Chapter 8: Chapter 8: Gathering Salt

“Bring all the baskets, and take two tubs as well.”

After breakfast, Chang Xia efficiently emptied out all the baskets and tubs in the beast den, stacking them by the side, ready to tie them onto Chen Rong later.

The salt lake was near Mount Kana, not exactly close to the tribe.

But beastfolk could travel fast in beast form.

It would take only half an hour to reach Mount Kana, and with time to collect salt and pick white fruit, the morning would be enough for their trip.

At the door, Chen Rong transformed.

A giant silver-white wolf, three meters tall, appeared, with a tuft of golden fur between his brows that matched his golden wolf eyes.

He looked incredibly handsome.

“So beautiful!” Chang Xia exclaimed.

She’d seen Nan Feng and other tribe members in beast form, but now, staring at Chen Rong, she was stunned—she was sure that even the chief’s beast form couldn’t compare to Chen Rong’s imposing, striking appearance.

A hint of joy flashed in Chen Rong’s golden eyes.

Clearly, he was pleased with Chang Xia’s praise.

This was just his normal beast form. If he entered battle and activated the Wolf Clan’s totem, his silver-white fur would be marked with golden stripes.

But unless it was a life-or-death fight, beastfolk rarely activated their bloodline totems.

Chen Rong knelt down so Chang Xia could tie the baskets and tubs onto him.

Then, with his wolf tail, he scooped Chang Xia up and settled her securely on his back.

“Let’s go, Chen Rong! We’re off to Mount Kana to get salt!” Chang Xia called out.

A beastfolk’s beast form would only ever carry their mate or their cubs. Unless it was a special situation, they would never carry anyone else.

The tribe had arranged Chang Xia’s marriage so that even if she couldn’t go out hunting, having a mate meant she could still go out gathering and foraging.

That way, she wouldn’t have to worry about starving.

In the early morning, a light mist curled around the mountains and rivers.

Chen Rong found his bearings and sped toward the salt lake at Mount Kana. Meanwhile, in the Heluo tribe, Nan Feng went to see her father, Gen, who was also the tribe chief.

She told Gen about the fish balls.

She also mentioned that Chang Xia wanted to build a kiln.

“Fish balls—are they really as good as you say?” Gen asked in a deep voice.

He didn’t ask about the kiln right away. When Nan Feng suggested lending wood and stone to Chang Xia, Gen had no objections. Trading resin with the tribe, he neither refused nor agreed.

Instead, he went straight to asking about the fish balls.

Nan Feng’s face was full of lingering satisfaction. He couldn’t help but lick the corners of his mouth and replied, “Delicious. There’s no fishy smell at all—it’s fresh, tender, and has a nice bite to it. In your mouth, it’s both flavorful and silky smooth. Besides the fish, the river shrimp Chang Xia made was also amazing. Oh, and the braised meat was especially sweet and melt-in-your-mouth tender.”

If it weren’t for being so blown away by the taste of the fish balls and river shrimp,

the dish Nan Feng missed the most would definitely be that pot of braised meat.

Such a simple braised meat, yet in Chang Xia’s hands, it had an irresistible allure.

Nan Feng quickly reined in his emotions and stopped reminiscing—after all, he was practically drooling.

“Can you make it?” Gen was starting to feel a bit hungry himself, and suddenly the roasted meat in his hand seemed bland. Nan Feng had used so many words to describe Chang Xia’s fish balls, river shrimp, and braised meat that even though Gen hadn’t tasted them, he could almost smell their aroma.

“…” Nan Feng froze, then gave an awkward laugh. “Father, you know my level when it comes to roasting meat. Do you really think I could make something as complicated as fish balls? But, my mother probably could.”

Nan Feng’s mother, Mu Qin, was famous in the tribe for her roasted meat.

Even her braised meat was highly praised by the clanspeople—though, of course, that didn’t include Chang Xia.

“Go catch a few of those green fish Chang Xia mentioned from the White River, and have your mother try making it later. If it really works, I’ll help Chang Xia trade resin with the tribe,” Gen said, glancing at Nan Feng. His own child was great in every way—except for being so stubborn.

He’d been an adult for so many years now,

yet still hadn’t found a mate, which worried Gen to no end.

He’d scolded, he’d talked,

but Nan Feng just wouldn’t listen, so things had dragged on like this. Compared to Nan Feng, Gen suddenly felt that Chang Xia was wonderful in every way.

A weak body? That was nothing.

Even if she’d found a sickly partner, at least she’d settled down.

Who knew what the future would bring, but for now, it looked like Chang Xia was living well.

“Alright, leave the fishing to me,” Nan Feng replied briskly.

For once, Gen didn’t nag, so Nan Feng grabbed his basket and headed straight out of their beast den toward the White River.

By now,

the sky was already bright.

Wisps of smoke curled above the tribe,

and the mingled aromas of all kinds of food filled the air, signaling the start of a lively new day.

Elsewhere, Shen Rong was leading Chang Xia to the salt lake at Mount Kana. As far as the eye could see, everything was a vast, blinding white, and a strong salty tang filled the air.

There were no birds or flowers around the salt lake.

Occasionally, a few crooked, half-dead trees struggled to survive, their leaves yellowed and withered.

“This is the salt lake!” Chang Xia stared in awe at the scene before her. Calling it a lake was no exaggeration. She looked up, but couldn’t even see the edge of the salt lake.

No wonder Nan Feng once said the salt lake was a gift from the Beast God to the beast tribe.

This natural salt lake could feed the tribe for hundreds, even thousands of years.

“You’ve never come to the salt lake to get salt?” Shen Rong was a little surprised.

Chang Xia shot him a look and slid down from his beast form. “I used to be so sickly that even the chief and Nan Feng wouldn’t let me leave the tribe, let alone come all the way to the salt lake to fetch salt. Do you think I could have made it here?”

She used to be a force to be reckoned with,

but who’d have thought she’d wake up one day unable to even step outside her beast den?

In the end, it was all because her body was too weak. All the powerful abilities from her previous life had been used just to keep her body going, leaving her listless and barely alive.

Still, she’d survived.

Now that she’d come of age, her body had finally stabilized.

With more training, in time, hunting and fishing would be no problem at all.

“My mistake,” Shen Rong apologized immediately, telling Chang Xia to rest while he went to collect the salt. Since loose salt was hard to carry, he picked out large salt crystals and put them in the basket.

Once they got back to the den, they could crush and grind them.

The salt crystals from the salt lake were pure and didn’t need to be filtered or refined. Once crushed and ground, they could be used directly, which was a huge convenience for the beast tribe.

The salt lake was within Mount Kana’s territory, and the beast tribe regularly patrolled the area.

Sometimes, the bird tribe would come to trade for salt, though the fish tribe never lacked for it. But the bird tribe was proud, and the fish tribe wasn’t easy to deal with either—every interaction between the two usually ended in a brawl.

Over time,

the two tribes interacted less and less.

On the other hand, the beast tribe maintained decent relations with both.

The baskets were half as tall as a person, and when filled, each held over 150 pounds—together, more than 300 pounds of salt. Salt didn’t spoil easily, and this amount would be more than enough for Chang Xia and Shen Rong’s daily needs.

Ordinary clanspeople also wouldn’t take much more than that.

If you brought too much salt back to the tribe, it would easily get damp. But at the salt lake, there was no such worry.

Still, once Chang Xia brought these hundreds of pounds of salt back to the den, she’d have to find a way to store it. If it got damp, the bottom would turn to brine—a real hassle.

“Chang Xia, isn’t two baskets of salt a bit much?” Shen Rong paused, asking.

Even with his limited experience, he knew that hundreds of pounds of salt was a lot. When he traveled, he’d carry a small animal skin pouch that held maybe half a pound—enough for ten days or half a month.

Chang Xia stacked the salt crystals neatly in the basket and replied, “Don’t worry. If we take more this time, we won’t have to come back so often. Besides, I plan to pickle vegetables and meat, which will use up a lot of salt.”

“Salt goes bad if it gets damp,” Shen Rong reminded her.

“I’ll figure out how to seal it in clay jars or something,” Chang Xia frowned, thinking about how to store the salt.

The salt lake wasn’t far from the tribe, but it wasn’t exactly close either.

She didn’t want to have to come here every few days like the others—it was too much trouble.

With the salt collected, the two prepared to head back to the tribe.

But before returning,

Chang Xia wanted to pick some white nuts. Mount Kana had a white nut forest, but it was the witch’s territory. Unless the witch gave permission, no beast would dare pick anything from there.

Salt was an exception.

“Let’s go to Elephant Peak Mountain,” Chang Xia said, waiting for Shen Rong to secure the baskets before climbing onto his beast form.

Elephant Peak Mountain wasn’t far from Mount Kana.

It was also part of the Heluo tribe’s territory, and the white nut trees there were just as dense and lush as those on Mount Kana—plus, it was on the way.