Chronicles of Primitive Civilization’s Growth

Chapter 16: Enforcing Family Discipline

Blood spurted continuously, and the massive creature, weighing 1500 catties, finally began to weaken. After a few wobbles, its legs could no longer support its enormous body, and the boar collapsed, its body still twitching sporadically.

Luo Chong took out his bone knife and slashed at its carotid artery again. After one precise stab, all the blood was drained. At this moment, utmost caution was necessary; the scent of blood might attract other predators.

Luo Chong called over his four younger companions. The kids had just watched their chief’s heroic act of slaughtering the pig alone, admiring him greatly. However, as they approached the wild boar, their legs trembled slightly.

How in the world were they going to take it back? It weighed 1500 catties. Even after bleeding it out, it would still weigh at least 1400 catties. Five children wouldn’t be able to drag it, let alone that there was another sow waiting to be slaughtered.

After pondering for a while, Luo Chong decided not to kill the sow yet. He intended to use her to drag the boar back.

Just like before, he led the sow around the tree in circles until she couldn’t move anymore. Then he tied a rope tightly around her snout. Wild boars have a strong bite, but that doesn’t mean they can exert much force when opening their mouths.

With her mouth bound, the boar couldn’t bite anyone and could only grunt through her nose.

The children huffed and puffed as they dragged the boar to the sow, binding their hind legs together and attaching another rope to the sow’s waist. They also tied the sow’s front legs with two more ropes, completing the setup.

Luo Chong led the way holding the rope tied to the boar’s snout, guiding its direction. Da Zui and Houzi each held one of the sow’s front legs on either side. If the sow attempted to attack Luo Chong, they would pull the ropes apart, forcing her to split her legs and fall down. Given that she was dragging a dead boar weighing over 1000 catties, she couldn’t run fast anyway. This was merely a precaution.

Da Mao and Er Mao walked behind with sticks, keeping watch to prevent any animal ambushes. Occasionally, they would hit the pig’s buttocks with the sticks to urge it forward.

This boar must have felt utterly disgraced, forced to play the role of an ox despite being a pig, ultimately facing the inevitable fate of slaughter—a great humiliation, especially since it couldn’t resist.

Though they managed to capture a live one this time, Luo Chong never intended to domesticate these wild boars. The species was too ferocious to be suitable for breeding. Domesticated animals should be docile at the very least and shouldn’t pose a threat to humans.

They slowly made their way home, but they didn’t encounter the group of escaped wild boars along the way, unsure where they had gone.

A crimson trail was dragged through the jungle, and countless pairs of eyes in the dense forest coveted this chunk of fatty meat. Unfortunately, the escort team was too formidable, with a perfect formation leaving no room for ambush.

Climbing over the mountain ridge and through the lush jungle, they finally caught sight of the tribe’s cave from afar.

The children clearing the bushes were the first to spot this peculiar group. Leading them was none other than their chief, covered in mud. If it weren’t for his distinctive hairstyle, he would’ve been unrecognizable.

The children rushed over, but dared not approach closely. They had never seen such a creature before—it looked terrifying, and wild boars were indeed ugly.

The lame man was sitting by the cave entrance sharpening his bone knife. The clay figurine had already been shaped and was drying.

Qu Bing was wrapped in animal skins, sitting on a pile of grass basking in the sun, with his mother beside him sewing new clothes for him. His spirits were much better today, and from afar, he started pointing and shouting when he saw Luo Chong.

Seeing the return of the chief, the lame man limped over as well. Luo Chong instructed him to prepare a water jar and some salt, and he immediately hobbled away.

Children and pregnant women gathered around, having never seen such a large prey before. Even the terror bird they encountered earlier wasn’t as big as these two pigs.

Qu Bing also wanted his mother to carry him over to join the commotion. Seeing Luo Chong looking at him, he made a face at Luo Chong, only to get slapped on the head by his mother, causing him to pout in anger.

When the lame man brought the water jar, Luo Chong dug a hole in the ground, placed the jar inside, leaving only the rim above the surface.

Under Luo Chong’s guidance, the sow was led to the water jar. Da Zui and Houzi pulled the ropes together, toppling the sow’s massive body. Da Mao and Er Mao dragged the boar’s head onto the jar. The wild boar screamed in despair, seemingly aware of what was about to happen.

Without hesitation, Luo Chong delivered the final blow, stabbing directly into the carotid artery. All the blood sprayed into the jar, filling it up in no time.

A bowl of saltwater was poured into the blood, stirred evenly, soon to become delicious blood tofu. If there were radishes, slicing them and stir-frying them with pig blood and lard would make a dish so appetizing that even five steamed buns wouldn’t satisfy Luo Chong. Unfortunately, they didn’t have any, so tonight they would have to settle for soup.

Luo Chong had to handle the pig-slaughtering himself, estimating that they hadn’t dealt with such a large animal before.

The wild boar had sparse fur but thick skin, unsuitable for clothing or warmth. However, Luo Chong planned to tan the hide to make boots or backpacks. With two such large pigs, many pairs could probably be made.

Underneath the skin lay a layer of white fat, four fingers thick, which served as their winter reserves. Now all of it was scraped off by Luo Chong. Fat had numerous uses—it could be used to make soap, candles, or even explosives, and at the very least, it could be eaten. Soon, it would be rendered on the fire.

Upon gutting the boar, various innards spilled out—heart, liver, intestines, stomach, and two kidneys—all edible. The lungs were taken to feed the fish.

The remaining body was dismembered, and all the bones were removed. Larger bones could potentially be fashioned into weapons.

It was exhausting to spend the entire afternoon slaughtering two giant pigs weighing over a thousand catties each—skinning, scraping fat, removing bones, cleaning intestines, boiling pig blood, rendering fat, and using ash to tan the hides. Thankfully, others helped, otherwise Luo Chong would’ve been exhausted to the point of vomiting blood.

The results were gratifying. The racks for curing meat were filled with pieces of varying sizes. There was a jar of cooked blood tofu and three jars of glistening rendered fat. The children giggled happily, picking up bits of cracklings, even Qu Bing enjoyed himself, running around Luo Chong in his new clothes.

As the lame man opened the kiln in the evening, the main group also returned.

The fishing team brought back hundreds of identical fish, a full basket of swim bladders, and two large jars of fish roe. The hunting team returned with three wild chickens, two large snakes, more than ten bird eggs, over a dozen large groundhogs, and a basket of nuts. It seemed they had raided and wiped out an unfortunate groundhog family, even digging up their underground food stores.

The foraging team also had a bountiful harvest today, thanks to a newcomer—Qu Bing’s young aunt, a recently adult girl. She led the team to discover a new kind of food, a type of root that was extremely sweet, similar in taste to sugarcane. These were surface roots with a few tubers the size of fists. When the outer skin was peeled, there was natural amber-colored syrup inside.

My goodness, what bizarre plant was this, producing so much sugar? Collecting more could even yield refined white sugar. For this, Luo Chong specifically praised the young girl.

Everyone ate joyfully, knowing how rare sweets were in nature. But someone was different.

The elder’s face darkened, his lips trembling in anger, his hair bristling as he chased Qu Bing’s young aunt with a thorn vine covered in red thorns.

Luo Chong remembered that vine from the original owner’s memories. In the tribe, it was akin to a form of corporal punishment, reserved for those who committed grave offenses.

Minor mistakes resulted in fasting, starving you for two days as minor punishment. Major offenses endangering the lives of fellow tribespeople were punished by flogging with the thorn vine, leaving bloody stripes with countless tiny holes. In an era without medical care, it could lead to death by infection.

How could this be allowed? Such a lovely young girl, bought at great cost, how could the old man bring himself to harm her? Moreover, what offense had she committed to deserve such severe punishment?

Luo Chong stopped the enraged elder and asked for the reason behind the beating. Enforcing family discipline required justification.

To his astonishment, the elder claimed that the root was from a demon tree. The sweet root was bait set by the demon tree, which would kill and devour anyone who stole it.