The Camp Was No Place to Stay

"Butterfly, how are the bark bags coming along?"

Butterfly and the others had been taught to make bark bags after dinner yesterday. They had basically finished making their first bark bag before bedtime.

After that, it all came down to how efficiently they could improve their proficiency.

To be honest, without the restriction of a knowledge threshold, he believed primitive people's learning efficiency was higher than that of many modern people.

Take Butterfly and the others, for example. The earnestness they showed while learning to make things was visible to the naked eye.

Moreover, their earnestness was completely different from that of modern people. Their seriousness carried the determination of someone staking everything on a single throw.

For them, this matter left no room for retreat. It directly concerned their survival.

So whenever they did anything, they threw themselves into it wholeheartedly!

Zhou Xu took one of the bark bags Butterfly and the others had made and gave it a rough inspection.

Simply put, it was a little rougher than the one he had made. That was a matter of handicraft technique, but it was already perfectly usable.

"Not bad. Everyone's learned how to make them, right?"

Faced with his question, all five members of the handicraft team, including Butterfly, nodded.

"Good. From now on, you two will continue making these bark bags. Butterfly, you three, come with me to learn something new."

Polishing stone axes undoubtedly fell within the scope of handicrafts, and the work was even more time-consuming and labor-intensive.

According to Zhou Xu's idea, everyone in their tribe should have at least one, right?

With that in mind, stone axes were typical consumables. Even polished stone axes were more durable, but their durability was still limited, so they also had to take spare axes into account.

Thus, Zhou Xu made a rough estimate. In the early stages, they would need to make forty stone axes.

They definitely could not raise their efficiency by relying on just one or two people.

"We'll take it one step at a time. First, we'll start by choosing stones. Pick ones like this..."

Without any wasted words, the entire lesson began.

Polishing a stone axe itself was not difficult. In terms of complexity, it might not even compare with weaving bark bags.

But this was more important for the moment, so after making a certain number of bark bags, Zhou Xu directly had the handicraft team shift its focus to polishing stone axes.

A single afternoon was enough for each of them to finish one.

He did not know whether Butterfly's Nimble Hands talent was taking effect, but after getting past her initial unfamiliarity, she quickly got the hang of it. In the end, the stone axe she polished was actually a little better than his when examined closely.

If not for women's disadvantage in strength and stamina, her overall production efficiency might even have surpassed his.

"Hiss—"

This left Zhou Xu with mixed feelings.

In the long run, having such a skilled person solve his tribe's equipment problems was of course a good thing.

But as the tribe's chief, he had just made a stone axe and then immediately been surpassed by Butterfly. Wouldn't that damage his dignity as chief?

At that thought, Zhou Xu gave an awkward cough.

"Butterfly, you did very well. From now on, I'll leave this task to you!"

Avoidance might be shameful, but it worked!

Damn it, this camp is no place to stay.

Early the next morning, Zhou Xu simply went with Dashan and the others to the Black Forest to carry out an exploration mission.

They had basically finished exploring this outer region. After splitting up with the hunting team led by Fei Que, they headed straight toward the depths of the Black Forest.

During this time, all five members of the gathering team, including Dashan, had been equipped with the newly polished stone axes. Only Zhou Xu, the sixth person, was still carrying a Bone Spear.

At this point, there were only five polished stone axes. That was only one reason.

In Zhou Xu's view, the appearance of stone axes could not completely replace the position of Bone Spears.

After all, the former was a short-handled weapon while the latter was a long-handled weapon. Their roles in combat were fundamentally different.

And as a modern man with little combat experience, compared with a dangerous short-handled weapon, he felt more at ease with the attack range a long-handled weapon could provide.

At that moment, walking through the Black Forest with Zhou Xu protected in the middle, he could sense that Dashan and the others were still fairly relaxed.

A mere few days had been enough for them to gain a preliminary understanding of this area.

The surroundings were all Desolate Land, and the oddly shaped black trees in the forest were bare and utterly lifeless.

Although there was a lake nearby, it was a saltwater lake, so animals could not possibly come here to drink.

Other than insects and rats with tenacious vitality, there was nothing else.

In a way, it was fairly safe, but it was not very suitable for humans to live in for a long time.

According to Zhou Xu's way of thinking, if the tribe wanted to develop, he first had to obtain a stable food supply. Relying solely on hunting was definitely not enough.

Not to mention that here, they could only eat rats and insects.

What did he need? He needed farming! He needed to usher in an agricultural civilization!

But just by looking at how barren the nearby land was, one could tell what a lousy place this was. What crops could he grow here?

When all was said and done, he had not found any crops at all yet!

Therefore, his tribe definitely would not stay here forever. For the sake of survival, they had to relocate.

But certainly not now!

Their main task now was to stockpile a certain amount of food while conducting as much exploration as they could within their means, searching for a suitable relocation site.

They could not simply begin relocating without a second thought.

[Eye of Insight]

Looking at the Black Forest before him and recalling how he had discovered the existence of True Words at the altar through the Eye of Insight yesterday, Zhou Xu decided to give it a try. He directly activated True Words and began observing.

Although he saw no strange clusters of light with that glance, a scene in one part of the Black Forest, visible through layer upon layer of black trees, caught his attention.

[What's that...?]

"Dashan, let's head over there. There seems to be something over there."

When Zhou Xu used True Words, he did not avoid Dashan and the others. Therefore, they had complete faith in his instructions and immediately moved in the direction he indicated without a second word.

After advancing roughly two or three hundred meters deeper, a huge fissure in the ground gradually appeared within Dashan and the others' field of vision.

"Chief?"

Upon discovering the fissure, Dashan and the others clearly tensed up. At the same time, they instinctively turned back to look at Zhou Xu, waiting for him to issue an order.

"Don't be nervous. This kind of fissure doesn't look man-made. It should have been caused by tectonic movement."

Although they had no idea what the "tectonic movement" their chief mentioned meant, his words still soothed them somewhat.

As he spoke, Zhou Xu, seeming to have discovered something, waved his hand and motioned for Dashan and the others to come over.

After moving closer for a while longer, he found the right position and used the power of the Eye of Insight to look down into the fissure.

The fissure's pitch-black environment did not affect him much.

As his gaze penetrated deeper, enormous webs soon entered his field of vision one after another, causing an ominous premonition to rise in his heart.

And at that very moment, atop one of the webs, a huge and ferocious figure abruptly barged directly into his sight!

The latest update is here. Thanks to the readers 'Ci Yu Bu Tu Ci,' 'Xiu Yu Lei,' 'Idle Man of the World,' and 'Eyes Filled with Stars' for the rewards. After reading, please cast a vote while you're at it, bros!