The sun blazed.
A secluded area of the tribe.
Ye Xi ordered Plate to slowly pour a bowl of salty soil that had been left to dissolve in water overnight onto a layer of dried grass placed over a stove.
Sweat beaded on Plate's forehead. He raised the stone bowl like he was lifting a dinosaur, carefully controlling his strength.
Ye Xi watched as the water trickled out in dribs and drabs, like it was going through a stopped-up faucet, and finally couldn't help but say, "Too slow."
Plate's entire body trembled, and he immediately increased the angle, which caused water to splash inside.
Ye Xi raised an eyebrow. "Too much!"
Plate's face turned red as he hastily reversed his actions, and small trickles of water began to flow down.
Ye Xi placed a hand on his forehead.
Carving, who was watching on the sidelines, couldn't help but jeer, "Look at how frightened you are! You can't even pour water properly."
"Then you try," Plate angrily replied.
Carving's face froze and he immediately shut his mouth.
"Carving, take Plate's place," Ye Xi interrupted. "We'll be here for ages with a little trickle like this."
As Ye Xi had spoken, Carving could only take the stone bowl, while saying, "I can definitely do better than Plate."
This set Ye Xi's mind at ease. Presumably, not everyone would be like Plate and pour water like it was gold.
Carving began to work.
He picked up the stone bowl and gradually began to tilt it. Soon, Carving's face began to turn bright red!
As Ye Xi stared in shock, the water began to trickle out.
"…"
As Plate derisively watched, Carving's face turned more and more red, and sweat began to form on his forehead. It was no good! When he thought about how his actions would be linked to whether they could get salt or not, he became reluctant to use his full strength. In the end, he understood what Plate was feeling.
Ye Xi took in a deep breath. "Put it down. I'll do it."
Carving dejectedly dropped his head as he put down the stone bowl.
Ye Xi had specifically asked for their help, and they had been excited beyond belief when they learned what their mission was. But they had been so useless that Ye Xi himself had to personally intervene.
Ye Xi had become much stronger after eating the miracle flower. Raising this large stone bowl presented little problem for him.
The mixture of soil and water flowed down at a rate that was neither too fast nor too slow. It was filtered through the dried grass laid across the stove and dripped into the waiting stone bowl below.
The filtered water was a grayish-yellow, and there was also a lot of dirt that had not been filtered. However, it was much cleaner compared to the unfiltered water.
More and more dirt accumulated on the dried grass.
Ye Xi: "Plate, change out the grass."
"Oh!" Plate hastily replied, and then he quickly threw aside the dirty grass and replaced it with clean grass.
Carving saw that Plate hadn't spread the grass evenly, and hastily did so.
They weren't good at pouring water, but they were good at spreading grass. Ye Xi gave them an approving nod. "Not bad."
Plate and Carving awkwardly chuckled as they scratched their heads, overjoyed to be praised.
Slowly, the stone bowl was emptied of water. Ye Xi proceeded to use the same method to further filter the filtered water.
In the end, after five filterings, there was not even a grain of dirt left, only a clear golden water. This was brine.
"Wow! What a surprising color it ended up." Carving squatted on the ground and sighed in wonder at the water in the stone bowl.
He extended his index finger to try and taste the water, but Plate slapped it away. "Don't touch it! You haven't even washed your hands and you dare to touch it with that dirty thing?" he rebuked.
Carving drew his hand back in shame.
Ye Xi looked up at the sky and announced, "Alright, let's leave it for the night. We'll continue tomorrow."
"We're letting this water sit for a night? But there's no more dirt, right?" Plate asked. He had originally believed that using those chunks of dirt to produce salt wasn't possible, but after seeing those golden drops of water, he really felt that there was some hope.
"There's still a layer of invisible impurities that needs to settle. Don't get impatient."
The next morning.
When Ye Xi woke up and opened his eyes, he was scared out of his wits. Two shadowy faces, illuminated by gloomy torches, were pressed right up to his nose.
Ye Xi's body responded on reflex, savagely punching at one of the faces and then rolling to the side.
"Ow!" the punched man grunted.
After creating some distance and seeing who these two were, Ye Xi angrily rebuked, "Plate, Carving, what are you two doing?!"
Those two had secretly entered his cave with torches and were staring at him!
Plate rubbed his nose. Ye Xi's punch had hit him straight in the nose, and even though Ye Xi wasn't a Warrior, getting hit in the nose was still a little painful.
Carving saw that they had seemingly scared Ye Xi. Feeling a little guilty, he awkwardly chuckled. "Weren't we going to refine salt? We saw that it was getting late and felt that it was about time to get up, so we came to find you."
Ye Xi had a strange expression on his face as he repeated, "It's getting late?" He silently stared at the torches in their hands.
Carving hurriedly added, "Ye Xi, this cave of yours is too deep. If you don't believe us, just go outside and take a look. The sun's already come up."
Plate nodded in agreement.
Ye Xi suddenly laughed and began to speak in a sickly sweet tone. "Even if it's noon, in the future, if you come to my cave and scare me like this again, I'll make you regret it."
Anyone who saw two sinister faces right in front of them the moment they woke up would get angry.
Plate and Carving felt a chill on their necks.
This was the first time they had seen Ye Xi angry, and they meekly agreed that they would never do this again.
Ye Xi glared at the pair one last time before beginning to make his way out of the cave.
Outside, it was just barely light. Cloud of mist rolled through the jungle and the songs of birds could be heard amongst the trees. None of the small pterosaurs that normally fed on insects above the clearing could be seen.
The sun had just barely risen above the horizon. The temperature was pleasant, the air fresh and clean.
Ye Xi took in a deep breath, glanced at the two nervous Warriors, and said, "Let's go."
There was only one last step.
After being allowed to settle for the night, another layer had formed in the brine. Ye Xi personally poured the upper layer of the brine into a prepared stone pot.
Plate and Carving placed the firewood and lit the fire.
Ye Xi noticed that they were bringing over red pinewood. When used to cook meat, this wood would infuse the meat with a piney scent, but the trees were rare and found very far from the tribe. The tribe would only use this wood to cook meat when it felt like letting loose a little.
The light of the fire illuminated Carving's and Plate's faces.
They focused on the fire, occasionally adding some dried grass to make the fire burn more fiercely.
Only now did Ye Xi realize that their eyes were bloodshot.
"Did you not get any sleep?"
Plate and Carving were startled.
Plate bitterly smiled as he replied, "We couldn't sleep."
Ye Xi was just about to say something when he heard rustling from the jungle behind him. It was extremely soft, and before eating the miracle flower, Ye Xi would have never noticed.
Ye Xi turned his head.
The jungle behind him was quiet.
After staring at the jungle for a while, he helplessly sighed. "Come out. Why are you even hiding there?"
After a little while, strange rustling came from the jungle, and then, as Plate and Carving stared in fear and alarm, four people came out of the jungle.
It was the chief, Courage, Horse, and a Warrior with two flame tattoos on his chest.