That evening was quite busy, and the atmosphere among the various groups in the cave settlement was exceptionally warm and harmonious. The birth of salt, with its seasoning and preservative effects, had brought great joy to everyone, including those who hadn’t participated in its production.
Sha Yi took the opportunity to teach Xigu and the others how to cure meat. The crude curing method required little skill and was far simpler than refining salt crystals, so everyone grasped it instantly.
However, due to the need for even distribution of the brine, the quantity was severely insufficient. The current salt supply was only enough to cure a small amount of food. If they wanted to preserve the large stockpile of food they had stored, they would need to return to the massive salt mine to gather more materials.
As for the few natural salt crystals she and Xiyi had brought back, she was well aware that the process for refining them would be much simpler than treating brine. Yet now was not the right time to reveal this to the group.
The prehistoric people in this cave couldn’t yet grasp the practical significance of salt in daily use. If she told them now that refining natural salt crystals was easier than processing brine, the natural salt crystals in the mine would likely be stripped bare in no time. Once the resource was recklessly exploited, finding a second salt deposit would be extremely difficult.
The group wasn’t a unified community—they had only gathered for mutual benefit during the rainy season. Even if no conflicts arose, they would eventually disperse. Since neither she, Xiyi, nor Xigu were their leaders, she couldn’t expect much cooperation from them. For now, maintaining “moderation in extraction” relied solely on her discretion.
Leaving the remaining tasks to Xigu, Sha Yi pulled Xiyi aside and called for two other men. The four of them left the settlement cave together.
The rain had stopped, and it was the perfect time to find a suitable place to store the reddish-brown thick vines. Otherwise, when thunderstorms arrived, no one would dare climb the trees to retrieve them.
Drawing from their experience in the eerie forest, Xiyi and the others didn’t dare place the vines too close to the settlement cave. Instead, they hung them at a considerable distance on the low, thick branches of a massive tree—more than a dozen vines of varying sizes.
Upon approaching, Sha Yi noticed something peculiar: the parts of the vines wrapped around the tree had already taken root, embedding themselves into the thick branches. This was a significant discovery.
The vines likely had numerous roots—wherever the vine extended, roots would densely spread. However, the lower sections near the ground differed from the upper parts, hanging limply without taking root.
It seemed the reddish-brown vines were parasitic plants, anchoring themselves to other vegetation rather than growing in soil. Given their thick, heavy structure, if they were to serve as lightning rods, trees would be the only viable option.
Still, Sha Yi couldn’t be entirely certain of her theory, but given the circumstances, she had to work with what she observed.
From the settlement cave’s location, this side grove was the safest distance away—roughly 40 to 50 meters by visual estimation. In the previous eerie forest, the distance had been about half that, which had directly led to the chaotic lightning strikes.
To avoid deafening thunderclaps, blinding midnight flashes, and ensure targeted lightning redirection, the placement of the vines had to be precise.
She had considered crafting a modern lightning rod, but the idea was impractical given the limited conditions, time, and her incomplete knowledge. If she had leisure to think it through, she might recall more details—especially since among the items that had traveled with her were galvanized iron rods and wires, two ready-made treasures.
In essence, the vines served a similar purpose to lightning rods—except the former attracted visible lightning strikes, while the latter worked silently. The end result was the same, but lightning rods were long-term solutions, whereas the vines seemed to lose their effectiveness once the glowing green specks disappeared. How many lightning strikes they could attract remained uncertain.
Moreover, the dozen or so vines now had to be used simultaneously since they were already mature, and no one dared relocate them.
But Sha Yi wanted to test burying them in deep pits to see if that could prevent lightning strikes while also assessing their survival capability. If successful, their lightning problem would be solved in the short term. Otherwise, they’d have to return to the forest repeatedly—a risky endeavor with no guarantee of finding more vines.
Given their current situation, they had too many problems to solve and couldn’t afford to linger on half-measures. So, it was worth a try.
With that in mind, she signaled the men to retrieve the smaller vines from the tree and bury them in deep pits nearby, leaving only the two largest ones on the tree.
Though puzzled, the two men followed Xiyi’s lead without question, digging into a relatively soft patch of ground.
Their progress was slow—using large stone flakes and animal bones as tools naturally hindered efficiency. Sha Yi watched anxiously but could do nothing.
Perhaps harder to obtain than salt was this: in prehistoric times, tool improvement was an era-defining challenge.
By the time the three men filled the pits and marked the spots, the sky had darkened completely. A chilly night wind swept through, shaking the massive tree and drenching them in accumulated rainwater. Even the resin-fueled torches they carried weren’t spared, though the flames remained unaffected.
With the lightning diversion measures nearly complete, Sha Yi took Xiyi’s hand and was about to gesture for their return when another strong gust swept through. The vines lashed against the tree trunk, emitting dull thuds—soft but unsettling.
In that moment, Sha Yi thought of boats and rafts—and froze.
She had contemplated building a boat many times before!
It was something they should have prepared long ago, especially during the rainy season with its relentless downpours and rising rivers. Flooding was a real possibility later on, making boats indispensable. Initially, based on Xiyi’s curiosity about the bathtub, she had concluded that this era’s people had no concept of boats, let alone the ability to build them. When she had considered it a few days prior, she realized their tools were inadequate for lumber work—a fact now confirmed.
But if all they needed were massive logs, and manpower and resources were insufficient… why not harness lightning strikes to their advantage?
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