Chapter 677: Getting Salt
The three moons in the sky illuminated the entire world with an eerie white glow. Ning Shu weaved through the trees with a wooden stick in her hand. Every couple steps, she would break some branches to make marks.
There were a lot of nocturnal animals in the forest. She soon encountered a bat that was the size of a mill. Its sinister black appearance as it spread its wings and charged towards her was very frightening.
However, she held the stick like a lance and revolved her energy to pierce it right through the bat. As the bat flapped its wings while screeching, its blood splashed onto Ning Shu’s face. The hot sticky sensation and the stench made her gag.
At the same time, her actions were like stabbing a hornet’s nest. All the bats on the tree charged towards Ning Shu, so she yanked out the stick and ran. When any bat got too close, she would turn around and quickly swing her stick at it.
Every time she killed a bat, the other bats would surround the dead bat to tear at its flesh.
After running for a long time, Ning Shu finally stopped to catch her breath. Her shoulder hurt from the vine strap even though the basket was empty, so it’d probably hurt even more when she carried the salt back.
She didn’t know how long she walked but she still couldn’t find the salt mine. When they had first discovered the salt mine, she had taken note of the fact that there was an enormous towering tree growing near the mine whose branches seemed to cover the entire sky.
As she had been heading back to the tribe, she had focused on taking note of special plants in preparation for the possibility that she would need to come back to the salt mine.
Flying in the sky was seriously a huge advantage. One’s line of sight was broader so it was possible to spot that huge tree with one glance instead of having to slowly search like this. She didn’t know how long it would take to find it.
She glanced up at the sky. The moonlight was dimmer now. It was probably nearing dawn. At that time, the sky would become very dark so it’d be hard for her to make her way back.
Ning Shu was getting so anxious that her forehead was covered with sweat, but she finally managed to find the salt mine. She set the basket down, then started digging at the sand with her hands.
It was seriously rough to live in the prehistoric era that didn’t have any tools. The males, at the very least, had strong claws when they transformed, but she had no choice but to just use her hands.
She revolved her energy, then took a deep breath before digging at the ground with all her strength. When she finally hit salt, the sky was already darkening and the moons were slowly descending. Without moonlight to help illuminate things, it’d be very difficult to find her way back.
Ning Shu placed a large block of salt in her basket, then put the basket on her back and started revolving her energy as she sprinted. There was fiery pain coming from her shoulder. It felt like the coarse vines were digging into her flesh.
The trip back went much more smoothly thanks to the road marks she had left earlier. When she got back to the tribe, it was so dark that she couldn’t even see anything in front of her.
However, there was firelight in her cave. She walked into the cave and saw that Zhi hadn’t slept yet and was currently adjusting the campfire.
“You’re back!” Zhi hastily tossed aside the branch she was holding and sighed in relief, then she got up to help take off Ning Shu’s basket.
“B-be gentle. My shoulder hurts.” Ning Shu was in so much pain that she had to keep taking deep breaths.
After setting down the basket, she pulled at the fur clothing and saw that her shoulder was bleeding, so she chewed some herbs up before applying them to her shoulder.
When Zhi saw this, she said in annoyance, “Why did you get into an argument with Jia while asking for salt? Now you’re suffering for it. Can’t you just coax Jia a little? It’s too dangerous for you to do things like this.”
“Coaxing her won’t work. We need a lot of salt and it’s not possible to get that amount from her. If we take too much, it’ll arouse suspicion. We’re currently making a secret stash of prey. If it’s discovered, we’ll have to hand it over.” Ning Shu used a rock to smash the salt block, then placed it inside the stone pot.
Ning Shu had a plan, but this plan required a huge amount of food to help them get through the extremely cold winter.
After working the entire night, Ning Shu was completely worn out. She lay down on the dry grass in preparation to nap. “You should go rest too. We’ll boil the salt tomorrow.”
Zhi nodded and went back to her cave.
Since Ning Shu got into an argument with Qian Jia, when she went out to get water for cooking the salt the next day, some beastmen were looking at her with loathing, however, those beastmen were all male. Some female beastmen came over to ask Ning Shu what had happened.
How did she end up in an argument with the divine maiden?
Ning Shu just said that it was because of Kai. Kai could carry this black pot.