Chapter 355: The Big Tribe's Stone House

Wu Yue took the bamboo jar the shaman handed over, opened it with some doubt to look inside.

Inside the thick bamboo jar was actually a yellow ant crawling back and forth.

"Is this an ant?"

The shaman, hearing this, looked at her somewhat surprised: "Do you know this kind of bug?"

Wu Yue nodded: "I've seen it before in the tribe, but that was black; this yellow one I've never seen before."

The shaman nodded: "There are many of these black bugs in the forest, nothing strange, but this yellow kind is rare, only found on some mountains."

And any mountain where this bug is found is unsuitable for digging caves.

They eat the surrounding mountain soil, turning the whole mountain into their nest.

Wu Yue suddenly thought of the things she had stepped on and crushed a few days ago: "Are these ants' unhatched larvae yellow granules?"

The shaman, however, shook his head: "I don't know that either."

Wu Yue then recounted how she and Yuan Lang had discovered the yellow granules a few days earlier.

After hearing, the shaman sighed: "What a pity, this mountain has already been eaten away so much; we have to look for a new campsite again."

Wu Yue looked at the collapsed cave and said: "Shaman, today's incident is not necessarily a bad thing."

"This mountain has already been half-eaten; the ants' target will soon be the large cave where we used to live."

"Now that the collapse has been discovered is better than the large cave collapsing."

Hearing this, the shaman's body shuddered, also feeling a lingering fear: "Yeah, if the large cave collapsed..."

"Such a result they simply dare not think about."

Although his heart felt a hint of comfort, the matter of having to find a new campsite still worried the several bigwigs until their faces scrunched up.

"Shaman, why not consider that kind of house you built last month?"

Yuan Lang's voice suddenly sounded from beside; the beastman warriors who had finished rescuing people gathered over, hearing this they were also startled.

"Yuan Lang, are you thinking of building a stone house?"

The shaman looked at the beastfolk and said.

"Stone house?"

Wu Yue was also hearing for the first time the name of a building other than the house she had built before.

But she didn't know that, to the Snow Tiger shaman and those who had seen stone houses, the underground one she had built could only be called a thatched shed, utterly incomparable to the large stone house built outside by the big tribe using huge stones.

Moreover, those stone houses represent high status; only noble shamans and chiefs can live in them, and even beastman warriors, only an extremely few who are very wealthy can build such large stone houses.

Yuan Lang nodded: "Although the area below is near the forest, we need to relocate during the heavy rain season; if we could build a house sturdier than a stone house, we wouldn't need to look for a new campsite."

"Yuan Lang, stone houses aren't something you can just build; those stones as big as beastman warriors need to be polished piece by piece by the beastman warriors and brought back."

"Even if our beastman warriors don't go hunting to build stone houses, before winter we might not be able to build that many stone houses; what will the rest of the tribe do?"

The surrounding beastfolk all nodded in agreement.

But only Wu Yue, Teng Qian, and Teng Kun knew that the stone house Yuan Lang spoke of was not the kind the beastman warriors understood, built from polished stones...

... but they couldn't say.

After a moment's thought, Wu Yue looked at the shaman and chief: "Shaman, Chief, I and Yuan Lang and a few others will try to build a stone house; you then send a small team of beastman warriors to look for a new campsite.

If our stone house cannot be built, we will directly move to the new campsite, and it won't waste time."

After a moment's thought, the shaman nodded: "That's also possible, but I can't allocate many people to you, because there are still many tribe members waiting for food to fill their stomachs."

Wu Yue nodded: "Okay."

Leaving the cave, the four beastfolk looked at each other, then the three beastman warriors all turned to look at Wu Yue walking last.

Being stared at by a tall beastman warrior, Wu Yue retreated two steps, a little scared: "What... what do you want? Did you regret it?"

After saying that, she puffed out her still-undeveloped beastman chest, the flat field, saying: "Just now, in front of the shaman and chief, we already agreed; you can't just dump the responsibility on me now."

The three beastfolk exchanged glances, naturally understanding what this little female meant.

Yuan Lang frowned: "I have never built a house."

"Putting up a tent or something he can manage, but building a house... well, a general isn't omnipotent!"

Teng Qian and Teng Kun also gave a dry, hehe laugh and shrugged: "We haven't built one either; we only helped out as kids with the village men."

"Most importantly, we don't have bricks or adhesive now; we can't just stack them piece by piece, or they'll surely collapse!"

Wu Yue looked at them with disillusionment: "Since you don't know how to build a house, why did you say that in the cave just now?"

Yuan Lang gave a light cough, sounding somewhat aggrieved: "Didn't you build that kind of underground house before?"

Wu Yue: "..."

"Back then I piled earth into a wall above the big pit; are you now asking me to pile earth again?"

"Digging a hole underground is fine, but I don't know anything about building above ground."

For a moment, the four of them just stared at each other.

"So what do we do?"

"I know what to do?"

"Just do what needs to be done!"

Wu Yue sighed in her heart, wondering if she had to call on the system again.

"Ding~ Main quest issued: Please host successfully construct a solid, durable house and promote it throughout the Snow Tiger Tribe."

"Quest deadline: before winter."

"Reward: Cotton seeds ×1 (bag)"

"Points: 500"

"Note: Additional excellent performance may be rewarded accordingly."

"Please host, keep striving and achieve greater accomplishments!"

Wuyue:...

She doesn't even know how to build a house, yet she demands it be sturdy and durable—she really has it tough.

"Host, the reward for this task is truly unprecedentedly abundant; we must complete it!"

"You say it's easy, but how to complete it—are you going to make me spend points to buy it again?"

After saying that, she gave Tongzi a miserly, pinching look.

Tongzi was fuming: "Old paper, are you that kind of Tongzi who only exploits the host?"

Wu Yue: You are!

Seeing Wu Yue's determined gaze, Tongzi snorted disdainfully: "I actually had some good news to tell you, but since you don't believe me, forget it."

Upon hearing that, Wu Yue's eyes lit up: "We're companions who rely on each other; how could I not believe you? Just kidding."

After saying that, she beamed, hugged Lan Pangzi from her backpack to her chest, and waved at the three somewhat glum Beastman Warriors: "I'll go back to think of a solution; I'll come find you once I have one."

Having said that, she prepared to dash off in a puff of smoke.

Yuan Lang sighed and stepped forward: "The cave collapsed; let me take you to set up a tent."

Wu Yue then scratched her head somewhat embarrassedly; she had been solely focused on Tongzi's good idea and forgotten that they now had no cave to return to.

Seeing the little female's slightly embarrassed look, Yuan Lang's lips twitched: "Don't worry, I..."—he had set up many tents before.

Before he could finish speaking, a loud voice from ahead interrupted: "Yue, I've already built your tent—come back and sleep!"

Yuan Lang:...

Nowadays, Beastfolk and such are no longer obstacles; it's these clueless little females who always ruin things.

Wu Yue anxiously wanted to know the good news from Tongzi, so naturally she didn't notice the displeased look of the Beastman Warrior beside her.

However, Qingcao, who was right in front of them, saw it, and her already thin little face froze.

Then, as if suddenly realizing, she slapped her forehead: "Ah, I remembered wrong— that tent was built by A Mu for my older sister; I came to find Yue so we could sleep together."

Heaven knows that tent could barely hold her alone after she exhausted all her strength; how could it possibly fit another Wu Yue?

Wu Yue looked at her still somewhat chubby figure, then at the pitiful little tent behind her, and decisively turned to Yuan Lang: "I'll still have to trouble you—could my tent be a bit bigger than that?"

Threatened by the Beastfolk, and now even her self-built tent was despised by her companions; Qingcao sobbed as she crawled into the tent to tend to her wounds.

Yuan Lang, being needed by the little female, instantly felt revitalized; that slight gloom vanished from his mind.

Since we said we'd build a tent for the little female, we naturally couldn't be stingy.

Grabbing two free laborers, they headed straight for the nearby forest, clanking as they swung their claws and hauled back several thick logs: "Just wait a moment; it'll be quick."

From the rescued basket, he twitched a few beast sinews—these were what he had deliberately set aside earlier for making bows and arrows.

Teng Kun dug a deep hole in the ground; Yuan Lang inserted the thickest log into it and buried it, then fixed the remaining few logs onto that central log.

Afterwards, he secured a thick stack of beast pelts onto the wood.

The Beastfolk's height, when they reach up, just touches the top; for Wu Yue, this makes the tent quite spacious.

Teng Qian enthusiastically brought over a lot of dry grass to spread inside the tent, and Yuan Lang placed the rescued basket that Wu Yue had brought back into it.

The surrounding tribesfolk watched the three Beastfolk's impressively built tent, each gaping in astonishment.

Flower Tree Granny poked Yuan Qi beside her: "When did our kid gain this ability?"

Yuan Qi shook his head: "I don't know; I'm puzzled too."

Two pairs of skeptical little eyes shot chilly glances at the Beastman who stood proudly before Wu Yue, chin lifted, awaiting praise.

Yuan Lang's body suddenly stiffened; he wasn't sure if it was because the night wind was too cold, but he constantly felt a chill behind him.

Wu Yue smiled, looking at her warm tent that already had a fire pit lit; she fervently expressed her thanks, then crawled into the tent to chat.

Receiving the little female's gratitude, Yuan Lang was naturally quite pleased; although he didn't grin like Teng Qian and Teng Kun did, the smile at the corner of his mouth couldn't be faked.

But when he turned his head and saw the two familiar figures behind him, the source of that chill became clear; he immediately gave a dry laugh and waved: "Still not asleep?"

Flower Tree Granny and Yuan Qi sneered: "Looking at our child being attentive, while our father A Mu can only stand in the cold wind— A Mu, I really..."

Saying that, they also hypocritically wiped away nonexistent crocodile tears.

Beside them, Yuan Qi, though he thought his partner was being overly dramatic, still yielded to her threatening little gaze and firmly nodded: "Exactly."

Flower Tree Granny furtively jabbed her partner: "Keep going!"

Upon hearing that, Yuan Qi gave a dry cough: "Well, hurry up and build one for your A Mu too—she still needs to go out gathering tomorrow, so she needs to rest early."

Seeing his own father being completely dominated by A Mu, Yuan Lang couldn't help muttering to himself: "The husband's authority is lacking."

Yet, under A Mu's expectant gaze, he took his two little brothers to go chop wood and build a tent.

Meanwhile, inside Wu Yue's tent, seeing Tongzi's two chubby little forepaws hugging its chest, Wu Yue promptly transferred ten points to Tongzi's pocket-money account.

Upon hearing the points had been credited, Tongzi finally satisfied, lowered its two little paws, and spoke solemnly: "When you were building the cellar earlier, didn't Teng Kun find a kind of clay?"

"With that, we can fire bricks."

Wu Yue's eyes instantly lit up— it's a roar!

She had actually forgotten such an important matter; she immediately pulled Tongzi into discussion: "Does firing bricks also require building a kiln? And we need molds, right? Otherwise bricks of uneven size would look awful."

"Right, right, and most importantly, we need a binder—I don't have cement!"

Upon mentioning cement, that lofty product, Wu Yue's just‑raised spirits instantly drooped.

Tongzi helplessly flicked its tail: "You'll have to figure this out yourselves; if you need to exchange points for it, come find me again."

Wu Yue, thoroughly disdainful, tossed it into the corner of the grass nest: "What use are you...?"

Tongzi's shocked face: "You're the one who burns bridges after crossing them, you dog host!"

After a moment, Wu Yue let out a long sigh and collapsed into the grass nest: "I don't know— I've thought about it for so long and still can't figure it out."

"Only now do I realize I'm truly a good‑for‑nothing!"

The system silently glanced at the time, its mouth twitching as if about to have a stroke: "Less than five minutes have passed— is your host's brain capacity only able to store less than five minutes of stuff?"

Wu Yue gave Tongzi a death‑stare: "Shut up, help me think, or else your future pocket‑money points will be gone."

Tongzi chuckled: "You'd better wash up and go to sleep; maybe you'll just dream it."

Seeing the Dog System looking like a dead pig unafraid of boiling water, Wu Yue also could only take off her fur shoes, lie down in the grass nest, close her eyes, and meditate.

Forget it; let's first get the bricks fired, then we'll talk. If there are no bricks, everything else will be wasted effort.

Seeing the host's diligent cultivation, the system also showed a hint of a relieved smile like an old aunt's.

There's a feeling like one's own dog finally learning to shake hands...