Chapter 124: Lying Without Blinking

“Shaman, how about Ferocious Beast Tendons?” Cang Shi suddenly thought of a material.

“Ferocious Beast Tendons? From which Ferocious Beast?” Su Bai asked curiously. He recalled that the bowstrings of longbows were also made from Ferocious Beast Tendons, which had good elasticity.

“It’s the tendons of the Long Silver Snake, which should meet your requirements,” Cang Shi explained.

“Yes, the bowstrings of longbows are made from Long Silver Snake tendons, which are not easily broken.” Yan Jiao added.

Su Bai moved his black eyes from side to side and asked, “Are these Long Silver Snake tendons long? What’s the maximum length they can reach?”

[If we are to go fishing by that lake, they would need very long fishing lines. One or two metres wouldn’t be enough.] Su Bai was considering fishing from the small cliff, which was about seven or eight metres away from the lake surface. In this case, the fishing line would definitely need to be longer than seven or eight metres. Otherwise, the idea of fishing could not be realised.

Cang Shi scratched his head, trying to recall the length when they extracted the tendons, and said, “About as tall as me.”

“I believe that’s the longest. Generally, Long Silver Snakes aren’t very big. The longest ones are just about that size.” Yan Jiao added.

“That won’t do, the length isn’t enough.” Su Bai frowned and continued to ask, “If we connect two Long Silver Snake tendons together, how strong would the connection be?”

He asked this to determine whether two tendons joined together would easily come apart. If they came apart easily, there would be no point in joining them. Otherwise, a fish that had just taken the bait might escape back into the lake due to the fishing line coming loose.

“I’ve heard Gu Mu mention that it’s very difficult to join them together. Each tendon is separate, and if it accidentally breaks during extraction, it could no longer be used.” Cang Shi recalled.

When the longbows were made, Cang Shi had asked Gu Mu about the bowstrings and learned that they were made from Long Silver Snake tendons.

“It’s just as I thought.” Su Bai had been wondering how to connect tendons to tendons, which was essentially impossible. He sighed and continued to ask, “Are there any other alternatives?”

“Shaman, are the Long Silver Snake tendons really not usable?” Cang Shi asked, confused.

“The Shaman is asking if there are other alternatives. So, it obviously can’t be used.” Yan Jiao marvelled at Cang Shi’s single-mindedness.

“Since the Long Silver Snake tendon can’t be used, we can only use plant vines.” Cang Shi suggested.

Su Bai’s eyes, which had dimmed, brightened again as he asked, “What kind of plant vines? How thick are they?”

“About… about as thick as my finger,” Cang Shi extended his right pinky.

Su Bai’s newly kindled hope was extinguished again, and he said. “No, that won’t work.”

“Shaman, may I ask? What do you need such a thin rope for?” Yan Jiao asked, curious.

“For fishing. It can increase our Tribe’s food sources.” Su Bai explained.

Both Yan Jiao and Cang Shi looked surprised, hardly believing their ears.

“Fishing? Shaman, you’re saying we can catch fish from the river? How?” Cang Shi curiously asked.

Before, when they were at the Tribal Ancestral Land, they used wooden sticks to spear fish, but it was often very difficult to catch them.

“Of course we can, but we need fishing lines first. Otherwise, it would be all for nothing.” Su Bai said.

“Shaman, how do we fish? With ropes?” Yan Jiao asked, sceptical.

“Yeah, Shaman, how can ropes catch fish? We can hardly catch any with wooden sticks,” Cang Shi thought it sounded too much like a fantasy.

Su Bai took out the pack of fishhooks and said, “We use these. When a fish bites the hook, it gets caught in its mouth, and then we pull it up.”

“Fish bites the hook?” Cang Shi doubted his ears and asked, “Shaman, why would fish voluntarily bite this hook?”

Yan Jiao looked at the sharp fishhooks in his palm and exclaimed, “These… these hooks are so sharp. Won’t the fish avoid biting them?”

The word ‘fishhook’ was still very unfamiliar to them, and seeing such sharp hooks for the first time was indeed surprising for them.

“It’s impossible for fish to actively bite a bare hook. Of course, we need to add something.” Su Bai said, taking a sip of water.

“Shaman, what is that something? Is it some kind of secret technique?” Cang Shi asked, scratching his head.

“Yes, we can just use insects. Of course, this will only catch small fish.” Su Bai explained.

The largest fishhook was only about seven or eight centimetres, so the fish they could catch would not be much bigger than a certain size.

Yan Jiao looked at the small hole at the end of the fishhook and asked, “Shaman, is this thin rope you’re looking for meant to be threaded through this hole in the fishhook?”

“Correct. After threading it, we put some bait on the hook, and then we can fish,” Su Bai was surprised by the Chieftain’s attentiveness.

“Shaman, let me help you find it. Maybe we can find vines suitable for threading through the fishhooks, and then we can use them for fishing.” Cang Shi patted his chest.

Last time, the Hunting Team had found Ramie and Wolf Tail Grass. Naturally, he was eager to search for thin long vines this time. In fact, he was already completely confident and extremely determined to find suitable vines for fishing.

“En. Find them as soon as possible, the sooner the better, but also keep up with the hunting. Don’t focus solely on searching.” Su Bai instructed.

“Understood, I’ll prioritise hunting.” Cang Shi nodded heavily.

Yan Jiao looked at the fishhooks in his hand, hesitated for a while, and asked, “Shaman, where did these fishhooks come from?”

“Uh… I made these using Shaman Technique. It’s very difficult, and I could only make this many,” Su Bai lied without blinking. After all, no one knew how many fishhooks would be available next time. It might not be possible to get any at all. Thus, he could only use this explanation to deflect the question.

“I see.” Yan Jiao nodded thoughtfully. He could not help but marvel at Su Bai’s power. He was not only being able to make Shaman Bone Tablets in such a short time, but he also managed to creating things like fishhooks.

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