~First hosted in Chrysanthemum Garden~
Now that there’s enough food, everyone focused their energies on building their new home.
Yan Mo told Yuan Zhan about the merpeople and Yuan Zhan’s building pace sped up at a rate anyone could see.
Today, Yan Mo watched Yuan Zhan for a long time before asking: “Where did you get the soil for building the wall? From digging the foundation?”
“No, I also dug it from the surrounding area.”
“Taking soil from all over the place like that takes too much energy and time. It’s too slow if you’re the only person who can build the wall.” Yan Mo walked up to Yuan Zhan and drew a simple drawing of the city wall on the thick snow, then added a moat in front of the wall.
“What’s that?” Yuan Zhan immediately locked onto the focal point.
“A defensive river. The wider and deeper it is, the better. It can keep off beasts’ attack and enemies invading. The river can also be used to raise fish, shrimps and others. It can’t keep merpeople out, but if we have a good relationship with the merpeople, we might just gain another layer of protection in the river.” After meeting the merpeople and discovering that they were open to communication, Yan Mo thought of the moat. He even thought of directly connecting the moat to that huge lake so that they can get flowing water.
The warrior Yuan Zhan was more perceptive of matters relating to city defence, what attacks it can fend and how it can be defended, “Oh Primordial God! Why have we never thought to dig a river around the tribe before?”
Yan Mo write down his calculation on the snow, “If you keep building the wall at your current speed, you’d still be doing it in spring. Unless we build a very small village that can only fit two hundred people in it. However, if you channel the energy you’ve been spending on the wall toward the moat, forget about the wall for about bit, and only pile the earth dug up for the moat on the inner side, won’t it be much faster?
“Of course. I’d only have to make the earth loose and move the soil to one side to make a hole in the ground, that’s easy.” Yuan Zhan mulled it over, his face showed obvious excitement. “That’s right, that way I can cover a large area in shorter time, the piled up earth can act as the wall for now. The wall can be build afterwards.”
Yan Mo got straight to the point: “Just go dig a moat around this entire high land. We’ll claim this whole area. Connect the moat directly to the big lake, that way we don’t need to worry about filling it up. I’ll handle the merpeople’s side.” If he can handle this well, not only will they gain a new friend, they may be able to add another layer of protection to the city.
Yuan Zhan leaped out from the hole he was in and pulled Yan Mo to the top of the wall. The two looked at the surrounding from above.
Yan Mo’s hands roughly gestured, making a circle around the whole area, “All of these.” Judging with the eyes, the area was about 30 km², it’ll be more than enough for them to develop at their current stage.
Yan Mo, this person who know nothing about city building, had no idea how exaggerated and unreasonable his thoughtless gesture was.
Yuan Zhan said nothing, but his expression already told Yan Mo what he wants to say.
Yan Mo looked at him sideways. “It looks very big, but I’ve been observing your ability, you can definitely finish it in four months. And, your ability will definitely go up one level in these four months.” Winter will end in four months later, this was his estimation after observing the weather here.
“Four months later, when spring comes, we won’t have to worry about beasts suddenly attacks, and we can… drive away the more dangerous beasts from this raised land.” Yan Mo wanted to say ‘clean out’ but he recalled the guide and changed his words.”and then, we’ll build the city wall and houses, everyone will be able to pitch in when the ice melt in spring.”
“Two issues with that.” Yuan Zhan still looked calm. “One, we have too few people. If an enemy really comes attacking, we won’t be able to defend such a big area.”
“The merpeople can help.”
“That’s the other issue. What if this merpeople clan you’re talking about not only doesn’t help, but also becomes hostile to us?”
“Then, what do you have in mind?” Doctor Yan, who didn’t know anything about territorial defence, humbly asked for guidance. He was only telling others about his impression of what a city is like, he didn’t know how to best build it.
Yuan Zhan didn’t know if his priest really didn’t know or was just testing him. He deeply looked at him, “Still dig a moat like what you said. I’ll also finish up this wall.”
Yan Mo looked at him, a little shocked, “Inner and outer wall… Okay, if you think you can handle it.”
Yan Mo thought: Even if this person didn’t have him, even if Yuan Zhan never left his tribe and journeyed to this place, he most likely would become chieftain anyway and make his tribe even stronger.
Yuan Zhan looked at Yan Mo and thought: It’s his luck to have met a priest like Yan Mo with the Primordial God’s inheritance. Even if you give him ten tribes worth of slaves in exchange for him, he’d never agree!
These two would never have known the impact this casual wave of hands and short talk would bring to this land in the future.
Yuan Zhan first dug out the inner city moat that had been outlined.
First of all, he drew a square-shaped encirclement on the snow according to Yan Mo’s drawing. This was the area of the inner city that he had decided on, covering about two km² land. Then, he began digging slightly outside of the outline he had made.
la vlvc’a ajxf wemt alwf obg tlw ab vlu bea j rdejgf-rtjqfv vlamt jgbecv, rlcmf la’r j rwjii jgfj.
As Yuan Zhan used his ability to make areas of soil move apart on its own, and piled on the inner side of the hole, Yan Mo looked on the side, ready to tell him how deep and how wide he should be digging it. In his original world, he had once visited the historic imperial capital, he followed that model to a T in making this new inner city moat.
Tejc Itjc rqfca j oeii afc vjsr vluulcu atlr rdejgf-rtjqfv vlamt.
Ktf C’ke qfbqif kfgfc’a pera rlaalcu jgbecv, flatfg. Ktfs kfca eq jcv jrxfv ab yf j qjga bo atf kbgx ktfc atfs rjk atf qlifr bo fjgat Tejc Itjc ifoa jrlvf. Ktfs kjcafv ab tfiq lc wjxlcu atf rbli lcab kjiir, atf rblir veu ogbw atf ugbecv kfgf ibbrf, atfs mbeiv vfolclafis kbgx klat la.
So Yuan Zhan told them to mix soil, crushed stones, and gravels with the mud ashes.
Yan Mo hit his own head. Wouldn’t they be able to produce a stack of mixed bricks ready to be used if they make a mould?
He immediately set out to make it happen. Yan Mo taught everyone how to make a mould. It’s simple, just place wood on each side to shape the corners.
It’s hard to explain the rush A’wu people felt as the square shaped stones took shape in Yan Mo’s hands. Every single one of them fought over who gets to make the next one.
Yan Mo watched the buzzing crowd making bricks in high spirits, and couldn’t help thinking, will the brick’s quality be better if he thermally treated it?
But right now they didn’t have the time nor energy to test it out, he could only let it go. Bricks that were made with this method weren’t too bad, they’re not that far behind the solid grey bricks. That mud stone turned out to be such a treasure!
Yan Mo didn’t worry about what they would do if they used up all the mud in the pool. Based on his visual estimate, the mud pool should be enough to build a few cities at least. And maybe they’d find an even better sticking agent by that point, who knows?
Then, all of the A’wu people made the bricks, while Yuan Zhan was responsible for digging the foundation.
When Yuan Zhan moved to dig the outer city moat, A’wu people in the encampment can also start to lay the wall’s bricks on the foundation.
They directly poured the mud mixture between two layers of the bricks, and Yuan Zhan can strengthen it with his ability when he’s finished with his work.
As winter went on, an outline of a strong small city slowly took shape on the raised high lands with each passing day.
Meng and the remaining A’wu people finally appeared outside the city wall after a long journey spanning nearly 20 days.
As for why it took them so long to get here, firstly because Meng wasn’t familiar with the terrain and relied on that map when moving, so they took several wrong turns. He wouldn’t be able to find the right direction if not for the marks Yuan Zhan had left behind. They might still be lost in the wilderness right now.
The other reason was this group were composed of ‘diverse’ members, they have everything from old, weak, pregnant and young. It’s also hard to move around in the snow, their pace didn’t get much faster even if these people sit on the wooden board and had the warriors pull them as they walked.
The third reason was due to their large number. They became a target for the wolves and other hungry animals and had to spend quite some time to deal with those beasts.
The last one, was that they had brought too much with them.
”
”
Meng knew that the colloidal mud was really useful, and Yan Mo had also told him to bring the mud before he left. During the 30-day preparation period, he had people go to the mud pool, take the mud and make mud stones every day. When their group departed, the stacks of the mud stones occupied a big part of the wooden board. It delayed the departure time for several days, there’s not enough boards, so he had to quickly make some more.
Dofie saw the piles of many mud stones and got curious, so she looked for a chance to ask Meng about it.
Meng was leading everyone to get to their destination as soon as possible. He had to handle a bunch of things every day, and every day, something will somehow go wrong. How could he have time to go enjoy himself with a woman? In order to lessen the tents they have to set up every night and also for safety reasons, all the women and children were gathered in on place and the men slept on the outside. He also slept with the other single men, A’wu warriors and him slept squeezed together every night.
So, when Dofie found him, Meng was already on the verge of exploding from these annoying trivial matters. Before she can open her mouth to ask about the stones, Meng’s harsh words hit her until she can only return to her group.
Dofie went back to the women’s group suppressing her anger. She can move a bit more freely now because of her healing ability, but there would always be someone watching over her.
The old shaman went to her side and said something, but it’s too bad that she couldn’t understand it.
This old Shaman was very friendly to her when he first found out about her healing ability, his gaze at her changed and he’d come alone looking for her from time to time. But they couldn’t communicate with each other. Each time, the old shaman will look obviously disappointed after they spoke and would grumble about something. After a few times of these, the old shaman rarely approached her again.
”
”
At present, Meng and the A’wu were in a state of shock.
What’s that up ahead?!
A’wu clan’s leader and old shaman rushed to Meng and anxiously asked, “Did God mean that place? Is there really no other tribes in there?” What’s going on, why’s there a stone wall?
They pulled in little kid A’wu, who roughly and brokenly relayed the words of the two. Little A’wu had often served as the translator these days, due to the force of circumstances, he could now speak Jiuyuan better than the other six children.
Meng looked at the wooden slate on his hand and compared the terrain to the map. He hesitated, he’s not sure either.
This is the place Zhan described, right? But someone else had clearly claimed it, ah!
Anyone could tell how strong this enemy was just by looking at that towering stone wall.
Didn’t Zhan say there’s no other clans around?
Was Zhan wrong? But who could miss such a big conspicuous stone wall?
Meng actually had a guess in his heart, but he didn’t dare believe it.
Zhan and Mo had just left for a short time, they only brought a small number of people. It was even the harsh winter, where the soil was frozen like rocks. Even if Zhan had the ability to control rocks and soil, they couldn’t have made such a tall and strong stone wall in that short amount of time!
Or, was this stone wall always been here?
Dofie was probably the most calm out of everyone. The stone wall in front of them looked strong and tall, but it’s just for looks. There’s not even battlements or patrolling warriors on it, it was far behind the level of her father’s fort.
But, what’s that deep hole in front of the wall?
Dofie looked at the deep hole. The water hadn’t been poured in, but she could already guess that it was some kind of defensive measure.
“I’ll go check. You guys wait for me here. ” Meng told everyone his decision.
The A’wu people were worried, but Meng was the strongest one in their group, they could only let him go forward to check the situation.
Just when Meng was about to move within the worried gazes of the A’wu people, someone slid down the snow from the distant wall.
“Clan leader! Old shaman! Is that you?” Someone shouted using A’wu language, the call spread all around the wide open space.
The A’wu people were ecstatic, “One of our people! It’s one of us!”
Huhu, who was the guard on patrol duty, had actually found them when they appeared. But it was too far away, so he couldn’t be sure.
A’wu clan, who have been separated for nearly two months, were finally reunited. Needless to say, it was a very joyous and cheerful occasion.
Aside from the patrol guards, the other warriors in the encampment ran out to welcome their clansmen. Yan Mo heard the news and went out with the three students in tow.
Big-eyes was already beside himself with excitement, his eyes roamed around the crowd for his family. He wanted to brag about so many things, like how he could weave grass sandals now (though he was taught by Wu Chen), or how he could count from one to ten thousand now and could also add and subtract within the ten thousand, and how…
He had so so many things to brag about! But what he was itching to tell people the most was that he now had a name! And it was Priest-daren himself who had personally named him!
The different groups mixed into one, one after another, people pointed to the wall and the topic of the wall seemed to never end.
“What’s that? Did you guys make it? ”
“The Priest said it’s a ‘wall’.” A warrior from the first group said proudly.
“It’s strong, can hold off wild animals and enemies. We will live inside the wall in the future. We won’t have to be afraid, no matter what comes!” Another warrior said in a louder voice.
The A’wu people were overjoyed. They might not know what wall and city defence were, but they could also tell by looking that their homes will be so much safer now that they have these walls.
The old shaman ignored the cold and leaned on the stone wall, touching here and there. Obviously knew he couldn’t poke a hole into it, but his fingers kept poking away, while he yelled with sobs, “Hard! Strong! Oh, god! ”
A’wu clan leader was interested in the stone bricks, he kept asking what they were and how to make them.
Da Ze showed the bricks off to everyone: “This? It’s stone, to build house! You know House? Haha! None of you know! Everyone will live in houses later!”
The pot was fired up, everyone hurriedly asked what house is.
As the A’wu people were shouting what’s this and what’s that in the camp, Dofie followed the crowd and got closer to the wall.
When she saw the camp that looked like a construction site, the Honourable Princess’s lips pulled in disdain. It’s not that great.
What’s this, they don’t even have one decent house. She thought she would be able to see small palace structures serving as the Priest’s and the Chief’s residences. There’s not even a simple earthen house.
Looks like that Priest wasn’t all that. He’s still living inside a tent.
That said, Dofie was still a little wary. What does it say about a priest who told his people to build the tribe like this? He was also picked up from outside like her, but he didn’t make these savages build him a house in the beginning, and instead built a wall first.
This meant that this priest was either someone who didn’t care about material things, or was a man of great wisdom.
Dofie had seen more than one priest and shaman. They had a holy temple in their fort and it had many temple attendants. These attendants would normally be serving the god, but the temple would also send these attendants out to be savage tribes’ priests if they find a tribe that can be easily controlled.
Those temple attendants are already used a life of being waited upon by others, they have high standards for their living space. Most of the time their lives are even better than a tribe’s chief.
If this outsider priest also came from one of those temples, at the very least, he’s not just a fake who only knew to sit back and enjoy being served.
Yan Mo looked over once and immediately found Dofie in the crowd.
It’s because the young lady was too eye-catching, even if these two months had ground down her demeanour and she was wearing the same thing as the other A’wu women. Standing with a stuck out chest and straight back, with a long red hair that had obviously been combed and her snowy white skin, she had an aura that’s different from everyone around her. She stuck out like a bright light bulb in the dark.
Yan Mo did see her, but he didn’t have the time to care about her right now. His gaze was soon drawn over to the large number of mud stones pulled into the camp.
Meng strode over to Yan Mo.
Yan Mo stretched out a hand and patted him hard, “This is great! We’re about to run out of our stack of mud stones, what a perfect timing! Come, we’ll settle everyone down today and continue work tomorrow!”
Meng… closed his opened mouth again. He had wanted to ask what’s up with the half-built stone wall, then he saw the inside was still roughly under construction and guessed most of it. He waited until Yan Mo finished speaking before asking, “Where’s Zhan?”
Yan Mo waved his hand, “Went to fight with the merpeople.”
That animal, his energy were too much that he had nowhere to vent it to. Even digging out such a big moat couldn’t tire him out.
Yan Mo had only said even the ugliest merman looked better than him. But then he started fighting the mermen! So unreasonable!
He just stated the truth.
ahahhahaahahhaha Yuan Zhan angry hhehehehe
Thank you for the chapter!
Vinegar jar 😄
I wonder how long his hair has grown by now, from the stubble that it was. I’m seriously curious.And YM said the merpeople were more handsome so it must be true : )
Haha what!? A jelous Yuan Zhan haha
Our MC is a little scummy and I love it!!