Proofread by the amazing Midori!
A cliff reaching thousands of meters, decorated with small trees swaying in the strong winds, a man-made cliff t and open, a small silhouette is seen to be basking in the afterglow of the sunlight,zily hanging his feet on the edge of the cliff, unconsciously swaying it, seeming very lonely.
This is a man of sixteen or seventeen, with faint yet wide eyebrows, a pair of slender eyes, which seems as though he squints his eyes through habit, giving people the feeling of a young man in need of sleep. A slim, outlined/defined face, as though it has been sliced through with an axe, giving off a firm feeling. As he has not be an adult,he seems like a child, however upon further inspection, one can feel the small presence of a man who has experienced many hardships.
“This world is really sadistic! Even the time is different, I don’t even know how much time has passed….3 years? Or 4? This ce only has 2 seasons, summer…..winter….haizz…..I can’t return anymore…..”
The young man sighed again, and mmed 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 than strength, this weird ce was devoid of any entertainment. Everyday, other than worrying about food, he has nothing else to do. For him, this is the only meaning of life in this world.
A pitched whistle sounded. The young man quickly stood up, jumping along the top of the cliff at an extraordinary speed, quickly reaching a stone fort within seconds. The 7-8 metersrge/tall fort was seen standing on the cliff, with two big pirs supporting it.
This particr fort is still very small, however, it was sharp and long, protruding though the cliff and was supported by a wooden structure at the very top. On the floor was a hole with a length of about 3 meters and a width of 2 meters, one could properly see a tunnel heading downwards, a metaldder on the side of it, installed with giant wheels.
A man with an impressive beard, saw the young maning 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 onto the wheel, he headed downwards. In front of him was a sea of darkness, suddenly, beams of fading silvery light shone from his eyes, he smiled, “Uncle Ke and his men have returned…hurry up and lower down the basket!”
The big bearded man reached his hand out and grabbed a hoop, pulling it, a huge tied basket appeared. Two men started to turn the wheel, 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. Tiger cliff castle only has 2 roads connecting to the outside world, one is right here, and the other is a tunnel behind the castle which is extremely hard to reach, which is why the people of the castle uses the roped basket to travel.
Within the rope basket, sat two men and a pile of prey. The young man blinked once, and said, ”Why are there only small animals, Uncle Ke, aren’t there any big guys?”
The basket only had wild rabbits, chickens, ducks and a few Zhen sheeps.
Zhen sheep was one of the main specialties here, it was a very small type of sheep, which loved various types of Soul Grass. The taste of the meat was considered as one of the best delicacies here, the only problem was it being too small, with barely any meat. One Zhen sheep was equivalent to at most 10 kg of meat, which was slightly better than the wild chickens, ducks and rabbits, whenparing the amount.
Uncle Keughed, “Feng, we did kill a Baoya boar, which is about a few hundred kilos. The haul this time is already not bad. Feng,ter head over to my house to grab a pig leg, hehe.”
Xin Feng grinned from ear to ear, “Sure, I’ll send you home.”
Everyone in Tiger cliff castle is a hunter, those who grow yam and make cereals normally live in the valley. The young man, Feng, belongs to one of the roughly 200 households, which consists of his grandpa and younger sister. However, men don’t normally farm, they are obligated to hunt, as the poption of people living in Tiger cliff castle is very small.
These few years weren’t easy. When he just woke up, little sis was only 3 years old while grandpa was already too old to hunt, leaving the young Xin Feng as the sole breadwinner. At first, Xin Feng relied on harvesting wild fruits, and some hunters who pitied the family of three, asionally shared some meat. 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, Xin 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.Not only does he have to fend for himself, but for his grandpa and his young sister as well.
Uncle Ke(deleted ama) went down the basket again, this time bringing back a 200+ kg Baoya boar. The meat of this kind of boar had a rough texture, without any culinary skills, it would not be delicious. Of course, Feng did not really care, as long as it was edible he would eat it. Ever since he was here, he had never really felt full before. Even though he aterge amounts, he never felt full. He couldn’t understand it, why could he eat so much?
A few hunters and Fengughed merrily as they walked back to the castle.
Tiger cliff castle was built on steep surroundings, with many barriers in its surroundings. The center, had a radius of about 2km, and had an empty plot ofnd for farming. The people in the castle lived in the caves below the inner cliff. Every household was entitled to a cave, there were natural and man-made caves. A small cabin made of wood, during summer, people could live in the cabin, but in winter, everyone must enter the cave.
The shape of the castle was just like a te, residents lived in the te, and the outside of the te was a cliff. This was the natural fortress of the castle.
Which/This was why it quickly became a residential area when the humans found it.
……
Quickly walking home,Feng’s hand was holding arge boar leg, and in his other, were two wild chickens.
He reached the wooden fence surrounding his house, the house was built beside a cave. A youngdy saw Feng returning and called out, “Brother, Brother…” while running towards him.
With the coldness already starting to set in, the youngdy wore a fur coat. The long fur swaying as she ran, she looked like a little furball rolling over. Fengughed, “Don’t run…slower, slower” and squatted down. However with the meat in his hands, he couldn’t reach out and hug her.
The littledy 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 andughed lovingly, “Uncle Ke gave me some of his prey he caught today. How’s Grandpa?”
She giggled, ”Grandpa went to boil salt and just came back.”
Tiger cliff castle also had unique specialty, there was an underground halogen salt mine, and one could go underground to collect halogen salt water.After boiling, it canst a household for a while, and was one of the main reasons the residents of the castle could survive in such an environment. Boiling salt was also the normal chore for old people and women to do.
Contact between the outside world and Tiger cliff castle was virtually impossible, problems must be settled by oneself, which caused Feng to feel unustomed. After a few years of torment, he gradually integrated into the lifestyle of these people.
The youngdy continued to hang from Feng’s neck, and the both of them chatted merrily as they 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 littledy slid off Feng’s body and ran towards the old man, 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 big piece, wait for a few days, the leather armor would bepleted and then bro can wear it! Hehe, grandpa, I’m reallypetent right!” She eximed with a face full of selfpliment/self-praise, causing Feng tough out loud.
“Haha, little sis is really reliable!”
Fengplimented her.
The old man gently patted the head of the youngdy, nodded and said, “Right, Yaoyao is the most reliable one in the house!”
The youngdy beamed.
The leather armor is one of the necessities of a hunter. The leather armor’s special shape, which is entirely hand-crafted from a variety of beast skins, and lined with tough hide in at the inneryer, is a locally-produced armor, made with bull skins as the main material.
Creation of the leather armor is reallyplicated, with a total of about 10 producers only. About 2 years ago, grandpa started to make it, and arge part was made with the help of the youngdy. With two generation’s worth of hard work, until recently, it could be announced as about to bepleted, because it wascking a piece of bull leather.
This piece of armor is specially made for when Feng goes 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 might say. Once this armor is worn, Feng will finally be a hunter.
The leather armor needs about 3 types of leather. A soft pelt for the firstyer, which should have many holes the size of soy beans, not only is it soft, but it is also good for blocking out the cold. The middleyer is the bull leather, and the outeryer 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 the creation of the armor, the fur will be weaved together, creating a pattern. And after smearing a type of animal oil, it will not only be cold-resistant, but also an armor with high defense.