Chapter 76: Chapter 76: How to Build a House?
"Su Qinglan, stop acting like a hooligan. Ogling will not give you a better life," she muttered to herself in a sarcastic tone. She quickly pulled back her hand that had been wandering over the tiger’s strong back and decided to focus on the task.
They did not have much time. The rainy season was coming soon. She had to find a safe place to build a home, not just for herself but for the whole tribe.
If she succeeded, everyone could move here before the rain began. She took a deep breath, patted her cheeks lightly, and focused on the forest ahead.
The forest was thick and lush. The trees were so wide that even if three or four people joined hands, they could not circle one trunk. The air was cool and smelled of earth and leaves.
She looked around in awe. Back in her old world, she had only seen ruins and gray wastelands. Seeing so much green again made her heart feel full.
As they went deeper into the forest, she found many things that caught her eye. It was her first time walking so far into a forest in this world. Normally, females were not allowed here.
Even males avoided some parts because it was the home of wild beasts. But Su Qinglan had begged them to bring her. She needed to find a good place and also see if there were useful plants or food.
Her eyes suddenly lit up when she spotted something. "Hu Yan, stop! Go there... sniff this!" she called. The tiger beast looked confused but did as she asked.
Su Qinglan immediately jumped down from him, almost giving him a scare. But she was so focused she didn’t notice his expression. Her grin widened as she touched the green leaves. "This is wild spinach! You can eat this!" she said excitedly.
Soon, she found more familiar things. There were patches of wild garlic, and young bamboo shoots peeking through the soil. A bit further, she spotted sour fruits, which she just called oranges. Her excitement grew with every new discovery.
In the damp part of the forest, she even saw clusters of big mushrooms growing around fallen logs. Some were as large as her palm.
"Ah! Mushrooms!" she shouted with joy. She carefully picked a few and smelled them. They looked different, but she knew they were safe. "These will taste amazing when roasted," she said to herself with a grin.
She kept walking, searching for more good things; she even found some herbs that could be used as seasoning.
The beasts followed her silently, still not understanding why she looked so thrilled over plants.
But Su Qinglan was bursting with joy. She was from Earth, and these were all foods she knew well. Only now they were much bigger, greener, and looked fresher than she had ever seen before.
She quickly filled her small basket with mushrooms, roots, and leaves. Her hands were covered in dirt, but her face was glowing with happiness.
"If we can find food like this," she said softly to herself, "then we can really build a home here."
Su Qinglan finally decided to stop her gathering. As much as she loved discovering new food, she knew that was not the main reason she came here.
The most important task right now was to find a safe place to build a house before the rainy season started. The food could wait. The rain would not.
She patted her small basket and sighed. "You will have to wait for me, my tasty treasures," she said with sadness before turning toward Hu Yan and Rong Ye and Han Jue. "Alright, let’s move. I will not gather now."
Hu Yan bent down, and she hopped on his back again. With the two beastmen leading the way, they began their climb toward the upper mountain.
The slope was not too steep, but for a human like her, it would have been a long, tiring walk. Luckily, her beastmen were fast. Their paws hit the ground lightly, moving with ease through the roots and vines.
The wind grew cooler as they went up. The air smelled fresher, filled with the scent of moss and pine. After some time, they reached the top. What greeted them made Su Qinglan’s eyes widen in surprise.
It was a wide plain surrounded by thick trees...so thick that even if she stretched both arms and hugged one, she could barely touch a part of its trunk.
The leaves above formed a green roof, and sunlight poured through in broken beams that looked almost magical. She couldn’t help but whisper, "This place... it’s perfect."
She jumped down from Hu Yan’s back and stretched her legs. Her three beastmen shifted back to their human forms, their tall figures blending with the forest’s wild beauty.
Su Qinglan looked around and noticed a rocky mountain in the distance. It rose much higher than the one they were standing on, its top hidden in mist.
Rong Ye followed her gaze and said calmly, "That’s where the Bird Tribe lives. Their nests are up there, so high that even the beastmen cannot reach them easily."
Su Qinglan nodded. "No wonder they’re always dry and safe. They can fly whenever they want. Must be nice to have wings."
Hu Yan gave a low laugh. "Ground beasts like us could never climb that. The mountain wall is almost straight. Even I can’t get up there without falling a dozen times."
Su Qinglan chuckled. "Yes, I’d rather not die trying. Let’s keep our feet on the ground, shall we?"
She turned her eyes back to the forest around them. This area was close to their tribe, which was good for safety, but she also knew it meant others might come here often.
It was too open to be a private living space. Still, she could not stop herself from imagining what their home could look like here.
At first, she thought of building a stone house. She imagined stacking stones together and sealing them with mud, like a small cave but shaped by hand.
But then she frowned. "If it rains too hard and the stones collapse, we’ll all get squashed like pancakes," she muttered. "No, no, that’s not good."
Her thoughts kept spinning as she walked around. Then something caught her attention.
A massive tree stood a few steps away. Its trunk was so wide she doubted even ten men could wrap around it.
Su Qinglan slowly circled it with sparkling eyes. "This tree..." she whispered. "It’s huge. It’s thick and strong..." Then she suddenly stopped, her mouth forming a small "O" as an idea hit her like lightning.
"What if..." she said out loud, "I hollow it out and live inside the tree?"