Chapter 357

On this side, the four who had finished discussing the drawings also began dividing the work, with Teng Kun taking some slaves to haul the soil needed for building the brick kiln,

Wu Yue and Yuan Lang, meanwhile, began the meticulous work that always drove the beastfolk crazy—making the molds.

Because only the beastfolk's claws could shape the sturdy timber into the required form.

Compared to Wu Yue, a modern person who only knows hammers and nails, Yuan Lang, living in ancient times, was obviously more familiar with mortise-and-tenon techniques.

However, the molds they made were obviously much larger than the bricks she had seen before.

"The wild beasts here have tremendous destructive power; although the mountain caves cannot block extremely fierce monsters, they need to be sturdy enough to fend off ordinary wild beasts' attacks."

Wu Yue nodded; indeed, the wild beasts and ferocious beasts of this world cannot be judged by the standards of their previous world.

Yuan Lang carved out each part of the molds, Wu Yue handled assembly, and after a full day they produced several dozen molds.

Meanwhile, since they had only said they would first build a brick kiln to test whether bricks could be fired, Teng Qian and Teng Kun had already led the slaves in starting to construct the kiln.

Here they were busy, while over there the chieftain and the shaman, followed by a dozen or so beastfolk warriors, watched their busy figures and couldn't help sighing.

"They talked about building stone houses, yet these little rascals spent a day busy but didn't haul back a single smoothed stone; they just played in the mud here."

The shaman, however, gazed with deep eyes at the young female working alongside Yuan Lang, hoping in his heart that Yue would once again bring a surprise to the tribe.

But since it concerned the survival of all the tribe's members, he could not place all his hopes on Wu Yue.

His thin hand waved lightly: "You all set out as well; return soon once you find a suitable spot to dig a cave."

The dozen or so beastfolk warriors behind him bowed solemnly: "Yes."

Thereafter, their figures darted swiftly out of the tribe.

Yuan Lang, who was splitting rough timber, seemed to sense something and looked toward the retreating figures of the beastfolk.

His thin lips pressed slightly, hoping those beastfolk warriors would return safely.

The molds they had made were piled up into a small hill.

Wu Yue looked at Yuan Lang: "Shall we get some soil to try and see if it releases easily?"

Yuan Lang's hand paused slightly, he nodded and rose: "You assemble these first; I'll go get the soil."

The clumped soil was carefully pounded by the slaves until no large granules remained.

After mixing with water, the mud became very sticky; the prepared earth had to be tossed for a while, then placed into the molds.

After pressing it firm, Wu Yue swallowed nervously, hoping for success.

Perhaps due to the polished molds, or perhaps because the soil quality was better, the bricks produced were very solid, not at all crumbly, and could easily be removed from the brick molds.

This let Wu Yue let out a big sigh of relief; they were truly awesome!

After weeding a round, the slaves left only a few to tend the taro field; the rest were conscripted by Wu Yue as laborers, and everyone focused on making brick embryos.

The brick embryos made of clay were placed in the mountain cave previously used to shelter from the rainy season, left to air-dry slowly, and then could be fired.

The brick embryos had been made, but such embryos could not compare to real bricks; Wu Yue also tried firing bricks directly in a bonfire.

But after putting in three pieces, none succeeded, utterly destroying her hopeful mindset.

What she hadn't expected was that the tile molds that had previously racked her brain were actually much easier to make than the bricks, because the Yuan Lang Warriors simply split their water-carrying bamboo jars in half to use as molds.

Wu Yue also had to give a thumbs-up, saying: "Your intellect is truly out of this world!"

"Out of this world?" the language of the young female's nation is truly strange and varied, with many words she couldn't understand.

Wu Yue chuckled and nodded: "In our place, a tiny little country's language, that just means you're awesome."

Hearing her displeasure, Yuan Lang took a dislike to that little country: "Or perhaps I should say my great nation's language is better."

Wu Yue nodded in full agreement: "Mm-hmm, you're absolutely right."

Seeing her obedient nod, for some reason Yuan Lang felt a strange satisfaction akin to a husband leading and a wife following.

With the molds, the production of brick and tile embryos could be handed directly to the slaves.

By the third day, Teng Qian and Teng Kun's brick kiln was finally fully built and ready for use.

Even the most primitive version of the kiln, once built, stood as tall as a half-beast.

Teng Qian and Teng Kun made a simple ladder to step on for adding firewood.

Teng Kun pulled out the dry grass stuffed in the pit and lit the fire throughout the kiln, burning it once.

After lunch, the slaves carefully transported the brick and tile embryos over, bringing only a small amount for experimentation.

Wu Yue felt a bit nervous, hoping these bricks and tiles would fire successfully.

If this kiln fails, they will need to rebuild it.

Teng Qian and Teng Kun, standing by preparing to fire, were also quite nervous; they took a deep breath, stepped forward to ignite the kiln, and got ready to begin firing.

The fire inside the kiln flared up again; amidst the flashing flames lay everyone's hopes.

Because they were thought to be just playing in the mud, the tribe's members no longer came to watch them; only the shaman, the chieftain, Qingcao, and Aya would occasionally drop by to have a look.

Although no one had seen the stone house, they had heard from the beastfolk warriors who went to exchange salt that the magnificent stone house was built from carefully polished massive stones, one piece at a time.

But these past few days, Wu Yue and Yuan Lang and company have been merely playing in the mud.

The fire at the kiln's bottom never went out, and Teng Kun kept tossing firewood onto the top.

Such a great fire burned continuously for two full days, until the clay covering the kiln's top changed color, at which point they stopped adding new firewood.

Even standing far away, the heat radiating from the kiln made everyone sweat profusely.

Moreover, approaching to add firewood was something only the beastfolk warriors could do, for if the slaves got too close they would be overcome by dizziness from the hot air.

"All that's left is to wait..."

Wu Yue murmured, then looked at Teng Qian and Teng Kun, whose cheeks were already flushed red from the kiln's high heat: "You two go rest; we must wait until the kiln's temperature drops before we can open it."

The two were indeed somewhat fatigued, and immediately retreated to the slaves' makeshift tent, burying their heads and falling asleep.

"Changye, you take the remaining people and keep making brick and tile embryos—the more the better—and place the newly made ones deep inside the cave."

Changye nodded, leading the slaves away.

At that moment, Yuan Lang looked at her and said: "You should go rest too; I'll stay here to keep watch."

Wu Yue stood up: "I'll go make some food to eat, these days we've been eating biscuits, I want to change the taste."

Yuan Lang hearing this, eyes brighten: "I want to eat noodles."

Wu Yue nods: "Okay."

Then she turned and walked toward her own tent.

"Host, you can rest assured, this brick kiln, although simple, can definitely fire bricks and tiles."

Tongzi extends his little head and two front paws, confidently patting his little chest.

"I still trust you, Tongzi, after all, product of the system must be high quality; if the bricks and tiles produced are too many broken..."

Immediately that little gaze looks toward Tongzi's chubby face.

Tongzi's eyes also show some apprehension, but he furtively glances at the dog host's task progress, his raised heart instantly halves, confidently says: "It will definitely succeed."

Yue!

Just as she reached the entrance of her own tent, Qingcao, who had just recovered the chicken nest head, bounced out from one side, seeing Wu Yue almost burst into tears.

While talking with Tongzi, Wu Yue, not looking ahead, almost got scared by this guy into "a Buddha appearing, two Buddhas ascending to heaven": "I giao! I almost got scared to death on the spot!"

Qingcao hehe hides tears in his eyes, somewhat embarrassed pokes his finger: "It's not that I missed you, you're always busy with Yuan Lang and them, haven't talked to me for a long time."

Also haven't made tasty food for a long time...

Looking at her eyes with a hint of little resentment, being looked at like that, Wu Yue feels like she's some abandoning wife and child heartless scoundrel.

But upon seeing the drool at the corner of her mouth, that feeling instantly gets thrown to Java.

Wu Yue only feels the corner of her mouth twitching badly: "What do you want to eat?"

Qingcao hearing this, the loss in his eyes sweeps away, lips curl up high in anticipation: "Noodles!"

The noodles made by A Mu and her sisters are long and short, all specifications, and the taste compared to what Yue makes, simply cannot be compared.

Qingcao is not a free-loading female; while making food, she always helps nearby, but her constant chattering almost made Wu Yue throw her out.

"Yue, earlier I heard Flower Tree Grandma say you guys will build those super-large tribe stone houses, is that true?"

But I observed for several days and you guys keep playing with mud!

But such honest words she absolutely would not say out...

Wu Yue organizes the wild vegetables in her hand, without turning her head says: "It's true, but the stone houses we build are different from those tribes'."

Qingcao cautiously glances at her: "The tribe people all say you guys are playing with mud."

Such words Wu Yue naturally heard, but also can understand, after all here people don't know the existence of bricks and tiles, so their behavior of making brick embryos and tile embryos looks like playing with mud to them.

But...

She confidently looks at Qingcao: "Rest assured, the houses we build will definitely be much sturdier and more beautiful than those super-large tribes'."

Looking at her little companion full of confidence, Qingcao also heavily nods: "Mm-hmm, I believe you, as long as it's what Yue wants to do, nothing can't be done."

Wuyue: "..."

Suspicious little eyes looking at Qingcao, you damn probably also think we're playing with mud.

Don't pretend, demons and monsters can't escape before me.

Fragrant noodles out of the pot, Qingcao the little female who said she missed Wu Yue, after slurping two big bowls of noodles, actually left without looking back.

Seeing her indifferent figure, Wu Yue depressed: "..."

So you damn exactly whether you missed me or just wanted noodles!!!

The next day, Yuan Lang, Teng Qian, Teng Kun and Wu Yue, plus the slaves, gathered in front of the brick kiln.

Even some tribe members who didn't go out hunting or gathering, seeing their such large gathering, also gathered over.

Teng Qian and Teng Kun swallowed saliva: "Shall we go?"

Wu Yue clenched her palm, nodded: "Go."

This tense atmosphere of the three also seemed to infect nearby Yuan Lang, the beastman lowered his head and whispered: "Can it succeed?"

Wu Yue moved her lips, then steadied her mind: "Success best, if fails, just try a few more times."

Hearing him say that, Yuan Lang also breathed a sigh of relief.

Also, just firing bricks and tiles, if fails can try again.

In the crowd not far away, Aya and Qingcao watched Yuan Lang and Wu Yue whispering head-down, after exchanging a glance, they both simultaneously revealed extremely lewd smiles.

"Tsk tsk, indeed Yuan Lang likes Yue."

"Didn't see it coming, the mighty Yuan Lang Warrior actually likes Yue this kind of withered bean sprout vegetable!"

Withered bean sprout vegetable?

Aya doubtfully looks at her companion: "What is withered bean sprout vegetable?"

Qingcao scratches his head: "I don't know, just once when talking with Yue, she said it like that."

Aya silently recited it, remembered in heart, Yue is not as close to her as Qingcao, next time just call her withered bean sprout vegetable, maybe Yue will like her more then.

Soon, a shout from Teng Qian came from the brick kiln, Wu Yue's heart tightened, what situation?

Teng Qian seemed to carefully hand some to Teng Kun, but because they had their backs to everyone, Wu Yue didn't see the brick and tile situation.

Until Teng Kun turned around with a face full of joy, the complete brick and tile pieces in his arms were presented before everyone.

And unknown if due to the clay here, these bricks are actually also very smooth, appearance very good-looking.

Many surrounding onlooker little females instantly burst out with affectionate exclamations.

Wu Yue and Yuan Lang stepped forward a few steps to take the bricks and tiles from Teng Kun's arms, the bricks and tiles in hand still retain a hint of warmth.

Yuan Lang with both hands holding the tile piece, splits it, the brick piece intact, his pupils flash bright, he exerts more force.

Wu Yue also noticed his action, her eyes show a hint of anticipation.

Until he felt he had used about eighty to ninety percent of his strength, this brick finally broke into two halves.

Yuan Lang's lips contain an obvious smile: "The hardness after turning head is very strong."

Wu Yue nodded, a smile she couldn't suppress appearing on her face.

Indeed, at the very least, the bricks she had seen, when Yuan Lang bent them with that strength, definitely broke on the first try.

After taking out all the bricks and tiles placed yesterday, only two or three were spoiled by the fire.

Such a success rate made everyone cheer in unison.

「Yue, can these two nice broken stones be given to me and Qingcao? 」

Aya ran over, her little face flushed, her eyes full of hope.