Chapter 18

Chapter 18: All Things Have Their Use

Now that the truth of the matter was clear, there was no reason not to take advantage of it. Hadn’t someone said, “All things have their use,” right? If Luo Chong didn’t make use of it, would he still be Little Luo Chong? After all, his equipment could only be obtained by himself, and he pitied himself for just a moment.

Moreover, this was pure, top-grade arrow shaft material. Luo Chong didn’t mind learning from Zhuge Liang and borrowing arrows with straw boats from this tree.

Said and done, everything was ready. Using his backpack as a target, he tied a long rope to it and threw it under the tree canopy. Swish swish swish, more than ten sharp spines were embedded instantly. Tsk tsk, the density was terrifying.

He pulled the basket back, removed the spines, and threw it again. Another dozen or so spines stuck to it. But looking at the dense shadows in the tree canopy, like countless hairs, these were merely droplets in a storm.

After doing this twice, he bundled them up with ropes, used a spear to carry them, and headed back.

On the way out, the women were still waiting for him. Luo Chong instructed them that the roots of the tree were edible, but they could only collect the outer ones. Once they reached the base of the canopy, unless they had a pot on their heads, it would be a dead end. In short, they must not approach beneath the tree.

When they reached the edge of the basin, Luo Chong also collected a hundred young Hanging Spine Man-eating Tree saplings that had grown to be three centimeters thick. These were formed from animal-borne spines and wouldn’t shed yet. They grew straight and were excellent materials for making spears.

This would also curb the growth of the Hanging Spine Man-eating Trees. If they continued to reproduce recklessly, this mountain would no longer be usable in the future.

Summoning four junior collectors who were gathering peppers, the five of them carried the saplings home together.

Luo Chong hummed a little tune along the way, looking very happy. The four juniors had no idea what use these wooden sticks would serve, but anything the Chief ordered must be correct.

Back at the tribe, the children gathered around to watch the new items the Chief brought back. However, in the eyes of the pregnant women, the items brought back were useless—peppers couldn’t be eaten, and the sticks couldn’t be used as weapons because they weren’t thick enough; hitting prey with them wouldn’t kill it.

But this did nothing to dampen Luo Chong’s cheerful mood.

For the remaining time, Luo Chong decided not to run around aimlessly. He needed to update his equipment. It was evident that there were no large herbivores nearby that he was looking for. As for leopards and tigers, he couldn’t fight them either. Moreover, those creatures were rare and couldn’t provide enough fur for the entire tribe’s clothing needs.

He would have to go further away to find them.

Sending the juniors to dry the peppers, Luo Chong began processing the spines.

The surface of the spines actually had a layer of bark. Pulling the petals from the tail end downwards revealed a strip of flexible bark that could be used to twist into ropes.

Once the bark was peeled off, the spine rods were white, fine-grained, hard, and smooth. They were only about eight to nine millimeters in diameter, similar in thickness to cigarettes, with high density. If made into arrows, they would likely be heavy arrows, affecting range but enhancing penetration power.

Little Qu Bing, bored, was also helping Luo Chong peel the bark, though he was very slow. A single spine was taller than him. This child was just playing, tearing the bark while tilting his head to look at Luo Chong.

Luo Chong’s morning stick practice looked beautiful, even though he didn’t know what it was. The boy wanted to learn, but he was too small; the stick was much taller than him.

The saplings, three centimeters thick, had their tops and bottoms cut off and their bark peeled, revealing a white interior. Once the surface moisture dried, they felt great in hand. Unfortunately, without metal spearheads, these would otherwise be the sharpest weapons.

Because the wood of the Hanging Spine Man-eating Trees was hard and dense, Luo Chong didn’t plan to add spearheads. Instead, he would simply burn one end until it carbonized, then grind it into a point. Though not very durable, it would suffice for hunting, provided one didn’t foolishly stab rocks with it. It could last quite a while.

The task of grinding the spearheads was assigned to the four juniors, a simple job they could accomplish. Meanwhile, Luo Chong became the first to equip this new type of spear, or standardized spear, which everyone in the tribe would eventually learn to use.

Now all that was missing was a bow. Among the eighteen martial arts weapons, the bow and arrow ranked first, being one of humanity’s earliest weapons. The world’s finest bows are of two types.

One is the small, exquisite Mongolian composite recurve bow, which is shorter and suitable for mounted archery. It once struck fear into European knights clad in heavy armor.

However, making such a bow is incredibly labor-intensive. As the name suggests, this short bow is made by gluing together cow tendons, bull horns, and wooden strips. Crafting one takes up to three years. On the steppes, when a child is born, his father would already begin making him such a bow.

Tsk, forget about Luo Chong having these materials now; even if he did, he wouldn’t want to spend several years making a bow. So, he opted for another kind: the English longbow.

The English longbow is an outstanding representative of single-piece bows, renowned for its long range, great power, and simple construction. A single-piece bow is carved from a single piece of wood, with no complex structure, yet its power rivals that of Mongolian bows. If it has any drawback, it’s its bulkiness—a length of one meter six to one meter eight meant that the longbow could only be used by infantry.

A skilled bowmaker, with complete tools, could craft a longbow in just two hours. Compared to the Mongolian bow, this speed was unmatched… well, okay, they weren’t really comparable.

Luo Chong lacked a full set of woodworking tools, so if he could make one within two days, he’d consider himself lucky.

The best material for a longbow is cypress, which grows on the mountain. He just needed to find one that wasn’t too large. What Luo Chong truly coveted, however, was the aloe vera he had discovered during the wild boar hunt.

Aloe belongs to the Agave family, and the giant aloe he saw before also goes by another name: sisal.

Sisal, agave, and aloe all look similar. The most distinctive feature of sisal is its size. The widest part of each leaf is about as wide as a palm, and the shortest leaves are over a meter long. The ones Luo Chong found were two meters long. From afar, they looked like giant pineapples, with leaves resembling those of a pineapple.

The outer skin of sisal leaves is rich in fibers, making it the best material for cables and widely used even in modern times. The core of steel cables commonly used in docks is made of sisal rope, and sisal fibers are used as composite materials in car tires. Due to their resistance to acids and alkalis, sisal fibers are ideal for ocean-going ships, fishing nets, and sacks.

They’re just unsuitable for weaving clothes. But Luo Chong didn’t care about that. Even if sisal fabric wasn’t as good as ramie, it was still better than animal skins and much stronger.

Besides, although it’s called sisal, it’s indeed related to aloe. It’s just bigger. But aloe’s properties are present in sisal as well—the leaf juice can treat wounds, reduce inflammation, detoxify, cool heat, and reduce fire.

The fleshy leaf can be eaten, used in stir-fries, soups, winemaking, and sugar refining. Every part of it is valuable, so Luo Chong planned to start large-scale cultivation next year.

Everything has its use. As long as you discover it, you won’t miss out on various good things. There’s nothing that cannot be utilized. As the saying goes, “All things have their use.” If something seems useless, it’s only because you haven’t found the way to use it yet.