The sun gradually became hotter, and the cicadas on the trees began to chirp endlessly. Although the weather was not the hottest yet, I was still sweating while walking under the sun.
On top of the ancient vines on the stone mountain, the giant dragonfly also rested under the huge branches and leaves of the ancient vines. Only in the morning and evening would it catch various large insects to eat.
Yesterday, the Teng tribe hunted two big game animals and got enough meat to eat for several days. Therefore, in such hot weather, they can stay in the tribe to take a rest without going out to hunt.
It's rare for the five of them to have some free time and do something they like.
Jiang Xuan planned to make another stone knife. He went upstream along the stream to find suitable stones, but found Nan Xing sitting on a stone by the stream, busy with something unknown.
"Nan Xing, what are you doing here?" Jiang Xuan asked curiously.
Nan Xing raised his head and held up the thing in his hand to show Jiang Xuan: "Chief, I want to make a bone whistle."
"Bone whistle?"
Jiang Xuan walked over and found that Nan Xing was holding a hollow bird leg bone in his left hand and a sharp stone in his right hand. A small hole had been drilled out of one end of the leg bone.
Jiang Xuan knew that primitive bone whistles were generally made from hollow bird leg bones. Some had single holes, some had double holes, and some had three holes. The more holes, the more tones they could produce. p>
"How many holes do you want to drill?" Jiang Xuan asked.
"Drill three holes. I think people in the tribe do this. They can use bone whistles to make the sound of deer roaring."
Using bone whistles to make deer croaking sounds is a unique skill of the deer tribe. They can use simple bone whistles to imitate deer croaks so vividly that they can even attract real deer.
"Keep drilling, and when you're done, blow it for me."
"Okay."
Nanxing continued drilling. Although the bird leg bones are hollow, they are relatively hard. It is not easy to drill a suitable hole. It requires a lot of time and patience.
Jiang Xuan continued to look for suitable stones along the stream. The further he walked toward the stone mountain, the more stones there were in the stream, making it easier to find suitable stones.
Jiang Xuan searched for a long time and finally found a stone suitable for making stone knives in the stream. This stone is very hard and has a very sharp fracture when broken. However, it is also relatively brittle and easy to break, so it is only suitable for making short stone knives.<
/p>
If you want to make a stone knife with high hardness and hard enough, you need to find gem-level stones, and gem-level stones are relatively rare.
Therefore, a good stone knife is rare and is often regarded as a treasure by tribal people.
"Ding ding ding..."
Jiang Xuan used another stone to strike the stone he wanted to make a stone knife along the lines of the stone. After doing this kind of work for many times, he was able to master it more skillfully.
As he continued to knock, the stone cracked along the texture and turned into several stone flakes of different sizes.
Jiang Xuan selected the most suitable piece, and then carefully continued to hammer it into the shape of the knife. This process required great care. If you were not careful, the knife blank might be knocked into pieces.
Fortunately, Jiang Xuan's hands were steady and he was lucky, and he successfully hammered the stone into a knife blank more than 20 centimeters long.
Then, he found a stone by the creek and carefully sharpened the knife into a more suitable shape.
After everything was done, several hours had passed. Jiang Xuan took the knife blank back the same way. After he returned, he would use an animal horn to put a handle on the knife blank and sharpen its edge.
.
This is a job that requires a lot of patience. Every tool of the tribal people takes a lot of time to make. People who are impatient cannot make a good tool.
When Jiang Xuan walked halfway, he found that Nan Xing was still there. He went over to take a look and saw that Nan Xing's bone whistle had been basically completed.
"Chief, look, my bone whistle is ready!"
Nan Xing happily held the bone whistle and showed it to Jiang Xuan, like a child showing off a new toy, with a bright smile on his face.
This bone whistle was taken from the middle leg bone of a big bird. It is about fifteen centimeters long. It has a round hole on the left and right sides and a hole in the middle.
Jiang Xuan watched it for a while and found it quite interesting: "Blow it for me."
"Okay!"
Nan Xing picked up the bone whistle with both hands, placed his mouth on the hole in the middle and blew air into it. He pressed his two index fingers on the other two holes. As he pressed and released his index fingers, a primitive bone whistle sound sounded.
.
Although it can only emit a few simple tones, the sound is very long and penetrating, like the roar of a deer or the call of a bird. It is hard to forget after listening to it.
Of course, Nan Xing is not very skilled at blowing. If he wants to attract the big horned deer with his whistle, he still needs a lot of practice.
With an encouraging smile on his face, Jiang Xuan said: "Nan Xing, you are a very good whistler. Sooner or later, you will be like the hunting team members of the Deer Tribe, able to attract big horned deer with the sound of your whistle!"
Jiang Xuan's encouragement greatly increased Nan Xing's confidence. He held the bone whistle and said confidently: "Chief, I will definitely do it!"
Jiang Xuan smiled and said: "I believe you!"
"Hmm!"
Nan Xing nodded heavily, and then followed Jiang Xuan towards the bamboo house.
Before you know it, it’s already afternoon.
Although they don't need to go out to hunt, as the weather gets hotter and the plants grow rapidly, more and more wild beasts come to eat the crops near the cultivated fields, and they can hardly catch them all.
In order to prevent the crops from being eaten up, Jiang Xuan and the others need to set up a large number of traps near the farmland every afternoon, and they can often harvest a lot of prey in the morning.
In the evening, after Jiang Xuan, Chi Shao and others set up a large number of traps, they looked at the incomplete crops on the edge of the cultivated land and said helplessly: "The good food has almost turned into hunting bait."
Chi Shao said: "I think this is not bad. It can add a lot of food to the tribe every day."
Jiang Xuan thought about it and it was right. Anyway, the purpose of planting crops is to increase food. Now that the crops are not mature, they have brought so much meat to the tribe, which can be considered a success.
What's more, most of the plants they plant now are tubers or root plants. Even if the ground parts are eaten, they will still grow, but the yield will be lower.
After thinking about this, Jiang Xuan felt much better. When he looked at the beast paths that the beasts were walking out of, his eyes became much softer.
Anyway, the wasteland has just been opened up, and within a year or two, the crop yield will not be much higher. Wild animals can come if they want. When the wasteland becomes mature land, the nearby beasts will probably be eaten by the Vine Tribe.
"Let's go back."
Jiang Xuan arranged the last trap and returned to the bamboo house with everyone in a happy mood, mentally estimating how many prey these traps could catch tomorrow.
The sun is gradually setting.
The afterglow of the setting sun formed flaming clouds, dyeing half of the sky red. The ancient vines on the stone mountain were shrouded in a layer of orange-red light. Even the giant dragonflies lingering on the ancient vines looked a bit more mysterious.
The smoke from the bamboo house is rising, and the tourists who have worked hard for a day have gone home. The sun sets in the west, the moon rises in the east, and various birds, beasts, and insects in the forest gradually become active...
……
With the coming of the New Year, Qingshi wishes all book friends good luck in the Year of the Tiger, may the dragon be strong and the tiger be fierce, and may the wealth come rolling in.