After a grueling day of training, the entire group showed no signs of giving up; on the contrary, they were all incredibly enthusiastic, proudly flaunting their bows everywhere, even sleeping with them by their sides.
Despite the freezing cold of the winter sky, the Stone Tribe was immersed in a deep slumber.
Feeling quite exhausted from the previous day, he woke up a bit late. Aside from him, there were only five others in the cave: Vu and four pregnant women. It seemed like these women were nearing the end of their pregnancies, as their bellies had grown quite large.
Being the leader, he had a disproportionately large portion of food reserved for him.
Eating alone, he found it difficult to finish, especially since he had grown tired of dried fish after eating it for several days.
He craved fresh meat. But in winter, finding fresh meat was nearly impossible. Should they send people into the forest to hunt?
Outside, snow continued to fall, gradually thickening.
The temperature dropped significantly, likely reaching minus 10 to 15 degrees. Despite this, the tribespeople were still eager to frolic and play outside.
Thirty-three archers were diligently practicing, and this time, they weren't foolishly wandering around the forest; instead, they were practicing shooting at targets, using the surrounding trees as makeshift walls.
Even if they missed, the arrows would stick into the trees, or fly far into the rocky mountains.
Everything seemed normal until Minh Vu noticed something unusual among the group.
In the distance, there was a young woman, about 18 or 19 years old, holding a 0.9m bow. At first glance, there was nothing remarkable, but upon closer inspection of the bow she held, it was different from everyone else's.
The handle of her bow was wrapped with a thin cord.
Minh Vu pondered for a moment, not because he disagreed with her actions, but because he was genuinely impressed by her intelligence.
Wrapping the cord around the bow's handle not only made it firmer to hold but also reinforced its structure, making it sturdier and more stable.
In reality, Minh Vu was also a novice. Everything he knew was gleaned from books and online tutorials. When crafting bows, he never thought about additional features to support the bow, nor did he consider himself an expert archer.
He couldn't help but watch the young woman practice archery attentively. She wasn't bad at all; although she had only been practicing for a day, her accuracy rate was remarkably high. Within a range of 50 meters, she could consistently hit the wall.
"Ashi! Well done!" Minh Vu encouraged.
Lost in her archery practice, Ashi suddenly heard Minh Vu's voice.
"Leader! Feeling better?" Ashi smiled brightly.
Minh Vu approached her and carefully examined the bow she held.
Seeing the leader take away her beloved bow, Ashi's face showed a hint of panic, her hands waving in protest. She wanted to say something, but didn't know how.
Minh Vu deftly tightened the bowstring, feeling the tension and flexibility of the bow. He couldn't help but feel satisfied; indeed, the reinforced bowstring made the bow much firmer and easier to handle.
Minh Vu then shot an arrow, which embedded deep into the wall, satisfying him greatly.
"Ashi! Well done! Quickly teach everyone to do the same with their bows! You'll be rewarded with a delicious meal tonight!" Minh Vu was extremely excited.
Hearing the leader's words, Ashi's mouth opened wide in surprise, her eyes sparkling with joy. For days, she had watched Vu, Klu, and Orc enjoy delicious food, feeling extremely uncomfortable in her stomach, craving the sweet aroma. Today, the leader promised her a delicious meal! She couldn't wait for dinner tonight!
With that thought in mind, she immediately called everyone over to begin instructing the group of archers on wrapping cords around their bows.
Meanwhile, Minh Vu went to the riverbank in search of fresh food.
For the past few days, he had grown tired of dried rations and needed something fresh. While hunting in winter was difficult, it wasn't impossible, especially for someone with modern knowledge like him.
In winter, the river was frozen solid, but Minh Vu knew that beneath the ice lay flowing water. He tapped the ice repeatedly with a wooden stick to gauge its thickness.
"Clang! Clang! Clang!" The sharp sound echoed, making Minh Vu feel somewhat melancholic. The ice was too thick, like a rock. However, he didn't give up, continuously tapping away.
"Clang! Clang! Clang! Thud!" Suddenly, the sound changed.
"Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!" The sound was deep and resonant, causing Minh Vu's mouth to curve into a smile. Immediately, he marked the spot with his stick and called the tribespeople.
Apart from the archers, the rest of the group continued to gather stones and wood.
Quickly, everyone was summoned to the riverbank, including Klu and Orc, the two loyal followers who hunted with Minh Vu. There were also over 20 women.
Following Minh Vu's orders, the group prepared spears, large stones, and bone harpoons to catch fish.
If someone had known beforehand, they wouldn't have believed that it was possible to catch fish in winter.
But when the words came from Minh Vu's mouth, they knew they would succeed.
Over 20 people gathered at the marked spot, the widest part of the river, about 10 meters across, surrounded by snow-covered banks.
"Break the ice here!" Minh Vu pointed to the spot he had marked on the ice.
Orc and Klu wasted no time, using large stones to break the ice. The ice made a cacophony of cracking sounds, but it was thick and solid, not easily broken.
However, with the group's efforts, after about two hours, the ice hole was finally opened. The ice was incredibly thick, at least 70 cm.
But Minh Vu wasn't disappointed. Underneath the thick ice was water, still flowing slowly. Steam rose from the water's surface.
"Quickly! Set up the fish traps here! Tonight, we'll have fresh fish!" Minh Vu exclaimed loudly.
Hearing this, the tribespeople cheered excitedly. Eating dried fish for days had become monotonous.
Six traps were brought out, meticulously crafted and reinforced. Through months of trap-making, the Stone Tribe had become highly skilled in this craft.
Without waiting for Minh Vu's command, the group began their familiar work. Since they didn't have fresh fish as bait, Minh Vu didn't hesitate to use dried fish.
The six traps were tied together into a chain, then slowly lowered into the river. Minh Vu knew that in winter, aquatic creatures were slow and passive, only feeding at night and seeking warm currents during the day. So the traps wouldn't be immediately pulled up like usual; they would wait until evening.
To prevent the ice hole from freezing over again, Minh Vu placed several branches into the water. He even assigned someone to watch over the hole; if they saw the water freezing, they would use a spear to break the ice.
With everything arranged, Minh Vu left, leaving the tribespeople with hope for a delicious meal tonight.
Staying behind to watch over the hole was Cas, a former member of the hunting team. Although he had been seriously injured by a wolf attack last time, he had recovered physically, but his leg had been left with a disability, seemingly with severed tendons. So he couldn't walk normally anymore.
Although he was removed from the hunting team, he joined the fishing team instead.
Fishing became a source of joy and pride for him, so after months of fishing, Cas became obsessed with it.
Not catching fish in a day made him feel extremely uncomfortable.
Yet today, even in winter, he continued his favorite activity. How could he not be happy?
As he held the spear absentmindedly, suddenly, he noticed something black emerging from the water.
"Fish!" He couldn't help but shout. Seeing the fish's head poking out, his hunter instincts surfaced, and he instinctively thrust his bone spear into the ice hole! With a satisfying sound, Cas ignored his limping leg and jumped forward, grabbing the spear tightly and pulling it up.
The spear was heavy, vibrating continuously, indicating that he had hit his target.
The fish struggled to break free, but couldn't escape his grasp.
A surge of hunting fervor coursed through him as he pulled the struggling fish out of the hole.
It was a long fish, about a meter in length, completely black from head to tail.
Its belly was a menacing orange color, but strangely, there was a spear stuck from its head to its tail, leaving no chance of survival.
Fresh blood flowed out, shimmering on the ice. Cas shouted in joy.