I've been transported to the orc continent.

Chapter 280 Dyeing Animal Hides

Bai Ling made the simplest style, without any decorations or patterns. On others, it would just look like a T-shirt and shorts, but on Yue, it would look like haute couture.

Yue's skin was already very fair, and the indigo clothes made her skin look even better, as white and radiant as if it were glowing.

He didn't wear many accessories, and his long silver-white hair was simply tied into a neat ponytail. However, his lips seemed to have been carefully painted, and they were a bright red, which made Yue look very healthy.

A look of amazement flashed in Bai Ling's eyes, followed by deep pride.

This radiant person belongs to him!

Bai Ling hurried a few steps, jogged up to Yue, stared intently at her, and asked, "Yue, you've come."

The young orcs with Yue burst into laughter. Yue's friend Xiao Gao said loudly, "Ling, if we hadn't come soon, you would have been getting impatient." As he spoke, Xiao gently touched Yue's arm. "Yue, I won't disturb you and Ling's conversation. Let's go over there first, and we'll set off together once everyone is here."

The young orc smiled and walked to the side, while Bai Ling and Yue also came to the edge of the square.

As soon as the two stopped, Yue asked, "Ling, do I look good in this outfit?"

Bai Ling said with absolute certainty, "It looks good, of course it looks good."

Yue knew exactly how Bai Ling would answer. He lowered his head slightly, gently tugged at his clothes, and whispered, "The silk clothes are too thin and light. I'm not used to them yet."

He used to wear animal skins, but compared to animal skins, silk was so thin and light that it felt like he wasn't wearing anything at all.

After he changed into the clothes, he felt a little uncomfortable and walked around the bedroom several times before opening the door and coming out.

The top of this outfit is made of a single layer of silk, while the shorts are made of two layers of silk. The top is slightly see-through, but the shorts are not see-through at all. Silk is so comfortable to wear, unlike animal skin which is stuffy and hot.

“But this clothing is so cool to wear, it’s nothing like animal skin,” Yue whispered. “Ling, when you get silk, make yourself a new set of clothes too.”

Bai Ling nodded, then remembered something and said, "Yue, silk is easily torn, so don't go cut the smartweed later."

Yue was slightly taken aback, but then agreed. He was so focused on letting Ling see him in his new clothes that he forgot about this.

*

Many orcs came over, and together they quickly gathered enough smartweed.

Bai Ling led them back to the square, first picking out the weeds and withered leaves from the smartweed, and then chopping the smartweed into pieces with a kitchen knife.

"Yesterday I used a stone mill to grind the juice of the Polygonum hydropiper for dyeing. Today we need more dye, so we don't need to use a stone mill. We can boil it in an earthenware pot instead."

Bai Ling put the chopped Polygonum hydropiper into an earthenware pot, added a little lime and water and boiled it together. At first, Bai Ling only added half a pot of water. After the water in the earthenware pot boiled, Bai Ling added some cold water. After repeating this several times, the water in the earthenware pot was two-thirds full.

At this point, Bai Ling stopped adding water and instead kept the water in the earthenware pot boiling.

As the boiling time increases, the color of the water in the earthenware pot also darkens.

Bai Ling instructed the orcs tending the fire to remove the burning firewood from the hearth. After the water in the earthenware pot cooled, Bai Ling used gauze to filter out the smartweed from the water.

Animals who wanted to dye their hides would guard a ceramic basin, immerse the hides in it completely, and after about ten minutes take them out and soak them in a ceramic basin filled with salt water.

After doing this three times, the animal hide will be dyed.

The dyed animal hides were not as beautiful as the dyed silk. Some of the animal hides brought by the orcs still had fur on them, which made the dyeing uneven, with some parts dark and some light, just like a child's random scribbles.

Even so, the orcs still found it very fun. Although the dyed animal hides didn't look very good, they were still more eye-catching than plain colors.

One orc suggested making a fur skirt out of dyed animal hides, which would definitely make him the most eye-catching person in the crowd. Another orc said that the dyed animal hides could be saved for winter to make clothes. In winter, the ground is covered with snow, and wearing dyed animal hide clothes in the white snow would definitely make him stand out at a glance.

Several orcs surrounded Bai Ling, asking if other colors could be dyed besides this one.

Bai Ling said, "Of course you can. Everyone can find plants with dark colors, the kind that when you pinch them, the sap that comes out is colored. Whether it's the roots, stems, leaves, flowers, or fruits, you can use this method to dye them all."

“Some stones can even be ground into powder, boiled in water, and then filtered out with gauze. The remaining water can then be used for dyeing.”

"You can also mix different colors together, such as purple water and cyan water. Mixing them together will create a new color. Different proportions will produce different colors, but you'll need to experiment more."

As Bai Ling spoke, all the beastmen in the square listened attentively. As they listened, they thought to themselves which plants they recognized that had colored sap. There were so many that they realized they could extract colored liquids from the roots, stems, leaves, seeds, and flowers of many plants. They thought that once they had silk, they would go and find those plants to dye their cloth.

*

Yue won't be going out hunting for a few more days, and in these few days, Bai Ling and Yue have been busy in their new house every day.

There's just so much work to be done with the newly built house. The floor inside needs to be filled with soil and leveled, then a layer of bricks needs to be laid, and then cemented smooth. The walls need to be painted white. The yard outside needs to be tidied up, and the steps need to be fixed. There's so much work to be done, and it's so tedious that it can't be finished in a short time.

Bai Ling wasn't in a hurry. He and Yue tidied up very carefully. This was their home, and it was never too much to be meticulous.

Tomorrow Yue will be leaving. The floor in the house has just been paved with bricks. The two of them stay here until it gets dark before going home together.

Because Yue was going out tomorrow, the two finished work a little earlier today. Bai Ling put the tools in the basket and then tied the basket to the handcart.

As soon as the two stepped out of the courtyard, an orc came running up, panting, and said to Bai Ling, "Ling, the clan leader wants you to come over."

"A dozen orcs have come to the tribe. They came from a very far place, specifically to find you."