Orc Girl's Tribal Daily Life

Chapter 289

A jumble of thoughts swirled in Jiang Luoluo's mind, eventually returning to the time when she and Xing were discussing their new home.

Xing wanted to choose a place that wasn't too far from Jiang Luoluo.

“Yan said, I can decide the address. I’ll be staying in the tribe for a longer period of time and can’t leave. I need to choose a place where I’m comfortable.”

Jiang Luoluo didn't see any good options around her, and she didn't want Xing to live in a bad space because of her.

"Let's look around somewhere else. In a while, Ge and I might have to move and not live here anymore."

Ge could have moved with Jiang Luoluo to a better place a long time ago, but Jiang Luoluo stayed here because she couldn't bear to leave her neighbors.

Now that Jiang Luoluo is getting older, she is gradually able to take care of herself. Xing is about to get married and move out, and Mao next door is also almost old enough to live independently.

Ge also wanted to give Jiang Luoluo a larger living space.

The space inside the cave is almost too small to hold everything Jiang Luoluo made, especially after Angela joined the cave; the space is becoming increasingly cramped.

That is, because Ge often went out hunting and didn't stay at home much, it didn't feel too crowded.

For the next period of time, Jiang Luoluo began to accompany Xing to look at various places, actually walking through each cave, checking the situation, and selecting locations.

Then, depending on the cave you've chosen, go to the carpenter's workshop to order some new furniture. You need to carefully study its shape and purpose.

Yan would often come over to join them during this time... After all, Yan would be going back to the hunting team soon, so the two of them didn't have much time together and had to cherish it.

Jiang Luoluo had been a third wheel for two days and was looking for an excuse to leave, leaving them alone to enjoy some time together.

Then she received a message from the witch saying that the herb-gathering team that went to collect sulfur and saltpeter had returned, and they really did bring back quite a few things, which Jiang Luoluo needed to identify.

Jiang Luoluo really didn't have time now, she didn't even have time to go to the training at Xiaoshishan.

The people on Brown Hill and Little Stone Mountain had gotten used to it.

The good news is that these two items are indeed the sulfur and saltpeter that Jiang Luoluo wanted.

The bad news is that both of these are raw, natural minerals containing many impurities, requiring a certain degree of purification before they can be used.

The worse news is that both of these things are somewhat dangerous, and improper handling can easily lead to injury.

Even worse news is that what Jiang Luoluo has on hand may not be enough to meet the precision standards required for the experiment. She still needs to find a way to prepare various equipment that can be used for the experiment.

And that's when it's time to ask Zao for help again.

Purifying natural sulfur requires slow heating to the melting point of sulfur, causing it to melt and separate from impurities, allowing the liquid sulfur to be extracted separately.

—A kiln was built for Jiang Luoluo to use.

To purify natural saltpeter, it is necessary to first soak it in water to dissolve it into a liquid, then filter out the insoluble impurities, add wood ash water, let it settle, filter it again, and then heat it to evaporate, thus obtaining relatively pure saltpeter crystals.

Jiang Luoluo completed the preceding steps incidentally in the kiln—when the kiln is not lit, it is like an ordinary cave, not burning all the time.

Although charcoal has now been produced, saving a lot of firewood fuel, it still cannot be wasted.

Jiang Luoluo didn't dare bring sulfur and saltpeter into a continuously burning environment... she hadn't lived enough yet.

Choosing a kiln simply means having some suitable tools and convenient access to fire-related operations.

Jiang Luoluo continued this research until the rainy season began.

It wasn't until Xing invited her to her wedding ceremony that Jiang Luoluo, who had been engrossed in research in the kiln for two months, suddenly realized how much time had passed.

"Luo... what happened to you..." Xingyi looked worried when she saw Jiang Luoluo.

Jiang Luoluo looked at the burns and blast wounds on her body, scratched her head, and didn't pay much attention to them. "It's okay, it will recover in a couple of days."

She's been bombed a lot lately, so she's quite familiar with the healing process of her wounds.

After all, the purification and extraction were done using tools that were not very standardized or precise, and Jiang Luoluo didn't remember these things about school very clearly.

It's inevitable to make some mistakes in the steps, and errors are unavoidable. Combustion and explosions are common occurrences.

The initial explosion startled Jiang Luoluo, but after realizing that the damage from the explosion was not as severe as the injuries she sustained on Xiaoshishan, she was no longer afraid.

It wasn't that the explosions weren't powerful enough, but Jiang Luoluo clearly sensed that a large portion of the damage from these explosions was neutralized by the power within her body.

They asked the shaman and learned that it was because Jiang Luoluo had been poisoned before, and the shaman had used the power of the ancestors during the ritual to detoxify her.

This prematurely activated the orc bloodline within Jiang Luoluo's body to some extent.

The orc bloodline of the Frostfire Tribe has a natural affinity for and resistance to fire, and its explosive damage would likely only leave Jiang Luoluo with two or three-tenths of her strength.

In some ways, it's a good thing, as it stimulated the activity of the orc bloodline within Jiang Luoluo, making it easier for her to awaken the orc bloodline compared to others, and reducing the probability of something going wrong.

Therefore, Wu did not stop Jiang Luoluo from continuing this dangerous research.

However, considering Jiang Luoluo's situation, several tribesmen were still assigned to go there, firstly to protect Jiang Luoluo and prevent her from suffering more serious injuries, and secondly to send other tribesmen to learn how to make gunpowder.

Everyone knows Jiang Luoluo's personality—she lacks the patience to continue working on something once she's finished researching it—and no one expects her to keep doing one thing indefinitely.

Rather than tying up all of Jiang Luoluo's energy with a job, it's more important to let her grow freely and research and create more things for the tribe.

The people who were learning from Jiang Luoluo were also acquaintances: a strong man who was about to awaken his beast form this year, and a powerful man who had awakened his beast form two years ago.

Li had been learning stone tool making from Qing and Ti, but because of the forging and smelting incident, it was clear that continuing to make stone tools was no longer necessary, and he needed to find a new way out.

Li then began to learn other things. He has been learning forging and smelting under Zao's guidance for some time. Hearing that Jiang Luoluo needed help, he was directly transferred to Jiang Luoluo to learn how to make gunpowder.

Although Li wasn't a particularly powerful orc warrior—he wasn't fully grown yet.

However, her ability to transform into a beast allows her to handle most dangers, and at least protecting Jiang Luoluo in the event of an accident is not a problem.

As for Zhuang, he was a pure laborer sent over by his father in anger.

After all, what Jiang Luoluo is doing is most beneficial to their mining team. Since they can't help from other places, they can only send Zhuang, who has nothing to do at home all day, to help Jiang Luoluo and see if they can lighten Jiang Luoluo's burden a little.

Of course, this is only Jiang Luoluo's current manpower. She is still trying to standardize the extraction process of sulfur and saltpeter so that others can follow the procedure.

Otherwise, if it were just a simple extraction, she would have done it long ago and it wouldn't have taken this long.

What Jiang Luoluo is currently doing is trying to establish a standard process so that other members of her tribe can easily make the products, ensuring a certain level of precision and reducing the occurrence of accidents.

After all, once gunpowder was actually made, it would require a very large quantity, and it couldn't be done by just one or two people.

The more people get involved, the more standardized the process needs to be, to the point where people can leave at any time, but the process remains unchanged, and others can take over at any time.

Jiang Luoluo will only begin to attempt to synthesize gunpowder once she has accumulated a certain amount of sulfur and saltpeter.

When that time comes, Wu will assign more people to learn how to protect Jiang Luoluo, and by then it will be very difficult for Jiang Luoluo to do it herself.

To ensure Jiang Luoluo's safety, it's highly likely that Jiang Luoluo will dictate the instructions, and other adult members of the clan will carry them out.

"It's alright, I'm glad you're alright." Xing looked Jiang Luoluo over carefully and breathed a sigh of relief when she found that Jiang Luoluo was indeed in good condition.

Xingheyan ultimately chose a new home in a densely populated area where many people in the tribe live, located near the intersection.

Since her legs recovered, Xing has enjoyed going out and exploring. Living near the intersection makes it convenient for her to go anywhere.

It was Yan who decided on this position, which shows that he truly cared about Xing and seriously considered her needs and thoughts.

If Yan Xiantian chooses to marry a member of his tribe who is not an orc warrior, he will have to shoulder more responsibility. Unlike other tribes, he and his wife cannot take turns going out to hunt, and he will have much less rest time.

Fortunately, Xingzi is capable of supporting herself and is not simply a burden; she is able to shoulder her share of the family responsibilities.

This made Xing even more grateful to Jiang Luoluo. Without Jiang Luoluo, she might still be the same person who couldn't stand up and walk on her own, and could only be taken care of by her parents and younger brother.

They won't be able to have their own families and live normal lives like they do now.

Xing's wedding ceremony was more lively than Yuan and Shou's. This liveliness was in the decorations. Xing made a lot of decorations herself, following Jiang Luoluo's advice.

Yan even went to the Taz Forest to pick many beautiful flowers and decorated the entire cave space extremely beautifully.

It even attracted many unfamiliar clansmen to come and join in the fun, just to admire the beautiful scenery of their home.

Many onlookers were captivated by the ornaments made by Xing and placed numerous orders with her.

Jiang Luoluo dragged him over to see the construction of Xingxin's new home, and he was stunned for a moment when he saw this scene.

In the sixty or seventy years of her life before, she had never seen such a scene.

She didn't know when it started, but the tribe had become better and better, and more and more... unlike the tribe she remembered.

But Zao only felt happy. All the hard work she had put in over the decades had become worthwhile when she saw this scene.

She likes this kind of tribe, and she wants to see even greater changes in the tribe.

"I'm going back now." Zao gently patted Jiang Luoluo's head. The cub that was only waist-high before had grown to chest-high.

It seems that after a while, I will be able to look her in the eye, and then gradually surpass her, until she can only see me by looking up at me.

"Huh?" Jiang Luoluo was still pointing at the beautiful flower baskets, saying which one was her finished product, when she heard the sound of something being made.

Turning around in surprise, I only saw Zao Wei smile slightly before turning away without any hesitation.

It was as if some heavy burden had been released from her, and her figure suddenly became even more upright and resilient.

"Xing, I'll take this flower basket~" Jiang Luoluo picked up a flower basket that had been specially set aside for giving away, greeted Xing who was greeting other tribespeople, and then caught up with Zao's figure with the flower basket in her arms.

"Look, isn't it beautiful? I'll put this on your bedside table later, how about that? You'll see it as soon as you open your eyes every day."

……

The rainy season passed quickly, and Jiang Luoluo soon resumed her research on gunpowder.

The bad news is that, due to the humid environment during the rainy season, some of the sulfur and saltpeter were not properly dried and became damp.

Jiang Luoluo's efforts were wasted, and she had to start all over again.

Meanwhile, the herb-gathering team that Wu had specially separated did not resume its previous herb-gathering mission. Instead, it continued to travel between the Taz Forest, supplying Jiang Luoluo with large quantities of natural sulfur and natural saltpeter.

Once the extracted quantity was sufficient, Jiang Luoluo began the gunpowder formulation experiment.

Thanks to the influence of various TV dramas and novels, Jiang Luoluo remembered the approximate ratio of gunpowder very clearly: one pound of potassium nitrate, two ounces of sulfur, and three ounces of charcoal.

The exact ratio is certainly not that simple, but having a rough estimate will make adjustments much easier.

Jiang Luoluo's laboratory was also moved from the original fire-kiln cave to the outdoors.

They specifically found an open space and temporarily built a small wooden hut for conducting experiments.

The flame mix was prepared in a cabin, and the ignition test was conducted in an open outdoor area.

At first it was fine, but because the proportions were not quite right, the explosion range and size were not very powerful. The effect was like setting off a firecracker, and you couldn't hear the sound clearly if you were a little far away.

But as the correct proportions were gradually discovered through experimentation, the range and sound of the explosions grew larger and larger. The loud noises were often mistaken by the tribespeople as attacks by wild animals, causing chaos at one point.

Jiang Luoluo had no choice but to suspend her gunpowder research and start looking for a suitable place to conduct experiments.

However, after circling around Silver Peak Mountain and searching many places, I found that no matter where I was, it would affect other tribesmen.

The only way is to leave Silver Peak Mountain and go into the Taz Forest to conduct the experiment.

But at Jiang Luoluo's age, it's fine for her to wander around near the foot of Yinfeng Mountain, but if she goes any deeper, it's hard to feel at ease.

Ultimately, it was Chief Jing who made the decision.

“Let Luo go. Luo is a big girl now. We can’t keep her in the tribe forever.”