Chapter 020: Departure for Duty

Armed with a quiver of fifty arrows, a sturdy longbow, a bird's beak dagger, a white shaft spear, and a stone axe, Luo Chong was well-equipped for his journey. His kit also included a bundle of bark rope, a coil of Agave fiber and fine hemp cord, a fist-sized jar of lard, a small bag of salt rocks, a fire-starting tube, a miniature ceramic pot with a dual-purpose lid serving as a bowl, and a small packet of chili peppers. The fire-starting tube, fashioned from a hollow pig bone filled with wood shavings left from bow-making, served as a primitive but effective fire starter, keeping embers smoldering without open flames.

Aside from the weapons he carried, his various pieces of gear were neatly packed in a rectangular, lidded wicker basket, which could also be described as a box, woven from beech branches. If he had donned a scholar's robe and attached a canopy to the box, he might have resembled an ancient scholar on his way to the imperial examinations.

Luo Chong meticulously checked his equipment, feeling as though he was still missing something crucial. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a small figure darting behind the crowd, clad in long boots and sporting a necklace of boar's teeth.

"Go Disease, bring back my snake-skin water pouch," he called out.

The little boy, hiding behind his mother, reluctantly handed over Luo Chong's water pouch when his mother nudged him forward.

"Stay home and listen to your mother," Luo Chong instructed as he ruffled Go Disease's hair. "I'll be back soon." Accepting the water pouch, he pinched the boy's cheek, then shouldered his basket and started toward the distance.

"Waah… I don't want you to go…" Go Disease burst into tears and clung to Luo Chong's legs, refusing to let go.

Luo Chong, knowing how attached the boy was to him, scooped up Go Disease, wiped his tears, and pointed at the other children shivering in the morning mist, their nakedness barely concealed.

"Look, you have clothes, but they are still freezing. What if they get sick? Remember how you almost died from illness? Stay home and wait for me. I need to find them clothes," he explained, hoping to instill a sense of responsibility in the boy.

Regardless of how much Go Disease understood, Luo Chong enjoyed talking to him, believing that the more he heard, the more he would learn.

"Teach me to fight with a stick when you return," Go Disease sniffled.

"Deal," Luo Chong chuckled, handing him back to his mother. He scanned the primitive faces around him. As their leader, he felt a profound duty to improve their lives, aiming for natural deaths rather than from exposure, starvation, or violence. Anything less would weigh heavily on his conscience, much like the loss of a comrade due to his own oversight.

Resolute, Luo Chong plunged into the fog. Arrangements for the tribe were in place: his young followers were temporarily assigned to the hunting team with strict orders against solo excursions; the potter was tasked with brick making; women were divided into foraging and fishing groups; and the elder was left in charge of the settlement.

As Luo Chong's figure vanished into the mist, the tribe watched, their faces etched with concern. Promising to return before the river froze, he set off in search of animal hides, venturing far beyond any place they knew.

The elder, understanding the gravity of Luo Chong's mission, knelt and bowed in the direction of his departure, praying for his safe return and continued blessings for the tribe. Unlike others, the elder knew the depth of Luo Chong's impact: every evening after supper, he would depict Luo Chong's accomplishments on the cave walls—hunting the Terror Bird, crafting pottery, boiling broth, making spears and bows, dressing hair, crafting boots, rendering oil, weaving baskets, and fishing—never missing a day.

They didn't need a shaman to commune with the spirits, for they had Luo Chong, who they believed was a divine presence among them.

Following the stream uphill through the increasingly sparse forest, Luo Chong felt a surge of excitement as a prelude to leaving the woods. Resting by the river at noon, he prepared a pheasant using local spices and clay for a sumptuous meal, relishing the rare pleasure of a midday feast.

After refilling his water pouch and resting, he continued his journey, aiming to cross the river at a narrow point he suspected lay ahead, beyond which he hoped to find the grasslands that large herbivores would inhabit.

But as he ventured further, the enveloping trees cast a deeper gloom, and the quiet around him grew unnervingly profound, hinting at the challenges and mysteries awaiting him in the quest to better the lives of his tribe.