Autumn, Copper Mountain Residential Area.
The stone wall was finally finished being constructed, and six stoves stood quietly in a row, not too far apart from one another.
A tall flagpole stood on the steps at the center of the courtyard, with the Green Sparrow flag fluttering in the autumn sun. It looked exceptionally high against the backdrop of the courtyard wall, gently swaying like the clouds in the blue sky.
Intermittent sounds could be heard from a distance, carrying a rhythm and some ethereal quality.
That was from not too far from the Copper Mountain Residential Area, where two water mills were tirelessly pounding the stone mortars, one after another.
The wind blew through, and some yellow leaves fluttered down from the trees. Third Senior Brother, standing near a stone-built sand pile, stared blankly at the falling leaves for a moment.
It was autumn now; the tribe must have already celebrated the rich harvest festival, right?
By now, the crops in the fields should have been harvested and stored in the granaries, right?…
He wasn’t the only one with such feelings; many people here had similar thoughts.
“Build houses! Once the houses are built, we can cultivate the land!”
After staring in the direction of the Green Sparrow tribe for a while, Third Senior Brother raised his voice.
Once the land was cultivated, they could grow their food here. They could also hold a harvest festival here, though it wouldn’t be as grand as in the tribe and wouldn’t have the same lively atmosphere.
The others sped up their work as soon as Third Senior Brother’s words fell.
Meng, bending over, placed two stones into a basket.
The two small stones took a while to be appropriately placed.
Once the stones were set, he didn’t immediately carry the basket into the courtyard. Instead, he fiddled with the rope on the carrying hook, as if repairing it.
After a while, he began carrying the basket towards the courtyard.
He sauntered, almost lazily. By the time he made one trip with the stones, others had already made two trips.
Meng wanted to destroy the tools in his hands because these tools made him work every day.
But he didn’t dare, because the people who stayed here had sharp weapons, and they also had bows that could shoot long distances.
He still clearly remembered the scene when the shaman in the tribe was killed.
He feared that he would be heavily punished if he destroyed the tools.
Meng didn’t life. Although he was now well-fed and didn’t have to worry about hunger, the constant heavy labor made him extremely uncomfortable.
Under constant work pressure, he started to miss the old days of hunting.
Though sometimes he didn’t have enough to eat back then, life was easier, and he didn’t feel as exhausted as he did now.
This feeling of longing had already started when he was in the Green Sparrow tribe.
When he saw Chang Tui, someone who used to be close to him, become a citizen of the tribe by sheer luck and take charge of managing him and the others, while he remained a slave, he began to have such thoughts and started missing his old life.
In the previous tribe, Chang Tui had no higher status than he.
But he never dared to show it in the large tribe.
One reason was that there were too many people in the large tribe, and two, when they arrived at the Green Sparrow tribe, they had been working in the fields around the tribe and hadn’t ventured far to know what the surroundings were like.
And three, because the Divine Child was in the tribe.
The Divine Child didn’t look very strong, and he was kind to others, often smiling, but Meng felt deeply afraid of him for some reason.
He was more afraid of the Divine Child than he was of the one who liked to carry a bow and could shoot from a distance with deadly accuracy.
But now, things were different. Now, he was far from the large tribe.
Here, there was no terrifying Divine Child.
Here, the number of citizens was not much greater than the number of slaves.
Here, there were familiar caves he had lived in for many years.
He was familiar with many areas around the caves.
He felt it would be a good choice if he decided to escape now.
He had even thought about where to live after escaping. He knew the locations of two empty caves his tribe had once captured.
Living in one of those caves after escaping seemed like a good plan.
Also, since autumn had arrived, many fruits had ripened. He wouldn’t need to worry about food on the escape route.
Meng quietly pondered this matter, a shiver running down his spine.
He glanced at a few others nearby, who were also carrying stones.
These people, like him, were slaves.
People always habitually view others from their position, and Meng, as a primitive person, was no different.
He didn’t like the heavy labor, and he thought his fellow slaves must not enjoy it either.
Meng planned to share his thoughts with them quietly and, together with these former tribesmen, escape from this place, leaving behind the heavy labor.
He was sure they would eagerly follow him in fleeing when they heard the news.
They had probably already thought of the same idea, but just like him, they hadn’t dared to share it.
Having these people with him was essential because if he escaped alone, life outside would be too unpredictable.
Meng had even planned out life after escaping.
He had carefully studied the bows and arrows of the tribe and even secretly made one, though he quickly destroyed it.
With such terrifying weapons, he was confident that once they escaped, they would live well.
Not only would hunting become easier, but they could also use the bows to attack other tribes, ensuring they wouldn’t go hungry and would eat meat.
This was something Meng didn’t understand very well.
This tribe clearly had a large population and powerful weapons, yet it didn’t raid other tribes for food, instead relying on exhausting labor to obtain it…
Time passed quickly, and before long, night had fallen.
After a long day of labor, everyone felt tired. But a sense of pride filled their hearts when they looked at the houses taking shape through their hard work.
As many fell into a deep sleep, Meng reached out and nudged his companion beside him to wake him up…