TPWBI Chapter 25

“Hei Tu, let me see what reward the Divine Envoy gave you!” A warrior lunged at Hei Tu.

Hei Tu looked wary. “This was given to me by the Divine Envoy.”

“I just want a look. What, you think I’d snatch it from you?” The warrior was annoyed.

Hei Tu gave him a sidelong glance and let out a snort.

As if you haven’t done that kind of thing before?

The warrior rubbed his nose. “When I get something good, I often share it with you too, don’t I? Besides, this was a reward from the Divine Envoy. If I really took it from you, I wouldn’t be able to stay in the tribe anymore.”

Hei Tu handed it over reluctantly, though inwardly he was bursting with pride. He didn’t forget to give a warning.

“Your hands are all rough. Be careful and protect it well. If you break it, I’ll twist your head off!”

“Yeah, yeah, got it.”

The warrior replied perfunctorily and hurriedly snatched the item from Hei Tu’s hand, eager to see what exactly the Divine Envoy had bestowed.

The other reward recipients were in similar situations, surrounded by curious onlookers.

Everything the Divine Envoy brought out was always special and excellent. It symbolized honor, carrying extraordinary meaning.

Just for digging a few ditches, they had earned the approval of the Divine Envoy, maybe even the gods themselves. That alone carried so much weight!

The warrior held the small item in his hand, dazed at first. This thing wasn’t much bigger than a palm. What could it be?

A strip-shaped object made of metal, and it had a surprisingly hefty feel in the hand.

Before he could examine it closely, Hei Tu snatched it back again. “You don’t even know what this is, do you? I’ll show you.”

The warrior had been a little annoyed at first, but the moment he saw Hei Tu demonstrate it, all his attention was immediately drawn to that knife.

The reward was a multifunctional outdoor military knife. When folded up, it was quite compact, yet it had all the essential components. It could unfold into a variety of small tools.

In addition to the main blade, it had nearly twenty different functions. Things like a pointed knife, saw, scissors, rope cutter, and more.

It was small and sharp, exquisitely crafted with meticulous detail, perfect for carrying around at all times in case of emergencies.

And on top of that, the metallic shine it gave off was absolutely captivating.

Especially for a warrior, it was truly the best kind of ornament.

Some of the rewarded had already tied it to a string and hung it around their necks, parading it around like a badge of honor.

It was Yang Yi who couldn’t bear the sight and told them to wear it around their waist instead. So in case of an emergency, they could draw it quickly.

“This knife is really something,” the warrior said as he tried using it to carve wood. Though small, it was remarkably effective.

If he ran into a wild beast or enemy, pulling this out unexpectedly and stabbing it into the opponent’s head, he’d definitely be able to pierce their brains.

“Of course, the Divine Envoy’s gifts are good,” Hei Tu said proudly, though he was already starting to feel a bit protective over his knife.

The warrior was clearly envious. He tested every single function, and each one brought him a new wave of surprise. He couldn’t stop exclaiming, “It can do that too?!”

His eyes were fixed on the outdoor knife. He simply couldn’t bear to let it go.

Every warrior, or anyone who aspired to be strong, was obsessed with weapons. He was no exception.

“If you work hard, you’ll earn a reward soon enough, too.” Hei Tu patted him on the shoulder.

Only then did the warrior pull his attention away and, with some reluctance, hand the outdoor knife back to Hei Tu.

“I will definitely earn a reward through my own efforts!”

The news that Hei Tu and a few others had received rewards from the Divine Envoy quickly spread throughout the tribe, because they had worked well and had also taken the initiative to solve problems on their own.

Seeing the rewards those people had received ignited even more passion in everyone’s hearts.

At the same time, it began to dawn on them that using one’s brain could also lead to great honor, not just displaying brute strength.

Yang Yi was very pleased to see this shift in awareness. In this place where martial prowess had always reigned supreme, the truth was that aside from force, other kinds of strength could help a tribe develop into something truly powerful.

He hoped that more people, beyond just seeking to raise their combat power, would also learn to discover and make use of their own talents.

He himself was just an ordinary man, not exceptionally intelligent.

There were many things he couldn’t fully consider. And with more and more tasks piling up, he often didn’t have the time to think things through carefully, which led to various oversights and mistakes.

To develop the entire tribe, relying on him alone would never be enough.

He needed not just physical laborers to build things, but also intellectual workers for planning, coordination, supervision, and more.

Fortunately, he had excellent companions. This group of people had once simply lacked inherited knowledge, which made them seem backward and ignorant.

But in reality, their intelligence was in no way inferior to people from Earth. Some were even more clever, such as Hei Lie, Hong Guang, and Lan Cao.

In a group of less than a thousand, that ratio was already impressively high.

Yang Yi had previously planned to dig pits in the tribe, which would first be used for drying wood to build houses, and later could serve as reservoirs.

At first, Hei Lie completely trusted Yang Yi’s plan and directly ordered people to start digging pits according to his layout.

But once the work was done and he asked for the specifics, after listening to Yang Yi’s reasoning, Hei Lie fell silent for quite a while.

“Why not dry the wood on-site?” he asked. “Just like when we fire pottery. It’s lighter to transport that way, and it’s easier to find firewood over there, too.”

Yang Yi was stunned. Right, why go through all the trouble of transporting it all this way?

“I was being foolish… Mistake after mistake.”

He knocked on his head. Clearly, he had made similar plans in games before, and when reading materials, everything always seemed so clear in his mind.

In the beginning, he thought he had plenty of experience and didn’t take it too seriously. He believed he could be just as capable as he was in the game world.

But when it came to actually doing things hands-on, he realized he’d oversimplified everything. He kept forgetting this or overlooking that—always patching things up after the fact.

“This is an opportunity the gods gave us to hone ourselves.”

Yang Yi chuckled. “You’re really good with words.”

Hei Lie stayed silent, feeling he was simply stating a fact.

“Oh, right, there are a lot of wild beasts in the forest. It might not be safe to leave people there,” Yang Yi suddenly remembered something important.

When smoking or drying wood, someone needed to stay and watch over it. And since demand was high now, they might have to do the same as with the pottery group—assign people specifically for the task.

But unlike the pottery site, the lumber area was extremely dangerous. They’d already encountered wild beasts attacking them there before.

The most serious incident had cost them a Level Two warrior. To protect the others, he had been bitten in the neck by a wild beast and died on the spot.

After that, Hei Lie assigned more warriors to guard the lumber team.

“They can first transport the wood to a safer location. It’s not convenient to make fires inside the forest anyway.”

Hei Lie gave Yang Yi a meaningful look. After pausing for a moment, he finally said:

“They’ll figure out how to handle these things themselves. Back when we used to hunt, we often camped overnight outside. Now they’re equipped with the best weapons and have enough warriors. It’s always been a strong and capable team.”

Even in the Blackstone Tribe, not everyone had Blackstone weapons. Many still used ordinary stone tools.

Everyone in the lumber transport team was strong and sturdy. Combined with their formidable weapons, their overall combat strength was considered excellent even across the entire Eastern Continent.

Yang Yi didn’t need to guess. He knew Hei Lie was reminding him not to over-worry or over-manage.

Living in this world meant being prepared to face danger.

Yang Yi understood that he was always trying to cover all the bases. But doing so would not only exhaust him, it would also hinder others from growing. The problem was, he couldn’t help it.

He had grown up in a peaceful and safe environment and valued life deeply. To him, even fighting and brawling were frightening things.

Even though he had already been in this world for a while, he still couldn’t change overnight.

“No matter what, make sure everyone understands. Life and safety always come first.”

The lumber transport team received the task and quickly found a suitable place for smoking and drying the wood.

The site was relatively close to the pottery group, so the two teams could look out for each other if needed. It wasn’t too far from the lumber area either. The terrain along the way was flat, making it easier to use carts for transport.

Later, both teams could transport their respective goods back at the same time. With more people, there’d be even less to worry about along the way.

After getting Yang Yi’s approval, they began digging the pit. On the day the pit was completed, Yang Yi rushed over early in the morning.

Hei Lie went with him. Yang Yi felt it wasn’t necessary. He already had enough people protecting him and believed the hunting team needed Hei Lie more.

Feeding so many mouths, the pressure on the hunting team was always immense.

“Your life is the most important,” Hei Lie said firmly.

Seeing his serious expression, Yang Yi said no more.

“I also need to stop by the pottery group. I’m not sure how things are going over there.”

The pottery team had only recently moved to the site. It was unclear whether they had successfully built a proper kiln for firing pottery.

Yang Yi had only guided them using a scaled-down version for demonstration. Most of it would still require their own experimentation.

Even though they had experience building small kilns, that didn’t guarantee the success of a large one. Scaling up would change many variables.

Then there was the potter’s wheel. He didn’t know whether it had gone smoothly.

The hand-powered wheel should be relatively easy to make, but he wasn’t sure if they had managed to build a foot-powered one.

Hei Lie had no objections. “Alright, we’ll spend the night at the pottery group’s site.”

Traveling such a long distance was hard for Yang Yi, especially since everyone else was moving at a pace that was practically a jog.

This was also one of the reasons he hated going out. It was just so inconvenient. If only he could catch a horse to ride, that’d be perfect.

Back during the migration, because there were so many belongings, along with a group of elderly, weak, sick, and disabled people, his poor stamina hadn’t stood out too much.

But this time, traveling with a group of strong and robust people, he could feel how outmatched he was in terms of both strength and speed.

“Get on.”

Hei Lie suddenly crouched down in front of him.

Yang Yi quickly dodged to the side. Even though he was exhausted, he couldn’t bring himself to do something so embarrassing.

“I can still walk.”

“You’re too slow.”

Yang Yi glanced around. While he was panting and half-dead from exhaustion, everyone else looked like they were out for a casual stroll, calm and even a little bored.

He looked at that broad, sturdy back. It was incredibly tempting. But Yang Yi still hesitated.

He was a grown, healthy man. Just walking a bit and needing to be carried. Others might not say anything, but he’d never forgive himself for it.

Especially now that he’d learned this tall, strapping man in front of him… was actually a few years younger than him. Only eighteen!

But Hei Lie didn’t care about any of that. He grabbed Yang Yi and swept him onto his back in one motion, then stood up straight.

Before Yang Yi could even struggle, Hei Lie was already sprinting with him, at a speed that practically rivaled a small car!

The others all began to pick up their pace as well. In this group, aside from Yang Yi, everyone else was a warrior. None of them was slow.

Just a moment ago, Yang Yi had thought he was a bit slower, but not by much. Sometimes, he could even keep up with their rhythm. Now he realized just how ridiculously wrong he had been.

At this point, Yang Yi gave up on insisting, no longer letting his pride as a man stop him from enjoying this “privilege”, nor dragging everyone down because of it.

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