Chapter 41 New Territory

  That night, due to the howling of the west wind, the forest area on the east side of Xiaoshan was completely covered by flames. The huge fire did not shrink until dawn when the wind direction changed, and it wasn't until the sun had fully risen above the horizon that the big fire thoroughly disappeared from the world, leaving behind only a piece of ruins.

  As for the living beings, from the great Vajra to the tiny ants, none of them escaped in a hurry. Those who failed to escape the sea of flames also became an energy source for it, turning into a blackened patch on the scorched earth after being incinerated.

  A great fire raged overnight, and the apes at the top of the mountain were initially panicked, but after being scolded by Chen Xu, who crawled out of the cave, they calmed down and continued to make bows and arrows.

  One night's time, the flames flowed incessantly, and the apes did not rest either. This one night, they had enough meat, and they also had to keep paying labor.

  Super Ape, Ape General, Ape Number One and Captain Ape, these four leaders set by Chen Xu often patrol in the mountains, ready to kick awake any sleeping tribesmen at any time.

  One night's hard work came to an end at the moment when the sun rose and the flames went out, all the beast tendons in the tribe were used up, a total of one hundred long bows and six hundred long arrows were made.

  The apes, who had worked hard all night, looked at the results of their labor and felt a surge of joy in their hearts. This was the product of their labor, a landmark that marked an era.

  He ordered the crowd to prepare breakfast, and after a simple distribution of food, Chen Xu walked into the mountain col and pulled out several long vines, rubbing several 20-30 meter ropes, so they had more rope.

  Other apes followed suit, especially the old ape, who was quite skilled and quickly produced four or five long ropes with his help.

  Relying on these ropes, Chen Xu got some simple and short ropes and started making a rope ladder at the top of the mountain. Soon, the world's first rope ladder appeared.

  "With this rope ladder, most people in the tribe can descend to the foot of the cliff, and the fire below has also been extinguished. It's time to act!"

  He smiled and Chen Xu dragged the newly made rope ladder into the cave, then used two extra ropes to tie one end of the rope ladder tightly, leading it deep into the cave, tied to a protruding rock.

  After doing all this, he threw the rope ladder down the cliff, and instantly, the more than 20-meter-long rope ladder was fully extended, like a giant centipede, swaying between the cliffs.

  He roughly measured the length of the rope ladder and determined that it should be much longer than when he climbed down before. At this time, he took a look and indeed, the lowest end of the rope ladder was only two or three meters away from the ground.

  At this distance, it was already a safe distance for the apemen in the tribe.

  As for whether they can come back up after going down, this is no longer something he can consider. At least, many of them will probably never have the chance to climb back up into the cave again once they go down.

  The cave will serve as the core area of a tribe and is where the leader resides.

  Seeing that everything was ready, Chen Xu ordered the ape men to climb into the cave one by one. He first demonstrated how to climb down, followed by the super ape men and other powerful ape warriors.

  In the end, it was just the old, weak, women and children in the tribe.

  But with the demonstrations of their predecessors, these apes also had sufficient psychological preparation, and although they were still trembling, they finally reached the bottom of the cliff safely.

  Even the weakest old gibbon is like this, even if the last three meters are suspended in mid-air, he still can't hide the fact that he has completed the vertical climb of over 20 meters.

  More than 220 apes in the tribe climbed down from the mountain cave one after another, and it took a whole morning to get them all down.

  By the time of daybreak, all apemen in the tribe except Chen Xu had safely arrived at the edge of the forest below.

  According to Chen Xu's instructions, the apes have started cleaning up below, sweeping away the pitch-black forest area that had been licked by flames, and clearing out a place where they can settle down.

  Chen Xu, on the other hand, tied the bamboo spear and longbow to the top with a long rattan, then slowly lowered them down from the entrance of the cave. When they were close to the ground, Ape No. 1 and Captain Ape led their team to receive them.

  Before long, the entire property of the Huo Shen tribe was transported to the foot of the mountain, and the bamboo spears and longbows were also distributed. The fully armed crowd of apes began to slowly explore this region that had been scorched by flames.

  "Goodness gracious, if it weren't for the misty vapor by the small river and the unusually damp terrain, I'm afraid this fire wouldn't have been extinguished so easily even with a change in wind direction!"

  Walking ahead of the crowd, Chen Xu held a bamboo spear and stepped on the dark road surface, looking at the scene in front of him. Although he had expected it earlier, his heart still trembled with shock.

  Flames are merciless, and this phrase truly interprets the characteristics of this violent energy release method. This method far exceeds his control, if not for good luck, Chen Xu had enough reason to believe that perhaps this entire forest could be directly burned up by him, and nothing would be left at that time.

  Looking at the charred animal skeletons in the bonfire, looking at the dust with a three or four meter long half-burned golden arm stretching out, as if to grab something, Chen Xu's eyes didn't blink, but his heart was really shaken.

  "This fire attack may be effective, but it's better not to use it if possible. Playing with fire can get you burned."

  He let out a low sigh, Chen Xu gathered the crowd of apes behind him to move forward, ordering them to start cleaning up the fire scene, removing all the miscellaneous wood and throwing it onto the grassland near the small river, starting to thoroughly tidy up this area.

  Less than half a day's time, under the efforts of more than 200 apes, the originally scorched area has restored its original appearance, except for the lack of withered grass on the ground, there is no other obvious impact.

  Apart from this, it was because of the flames that the snakes and insects in this area were greatly reduced, for a time, it became more suitable for people to live.

  During this time, Chen Xu himself did not idle, he first detected the situation here, specifically observed the aquatic products in the small river, confirmed his speculation, and then dismantled a giant branch from the tree, starting to draw circles around the burning land.

  This time, in this burning land, all the weeds and the like have disappeared, leaving only a few half-dead trees standing, but a semicircular clearing has been burned out, just adjacent to the small river.

  This place is just right for a settlement, but wanting to stand firm here is not safe after driving away the Golden Rooster. Chen Xu did not forget what kind of place this was, so after hastily cleaning up the aftermath, he began planning to set up a fence.

  He drew a large circle with branches, which was the place where the fence was set up. After the crowd of apes finished their sweeping task, they were sent by him to start digging holes around them.

  The tool used was naturally his own invention, a simple wooden spade.

  Under the efforts of many strong warriors in the tribe, the large trees in the surrounding forest fell one by one, and wooden clubs of various sizes were chopped out with stone axes and quickly put into practical use.

  And a large crater also appeared rapidly under the wooden club.

  Order other apes to continue digging holes along the trail, while Chen Xu leads the warriors who have finished making wooden clubs to start large-scale felling of surrounding trees, splitting the trees into sharp fence woods.

  Although it is quite inconvenient to chop down trees with a stone axe, under the powerful force of the apes, the big trees still fell to the ground.

  They say that many people have great power, and this saying is indeed true. Under the uninterrupted labor of more than 200 people in the entire tribe, by the time the sky was darkening, a three-meter-high fence made of simple wooden planks stood on the land planned by Chen Xu. After covering it with mud, a simple but solid wall took shape.

  In the future, what needs to be done is only to take this stockade wall as a foundation and continue to increase the length and hardness of the wood for building the stockade wall. Maybe, some mud can also be used to thoroughly fill in the gaps between these fences.

  But all that is for later, at least for now this fence will suffice.

  To the north of the fence, Chen Xu left a mouth hole as the location of the gate. Although everyone was already exhausted, he still ordered everyone to dig a trap near the gate. This trap can effectively prevent the attack of wild animals. He doesn't think that by driving away Jin Gang, he can completely occupy this place.

  In this jungle, if one cannot show their strength, it is impossible to gain the recognition of other beasts, and they are still a short distance away from showing their strength.

  The trap was set, the night was deep, and Chen Xiu saw that the crowd of apes were tired, so he ordered people to light up the torches and prepare dinner. Before long, the entire enclosure was brightened up, and it seemed like two different worlds inside and outside the fence.

  After a day of hard work, the apes hastily filled their bellies and fell into a deep sleep. At this time, no one had the mood to do anything else, even the women in the tribe were exhausted from the day's work, so as soon as they had some free time, everyone lay down on the ground.

  Chen Xu could only smile wryly and take on the task of keeping watch himself, hoping that no wild beasts would come to attack tonight, or else this newly established tribe might be finished in an instant.

  Fortunately, perhaps due to the intimidation after the big fire, or perhaps for some other reason, in short, this night was very safe and passed peacefully under Chen Xu's tense mood.

  As morning broke, the apes emerged one by one from their dreams, regaining their strength. This time, the tribe had a basic appearance, and Chen Xukuo would no longer exploit them without restraint.

  However, large-scale felling of trees, processing wooden spears and bamboo spears, as well as small-scale expansion of fences, must still be carried out.

  Of course, now the time is not too tight, so everyone is taking a production line approach, constantly cycling in shifts, no longer focusing on doing the same work, which ensures both efficiency and that no one gets too tired.

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