The herders slaughtered cattle quickly. Despite the brown cattle's enormous size, its cries stopped within minutes. Its life ended, and they began skinning it.
Li Long could not help, so he went back into the crowd and asked Jade Mountain River where there was a water source on higher ground nearby.
Jade Mountain River pointed casually, then asked in passing:
"What do you want that for?"
"Once spring comes, we can run a pipe down here from up there. Getting water will be convenient, and you won't have to go down below to fetch it anymore."
Talihaal happened to hear him as he came up from the stream below carrying a bucket. Interested, he asked:
"Are there pipes that long?"
"No, but we can join them." Li Long gestured to show the pipe's diameter. "A coil of hard plastic pipe is twenty or thirty meters long. We'll bury it underground, dig a hidden pit at each joint, and connect it there. It won't matter if some water leaks out."
Everyone had been discussing how much meat the brown cattle would yield, but after hearing Li Long, they all began discussing how many pipes they would need to bury and the easiest way to bring the water over.
After explaining it to them, Li Long took a stick and went to the spot Jade Mountain River had pointed out to see whether bringing water down from there would be convenient.
The herders skinning the brown cattle did not let it slow their work. They kept skinning while trying to picture the plastic pipes.
Only Jade Mountain River and Harimu had much contact with people down the mountain. Though they had never seen hard plastic pipes that thick, they could at least imagine them. Everyone else's imagination really ran wild.
Li Long