Recaps

Jian Mo and the tribe went to Green Marsh Source to gather flour fruit, where they discovered the lake bottom covered with years’ worth of fallen fruit. The tribe began collecting it, while Jian Mo tried to stop everyone from tasting it raw.

• Qing Kuo suggested searching for flour fruit, and Wu Jiong agreed to lead the tribe to Green Marsh Source the next morning.
• The tribe found plentiful flour fruit growing in the lake, and Jian Mo led everyone through warm-up exercises before they swam out to pick it.
• Jian Mo struggled to swim in the cold, deep water, so Wu Jiong stayed nearby to help him keep his balance.
• Jian Mo spotted flour fruit on the lake bottom, and the tribe discovered the entire bottom was covered with fallen fruit.
• Wu Jiong brought up a handful, and the tribe bit into the raw fruit and began retching before Jian Mo could stop them.

The tribe retrieved a huge supply of Flour Fruits from the lake, giving everyone hope for an easier winter. After the harvest was divided, Jian Mo received an extra share and wondered whether Flour Fruits could be fermented into wine.

• Zhou Fu, Ye Luo, and Ban Ming tasted Flour Fruits from the lakebed, and the group found most of them were still good.
• Wu Jiong organized skilled swimmers to retrieve the Flour Fruits while the others picked fruit from the trees, and the tribe gathered nearly all the lakebed supply by afternoon.
• Qing Kuo and De Jiang said the harvest should keep the tribe fed through winter, and the exhausted beastmen made a second trip to bring it all back.
• Qing Kuo and the others divided the harvest among the tribe, giving Jian Mo two shares for his contributions and the animals he fed.
• Wu Jiong offered to process some Flour Fruits the next day, and Jian Mo proposed trying to make wine from them.

Jian Mo tried fermenting Flour Fruit into liquor, but discovered that the tribe’s clay jars seeped liquid. He recognized the soil behind the house as pottery clay and decided to make a watertight jar himself.

• Jian Mo and Wu Jiong crushed and steamed Flour Fruit, mixed it with fruit wine lees, and left it to ferment beside the hearth.
• Jian Mo checked the jar twice and found that the Flour Fruit mixture had begun fermenting and smelled faintly of alcohol.
• Jian Mo noticed water beneath the jar and asked Wu Jiong and the others about the seepage.
• Wu Jiong and the others explained that clay jars commonly leaked, and Zhou Fu suggested putting dirt underneath one to catch the water.
• Jian Mo dug up heavy, compact soil, confirmed with Wu Jiong that it was pottery clay, and decided to make a jar that would not seep.

Jian Mo joined the Riverside Tribe’s pottery-making, learned how laborious the process was, and experimented with a colored glaze made from ochre-red earth. The tribe prepared to fire everyone’s pottery in a large mud-covered structure, though Jian Mo could only guess how its openings worked.

• Jian Mo asked Qing Kuo when the tribe would make pottery and volunteered to help try glazing.
• Qing Kuo organized the pottery-making, and the tribe sifted riverbank clay, mixed it with water, and pounded it until smooth.
• Jian Mo worked with Qing Kuo and the others to shape pottery, then carved patterns into his vessels before they dried in the shade.
• Jian Mo and Wu Jiong traveled to the Mengshui Tribe and traded for ochre-red earth, which Jian Mo ground, sifted, and mixed into glaze slurry.
• Jian Mo glazed five of his nearly dry pieces, and Zhou Fu and others asked him to glaze some of theirs too.
• The tribe arranged the dried pottery over firewood on a mud platform and built a dome-shaped, mud-covered structure around it for firing.

Jian Mo and the tribe fired their pottery, but most pieces broke or came out imperfect. After the group salvaged the usable pottery, they went gathering as winter approached.

• Jian Mo tended the kiln all day, feeding it wood and fanning the fire until it died down at night.
• The next morning, Jian Mo hurried Qing Kuo and the others to open the kiln and inspect the pottery.
• Jian Mo found that most of the pottery had shattered, and only two of his twelve glazed pieces remained intact, one of them cracked and the other mottled.
• Qing Kuo reassured Jian Mo that the low success rate was normal, while the group collected usable and broken pottery for household use.
• Zhou Fu praised the mottled glazed jar, and Jian Mo suggested trying charcoal and a bellows to raise the kiln's temperature next time.
• Jian Mo joined the main group to gather supplies as Qing Kuo and the others expected winter to arrive within ten days.

As winter arrived and snow covered the tribe, Jian Mo tended to a Pack-Pack Beast going into labor. The female gave birth to six healthy babies, and Jian Mo left the shed after confirming they were doing well, then asked Wu Jiong about the Flying-Winged Beast.

• Jian Mo and Qing Kuo noticed the weather changing, returned to the tribe, and helped prepare for winter.
• Jian Mo struggled to sleep in the drafty stone house, and Wu Jiong offered to warm him in his beast form.
• Wu Jiong woke Jian Mo the next morning to tell him the female Pack-Pack Beast's water had broken.
• Jian Mo checked the female, while Wu Jiong moved the nervous male and brought a brazier and hay for the birth.
• The female Pack-Pack Beast gave birth to six healthy babies, cleaned them, and carried them on her back to keep them warm.
• Jian Mo told Wu Jiong the newborns seemed fine and asked whether the Flying-Winged Beast had been fed and how it was faring in the cold.

Jian Mo and Wu Jiong prepared for the cold weather by sealing their stone house and keeping the animals warm. After Wu Jiong returned with logs that burned longer, Jian Mo stopped him from bathing in the snowy river and persuaded him to heat water instead.

• Jian Mo and Wu Jiong filled the gaps between the house stones with mud and dry grass, then Jian Mo brought the Flying-Winged Beast a pot of meat and other food.
• The next morning, Jian Mo checked the Pack-Pack Beasts, cleaned their shed, and learned that Wu Jiong had replaced the brazier’s firewood twice during the night.
• Wu Jiong took several beastmen to chop longer-burning logs, while Jian Mo gathered with the other sub-beastmen to work by the fire.
• Wu Jiong and the others returned carrying thick logs, and Ban Ming said he had bitten the hard wood and hurt his teeth.
• Wu Jiong went to bathe in the river, but Jian Mo persuaded him to heat water and bathe indoors with him.

Jian Mo and Wu Jiong planned to make charcoal so they could keep the Pack-Pack Beasts warm and fire stronger pottery. With Qing Kuo and the tribe’s help, Jian Mo built a kiln and started the first charcoal-making attempt, which was still burning as the chapter ended.

• Jian Mo explained to Wu Jiong that charcoal could burn hotter and longer and might improve their pottery.
• Wu Jiong discussed the idea with Qing Kuo, who agreed to try making charcoal and keep the process secret.
• Jian Mo told Qing Kuo that green hardwood should smolder in a kiln with few vents, then be extinguished before it burned away.
• Jian Mo made clay pieces, including a shallow pot, while the beastmen cut and split hardwood.
• Jian Mo and the others built a clay kiln around the green wood, lit it with kindling, and watched smoke rise as the tribe gathered nearby to work.

Jian Mo and the others successfully made charcoal, then divided it among the tribe and brought their shares home. Jian Mo prepared to test some charcoal in a clay basin.

• Qing Kuo and Zhou Fu judged that the wood in the kiln had become charcoal, and Jian Mo put out the fire.
• Jian Mo checked on the Pack-Pack Beasts and explained that he had to wait before milking the mother.
• The tribe gathered to open the kiln, where they found smooth, heavy charcoal that Qing Kuo praised.
• Wu Jiong set aside a third of the charcoal for the tribe and divided the rest according to each person's work.
• Jian Mo warned everyone not to burn charcoal in an enclosed space, then used dry leaves and charcoal to prepare a test fire in a clay basin.

Jian Mo and Wu Jiong tested their charcoal, then Jian Mo used it to roast meat skewers for the tribe’s little ones. The evening ended with Jian Mo learning that the Dianxin Tribe was known for making durable pottery, while the charcoal fire proved useful through the night.

• Wu Jiong agreed with Jian Mo that they could make more charcoal, as long as it did not interfere with their other work.
• Jian Mo marinated beast meat and roasted skewers over charcoal, attracting a group of little ones.
• Wu Jiong invited the little ones to share the skewers, but they ran off and returned with food to trade.
• Jian Mo shared meat with the children and explained that pottery cracks because of poor shaping, air bubbles, or uneven firing.
• Jiang Xing told Jian Mo that his father praised the Dianxin Tribe’s pottery clay, and Jian Mo said he would visit the tribe if he had the chance.
• Jian Mo put a basin of charcoal in the beast shed, where it burned until morning.

Jian Mo and the tribe fired pottery with charcoal and a hand-cranked fan, producing many smooth, glossy pieces despite numerous shards breaking. Wu Jiong arranged for the makers to choose their share first and the tribe to trade the rest, while people eagerly offered supplies for pottery.

• Wu Jiong and the beastmen gathered hardwood while Jian Mo led the tribe in making better charcoal, and Jian Mo suggested planting trees to replace those they cut.
• After Qing Kuo said the glazed pottery was ready, Jian Mo and the others built two hand-cranked fans to improve airflow in the kiln.
• The tribe fired the pottery with charcoal, and the kiln grew hotter than it had during their wood-fired attempt.
• The tribe opened the cooled kiln and found many shards, with the intact and usable pieces shining with a smooth luster.
• Wu Jiong gave two pieces to each person who had helped make the pottery and set the rest aside for the tribe to trade for supplies.

Jian Mo cooked clay-pot fish that changed Wu Jiong’s opinion of fish, then began preparing to milk the mother Pack-Pack Beast. The chapter ended with Jian Mo asking whether people from other tribes would visit that day.

• Jian Mo and Wu Jiong caught fish, and Jian Mo cooked a clay-pot fish dish that Wu Jiong found delicious.
• Jian Mo started checking woven fish traps each morning and brought home fish and shrimp for breakfast.
• Wu Jiong chose meat patties, so Jian Mo decided to roast the small fish for the mother Pack-Pack Beast.
• Jian Mo planned to try milking the mother Pack-Pack Beast now that its baby could graze on grass.
• Jian Mo asked whether people from other tribes would be coming over that day.

Jian Mo learned to milk the Pack-Pack Beast with Wu Jiong and shared the boiled milk with Wu Jiong and the Flying-Winged Beast. At the tribe’s market, he met visitors who had brought spices for him.

• Jian Mo asked Wu Jiong to help milk the timid female Pack-Pack Beast, and Wu Jiong filled a wooden bucket with milk.
• Jian Mo boiled the milk, tasted it with Wu Jiong, and added fruit jam to make a sweet-and-sour drink.
• Jian Mo gave the remaining Pack-Pack Beast milk to the Flying-Winged Beast, which eagerly drank it.
• Jian Mo visited the market where people from the Ice River Tribe and Mengshui Tribe had arrived, but he found nothing he wanted to trade for his glazed pottery.
• A group of sub-beastmen called Jian Mo Doctor Jian Mo and said they had brought spices because they heard he liked them.

Jian Mo traded a pottery plate for pepper stamens and planned to make a pepper stamen sauce. With Wu Jiong's help, he separated cream from Pack-Pack Beast milk and began preparing it.

• Jian Mo tasted the curly-haired sub-beastman's pungent, sweet pepper stamens and traded a dark brown glazed pottery plate for the packet.
• Jian Mo learned from Qing Kuo and the others that pepper stamens came from rare flowers and asked Zhou Fu to help gather more next spring.
• Jian Mo decided to use the spice to make a sauce like black pepper sauce.
• Jian Mo milked the female Pack-Pack Beast and returned home with more than half a jar of beast milk.
• Wu Jiong helped Jian Mo beat the milk until cream rose to the surface, and Jian Mo ladled it into a pot to heat.

Jian Mo made pepper stamen sauce and a satisfying steak dinner, then decided to trade for more pepper stamens at the Ice River Tribe. He and Wu Jiong flew there on the Flying-Winged Beast and were welcomed by the tribe’s chief, Kang Ying.

• Jian Mo thickened his pepper stamen sauce with fried hairy root starch and meat broth, then served it with steaks and roasted Wood-Stabilizing Root.
• Jian Mo and Wu Jiong agreed to visit the Ice River Tribe to trade cloth for pepper stamens and possibly obtain a stone mill.
• Jian Mo and Wu Jiong rode the Flying-Winged Beast to the Ice River Tribe, and Jian Mo fell asleep during the flight.
• The Ice River Tribe’s patrol recognized Jian Mo and Wu Jiong and let them enter.
• Kang Ying, chief of the Ice River Tribe, came in person to welcome Jian Mo and Wu Jiong.

Jian Mo and Wu Jiong traded for a stone mill and pepper stamens from the Ice River Tribe, but hurried back to the Riverside Tribe when a beastman reported that his young son had developed a fever. Jian Mo examined the little beastman and found a large, hard lump beneath the abscess on his back, suggesting an infection.

• Kang Ying showed Jian Mo and Wu Jiong the Ice River Tribe’s stone mills and helped them trade cloth for a small mill and a large bag of pepper stamens.
• As Kang Ying invited them to his home, a red-furred, three-tailed beastman arrived and asked Jian Mo to treat his feverish son, who had an abscess on his back.
• Jian Mo and Wu Jiong left for the Riverside Tribe on the Flying-Winged Beast, carrying their new goods.
• Ban Ming met them at the tribe and sent them home, where Qing Kuo and the little beastman’s parent were waiting.
• Jian Mo examined the little beastman and felt a large, hard lump beneath the abscess.

Jian Mo operated on Tai Yan to drain severe abscesses and kept him at home for care and observation. Tai Yan’s fever subsided and he recovered enough to become lively, though his wounds still needed time to heal.

• Jian Mo warned Tai Yan’s fathers that draining the abscesses carried risks, and they agreed he should proceed without holding him responsible for the outcome.
• Jian Mo drained and bandaged Tai Yan’s abscesses while Wu Jiong helped, then arranged for Tai Yan to stay at their home for care.
• By evening, Tai Yan’s fever had gone down and he woke up; Jian Mo fed him stew and continued treating his wounds.
• Tai Yan’s fathers returned with cloth and stem tubers to cover the medical expenses, and Jian Mo returned some of the cloth.
• As Tai Yan improved, he became lively and ran around Jian Mo and Wu Jiong’s home while his wounds continued to heal.

Jian Mo settled a dispute between the little ones and the territorial Flying-Winged Beast by offering to make ice pops. He prepared fruit-and-milk ice pops with the children's help, but they had to wait until evening to try them.

• The little beastman recovered enough to play with the tribe's children, while Jian Mo told his two fathers they could visit every other day as he continued caring for the wound.
• Banjiu alerted Jian Mo that Tai Yan and the others were arguing with Jiujiu, the Flying-Winged Beast.
• Ban Ming explained that Jiujiu had snapped at the children for disturbing him, and both the children and Jiujiu looked to Jian Mo to settle the dispute.
• Jian Mo offered everyone ice pops, distracting them from their argument, and promised they could eat them in the evening.
• Jian Mo boiled Pack-Pack Beast milk and Wood-Stabilizing Root, mixed them with fruit jam, and had the children fetch sticks and wooden cups for the ice pops.

Jian Mo made frozen fruit-and-milk ice pops for the children and the Flying-Winged Beast, then cared for Tai Yan’s healing wound. The chapter ended with Tai Yan nearly ready to return home the next day.

• Jian Mo froze fruit puree in wooden tubes and bowls while the children kept watch.
• Jian Mo shared the finished ice pops with the children and Ban Ming, then fed some to the Flying-Winged Beast.
• Jian Mo cleaned the Flying-Winged Beast’s damp nest and replaced its hay while the children asked for more ice pops.
• Jian Mo cleaned and treated Tai Yan’s nearly healed wound, telling the children to seek him if anything seemed wrong.
• Jian Mo gave Wu Jiong the largest ice pop as the children went home, and planned for Tai Yan to return home after his two fathers visited the next day.

Jian Mo and Wu Jiong searched for the escaped Flying-Winged Beast, only to learn it had returned with Wood-Stabilizing Roots after gathering them for ice pops. Jian Mo praised Jiujiu but confronted it about sneaking out and told it to ask before leaving again.

• De Jiang told Jian Mo that the Flying-Winged Beast had escaped by biting through its rope, and Wu Jiong reassured Jian Mo that it was not his fault.
• Jian Mo and Wu Jiong led the tribe in searching for the Flying-Winged Beast, but they found no trace of it during the day.
• Ban Ming met them and reported that the Flying-Winged Beast had returned carrying Wood-Stabilizing Roots, apparently after hearing the tribe was running low.
• Jian Mo thanked and praised the Flying-Winged Beast, which then tried to hide the broken rope beneath its body.
• Jian Mo sternly told the Flying-Winged Beast not to sneak out again and to tell him before going anywhere.

Jian Mo persuaded the tribe to let Jiujiu roam untethered near their home, and the Flying-Winged Beast later invited Jian Mo and Wu Jiong onto its back. It flew them toward a mountain near the Green Marsh Source, leaving them unsure what it wanted to show them.

• After Jian Mo scolded Jiujiu, the Flying-Winged Beast offered him a Wood-Stabilizing Root, and he prepared a special meal for it.
• Jian Mo asked Wu Jiong to seek permission to stop tying Jiujiu up, and the tribe agreed it could roam near their home as long as it did not leave the area.
• Jian Mo told Jiujiu the rules, but the beast chirped without seeming to understand.
• A few days later, Jiujiu tried to get Jian Mo onto its back, so Jian Mo called Wu Jiong to help.
• Jian Mo and Wu Jiong mounted Jiujiu, which flew toward a mountain near the Green Marsh Source while they wondered where it was taking them.

Jian Mo and Wu Jiong followed the Flying-Winged Beast to a valley of sweet flowers, gathered them, and made nectar syrup. After a crash woke Jian Mo during a heavy snowfall, Wu Jiong went to investigate while keeping him inside.

• The Flying-Winged Beast led Jian Mo and Wu Jiong to a warm valley, where it uncovered flowers filled with sweet nectar.
• Jian Mo and Wu Jiong stopped the Flying-Winged Beast from eating more flowers after it became drunk, then gathered two baskets to take home.
• Jian Mo and Wu Jiong soaked the flowers and simmered the nectar water into thick syrup, then made nectar tea for themselves and the Flying-Winged Beast.
• A loud crash woke Jian Mo in the middle of the night, and Wu Jiong said something had probably collapsed under the heavy snow before going to look.

After heavy snow collapsed two neglected houses, Wu Jiong returned safely and warmed Jian Mo through the night. The next day, Jian Mo examined A Hu after his friends dragged him over, but A Hu transformed into a giant orange cat and chased them off.

• Wu Jiong told Jian Mo that two houses had collapsed, though their residents had only minor injuries.
• Wu Jiong explained that the houses had been neglected and weakened by melted snow before the heavy snowfall crushed their roofs.
• Unable to warm his feet, Jian Mo slept beside Wu Jiong in his giant wolf form and woke late the next morning.
• Ban Ming and several beastmen brought the embarrassed A Hu to Jian Mo for treatment after his house collapsed and injured him.
• A Hu transformed into a large orange cat and beat up his friends while Jian Mo watched.

Jian Mo treated A Hu’s infected wounds and received a basket of tubers and eggs in thanks. He then invited Wu Jiong to try ice cream and had Ban Ming and the other beastmen help make it.

• Jian Mo examined A Hu’s wounds and found debris trapped beneath the healed skin.
• Jian Mo sent the other beastmen outside, then used a sterilized bone needle to remove the debris and applied fresh herbs to A Hu’s wounds.
• A Hu thanked Jian Mo with a basket of tubers and three eggs, then ran off before Jian Mo could refuse the gift.
• Jian Mo invited Wu Jiong to try ice cream and prepared the mixture with cream, syrup, milk, and egg yolks.
• Jian Mo asked Ban Ming and several beastmen to stir the ice cream mixture, and they were astonished when he said he had studied for nineteen years.

Jian Mo made ice cream for his friends and learned from Ye Luo about pink tube flowers in Shangnan Canyon, so he and Wu Jiong flew there to gather them. In the canyon, Jian Mo discovered insects feeding on the flowers and learned that a rare bird called a honey sparrow stored nectar as honey.

• Jian Mo explained that he was a doctor, then shared his sweetened ice cream with Ban Ming and the others.
• Ye Luo said pink tube flowers grew in Shangnan Canyon, and Jian Mo decided to go there with Wu Jiong the next day.
• Jian Mo and Wu Jiong flew through the snow to Shangnan Canyon, where Wu Jiong wrapped Jian Mo in his coat to shield him from the cold.
• They found pink and white pink tube flowers across the canyon, along with insects gathering nectar.
• Wu Jiong told Jian Mo that the insects did not make honey, but rare honey sparrows carried nectar to their nests and stored it in honey blocks.