Chapter 292: Building a Wooden Bridge Along the Canyon Path

These three men all placed their hopes on Nan Qinghuan; seeing them looking at her like that, Nan Qinghuan had already thought it through—she had once built a wooden bridge in the Ying Tribe, making those vines a thing of the past, so she was considering opening a new path on the cliff.

Although in antiquity this would be an impossible task, she believed it was a matter of human effort.

She took a Homework Notebook from the pocket of the Hemp Robe; it was something she had brought in her bag. When she fled, Ying had burned it in front of her, and she had mourned it for a long time, but she didn't expect that man to be clever enough not to burn her belongings.

This provided the condition for her to have these items now.

Youchao Xuan and Yao had never seen the Homework Notebook in her hand, and they asked, "Goddess, what is this?"

"This is a kind of advanced civilization, it's called paper. When our children and tribe members become literate, we can figure out how to make paper and end your history of recording with grass rope."

She knew the Tribe recorded events with grass rope and had no writing at all; Youchao Xuan could still draw, so perhaps the earliest pictographs originated that way.

The early civilization was gradually taking shape.

"Paper?"

The three men were bewildered; Ying had seen it before but didn't know what it was for.

At the time he was ruthless, thinking that if he burned her bag she wouldn't escape, but in the end he kept it for her; it was the only thing Qinghuan brought here, and he didn't want to destroy it.

Fortunately he left it, otherwise they wouldn't know about this thing called paper.

Nan Qinghuan also didn't know whether they could understand, so she picked up her brush and began to draw, "Look, this is the most treacherous spot of the Tribe, this is the canyon, this is the hilltop; actually we could build a wooden bridge to cross."

Hearing this, Ying seemed to understand: yes, the wooden bridge Qinghuan built is still usable; that time she ran away again, I chased her, and thinking about it… it really feels like a thing of the past.

Thinking of this, he felt a lingering fear; now Li Xiang had arrived, coming to escort her away.

He must stay on guard!

Ying's expression turned odd, and Nan Qinghuan, sensing it, stopped drawing, "Fine, I know you can't understand. How about this: I'll take you to the wooden bridge and tell you personally how to do it?"

She was now pregnant; Ying originally didn't want her to go, but he couldn't explain himself, so he ended up carrying Nan Qinghuan on his back. The night road was difficult, but to hasten the construction of a road between the two tribes and turn this place into the village Qinghuan described, he persisted.

They were also very interested.

After the last Rainy Season, many parts here were flooded, making travel difficult.

Ying knew there were mosquitoes at night and feared they would bite Nan Qinghuan, so he specially applied repellent on her. Seeing this, Yao smiled and gave his blessing.

Goddess, as long as you can be happy following him, I am very glad.

Having done all this, Ying finally felt at ease taking her to the place where they had built the wooden bridge last time; the tropical rainforest was hot and humid, and she had already mastered this ancient weather.

It was completely different from modern times; it seemed winter was coming, yet there were still several months left, and according to the local calendar, winter's timing was not fixed.

So that was quite troublesome.

The rainforest contained water that would reach a normal person's thigh, but that wasn't the worst; the scariest part was the many terrifying insects and snakes that roamed inside.

The path was hard to traverse.

This made tribal travel very inconvenient, but fortunately Ying was tall with long legs, so the standing water in the forest only reached his calves. Seeing their Shoes soaked, Nan Qinghuan devised a bold plan.

If we cut down part of the forest here, cultivate the soil, store water, and plant Rice, what then? She knew that to make the Tribe into a coveted village‑town of antiquity, they had to expand farmland and make the people fully depend on this land.

Endless vitality…

She felt safe on Ying's back; by the time they arrived, the sky had brightened.

They also reached the spot where the wooden bridge had been built, but the scene before them left several of them dumbfounded.

"How could this happen?"

Ying also saw that the wooden bridge had been destroyed in the river, apparently by something.

Yao, seeing this, was also puzzled, "Ying, what animal destroyed the bridge here?"

It was clear that some animal had trampled it.

Youchao Xuan hurried to the muddy area, crouched down, and saw a huge pit that looked like a Giant Beast's footprint, "It seems to be the footprints of Xiao Guai and its companions."

"Xiao Guai? Impossible, Xiao Guai wouldn't come here. Strange, why didn't anyone inform me that the wooden bridge was destroyed?"

"Ying"

As they said this, Ashu hurried from behind with people, "Ying, why are you all here?"

Seeing Ashu arrive, Nan Qinghuan rushed forward, "Ashu, how could you not know the wooden bridge here was destroyed?"

Ashu replied, "Ah, I just repaired it yesterday, how did this happen again? I was looking for you, wanted to ask if Jingang and its spouse caused this?"

Since Jingang and its spouse have been active in the tribal jungle without any incidents, they don't live in the Tulou, their ambitions are hard to train, and Nan Qinghuan no longer cares about them; the jungle is the animals' home, forcing Jingang to live in the Tulou is unrealistic.

So they were left alone.

Hearing this, Youchao Xuan shook his head, "No, this wasn't done by Jingang and its spouse; look at the trace of the footprints, they shouldn't be from our Tribe's beasts."

Ying naturally also saw it; he is the master of this land, how could he not tell that it was done by an outsider beast.

"There are also some feathers here."

Yao picked up a few large feathers from the river, looking like… "They are feathers of a Flying Beast."

Yao recognized them.

Ying, holding the few jet‑black feathers, clenched his fist and then ordered Ashu, "Ashu, have the tribe rebuild this wooden bridge, station people here to guard it, and then…"

He paused, then continued, "Go find the Ancestor, have her give you some poison to sprinkle on the leaves everywhere; the Flying Beast, hm, I will make it a dead beast."

Ying knew who did it; this time he would make that creature never return.

Ashu quickly bowed, "Yes."

Ashu promptly sent people to handle it, then led them to rebuild the bridge. Nan Qinghuan had previously taught them how to construct it, so the tribe knew how, and no further questions were asked; they did as needed.

They lifted the wooden bridge out of the water, then felled trees again to drive piles.

As the tribe cleaned up, Nan Qinghuan hurried, "We can use the wood to make a bridge, like this."

The river isn't wide, so building a wooden bridge is relatively easy, but the canyon is very long—how to secure it? Youchao Xuan thought it impossible, "Goddess, the canyons on both sides are too long to manage."

"We can try. We'll use the principle of building house beams, fastening the wood together with rivets to achieve balance and mutual restraint. Youchao Xuan, what do you think?"