Chapter 1

Standing at the edge of a cliff that rises a thousand meters, dotted with short trees swaying tenaciously in the wind, the top of the cliff is flat and spacious, an artificial platform. A small figure sits lazily by the cliff's edge under the setting sun, his legs dangling boldly over the edge, swinging unconsciously, exuding a profound sense of loneliness.

This is a teenager, around sixteen or seventeen years old, with a broad, light brow and a pair of narrow eyes. He seems to habitually squint, always giving the impression of not being fully awake. His facial features are very distinct, as if chiseled by a knife, exuding a sense of firmness. Although he has not yet reached adulthood, he still has a hint of youthful naivety. However, when you look closely at his eyes, you can see a trace of沧桑 (cāngsāng, meaning "the vicissitudes of life").

"This world is really fucking crazy! Even time is different. I don't even know how long it's been... three years? Or four? This place only has two seasons, the warm season... the cold season... sigh... I can't go back..."

The teenager sighed deeply, striking the ground forcefully. Looking at the fist mark on the green rock, he smiled slightly. There was almost nothing in this world that he found satisfying, except for strength. This place had no entertainment, and every day was about finding food, the sole purpose of living here.

A sharp whistle sounded, and the teenager leaped up, sprinting along the top of the cliff at an incredible speed. In a moment, he reached a corner where a stone fortress protruded about seven or eight meters from the cliff. Two large men stood inside the small stone fortress.

This stone fortress was small and elongated, protruding from the cliff. The top was built with logs, and there was a large hole on the ground, three meters long and two meters wide, providing a clear view of the cliff below. A metal frame was set up at the hole, with a giant pulley installed on it.

A bearded man, seeing the teenager enter, said, "A-Feng, the hunting team is back. Your eyesight is good; take a look and see if there's any situation."

The teenager nodded, grabbed the pulley, and leaned out to look down. He saw a few small black dots below, his eyes suddenly flashing with a faint silver light. He said happily, "It's Uncle Ke and the others... quickly lower the basket!"

The bearded man grabbed an iron ring and pulled it hard, releasing a large basket that appeared at the bottom of the hole. The two large men began to turn the pulley, lowering the basket.

The basket was three meters long, two meters wide, and one and a half meters deep, a rectangular container used to transport people and supplies, one of the main entrances and exits of Tiger Cliff Fortress. There were only two paths leading out of Tiger Cliff Fortress: one was here, and the other was a tunnel at the back of the fortress, but that path was even more difficult, so the people in the fortress used the basket to enter and exit.

Soon, the basket was lifted up, and inside were two large men and a pile of game. The teenager glanced at it and said, "Why are they all small game? Uncle Ke, didn't you get any big ones?"

The basket mostly contained wild rabbits, wild chickens, and wild ducks, as well as a few precious sheep.

The so-called precious sheep were a local specialty, a small wild sheep that liked to eat various medicinal herbs. Their meat was very tender and was one of the best delicacies here. However, they were very small, with a maximum of about twenty pounds of meat, only slightly more than wild chickens and rabbits.

Uncle Ke laughed, "A-Feng, we didn't get much this time, hehe, but... we killed a buck-toothed wild boar, weighing a few hundred pounds. It was a good harvest. A-Feng, come to my place later and take a pig leg, hehe."

A-Feng nodded and said with a smile, "Sure, I'll take Uncle home."

Most of the residents of Tiger Cliff Fortress were hunters, and their families generally planted some grains and tubers in the valley. Men usually did not farm; they had to go out hunting. The population of Tiger Cliff Fortress was small, with only about a thousand people and nearly two hundred households. A-Feng was one of them, living with his grandfather and a young sister. His parents had left before he took over this teenager's body, and he didn't know where they went.

The past few years had been very tough. When he first woke up, his sister was only three years old, and he had to raise her. His grandfather was old and weak and could no longer hunt. At first, A-Feng relied on gathering wild fruits, and some hunters, seeing the hardship of the three, occasionally sent some game, allowing them to survive. The people here were very simple and kind, helping each other, and without mutual assistance, it would have been very difficult to survive.

However, this year, during the warm season, A-Feng had to prepare food for the cold season on his own. This was a daunting task, as he had to support not only himself but also his grandfather and sister.

Uncle Ke went down again, and this time the basket brought up a buck-toothed wild boar weighing over five hundred pounds. The meat of this wild boar was not very tasty, being coarse and requiring special cooking techniques. However, A-Feng didn't mind; any food was good. Since he arrived here, he rarely felt full, and his appetite was so large that he was extremely frustrated. He couldn't understand why he was so hungry.

A few hunters and A-Feng carried the game and walked towards the inner fortress, laughing and chatting.

Tiger Cliff Fortress was situated in a perilous location, surrounded by cliffs, with a central depression about two kilometers in diameter, providing enough land for cultivation. The residents lived in caves at the base of the inner cliffs, each household occupying a cave, some natural and some artificially excavated. The outer part of the caves was extended with wooden structures, allowing them to live in the wooden houses during the warm season and move into the caves during the cold season.

The entire terrain of Tiger Cliff Fortress was like a flat bowl, with the residents living inside the bowl and the outer walls being the cliffs, forming a natural large defensive fortress.

So, after coming down the cliff, they quickly arrived at the residential area.

...

A-Feng carried a wild boar's front leg in one hand and two wild chickens in the other, walking quickly towards his home.

He soon arrived at a house with a wooden fence, a small yard, and a small house built at the edge of the cliff. A little girl saw A-Feng and shouted happily, "Brother, brother..." as she ran over.

The weather was starting to get a bit cool, and the little girl was wearing a short fur coat, the long fur dancing as she ran, like a small fur ball rolling over. A-Feng said, "Don't run... slow down, slow down..." and squatted down. Since he was holding things in both hands, he couldn't pick her up.

The little girl ran into A-Feng's arms, hugging his neck. A-Feng stood up, and the little girl hung on him, laughing, "Brother, whose meat did you get this time?"

A-Feng gently touched the little girl's forehead with his own, affectionately saying, "It's game from Uncle Ke. How is Grandpa?"

The little girl laughed and said, "Grandpa went to boil salt and just came back."

Tiger Cliff Fortress had a special product, salt. There was an underground brine mine here, from which brine could be extracted and boiled to produce salt. The amount was not large, but it was enough for the residents of Tiger Cliff Fortress. This was one of the reasons why the people here could live deep in the mountains.

Boiling salt was mostly done by the elderly or women, producing enough for their needs. Communication with the outside world was difficult, and they lived a self-sufficient life, solving all their needs for clothing, food, housing, and transportation on their own. This made A-Feng very uncomfortable, but after several years of hardship, he had gradually adapted.

The little girl hung on A-Feng's neck, and the two of them laughed as they entered the small house. A-Feng called out loudly, "Grandpa, I'm back! Look! This is a front leg of a buck-toothed wild boar from Uncle Ke, weighing about thirty pounds. It will last us a few days."

An old man, looking frail, sat on a small wooden stool, holding a leather bag. When he saw the two of them enter, his eyes lit up with joy, and he coughed, saying, "Good, A-Feng, take a rest. You must be tired."

The little girl slid off A-Feng and ran to the old man, hugging his arm and squatting down, saying happily, "Grandpa, Aunt Qing sent a piece of wild ox hide, and I put it in the cave. It's a big piece, and brother's armor is just one piece short. It will be finished in a few days, hehe. Grandpa, am I capable?"

She had a look on her face that said, "Praise me!" which made A-Feng laugh.

"Hehe, Little Sister is really capable!"

A-Feng praised her first.

The old man gently patted the little girl's head and nodded, "Yes, our Yao Yao is the most capable!"

The little girl beamed with joy.

The leather armor, which every hunter needed for protection, was unique to this place, entirely handmade from various animal skins. The inner layer was a special soft leather with countless pea-sized bubbles, making it not only very soft but also excellent for insulation. The middle layer was made from the hard leather of local wild oxen, and the outer layer was the skin of a long-haired wild bear, a fierce beast with fur over a foot long. After tanning, the fur was extremely resilient. When making the armor, the long fur was woven into patterns and treated with animal fat to set the shape, providing both warmth and excellent protection.

The process of making the leather armor was extremely complex, involving dozens of steps. Two years ago, the grandfather had started working on it, with a significant portion of the work done by the little girl. The two of them worked together, and it was almost finished recently, except for one piece of wild ox hide.

This set of leather armor was specially prepared for A-Feng to go hunting. In Tiger Cliff Fortress, every hunter had to have a set of leather armor made by their family before going out to hunt. This was a local custom, and once the armor was worn, it meant that A-Feng could officially go hunting.

The leather armor used three types of leather: the innermost layer was a special soft leather with numerous small bubbles, providing both softness and excellent insulation. The middle layer was the hard leather of wild oxen, and the outer layer was the skin of a long-haired wild bear, known for its long, resilient fur. The fur was woven into patterns and treated with animal fat to set the shape, providing both warmth and excellent protection.