Chapter 32

One must admit that the intelligence of the people should not be underestimated!

Especially when someone discovers or invents something that inspires them, leading to a chain reaction.

For example, after Uncle Feng became interested in bamboo weaving due to the construction of the bamboo house, and inspired by Emily, he made bamboo stools and chairs.

After visiting Uncle Feng's bamboo house, several women in the village also developed a keen interest in bamboo weaving.

One of them even made a bamboo crib for her baby, with protective railings around it, allowing the baby to sleep comfortably.

Another person went to the mountains and gathered many finger-thick bamboo shoots from some unknown place. She used the thin bamboo stalks to create a perfectly arranged tabletop, surrounded by slightly curved bamboo that was smoothed out using fire.

After completing it, she invited everyone to come and take a look.

This sparked a bamboo furniture craze.

Emily observed this with delight.

Individual intelligence has potential, and collective strength is powerful, especially when everyone has a common goal: to make life better!

There were many things Emily had an impression of in her mind but couldn't make herself, such as sun hats and bamboo hats that could provide shade. She boldly described their shapes and functions.

Several skilled weaving women of the Nuwa tribe, following her descriptions, wove different kinds of bamboo hats and straw hats using bulrush and bamboo strips.

After the hats were made, everyone gathered to discuss their lightness, practicality, and appearance, giving honest feedback. Taking everything into consideration, they came up with a new type of bamboo hat.

As for straw hats, the people of the Nuwa tribe unanimously agreed that while they were the lightest for sun protection, they were less effective at keeping rain out and were prone to being blown away by the wind, making them impractical.

Emily agreed with most of their opinions, except for the point about the impracticality of straw hats.

The Nuwa tribe people found straw hats impractical because they had never seen cloth or soft threads. Fixing the straw hat to the head using something like soft but strong woolen braids was easy and prevented it from being blown away by the wind, making it quite suitable for working in hot weather.

So, after soaking the wool for seven days, Emily used the water, which had naturally fermented into a detergent, to wash the wool clean. After rinsing it in clean water several times and drying it, Emily estimated that the wool weighed about twelve to fifteen kilograms.

The fluffy, off-white wool felt warm to the touch.

Of course, in the current weather, it might feel overwhelmingly hot.

But recalling the dreaded "cold season" the Nuwa tribe spoke of, Emily did not relax. She asked Male to help her make a hedgehog-like wooden "comb" and a hand-spinning spindle.

With the preparations complete, one morning, Emily didn't go up the mountain with Male. Under the curious eyes of Moon and Banana, Emily, who was doing this for the first time, began to experiment with the oldest hand-spinning method she had seen elderly people use during her travels in Qinghai.

She tried to comb out the wool's curls and lengthen the fibers, but the wooden wool comb was not as fine as the steel comb she had seen during her travels, and she failed on the first step.

The fibers simply wouldn't separate.

Awkward... What could replace that fine wool comb?

Emily racked her brain, and suddenly a plant came to mind—cocklebur!

This plant grows almost everywhere, even in cities, and its stem fibers can be used to make hemp rope.

Its fruit is covered in tiny spines. Emily vividly remembered how, when she was a child, mischievous boys would throw cockleburs into her hair, and the painful experience of removing them from her hair was unforgettable!

But cockleburs seem to bear fruit in the fall, and it was only early summer now—where could she find them?

Emily stared gloomily at the wool and wooden comb in her hands, her mind racing.

Cocklebur is toxic in all parts, but traditional Chinese medicine often uses it for medicinal purposes. Could Granny Feng possibly have some cocklebur?

Although cocklebur seeds are small, and using them to comb wool fibers would be slow, it would be better than the wooden comb, which couldn't properly separate the fibers. After all, there were only about ten kilograms of wool to work with.

Even if it took a long time, she could still finish the task. It would be a shame to waste the material by not properly carding the wool, especially since she didn't know when she'd have more wool to work with.

Although she'd heard that some breeds of sheep could be sheared five times a year, what if this sheep wasn't one of those breeds?

What if the sheep had a difficult birth and they couldn't save it?

The system translation of "cocklebur" could be expressed in the Nuwa tribe's language, so it should be available.

Not wanting to miss the opportunity, Emily ran to Granny Feng, who was most likely to have some cocklebur. Sure enough, Granny Feng had some cocklebur seeds, and she gave most of them to Emily, keeping only a small portion for herself.

Emily began combing a small tuft of wool with the tiny cocklebur seeds. Although it was slow, the fibers came out much finer.

Emily felt a surge of joy as she carefully combed the small tuft of wool into fluffy fibers. She twisted them into a thin strand of yarn with one hand while spinning the spindle rapidly with the other, winding the yarn around it.

Watching the fine fibers quickly transform into a long thread winding around the spindle, Emily felt an overwhelming sense of excitement.

She even had a voice in her head, like a movie narrator, saying, "This is just a small strand of yarn, but it marks a significant step forward in the Nuwa tribe's textile technology!"

She was almost moved to tears by herself!

Moon and Banana found it fascinating to see the fluffy wool gradually transform into a fine thread wound around the spindle.

But what did this thread have to do with clothing? They still couldn't quite understand how Emily planned to use this to make clothes.

Even though they didn't fully understand and still had doubts, they trusted Emily unconditionally.

There was only one spindle for spinning yarn, and using cocklebur to finely comb the wool fibers was the most meticulous and time-consuming task. So, the two of them each took a cocklebur seed and a small tuft of wool, carefully combing the fibers.

When Male and the others returned from hunting, Banana and Dashan went to cook, while Male watched as Emily and Moon meticulously combed the wool fibers with the tiny cocklebur seeds.

He looked at the small ball of yarn on the spindle, which was not even as big as his fist, and then at the large amount of wool collected in the bamboo basket, frowning.

At this pace, how long would it take to turn all that wool into yarn?

Male picked up a cocklebur seed and a small tuft of wool, absentmindedly combing as he thought about the large wooden comb Emily had asked him to make, and then glanced at the cocklebur seed.

Suddenly, inspiration struck him, and he set down the cocklebur seed and walked out.

First, he chopped down a large bamboo, cutting off a thicker section from the base. He then split it in half, removed the green outer layer, fashioned a handle on one end, and used a rough stone to smooth out the bamboo's heart, the split edges, and the handle.

Next came the more "delicate" work.

Using his "magic" knife, he made fine, crisscrossing cuts on the bamboo's surface, careful not to cut through. He applied just the right amount of pressure, cutting carefully.

With the bamboo about 1.5 centimeters thick and the cuts only 6 to 7 millimeters deep, he had created a dense "hedgehog" comb.

When Emily saw the "comb" Male had made, she practically felt like he was an angel sent from above!

She was so excited that she forgot Moon was present, and she hugged Male and planted two big kisses on his cheek, causing Moon to click her tongue in admiration, thinking her sister-in-law was truly a heroine!

With this bamboo wool comb, the speed of the carding process increased significantly.

Moon compared Emily's speed with the new comb to her own slow progress with the pitifully small cocklebur seeds. She decisively stopped what she was doing and said, "Brother, go make another one of these combs!"

Male, shifting his gaze from Emily's rosy lips, glanced at Moon and said, "Dashan is looking for you."

"Oh." Moon didn't suspect anything and immediately stood up and turned to leave.

As soon as Moon left and closed the bamboo door behind her, Male leaned down and kissed Emily's enticing lips. Emily was startled but, fearing she might alert Moon, allowed Male to do as he pleased.

It wasn't until she stepped outside that Moon realized Dashan had gone to help Banana with dinner, and Male had been making the comb outside the house after chopping bamboo. If Dashan was looking for her, she would have known.

She turned back, ready to ask Male, but the sight that greeted her was Male leaning down to kiss her sister-in-law...

Oh, for goodness' sake!

This was too much!

Was this really her own brother?

In broad daylight, he actually sent his own sister away just to kiss his partner!

Wouldn't the night, which would soon fall, be long enough for them to be affectionate?

Hmph! What an interruption!

During dinner at Banana's place, Moon's eyes occasionally glanced at Emily's noticeably fuller lips, then shot a glare at Male. "Brother, didn't you say Dashan was looking for me?"

Male, utterly composed, replied, "Yeah, Dashan said he missed you. Right, Dashan?"

Dashan was stunned: How could I deny this?

Newly married and eager to survive, Dashan quickly nodded. "Moon, I missed you."

Tsk—

She had always thought Dashan was an honest man, but she hadn't realized he was being led astray by her brother.

Moon glared at Dashan in anger. Dashan felt wronged but kept silent.

Since Dashan didn't speak, Male did: "Moon, I'm telling you, if Dashan misses you and you glare at him like that, aren't you afraid he'll be heartbroken? Thinking about and caring for each other is a good thing between partners!"

Moon was speechless. Fine! I can't argue with you. Whatever you say is right! A brother who has a partner but no sister!

Emily vaguely understood why Moon was upset. Feeling embarrassed, she kept her head down, focused on her meal, and didn't join their conversation. Meanwhile, Banana smiled slightly, enjoying their interaction and thinking the atmosphere was quite pleasant.

That night, the moon was bright and the stars were sparse, just like the previous nights, but for Huang Ye, today was the day she would change her fate!

As soon as night fell, her heart began to pound with nervousness. She waited until everything was quiet and only the sound of insects in the grass could be heard. Then, she quietly opened the bamboo door a crack and peeked outside.

Aside from the faint starlight from the sky, the tribe was enveloped in darkness. It was clear that everyone had already gone to sleep.

Huang Ye didn't dare light a torch. Holding one in her hand, she quietly slipped out and concealed herself in the shadows.

She cautiously looked around as she made her way to the hole in the wall outside Granny Feng's house, where she stopped and listened.

Hearing only the faint sound of Granny Feng's snoring, Huang Ye breathed a small sigh of relief and carefully made her way around the wall, stopping under the hibiscus tree not far from the entrance.

She gently removed a bamboo pole leaning against the hibiscus tree near the entrance to the restricted area. Granny Feng had placed it there so that if someone carelessly opened the entrance, the pole would fall to the ground with a loud noise and wake her up.

Opening the entrance to the forbidden land, Huang Ye crouched down, carefully inspecting the entrance to see if any traps had been set.

The bamboo pole at the entrance was something any attentive Nuwa tribe member would notice and avoid. Based on her understanding of the old woman, there were likely other traps or alarms set up behind it to catch or alert people who entered the forbidden land.

By the faint starlight, she didn't notice anything unusual about the first step. She cautiously stepped down, still not daring to light her torch for fear that the light would attract Granny Feng or other Nuwa tribe members.

She continued to bend over and inspect the second step. In the dim light, she saw what seemed like a shadow in the middle of the step. Carefully, she placed her foot on the left side and stood there. Looking down further, she could no longer see anything—it was pitch black.

Gritting her teeth, Huang Ye lit the torch and probed further. When she saw the next step, she couldn't help but curse the old woman for being so cunning!

The second step had a round stone placed in the middle. If she accidentally touched it, the stone would roll down, making a noise that could easily wake Granny Feng.

The third step had two round stones placed on the left and right, leaving only the middle clear for stepping.

There were no more stones below, and Huang Ye looked around. Because she was holding the torch, the area around her seemed even darker, and she couldn't see anything. She quietly placed the wooden board back over the entrance to the forbidden land.

Step by step, she walked towards the forbidden land, knowing that Emily had successfully come out of it, so there shouldn't be any danger inside.

However, as the wooden cover over the exit closed, her footsteps began to echo in the hollow and chaotic space below, gradually resembling the sound of thousands of soldiers marching. Huang Ye couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat.

She was not like Emily, who knew these were just echoes. Huang Ye couldn't explain this phenomenon and assumed her intrusion had caused the guardians of the Nuwa statue to gather and prepare to deal with her.

After descending the few hollow steps, Huang Ye stood still for a long time until the sounds gradually faded and disappeared completely.

She realized her legs were a bit weak.

Thinking of Male, the power of bloodline, and Emily, Huang Ye gritted her teeth and forced herself to walk cautiously forward.

If that woman could leave unharmed, there was no reason Huang Ye couldn't do the same!

Her feet, clad in straw shoes, stepped lightly on the muddy ground, making almost no noise. As a result, the "army" finally quieted down.

Without the noise, Huang Ye continued walking forward cautiously, though her nerves were no longer as tightly wound.

However, the dense passageways were making her nervous.

The last time she had carried Emily, she had entered the rightmost passage to throw her far away, going quite far in. She had encountered forks in the passage and had always chosen the rightmost path to avoid getting lost.

On her way back, she simply chose the leftmost paths without exception and safely returned.

But this time, things were different. She wasn't just trying to return safely—she needed to find the place Male mentioned where the true Nuwa statue was located, find the beast skin totem that Granny Feng had returned, and awaken her bloodline power!

Of course, she also needed to return safely and had to do so before the Nuwa tribe members woke up. If Granny Feng noticed she was missing, she would definitely suspect Huang Ye had gone to the forbidden land.

Until she could control her bloodline power well, she couldn't let them discover her. Otherwise, with the old woman's authoritarian ways and Male's current dislike of her, they would likely imprison her. Huang Ye definitely didn't want to see that happen.