Chapter 385: then translation of title

Looking at his little companion's pitch‑black face, Qingcao stood aside, hehe, dry‑laughing happily. Seeing Wu Yue's knife‑like eyes turn toward him, he hurriedly covered his mouth and stood to one side, head bowed and drooping, looking like an honest, timid baby.

「If you eat things randomly, it will be dangerous; if any food spoils next time, you can try again—you might not even need to go find the shaman. 」

Seeing her timid appearance, Wu Yue couldn't help breaking into a cold sweat over this fellow's boldness.

Qingcao looked at her doubtfully: "Ah? Why?"

Looking at his little companion's still pitch‑black little face, could it be that Wu Yue didn't come to find her because she herself was sick?

They then clenched their little claws; it seemed that next time they got sick they should first go find their little companion, otherwise Wu Yue would not be happy.

But unexpectedly, Wu Yue across from him gave a cold laugh: "If you eat spoiled food a few more times, you might just go straight to see the Beast God."

Having said that, she unhappily glanced at Qingcao, this big loudspeaker, then turned and continued walking toward the back of the tribe.

So Wu Yue was saying this, huh~

Qingcao didn't know what they were thinking, suddenly they hehehe laughed, then bounced over to chase their little companion ahead.

Wu Yue was showing concern for her, letting herself not eat those spoiled foods again.

They then bumped up beside their little companion, their perky butt poking the side of Wu Yue: "Ay yo, just say you're concerned directly, hehe…"

As Wu Yue walked steadily, her ears twitched; she naturally heard the footsteps gradually approaching from behind, and the corners of her mouth curled.

But unexpectedly, what came was not a loving hug from her little companion, but a big butt!!!

A surge of impact came from beside her, and Wu Yue suddenly felt as if a car accident were about to happen, but someone had saved her without regard for their own safety.

But the next second, she realized this was not China, and there were no such fancy things as cars.

With a calm expression, she lifted her head from the grass pile, spat out a few dry stalks from her mouth, turned back and gave Qingcao, who still kept his butt‑poking pose, a dark, sinister look, feeling her teeth itch.

「Your butt has too much meat; I'll help you trim some of it. 」

Having said that, she reached into her satchel, took out her shell knife, and coldly looked at the frightened‑faced Qingcao.

Qingcao, who was about to tease their little companion's frail, chick‑like frame, was locked by that gaze; they immediately let out a strange "ao" cry, turned, and ran off.

「Wu Yue, I just remembered—A Mu called me home for dinner; I'm leaving first. 」

That glance of Wu Yue just now was too scary; if things go badly, I might lose my life.

Watching the rolling dust rise behind Qingcao, Wu Yue's mouth twitched as she stood up, calmly putting her shell knife back into her satchel.

Touching their still slightly sore butt, they muttered inwardly, "When I get back I'll definitely go to Grandma Green Water to tell on Qingcao's misdeeds."

Because of Qingcao's commotion, Wu Yue felt that the journey to the brick‑firing site was endlessly long.

Here it was still as lively as ever, after all many of the tribespeople's houses were only partially built.

Previously halted because of the trade fair, construction has now resumed.

Changye was leading some slaves here in making tile molds; seeing Wu Yue's figure, he hurried over at a trot.

「Shaman Wu Yue. 」

Wu Yue looked at the large expanse of tile molds behind them: 「How much more is needed to finish building the houses for the newly arrived slaves? 」

Changye scratched his head: 「We already have enough; we were thinking of firing more bricks to build chicken coops, and the females also want to raise some chickens. 」

Although they also help Shaman Wu Yue raise chickens, those chickens ultimately belong to Shaman Wu Yue.

If they raised chickens themselves, the eggs could all be taken to feed the slave children.

Thinking of this, Changye glanced nervously at Shaman Wu Yue before him.

He had intended to finish making the tile molds today and then go tell Shaman Wu Yue about building chicken coops to raise chickens, but unexpectedly Shaman Wu Yue came over.

Shaman Wu Yue naturally noticed the fear on his face.

As slaves, not to mention raising chickens, even possessing their own food is not allowed.

After Shaman Wu Yue pondered for a moment, she turned to Changye: 「You should know your status; I can make an exception for you once, but raising chickens like this is not something you slaves can do on your own. 」

Changye's face turned deathly pale; with a "plop" he fell to his knees: 「Shaman Wu Yue, please forgive us! 」

Shaman Wu Yue had always been merciful and generous toward the slaves; this was the first time she had explicitly stated their status.

Changye knew that raising chickens was something they had gotten wrong.

Although it was the hot season, and not far away the brick kiln was still blazing with fierce flames, yet all this heat seemed to be isolated by some force.

He felt as if his whole body had been thrown into winter snow, so cold that he couldn't help shivering and shrinking.

Changye's shivering and shrinking were naturally seen by Wu Yue standing before him.

Having come from an egalitarian society, Wu Yue always harbored a latent resistance to the existence of slaves, so when interacting with the tribe's slaves she also always regarded them as ordinary tribe members.

But Wu Yue knew that her view represented only herself; the tribespeople tolerated slaves having their own food and belongings only because of her orders.

Therefore, what they possessed must never exceed that of the ordinary tribe members.

「If you want more possessions and food, then strive to contribute; remember what I said. 」

Wu Yue's voice remained as kind as usual, bringing Changye back from the harsh winter to the present.

The cold sweat on his cheeks fell drop by drop onto the ground below, carving a deep pit.

「Get up; I have something for you to do. 」

Bringing Changye to the place where the slaves were making mud molds.

Seeing Wu Yue approach, the slaves each lowered their heads and bent their waists, full of respect.

They had heard the earlier words of Wu Yue and Changye, and they dared not look at this Shaman Wu Yue who was always kind to them.

Wu Yue merely nodded lightly, then brought Changye to a more spacious place.

「I need a container for things; after you finish firing the bricks and tiles, start making the embryo. This container is fairly large, so it will be somewhat difficult. Go fetch some good clay, and I'll teach you how to make it once. 」

Wu Yue said while rolling up her sleeves.

Having just felt the dignity of Shaman Wu Yue, Changye dared not delay; he immediately rose and went toward the slaves, and shortly brought back two slaves carrying two full back‑baskets of good clay.

「First take a lump of clay to make the base. 」

Wu Yue spoke while getting to work; the clay on the wooden board was about the size of a basketball.

Wu Yue first slowly kneaded it into the shape of a large bowl, then took fresh clay on another wooden board and rolled it into a thick strip as thick as a youngling's arm.

She then used her shell knife to cut a half‑centimeter‑wide serrated notch along the rim of the earlier bowl, and then slowly coiled that arm‑thick clay strip onto the bowl.

After pressing it lightly, she then carefully used her shell knife to scrape the clay strip, letting it join with the lower bowl's rim.

The whole process was very slow; when Wu Yue finished scraping, she felt her arms a little sore, not overly tired, but because it was her first time making a large vat, she was somewhat overly nervous.

Turning back, Changye had already rolled out a clay strip exactly the same as hers, following her example.

Wu Yue grew increasingly pleased with this former clansman, and a smile appeared on her face: "Well done, hand it over."

Wu Yue revealed her first smile since arriving here, and Changye's heart, which had been tightly clenched, instantly relaxed considerably.

He showed a somewhat simple, honest smile and quickly handed over the clay strip in his hand.

"The middle of the vat needs to be stout, so the clay strip here should be coiled like this."

Wu Yue said while coiling the clay strip in her hand onto the vat.

"Coiling strip by strip like this will cause it to flare outward a bit—do you see that?"

Wu Yue wiped the sweat from her forehead and spoke to Changye beside her.

She had just coiled strip after strip, explaining as she worked, and the vat had already reached the height of a shin.

With such a detailed on‑site explanation, it should be clear enough, right?

Changye nodded: "Shaman Yue, I've remembered it all."

He clenched his fists; although he had understood Shaman Yue's method for making this vat‑shaped pottery just now, he had never actually done it himself, so he still felt a bit uneasy.

Shaman Yue nodded: "Good, just now we flared outward; next we will draw inward."

Upon hearing that, Changye nodded and hurriedly continued rolling the clay strips.

Shaman Yue looked at the clay strip he handed over with some feeling, not knowing how his hands had become so skilled; the thickness of the strips he rolled was remarkably uniform.

Watching the vat appear to be turned upside down under Shaman Yue's hands, yet the clay strips on it had not fallen off, Changye couldn't help gazing admiringly at Wu Yue, who was still refining the vat's wall.

The male beside her suddenly gazed at her with the glittering, fan‑boy stare of seeing an idol, making Wu Yue's body shudder and goosebumps pop up all over.

She turned her head, her small face full of solemn seriousness: "Look closely, this pottery is very important."

Changye quickly gathered his dazed, worshipful gaze and fixed his eyes tightly on Wu Yue's actions.

After the final clay strip was secured, Wu Yue finally let out a big sigh of relief; the whole vat stood as tall as her thigh.

After checking it once more carefully, Wu Yue exhaled and sat down on a nearby wooden board.

"You can now try making a smaller one, and after you've practiced, attempt a larger one."

Seeing Changye's nervousness, Wu Yue spoke up.

She knew very well how difficult this was; in fact, when she first started making brick and tile embryos, she always brought some clay back to try making jars and vats.

Although this large vat was her first time making one, all those previous practices were still useful; at least when coiling the strips she didn't twist them awry, and the vat wall remained fairly smooth.

Changye glanced at Wu Yue's finished vat embryo, gave a solemn nod, and said, "Hmm."

Thereafter, the two of them worked—one making, the other watching.

What surprised Wu Yue was that Changye's learning ability was truly strong, and perhaps because of his greater male strength, he found the bonding of the clay strips to the lower vat wall much easier and more practiced than she did.

Although his first attempt was still somewhat unfamiliar, Changye's hands‑on ability let him produce, in not too long a time, a shin‑high pottery embryo that could only be called a jar.

Wu Yue stepped forward to inspect; every clay strip's joint with the wall was sound, leaving no visible trace.

Only because he used a wooden strip did the wall lack the smoothness that Wu Yue achieved with her shell knife.

Even so, Changye, standing to the side, always furtively glanced at her with caution.

Compared to the pottery embryo made by Shaman Yue, his own was noticeably rougher, and the marks from scraping with the wooden strip were obvious.

Wu Yue gave Changye an approving glance: "Well done, Changye; this jar is very well made."

She smiled at the male whose face was full of surprise and asked, "Do you still have the strength to make a large one?"

Having received Shaman Yue's praise, Changye felt as if he had obtained the legendary shaman's blessing, his whole body brimming with strength.

"Yes, I have plenty of strength—I could make many, many vats."

Wu Yue didn't mention that his effort had produced only a shin‑high jar; she simply smiled and said, "Then this time let's try making a large vat."

Afterward, once Changye began to act, she signaled the nearby slaves to come over and place the large vat she had just made and Changye's jar into the cave.

Changye indeed did not disappoint Wu Yue; after successfully making a jar, he actually produced a large vat in less than half the time she had previously needed.

Looking at the large vat before her, which was even nicer than her own, Wu Yue couldn't help but admire Changye again: "Put it in the cave to air‑dry."

"Shaman Yue, when will this pottery be fired?"

Wu Yue smiled at him: "A piece of pottery this size needs several days just to air‑dry; you should occasionally check the cave, and once it's air‑dried, send it straight over for firing."

Changye felt a weight on his shoulders, yet his heart was overjoyed.

Shaman Yue's willingness to assign him tasks made Changye's heart swell with excitement.

"The flowers are done—hurry go eat."

Watching Wu Yue's departing figure, the slaves who had been observing from afar finally came over.

"Changye, is it the chicken‑raising matter that has made Shaman Yue unhappy?"

"Yes, if Shaman Yue is unhappy, we'll stop raising them."

"Shaman Yue won't be disappointed in us, will she?"

Seeing the anxiety and fear on his companions' faces, Changye sighed: "Shaman Yue hasn't abandoned us, but the chicken‑raising affair was indeed our mistake; from now on we won't mention it again."

Upon hearing that, the surrounding slaves' faces instantly broke into big smiles.

"As long as Shaman Yue doesn't despise us, we can do anything."