I Became The Chief Of A Primitive Village

Chapter 1165, The Tears of an Iron-Blooded Man

Translator: Silavin

Shan Qiu fitted the prosthetic limbs onto himself with clumsy hands, trembling from head to toe with excitement.

He looked exactly like a child who had suddenly been handed a sweet. Every bit of that joy was written plainly across his face.

“What are you standing there for? Walk a few steps and see whether they fit. If they don’t, we’ll adjust them.” Su Bai urged him along.

He wanted to see for himself whether the prosthetics suited Shan Qiu. If they didn’t, he would have to think of something else.

After all, back on Earth, prosthetics were made of all manner of materials, not just wood. That allowed for better adaptability and range of motion. In this Primitive Era, the requirements were far fewer. Being able to fashion a pair of prosthetic limbs from wood was already something remarkable.

Shan Qiu was still a little stiff. He did not quite know what to do, and it was only with Gu Mu’s support that he managed to get to his feet.

When he stood, his eyes were wide with astonishment, pupils flickering with surprise and awe, and a faint thread of disbelief beneath it all.

This was a height he knew intimately. A height he had not experienced in a very long time.

Su Bai had specifically asked around the Tribe to get a rough idea of how tall Shan Qiu used to be.

So the prosthetics had been custom-made to match Shan Qiu’s former height. That was why it felt so familiar.

“Is this real?” Shan Qiu gripped Grandfather Gu Mu’s arm and would not let go.

He looked around at everything on the second floor of the Yong’an Building. It all felt familiar, and yet not.

He had visited the Yong’an Building many times. The interior was well known to him. But the second floor seen from this height was something he had never experienced before.

That was why it was familiar and strange at once. The height was enough to finally bring tears to his eyes.

“This is a joyful occasion. Why are you crying with snot like this?” Gu Mu said, his voice carrying its usual vigour.

Though, in truth, he was not exactly in a position to speak. His own eyes had gone quite misty.

It was a genuinely moving sight. A man who had lost both legs, standing again like this.

No one would have dared to imagine such a thing was possible. And yet it was happening.

“Try walking. Standing is only the first step. Once you’ve walked and settled into them, then you can celebrate.” Su Bai said.

Fitting on a prosthetic and standing up was not so difficult. The harder question was whether walking was possible afterwards. That was what truly mattered.

After all, these were not finger prosthetics or below-the-knee prosthetics. What had been made here were above-the-knee prosthetics.

Above-the-knee prosthetics had to carry the balance of the entire body, which made walking more difficult. He had to try walking first before they could determine whether the fit was right.

“Alright.” Shan Qiu’s voice came out a little choked.

With Grandfather Gu Mu steadying him, he began to take his first steps, each one placed with extraordinary care.

He was terrified of damaging the prosthetics beneath him and wouldn’t allow himself any large movements at all.

Every step was as cautious as the last, which made his pace very slow and each stride look laborious.

“Are the prosthetics not fitted properly? You look like you’re struggling.” Su Bai asked.

He did not know the other man was simply too afraid to move freely or what else. He only knew Shan Qiu looked genuinely uncomfortable.

His pace was far too slow. Prosthetics were supposed to make daily life easier. At this speed, they were hardly an improvement.

Shan Qiu’s normal walking pace was quick. It put his current prosthetic shuffling to shame by an uncountable margin.

“No, Shaman. I’m just afraid of breaking them. I’m a rough person, and I’ve grown used to being rough.” Shan Qiu shook his head quickly.

The truth was, he had only experienced what it felt like to stand. He had not yet experienced what it felt like to walk. He had been without legs for so many years. He had long since forgotten what walking felt like.

With the prosthetics being so precious, he was genuinely terrified that his rough nature would ruin them.

“Is that all? Just walk boldly. If something this easy could break them, they wouldn’t be worth having.” Su Bai couldn’t help rolling his eyes.

He had thought there was a design flaw. It turned out the man simply couldn’t bring himself to put them to proper use.

“Alright.” Shan Qiu found that reasonable. He clenched his fists and began to use his stumps to drive the prosthetic limbs forward.

He tried to recall the feeling of walking as he once had. It was a sensation he had carried from childhood. With some effort, he could still reach back and find it.

One step, two steps. He began to move forward. The movements at first were stiff and mechanical, almost comical to watch.

Several times he nearly fell, but Grandfather Gu Mu caught him each time, and Shan Qiu himself managed to keep his balance.

“It will be difficult at first. But you must use your lower body to drive the prosthetics as much as you can. This is not something that can be done in one go. You have to keep practising.” Su Bai explained.

Seeing the other man’s laboured gait, he already understood this would not come easily. Having lost both legs above the knee, it was no small thing.

“Understood.” Shan Qiu set his jaw and nodded.

He began to force his lower body to work, driving the prosthetics forward one difficult step at a time.

It was hard going at first. But gradually, somewhere along the way, he seemed to find a rhythm.

It still looked unnatural. But he had managed to walk a decent distance.

“Good. That’s a strong start. No discomfort?” Su Bai asked.

He understood that an awkward gait was simply part of the process. Some people never quite managed to walk smoothly at all.

As long as the prosthetics could serve as a substitute for walking, that was already good enough. Asking beyond that was a stretch.

To walk with the easy, natural grace of a whole person was never going to be possible. Being able to walk again at all was already an enormous gift.

“No discomfort at all. These prosthetics are amazing.”

Shan Qiu, that iron-blooded man, had eyes brimming with tears. He had even begun to sniffle.

It was enough to show how deeply moved he was. This had been something he had wished for his entire life.

He had given up hope of it long ago. Su Bai had mentioned before that it might be possible to give him the ability to walk again, but it had only ever been a possibility.

No matter how capable a Shaman of the Tribe might be, giving a legless man the ability to walk again was still an immense undertaking.

Shan Qiu had always held a calm, unhurried attitude about it all. Perhaps it was precisely that attitude which made the moment of actually walking again strike him so forcefully.

“Go home and keep practising.” Su Bai said, smiling.

As long as he kept at it, Shan Qiu would still be a formidable Totem Warrior.