Everyone agreed to the decision.
In no time, everyone began busily packing their belongings, and the four short men also returned happily.
Sha Yi initially wanted to tidy up her own things, but Xi Yi outright refused. He made her sit on the boulder to rest. As for Xi Yi’s excessive doting on her, though the group had just formed, everyone tacitly accepted it as the norm—except for Saina, who chose to avoid them.
After sitting for a while, Sha Yi suddenly remembered the real culprit behind their expulsion from the settlement—the two thick ochre vines struck by lightning in the tree. She wondered about the fate of the vines buried in the pit. If they hadn’t been hit by lightning, were they still alive?
This was just an experiment. Apart from the terrifying forest they had once visited, such thick vines were never seen elsewhere. If these vines were used to attract lightning, given the astonishing frequency of thunderstorms this rainy season, the glowing green floating points that drew the lightning would be completely depleted after just a few strikes. Once those points were gone, the usefulness of these ochre vines would come to an end—their lifespan was incredibly short.
Moreover, based on the growth distribution of their roots and the few instances they had observed, the ochre vines were parasitic. If they could grow in the soil, that would be manageable. If not, entering a dormant state would also suffice. The real fear was that they might have died in the pit. If that were the case, the cost of using them as lightning rods would be far too high—simply not worth it.
After some thought, Sha Yi decided it was necessary to inform Xi Yi. Otherwise, once they relocated, the chance of returning here during the rainy season would be slim.
Ideally, someone should personally dig up the ochre vines to check. If they were still alive, that would be perfect. She desperately needed their help now, and the current weather was perfectly safe.
Xi Yi had always been obedient to her words. The moment she spoke, he immediately called over the men who had previously helped with the ochre vines. After quickly packing their belongings into the tub, he led the men out.
Sha Yi sat back on the boulder.
Honestly, the incident of the giant tree collapsing the settlement’s cave had completely caught her off guard.
Summarizing the reasons, there were roughly three: First, when placing the ochre vines, she hadn’t carefully considered the tree’s material, leading to poor selection. Second, when calculating the safe distance for lightning strikes, she forgot that the strike range had to exceed the tree’s height. Third, she neglected the angle of the lightning strike and the wind direction.
Any one of these issues could have been fatal. It was also her fault for lacking thorough knowledge—rushing to test her ideas without paying attention to the details. In the end, she not only harmed herself but also those who cared for her. She couldn’t afford to take a careless “let’s try it” approach anymore, because attracting and withstanding lightning was no joke. Failure wasn’t an option—it came with devastating consequences.
This time, at least no lives were lost, but it was already too close for comfort.
Now, they were about to relocate. The distance to Xi Mang’s cave was considerable, and the journey required crossing a vast stretch of water.
Humans, by nature, are accustomed to life on land. Even if skilled in swimming, there’s never a 100% guarantee of safety in water. Moreover, given the primitive state of their civilization, many dangers remained unknown. For women like her, who needed to avoid water during their menstrual cycles, building rafts became an absolute necessity.
So, rafts had to be constructed, and lightning protection had to be ensured—but she couldn’t let history repeat itself. She had to prepare thoroughly, or no one could withstand such shocks. This newly formed group consisted of people who trusted one another. She couldn’t shatter their hopes, nor could she endanger their lives.
For now, the relatively simpler tasks could be tackled—like the rafts. Their tools were underdeveloped, making lumbering extremely difficult. In this era, they couldn’t possibly conceive of boats, let alone beds or houses.
Currently, they were used to sleeping on the ground with dry grass and animal hides—manageable in other seasons, but disastrous during the rainy season due to the heavy humidity’s harm to the body. As for shelter, they occasionally lived in tree hollows, but those were outright lightning hazards in the rainy season. Most settlements were thus in caves, yet caves had their own problems—finding suitable ones was hard, terrain was another issue, and encounters with wild beasts or floods made survival even tougher.
Personally, she wasn’t entirely sold on wooden houses, but there were no better short-term alternatives. Given their living environment, constructing stone houses was nearly impossible—large boulders were too scarce unless obtained by blasting caves, which would require dealing with crude oil. That demanded extensive preparation, making it especially difficult in the short term. As for brick-making, she wasn’t entirely clear on the process or materials. After much deliberation, Sha Yi concluded that housing would have to wait.
Of course, lumbering tools also needed careful consideration. She couldn’t rely on bone or stone knives to fell giant trees. Metal ores were another necessity—like the small, tarnished blue-purple speckled ore they had found near the boulder on the high slope while searching for salt. The problem was, though it looked familiar, she still didn’t know what metal it was. They’d likely have to revisit that slope after the rainy season.
Rafts, lightning protection, beds, houses, mining, smelting—she had never imagined her life would revolve around such things. If only she had majored in science—now she truly understood the saying, “It’s when you need knowledge that you regret not having enough.”
This kind of life was undeniably stressful. Sha Yi couldn’t shake the feeling that peace would forever elude her.
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