Chapter Thirty-Five: Many Children, Much Blessing—The Clan Chief Should Bear Offspring

Three years was enough time for the mountain to become dotted with houses, for caves to be turned into storage spaces, and for a distinction to emerge between personal and communal belongings. Yet the tribe still lingered in a primitive state; no form of currency had yet appeared, small family units were nonexistent, and even though Luo Zu strove so hard to promote the concept of “home,” the people still clung to the great tribe. When a child was born, the tribe raised it collectively, with everyone taking turns caring for the young, so that every child had tasted “milk from a hundred families.”

Luo Zu was no exception.

Fortunately, no one now would cry out that the ways of the ancestors must not be changed—for they themselves were the “ancestors.” At most, there had been a few elders before, but they had vanished without a trace. The old rules they’d set meant nothing now; if Luo Zu wished to change them, it was a simple matter.

Yet habits were hard to break, and change had to come gradually.

Shame and morality had yet to be cultivated, nor was there any pressing need for such things. After all, people had only just learned to fill their bellies; it would be some time before those notions took root.

Still, the sight of a group of people exposing their naked bodies in the wild was hardly a pleasing one, so Luo Zu insisted that everyone wear clothes.

He led by example, donning a deer-hide cuirass and tiger-skin trousers, with shoes made from fish skin, setting the “Cro-Magnon” fashion trend.

In recent years, there was another matter that left Luo Zu quite helpless.

Many of the female “Cro-Magnons” pursued him, from the eldest to the youngest; not a single woman spared him.

But Luo Zu rebuffed them all sternly, only for some to try to force themselves upon him.

Truly, one must not underestimate the strength of the prehistoric human women. In this dense forest hunting ground, some female hunters were even stronger than the men. Add to that their innate supernatural abilities and the breathing techniques Luo Zu had been teaching, and women could easily compete with the men. It was only during their monthly cycle, when they were weakened and more likely to reveal their presence, that the female hunters would remain in the settlement to rest.

Ordinarily, the female hunters charged alongside the men at the very front.

Even Tietouwa, when wrestling with the captain of a female hunting squad under his command, lost by a margin—not only in skill, but in sheer strength.

And Tietouwa’s strength was formidable; he could heft a boulder five times the size of those others could lift, thanks to his cultivation of vital energy, which made him vastly more capable than before. He even tried to challenge beasts he had once been unable to defeat, though he was ultimately bested and had to rely on his hunters to help him bring down his prey—hardly chivalrous.

So when these female hunters tried to take Luo Zu by force in the dead of night, he could only throw them out himself.

Never be coy with them, nor play at refusal or politeness, nor act the gentleman who gives way to women. No, the only response was to fight back. One could not indulge them, could not yield, or else these fierce women really would try to overpower him.

Who told Luo Zu to be the handsomest man in the “Cro-Magnon” tribe, and also its strongest? In this age of primitive tribes, strength was revered, and even the women sought out the strongest mates, hoping to bear powerful offspring. Such was the instinct of the species, and for the sake of the tribe’s survival.

It was a pity Luo Zu could not accept their advances—not for lack of desire, but because the aesthetics of his previous life had carried over into this one, growing even stronger rather than fading with the blurring of his past memories.

Though there were some in the tribe who could be called attractive, they all spoke with a certain roughness, spat constantly, and relieved themselves wherever they pleased outside the settlement to mark their territory. The mountain where they lived was warm in winter and cool in summer, rarely truly cold, so few bothered with clothing and many went about half-naked, their chests and breasts exposed.

Most importantly, everyone had at least five partners.

So with the mindset of his former life, Luo Zu could not bring himself to partake.

Perhaps once, in desperate times, he might have considered “a sow can rival beauty,” but when disaster struck the tribe, he devoted himself entirely to increasing his strength. Later, after mastering the art of breathing and refining his energy, his mind became clear, and bodily desires no longer ruled him.

Thus Luo Zu became the oldest virgin among the “Cro-Magnons.”

The tribe did, however, debate the matter of Luo Zu’s descendants. Led by Huo Wa, the elders and Luo Zu himself gathered to discuss this weighty issue.

They finally invited Luo Zu to speak; he plainly stated he would neither marry nor have children.

Then, this chief, so beloved by the tribe, suffered a rare, unanimous censure. That night, the sound of criticism could be heard from one end of the mountain to the other. The people were shocked, and more than a little angry.

“Such fine blood should be passed on! You should have ten children, no, a hundred—no, ten thousand! Only then will our people thrive. Aren’t you always saying you’ll lead us to become the greatest in the land? Then you must have many children, as many as possible!” Huo Wa’s voice was the loudest.

He believed he had contributed greatly to the tribe’s development, and hoped the exceptional Luo Zu would do even more.

Even the usually taciturn Tietouwa urged him, “Chief, you must have more children—you must have more children—you must have more children.” He repeated it three times, just as Luo Zu had taught him to do when something was important.

In his heart, Luo Zu thought, “If I were to bring out all my descendants for you to see, I’d surely scare you all to death.” Outwardly, however, he remained silent and continued as before after the meeting.

The tribe could only sigh at Luo Zu’s stubbornness. After a while, their frustration faded, then their words dried up, and eventually they no longer cared.

They let Luo Zu be.

After all, everyone else was busy making babies—and all children belonged to everyone, after all.

Clang, clang! Clang, clang!

Luo Zu had lately been engrossed in the art of forging, studying how to smelt iron in this prehistoric land.

Once ironworking matured, the “Cro-Magnons” would undergo an “industrial upgrade,” vastly improving their hunting.

He also had to accelerate the production of magical implements for the tribe, since some had already reached the stage of refining energy into qi, and now required matching tools.

Additionally, Luo Zu was preparing to scout and plan a second settlement for the tribe.

The population had already reached five hundred, most of them children. While the two-hundred-zhang mountain could still accommodate them, another population boom was imminent. After autumn, eighteen more were pregnant—three with twins.

Thus, next year at least twenty-one more children would be born. Moreover, a large cohort from sixteen years ago had grown up and were now vigorously… mating.

So more pregnancies were likely this year.

Year after year, this ancestral land would soon be unable to contain them all.

Where would the new settlement be?

In the end, Luo Zu decided to build it in the same valley as before.

But the valley had once again been overtaken by the bloodsucking purple vines.

And these vines, through their tenacious vitality, had evolved.