had no intention of giving up treatment now. He felt he was still worth saving.

Seeing Luo Chong obediently do as he was told, the Chieftain was very pleased. This boy had truly exceeded his expectations. Yesterday, he had thought the boy might not survive, but today, he had given him another surprise.

But how could he know that another, unfamiliar soul now lived within this familiar body?

After arranging everyone's tasks, the Chieftain turned and left. They still had to hurry and gather food. Time waited for no one.

Luo Chong's time was tight as well. He too needed to store food for the winter. Fish should have been the easiest meat to obtain right now, but the people of this tribe did not eat fish.

In fact, less than a thousand meters from the cave was a Small River, around eight or nine meters wide. It was also the tribe's daily water source. But they were all afraid of water. After all, they could not swim, and several people had drowned before, so they had never considered getting food from the water.

Besides, they had no tools for fishing. Their usual hunting tools were wooden sticks, bone clubs, stones, and stone knives—sharpened stone flakes. They did not even have spears, much less fish spears. There was a reason they had never eaten fish.

Luo Chong was now thinking about how to catch fish. Tools were simply out of the question. All he had was the stone knife he had used to cut open the wound, and a three- or four-meter-long snakeskin. It was from the snake that had bitten his leg yesterday—the venomous snake that had killed this body's original owner. Otherwise, Luo Chong would not have transmigrated into him.

Everyone had eaten that snake last night, and the snakeskin had been left for Luo Chong. The thing was so thin that it could not be made into clothes, so the Chieftain generously gave it to Luo Chong as consolation for being bitten by the snake.

"Damn, I'm so poor I could piss blood. I've got nothing at all. Wasn't the opening supposed to be one dog, with all equipment picked up along the way? Fine, no dog—but at least tell me where I'm supposed to pick up the equipment."

Luo Chong cursed under his breath, got up, wrapped the snakeskin around his backside into something like a triangular loincloth, tied the two ends around his waist, and set off to pick up some equipment.

His fishing plan was to weave a basket for scooping up fish. Given the size of that river, the primitive ecology here, and the fact that no one had ever fished there, it should have plenty of fish.

Bamboo could be used to weave baskets, as could vines. There was no bamboo here, but vine plants were quite common. They could be found in some shrubs or climbing trees.

It was autumn now, and the vines had already half dried, making them perfect for weaving things. Fresh summer vines held too much moisture and were too soft, while dry winter vines were too brittle and snapped at the slightest bend. To weave with them, one had to roast them over a fire first. This season was just right.

Near the cave, Luo Chong pulled together a huge bundle of vines from the shrubs, then returned to the cave entrance and began his basket-weaving career. Several little companions surrounded him, watching curiously. They went "ah ah, ooh ooh," unable to speak like proper people. A few pregnant women were guarding the area near the cave, shouting for the children not to run too far. From time to time, they also glanced at Luo Chong, curious about what he was making.

Some older children were pulling grass and laying it out in the open space at the cave entrance to dry. This would be their beds and blankets in winter.

This tribe had a language, but not much of one. Their vocabulary was very limited, and many things could not be expressed through words. When they spoke, they had to talk and gesture at the same time, while those listening could only guess and muddle through. It was terribly inconvenient.

Luo Chong did not explain anything to them. Even if he did, they would not understand. The vines continuously changed shape in his hands. Several vines used as warp threads crossed in the middle, then another vine served as the weft thread, passing through the warp threads one after another. The gaps were fairly large—after all, it was meant for scooping fish. There was no point weaving it too tightly, as long as the fish could not escape.

Just then, loud cries of "Ah! Ah!" suddenly came from the distance, along with the sound of something running. Several women thought a wild beast had arrived and hurriedly called for the children to return to the cave.

All the children rushed into the cave at once. The women pulled Luo Chong inside as well, and both adults and children craned their necks curiously to look outside.

In the direction the shouting had come from, at the edge of the forest west of the cave, the bearded Chieftain and two adult men were each carrying a huge bird egg. The eggs were as large as basketballs, and they were howling as they ran.

Caw! Caw!

Accompanied by several piercing shrieks, a Terror Bird over three meters tall burst from the woods and chased after the Chieftain at full speed.

"Holy shit, you really know how to court death. You dared to steal a Terror Bird's eggs? You want eggs but not your life? Why aren't you throwing them away already?" Luo Chong cried out in shock, but unfortunately, no one could understand him.

The Chieftain did not abandon the bird egg in his arms, and the Terror Bird did not abandon the Chieftain. Back in the forest, the two sides had been able to put some distance between themselves. But now that they had left the forest and reached the open grassland, how could a human possibly outrun a Terror Bird? That enormous beak, over half a meter long, stabbed downward, and the Chieftain's head burst open like a rotten watermelon.

The headless corpse charged forward several more meters on sheer momentum before collapsing to the ground. The bird egg in its arms also shattered, egg fluid mixing with blood and brain matter, red, white, and yellow splattering everywhere.

The Chieftain, dead.

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