As usual, when hunting mice, it is necessary to dig burrows, so Klu had prepared early with a stone knife and sharp sticks.
Looking at the items carried by the hunting group, Minh Vu laughed without saying anything.
So, they all went to that high mound.
Mice are nocturnal animals; at night, they come out of their burrows to find food, and until morning, they return to rest in their burrows.
For this reason, Minh Vu decided to catch these mouse herds in the morning today.
Looking at that high mound, Orc's eyes were full of frustration.
This mouse nest was not something they hadn't dug through before.
The soil in this area was very hard, and using stone tools to dig was impossible.
Even if they tried to dig all day, they couldn't go down 1 meter, let alone catch mice.
The strong-smelling smoke made Minh Vu's nose uncomfortable. Even though he was in a well-ventilated area, tears and mucus kept flowing from his eyes and nose, not to mention the mice in the burrow.
In less than 5 minutes, the mice inside the burrow started to become active. Squeaking sounds could be heard coming from the ground. Minh Vu took advantage of the situation and quickly blocked the burrow entrance with a large mound of soil. After that, he put out the fire and waited for the mice to emerge.
"Klu, get ready to catch the mice!" Minh Vu pointed to the holes. Klu seemed doubtful, but the reality in front of him told a different story. Sounds emerged from the burrows they had just filled.
"Seal all the other burrow entrances tightly! Leave only one for catching mice!" Minh Vu commanded.
Suddenly, a large mouse, as big as a calf, rushed out of one of the burrows.
Its entire body was gray, and it had terrifyingly large front teeth. As it poked its head out of the burrow, before it could recover, Minh Vu struck it on the head with a stick, rendering it unconscious.
The hunting team cheered non-stop.
This was the first time they had caught a mouse so easily, without having to dig a burrow—just waiting for the mouse to stick its head out and giving it a whack with a stick.
Klu was extremely aggressive; every strike of his was forceful, and with each blow, the grassland mouse met its end.
Within the first 20 minutes, more than 50 grassland mice were exposed.
There were probably many more underneath, but they didn't come out anymore.
It was likely that they were all suffocated, or the smoke had lost its effect, so they didn't need to climb out.
Therefore, Minh Vu began to check the other burrow entrances. Indeed, those mice were all suffocated.
They died due to a lack of air, so they no longer guarded the burrow entrances and began the work of digging burrows. This time it was a bit more difficult because they had to dig, but not too deep.
The mice had gathered near the burrow entrances, but they were trapped and couldn't get out.
The mice in this burrow were very clever; they had dozens of different burrows, and when they dug one, they would escape to another.
So when Minh Vu led them here, Orc immediately frowned, showing his disapproval. Klu also had a similar expression, but the leader's authority was there; they had no right to oppose.
Klu considered himself the most experienced in the field of hunting, so he immediately skillfully took the lead, found a really large burrow, and began to dig diligently.
Other members also prepared to follow suit, but Minh Vu spoke up to stop them.
"No digging! Catch them without digging!"
"No digging! How can we catch them?" Klu said.
"Listen to me! Clear the grass here!" Minh Vu ordered.
The members of the hunting team didn't understand what was going on.
Their heads were buzzing.
Only Orc was standing there, confused.
Since Minh Vu gave him delicious food for the first time, he had obediently followed Minh Vu's orders.
And so, the group of young people began using stone knives and bone knives to clear the grass around that area. Indeed, this was a really large mouse nest; within a radius of 10m, there were signs of burrows from them.
The estimated number of mice living in these two nests was up to 100.
Seven people spent about 2 hours, and finally, the 300m2 area was completed, revealing a layer of grass beneath it with more than 30 different burrows.
The largest burrow was located under that high mound.
It seemed that this was the main entrance of the mouse nest, and the rest were branch burrows.
After observing carefully for a while, Minh Vu ordered to fill all the mouths of those burrows with soil, leaving only the main burrow.
As for the hunting team, especially Klu, they still didn't understand.
They were catching mice, not burying mouse holes.
His mind was indeed very simple.
About 20 minutes later, all the branch burrow entrances were filled with soil, and then Minh Vu gathered the cleared grass and placed it in front of the main burrow.
After that, he lit a fire.
The dry grass quickly caught fire.
"Quick! Use animal skins to blow the smoke into the burrow!" Minh Vu ordered.
Although Klu didn't understand, he still followed suit. In no time, smoke billowed out, some flew into the burrow, while others rose into the sky.
The surrounding hunting team couldn't bear it, starting to cough, but soon those coughs were replaced by screams.
And so, in just one morning, Minh Vu and six hunters managed to capture over 100 plump grassland mice. Additionally, there were around 40-50 mouse pups, which were directly taken to the riverbank to be used as bait for fishing.
A hundred mice is a massive quantity, requiring careful processing to ensure long-term storage.
Consequently, the fish processing site was completely halted, replaced by the handling of the grassland mice.
Minh Vu personally directed the processing of the grassland mice.
Because these mice on their bodies were valuable resources, there were many resources that could be utilized.
The first step with the grassland mice was to skin them. Their hides, after processing, could be used to make some useful items such as hats, gloves, or even clothing and shoes.
Their teeth were also remarkably developed, with some of them having front teeth as long as 5cm, extremely sturdy and sharp.
These teeth could be utilized as weapons or small knives.
The mouse meat needs no explanation, it was plentiful and delicious.
Whether grilled or boiled, it was a culinary delight.
Minh Vu didn't overlook the intestines either.
After being cleaned, the intestines were dried, creating quite strong and soft cords.
Due to the weather not favoring the Stone Tribe, all the hides, except for the mouse hides, were quickly air-dried over the fire. Although the effectiveness wasn't high, in this season, it proved to be extremely efficient.
Until the end of the day, the work was still not finished.
Despite being quite tired, the harvest today made the entire tribe laugh with joy, especially the mouse-catching team with Minh Vu.
They boasted about how many mice they had caught today and shared stories about the leader's miraculous mouse-catching techniques.
It wasn't until 7 PM that the Stone Tribe returned to their hiding cave.
By this time, the mouse meat still hadn't been fully processed.
For safety reasons, the batch of mouse meat was taken back to the cave and, along with burning the kiln, the meat was also air-dried.
So, once again, the Stone Tribe had a very late dinner, but the food today was exceptionally good.
And this positive outcome was all thanks to Vu. Since the pot of porridge became the main food of the tribe, it often had fish or meat added to it.
Although the flavor wasn't great due to the lack of spices, it was very filling and tasty, so the entire tribe embraced it.