Chapter Summaries

Jian Mo treated injured competitors at the Hunting Gathering and received two Pack-Pack Beasts from the family of one patient. After Wu Jiong accepted the gift, they led the animals back toward their tribe, with Jian Mo gathering fruits and spices along the way.

• Jian Mo brought his medical kit to the Hunting Gathering and treated a beastman with a broken leg and another with a serious gash.
• Ban Ming introduced A Meng, who gave Jian Mo two Pack-Pack Beasts in thanks for treating his father.
• Jian Mo asked Wu Jiong whether he should accept the animals, and Wu Jiong said he should because legs were important.
• Wu Jiong told Jian Mo he had won first place in the hunting competition, then took the Pack-Pack Beasts' ropes and led them back with him.
• Jian Mo collected fruits and spices on the way while watching the Pack-Pack Beasts eat.

Jian Mo brought two Pack-Pack Beasts home and discovered that one was pregnant. At the Hunting Gathering, he treated a child who had fallen from a tree and determined that the boy’s bleeding came from a cut inside his mouth.

• Jian Mo and Wu Jiong brought the Pack-Pack Beasts back to the tribe and kept them outside overnight.
• Jian Mo noticed the Pack-Pack Beasts had eaten the grass and roots beneath them, then discovered that the female was pregnant.
• Jian Mo learned that the female Pack-Pack Beast was expected to give birth in winter and returned his attention to the Hunting Gathering.
• A sub-beastman from the Mengshui Tribe brought Jian Mo a sweet drink made with cooling leaves and sweet fruit.
• Two people brought Jian Mo a child who had fallen from a tree and was coughing up blood.
• Jian Mo examined the child, found a bleeding gash in his mouth and a broken tooth, then rinsed the wound and pressed a clean cloth against it.

Jian Mo treated a little beastman’s broken baby tooth and received flour fruits as thanks. Back home, he learned that the fruits had to be shelled before they could safely be fed to Pack-Pack Beasts.

• Jian Mo had the little beastman change into his beast form, pulled out the broken tooth, and told his fathers how to care for the wound.
• The little beastman’s fathers offered Jian Mo flour fruits and Wood-Stabilizing Roots, but Jian Mo accepted only a basket of flour fruits.
• Jian Mo finished treating patients, then returned to his tribe with Wu Jiong and brought out the flour fruits for the Pack-Pack Beasts.
• Wu Jiong warned Jian Mo that the beasts could not digest the shells and borrowed a sheller to remove them.
• Jian Mo examined the large kernels and found their smell so unpleasant that it nearly made him retch.

Jian Mo experimented with flour fruit as a possible winter food, but its foul taste persisted even after he processed and soaked it. After the Hunting Gathering ended with the Riverside Tribe placing second overall, Jian Mo decided to try making lye-water flour fruit cakes.

• Jian Mo discovered that flour fruit could be ground into starch water, but its smell made the cakes he prepared nearly inedible.
• Jian Mo soaked the flour fruit to remove its odor, while Wu Jiong said other tribes had made cakes from it but few people could stomach them.
• The flour fruit's smell grew fainter after several days of soaking, but Zhou Fu rejected the cakes and said he would rather go hungry.
• The Hunting Gathering ended with the Riverside Tribe ranking second overall among the tribes.
• Jian Mo burned dry grass and collected its ash to make lye water for another attempt at flour fruit cakes, and Wu Jiong questioned whether ash could be eaten.

Jian Mo and Wu Jiong figured out how to process flour fruit cakes with lye water, then stir-fried them into a tasty snack. Jian Mo brought the new food to the tribe’s sub-beastmen to try, and they were amazed but could not identify it.

• Jian Mo and Wu Jiong ground flour fruit, mixed it with lye water, boiled it into cakes, and soaked them to remove the strange smell.
• Jian Mo invited Wu Jiong to move his bedding upstairs, and Wu Jiong said he would do so in a couple of days.
• Jian Mo and Wu Jiong tasted the rinsed flour fruit cakes, then gathered Sour-Sour Fruit and cool leaves to stir-fry them with cured meat and seasonings.
• Wu Jiong enjoyed the dish, and Jian Mo recognized it as a satisfying snack and decided to share it with Zhou Fu and the others.
• Jian Mo brought flour fruit cakes to the clearing, where Zhou Fu and the other sub-beastmen tasted them and debated whether they were meat or a tuber.

After Jian Mo showed the Riverside Tribe how Flour Fruit could be made into cake, the tribe considered gathering more from disputed land near the True Scarlet Tribe and Yigu Tribe. They decided to send a group on the long journey, with Wu Jiong arranging for half the young adults to stay behind and the children who could transform to go along.

• Jian Mo revealed that the cake was made from Flour Fruit, and Qing Kuo realized it could help families get through winter.
• Qing Kuo explained that land disputed by the True Scarlet Tribe and Yigu Tribe had been left unclaimed, and the group asked Ying Duan about gathering Flour Fruit there.
• Ying Duan confirmed the marshy land held Flour Fruit but warned that both tribes competed to gather its resources each year.
• Zhou Fu argued that the group should explore the area even if the Flour Fruit was gone, and the others discussed the trip over the next two days.
• The group decided to travel to the True Scarlet Tribe, and Wu Jiong arranged for half the young adults to remain in the Riverside Tribe while most children who could transform joined the expedition.

Jian Mo and Wu Jiong searched the unclaimed land beside the True Scarlet Tribe for Flour Fruit, finding most lakes already picked clean. They discovered an untouched lake beyond a mountain and returned to bring the group there.

• Jian Mo traveled with Wu Jiong and the group to the unclaimed land beside the True Scarlet Tribe.
• Wu Jiong and Jian Mo flew over the lakes on the Flying-Winged Beast, but saw that the Flour Fruit had been picked from nearly all of them.
• Wu Jiong directed the Flying-Winged Beast over a mountain toward a shallow lake that few gatherers visited.
• Jian Mo and Wu Jiong found the lake full of unpicked Flour Fruit and turned back with the Flying-Winged Beast.
• The group eagerly set out after hearing that the lake held enough Flour Fruit to fill all their carrying baskets.

Jian Mo and the tribe reached a lake to gather Flour Fruit, then camped overnight to dry the kernels. The next morning, Jian Mo found the kernels had turned pale and brittle, making them lighter to carry back.

• Zhou Fu rode Jiu Yin, and the beastmen raced to the lake with Jian Mo and Wu Jiong leading from the sky.
• The group entered the lake to gather Flour Fruit, taking care around deep holes and fierce, sharp-toothed fish.
• Wu Jiong sent Jian Mo ashore to peel shells while he gathered fruit, and the group dried the kernels in the sun and wind.
• With too much Flour Fruit to finish gathering and drying in one day, Wu Jiong and the others decided to camp by the lake overnight.
• The next morning, Jian Mo checked the Flour Fruit and found the kernels pale, brittle, and much lighter to carry.

Jian Mo and the tribe processed soaked Flour Fruit into cakes, which had lost nearly all their unpleasant flavor and seemed promising for winter storage. He invited Qing Kuo and the others to stay for dinner and planned to test the cakes in a stew.

• Jian Mo reassured Qing Kuo that sun-dried Flour Fruit could still be used, then cooked a breakfast of roasted vegetables, fruit, meat, and fish for the group.
• The group returned to the tribe and weighed baskets of peeled Flour Fruit down in the river to soak.
• As winter neared, the tribe worked harder to gather food, and Zhou Fu later told Jian Mo that the Flour Fruit had soaked long enough.
• Jian Mo and Wu Jiong took out the softened fruit, and Jian Mo described a stone mill; Wu Jiong said the Mengshui Tribe had a water mill and offered to trade for suitable stones.
• Jian Mo, Qing Kuo, Zhou Fu, Xi Lu, and the others pounded the Flour Fruit with lye water, shaped it, boiled it, and tasted the resulting cakes.
• Qing Kuo praised the cakes as promising winter food, and Jian Mo invited everyone to dinner to try them in a stew.

Jian Mo prepared stew and toasted Flour Fruit cakes with jam at a tribal feast, bringing the gathered tribe members together. As everyone discussed collecting more Flour Fruit, Ye Luo revealed it grew behind the mountain near the Green Marsh Source.

• Qing Kuo suggested a tribal feast, and everyone brought food while Jian Mo added spices and scallop powder for the stew.
• Jian Mo cooked as the others watched and learned, then toasted Flour Fruit cakes over the bonfire while chatting with the gathering.
• Banjiu climbed onto Jian Mo's lap, and Jian Mo shared pieces of toasted cake with the little ones.
• Jiang Xing fetched sand-yellow fruit jam, which Jian Mo spread on the toasted cakes and shared with the children, Wu Jiong, and the others.
• Ye Luo told Ban Ming that Flour Fruit grew behind the mountain near the Green Marsh Source, explaining why Ban Ming had never found it.

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.