dognovel Chapter 62 Drawing Lots
Chapter 62 Drawing Lots
At this moment, the fluttering snowflakes gradually stopped, the sky brightened, the sun slowly rose, and it was a new day.
The orcs stretched their limbs and began processing their spoils.
Wolf meat needs to be skinned quickly, otherwise the cold weather will freeze the fur, easily damaging its integrity.
The old orcs returned to their old ways, processing animal hides, cutting them into large pieces, and then handing them over to the sub-orcs to be salted and dried. Thus, the assembly line project was born.
Under Lin Baiyan's guidance, the male beastmen began to rebuild their earthen kilns. Charcoal was an essential resource they needed throughout the winter.
Fox Shadow and several orcs hung up the animal hides to dry before kneading them.
Even the little ones are running around doing chores for everyone.
The little ones are forgetful; seeing the lively atmosphere in the tribe, they immediately forgot the danger they had faced and busied themselves circling around the adults.
Everyone had their own things to do, and although everyone was carrying some injuries, not a single orc complained.
They were overjoyed. The wolf meat, piled up like a small mountain, each piece looked to weigh over 200 pounds. Even after removing the fur and skeleton, there was still plenty of meat.
Lin Baiyan roughly estimated that each wolf would yield about 150 jin of meat. This time, they had benefited from the misfortune, and the tribe had gained several thousand jin of meat.
They filled the gap in their grain reserves in one go!
Lin Baiyan was looking through the seafood that Lang Cang and the others had brought back from the seaside inside the cave. Because there were many male beastmen this time, they brought back a lot of supplies, including ten large bamboo baskets of salt, as well as a lot of large sea fish and a particularly long fish.
He pointed to the long fish in the bamboo basket and said, "When we arrived, there were many such fish on the beach. Even though it got cold, they didn't spoil."
“I thought you’d like these novel things, so I brought some back,” he said somewhat awkwardly.
Saying it like that sounds like you're asking for praise.
The young man was unaware of Lang Cang's strange behavior; his eyes gleamed as he stared at the long fish in Lang Cang's mouth.
"This is ribbonfish! It's super delicious when fried!" Lin Baiyan loves to eat this.
Lang Cang secretly noted it down. Hmm, the young man likes this. He should take more of it in the future.
Not only that, he also brought back two large bamboo baskets of seaweed that Lin Baiyan wanted.
The young man and Lang Cang spent the whole afternoon in the cave tidying up everything they had brought back.
For the next few days, the beastmen of the Azure Flame Tribe were busy skinning animals and drying their hides and meat.
After the tribe was basically restored to its original state, Lin Baiyan finally announced some news. He looked at the beastmen in the cave, "Our individual caves have been built. Tonight, everyone will start drawing lots!"
A lottery?
What is this?
The orcs already knew that many separate caves had been carved out in the tribe, and when they heard Lin Baiyan's words, they were all overjoyed. However, what did the priest mean by drawing lots?
"A total of fifty caves were carved out. The cubs will live together in this big cave. Grandma Xiyang, Houlin, and Grandpa Maoxu decided to stay in the big cave to take care of the cubs."
"Therefore, there are forty-five orcs who need to live in separate caves."
Lin Baiyan knew everyone's doubts, and then explained, "Our cave is complete, but where to live is a problem."
“If we had to choose ourselves, two orcs would definitely choose the same cave, making it impossible to divide them. So I discussed it with the chieftain.”
He held up the wooden tube in his hand. "There are forty-five stones in here, each numbered. Each one corresponds to a cave. You live in the cave you draw. Of course, if you don't like a stone, you can exchange it with the other person."
The orcs in their tribe all came from different parts of the orc continent. The best way to get everyone to work together quickly was to live in mixed groups. However, Lin Baiyan did not force them to live together.
Lin Baiyan then looked at everyone with a warning, "An exchange requires the voluntary consent of both parties. No force can be used to forcibly exchange someone else's cave!"
He knew that male orcs were much stronger than female orcs, and to prevent some orcs from using underhanded tactics, Lin Baiyan specifically emphasized this point: "If I find out that someone is secretly using other tricks, I will cut their rations in half!"
The punishment methods on the Orcish Continent are actually quite rudimentary, often resorting to expelling tribes or annihilation. Lin Baiyan cannot be that ruthless for the time being, so he can only use food rations to make everyone more aware of the situation.
Even if Lin Baiyan hadn't said that, they would have done it anyway.
Didn't you see the clan chief behind the priest staring at them with a very dangerous, warning look?
Wolf Cang is the most powerful orc in the tribe. Who would dare to provoke his authority?
Seeing that no one had any objections, the young man nodded in satisfaction.
"Alright, everyone get to work. We'll start after dinner tonight!"
The beastmen slowly dispersed, discussing what had just happened in small groups.
"The priest's idea of drawing lots sounds quite interesting."
"Yeah, I wonder who my neighbor will be."
As everyone knows, there are two rooms at the entrance of one of the caves they carved.
Everyone feels a mix of anticipation and trepidation about their future neighbors.
Seeing everyone's enthusiastic expressions, Lin Baiyan smiled and turned to Lang Cang behind her, "How about it? My idea is pretty good, isn't it?"
Wolf Cang's eyes darkened as he watched the young man flash a bright white smile. "Then how would beastmen who become partners live?"
Lin Baiyan shook his head smugly. "I've already thought of that. Tonight, I'll tally up the number of people who want to become partners and then allocate the caves in front of them."
"Two people living in one cave entrance, just like special neighbors! The empty cave can be used to store miscellaneous items."
That way, it won't disturb the orcs' private time.
"If we have cubs in the future, that room can be used for the cubs to live in."
Lang Cang watched the young man speak eloquently, a smile playing in his eyes. "Hmm, you've considered everything very thoroughly."
Hearing Lang Cang's affirmation, the young man's smile widened.
At night, a campfire was lit in the cave, and the beastmen gathered around it, all watching Lin Baiyan intently in the center.
The young man had gotten used to being watched like this these days, and he said without changing his expression, "Let's begin now."
Lin Baiyan cleared his throat. "Now I need to calculate the number of beastmen in our tribe who want to form couples this snow season."
"I'll just give you a big cave then, so you won't have to participate in the lottery."
There aren't actually that many orcs of the right age in the tribe.
Upon hearing this, the atmosphere in the cave suddenly heated up, and the male beastmen with their sweethearts all secretly glanced at the sub-beastmen they admired.