The afternoon sunlight was scorching.
Ye Xi sat cross-legged in a cool and shadowy part of the cave entrance and began to mess around with a piece of snake skin.
It should have been simple for him to make some clothes, but when he tried, he didn't know where to start.
Ye Xi took out a bone needle about as thick as a thumb and wondered where he should start sewing.
"Ye Xi, are you trying to sew a water bag?" A young and timid voice came from overhead.
Ye Xi looked up, but it took him around two seconds to recognize that it was Pheasant Eye.
The tribe's lack of water meant that the girl had always been covered in filth. Now she had been washed, it was possible to see her delicate and pretty face. It was hard to believe that they were the same person.
"No, I'm making clothes."
"This snake skin is so pretty." Pheasant Eye glanced at the snake skin, her eyes glowing. She held her hands behind her back and restlessly moved her feet as she hesitantly asked, "Can, can I touch it?
"My hands are very clean!" Pheasant Eye hastily added, pushing her hands up to Ye Xi so that he could look.
Ye Xi looked at her in surprise.
Pheasant Eye saw that Ye Xi wasn't saying anything and thought he was unhappy. Waving her hands, she said, "Then I don't need to look!"
Ever since Ye Xi had resolved the tribe's water shortage, he hadn't seen much of Pheasant Eye. Now that he saw her all shaky and afraid, he finally understood that Pheasant Eye had been avoiding him out of fear.
Realizing that he had scared the girl, Ye Xi placed the snake skin in her hand and smiled. "Here—feel it all you want."
Pheasant Eye was startled as she sensed the cool object in her hands. "Thank you," she softly muttered.
She turned it over in her hands, an appreciative light in her eyes. "Ah, such excellent material," she couldn't help but say.
Ye Xi chuckled. "You like snake skin that much? I have a lot, so I'll give you a piece."
Ye Xi had been the one to kill the giant boa, so according to the rules, he could keep half of the snake's meat for himself. The chief was allowed to decide who got the snake gall, skin, and fangs, and he granted them to Ye Xi.
The giant boa had been huge, and a great deal of skin had been removed from it. Gifting a piece to the girl wasn't a big deal.
Pheasant Eye was shocked, and hurriedly replied, "How can that be? I didn't come to ask for snake skin. I just thought it looked pretty and that it would look great if it was made into a set of clothes."
Ye Xi spread apart his hands. "Is that so? That means that you really should take it. Clothes that I make will certainly be ugly and completely waste this excellent material."
Pheasant Eye was confused. "Since you can't do it well, why don't you let the women of the tribe make it?"
Ye Xi bitterly smiled. "I thought the same, but they said that they had only ever woven water bags before, never clothes. They were worried about wasting this precious snake skin."
Pheasant Eye frowned. Biting her lip in thought, she finally clenched her teeth and declared, "Why don't– why don't you give it to me? I'll make it!"
Ye Xi raised an eyebrow.
Now that she had said this, Pheasant Eye seemed to loosen up, become much more confident. She repeated, "I'll make it. I can definitely do a good job."
Ye Xi said nothing as he looked at her. As Pheasant Eye grew increasingly anxious, he stood up and turned into the cave. Soon, he came back with a small mountain of snake skin.
Without another word, he handed it to Pheasant Eye.
Smiling, he said, "All this is for you. Don't be afraid. Just do what you want and don't worry about wasting any."
Pheasant Eye stared in a daze at the pile of snake skin, her eyes blazing brighter and brighter. After a while, she firmly nodded and smiled. "Mm!"
"Ye Xi! Ye Xi! Ye Xi!" someone anxiously called out from outside.
Ye Xi and Pheasant Eye turned to look.
A moment later, a Warrior with reddened cheeks charged into the cave like a gust of wind, a bag on his back.
This Warrior put the bundle of beast hide on the ground, his chest heaving and his mouth panting for breath as he excitedly said, "Ye Xi, found it… found it…"
Ye Xi didn't know whether he should laugh or cry. "Uncle Horse, speak a little more slowly. Take a breath."
This Warrior was getting on in years, the hair at his temples tinged white. Ye Xi recognized this as the Warrior who had jumped down from the mountain on his second day in the tribe and almost covered his face in dust.
He was clearly no child, but he was so excited that he could barely form a complete sentence.
Horse took a deep breath and then offered the bundle to Ye Xi. "See for yourself!"
Ye Xi curiously took the hide bundle. What sort of treasure could it be that had him so excited?
When he untied the bundle, he saw slabs of dirt with streaks of white.
Ye Xi was stunned. This… could it be? His entire body began to shake in excitement, and as Pheasant Eye watched in shock, he took a chunk of dirt and put it in his mouth.
"It is, right!" Horse watched with bated breath, his eyes glowing with fervor as he stared at Ye Xi.
Ye Xi meticulously tasted the dirt. The dirt in his mouth really did have some salty flavor! His eyes brightening, he firmly declared, "Yes!"
Upon receiving Ye Xi's confirmation, Horse became excited beyond compare, and with nowhere to vent it, he simply raised his fist and ran in circles.
The chief had ordered the Warriors to seek out salty soil or stones while hunting. The majority of the Warriors didn't understand the reason for this, but Horse was one of the few Warriors that knew the truth. Thus, when he found this salty soil, he became so excited that he stopped hunting and immediately ran back from the jungle with the soil.
Pheasant Eye was completely confused, and it felt to her like the two of them were speaking in riddles.
Ye Xi breathed in to calm himself down. "Uncle Horse, where did you find it? How far was it from the tribe, and how much of this sort of salty soil was there?"
Horse was still very excited, and there was no sequence to his words. "A lot, a lot! And it's not far! Just a little farther than the distance we travel to get water."
Ye Xi still managed to understand what Horse was saying. There was apparently a lot of the salty soil, and it wasn't far from the tribe. Ecstatic, he said, "If that's so, Uncle Horse, you go and report to the chief. Our tribe has some hope now for salt!" He spoke his last words in a whisper.
If Ye Xi could get salt, Horse was willing to do whatever he said. "Right, right, right, I'll go at once."
Once Horse was gone, Pheasant Eye curiously glanced at the chunks of dirt on the hide. "What is this? Weren't you guys talking about salt? What does this dirt have to do with it?"
Ye Xi squatted down and felt the soil, in an excellent mood. When he heard Pheasant Eye's question, he smiled and played up the suspense. "This… is a secret for now."
Pheasant Eye pouted.
A little while later, the chief ran over with Horse.
The chief was running so quickly that the many bone ornaments on his body clattered, and Horse was working hard to keep up.
"Where is it?!" the chief roared at Ye Xi as soon as he arrived, immediately causing the tribe members around the cave entrance to tremble and turn to look.
Realizing that he had spoken too loudly and caught everyone's attention, the chief took a deep breath, waved Ye Xi and Horse over, and whispered, "Come on; let's speak somewhere else."
The sight of the normally composed chief losing his composure made Ye Xi smile, but when he realized that the chief and the others were looking, he pretended like nothing had happened and put on a serious face. "Let's go."
The three of them moved to a secluded area.
Once the chief had calmed down, he tasted the dirt in the hide bundle. "It really does have a salty taste."
Turning to Ye Xi, he solemnly asked, "Is this dirt really usable? Can it be refined into salt?"
Ye Xi nodded. "Chief, be at ease. It can be done."
Although Horse had already explained what was going on, the chief needed Ye Xi to confirm it again before he finally felt some confidence. Letting out a long sigh of relief, he said, "Alright, so what do we do next?"
Ye Xi thought for a few moments, and then he said, "Help me get a few things."
"Just tell me," the chief said. Even if he had to go hunting in the jungle for a fiendbeast himself, he would still agree.
"I need you to prepare some grass, the longer the better, and also some pieces of wood cut into long strips."
The chief and Horse earnestly listened, thinking that there would be more. But when they realized that Ye Xi had stopped talking, they blurted out in unison, "That's all?"
Ye Xi confirmed, "That's all. Just get these things ready. The tribe should have the rest of what I need."
The chief and Horse shared a glance.
The mood became abnormally silent.
After a little while, the chief broke the silence. "In a little while, I'll have some people get those things ready. It will be done soon."
Ye Xi nodded. "There's no need for the rush. Tomorrow is fine, too."
It once more became eerily silent. Seeing that the two of them apparently had something to say, Ye Xi raised an eyebrow.
The chief cautiously asked, "Ye Xi, can this really produce salt?"
So that's what you were thinking? Ye Xi smiled and soothed their worries. "If you don't believe in me, you should at least believe in my teacher. Since his method was able to resolve the water shortage, why are you so worried that his methods can't resolve the salt problem?"
The mention of the shaman immediately restored their confidence, and their uneasy minds settled back down. Recalling how the water shortage had been resolved made them calm back down.
Happiness appeared on their faces, but then the chief realized something and hastily added to Ye Xi, "Ye Xi, I was not doubting that shaman. I was just asking."
Ye Xi smiled and shook his head to show he didn't mind. In truth, he could understand. The method sounded very simple, so it was very normal to worry. But it was often the case that the simplest method was the most practical.