Autumn, Copper Mountain Residential Area.
A few leaves flutter down after a mild breeze passes, and in the distance, fish leap out of the water, their shining white bodies briefly glimmering in the sunlight.
After some time, six more furnaces were added to the still-incomplete stone wall. All six furnaces had been tested and worked well, and Hei Wa had already resolved even the minor issues.
The copper and tin ingots in the baskets at Han Cheng and the others’ feet were the best proof that the furnaces were functioning well.
The tasks Han Cheng had to do here were all completed, and the development of the Copper Mountain Residential Area had entered the right track. From now on, it will only require steady, step-by-step progress.
So today, it was time for Han Cheng and his group to head back.
Most of the baskets here had been loaded onto the backs of deer, with a small portion carried by the people themselves.
Holding a copper spear, Han Cheng turned to Third Senior Brother, his junior, and the others who were staying behind, smiling as he said:
I don’t want you all freezing in the winter.”
“Once I return, I’ll have food sent over, so you don’t need to worry about that.”
“Build two houses for now. We can squeeze into them this winter, and with the rest of the time, focus on clearing more land…”
Han Cheng sounded like a doting mother, constantly giving advice.
“Alright, don’t see me off anymore. Go back and get to work,” he said after a while, signaling for them to stop, and began leading Hei Wa and the others, a group of ten people with some deer and dogs, eastward along the winding path back to the Green Sparrow Tribe’s main camp.
Third Senior Brother and the others, who were staying behind in the Copper Mountain Residential Area, did not immediately follow Han Cheng’s orders to go back and continue construction. Instead, they stood silently, watching Han Cheng and his group slowly disappear into the winding path and the surrounding foliage.
As Han Cheng’s group moved further away, Third Senior Brother and the others felt an emptiness in their hearts.
While the Divine Child had been there, even though they were far from the tribe, it didn’t feel too strange, but now that the Divine Child was gone, they felt something was amiss.
The feeling of being distant from the tribe began to surge within them.
It felt somewhat like leaving their homeland, with their parents returning to their own village and leaving them in a foreign land.
Although everyone left behind was older than Han Cheng, the feeling in their hearts at this moment was indescribable, something they couldn’t put into words.
“Let’s go back and get to work!” Third Senior Brother was the first to speak after a while, leading the group of somewhat lost people toward the still-incomplete residential area.
Although he felt a sense of loss and hesitation, he still held his chest high.
Because after the Divine Child’s departure, the responsibility to lead now fell on him.
Though he had never been a leader, he knew what needed to be done.
Returning to the unfinished residential area, a long, slender pole stood in the middle of the yard with the Green Sparrow flag fluttering in the wind.
Using the rough and bold technique, the green sparrow on the flag had been stitched with dyed hemp thread, following the outline that Han Cheng had drawn with charcoal.
In the past, the tribe members hadn’t paid much attention to these flags, but now it was different.
Now that they were far from the main tribe, and the Divine Child had left, they were living far away from home.
Seeing the flag fluttering in the wind, the feeling in their hearts immediately changed.
A familiar, comforting feeling rose in their hearts, giving them something to rely on and calming the uncertainty they had once felt.
This place, like the main tribe, had the Green Sparrow flag.
This was also their tribe!
The people left behind in the Copper Mountain Residential Area immediately felt a difference.
The fluttering Green Sparrow flag made them feel like they had a sense of belonging.
Even though they were far from the main tribe and time had passed, they couldn’t help but feel lonely, and yet, this flag gave them a sense of support.
In the days to come, the people of the Green Sparrow Tribe in the Copper Mountain Residential Area, while constructing the walls and houses, found that their favorite activity was gazing at this flag.
As long as the flag was up, they felt secure, no longer thinking about how far they were from the main tribe.
They became especially fond of this flag.
Whenever the weather turned bad—rain, strong winds, or thunderstorms—Third Senior Brother or the others left behind would take down the flag and carefully store it.
Once the weather cleared, they would carefully hang it back up.
Each time the flag was raised again, many people would watch as it returned to the pole, fluttering in the air, and the people left behind felt their hearts lighten with joy.
In this special situation, their profound attachment to the Green Sparrow flag was an external manifestation of the Green Sparrow Tribe’s unity and strength.
The Green Sparrow Tribe in the autumn.
The expanded walls on the westernmost side had been completed, and one-third of the northern wall had been built. Even now, many people are still busy working here.
In the fields surrounding the tribe, the green bamboo screens had started to yellow slightly. In no time, the autumn harvest for the tribe would begin.
Standing not far from the wall, the shaman looked westward, eagerly awaiting the Divine Child’s return from the Copper Mountain Residential Area.
Of all the things in the tribe, the shaman was concerned not about food or clothing, but about the Divine Child who had brought drastic changes to the tribe.
The trading team that had gone out had been back for several days, bringing back many items.
After a brief rest, the trading team members rejoined the construction work.
Within the tribe, the Green Sparrow Tribe’s first divine farmer, Liang, was squatting down, examining the items brought back by the trading team.
The tribe’s most significant interest in the items brought back wasn’t from Han Cheng, who sought new crop seeds through the trade, but from Liang, the man who aspired to be a doctor who could heal and save lives.
Because Liang had already sampled much of what was available around the tribe, there wasn’t much left to try.
But when the trading team returned, they brought new things.
At this moment, he was holding a small fruit, preparing to taste it.