Building a Civilization and Raising Cubs in the Beast World – Chapter 08

Chapter 8

When Bai Qi, who was looking forward to catching prey with a trap, came over early in the morning, Bai Tu was brushing his teeth.

Twenty years of modern living habits cannot be changed, and the teeth of rabbits can continue to grow, but not as fast as real rabbits. It takes several years for damaged teeth to grow new ones. Therefore, protecting teeth is extremely important. Bai Tu found something to brush his teeth and rinse his mouth on the day he woke up.

At first, they used willow branches from the river to dip in wood ash, but now they have changed to an upgraded version – willow branches dipped in mint ointment. Adding some salt will make the effect better, but salt is a precious commodity in the tribe. It is a luxury to use it to rinse wounds, and they are reluctant to use it to brush teeth.

Bai Tu found several anti-inflammatory and heat-reducing medicines and crushed them together to make it from pure Chinese medicine. Although the content of various substances cannot catch up with the precision of modern chemically formulated toothpaste, it has a good cleaning effect and also has a medicinal fragrance.

Bai Qi smelled the scent of the herbs. In his mind, taking medicine meant getting injured, and he was immediately shocked: “Your mouth is injured?!” An injury to the mouth is a big deal, as it affects eating.

“No,” Bai Tu raised the willow branch in his hand, “for brushing teeth. If teeth are not clean, they will easily get cavities and rot.”

Hearing the word rotten teeth, Bai Qi couldn’t help but touch his face.

“Do you want to brush it?” Bai Tu asked.

Bai Qi nodded quickly.

Bai Tu took out a new willow branch and handed it to him, and gave him one third of the homemade toothpaste: “Brush your teeth once in the morning and before going to bed, and rinse your mouth after meals.” It is also a habit to brush your teeth after every meal, but orcs usually eat something casually outside at noon, so conditions do not allow it.

…

After the hunting team finished breakfast, everyone took the straw mats they had woven yesterday and went to the place to dig the trap.

After a night, the trap was still the same. It seemed that no animals passed by here at night.

Bai Tu looked at the workload and arranged: “Half of the people will lay out the straw mats, and the other half will go and drive the prey over.”

There was no movement here, which proved that the prey was a bit far away and needed to be driven over manually. The other work had been completed yesterday, and today only a layer of straw mats needed to be laid, which would not take long.

Bai Qi rushed to the front and said, “I’ll go drive the cattle!”

Bai Qi ran fast, so he was well qualified for the job of driving the prey, but he obviously couldn’t do it alone, so Bai An selected a dozen fast young men.

“Don’t attract all the prey. It’s better to divide them into six or seven.” Bai Tu said. The trap was indeed large, but the prey were also large. If too many prey were attracted, it would easily damage the trap and it would also be very dangerous for the hunting team. Small teams are easier to deal with because when there are fewer of them, the prey’s attack power is not that strong, and even if a conflict occurs, everyone can easily deal with it.

Bai An nodded and reminded: “Just attract the prey, don’t take any action on the way.” Since there are few people, if they act rashly, they will probably be injured by the prey.

“We’ll be careful.” Tu Xun replied, and took Bai Qi and others to find prey. Everyone was eager to see how the trap worked.

The remaining orcs followed Bai Tu’s arrangement, spread the straw mats neatly on the branches and vines, and then began to dig up the nearby weeds.

Bai Tu picked out the edible plants that everyone dug up and threw them into the trap.

With so many people, the speed was fast. After a while, the trap was disguised as a piece of grass. It couldn’t be said to blend in with the surrounding area, but the fast-running prey would definitely not be able to tell the difference between the two.

The sound of prey running came from a distance, and Bai An immediately led everyone to retreat to a safe place.

The sound of running was getting closer and closer. Bai Qi’s figure appeared first, followed by a small group of bison. Behind the herd, several orcs were chasing with sharp sticks. Bai An waved the stick in his hand at them from a distance to remind them of the location of the trap.

When he ran to a few meters in front of the trap, Bai Qi quickly changed direction, ran away from the edge of the trap, and hid in where everyone was hiding.

The first bison failed to brake and fell into the trap. The bison behind it stopped, extremely confused.

The surroundings were filled with trees and vines that had been tied up by the hunting team yesterday, blocking the view. The herd had lost its target, and with its members reduced in number, they could only hear their companions’ anxious cries and pace around restlessly.

A bison walked near the trap and found the bison that kept calling, but the trap was several meters high and there was no leverage around it to get in and out. Even the big bison could only stand by and worry. In the chaos, a calf that was wandering around the trap looking for its mother fell into it again.

Bai Qi stood up and wanted to go over and drive the bison out of the trap, but Bai Tu held him down: “Wait a moment.” Based on his years of experience in observing the animal world, the remaining bison would not stay here for too long.

Sure enough, not long after the remaining orcs quietly returned, a few bison lingering near the trap gave up waiting and went to look for the main force.

The hidden orcs breathed a sigh of relief, walked to the trap, and lifted the straw mat to check.

“Two cows!” Bai Qi was shocked. In the past, it was good enough to catch a cow every half a month. Now he caught two at once. Even if one of them is small, the total amount is enough for the tribe to eat for several days.

The big one was a bull, and it was restless in the trap, ramming around. One of its horns was stained with blood, as if it had just finished a fight. Compared with the bull, the calf is simply a miniature version. It huddles in a corner shivering, constantly calling out to its companions, and occasionally having to avoid the bull’s charging behavior.

Seeing that everyone was about to take action, Bai Tu hurriedly said: “Leave the calf here and take it back to raise.” The small ones won’t have much meat, but the big one will be enough for the tribe to eat.

After hearing Bai Tu’s words, Bai An and his men used sticks to separate the calf and the bull.

The hunting team was more experienced than Bai Tu in how to deal with the captured prey. A group of people quickly found big rocks and smashed the bull to death.

Everyone kept holding the calf with sticks to ensure it wouldn’t move.

Bai Tu handed a woven rattan to Bai Qi: “Use this to tie up the calf.” Even if a calf is thin, it still weighs over 100 kilograms. If it breaks free, it will still be very strong, so it will need a thicker rattan to tie it up.

The three-meter-high trap was not a problem for the orcs. Only a few people were left on it to observe the situation, and the others jumped down. Bai Qi and two other orcs approached the calf carefully and grabbed and tied it up before it struggled.

The orcs around the trap used vines to pull the calf up. Bai Tu found some fresh wild grass, held it in his hand and fed it to the calf, while using his other hand to gently stroke the calf’s head and ears.

“Moo~” The calf that had been struggling before became much quieter and started eating slowly.

The orcs in the trap covered the wounds on the bull with soil to prevent the smell of blood from attracting other animals. They dug near the bull and wrapped vines around the bull. After digging a gentle slope, everyone worked together to pull the bull up.

Even though this huge guy weighs nearly a ton, no one felt tired at all.

This is enough meat to eat for several days!

After pulling out the bull, Bai Tu did not leave in a hurry. He pointed to the slope he had just dug and said, “Flatten this side and cover it with straw mats.” In case some careless prey came to the door on its own, there would be no need to specifically lure them like today.

The others reacted quickly, some dug the soil, some laid mats, and when the trap was restored to its original state before the bison fell into it, everyone went back with the full loads of prey.

I didn’t notice it before, but now I truly feel it. The orcs’ physical strength is not to be underestimated. Bai Tu looked at the dozen orcs carrying bison. Each of them carried more than 100 pounds on average, but two groups of people took turns carrying it with ease.

Bai Tu was leading the calf, which was probably separated from its mother not long after it was born. The calf was thinner than other calves. Now it followed him and was extremely obedient.

“Tu, can you really raise cattle?” Bai Qi looked at the calf in amazement. In the past, the tribe raised more small prey such as chickens, voles and rabbits. It took a long time to catch a slightly larger sheep alive, and bison were almost never caught alive.

Bison have great attack power and can attack back when surrounded. They only dare to attack old bulls and lone calves. This is the first time they have caught a strong adult bull. They would have avoided it before. Although the calf is small, it is almost as heavy as a human being, not to mention it is still alive. When the time comes, it can be exchanged for half as much salt as a dead cow!

Most tribes with salt prefer live animals because they are fresh enough. Some tribes are far away and the prey they bring will become smelly. If it is live, there is no need to worry about it going bad, and they will give more salt.

“Raise it.” Bai Tu nodded. “We can raise a calf together when we catch it in the future.” What Bai Tu didn’t say was that he also wanted to raise a cow. Cows are generally more docile, while bulls are strong. They cannot tame them in a short time and it is difficult to raise them, so he basically doesn’t consider it.

Raising cows also has another use, which is to squeeze out milk for drinking. Bai Tu thought of the group of white balls in the tribe. Some of them looked a little thin. The ones that often played outside were a little better, but they were not as plump as those that were fed.

The sun was still high when they returned to the tribe. When they heard the sound of the hunting team returning, the people who stayed in the tribe were startled.

Coming back early the previous two times was not a good thing. Coming back so early this time, everyone started to worry: Is someone injured again?

Until they saw today’s prey clearly –

“The hunting team caught a bison!!!”

Someone shouted, followed by the sound of footsteps. Everyone dropped what they were doing and ran down the mountain to see.

“It’s really a bison. It’s so big. I’ve never seen such a big bison!”

“What is that in Tu’s hand?”

“It’s a calf, and a small one at that!”

“It’s a living bull. You can take it with you next time you exchange salt.”

The people who stayed in the tribe were shocked. They had never seen such a scene before. To be frank, even if it rains tomorrow, these two cows will be enough to sustain us for half a month! For the rabbit tribe, which has difficulty hunting, during the rainy and snowy seasons, having something to eat while not starving is a victory.

Bai An explained to the excited tribesmen: “Tu taught us how to make traps, and these two cows were caught with the traps.”

“Will we always use traps to hunt in the future?”

“Two cows every day?”

Bai An was calmer and shook his head: “We were lucky this time and encountered a herd of cattle. We will have to find prey again next time we want to catch them.”

Bai Tu nodded. Yes, this is the inconvenience of hunting with traps. The trap cannot be moved, so it has to be placed close to the prey. But the prey is constantly moving. It may pass by the trap today, but not tomorrow. If the distance is too far, it will be difficult to lure the prey, as they may not go where they want to go.

Even so, everyone was still very excited. The hunting team of less than thirty people captured two cows in one day, which was an unprecedented record for the tribe. All the underage children in the tribe gathered around the calf. According to custom, they would be the ones to feed the calf in the future.

“Moo~”

The calf that had just been brought back was not used to crowded environments. It moved restlessly, and because it was tied up, it could not walk far, so it cried pitifully.

Bai Tu stopped the overly enthusiastic children and sent the calf to the cave where animals were raised first.

“Moo~” The calf rubbed against Bai Tu.