Tonight's dinner was exceptionally rich.
Porridge was an essential part of the meal, not only was it easy to eat, but its flavor was also exquisite.
And tonight, the porridge was enhanced with a variety of new ingredients, including fat, and juicy earthworms mixed into the porridge. The flavor was elevated to a whole new level.
Next came the baked potato cakes. The potatoes were boiled until soft, mashed, mixed with a bit of salt, thoroughly kneaded, and then baked.
The aroma of the baked cakes filled the entire cave. Served with honey, it was truly a culinary masterpiece.
Dried meat and fish were steamed to make them softer and easier to eat.
Overall, it was the most elaborate meal ever seen by the Big Stone Tribe, both for its original members and the newcomers.
After dinner, Minh Vu began the main task of addressing the tribe.
He stood up at the center where everyone could see him.
"The Stone Tribe welcomes its new members! From today, everyone is a member of the Stone Tribe, entitled to equal food rations and housing. Those who work will have food, and those who work will have a place to stay!" Minh Vu announced.
"Currently, our tribe's cave dwellings are not enough for everyone, so we need to prepare to build houses. However, heavy snowfall prevents us from gathering mud!"
"But that's not the only difficulty! The Nanh Tribe and the Stone Tribe have begun to show hostile intentions towards us! Therefore, during this time, we must think of ways to deal with them!"
As soon as he said this, discussions began. The tribe was likely to be attacked, and with only 13 warriors, how could they resist both tribes, especially when the Stone Tribe was the strongest?
Vu had the most profound expression, his face turned pale, and his aged face became even more haggard. He asked Minh Vu anxiously, "Vu! Why is this happening? Did you provoke or kill them?"
"No! They are greedy and want to take our land!" Minh Vu replied indifferently.
"Then give it to them!" Vu suggested.
"No! This battle is inevitable. Even if we offer a compromise, they won't spare us!" Minh Vu said firmly.
"What should the tribe do then? They have a large number of people," Vu asked.
"I have a plan!" Minh Vu smiled strangely.
"I have a very powerful weapon, capable of killing someone from over 50 meters away, even further. With this new weapon, even women can use it, but they need to practice a lot."
"Tomorrow, everyone continues to gather wood and stone. The hunting group will accompany me into the forest to search for weapon-making materials."
As night fell, the tribe began to sink into sleep, in a state of anxiety and fear. It's not that they didn't trust their leader, but the Stone Tribe was terrifying, and the Nanh Tribe was no less formidable. They were born bloodthirsty, hunters who emerged from the depths of the forest to kill both beasts and humans. It was truly terrifying.
Minh Vu tried his best. The fate of the tribe depended on him.
A night of anxiety, with snow falling thicker and the cold wind biting to the bone.
The next morning, everyone woke up very early. The women began cooking, and although breakfast was not elaborate, it was sufficient, and everyone ate their fill.
After that, under Minh Vu's orders, the tribe began to work.
The labor force of the Stone Tribe was divided into three main groups. The first group consisted of women and children who continued to gather stone and branches.
The second group was made up of the elderly, with lighter tasks such as collecting snow and cleaning up the area around the tribe.
The third group was composed of half of the hunting group, who went into the forest to gather wood for weapon-making.
The weapons that Minh Vu made were called the same, ancient war weapons. To make a bow, the main material used was wood.
Wood was used to make the bow's limbs, which played a crucial role in the bow's strength. The material for the bow's limbs had to meet several requirements, including flexibility, elasticity, and dryness. As for the bowstring, it was easier; it could be made from rope, but this rope had to be processed to become stronger.
The process of handling the rope was simple. After carefully selecting the tree bark, it was soaked in ash water. The alkali in the ash water would better preserve it.
After soaking for about two days, the meat would decay, leaving only extremely tough fibers, which were then used to weave the rope.
But that was a story for another day. Today, Minh Vu's group searched for suitable branches to make arrows.
This primitive group was quite short in stature, with heights ranging from 1.5 to 1.6 meters, and their physical fitness was not very good. Therefore, Minh Vu decided to make bows with lengths ranging from 1 meter to 1.2 meters. As for the arrowheads, they were easier; just choose small, straight branches, but in large quantities.
To prepare these things, Minh Vu's group had to work hard all day, but they managed to gather quite a bit of material.
The wood Minh Vu chose was not really suitable for his requirements, but its quality was not too bad either. The wood was quite dry and hard, albeit a bit heavy, but with the tribe's robust physique, it was quite easy to handle.
The next day, work continued as usual. The hunting group went into the forest to gather wood, but this time, it was mainly wood for making arrows. So Klu led the group himself. Minh Vu stayed in the cave with those who had high aptitude like Mother and Child Akam and Alan. With him was the bow.
All the branches brought back were carefully selected and then stripped of bark. Using a bone knife, they were meticulously shaped into bow limbs.
With the sharpness of the bone knife, this task became extremely difficult. The bow limbs should not be too thick, or they wouldn't have enough strength to pull the bow, but if they were too thin, they wouldn't have enough strength, and the bow might break. Both sides of the bow had to be symmetrical. This was truly a meticulous and delicate process, so only two people, Akam and Alan, from the entire tribe were suitable for this task.
After three days of hard work, the three men managed to make four bow limbs. This was their first time, so their efficiency was a bit low, but in the future, they would get used to it and become more efficient. Minh Vu silently encouraged them.
The finished products were left by the fire to increase their durability and flexibility.
Under the eyes of the entire tribe, they didn't know what Minh Vu's group was making, but whatever they were making looked beautiful. It felt very comfortable to hold.
As the snow fell thicker, as usual, during this time of year, except for the hunters, the rest of the Stone Tribe would retreat into the cave to conserve energy. Moreover, they usually only had one meal a day during this time, or even one meal every two or three days, which was quite normal.
However, things were different now. They now had three meals a day, worked as usual during the day, and this year they had many things to equip themselves against the cold of winter.
Animal fur clothing, shoes, hot water, porridge, salt. Living this comfortable life was enough to satisfy them.
In the past few days, the materials for building the wall had also become a small mountain. Minh Vu let Akam and Alan continue making bow limbs, while he commanded everyone else to build the wall.
The wall was quite simple, using materials available during the winter season, combined with stone and branches. It formed a strong wall that would surely prevent attacks from wild beasts and other tribes.
First, they shaped the wall as desired, then arranged the wooden branches to form the frame of the wall. Next, they used stones, mud, earth, and snow as binding materials to create a wall around the tribe.
The wall was 1.5 meters high and had a thickness of 0.5 to 1 meter, depending on different vulnerable areas.
Snow was an extremely good material in winter, and the Eskimos were very skilled in this area.
Using snow as a material was not Minh Vu's idea; he just remembered what he had seen on the internet, survival in the forest, Man vs. Wild, or Ed.
Snow, combined with water and the cold of winter, quickly bonded to form a solid block.
However, the disadvantage was that when the temperature rose, these bonds would break and melt into water.
Although it was said quickly, to complete 150 walls around the tribe, the tribe had used all its manpower to build. It also took five days, exceeding Minh Vu's estimated time.
However, they didn't stop there. Minh Vu also arranged for the construction of a 3-meter-high watchtower.
This tower was more difficult and required more materials than the house Minh Vu was building.