Infrastructure

Feng Xu found Iron Mountain while he was skinning a wolf.

"Iron Mountain, are you still angry?"

Iron Mountain did not turn around when he heard him, continuing with his work.

"There was so much food that it would lose its spiritual essence if it sat too long. We might as well give them more and forge a good relationship. The tribes aren't far apart, and we may need to help each other in the future."

"I just can't stand that look on his face!" Iron Mountain said angrily.

"If they had shown that kind of courage in battle, I would have respected them a little more."

"You can't put it that way. They've lived in fear for so long that it's normal for them to be timid. The Lukun Tribe has suffered terribly. You didn't see it, but when I got there, they were nearly starving to death in that pit."

With that kind of living arrangement, it would have been strange if they were not cowards.

There was no hope for this generation. If they wanted the next generation to be braver, it would be best to get them living above ground.

"Iron Mountain, arrange for some people to dig pits at the camp. It's time to build houses there."

"We're so busy these days. Where are we supposed to find the manpower?"

"Make room somehow. Two people will be enough. This is mainly an experiment. If it works, we can build houses the same way once we're done with everything else."

Feng Xu had the two men dig a pit half a zhang deep within the camp and took out one wolf skeleton from the wolves killed during the night raid.

They stripped away all the scraps of flesh, smashed off the excess vertebrae, and positioned the spine end upward.

After compacting it, they filled it with soil, tamped it down again, and laid crushed stones over it. The inside of the rib cage stood one chi higher than the surrounding ground.

They first secured a layer of wooden slats, spread a layer of dry grass over them, then covered it with tanned wolfhide and pinned it to the ground with wooden stakes.

A simple house was complete.

There were few trees here, and the ground was rather hard, making it troublesome to build houses out of either earth or wood.

The wolfhide from wolves over ten zhang long was too thick. It could be used to make giant armor, but not clothing that could be worn.

Feng Xu placed a stone bed inside, covered it with dry grass, and then laid wolfhide over it. He trimmed the wolf fur short and used the excess fur as stuffing to make pillows.

Feng Xu walked around inside and outside the house several times, continuing to improve it. Only after he felt there were no more problems did he have someone call Iron Mountain over.

Iron Mountain circled the house several times, went inside to inspect it, and tested the bed before nodding in praise.

"So wolf bones and hides can be used like this. At least they aren't being wasted."

"The main thing is that it's fast. The ribs are connected to the spine and are naturally sturdy, so they make house building much easier."

However, strong winds occasionally swept through this area, so the stability of the house was paramount.

"Prophet, you've helped me so much. How should I thank you?" Feng Xu first gave a polite response, then immediately changed the subject. People in this era were rather simple-minded, and he was afraid Iron Mountain would take his polite words seriously.

"If you really want to thank me, there's something from the Red Iron Tribe that I happen to want."

"Take whatever you want. The Red Iron Tribe was able to become independent thanks to you as well."

"I want to take that wild boar back to the Wind-Fire Tribe."

"This..." Iron Mountain hesitated. A giant wolf skeleton over ten zhang long could make such a large house. Wouldn't that hundred-zhang boar make an even roomier one?

Moreover, Feng Xu had already taken the Earth Immortal Wolf King, and now he wanted the boar too. That made Iron Mountain somewhat uncomfortable.

But the boar had originally been killed by Feng Sui, and they already had enough beast bones for building houses.

There were more than a hundred wolf carcasses ranging from ten to over thirty zhang long. If all of them were turned into houses, the entire camp would not be able to hold them. There were only thirty-odd people in the tribe; they had no need for so many houses.

As for food, they could not possibly finish it all.

"Fine, you can take it. But I hope you'll come to the Red Iron Tribe more often in the future. We need your help with construction."

Iron Mountain nodded as he spoke.

Feng Xu readily agreed.

What a joke. How could I not come by more often? If Iron Mountain's ambitions swelled in the future, I could spot it early.

Iron Mountain had the previous two men continue building houses, while Feng Xu took out the Heavenly Net and Earthly Web and stored the boar inside.

The burlap sacks could hold at most sixty tons. Neither the Wolf King nor the Pig Demon could fit inside them.

Forty percent of the boar's meat was gone, most of it having been used to lure the wolf pack into attacking and wear them down.

He had originally wanted to trade food with other tribes, but after making a round of trips, he somehow had even more food. What was he supposed to do now?

If they could not eat it all, it would go to waste.

It would be nice if there were a way to strengthen his cultivation through Devouring flesh and blood.

Wait, there really seemed to be one.

Feng Xu opened the Merit Mall and found a divine ability called Devouring.

It was a method commonly used by the savage beasts of the Primordial World. It strengthened the physical body by devouring flesh and blood, and cost only one thousand Merit.

But after Feng Xu exchanged for it, he was dumbfounded.

It truly was a method only savage beasts could use.

The Human Race could use this method to refine vast quantities of flesh and blood before swallowing it, but they lacked the digestive abilities of savage beasts.

Even if they swallowed it, the result was merely that they could go without food for a long time while their bodies slowly digested the flesh they had consumed.

Moreover, this method only worked on raw meat. Cooked meat lost its vitality.

It seemed he could only think of another solution.

Two days later, all the wolf carcasses had been processed, and the Lukun Tribe prepared to leave.

The Windfire Squad followed behind them as well.

The route to the Lukun Tribe was conveniently along the way, and they could rest there.

More importantly, Kun Tai had grown envious after seeing the new houses made from beast bones.

Feng Xu agreed to help them build houses, since there was Merit to be earned.

The two warriors who were eager to return to the Wind-Fire Tribe took the children back first. The elderly and women who had set out with them also returned together.

Only Feng Xi and the women obtained through exchange followed Feng Xu to the Lukun Tribe.

Unable to cross the mountains while carrying goods, the group took four days to reach the Lukun Tribe.

When those left behind discovered that they had returned with a great deal of food, they all cheered with delight.

"Happy? Feeling blessed? You won't be able to laugh soon enough," Feng Xu muttered inwardly.

Building houses was a massive undertaking. In the days ahead, they could no longer laze about as they had before.

Winter was approaching, and to speed things up, everyone in the tribe who could move joined the construction.

The Lukun Tribe's houses used earthen walls. Feng Xu had people make some wooden boards to tamp the earth walls solid.

The elderly and children were responsible for digging earth, using iron shovels made by the Red Iron Tribe.

The women transported materials and mixed mud, while the men built the houses.

To make the earthen walls sturdier, they mixed in plenty of dry grass.

The earthen walls were compacted in staggered layers, forming an overall square shape. The roofs were made from branches and wild grass, much like those of the Lin Tribe.

For the Lukun Tribe, semi-subterranean houses might have been easier to adapt to, but Feng Xu did not intend to do that.

On one hand, waterproofing semi-subterranean houses was troublesome. On the other, he wanted the Windfire Squad to gain experience.

The Wind-Fire Tribe probably used earthen houses as well. By familiarizing themselves with the process in advance, they could later teach more people how to do it.

Each house had only one room, with a large bed inside that could accommodate five people. They built a stove and a smoke exhaust pipe for winter heating.

With plenty of manpower, the three model houses took two days to build. Feng Xu adjusted the division of labor for the remaining work.

Building more houses at the same time would extend the construction period for each individual house.

Overall, however, the entire tribe would be built faster.

The Windfire Squad hurried away. Winter would arrive before long, and the Wind-Fire Tribe was still living in caves.

They returned to the Wind-Fire Tribe three days later.

After being away so long and helping others build houses, returning to the Wind-Fire Tribe gave Feng Xu the feeling of going to the countryside to alleviate poverty. The surrounding trees had all been cut down, and quite a few people were digging pits in the large clearing at the center.

Feng Xu had Feng Yuqi relay instructions to Feng Sui: clear an open area forty zhang long and fifteen zhang wide, then dig a pit one zhang deep.

The project had now been underway for four days and was basically complete.