Building a Nest

The Fire Tribe's valley seemed like a vast workshop that never stopped. Every tribesperson, young or old, male or female, was like a tightly wound spinning top, busy working toward a shared goal.

To the east and south of the original settlement, two new clearings had already been cleared, almost matching the existing settlement in size. These were the planned new hut districts.

Hunting Team Four and nearly every available worker without an assignment outside the tribe had thrown themselves into this "great house-building campaign." Work chants, the dull thuds of stone axes felling trees, and the sounds of earth being patted firm intertwined, playing a powerful symphony of labor.

Dazhuang was the chief commander of the construction effort. Following Wang Yan's improved design for rows of connected huts, he directed the workers to sharpen one end of each thick log, then drive it deep into the ground with enormous stone hammers to form sturdy frames. Next, they wove thinner sticks and bamboo strips between the frames to form the skeletons of the walls. Finally, the women and children mixed clay with chopped thatch and spread it thickly over the skeletons, as though plastering walls, to keep out the wind and hold in warmth.

"Over here, mix the mud a little thicker! Yes, just like that!" Aunt Luye led a group of women who had become professional "masons." Their deft hands patted the mud smooth and even.

Young Yingmu and Shugen displayed astonishing strength, taking charge of hauling the thickest, heaviest timber. Sweat slid down their increasingly sturdy chests, but they paid it no mind. As they watched rows of huts rise from the ground at a speed visible to the naked eye, their faces brimmed with proud smiles.

"At this rate, we can finish all the huts in both new districts before the first snow!" Dazhuang wiped away his sweat and spoke to Jianshi and Wang Yan, who had come to check on their progress. Looking at this brand-new home, his eyes filled with anticipation. "Then, even if two or three hundred people come, we'll have room for them all!" While hut construction blazed ahead like a raging fire, work to transform the land proceeded alongside it. Within the "wild vegetable growing area" and "grain growing area" Wang Yan had planned, men swung stone spades and hoes bound to hard wooden handles, digging with all their might through turf tangled with roots and loosening the compacted soil. It was grueling physical work, but no one complained.

"Deeper, a little deeper! Pick out all the grass roots!" Granny Cao was too old for heavy labor, so she sat beside the field ridge, watching and offering guidance drawn from her wealth of experience. She scooped up a handful of freshly turned black earth and rubbed it between her fingers, a satisfied look appearing on her face. "Good soil." Downstream along the creek, a new fishpond was also being dug. With their previous experience, the work went more efficiently this time. Using the terrain, they planned an inlet and an outlet to ensure the water flowed freely. The hunters in charge there had even begun pondering whether they could catch some small fry that liked to lay eggs among aquatic plants and put them in the pond to breed naturally.

Beside the animal-taming enclosure, the foundations for a new, larger animal pen had already been laid. Everyone knew that as they captured more and more young animals, the existing space would soon be insufficient. Even as they busied themselves with the construction at hand, Wang Yan, Jianshi, Jianya, and the others had begun planning longer-term safeguards.

The three stood on a slightly elevated spot at the edge of the tribe, overlooking the entire valley.

"Father, Uncle Jianya, look." Wang Yan traced a broad circle with his finger, encompassing the existing settlement, the newly built hut districts, the planned growing areas, the fishponds, and the animal-taming enclosure. "Once our population grows to six hundred, or even more, we'll range over a larger area. Our current scattered layout will be far too difficult to defend."

Jianshi nodded gravely. He had experienced conflicts between tribes and knew full well the importance of a strong barrier. "You mean enclosing all of this with a wall?"

"Yes!" Wang Yan said firmly. "Not low earthen walls like the ones we have now, but real city walls! We'll ram yellow earth down layer by layer, mixing in stones, and build them tall and thick! Outside the walls, we'll dig a deep ditch and plant sharpened wooden stakes inside! Any enemy who wants to invade us will have to pay in blood!"

It was an immensely ambitious plan, and the amount of work required was staggering. Jianya drew a deep breath, calculating. "If we're enclosing such a large area, just digging the earth and ramming the walls would probably take the entire tribe's manpower several years..."

"We don't have to finish everything in one go." Wang Yan had already considered this problem. "We can build in stages. This winter, during the slack farming season, we'll first concentrate our manpower on protecting the central residential area, the most important growing areas, and the storage area with a sturdy earthen wall. Next year, we'll expand outward. We can dig the ditch one section at a time, too."

Jianshi looked at his son, then at the valley brimming with life beneath his feet. A tribe of six hundred... That was a scale he would never even have dared imagine before.

"Good!" Jianshi finally made up his mind. "Once the huts are finished and the soil is turned, we'll start planning the walls and the ditch! We'll begin work this winter!"