Chapter 21: I’m Out of Here

Since being summoned here, whenever he was awake, Zhou Xu was constantly busy with the survival and development of the tribe—truly not a second to waste.

Living on barely enough food, these days were overwhelmingly full for Zhou Xu.

[Hmm... feels about right. Time to start trying to fire pottery.]

Examining the small sun-dried clay bowls, Zhou Xu had no real experience to judge by, only intuition. Matters like this had to be approached through trial and error until success was gradually achieved.

“Go fetch some firewood.”

Without needing more explanation, Zhou Xu was preparing to light the kiln.

“Butterfly, come help.”

Hearing the summons, Butterfly didn’t say a word. She set down the freshly polished stone axe and ran over.

After going through the stone axe polishing process, Zhou Xu had drawn some conclusions.

When facing tasks unfamiliar to both himself and Butterfly, he could trust her deft hands more, letting her experiment—she might even do better than him.

Butterfly knew well that their handicraft team’s workload was about to increase again.

Though Butterfly kept silent, Zhou Xu was aware that the workload was indeed heavy. There were simply too many tasks in the tribe requiring their skills.

But it couldn’t be helped. These tasks demanded a certain talent; clumsy hands would struggle to do them well.

So Zhou Xu tried to ease their burden in other ways.

For example, from the start, two people helped the handicraft team by peeling bark and twisting thin ropes.

Now Zhou Xu had adjusted this, increasing those assigned to miscellaneous chores to five.

Tasks like stone gathering and carrying were all handed over to these five helpers.

Counting the five in the handicraft team, nearly a third of the entire tribe was engaged here.

At this moment, Zhou Xu was explaining the kiln to Butterfly.

Drawing on his previous research on tea bowls and the old kilns he’d seen online, he had improvised and built one.

Though the conditions were limited and it was not very well constructed, he was well aware of that.

“This kiln is roughly divided into two sections. I built a platform here for the bowls, and this side is for the firewood to burn.”

As he spoke, he started placing the sun-dried clay bowls inside the kiln.

Butterfly, seeing this, didn’t need much prompting. Based on the experience accumulated over the past two days, she naturally stepped forward to help.

Lighting the fire, the kiln quickly caught flame.

After adding plenty of firewood and getting the fire roaring, Zhou Xu took some prepared stones to block the kiln’s opening, then sealed the gaps with mud to stabilize the internal temperature.

Only a small opening was left at the top of the kiln’s mouth, allowing them to monitor the fire and add wood as needed.

“This kiln needs someone to watch it all day. Let’s burn it for three days first.”

This timeframe had long been decided.

Based on the little knowledge he had from playing with tea bowls, modern firing methods were either electric or wood-fired.

Electric firing, relying on equipment, was stable and efficient—usually finishing a batch in several hours.

Wood firing was the traditional method, less efficient and lower yield, requiring much more time and effort.

With zero practical experience, Zhou Xu was prepared for failure on this first attempt.

After setting this in motion, Zhou Xu sat aside, twisting bark ropes and tinkering with something new.

No need to say, he was preparing to deal with the giant spider.

Against such a dangerous creature, as a human under these limited conditions, what did Zhou Xu think of first?

Of course—ranged weapons!

Ensuring his own safety, he aimed to kill the creature from a distance.

In this age of primitive weapons, the first thing that came to mind was the bow and arrow.

But anyone could see he couldn’t make one now.

Even if he barely managed to make a bow, he couldn’t guarantee the power or range of the arrows—soft arrows would be useless.

Given this, what simple yet effective ranged weapon could be made in such a primitive society besides bows?

The answer was obvious: a sling!

Fortunately, the leather pieces from the rats they’d eaten recently were just the right size.

Using this leather and suitably thick bark ropes, a sling was quickly crafted in Zhou Xu’s hands.

Ideally, the stones used should be polished to improve range and stability.

But they simply didn’t have the time now.

They would make do with some stones of appropriate size as they were.

Taking stones and the newly made sling, Zhou Xu went outside the tribe to a spacious area for testing.

Using the centrifugal force from rapid rotation, after two attempts, he easily made the leather pouch spin the stone projectiles at high speed.

Then, aiming carefully, he swung his arm—the stone shot out, tracing a long parabolic arc.

He estimated it flew about fifty or sixty meters before landing. He was quite satisfied with this result.

This was his first time using it, so many things were undoubtedly imperfect. With more practice, he could improve.

Considering the environment of the Black Forest, they actually didn’t need such a long attack range.

Of course, he had thought about luring the giant spider out of the Black Forest to the open wasteland to attack.

But was fighting in the open wasteland really advantageous for them?

Those black trees were obstacles when they launched ranged attacks, but conversely, they also served as cover when the spider attacked.

As he pondered this, the gathering team led by Dashan returned.

“Dashan, you’re back just in time. Come try this new weapon.”

After the morning’s events, Dashan had been feeling down, but hearing about a new weapon, his eyes lit up. He ran over in two quick strides.

No need for words—Zhou Xu immediately explained how to use it.

The weapon was simple, and after hearing the instructions, Dashan picked it up effortlessly without even trying.

Perhaps it was his innate talent for weaponry; with a single swing, he broke Zhou Xu’s previous record on the spot.

Fortunately, no one noticed his earlier throwing distance, and Dashan, unsure how well he’d done, looked at Zhou Xu with a somewhat anxious expression.

Seeing this, Zhou Xu cleared his throat and patted Dashan’s shoulder.

“Considering it’s your first time, not bad. Take a few from your team and practice when you can. This weapon will definitely come in handy later.”

“Don’t worry, Chief. I’ll make sure everyone practices well!”

“Good, keep that up. I’m counting on you.”

[Time to slip away...]