back to prehistoric savage

Chapter 170 Mason
The quarry camp is located at the foot of the sacred mountain worshiped by the hill tribes, on a relatively flat maroon land.

Although the land is flat, it is full of small cracks, like a huge spider web, and like the pattern on the back of a turtle.

This is the trace left by the volcanic eruption. A long time ago, lava flowed through this place, and the surface shell was cooled and contracted, forming shrinkage cracks in different directions. The lava surface was cut in a grid pattern, creating a flat lava flow The road is shaped like the lines on the back of a turtle.

In the eyes of the people on the mountain, this piece of land soaked by volcanic lava is also sacred.

But for the plants growing here, lava with thousands of degrees of high temperature is undoubtedly a devastating disaster.

Looking around, there are tall and tall larch, juniper, and pine pine in the distance, which are still emerald green, and witch hazel and silver hazel are in full bloom, dotted with yellow or white petals, adding to the verdant landscape. The mountains and forests add a touch of color.

The sacred soil revered by the people on the mountain is actually bare, with only sporadic low-level plants such as moss and lichen growing tenaciously on this barren land.

"Seven or eight!"

The crow, leopard skin and leopard liver were escorted by the hunters stationed in the quarry camp to transport the stones, along with a group of old, weak, sick and disabled.

According to the rules of the Yan tribe, these people are all on the verge of being exiled, but in the mountain tribe, there is no such thing as exile. People start working all their lives from the moment they reach adulthood. When he was old, he mined and polished stones on the mountain all the year round until his death.

This is the tradition of the tribe on the mountain. The people on the mountain have long been accustomed to it. They are willing to die here, blooming the last sliver of life for the tribe and the people.

Among this group of yellow and emaciated old, weak, and sick, crows, leopard skins and leopard livers are particularly conspicuous. They are neither old, disabled nor sick, so they naturally receive the most "care".

The hunters stationed at the quarry camp mainly guarded two kinds of people, one was those who were convicted by the priest, and the other was wildlings.

In comparison, savages make them more vigilant than prisoners, and the concept of "other races must have different hearts" is irrespective of race or age.

The crow has been working as a coolie here for a period of time. He can't tell exactly how many days have passed. Every day is very long, so long that it seems that it will never end.

Because he was young and strong, he naturally gave him the heaviest physical work. He became a stone porter. His task was to transport the rough stones mined by the masons to the camp for processing, and then transport the polished stones to the mountains. tribe.

In the quarry camp there are not only the old, the weak, the sick and the disabled, but also a group of smart and capable stonemasons. Their status is higher than ordinary people, and they are responsible for the mining of rough stones and the production of important stone tools such as sacrificial stone tools.

Stonemasons often requisition Crow. On the one hand, it is because he is young and strong enough to handle the heavy physical work in mining. He always does well.

The crow is also willing to serve the stonemason. Compared with the barbarians who dance with sticks and beat people at every turn, the stonemason is much more reasonable and humane. At least they don't grudge food.

In addition to being able to have a full meal, mining the stone itself is more interesting than the monotonous and boring handling.

This is a new experience for the crows. The tribes living near the valley camp did not find stones with supernatural powers. Most of their stone tools came from flint. They lived in caves and did not need large building stones, so they did not develop. The corresponding jade worship comes out.

Before this, the crow never thought that these indestructible rocks in the mountains could be shaken by human power!

He saw the stonemasons put the charcoal on the stone and burn it. After it was hot, they poured cold water on it. Suddenly, there was a loud noise in the quarry, like the roar of a wild animal, and the hard stone burst in response. Everyone was stunned. .

"Don't stand still! Work!"

Chitu, an old mason, directed the crowd to mine stone.

The crow could already understand some simple commands and conversations, and immediately, together with the apprentice stonemason and a group of coolies, inserted the stone chisel into the crack and pried it open bit by bit.

Burning with fire and water shock is a method commonly used by stonemasons to crack rocks, which utilizes the physical properties of rocks that expand with heat and contract with cold.

In addition, experienced old stonemasons also know a "wedge cracking method". They chisel out a row of shallow holes in the rock, drive wedges, and then beat them continuously. The stone splits very neatly.

With this method, large and neat building stones can be quickly mined. For example, the sacred fire tower in the tribe on the mountain was built with such large stones.

Of course, the wedge cracking method tests the stonemason's ability more than the fire-burning-water-exciting method, where to drill holes, how deep the holes are, and how far apart... Only experienced old stonemasons can make correct judgments.

"You are really the worst generation I have ever brought up!"

Chi Tu scolded his apprentice without any pretense.

Chitu is the oldest stonemason in the quarry. When he was a child, he learned his skills from the "chief stonemason" at that time. Since then, he has been working with stones for decades.

But quarrying is not an easy and happy way of life after all. Cracking and polishing stones day after day, not to mention the hard work, is also boring and unbearable.

After all, there are only a few people like Chi Tu. Most men prefer to run freely on the grasslands, hunt wild animals, or they can also go to herd sheep, which is better than quarrying.

People who have fallen to this point are relatively poor in all aspects. Some are pure fools with low comprehension and learning abilities. Chitu thinks that he has a good temper. Whenever he teaches apprentices, he always wants to chisel open these groups The idiot's Tianling Gai, pour all the knowledge into it.

"Don't send idiots to me again! Sooner or later, I will be pissed off by them!"

Chitu complained to the priest more than once, saying that quarrying stones is not a simple manual labor, on the contrary, quarrying requires more experience and wisdom than hunting.

But no matter how much he complained, only fools were sent.

Troubled by his idiot apprentices, Chitu can't help but fall into self-doubt at times.

Could it be that my requirements are too high?

The principle of stone processing is simple, nothing more than using hard to treat soft, wear-resistant to treat non-wear-resistant, and strong to treat brittle.

Simple to say, difficult to do.

First of all, it is a science to distinguish the types of stones. Which kind of stone is hard, which kind of stone is wear-resistant, and which kind of stone is strong... This is the knowledge accumulated and passed down by ancestors from generation to generation.

Chitu never thought of allowing his apprentices to fully grasp these knowledge overnight, but after learning for a warm day, even the quality of the holy stone could not be accurately identified, it would be too hip!

It is even more difficult to polish stone tools.

The masons are responsible for polishing the highest-standard stone tools, which cannot be made by waving their hands and arms. Every piece of holy stone has to go through a long period of meticulous carving, soaked in countless painstaking efforts of the masons, before it can be made into a tool.

The process of beating is even more labor-intensive. The angle, strength, landing point, and method of each beating are not allowed to make the slightest mistake. If one wrong step, all previous efforts will be wasted.

To put it bluntly, with the current level of these apprentices, they have not even touched the threshold of becoming a mason!
This group of mediocre people may not be able to become excellent stonemasons in this life!
Many days ago, on a certain night, Chitu walked on this sacred but barren land with such grief and indignation that there were no successors, bathed in the cold moonlight, and recalled the years when he was an apprentice.

The moon at that time was also so bright, and at that time, he was also bathing in the cool moonlight, polishing stones all night and practicing his skills hard.

But now, all his apprentices are sleeping soundly!
They are obviously so bad, and they clearly understand that geniuses have suffered embarrassing criticisms, but they don't have the slightest sense of shame and courageous aggressiveness, none of them!

He didn't understand, how could they sleep at this age?
Master, you are so lucky to have a smart and diligent apprentice like me pass on your skills!
He sighed in his heart.

"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang..."

Faintly, he heard a uniform beating sound.

Huh?Could it be that……

Chi Tu quickened his pace and walked towards the source of the sound.

In the quarrying camp, beside a remote fire, a young figure was constantly wielding a stone hammer, beating the flint core in front of him intently.

Raise the hammer and drop it, bang!Raise the hammer and drop it, bang...

Without thinking and tirelessly, he beat the stone core and peeled off the stone leaves. He kept swinging the stone hammer with one hand, and kept turning the stone core with the other hand in accordance with the rhythm of the beating, without any pause, completely natural.

Just looking at his movements, people would mistakenly think that grinding stone tools is a simple task, but Chitu understands better than anyone else that it is absolutely impossible to do such an operation like his, without years of hard training.

And he was so young, so young!

He has what it takes to be an excellent mason, no doubt about it!

"Chitu..."

The night watch hunter found the terracotta wandering here and came forward to greet him.

"Shh!"

Chi Tu impatiently signaled the other party to keep quiet.

The hunter was stunned for a moment, Chi Tu has always been gentle and amiable, such an attitude is rare.

Maybe he was in a bad mood... He heard that the old stonemason was furious during the day and severely reprimanded his apprentice, so he stopped talking, touched his nose and stepped aside.

Chi Tu just didn't want to be disturbed by others.

The hammer shadow waved, and the knocking sound was so beautiful that he was fascinated. In his ears, the knocking sounds were connected together and turned into a beautiful music.

Pieces of stone leaves were knocked off and peeled off from the stone core by him, and fell into the basket used to collect stone leaves like dumplings.

Such a sharp swing, such a precise control!

Chitu's eyes reflected the raging flames, but what really lit up his pupils was the focused figure.

At this moment, he seemed to see his former self, no, even better than him back then!
How could I not know that there are such talented and hard-working people among my apprentices?
Chi Tu quietly walked a few steps closer, only to realize that the other party had an unfamiliar face, which he had never seen before, so naturally he could not be his apprentice.

Sure enough, my apprentices are all idiots.

Compared with the other party, he firmly believed that it was not that his requirements were too strict, but that his apprentice was too stupid.

If they had half the talent and industry of this man, how could he be angry and troubled?
"Amao, who is he?"

Chi Tu pointed to the young man beside the fire, and turned to ask the night watch hunter.

"A savage, I heard it was captured by people from the mountain, and three were caught, but he is the only one who is good at making stone tools, so I asked him to peel the stone leaves for us, and he was not allowed to sleep until the basket was full."

A Mao showed a smug smile. Obviously, he was very satisfied with the crow's efficiency and craftsmanship.Originally, it was his task to peel off the stone leaves, but now someone does it for him, and he does it better than him, which is really worry-free.

Chi Tu was speechless, and said in a slightly questioning tone: "He has such good skills and talents, but you only let him peel stone leaves?"

"Ah?" Ah Mao was startled, and asked subconsciously, "Otherwise?"

Chitu knew that it didn't make sense to him. In the eyes of these hunters who only knew how to fight and kill, there was no difference between peeling off stone leaves and polishing exquisite stone tools.

He didn't explain, just asked: "What's his name?"

"Brother Crow."

"Brother Crow..."

What a strange pronunciation, Chi Tu repeated several times in his heart, remembering the name, and then said: "Bring Brother Crow to the quarry tomorrow, I need manpower... Well, are the other two savages so young?"

"Younger than him."

Chi Tu was overjoyed, youth meant plasticity, and as for the identity of a savage, the savage was just right, destined not to leave here in this life, honestly inherit my skills, play with stones for a lifetime!
"Then bring them here together."

A Mao readily agreed that the savage was captured for work, and working in the quarry during the day did not prevent him from stripping the stone leaves at night.

Chi Tu didn't bother the hard-working crow and turned to leave.

This night was the beginning of the long-term requisition of the crow by the stonemason, but the crow, who was focused on beating the stone, didn't know about it.

He was busy until midnight before completing the target set by Ah Mao, and fell asleep exhausted.

However, after not sleeping for a long time, he was picked up by Ah Mao.

It was dawn, though only dimly.

The crow yawned all day, and was so sleepy that he could barely open his eyes. The sleepiness was accompanied by hunger. He was weak and his head was dizzy. Thinking of the endless hard work waiting for him, he suddenly felt that there was nothing to love.

Ah Mao did not escort him to carry heavy objects, but led him, leopard skin and liver all the way to the quarry.

From a distance, he heard the old man's violent roar.

As he got closer, he could hear the voice more clearly. He saw an old man scolding a group of young people. At this time, he hadn't mastered the barbarian's language, so he couldn't understand what he was saying, but from the old man's expression and tone, he could tell Coming out is reprimanding.

Crow and the other three looked at each other, not knowing why.

"You guys are the worst generation I've ever brought up!"

Chi Tu blurted out.

In the same way, the ears of the apprentices present were almost calloused, and they had long since lost their senses.

Chitu suddenly caught a glimpse of Ah Mao and the three savages he brought, and immediately pointed to the crow, adding: "It's even worse than a savage!"

The lethality of these words is at the level of nuclear bombs. To say that they are not as good as senior brothers, they will admit it after touching their noses. To say that they are not as good as savages is an insult!

The apprentices all turned their heads to look in the direction of the teacher's finger.

"Eh?"

Seeing the old man who suddenly pointed at him and the ensuing hostile gaze, the crow sobered up instantly, and then fell into doubt and anxiety again.

what's the situation?
(End of this chapter)