When returning to the settlement cave with Xigu, it was already late. However, thanks to the good weather, the sky remained relatively bright.
Everyone in their group had returned, bringing back a substantial amount of items—food, tools, and other necessities. Almost everyone who had gone out had done their utmost to gather as much as possible for the rainy season’s storage—except for Xi Yi.
According to the men, they had spent the entire day together, but at the end, Xi Yi didn’t return with the others and instead left alone.
She didn’t know what he was doing and felt somewhat worried. But given the circumstances, there was little she could do. Xigu also disagreed with her going out to look for him. According to their customs, even during rare clear days in the rainy season, they had to leave early and return early, as conditions were unpredictable. To ensure safety, everyone followed this practice by default.
Xigu had full confidence in Xi Yi’s survival skills in the wild. Besides, it wasn’t stormy weather, nor was it like the previous night when he hadn’t returned at all. So, far from being worried, Xigu even teased her for being timid. However, he was pleased by her concern for Xi Yi.
Sha Yi had no choice but to follow Xigu’s lead. The three women who had joined later started a fire to prepare food, while she and the others began sorting and counting the supplies.
The day’s harvest was abundant. The amount of leaves and grass stems for fire-starting alone was staggering, and dry branches were even more plentiful—though still somewhat damp. If the next day remained sunny, the intense sunlight would dry them thoroughly in just one day. As for food, there was also a considerable amount, likely due to encountering large groups of animals that had been forced out by hunger after days of rain.
The largest catch was a four-horned deer, the same kind she had seen during her first trip to this settlement with Xi Yi. This one, however, was much bigger. Sha Yi estimated that this deer alone could feed the entire group for many days. But without salt, preservation was a challenge. Though temperatures dropped during the rainy season, they were still relatively warm—comparable to modern spring or autumn—making it difficult to store meat for long. To avoid waste, they would have to consume it as quickly as possible.
The rest consisted of small to medium-sized animals, numerous in both quantity and variety. Most were half-dead, with a few already dead—likely due to excessive force during capture. They had no practice of raising livestock, and keeping animals half-alive was merely a crude attempt to prolong meat preservation—though it hardly made any real difference.
Given the current situation, Sha Yi guessed these animals would all die within a day or two at most. That was the first issue. The second was that with so many animals, the stench of decay would be unbearable, not to mention the risk of bacterial infections—a truly disastrous scenario.
Yet, during the rainy season, they had no choice but to stockpile these supplies. Without salt, they couldn’t preserve the meat, and letting it spoil would render the hunting efforts pointless. Raising livestock wasn’t feasible either, given their communal living conditions and the need to feed the animals. Relying solely on edible plants was another option, but even if vegetarian food could last longer, it wouldn’t provide sufficient nutrition.
This was indeed a serious problem. Sha Yi had no idea how they had managed in the past, but based on her reasoning, it was impossible that they had ever lived without food and shelter concerns.
After inspecting everything, Sha Yi noticed something—among the captured small animals, there were about a dozen of those creatures whose meat naturally tasted salty, just like the ones Xi Yi had caught the previous day on the slope near the terrifying forest.
At that moment, she desperately wanted to know where these rodent-squirrel hybrids lived. She had long suspected they inhabited areas with high salt concentrations. She couldn’t be sure if her guess was entirely accurate, but she had never encountered any non-domesticated animal meat with such noticeable saltiness before. That alone made it worth investigating.
If she could locate their habitat, she might—with luck—find mineral salt deposits. That would completely secure their survival during the rainy season.
With this in mind, she earnestly questioned the men who had participated in the hunt. They carefully considered her question and recalled all the locations where they had previously caught these small animals. The conclusion was unanimous: the outskirts of that terrifying forest—the very slope where she had once sat.
According to them, these creatures were most commonly found there, though occasionally some ventured into the forest. But there was no doubt that their habitat was in that area.
Satisfied, Sha Yi began planning how to convince the group to search for the animals’ habitat. However, she couldn’t yet explain the importance of salt to them. Only when its benefits became evident would they understand why this particular meat was always more favored than others.
Salt wasn’t just about flavor—it was essential for food preservation!
As for the edible plants, the women’s efforts were equally impressive. In just half a day, they had gathered enough to fill a large vine net, roughly two meters in length and width. There were also some mushrooms, though fewer in number and identical in appearance to the ones she had picked before.
Xigu struggled with the counting. She arranged small stones on the ground, but after placing about a dozen, she grew hesitant and frustrated. By the end, she was sweating and panting, still unable to figure it out, and could only slap her head in defeat, staring blankly at the pile.
Sha Yi almost laughed but restrained herself.
She couldn’t help but reflect—there really was a fundamental difference between those who had studied math and those who hadn’t.
Back in modern times, she had always thought math was useless. Now, however, she found herself in dire need of it. Compared to these ancient people who grew dizzy just counting a few numbers, her sense of superiority swelled. If fate had given her, the “burden,” a chance to prove her worth, then she would rise to the occasion without hesitation.
With that thought, she patted Xigu’s shoulder and gestured to take over.
Xigu seemed skeptical but didn’t refuse. After a moment, she nodded in agreement.
Without further explanation, Sha Yi pulled a charred stick from the fire the women had built, found a smooth section of the cave wall, and quickly wrote a series of Chinese characters and numbers corresponding to the small animals. Then, she instructed the group to sort the animals according to her system.
Tai Sui Yellow Amulet Paper FuLu Taoist Love Talisman Traditional Chinese Spiritual Charm Attracting Love Protecting Marriage