Chapter 19: This Camp Is Unbearable to Stay In

“Butterfly, how are the bark bags coming along?”

He had taught Butterfly and the others to make bark bags just after dinner yesterday, and by bedtime, they had already completed their first one.

From now on, it was simply a matter of seeing how quickly they could improve their skills.

To be honest, without the constraints of modern knowledge barriers, he believed that primitive people learned more efficiently than many modern individuals.

Take Butterfly and her group as an example—when he taught them, their dedication was visibly intense.

Moreover, their earnestness was unlike that of modern people; theirs was a desperate, all-or-nothing resolve.

For them, there was no turning back—this directly affected their survival.

So with every task, they threw themselves into it wholeheartedly.

He picked up one of Butterfly’s bark bags and gave it a quick inspection.

Simply put, it was rougher than the ones he made, a matter of craftsmanship, but it was already functional.

“Good job. Have you all learned this?”

In response to his question, all five members of the handicraft team, including Butterfly, nodded.

“Excellent. From now on, two of you will keep making these bark bags, and the three of you, Butterfly included, come with me to learn something new.”

Polishing stone axes was also a handicraft task, but it required more time and effort.

According to Zhou Xu’s plan, everyone should have at least one stone axe.

Given that stone axes are typical consumables—no matter how durable the polished ones are, they still wear out—he had to consider making extra as backups.

By rough estimation, they needed to produce forty stone axes in the early stages.

One or two people alone couldn’t keep up with the demand.

“Let’s take it step by step. First, choose the stones, just like these…”

Without wasting words, the lesson began immediately.

Polishing stone axes wasn’t inherently difficult; in complexity, it might even be simpler than weaving bark bags.

But this task was more urgent, so after securing a certain number of bark bags, Zhou Xu had the handicraft team shift their focus to polishing stone axes.

One afternoon’s work was enough for each of them to finish one axe.

Perhaps it was Butterfly’s innate dexterity at play—after an initial awkwardness, she quickly got the hang of it.

Upon close inspection, the stone axe she polished was actually better than the one Zhou Xu himself had made.

If not for the natural disadvantages in strength and stamina as a woman, her overall efficiency might have even surpassed his.

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“Hss—”

Zhou Xu’s feelings were complicated.

In the long run, having such a skilled hand to handle the tribe’s equipment was obviously a blessing.

But as the tribe leader, to be overtaken by Butterfly right after making his own stone axe—it might undermine his authority.

Thinking this, Zhou Xu cleared his throat.

“Butterfly, you did very well. From now on, this task is yours!”

Avoidance might be shameful, but it was effective.

The next morning, Zhou Xu simply joined Da Shan and the others on an expedition into the Black Forest.

They had already explored most of the surrounding area, so after parting ways with Fei Que’s hunting team, they headed deeper into the Black Forest.

By then, the five members of the gathering team, including Da Shan, were all equipped with the newly polished stone axes, while Zhou Xu, the sixth member, still carried a bone spear.

The limited number of polished axes—only five at that moment—was one reason.

Zhou Xu also believed that stone axes couldn’t fully replace bone spears.

After all, the stone axe was a short-handled weapon, while the bone spear had a long handle, serving different roles in combat.

As a modern man with little fighting experience, he preferred the longer reach of the spear—it gave him a greater sense of security.

Walking through the Black Forest, protected in the middle, Zhou Xu sensed that Da Shan and the others were relatively relaxed.

In just a few days, they had gained a rough understanding of the area.

The surroundings were barren; the gnarled black trees in the forest stood lifeless and bare.

Though there was a nearby lake, it was salty, so animals wouldn’t come to drink.

Apart from hardy insects and rats, there was nothing else.

In some ways, it was quite safe, but hardly suitable for long-term human habitation.

By Zhou Xu’s reasoning, for the tribe to develop, they first needed a stable food source—hunting alone wouldn’t suffice.

Not to mention surviving on just rats and bugs.

What did he need? Agriculture. The dawn of farming civilization.

But judging by how desolate the land was, what crops could grow here?

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In the end, he hadn’t found any suitable crops yet.

So the tribe would not stay here permanently; for survival, they had to relocate.

But certainly not now.

Their current priority was to store sufficient food and explore as thoroughly as possible within their means, searching for a suitable place to move to.

Not to uproot themselves on a whim.

The “Eye of Insight.”

Looking at the Black Forest ahead, recalling how yesterday at the altar he used the “Eye of Insight” to detect the presence of a true word, Zhou Xu decided to try it again on a whim.

Though he didn’t see any strange glowing orbs, a scene through the dense black trees caught his attention.

“That is…”

“Da Shan, let’s head that way. There seems to be something over there.”

Since Zhou Xu didn’t hide his use of the true word from Da Shan and the others, they trusted his guidance without question and moved in the indicated direction.

After advancing about two or three hundred meters, a massive fissure gradually came into view.

“Leader?”

Da Shan and the others, noticing the fissure, tensed immediately and instinctively glanced back at Zhou Xu, awaiting orders.

“Don’t be nervous. This fissure doesn’t look man-made; it’s probably caused by tectonic activity.”

Though they didn’t understand what “tectonic activity” meant, his words somewhat reassured them.

Just then, as if making a discovery, Zhou Xu waved them over.

After approaching closer and finding the right position, Zhou Xu used the power of the “Eye of Insight” to peer into the fissure.

The pitch-black environment inside didn’t hinder him much.

As his vision penetrated deeper, huge spiderwebs quickly came into view, filling him with a foreboding sense of danger.

And at that moment, on one of the webs, a gigantic, grotesque silhouette suddenly emerged into his sight!