Chapter Twenty: Igniting Fire

  With the flint, today's transaction is considered over. Lin Bei nodded to the hunters and rushed into the forest, disappearing from their sight. He then secretly turned around and came back, but hid because he was worried about Cui Shi Alan's keen intuition. Lin Bei kept a distance and observed.

  Lin Bei didn't know why he wanted to come back, it should be just a kind of intuition. In his previous life, Lin Bei generally had a kind attitude towards people, but now as a snake body, he inexplicably became suspicious and paranoid. A snake's body with a human heart, yet always different from humans.

  Lin Beicang was hiding very well, so it was impossible for Cui Shi Alan to find him, let alone other hunters. They were working together to move the giant bear onto the back of a large cow.

  Lin Bei's guess was correct, in this era, it is extremely rare for hunters to hunt bears, because the bear cubs are too fierce. Let alone one hunter, even a dozen or so fully armed hunters would find it very difficult to kill an adult giant bear. Therefore, each bear is extremely valuable, and the hunters' faces were beaming with joy.

  "Long is really great." The hunters were discussing Lin Bei.

  "This black bear weighs at least 500 catties, and Lord Long was actually able to kill it. It's truly extraordinary."

  "Lord Long should have some magical powers, let alone a black bear, in my opinion, even a tiger would be no match."

  Choi's Ah-ran said, "We've been hunting for many years, from our ancestors to the present, have you ever heard of a long insect as big as Lord Yong? Lord Yong must have become a mountain spirit like those old people said."

  That one called Jiulang also said: "Ah Lan is right, Lord Long can actually write, will his learning be more formidable than Fuzi's?"

  "Haha, even if you're more knowledgeable than Fuzi, are you still going to let Lord Long become an official? Lord Long is not a scholar."

  "What if they are not officials?" Jiulang smiled and said, "If Lord Long wants to be an official, do those officials dare to stop him for a moment? They're afraid that Lord Long will kill them."

  "Director Long becoming an official? That's really something rare."

  "Alright." Said Cui Shi Alan, "Stop gossiping about Lord Long behind his back. Dashan, Huto, take down the wooden bucket from the cow's back and go to the river to fetch two buckets of water."

  Dashan and Huto nodded, each taking down their wooden buckets to fill with water from the river. Dashan said as he worked, "A Lan, we won't have to fetch water every time we come hunting, will we?"

  Chui Shi Alan hadn't spoken yet, when Jiulang opened his mouth and said: "You should be content with what you have. Didn't you hear what the stranger who came a few days ago said? The Central Plains region is also experiencing a severe drought, and the price of rice has risen to three thousand coins per dou, and it's still rising. At least we have water here.

  "Yes, three thousand coins for a dou of rice. The outsiders have said that many families are selling their sons and daughters, and there are even rumors of cannibalism. Compared to the Central Plains, our Hepu is like a utopia."

  "Taoyuan? Hmph, why did the big barbarian of Gaoling County kill officials and rebel some time ago? He took the head of the county's great master?"

  "In my opinion, these Southern Vietnamese still have treacherous hearts."

  "Bullshit, I've heard that Dà Mánzi is a generous and righteous man, many heroes in the countryside admire him, who doesn't call him a good guy? But that corrupt official was greedy for bribes, some time ago, he met a beautiful woman and became infatuated, not knowing that this beauty had connections with Dà Mánzi. In a fit of rage, Dà Mánzi led dozens of heroes to storm the county government office, killing the corrupt official. This wasn't rebellion, but justice. Although he's a rebel, who doesn't give Dà Mánzi a thumbs up? But I wonder where Dà Mánzi is hiding now? Could it be in these Fēi Mountains?"

  "Kill the official, isn't that rebellion? What kind of reason is that?" Another hunter was not convinced.

  Previously, that person still wanted to distinguish, Cui Shi Alan glared at him, with a lot of momentum: "We small people, what's the point of saying these things? Are you also going to learn from that big barbarian? Or do you want to go catch the big barbarian? Shut up now, hurry up and fetch water, let's leave the forest, then sell the black bear, and add some things for our family."

  "What Alain said." A huntsman chimed in.

  Choi's Alan was very intimidating to the hunters, so they didn't say much. The water carriers continued to fetch water, and a few people tied the black bear onto the cow's back, studying how to dissect it to maximize its value. Once the water arrived, the hunter tied the bucket to both sides of the large cow and drove it, swaying and shaking as they headed out of the forest.

  Lin Beidao finally understood why these people were in a hurry to drive a cow, it turned out that they used it to carry things, like wooden barrels filled with water, each weighing about 100 catties. Although the hunters were strong, moving them was also extremely difficult.

  In addition, Lin Bei also knew some of the current situation outside. This place is not Zhongyuan, which generally refers to the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River in ancient times, that is, the current Henan Province. Here should be Nanyue, which is now the two Guangdong provinces, a relatively remote area in ancient times.

  The Central Plains have their own prosperity, but remote areas also have their advantages. Whenever the Central Plains are in turmoil, remote areas rarely see war fires, and at most, there are only some small-scale bandits roaming around. However, here, hunters roam freely, don't underestimate these hunters, they are all skilled fighters, so even if there are bandits, the impact may not be significant. But for Lin Bei, this news is quite good.

  The fewer people, the safer Lin Bei is. Even if everyone knows that Lin Bei is a demon snake, it's impossible to send a large army to exterminate it. As long as Lin Bei doesn't act too recklessly, its safety can indeed be guaranteed.

  Then, Lin Bei followed behind the hunters and watched as they carefully exited Mount Fu. On the road, the hunters discussed an excuse, saying how they encountered a stupid bear and then killed it. From what Lin Bei could gather, they didn't plan on telling anyone about this incident either. Only then did Lin Bei return to Dragon Pool.

  Back to Longtan, Lin Bei first observed the surrounding environment, nothing unusual was found, no large beasts dared to come to Lin Bei's territory to wipe out Lin Bei's tiger whiskers. He put things on the ground and climbed up the pagoda tree, opened the rattan cover, and the two little guys were sleeping soundly. The crab meat had decreased a bit again, it seemed that just when Lin Bei went out, they woke up once more, ate food and fell asleep again. Only then did Lin Bei feel at ease.

  Climbing down the locust tree again, Lin Bei opened his bag and took out a piece of dried meat to chew on. Then, he looked at the flintstone, preparing to start a fire.

  Fire is the main distinction between humans and beasts, and the earliest manifestation of human intelligence was the ability to use fire for cooking. Lin Bei's task was also this point, first finding some withered branches and weeds nearby, now in autumn, there are many fallen leaves in the forest, and withered branches are not uncommon, turning around casually, Lin Bei got a few big bundles, then cleared an open space, preparing to light a bonfire in this open space.

  The flint was not large, but the fireboard had to be larger, so Lin Bei fixed the flint between two stones and then used his tail to laboriously rub the fireboard against the flint. If it didn't work once, he rubbed it twice; if it still didn't work after three times, he tried again. After half an hour of trying, Lin Bei finally managed to produce sparks from the flint. He then brought some dry grass to the area between the stones and rubbed the fireboard a few more times. The dry grass caught the sparks and ignited with a crackle. Lin Bei quickly gathered some hay and placed it on top of the dry grass, and soon the flames grew larger, and a fire was born.

  When the fire was a bit bigger, Lin Bei led the fire to an open space and started adding dry firewood. The wood would naturally be used up, and after burning, it would form charcoal, which is the easiest way to keep the fire going. When not in use, the fire could be extinguished with mud, and as long as there were still embers in the charcoal, moving the mud away again would make it burn again.

  A raging fire is burning, Lin Bei looks at the big fire, his heart exceptionally joyful. Lin Bei has been trying hard to live like a normal person, and now it seems he's taken another step closer.

  "Things will get better, everything will get better."