Favorite of the Beast-world: I Got Rich Through Farming-Chapter 81 - 78: Urgent Construction

After leaving the tribe, the Beastmen who followed An Jin and Ling Hong took all of their own salt with them.

The Clan Leader was so furious he trembled all over and nearly fainted. He couldn’t believe that a mere female like An Jin could establish a new tribe.

’Hah! Building a new tribe is easier said than done. They’re truly overestimating themselves! Like naive calves with wild fantasies.’

The Clan Leader swore to himself that sooner or later, he would take the tribe back. ’A wolf cub and some low-class female actually dare to challenge me?!’

...

The recent trip to the city for trade had yielded a large amount of salt, so the Beastmen received a large share as well. Though there were only a little over thirty of them, they were allocated more than ten jars of salt, enough to last them two years.

An Jin also brought along the large, plump bird and a few silkworms she had been raising for months. She had grown attached to them and couldn’t bear to leave them behind and start over.

To establish a tribe, the two most important factors were population and housing.

They had the population.

The next step was to quickly find a territory and build houses.

The plains near the river where Xi had previously lived was a good choice. Coincidentally, their crops were also planted there.

—It had abundant water resources and a rich variety of species, a truly auspicious land.

But no tribe had ever settled on this fertile land. An Jin guessed it might be home to many ferocious beasts, or perhaps it was the territory of some Wandering Beasts.

HISS~

A black and red python’s body slithered through the bushes. Mi Yin emerged from the shadows of the jungle, his gaze fixed on An Jin in the distance as he moved toward her.

Although many of the Beastmen had seen him before, the females were still terrified by the sight of the ferocious, venomous Wandering Beast. Their faces turned pale and their bodies trembled, and their mates quickly pulled them away.

With practiced ease, Mi Yin coiled around An Jin’s waist from behind.

He bent down, resting his chin on her head as his cool hair brushed against her face. "Jin’er, I’ve already cleared out the few Wandering Beasts nearby. It’s safe now. You can build the tribe."

"Is it going to rain soon?" An Jin tilted her head up to look at him, pointing to the sky.

It was now the Great Rainy Season. The clouds were already thick and low. Large flocks of birds were migrating, and insects flew so low that you could run into several just by walking.

Mi Yin nodded, his eyes hiding deep worry. "In half a month at most."

They had to build their houses and store enough food and supplies before the Great Rainy Season arrived. Time was incredibly tight.

And soon after the Great Rainy Season would come the Great Cold Season.

During the Cold Season, the land would be frozen for a thousand miles and the mountains sealed by snow, making it impossible for the Beastmen to go outside.

Between the Great Rainy Season and the Great Cold Season, there was less than a month for gathering. All sorts of dried fruits and meats, medicinal herbs, firewood, and warm animal-hide bedding had to be stored in advance. They also needed to prepare moisture-proof storage caves beforehand to survive the nearly three-month-long Great Cold Season.

The tasks for the coming Great Rainy Season were just as urgent. The torrential rains often caused floods, which led to a large number of animal carcasses. The river water they usually drank would become contaminated, making epidemics and diseases highly likely.

They had to prepare large barrels for storing water in advance to ensure their water supply was safe!

There was simply too much to do. The usual two months of preparation had to be compressed into just half a month.

If not for An Jin and Ling Hong acting as the tribe’s backbone, the Beastmen would have likely descended into mass panic long ago.

An Jin rubbed her temples and sighed softly. ’Gathering supplies will have to wait a couple of days,’ she thought. ’The top priority is to build houses for our people to live in and stabilize their morale.’

The best houses in the Beast World were made of stone, but they were on a plain and lacked enough large, hard stones for the Beastmen to cut and build with.

Building earthen or stone houses was also time-consuming and laborious; there simply wasn’t enough time.

Fortunately, this area of plains and small hills was lush with vegetation, with vast swathes of ancient trees available for them to chop down. They could use local materials to build some wooden houses.

The so-called "wooden houses" of the Beastmen were just a few large trees chopped down and stacked together to cover the front, back, left, right, and top—with some dry weeds thrown on the roof.

These kinds of wooden houses weren’t sturdy and were prone to insect infestations. They usually collapsed within a few years.

A burly male Beastman walked up, his face full of unease, and asked An Jin, "Are we really going to build wooden houses? They aren’t sturdy and they’re drafty. We might not survive the Cold Season..."

"First, we’ll build one wooden house for the females and cubs to live in for now."

An Jin naturally wouldn’t let that happen. "The males will have to work harder for a while and chop more wood. I will make sure everyone gets to live in comfortable and sturdy wooden houses!"

The tribe members hung on An Jin’s every word, trusting her unconditionally.

So, on the first day, they used the felled trees to build a large, crude wooden house typical of the Beast World to shelter the few females and cubs.

Although Mi Yin was a Wandering Beast, he also joined in the labor because of An Jin.

A loud CRASH echoed from the distance. An Jin and many of the Beastmen looked up to see a black and red figure slowly emerging from the jungle.

After using his nearly ten-meter-long tail to snap two century-old trees in half, Mi Yin coiled his tail around them and dragged them back to the camp.

’Having a tail is so useful,’ An Jin mused silently.

On the first night, the air was as cool as water. The whistling mountain wind from all directions was cold enough to make one’s legs tremble.

The females and cubs stayed in the newly built wooden house, while the powerful males transformed into their beast forms and lay beside it, ready to protect them at a moment’s notice.

They had marked the perimeter of their new settlement with their scent, but it couldn’t stop some ferocious beasts, smelling the scent of "people," from launching a surprise attack in a state of crazed hunger.

Mi Yin wanted to coil his tail around An Jin to sleep as usual, but he saw that the female’s small face was pale from the cold, and her body was cool and shivering.

"You’re too cold. She’ll get sick."

Ling Hong unloaded a mountain of firewood from his broad back, walked over to Mi Yin, and crouched down, holding out his arms. "I’m warmer. Give An Jin to me. I’ll hold her while she sleeps."

HISS~

Mi Yin stared at Ling Hong warily, his red eyes narrowing into dangerous slits. He tensed his tail, scraping it against the ground, wanting to whip the meddlesome Wolf Beast away.

But the Wolf Beast’s words, "You’re too cold," had indeed wounded his pride. ’If only I were fluffy and warm, too,’ he thought.

In the end, his concern for the female overcame Mi Yin’s intense possessiveness.

The Red Snake arched the upper half of his body, watching as the Wolf Beast carried the female into the warm wooden house where a bonfire was lit. He flicked his bright red, forked tongue, the female’s scent still lingering in the air.

Then, he coiled into a large ball at the doorway, tucked his head into the gaps of his tail, and slowly closed the transparent red membrane over his eyes.

The weather was getting colder. The Snake Beast’s hibernating instincts were awakening, and in another two months, Mi Yin would fall into a deep sleep.

「A few days passed, and the Great Rainy Season drew closer.」

The Beastmen bustled about, accelerating the construction of their home. An Jin had them use serrated stone saws to cut down trees, which greatly increased their efficiency.

She was also scribbling and revising on large, broad leaves, deep in thought, using a willow stick to sketch out her initial designs for a wooden house that was comfortable, sturdy, and highly functional.

"Look at this damn weather. The Great Rainy Season is probably coming even earlier now. We don’t have enough manpower!" The Beastmen were already doing their best, barely eating or drinking for the past few days, but they still couldn’t keep up with the approaching season.

An Jin looked at the exhausted faces of the Beastmen. Excluding the females and cubs, there were only a little over twenty of them. The workforce was indeed too small.

’How can we increase our labor force in such a short time?’

"Mi Yin, I just had an idea, and I might need your help!"

An Jin found Mi Yin dragging timber, stopping breathlessly. She grabbed the man’s large, cool hand, forcing him to a halt. "HISS~ What is it?"

He turned to look at her, scooping her into his arms.

"We need to finish building the houses before the Great Rainy Season, but the tribe has too little labor. I want to recruit about ten Wandering Beasts into the tribe."

Mi Yin froze for a moment, surprise flashing in his red eyes. He reached out, brushed her hair aside, and felt the female’s smooth forehead. "Jin’er, are you sick?"