*I apologize if the sentences don't flow together, I'm pretty busy this week so I didn't get to proof read it. ;-;*
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A cliff reaching thousands of meters, decorated with small trees swaying in the strong winds, a man-made cliff flat and open, a small silhouette is seen to be basking in the afterglow of the sunlight, lazily hanging his feet on the edge of the cliff, unconsciously swaying it, seeming very lonely.
This is a man of his sixteens or seventeens, with a faint yet wide eyebrow, a pair of slender eyes, which seems as though he squints his eyes through habit, gives people the feeling of a young man in need of sleep. An slim outlined face, as though it has been sliced through with an axe, giving off a firm feeling, as he had not become a adult,he seems like a child, however with further inspection, one could feel the small presence of a man whom experienced many hardships.
"This world is really sadistic! Even the time is different, I don't even know how long had passed....3 years? Or 4? This place only has 2 seasons, summer.....winter....haizz.....I can't return anymore....."
The young man sighed again, and slammed his fist on the floor, staring at the fist mark on a blue rock, he smiled, to him, this world has nothing that makes him feel happy, other then strength, this weird place, devoid of any entertainment. Everyday, other than worrying about food, he has nothing else to do, this is the only meaning of life in this world for him.
gh pitched whistle sounded, the young man quickly stood up, and jumped along the top of the cliff, with an extraordinary speed, and reached a stone fort within seconds, a 7-8 meter fort which stood on the cliff with two big pillars supporting it.
This particular fort is very small, however yet sharp and long with it protruding through the cliff, supported by a wooden structure at the very top, on the floor was a hole with the length of about 3 meters and the width of 2 meters, one could see properly a tunnel heading downwards, a metal ladder on the side of it, installed with gigantic wheels.
A man with and impressive beard, saw the young man coming in and said "Feng, the hunters are back, your eyes are good, can you please go out and check if there's any problem?"
The young man nodded, with a hand holding on to the wheel he headed downwards, in front of him was a sea of darkness, suddenly his eyes shined out beams of fading silvery light, he smiled "Uncle Ke and his men has returned...hurry up and lower down the basket!"
Big beard reached his hand out and grabbed an hoop, pulling it, a huge tied basket appeared, two men started to turn the wheel, and lowering the basket.
The basket, about 3 meters long, with the width of 2 meters and a depth of 1.5 meters, specially made for transporting people or objects, is one of the 2 entrances to the tiger cliff castle, it only has 2 roads connecting to the outside world, and one is right here, the other is a tunnel behind the castle which is extremely hard to go to, which is why the people of the castle all uses the roped basket to travel.
Within the rope basket, sat two men and a pile of prey, the young men blinked once, and said " why are there only small animals Uncle Ke, isn't there any big guys?"
The basket only had wild rabbits, chickens and ducks and a few Zhen sheeps.
The Zhen sheeps is one of the main specialties here, it is a very small type of sheep, which loves various types of Soul Grass, the taste of the meat is considered as one of the best delicacies here, the only problem is it being too small with barely any meat, one Zhen sheep is equivalent to at most 10 kg of meet, which is slightly better then the wild chickens, ducks and rabbits when comparing the amount.
Uncle Ke laughed "Feng, we did kill a Baoya boar, which is about a few hundred kilos, the haul this time is already not bad, Feng, later head over my house to grab a pig leg, hehe"
Feng grinned ear to ear "sure, I'll send you home"
Everyone in Tiger cliff castle is a hunter, those that to grow yam and make cereals normally live in the valley, the young man, Feng is one of about 200 households, which consists of his grandpa and young sister however men don't normally farm, they ate obligated to hunt, as the population of people living in Tiger cliff castle is very small.
These few years wasn't a easy one, when he just woke up, little sis was just 3 years old, and grandpa was already too old to hunt, leaving the young Feng as the sole bread winner, at first Feng relied on harvesting wild fruits, and some hunters that pitted the family of three occasionally shared some meat, and that was how they painfully lived to this day, the people here were very friendly and helpful, within the neighborhoods, they helped each other, without these people, Feng would not have lived to this day
However, after this year's summer, Feng will have to prepare food for the winter, which is a huge responsibility for a young man of his age, he not only has to fend for himself, but for his grandpa and his young sister.
Uncle Ke, went down the basketry again, this time bringing back a 200+ Kg of the Baoya boar, the meat of this kind of boar have a rough texture, without any culinary skills, it would not be delicious, of course, Feng did not really care, as long as it's edible he will eat it. Ever since he's bee here, he never really felt full before, even though he eats large amount, he never felt full, he couldn't understand, why could he eat so much?
A few hunters and Feng laughed merrily as they walked back to the castle.
Tiger cliff castle was build on steep surroundings, with many barriers in its surroundings, the center was about 2 km radius, and had a empty plot for farming, the people in castle lived in the caves below the inner cliff, every household is entitled to a cave, there was natural and made made caves. A small cabin made of wood, during summer, people could live in he cabin, but in winter, everyone must enter the cave.
The shape of the castle is just like a plate, residents live in the plate, and the outside of the plate was a cliff, this was the natural fortress of the castle.
Which was why it quickly became a residential area when the humans found it.
……
Quickly walking home,Feng's hand was a large boar leg, and in his other was two wild chickens.
He reached the wooden fence surrounding his house, the house was built beside a cave, a young lady saw Feng's return and called out "brother, brother..." While running towards him.
With the coldness already starting to set in, the young lady wore a fur coat, the long fur swaying as she ran, she looked like a little furball rolling over here, Feng laughed "don't run...slower, slower" and squatted down, however with the meat in his hands, he couldn't reach out and hug her. (TL: 0.0)
The little lady charged into Feng's arms, hugging his neck, Feng stood up with the girl hanging off his neck giggling "Bro~ whose meat did you take now~"
Feng used his forehead to gently bump the girl's and laughed lovingly "Uncle Ke gave me some of his prey he caught today, hows grandpa?"
She giggled " grandpa went to boil salt and just came back"
Tiger cliff castle also had an unique specialty, there is a underground halogen salt mine, one could go underground to collect halogen salt water and after boiling, can last a household for a while, and one of the main reasons the residents of the castle could survive in such an environment and boiling salt is the normal chore for old people and women to do.
Contact between the outside world and tiger cliff castle is virtually impossible, problems must be settled by oneself, which caused Feng to feel unaccustomed, after a few years of torment, he gradually integrated into the lifestyle of these people.
The young lady continued to hang from Feng's neck, and the both of them chatted merrily as the walked to the small house, Feng shouted "grandpa, I'm home, look! Uncle gave us a front leg of a Baoya boar, which is about 15 kilos, enough for us to eat for a few days"
The little lady slided off Feng's body and ran towards the old men, hugging his arm as he squatted down, "grandpa, auntie Qing gave us a piece of bull leather, I kept it in the cave, it was a really pig piece, wait a few days, the leather armor would be completed and then bro can wear it! Hehe, grandpa, I'm really competent right!" She exclaimed with a face full of self compliment, causing Feng to laugh out loud.
"Haha, little sis is really reliable!"
Feng complimented her
The old man gently patted the head of the young lady, nodded and said "right, Yaoyao is the most reliable one in the house!"
The young lady beamed.
The leather armor is one of the necessities of a hunter, The leather armor's special shapes which is entirely hand- crafted from a variety of beast skins , lined with tough hide in the inner layer, is an locally produced armor made with bull skins as the main material.
Creation of the leather armor is really complicated, with a total of about 10 producers only, about 2 years ago, grandpa started to make it, and a large part was made with the help of the young lady, with two generation's worth of hard work, until recently it could be announced as about to be completed, because it was lacking a piece of bull leather.
This piece of armor is specially made for Feng to go out and hunt, for the hunters of tiger cliff castle, it is a must for the hunter to wear a piece of leather armor made from his family, a custom you may say. Once this armor is worn, Feng would finally be an hunter.
The leather armor need about 3 types of leather, a soft pelt for the first layer, which should have many holes the size of soy beans, not only must it be soft but also good for blocking out the cold, the middle layer would be the bull leather, and the outer layer is a pelt of a beast known as the Changmao bear. (TL: it is actually long haired brown hair but it's too long so I used the pinyin) During creation of the armor, the fur would be weaved together, creating a pattern. And after smearing a type of animal oil, it will not only become cold resistant but also an armor with high defense.
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