Chapter 1, Thunder Seal (Part 1).

This is an elderly person in the twilight years, sitting on a small wooden stool, holding a leather pouch in his hand. He saw two people coming in, and a hint of joy shone in his eyes. He coughed and said, "Okay, Afeng, take a break. Are you tired?"

The little girl rushed into Afeng's arms, reached out and hugged his neck. Afeng stood up, and the little girl hung on him, giggling and saying, "Brother, whose meat did you steal again..."

This world is so damn twisted! Even time is different. I fucking don't know how long it has been... Three years? Or four years? This place only has two seasons, the warm season... the cold season... sigh... can't go back anymore...

The majority of the baskets are filled with wild rabbits, pheasants, and ducks, as well as a few rare sheep.

The boy nodded his head. He reached out to hold the wheel and leaned down to look below. He saw several small black dots below. His eyes suddenly flickered and emitted a faint silver light. The boy exclaimed with joy, "Uncle Ke and the others are back... Lower the basket quickly!"

The basket is three meters long, two meters wide, and one and a half meters deep. It is a rectangular basket specifically used for transporting personnel and materials, and is one of the entrances and exits of the Tiger Cliff Fortress. There are only two roads leading out of the Tiger Cliff Fortress, one being here, and the other being the underground passage of the rear fortress. However, the latter road is more difficult to traverse, so the people in the fortress all use the basket for entry and exit.

A cliff that reaches a thousand meters high, adorned with scattered dwarf trees, swaying stubbornly in the wind. The top of the cliff is flat and spacious, a man-made platform. Under the lingering sunset, a small figure lazily sits on the edge of the cliff, with legs daringly hanging over the edge, unconsciously swaying, appearing particularly lonely.

The weather has started to get a little chilly. The little girl put on a fur short coat, and the long fur danced as she ran, like a small ball of fur rolling over. Ah Feng laughed and said, "Don't run...slow down, slow down..." As he said this, he squatted down. Because both of his hands were holding things, he couldn't hug.

The bearded man reached out and grabbed a metal ring. With a strong pull, a large basket loosened and appeared at the opening below. Two big men began to turn the winch, lowering the basket.

The residents of Huya Fortress are mostly hunters. Their family members usually plant some grains and potatoes in the valley. Generally, men do not farm. They must go out hunting. The population of Huya Fortress is very small, with only over 1,000 people and nearly 200 households. Teenager Afeng is also one of them. There is also a grandfather and a young sister in his family. His parents left before he occupied this young body, and he does not know where they went.

Afeng gently touched the little girl's forehead with his own forehead and doted, "It's the prey that Uncle Ke sent. Is Grandpa okay?"

Tiger Cliff Fortress has a unique local product, which is salt. There is an underground salt brine mine here, from which brine water can be extracted and boiled to produce salt. Although the quantity is not large, it is enough for the residents of Tiger Cliff Fortress to use in their daily lives. This is also a major reason why the people of Tiger Cliff Fortress can live deep in the mountains.

Afeng nodded and said with a smile, "Sure, I'll take you home."

The little girl slid down from Afeng's body, ran to the old man, hugged his arm and squatted down, happily saying, "Grandpa, Qing Auntie brought a piece of tough cowhide, I received it in the cave. It's a big piece. My brother's armor is only missing one piece of cowhide. It won't take long for the leather armor to be completed. Hehe, Grandpa, can I help?" She had a look of "praise me quickly", which made Afeng couldn't help but laugh. "Grandpa, Qing Auntie brought a piece of tough cowhide, I received it in the cave. It's a big piece. My brother's armor is only missing one piece of cowhide. It won't take long for the leather armor to be completed. Hehe, Grandpa, can I help?" She had a look of "praise me quickly", which made Afeng couldn't help but laugh.

So the crowd came down from the cliff and quickly arrived at the residential area.

Mr. Feng praised a few words first.

Most of the salt-making is done by the elderly or women. Basically, having enough to eat is sufficient. It is difficult to communicate with the outside world here. It is a self-sufficient mode where everything from clothing, food, shelter, and transportation needs to be resolved on their own. This made Afeng very uncomfortable, but fortunately, after several years of hardship, he has gradually integrated into it.

This set of leather armor is specially prepared for Afeng to go hunting. The hunters of Tiger Cliff Castle, before going hunting, each have to have a set of leather armor made by their families. This is the local custom. Once the leather armor is put on, it means that Afeng can officially go hunting.

The basket was quickly lifted up, with two big men sitting inside, along with a pile of prey. The young man glanced at it and said, "Why are they all small prey? Uncle Ke, aren't there any big ones?"

The leather armor requires three types of leather. The innermost layer is a special soft leather with countless bubbles the size of soybeans inside. It is not only extremely soft but also has excellent cold resistance. The middle layer is made of tough leather from wild oxen, while the outer layer is made of the fur of a fierce beast called the long-haired wild boar. The long-haired wild boar has fur over a foot long, and after tanning, it becomes extremely tough. When making leather armor, the long hair on the leather is woven into patterns, and then a kind of animal fat is applied to fix it. This not only keeps warm but also provides excellent protection.

Afeng walked quickly towards his home, carrying a wild boar's foreleg in one hand and two wild chickens in the other.

Soon arrived at a home with a vertical wooden fence, which had a small courtyard, a small house built on the edge of a cliff, and a little girl who saw Afeng coming back, exclaimed, "Brother, brother..." as she ran over.

The craftsmanship of leather armor is extremely complex, with dozens of procedures in total. Grandfather started making it as early as two years ago. A large part of it was done by the little girl. The two generations worked together until recently, when it was almost completed. However, it has not been finished because a piece of tough leather from a wild bull has been missing.

A young man let out a long sigh, forcefully hammered the ground, and looked at a fist imprint on the blue rock. He smiled slightly, as there was almost nothing in this world that satisfied him except for strength. There was no entertainment in this damn place, and every day he had to think about nothing but food - finding anything that could fill his stomach was the only meaning of living in this world.

The terrain of the entire Tiger Cliff Fortress is like a flat bowl. The residents live inside the bowl, and the outer wall of the bowl is a steep cliff. This is a natural large-scale defensive fortress.

Uncle Ke went down again, this time bringing a wild boar weighing over 500 catties in the basket. The meat of this wild boar is not tasty, with a coarse texture and no specific cooking method. It's not delicious at all. Of course, young A Feng doesn't mind. It's good to have something to eat. Since he arrived here, he rarely feels full, and his huge appetite makes him extremely helpless. He can't figure out why he can eat so much.

A sharp whistle sounded, and the young man leaped up suddenly, running along the top of the cliff at an astonishing speed. In a moment, he arrived at the corner of the cliff where there was a stone fortress, protruding seven to eight meters from the cliff. Two big men were standing inside the small stone fortress.

This stone fortress is very small, with a narrow and elongated shape and protruding cliffs. The upper part is a thatched roof made of logs. On the ground, there is a large hole that is three meters long and two meters wide. From there, you can clearly see a metal rack below the cliff, with a giant pulley installed on top.

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

... ....

The so-called leather armor is a necessary protective equipment for every hunter. The leather armor here has a special shape and is completely handcrafted from various animal skins. The lining of the hard leather armor is made from locally produced barbarian cowhide.

A few hunters and Afeng, smiling and carrying their prey, headed towards the inner fortress along the road.

These past few years have been extremely difficult. When I first woke up, my little sister was only three years old. We relied entirely on the young Ah Feng for support. Grandfather is old and weak, unable to hunt anymore. At first, Ah Feng relied on gathering wild fruits and occasionally receiving some game from the hunters who felt sorry for our family of three. It was through these hardships that we managed to survive until now. The people here are very simple and honest, helping each other out in the neighborhood. If we cannot help each other here, it would be extremely difficult to survive. In addition, the hunters occasionally send us some game, which has helped us endure until now. The people here are very simple and honest, helping each other out in the neighborhood. If we cannot help each other here, it would be extremely difficult to survive.

Hehe, the little sister is really capable!

The little girl suddenly smiled with joy.

However, in this year's winter season, the young Afeng must prepare food for the cold season by himself, which is a daunting task for him. He not only has to support himself, but also has to support his grandfather and younger sister.

The so-called "Treasure Sheep" is a local specialty here. It is a small wild sheep that likes to eat various herbs. Its meat is delicious and is one of the best delicacies here. However, this thing is too small and there is not much meat. A "Treasure Sheep" has at most 20 or so pounds of meat, which is just a little more than a wild chicken or rabbit.

The little girl hung on Ah Feng's neck, and the two of them walked into the small house while chatting and laughing. Ah Feng loudly said, "Grandpa, I'm back! Look, this is a front leg of a crooked-toothed wild boar given by Uncle Ke. It weighs about thirty catties, enough for us to eat for a few days."

A man with a long beard, upon seeing the young man enter, said, "Afeng, the hunting team is back. Your eyes are sharp, see if there's any situation."

Uncle Ke smiled and said, "Ah Feng, we didn't catch much this time, hehe, but... we managed to kill a big, tusky wild boar, weighing several hundred kilograms. It's not a bad harvest. Ah Feng, come to my house later and bring a pork leg, hehe."

This is a young man who is sixteen or seventeen years old. He has thick eyebrows and a pair of slender eyes. He seems to habitually squint, giving people a feeling of not being fully awake. The contours of his face are very clear, as if they were cut by a knife, revealing a sense of fortitude. Due to not yet being an adult, he is slightly immature, but when you observe his eyes carefully, you will notice a hint of vicissitude in his gaze.

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

Tiger Cliff Fortress is situated in a treacherous terrain, surrounded by cliffs and steep slopes. The central depression has a diameter of two kilometers, allowing for some land suitable for cultivation. The people of Tiger Cliff Fortress reside in caves beneath the inner ring of cliffs, with each household occupying a cave. These caves are either naturally formed or artificially excavated. Wooden structures are built outside the caves, extending into small houses. During the warm season, people can live in these wooden houses, but once the cold season arrives, they must retreat into the caves to spend the winter. Each household occupies a cave, whether natural or artificially excavated. Wooden structures are built outside the caves, extending into small houses. During the warm season, people can live in these wooden houses, but once the cold season arrives, they must retreat into the caves to spend the winter.