Chapter 30: Wild Ox Herd

Baifeng did not give the bow to anyone in the end, but just let the two of them take turns using it; if they wanted a bow of their own, they would have to learn how to make one.

Since a finished bow had already been made, it meant there was no problem with the production method. Xiong and Chi were the earliest apprentices, but unfortunately, apart from having a bit more strength, they had absolutely no aptitude for delicate handiwork.

Working was basically a waste of materials, so Baifeng couldn't bear to watch anymore; he told them to stay away and just find an Artisan to follow and learn from, while the two of them went to take over the Artisan's original work.

Making a bow takes several days, but fortunately, several can be made at the same time; after being baptized by Baifeng's craftsmanship teaching, different types of artisans have already vaguely emerged in the tribe.

Baifeng gives everyone a chance to try different jobs; those with talent stay, and those without talent switch to other work. By now, many qualified potters have been trained, and a few have even surpassed their master, becoming much stronger than Baifeng—they can even be described as excellent.

Baifeng also intends to train Carpenters, but after all, it is different from playing with mud; the time required to train a Carpenter is much longer, and only now have two people managed to touch the threshold of the word "carpentry," still far from being Carpenters.

Fortunately, Baifeng does not have high requirements and there is still a long time ahead; for now, he only needs to stand slightly ahead of this era, and future development will become faster and faster.

Letting them trim the bow bodies themselves, Baifeng returned to his own smithy. He still has to explore and improve the craftsmanship himself; for things like the Stir-frying Steel Technique and the Steel Wrapping Technique, he only knows the terms and doesn't understand the specific process, but by working in the direction of the names, there will be results sooner or later.

Baifeng was not satisfied with his tools, so he built a better furnace and spent a large amount of Iron to make a hammer and an anvil, which made his blacksmithing work twice as effective with half the effort. His iron tongs were also almost finished, so he wouldn't need bamboo clips anymore, avoiding the need to waste over a dozen bamboo clips just to make one Knife.

Now, whenever the sun leans west, Baifeng's heart is tightly clenched, fearing that a few tribesmen might be missing when they return.

Looking forward expectantly in the smithy, the hunters returned very early today, but everyone's hands were empty, and they hadn't brought back any prey.

They also had looks of shame on their faces, fearing that the tribesmen still working diligently would ridicule them.

Baifeng first asked if their numbers were complete, if they had encountered danger, and if anyone was injured. Only after receiving a negative answer did Baifeng heave a sigh of relief, and then he asked why there wasn't a single piece of prey today; even on the worst days in the past, there would at least be one or two wild rabbits.

The leader, Zhi, stood out to explain to Baifeng. Zhi was the one in the Hunter Team who could throw a Spear the most accurately and the farthest; because he had no name, Baifeng gave him the name Zhi.

Unlike the other hunters, Zhi was not ashamed but said seriously to Baifeng, "Tribal Chief, it is my fault that we did not catch any prey today. Please do not punish them."

Seeing Zhi's way of taking responsibility, the slight displeasure Baifeng had felt was completely gone; he smelled the scent of loyalty and responsibility in this primitive wilderness.

(Not literally smelling it; they don't bathe, and everything emits a strange odor; it took Baifeng a long time to get used to it.)

"Oh, then tell me, what mistake did you make?"

Zhi looked up and stared straight at Baifeng, saying, "Not long after we went out today, we were looking for traces of prey, and then we found fresh wild ox hoof prints. When we followed them, we discovered that this wild ox had joined a massive herd of wild oxen; the place was densely packed with hoof prints.

We followed the hoof prints all the way and found that massive herd of wild oxen in the valley south of this forest. The number was... about this—big!"

Zhi used all his strength to spread his arms to describe to Baifeng how big the herd was. More than half the people in the tribe can count to ten because they all have ten fingers; Baifeng taught them how to count with their fingers, but if it's more than that, few people can count it clearly.

Looking at Zhi's description, Baifeng estimated the herd was no less than three hundred. Baifeng asked, "So, what did you do after you followed them?"

Zhi told Baifeng with some anxiety, "Tribal Chief, there were too few of us, so we didn't dare to act directly. We just circled the valley to observe the position and made marks. By the time we returned, it was already very late, so we didn't have time to hunt other prey.

But as long as we can bring more people, we can surround and hunt the wild ox herd. We will definitely be able to catch many, many wild oxen!"

"How can you be sure the wild ox herd will still be there when we are ready?"

Zhi felt that Baifeng also had the idea of surrounding and hunting, so he became more urgent: "We checked; the wild ox herd has been there for several days. Most of the dung and hoof prints are from several days ago, and there are still herds gathering together now. As long as we go early, they definitely won't have left."

Baifeng was indeed very tempted. Although a gathered herd of wild oxen has a strong deterrent force, as long as long-range attacks cause damage and chaos, there will definitely be a big harvest. If they could catch a calf, after domestication and breeding for a few generations, it would definitely become more docile and evolve toward being a plow ox.

Baifeng agreed immediately. Zhi and the hunters let out a long sigh of relief upon hearing this, and were even a bit jubilant; if the surround-hunt succeeded, they would be great heroes of the tribe.

They were more experienced in hunting than Baifeng. Baifeng asked Zhi what supplies were needed, how many people were required, and when to set off, so he could prepare.

Zhi hurriedly said that they would need another team of people as large as their hunter group to help with the blockade, and the more Spears the better—preferably several per person—and the earlier the time, the better.

Baifeng gave an "en" and agreed, then let the hunters go back to rest; he would find a way to handle these matters.

The hunter group was originally exactly one hundred people. Lu had snuck away, and a few others were removed because they were not suitable for hunting, so now there were eighty-some people.

This surround-hunt would require about two hundred people. Baifeng did not dare to take all the men; someone had to guard the home, so taking two hundred men and women would suffice. Women were also perfectly capable of the work of blocking the wild oxen's escape routes.

There certainly weren't that many iron-tipped Spears, but a batch of Bamboo Spears could be rushed out; after sharpening them and using them with the Spear Thrower, they would still have strong lethality, as long as the quantity was high.

It was too late today; he would start preparing for this great surround-hunt tomorrow. Baifeng's minimum expectation was thirty wild oxen; if he could catch live ones, that would be even better, and the tribe's animal husbandry could get started.

Just as Baifeng was thinking about and preparing the details of this wild ox surround-hunt, someone shouted "Tribal Chief."

Baifeng looked over and saw Lu waving at him in the sunset. After seeing Baifeng turn his head, he started running toward Baifeng.

Seeing Lu, Baifeng's mood, which had finally improved, turned bad again instantly, even though he had already seen that Lu was carrying something on his shoulder.

Lu ran quickly to Baifeng, threw the deer he had hunted from his shoulder onto the ground with a thud, and then grinned and reached out his hand toward Baifeng.

Baifeng kept a cold face: "What do you mean by reaching out your hand? What do you want to do? Didn't you leave the tribe? Why are you back now?"

The teenage boy's smile vanished upon hearing Baifeng's icy words, and his hand slowly dropped.

"I just wanted my Small Knife back. You promised me..."