Su Qinglan’s eyes sparkled with excitement.
"Perfect! Now, one group keep cooking and stirring the cement paste. Another group, start pouring it into the trench. As soon as it’s in, press the first row of stone bricks firmly on top. Then pour another layer of paste over the bricks and add the next row. We’ll keep stacking until the walls are done!"
The tribe worked together like a well-oiled machine. Males carried stone bowls of the warm, thick paste and poured it carefully into the trench.
Others lifted the heavy stone bricks and pressed them down with solid thuds, making sure each one sat straight and tight. Paste went between every layer, sealing everything perfectly.
Layer by layer, the walls rose.
One row... two rows... three rows...
Everyone’s eyes were wide with awe. "Look at that! The wall is already standing straight and tall!"
"It’s so fast! And so strong!"
From a short distance away, the females and cubs of the tribe gathered, blinking curiously.
Little heads peeked out from behind their mothers, ears perked up, tails flicking with wonder. "Mama, what are they building?" a small cub whispered loudly. "It’s so big!"
An Mo and Xuan Long stood at the edge of the crowd, each holding babies. The cubs gurgled happily in their arms, watching the construction with big round eyes.
The two beastmen had been told to keep watching the little ones today, so they could only observe from afar, but their faces showed the same excitement.
"Qinglan really knows how to make things better," Xuan Long murmured, smiling.
An Mo nodded. "Of course, this female is really good."
Su Qinglan noticed her father was nowhere to be seen.
She wondered briefly if he had gone back to the City Lord’s house, maybe to meet her mother.
But she didn’t want to pry into his private life, so she simply smiled and kept working.
By the time the last light of day was fading, the walls of the test house already stood more than three hundred centimeters high, and they kept going.
Su Qinglan had adjusted the plan after seeing how tall the males were in their human forms, almost two hundred and twenty centimeters.
To make sure everyone could comfortably turn into their full beast forms inside without bumping their heads, she wanted the walls to reach four hundred centimeters.
"Keep going just a little higher!" she called out cheerfully. "We’re almost there!"
The males laughed and cheered with every new layer. "For our females and cubs!" one shouted.
"For warmer winters!" another added.
Paste, brick, paste, brick... the rhythm continued under the glowing twilight sky.
The first real stone house of the fox tribe was rising fast, strong, and beautiful, built with the whole tribe’s excitement and hard work.
Su Qinglan stood back for a moment, hands on her hips, a proud and happy smile on her face.
After the surrounding walls of the test house finally stood tall and strong, everyone was very tired but extremely happy.
The stone walls reached more than four hundred centimeters high, looking solid and neat under the last light of the day.
Su Qinglan clapped her hands and raised her voice so everyone could hear.



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