Chapter 08: Getting Salt
“Bring all the backpacks and two baskets.”
After the meal, Changxia efficiently emptied the backpacks and baskets in the den, placing them beside her to stack and tie onto Chen Rong later.
The salt lake was near Mount Kana and wasn't close to the tribe.
However, beastmen could travel quickly in their beast forms.
It would take half an hour to reach Mount Kana, and with time to collect salt, the morning would be enough for them to collect salt and pick white fruit.
At the entrance, Chen Rong transformed.
A three-meter-tall giant wolf appeared, its body pure white, a tuft of golden fur growing between its brows, echoing its golden eyes.
It looked extremely handsome.
“So handsome!” Changxia exclaimed.
She had seen Nanfeng and the tribespeople's beast forms, but now, staring at Chen Rong's beast form, her eyes were full of amazement. Changxia determined that even the chief's beast form in the tribe wasn't as strong and handsome as Chen Rong's.
Chen Rong's golden eyes gleamed with joy.
Clearly, he was very pleased with Changxia's praise.
This was his normal beast form; once he entered battle and activated the Fighting Wolf tribe's totem, golden stripes would appear on his white fur.
However, except for life-or-death battles,
Beastmen rarely activated their bloodline totems to fight.
Chen Rong knelt down, making it easy for Changxia to tie the backpacks and baskets.
Then, he used his wolf tail to wrap around Changxia and secure her onto his back.
“Chen Rong, let's go to Mount Kana to get salt,” Changxia said loudly.
Beastmen would only carry their partners and cubs. Unless there were special circumstances, they wouldn't easily carry others.
The tribe had Changxia get married so that even if she couldn't hunt,
With a partner, Changxia could at least participate in outdoor gathering and collecting.
This way, they wouldn't have to worry about starving.
In the early morning, light mist surrounded the mountains and rivers.
Chen Rong identified the direction and ran towards the salt lake on Mount Kana. Meanwhile, Nanfeng from the He Luo tribe approached her father, Chief Gen of the He Luo tribe.
She told Gen about the fish balls.
And she also told Gen about Changxia's plan to build a cave dwelling.
“Are the fish balls really that delicious?” Gen asked solemnly.
He didn't rush to ask about the cave dwelling. Nanfeng suggested lending the wood and stones to Changxia, and Gen didn't have any objections. He neither refused nor agreed to exchange resin with the tribe.
He directly asked about the fish balls.
Nanfeng had a reminiscent expression, couldn't help but lick her lips, and replied, “Delicious. There was absolutely no fishy smell; they were tender and chewy. They were fresh and smooth in the mouth. Besides fish, the river shrimp Changxia made were also delicious. Oh, and the stewed meat was exceptionally sweet and tender.”
If she hadn't been amazed by the taste of the fish balls and river shrimp,
Nanfeng would definitely have been thinking about that pot of stewed meat.
The simple stewed meat had a fatal attraction in Changxia's hands.
Nanfeng quickly stopped reminiscing; her saliva was almost gone.
“Can you make them?” Gen felt a little hungry; the roasted meat in his hand didn't seem to have much flavor. Nanfeng used too many words to describe the fish balls, river shrimp, and stewed meat Changxia had made; even without eating them, Gen seemed to smell the aroma of the food.
“…” Nanfeng froze, chuckled, and said, “Father, you know my skill in roasting meat. Do you think I can make such complicated fish balls? But Mother might be able to.”
Nanfeng's mother, Muqin's roasted meat, was very famous in the tribe.
Even the stewed meat was highly praised by the tribespeople; of course, this didn't include Changxia.
“Go catch a few of the green fish Changxia mentioned from the Ba River and have your mother try to make them. If it's really feasible, I'll help Changxia exchange resin with the tribespeople,” Gen looked at Nanfeng; his daughter was good in every way except for her stubbornness.
She had been an adult for so many years.
She had been delaying finding a male to marry, worrying Gen.
He had scolded her and talked to her.
But Nanfeng refused to listen, so he could only let it be. Compared to Nanfeng, Gen suddenly felt that Changxia was good in every way.
Being weak wasn't a big deal.
Even if she found a sick partner, she had still gotten married.
They didn't know what the future held, but for now, Changxia's life seemed to have gotten better.
“Okay, leave the fishing to me,” Nanfeng responded crisply.
It was rare for Gen not to nag; Nanfeng took her backpack and walked out of her den towards the Ba River.
At this time,
The sky was already bright.
Smoke curled up into the air above the tribe.
The aroma of various foods mingled together, beginning a lively day.
On the other side, Chen Rong took Changxia to the salt lake on Mount Kana. As far as the eye could see, it was a vast expanse of white, and a strong salty and fishy smell wafted over.
There were no birds or flowers and plants around the salt lake.
Occasionally, a few crooked, withered trees grew there, half-dead.
“This is the salt lake!” Changxia was shocked by the sight of the salt lake; calling it a lake wasn't an exaggeration. She looked up and couldn't see the edge of the salt lake.
No wonder Nanfeng had said that the salt lake was a gift from the Beast God to the beastmen.
This natural salt lake was enough for the beastmen to eat for thousands of years.
“You've never been to the salt lake to get salt?” Chen Rong was slightly surprised.
Changxia glared at Chen Rong and slid down from his back, “I was sickly before, and Chief and Nanfeng didn't even dare to let me leave the tribe. Do you think I could come to the salt lake to get salt?”
She had once been a powerful figure.
Who knew that one day she would wake up and not even be able to walk a few steps outside her den.
It all came down to her weak body. The powerful abilities she had in her previous life were all used to nourish her body, making her always weak and listless.
But she had survived.
After reaching adulthood, her body had stabilized.
With more exercise, in time, hunting and fishing would be easy.
“My mistake.” Chen Rong immediately apologized, letting Changxia rest while he went to get the salt. Loose salt was inconvenient to carry, so he picked large salt crystals and put them into the baskets.
When they returned to the den, he would crush and grind them.
The salt crystals in the salt lake were pure and didn't need to be filtered or purified. After crushing and grinding, they could be eaten directly, which greatly benefited the beastmen.
The salt lake was located within the range of Mount Kana, and beastmen patrolled it frequently.
Occasionally, birdmen would come to exchange with the beastmen; fishmen didn't lack salt. However, birdmen were proud, and fishmen were also not inferior, and every interaction between the two races was a fierce battle.
Over time,
The two races interacted less and less.
On the contrary, the beastmen's relationship with both races was fairly harmonious.
The backpacks and baskets were half a person's height; two full baskets roughly contained over three hundred catties. Salt didn't spoil easily; hundreds of catties of salt were enough for Changxia and Chen Rong's daily needs.
Ordinary tribespeople wouldn't take much salt either.
Salt, once taken back to the tribe, was easily dampened. On the contrary, here at the salt lake, they didn't have to worry about dampness.
Changxia still needed to find a way to store the hundreds of catties of salt she would take back to the den. If it got damp, the bottom would turn into brine, which was troublesome.
“Changxia, aren't two baskets of salt a bit much?” Chen Rong paused and asked.
Even though he didn't have much life experience, he understood that hundreds of catties of salt was a lot. Before, he would carry a small animal hide bag when he went out, which could hold half a catty.
One animal hide bag could last ten to fifteen days.
Changxia stacked the salt crystals in the baskets and replied, “Don't worry. We'll take more this time, so we don't have to come here to get salt. Besides, I plan to pickle vegetables and meat; this will require a lot of salt.”
“Salt, if it gets damp, will spoil,” Chen Rong reminded her.
“I'll find a way to store it using pottery jars,” Changxia frowned, pondering how to preserve the salt.
The salt lake wasn't far from the tribe but wasn't close either.
She didn't want to go back and forth to the salt lake to get salt every few days; it was too tiring.
After getting the salt, the two were ready to return to the tribe.
But before returning to the tribe,
Changxia still needed to pick white fruit; there were white fruit forests on Mount Kana. However, Mount Kana was the witch's territory. Unless the witch spoke up, no beastmen would pick anything there.
Salt was an exception.
“Let's go to Elephant Peak Mountain,” Changxia waited for Chen Rong to secure the baskets, slowly climbed onto Chen Rong's back, and said.
Elephant Peak Mountain wasn't far from Mount Kana.
It was also the territory of the He Luo tribe. The white fruit trees growing there were as dense and lush as those on Mount Kana, and it was more convenient.
(End of Chapter)
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