Chapter 159: Tinder tree
Of course, Han Cheng was not pleased. His goal was to find a method for quickly igniting fires, and using these two stones to make fire was slower than using wooden drills. Even if he proved that it was possible to create fire with stones, what significance did it hold?
The next day, Han Cheng no longer sought stones but attempted to make fire drills. Lacking bamboo tubes, he used bone rods as substitutes and replaced yellow paper with the fire tinder used during ignition. After tinkering for a while, he finally created a makeshift fire drill.
Han Cheng brought it to the burning fire pit, lit one end, and blew out the flame, allowing it to burn in a smoldering statehowever, the smoldering flame extinguished shortly after that.
Han Cheng used a thin stick to poke out the fire tinder inside the bone rod, thinking he might have packed it too tightly, quickly causing it to burn out. When refilling, he didn't pack it as densely.
After tightly sealing one end of the bone rod, he brought it back to the fire pit and ignited it. The fire tinder did not extinguish this time, but it burned quickly. Han Cheng estimated that it lasted only about half an hour before the fifteen-centimeter makeshift fire drill was consumed entirely.
Han Cheng continued adjusting the tightness of the fire tinder. When he found that the fire tinder used for ignition was insufficient to meet the demand, he began trying other materials.
It is said that Edison experimented with over a thousand materials before successfully inventing the light bulb. Similarly, Han Cheng tried dozens of materials to manufacture fire drills, but he still did not succeed.
Up to this point, the fire drills he created couldn't sustain a flame for long, with the longest lasting only until mid-morning.
Nevertheless, these fire drills could still be used. Previously, when Shang or Hei Wa wanted to ignite fires at the stone quarry or clay pit, the only method was to quickly fetch burning charcoal or a couple of burning wooden sticks from the roaring fire pit in the cave, fearing that the flames would extinguish if delayed.
Sometimes, in unfortunate situations, they needed to make two or three trips to keep the fire burning.
Now, with these fire drills that could burn considerably, they became more composed and calm when lighting fires outside.
While the people of the Green Sparrow tribe deeply admired Divine Child's wisdom, Han Cheng frowned, showing a dissatisfied expression.
This kind of fire drill still fell far short of his expectations. He needed one that could burn continuously throughout the night without extinguishing, allowing him to extinguish the roaring fire pit in the cave confidently.
A small fire drill truly puzzled Han Cheng this time. He stayed in the cave, lost in thought, trying to figure out a solution.
Fu Jiang, the domesticated wolf that had become more like a Husky, was pulling at the tiny leather skirt tied around Han Cheng's waist, trying to drag him out to play. In its effort, the wolf accidentally pulled down the short skirt.
As Han Cheng inadvertently exposed himself, Fu Jiang, with the skirt in his mouth, retreated several steps.
"Oh no!"
Indeed, these words did not come from Fu Jiang, which would be pretty extraordinary.
Limping in from outside, Lame walked with a distinct sway and approached the inner cave area to get a hand pressure drill, preparing to drill a hole. Seeing Divine Child sitting there, absorbed in deep thought, Lame dared not disturb him. After taking the hand drill, he carefully walked out.
However, after taking only a few steps, Fu Jiang caused a commotion.
Lame leg condition was not good to begin with, and being suddenly tripped by Fu Jiang, he lost control and fell to the ground.
Although Fu Jiang dodged quickly and avoided being hit by Lame, he fell heavily.
A cry of pain escaped from Lame's mouth.
Instead of caring about his injuries, Lame hastily picked up the hand pressure drill that fell to the side. The cave floor was made of stone, and the relatively fragile stone drill bit happened to hit the stone, breaking in the middle.
This made Lame regretful because this hand-pressure drill was the most comfortable.
Feeling a bit annoyed, Lame wanted to hit Fu Jiang. However, seeing the amusing sight of the wolf carrying Divine Child's leather skirt in its mouth, he couldn't help but burst into laughter.
At this moment, Han Cheng, deep in contemplation, naturally couldn't focus on his thoughts. He hurried over to help Lame stand up. Although Lame had already managed to stand alone, he held the broken stone drill, looking quite regretful.
Seeing that Lame was fine, Han Cheng turned his stern gaze toward Fu Jiang, the foolish dog. Fu Jiang also realized it had caused trouble, and with its tail hanging down, it shyly brought the leather skirt to Han Cheng, rubbing it against his hand.
Han Cheng patted the wolf on the head twice, took the skirt, and tied it around his waist. Fu Jiang, glancing at Han Cheng with a playful look, seized the opportunity to turn around, spread its four legs, and dashed out of the cave, afraid that it might get kicked on the butt if it ran too slowly.
Amused by the scene, Han Cheng scolded with a smile. He then looked at the broken stone drill in Lame's hand, feeling regretful. After all, it wasn't easy to grind a stone into a proper drill bit.
Just as he was about to instruct Lame to use another hand drill for now and fix this one later, a flash of inspiration crossed his mind.
Gathering the skirt back into place, Han Cheng said, "Give me this, and you use another one."
Before finishing his sentence, the broken hand pressure drill from Lame was already in Han Cheng's hand.
Has Divine Child come up with another brilliant idea?
Thinking this, Lame, holding a drill about the same size as the broken one, didn't bother brushing off the dust on his body. He quickly rushed after Divine Child, eager to see what miracle Divine Child could create with the familiar hand pressure drill.
Han Cheng found a large, soft tree branch with a diameter of about two centimeters and a length of two meters, bringing it back to the courtyard.
Cutting it into two pieces, he marked a point near the top of the thicker section and had Lame, who was watching on the side, use the hand pressure drill to create a hole. The hole didn't need to be too deep; drilling halfway into the wood was sufficient.
While Lame drilled the hole, Han Cheng swiftly dealt with the other section of the wooden stick. He smoothed one end and carved a groove with a stone knife on the other end to hold the rope. Then, he wrapped the wooden stick, made to the specifications of the drill bit, with two loops of rope and attached it to the hand pressure drill.
By this time, Lame had finished drilling the hole.
Han Cheng took a look and used a thin stone slab that could be called a stone knife to carve two grooves on the left and right sides of the wooden hole. In this way, a much lighter tool for drilling wood and starting a fire was made compared to the original tools used by the tribe.
Han Cheng obtained a bunch of fire tinder made from the leaves of a tree unfamiliar to him. When crumpled in the hand, many fine fibers would come out, making it suitable for starting a fire. However, it was not the same as the Eucommia ulmoides tree commonly seen in later years; Han Cheng could easily distinguish between them.
Thus, this unknown tree gained a grand name in Han Cheng's eyes the Fire Tinder Tree.
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