In the vast primitive forest, a herd of wild buffalo grazed as they slowly moved forward, occasionally lifting their heads to scan their surroundings, remaining very alert.
Behind the buffalo, Jiang Xuan, Chi Shao, and Shi Qiu had been tracking them for most of the day and were feeling quite hungry.
"Huff puff..."
Chi Shao used a Bone Plow to dig up several spherical plant tubers from beneath a tree, handing the largest one to Jiang Xuan.
"Here, eat this. It's a Round Potato, very sweet."
This fruit's appearance was similar to a sweet potato but spherical, with a reddish skin.
Jiang Xuan wiped the dirt off the skin and took a bite.
He was surprised to find that this Round Potato had a fruit-like quality when eaten—crisp, sweet, and very pleasant.
Jiang Xuan's eyes lit up, "This is good. Are there any smaller ones? Let's take them back to plant!"
"I'll look."
Chi Shao rummaged through the area where the Round Potato grew and found five or six smaller tubers, the largest about the size of an egg, the smallest about a dove egg.
In the past, these smaller fruits wouldn't have been taken back by the tribe; they would have been left to grow in the ground to be conveniently dug out on a return visit.
But now things were different; since the Vine Tribe had opened up wasteland, everything could be taken back—large ones for eating, small ones for planting.
Jiang Xuan put the small Round Potatoes into the beast hide bag he carried with him; to him, these were treasures.
"Chief, the wild buffalo are moving to another spot to graze."
Shi Qiu had been watching the herd of buffalo intently, never taking his eyes off them even when eating the Round Potatoes. He was a very responsible and patient person.
"Let's follow them."
Jiang Xuan tied up the mouth of his beast hide bag and quickly followed.
The grass in the primitive jungle was relatively dispersed, so once the buffalo finished grazing in one area, they would head to another.
Moreover, sometimes the herd might encounter a large predator and flee in panic; without close tracking, it would be easy to lose them.
And so, they gathered edible plants along the way and tracked the buffalo herd, and before they knew it, night had fallen.
The buffalo herd stopped at a grassy area and did not move forward anymore.
Buffalo need to sleep, too.
In cold weather, they forage during the day and sleep at night.
In hot weather, they generally forage in the morning and afternoon, sleeping at midday and night.
Of course, there are always exceptions, with some buffalo foraging at night.
Fortunately, this herd was not an exception; they were preparing to stay the night here.
During the night, one buffalo would stand guard, keeping watch so the others could sleep without the fear of a sudden wild predator attack.
Jiang Xuan observed the buffalo herd and said, "It looks like they won't move tonight. Let's prepare to spend the night in the trees."
The ground was full of venomous insects and also prone to predator attacks, so spending the night in the trees was slightly safer.
The three of them quickly built a temporary shelter in the trees and made a campfire on the ground.
Fire was very important; not only could it drive away predators, but the smoke could also repel annoying insects.
After eating a little, the three took turns keeping watch and slept in the tree overnight.
At dawn on the second day, as the sky lightened, the buffalo herd set off again, and Jiang Xuan and the others carefully extinguished the fire and immediately followed.
Tracking a buffalo herd was a tedious and time-consuming task, but fortunately, Jiang Xuan and his companions could rotate among the three of them.
On the second day of tracking the buffalo herd, Jiang Xuan finally discovered that the buffalo were heading to a particularly unique place.
It was a few desolate mountains sparsely covered with vegetation, standing out incongruously amidst the towering ancient trees of the primitive forest.
These desolate mountains were steep, with only some very low grass and shrubs. Yet the buffalo unhesitatingly ran towards the desolate mountains.
When they reached the mountainside, they stopped in front of a rocky cliff and started licking the stones.
At the foot of the mountain, Jiang Xuan watched the buffalo's actions with mounting excitement, but he still couldn't be sure that the buffalo were licking salt.
"Let's go up and take a look!"
Jiang Xuan led Chi Shao and Shi Qiu, following the buffalo's path up the mountain.
After licking the rocks for a while, the buffalo—because of the sparse vegetation—stood in an elevated position, easily spotting the people climbing the mountain.
"Moo!"
One of the buffalo bellowed, and then the others stopped licking the rocks and fled, descending the mountain from another slope.
Jiang Xuan didn't mind; he wasn't tracking the buffalo to hunt them but to find salt. Since he found the place where the buffalo supplemented their salt, there was no need to follow them anymore.
Soon enough, Jiang Xuan climbed to the mountainside and arrived at the rocky cliff.
This rocky cliff comprised countless stones, likely exposed due to a landslide.
These stones were generally yellow in color, some tinged with red, with lower-lying stones exhibiting obvious licking marks, appearing smooth on the surface.
The ground was littered with buffalo dung, wild goat droppings, and other animal feces, indicating that not only buffalo frequented this spot; other animals did as well.
Jiang Xuan drew a self-made Stone Knife from his belt and pried off a small piece of reddish, semi-crystalline stone from the higher, unlicked areas of the rock face.
Then, he gently licked the stone with his tongue.
A salty yet bitter taste tingled the taste buds on Jiang Xuan's tongue.
"Salty!"
Jiang Xuan's body shivered in excitement; he gazed at the small semi-crystalline stone with an indescribable exhilaration in his heart.
This was salt; it truly was salt!
Overjoyed, Jiang Xuan almost wanted to jump up. Heaven knew how he hadn't tasted real salt since crossing to this world, almost forgetting what salt tasted like.
"Let me try."
Chi Shao also used her Stone Knife to pry a small piece of rock, licked it, and found the taste unpleasant. Besides the salty taste, there were many impurities, making it not tasty.
"I'll try too."
Shi Qiu eagerly got himself a small piece of stone, taking a lick, experiencing a similar feeling to Chi Shao's—it wasn't pleasant to eat.
"Chief, is this really salt?" Chi Shao doubted.
For in her memory, salt was extremely precious, and the Deer Tribe obtained it only through trade with other tribes.
The salt was usually in the hands of the tribe's leader or the Witch, and only the injured or sick could get a little dilute saltwater, while others relied on drinking beast blood to supplement their salt intake.
Most tribespeople had never seen what complete salt looked like, nor had Chi Shao. She found it hard to accept that the vast rock face could contain such precious salt.
Shi Qiu also watched Jiang Xuan because he knew the leader would certainly provide an answer.
Holding the semi-crystalline pale-red rock in his palm, Jiang Xuan said to Chi Shao and Shi Qiu, "To be precise, this is Salt Ore, which contains a large amount of toxic substances besides salt."
"If the toxic substances can't be removed, consuming it over time will lead to gradual poisoning, severe cases could even lead to death."
Upon hearing it was toxic, Chi Shao and Shi Qiu immediately became tense because they had both licked the Salt Ore.
Jiang Xuan continued, "Don't worry, just a lick won't harm you; only prolonged consumption will cause poisoning."
Chi Shao asked curiously, "Then why aren't the buffalo affected?"
Shi Qiu nodded beside her, sharing the same curiosity.
"Buffalo have much stronger constitutions than us and a better ability to detoxify, so they can lick it directly, while we can't eat this Salt Ore directly."
Chi Shao spoke with frustration, "Having finally found it, and we can't eat it, haven't we wasted two days?"
Jiang Xuan chuckled, "It wasn't in vain."
"I know how to remove the toxic substances from this Salt Ore, turning it into salt we can consume."
"Really?" Hope rekindled in Chi Shao's eyes; salt was of utmost importance and precious to the tribe.
"Of course."
"That's wonderful!"
Jiang Xuan said, "Let's dig some Salt Ore, crush it, and bring it back to the tribe in the beast hide bags."
"Alright!"
The three of them immediately began digging the Salt Ore with their Stone Knives, selecting the reddish semi-crystalline Salt Ore as it had a higher salt content.
The semi-crystalline Salt Ore was relatively easy to crush, which made it easier to fit into the beast hide bags and more convenient to carry.
Each brought a beast hide bag, and when the three bags were filled, they embarked on their return journey with excited hearts.
If this Salt Ore could truly be refined into edible salt, the Vine Tribe's salt shortage crisis would be genuinely resolved!