Chapter 7: The Talent for Concealment

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The first task Zhou Xu assigned to the tribe members was to twist tree bark into ropes. This was not difficult; as long as they paid some attention, they could quickly grasp the technique. From the speed at which they learned, Zhou Xu could roughly judge which members were more skilled at this kind of handiwork.

“All right, a few of you go help gather branches and strip bark,” he instructed.

By observing this way, Zhou Xu directly replaced the tribe members who were not very adept at this task. After all, besides handicrafts, there were quite a few other duties within the tribe that needed attention—such as standing guard, collecting branches, stripping bark, and tending the fire.

Setting aside the tasks of sentry and fire-watching for the moment, there was still a significant demand for branches. Not only were they needed for bark stripping, but more importantly, to acquire sufficient freshwater and keep the fire burning, a continuous supply of wood fuel was essential.

Under these circumstances, once night fell, the temperature here would definitely drop. In fact, Zhou Xu already felt a chill creeping in. There were nearly thirty people, and a single fire was not enough; at least two fires were necessary.

Successfully starting the fire was a trivial matter at this point. After roughly teaching them how to twist tree bark into rope, Zhou Xu seized a free moment to build a stone stove on the other side of the tribe’s camp using the stones they had found. He lit a fire there to provide warmth for the tribe members.

Unfortunately, there was only one nutshell pot and no suitable bone slabs to be found. Otherwise, Zhou Xu wouldn’t mind setting up another “freshwater extraction device,” which would greatly increase their freshwater gathering efficiency.

At the same time, this situation made him realize another problem.

“With so many mouths in the tribe, it’s impossible to rely solely on boiling water each time to get freshwater.”

“If we can’t produce two sets of equipment to speed up extraction, then we have to store more water regularly—which means we need containers.”

Thinking this through, Zhou Xu glanced once more at the few nutshell bowls. Their number and capacity were limited and clearly insufficient for future needs.

“I need to come up with a solution. As for containers... maybe I can try to carve a wooden bowl with that bone dagger. But before that, I have to find wood thick and wide enough.”

As he pondered, Zhou Xu cast a glance toward the distant dark forest. The trees there were thick enough, but the problem was that to do this, he would first have to fell a big tree to obtain the main trunk wood, and later consider how to cut the wood into usable pieces.

To accomplish all this, one tool was absolutely necessary—an axe!

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Bones were not suitable for making an axe.

On one hand, they couldn’t find bones of the right shape. Judging by the weapons the tribe members held—mostly daggers and bone spears—there was no sign of any axes.

On the other hand, the bones they had were probably weaker than the more common stones. If they forcibly used bones as axes, the bone parts would likely shatter during chopping.

Compared to the easier-to-find stones, that would be an unnecessary loss.

“A stone axe is definitely a must-have. But even if I make one and manage to fell a tree, carving out a wooden bowl will be quite difficult,” Zhou Xu admitted.

Clearly, upon further reflection, he realized that making a wooden bowl would be much more challenging than he initially thought.

As for alternatives...

“Pottery?”

He recalled that in the games he used to play, one of the milestones of entering the Neolithic Age was developing pottery.

Unfortunately, right now he couldn’t just click a mouse or tap a keyboard to achieve that.

He had no prior knowledge of pottery-making, but! He had played with mud by the river as a child.

Pottery was made by firing clay—this was common knowledge he still retained. As for where to find clay...

Based on his simple childhood experience playing by the river, clay could be found along the riverbank and inside the river.

The river clay was fine and sticky due to long-term immersion and water erosion, making it easy to mold.

Of course, he didn’t have time to attempt this now; setting traps to solve the tribe’s food supply was more urgent.

Once the tree bark ropes were mostly finished, Zhou Xu began teaching the tribe members to weave baskets from bark.

No need to say, he planned to make simple basket traps. When he was a child, he and his friends mainly used these to catch birds.

He had thought about making rope snares, but he wasn’t familiar with those; weaving baskets was more within his skill set and less likely to go wrong.

In this environment, there was little room for error—he just wanted something reliable.

As for what bait to put under the basket?

That was already planned; he would use the heads and entrails of insects they pinched off but didn’t eat, making good use of all resources.

For efficiency, the basket could be woven with gaps, not too dense. Since the target was rats, as long as they couldn’t escape, it would suffice. This would save time and tree bark.

This was not a complicated craft, and those weaving with him had been carefully selected as some of the more skillful members of the tribe.

After a few lessons, they generally understood, only needing Zhou Xu’s occasional guidance when necessary.

Unlike previous tasks, once Zhou Xu got into the rhythm, he could weave baskets without even looking, a clear sign of practiced skill.

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This gave Zhou Xu some free time to shift his attention to the system that appeared now and then.

“If there is a system, can I open some kind of panel?”

Almost as the thought crossed his mind, Zhou Xu felt his vision blur, and a virtual interface suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

Name: Zhou Xu
Gender: Male
Age: 22
Race: Human
Status: Hungry
True Word: Eye of Insight
Talent: Evolutionary Leader — Survival of the fittest is the eternal law of this world. Only through constant evolution can one stand firm amidst the torrent of civilization! Lead your people and achieve great evolution!

Bravery: ★★☆
Intelligence: ★★☆☆
Spirit: ★★★☆☆
Endurance: ★★☆☆
Leadership: ★☆☆☆☆

Followers: 31
Territory: Salt Lake Tribe

Looking at his attribute panel, Zhou Xu, as a modern person who had played quite a few games, could understand the star ratings.

If his judgment was correct, the filled stars represented his current attribute strengths, while the empty stars indicated potential growth limits.

He didn’t say much about the other attributes since he had a fair idea of himself, but the leadership rating capped at five stars truly surprised him.

“I didn’t expect I had this hidden talent.”