Orc Girl's Tribal Daily Life

Chapter 198 Past Events

"Hey, move over a little more this way, it's crooked..."

"Excuse me, excuse me, I'm carrying this stinky filth over. Be careful not to get it on yourself, it'll take days to wash off."

"Can someone lend a hand and carry that piece of wood over here? Thanks! Hey, Ge, what are you doing here?"

Watching the noisy and busy group of tribesmen building a house, Ge casually handed them a three- or four-meter-tall piece of wood. The tribesman who received the wood thanked him and then realized that it was Ge who had helped him.

For a moment, the expression on his face became somewhat strange.

However, he couldn't stop what he was doing, so he had to keep working while also keeping some of his mind and attention on Ge.

Soon, people nearby noticed Ge and Jiang Luoluo's arrival, and soon an older tribesman who looked like he was directing everyone on how to build the wooden house came over.

"Leng." Ge took the initiative to greet her, and Jiang Luoluo followed suit.

Leng waved vigorously to the many tribesmen behind him who had been distracted, "Get your work done. If the houses collapse at the slightest touch because of your carelessness, I'd like to see how you'll stay in the tribe then."

After scolding the group and telling them to look away and get back to work, Leng turned back to Ge and asked, "Why did you suddenly come over?"

In the past, Ge spent most of his time and activities below, rarely went up, and seldom passed through this area.

So when we were building the house today, we didn't pay much attention to Ge's whereabouts. Who would have thought that today, Ge would suddenly head up the mountain?

Leng sighed, and said with a hint of sadness, "...We thought about it and felt it wasn't appropriate, so we didn't tell you. Please don't blame us."

Although the other members of the tribe believe that this matter is in the past and everyone has moved on to new lives, they no longer continue to grieve for those who have passed away.

But everyone knew that the accident was different for Go and for the others.

Those who died in that accident were Ge's parents and his closest neighbors from childhood.

No matter how many excuses you use to comfort yourself, it's impossible to forget something just like that.

Rebuilding houses on the ruins where Ge's parents died, and letting other tribesmen move in, would undoubtedly erase Ge's last remaining memories.

Even if those memories weren't pleasant and only brought Ge pain, they were still irreplaceable and important memories for him.

If, someday in the future, Go saw the tribespeople who had already moved in, Go's reaction might not be too severe. But if Go witnessed firsthand how his past traces were covered up and erased by the new tribespeople, it would be a different story.

Everyone knows this is like rubbing salt into a wound, which is why everyone cares so much about Ge's reaction.

"I just want to... wander around." Ge paused for a moment before giving a somewhat forced smile.

"I'm fine. Is there anything I can help you with?"

Go looked up at the wooden house he had built, which was only halfway done.

He had actually anticipated these things, but he probably didn't expect them to happen so suddenly. However, when he actually faced this situation, he realized that he was not as calm as he had imagined.

However, they weren't as excited as their clansmen had feared.

"No, we don't need your help here...you..." Leng didn't know how to start the conversation, so he could only offer words of comfort.

“Take another look. Several tribesmen have already fenced off land in this area and are preparing to rebuild their houses.”

Ge nodded silently and led the quiet Jiang Luoluo towards the middle of the ruins.

Although it's called ruins, it has actually been cleaned up many times. Coupled with the continuous rainy season, apart from the black marks left by the flames, there's nothing left to see.

Even the residual moisture from the rainy season was stronger than the burnt smell left by the accident.

On this pitch-black, empty ground with no coordinates whatsoever, Ge walked with unparalleled precision to the old site of his home that had been burning repeatedly in his countless nightmares.

“Lo, this used to be…my home.”

Ge pointed to a mark in front of him and said.

Even though it wasn't raining, large drops of water were falling on the ground.

Jiang Luoluo glanced at Ge, who hadn't even realized he was crying, and didn't offer any words of comfort.

Ge has been keeping his emotions inside for too long and needs to release them. At this moment, not disturbing him is the greatest comfort.

Jiang Luoluo silently turned her head to look at the side in the direction Ge was pointing.

She remembered that Luo, the original owner of the body, and Ge were actually very good neighbors. The traces of the house on the other side looked quite far away, so it was probably her original home.

Sure enough, Ge unconsciously turned his head to look as well, "That... used to be your home, Luo."

“Tell me about it,” Jiang Luoluo said, looking at Ge.

"Those things I've forgotten."

After waiting for a long time, Jiang Luoluo finally heard a sound that sounded like a sigh.

“Okay,” Ge said.

……

Walking on the desolate, dark open ground, Ge lifted his foot as if stepping on wooden steps.

"Once, I accidentally chipped a stone into the doorway and made a big hole in it, which caused drafts during the snowy season. So my mother put a wooden stake here to cushion the entrance, so you have to step to the side when you enter to avoid bumping your feet."

“Luo, you really like this wooden post. You often come here and lie on it…”

As Ge turned left and right in the open space, he recounted every detail of his former home, as if the house still stood there on this open space.

As Ge continued his narration, the once bustling construction site not far away became quiet, with only the inevitable clanging and banging sounds, and no one chatting anymore.

It's as if everyone tacitly doesn't want to shatter that fragile illusion.

But every story eventually comes to an end.

Even if the storyteller didn't want this ending.

Even the people listening to the story didn't want this ending.

“Luo…” Ge stood in the open space, opened his mouth, but could not say anything more.

Only large tears streamed down his cheeks and onto the ground, wetting patch after patch of earth.

Some sad emotions always arrive long overdue.

It's like a loved one who has been gone for a long time suddenly remembering you and coming back to say hello.

Then I realized... goodbye means goodbye forever.

Jiang Luoluo walked forward lightly, stepping over the somewhat high steps, avoiding the wooden stakes blocking the door gaps, and circling around the scattered pieces of wood, until she reached Ge.

“Let’s go home.” She looked up, her eyes bright.

Then, leading Ge, they walked out of the already burned-down, empty house.

No turning back.

That place... is no longer their home.

And now, they are going home.

……

This stroll ended rather abruptly, but the result wasn't too bad.

Rather than keeping emotions bottled up inside, being able to vent them freely like this makes one feel much more relaxed.

Ge followed Jiang Luoluo home in a daze, ate dinner, and then fell into a deep sleep to the soft humming of the cub.

When he woke up the next morning, he felt unusually light inside his body, as if many heavy things had flowed out of his body yesterday along with his tears.

Just thinking about how she looked yesterday, Ge couldn't help but blush when she saw the cubs, feeling a little embarrassed.

Jiang Luoluo acted normally, getting up as usual, brushing her teeth and washing her face while yawning, and then being jolted awake by the icy water, which instantly made her feel refreshed.

"Is the water too cold?" Ge noticed this and came over to put his hand in to test the temperature.

Indeed, it was fine when the weather was warm, but now that the weather is gradually getting colder, washing with cold water is not appropriate.

Ge, disregarding his own slight shyness, grabbed Jiang Luoluo's arm. "Luoluo, you can wash later. I'll boil some water for you in a stone pot."

Aside from Jiang Luoluo being so clean and washing herself every day, Ge would at most use the linen that Jiang Luoluo cut for him to wet and wipe his face or hands.

After all, training every day and being exposed to wind and sun, a layer of dirt on the face is actually better for the skin than washing it clean every day.

Unless Jiang Luoluo can create some skincare products that can replace the protective layer of dirt on the skin, it's best to keep Ge in his previous state.

At most, I would use a damp cloth to wipe away the more obvious dirt from my face.

Jiang Luoluo thought about the cold water she had just encountered and did not insist, obediently following Ge's instructions.

"It seems colder today than the past two days." Jiang Luoluo rubbed her fingertips, which were red from being chilled by the water.

It didn't feel this cold yesterday.

“The snow season is coming, that’s normal. Luo, wear an extra layer today.” Ge took a clean stone pot out of the cabinet, set it on the fire, poured in water, and turned to Jiang Luoluo as he spoke.

The stone pots were obtained from other tribesmen when we were making jam. After we stopped making jam, we no longer needed so many stone pots, so we put them away.

Considering the cub's habit of being clean, Ge thought that an extra stone pot should be kept, specifically for boiling water for the cub, so that the cub wouldn't have to use cold water when it wanted to do something.

"Okay." Jiang Luoluo glanced outside, felt the cold air blowing in from outside the cave, and obediently replied.

Having spent so much time in the tribe, Jiang Luoluo has discovered that although the overall temperature changes follow a pattern.

But in reality, when the temperature changes, it happens quite rapidly. Just like yesterday and today, there was at least a temperature change of more than ten degrees.

Based on experience with the rainy season, this temperature is not fixed. Before the snow season truly arrives, it may suddenly warm up one day, or it may continue to cool down another day.

Therefore, in order to avoid catching a cold from sudden temperature changes, Jiang Luoluo should wear more clothes to protect herself from temperature fluctuations.

Despite the good physical condition of the tribal people, even the best physical condition cannot withstand the extreme temperature changes.

Jiang Luoluo glanced at Ge, whose clothes hadn't been noticeably altered. Well, she was wrong. For a tribesman who had already awakened his beast form, this temperature change wasn't a big problem.

But she's still a baby, she can't do that, she has to obediently put on more clothes.

After changing her clothes and having boiled hot water, Jiang Luoluo washed up with a mixture of hot and cold water. Meanwhile, Ge had already served all the food, waiting for her to come and eat.

While eating, Ge asked Jiang Luoluo about her plans for the day.

Today was another day of doing nothing.

Staying at home was quite boring, so Jiang Luoluo thought about it and found herself a new task.

She planned to go there to check on the brick kiln's production. Although everything had been taken over by Zao, she, as the person who came up with the idea, still needed to be a little careful.

By the way, let me tell you about Gen and Mamoru.

—Actually, the second reason is the main one.

Jiang Luoluo led Ge Yi over and was immediately shocked.

In Jiang Luoluo's memory and in her perception, the brick kiln should actually still need some time to be fully built.

However, Jiang Luoluo never expected that if she had arrived a little later, the first batch of finished products in the brick kiln would have already been produced.

"How could it be so fast...?" Jiang Luoluo asked in surprise.

The supervisor of the newly built brick kiln glanced back at Jiang Luoluo and said, "There's not much time left before the snow season. The leader is thinking of getting the kiln up and running before the snow season, so he expanded the kiln area... Didn't you notice it when you came last time?"

Jiang Luoluo scratched her head and smiled, preparing to use her cuteness to get away with it.

Zao didn't really argue with her about these things. Pointing to the brick kiln that had just been built, he said, "Alright, let's go in and take a look. Is there anything that needs to be changed? It's better to find it now than to discover it later."

Although Jiang Luoluo only had a vague understanding, she knew more than the tribespeople, so upon hearing this, she headed towards the brick kiln.

The brick kiln cave for firing bricks was not far from the cave where people lived, while the kiln for making bricks from these bricks was a little further away.

Because of the leader Jinghe's requirements, the kiln was built inside a cave. In order to open up a cave of sufficient size, the distance was a bit far. After all, if it were too close, the cave space that could be opened up would not be big enough.

Brick kilns and fire kilns may seem a bit confusing, but their actual relationship is as follows—

Since Zao couldn't find a stone tool genius who could perfectly inherit his mantle, Jiang Luoluo offered Zao another direction: to replace stone tool polishing with forging metal weapons.

The first problem with forging metal is that the temperature is not high enough to melt the metal. Therefore, Jiang Luoluo proposed a solution: first fire bricks, which is the source of the brick kiln next to the house.

Bricks fired in a kiln can withstand higher temperatures, and these fired bricks can be used to build a kiln that can achieve the high temperatures required to melt metal.

...Probably.

Since different metals have different melting temperatures, Jiang Luoluo couldn't be sure exactly how high a temperature the brick kiln could burn.

In any case, melting most metals shouldn't be a big problem.

As for what to do if the temperature isn't high enough... Jiang Luoluo still has a method for burning charcoal.

If I remember correctly, burning charcoal raises the temperature by several hundred degrees compared to burning wood, and coincidentally, Jiang Luoluo knows how charcoal is made!