CHAPTER 723: 【717】BEAST WORLD FARMING 27 (2 MORE)

However, the weather did not cooperate, as the next day by the sea brought not only strong winds but also torrential rain. The mountain spring water ran in torrents, and its quality turned murky; they had no choice but to move the water pots aside, allowing the water to flow down through the cracks. The water in the pots still needed to settle before it could be consumed.

With the conditions of this era, they couldn’t be picky. Fortunately, when it came to the cleanliness of water and rainwater, it was certainly better than what was found in later times, just needing to be boiled before usage.

The rain came quickly and left just as swiftly. After the downpour, they picked up a lot of shells, kelp, sorrel, and other edible seafood from the beach.

There was also clay in the nearby grove, and with experience on their side, they built a stove and fired up a large clay pot.

The clay pot might not be better than an iron pot, but it was all they had under the circumstances. Since a large quantity of salt was necessary, the pot was made very large, at least one meter wide, and required three full buckets of seawater to fill it.

After that, Tangtang took on the duty of making salt there, while Pan Lin took to the sea to catch seafood, and Yin Ye, after assuring Tangtang needed no help, also went to the grove.

The only regret was that the grain fruit they intended to dry had to be sunned for an additional day due to the rain attack. Fortunately, the strong winds by the sea didn’t cause much damage, but they still needed to turn the fruit over to prevent it from becoming moldy and spoiling due to the dampness underneath.

Making sea salt from seawater was actually quite simple. It wasn’t about evaporating the seawater to dryness before adding more; instead, a portion of seawater should be left undisturbed, only taking the layer of salt crystals from the bottom, to avoid a bitter taste.

In other words, given the actual situation, when making salt, after boiling away half of the water, more seawater should be added, and once again boiled down to half before the seawater is poured off. This method resulted in a better quality of salt than boiling it dry.

She used the dry firewood from her space to start the stove, then collected some wet firewood from the grove. The wet wood initially produced black smoke but soon dried out enough for burning. She chose larger pieces of wood, so they would burn for a longer time. During this period, she didn’t idle away but continued to collect shells on the beach, intending to use these sizable, beautiful shells as decorative items or dishes in the future.

Her saltwater boiled for an entire day, constantly needing seawater refills, until finally, a pot full of sea salt crystallized. She couldn’t tell how many times she had carried seawater back and forth, but seeing three to four jin of salt gave her a great sense of accomplishment.

Upon tasting, the salt wasn’t too bitter, which pleased her, nodding in satisfaction. This method differed little from that used in places with salt-alkali land. Although the two Beastmen found the process vaguely familiar, transforming seawater into salt seemed far more miraculous. This also meant that even without salt-alkali land, they could have salt whenever desired, as seawater is an inexhaustible source.

Over the following five days, as Pan Lin’s body gradually grew larger, he took charge of preparing their three meals a day. Yin Ye busied himself with the grain fruit on the beach, while Tangtang mainly focused on making salt. Considering the large amount of food that would need to be cured upon their return, she boiled seawater from dawn to dusk every day.

It wasn’t until seven days later that Jin Han arrived. Tangtang collected all of Yin Ye’s gathered grain fruit into her space, along with the sea snail and sea urchin shells and the fully dried seafood meat, kelp, and about ten to twenty jin of salt, filling up the entire storage house. On the eighth day, Jin Han took Tangtang and flew back to the cave where they had spent a previous night.

"Will this place be discovered by other Beastmen? What if they take our food?" she asked.

"Don’t worry, even if they take it, they won’t know how to eat it. As for things like shell grass and such, they’re not interested," he assured.

Tangtang thought it over and realized it was true, "No wonder you chose this place. The wind is stronger here, which is good for drying."

So, she unloaded the grain fruit, kelp, nori, shell grass, and the like in a jumbled mess. Salt was hard to come by, so she didn’t dare to take it out.

"With this amount, one more trip and the cave will be full. I reckon just this one cave will be enough to feed us for an entire Cold Season. When we return to the tribe, we can set up a storage room, and then we’ll have enough food to last until next spring. Plus, with these seafood, we really don’t have to worry about the Cold Season."

Jin Han said with a thousand emotions, "I have already told the Beastmen of the tribe that there are places with grain fruit, not just this one spot. During our hunts, we have also come across several such places. I told them they could eat these, but clearly, they were not very interested, caring more about meat. It seems unlikely that any beasts would bother with these."

Tangtang sighed, "Let’s take it slow. However, I want to gather as much as possible. Otherwise, once the Cold Season comes, those things will just rot away. What a waste!"

"Whatever you say goes. However you want to work it out, we’ll support you all the way."

Since the canyon was only half a day away from the seashore, they went back to the sea when it got dark.

By the time they arrived, it was not yet dark. With the help of Jin Han, he and Pan Lin brought home a giant octopus, enough to feed them for more than three to four days.

With such a big octopus, they were certain to have grilled octopus that night, along with sea urchin porridge.

The next morning, Jin Han left again, still setting a limit of seven days. After seven days, the cave on the mountain top was filled with food.

However, Tangtang used clay bricks made at the seaside to partially seal the cave, leaving a small entrance just big enough for one person. The clay, after being eroded by rain and baked by the sun, would stick together without needing anything else to bind it.

It took half a month to finish storing everything in the cave. Then, before the Cold Season arrived, they dug another cellar next to Yin Ye’s cave.

The cellar was dug out by the refreshed and normal-sized Pan Lin, who even decided to hibernate there, so it was quite large. Not only did they store all the food they’d collected from the seaside, but they also processed the portion of meat that Yin Ye and Jin Han had earned. The lean meat was turned into cured meat, and the meat with a mix of fat was made into dried sausages and cured meat; the fat was rendered into oil for cooking.

Tangtang stayed outside for nearly two months before returning to the tribe. Not only did Witch Doctor Grandma show curiosity about her departure, but other females also offered their concern.

She only said that she had gone to the seaside, without mentioning what she did.

Because each day was colder than the last, she had a lot of work to do and no time to chat with them.

Although she did not build a house, Tangtang knew that the winter in Beast World was not something that could be simply gotten through by donning thick furs.

So, after she returned, she and three Beastmen kept making clay bricks at the original earthen kiln. Once done, they brought the bricks back to the cave, where they built a large kang bed stove close to the entrance. The ventilating chimney could lead directly outside, and if they burned the kang, it would warm the inside of the house.