In the vast primeval forest, a group of bison grazed and walked slowly forward. From time to time, they raised their heads and looked around, very vigilant.
Behind the bison, Jiang Xuan, Chi Shao, and Shi Loach have been following for most of the day, and they are all hungry.
"Hang Chi Hang Chi..."
Chi Shao dug out several spherical plant tubers from under a tree with a bone peeler, and handed the largest one to Jiang Xuan.
"Eat it, these are round potatoes, very sweet."
This fruit looks similar to a sweet potato, but it is spherical and has a red skin.
Jiang Xuan wiped the dirt on the skin and took a bite.
He was surprised to find that this kind of round potato actually tasted like fruit, very crisp, very sweet, and had a very good texture.
Jiang Xuan's eyes lit up and he said: "This thing is good, are there any smaller ones? Dig them back and plant them!"
"I'll look for it."
The red peony root was turned over again in the place where the round potatoes grew, and found that there were five or six smaller round potatoes on the root system. The big ones were as big as eggs, and the small ones were only as big as pigeon eggs.
In the past, the tribesmen would not dig up this small fruit, but would wait for it to grow in the ground so that they could continue digging next time.
But things are different now. After the Vine Tribe opened up the wasteland, they could dig it all back, eat the big ones, and plant the small ones in the fields.
Jiang Xuan put these small round potatoes into the animal skin bag he carried with him. To him, they were all treasures.
"Chief, the bison is going to the next place to graze."
Stone Loach has been staring at the herd of bison. Even when he was eating round potatoes, his eyes never left the herd. He is a very responsible and patient person.
"Follow up."
Jiang Xuan tied the mouth of the animal skin bag tightly, and then quickly followed.
The grass in the primitive jungle is relatively scattered, so after the bison herd eats in one place, they will go to the next place to continue eating.
In addition, sometimes cattle are attacked by large beasts and run away in panic. If you don't follow closely, you may get lost.
In this way, while they were collecting edible plants along the way, they were tracking the bison herd, and before they knew it, it was getting dark.
After the bison herd reached a meadow, they stopped moving forward.
Bison need sleep too.
When the weather is cold, they forage during the day and sleep at night.
When the weather is hot, they usually forage in the morning and afternoon and sleep at noon and night.
Of course, there are always exceptions to everything, and some bison will also go looking for food at night.
Fortunately, this group of bison is not an exception and they are planning to spend the night here.
When spending the night, one bison will be responsible for keeping watch, so that the other bison don't have to worry about being suddenly attacked by wild beasts while sleeping.
Jiang Xuan observed the bison herd and said, "It seems like they won't leave tonight. Let's prepare to spend the night in the trees."
There are many poisonous insects on the ground, and it is easy to be attacked by wild beasts. It is safer to spend the night in a tree.
The three people quickly built a temporary shelter on the tree and lit a fire on the ground.
Fire is very important, not only can it drive away ferocious beasts, but the smoke can also scare away some nasty bugs.
The three of them ate something, then took turns keeping watch and slept in a tree all night.
Early the next morning, at dawn, the buffalo herd set off again. Jiang Xuan and the other three also put out the fire carefully and followed immediately.
Tracking the bison herd is a very boring and time-consuming task. Fortunately, Jiang Xuan and the others have three people who can rotate.
On the second day of tracking the bison herd, Jiang Xuan finally discovered that the bison herd went to a rather special place.
They were a few barren mountains with sparse vegetation, looking out of place in the primeval forest with towering ancient trees.
These barren mountains are relatively steep, and there are only some very low grasses and shrubs, but the bison herds run to the barren mountains without hesitation.
When they reached the mountainside, they stopped in front of a stone wall and kept licking the stones on it.
At the foot of the barren mountain, Jiang Xuan was very excited as he watched the behavior of the bison herd, but he was still not sure that what the bison herd was licking was salt.
"Go up and have a look!"
Jiang Xuan took red peony root and stone loach and climbed up the mountain along the path of the bison herd.
The bison licked the rocks for a while. Because the vegetation was sparse and they were at a high altitude, it was easy to spot people climbing the mountain.
"Moo!"
One of the bison barked, and then the other bison stopped licking the rocks, ran away, and went down the other hillside.
Jiang Xuan didn't care either. He was following the bison herd not to hunt the bison, but for salt. Now that he had found the place where the bison replenished their salt, he no longer needed to follow the bison.
Not long after, Jiang Xuan finally climbed up the mountainside and came to the stone wall.
This stone wall is composed of countless stones and should have been exposed after experiencing a landslide.
These stones are overall yellow, some are reddish, and the lower stones have obvious traces of licking, and the appearance is relatively smooth.
There are some bison dung, wild sheep dung, and some other animal dung on the ground. Obviously, not only bison will come to this place, but other animals will also come.
Jiang Xuan pulled out a self-polished stone knife from his waist and pried off a small piece of semi-crystalline, reddish stone that had not been licked by animals from a higher part of the rock wall.
Then, he stuck out his tongue and licked the stone gently.
A salty yet bitter taste stimulates the taste buds on Jiang Xuan's tongue.
"Salty!"
Jiang Xuan shuddered all over. He looked at this small semi-crystalline stone, and the excitement in his heart was beyond words.
This is salt, really salt!
Jiang Xuan was so excited that he wanted to jump up. How pitiful he was. He had never tasted real salt since he traveled through time. He had almost forgotten what salty felt like.
"I'll try."
Chi Shao also used his own stone knife to pry off a small piece of rock, licked it, and found that the taste was not good. In addition to the salty taste, there were many other flavors, which was not delicious.
"I'll try too."
The stone loach couldn't wait to get a small piece of stone and licked it. His feeling was similar to that of red peony root, which was not delicious.
"Chief, is this really salt?" Chi Shao was a little doubtful.
Because in her impression, salt is extremely precious, and the Deer Tribe can only obtain small amounts of salt by trading with other tribes.
The salt is usually controlled by the tribal leader or witch. Only those who are injured or sick can get a little salt water. Others rely on drinking animal blood to replenish their salt.
Most of the clansmen have never seen what complete salt looks like, and naturally they have never seen red peony root.
It was a little hard for her to accept that the large rocks on the rock wall would be extremely precious salt.
Shi Loach was also looking at Jiang Xuan, because he knew that the leader would definitely give an answer.
Jiang Xuan put the semi-crystalline light red stone in the palm of his hand and said to red peony root and stone loach: "To be precise, this is salt ore. In addition to salt, it also contains a large number of toxic substances."
"If the toxic substances in the salt ore cannot be removed, people will slowly become poisoned after eating it, and in severe cases, they may even die."
When they heard that it was poisonous, red peony root and stone loach suddenly became nervous because they had just licked the salt ore.
Jiang Xuan continued: "Don't worry, just lick it and you'll be fine. You will be poisoned if you eat it for a long time."
Chi Shao asked doubtfully: "Then why are those bison okay after eating them?"
Shi Loach nodded aside, he also had the same question.
"Bison's physique is much stronger than ours, and their ability to detoxify is stronger than ours. Therefore, they can lick it directly, but we cannot eat this salt ore directly."
Chi Shao said helplessly: "It's hard to find it, but it can't be eaten. So haven't we been busy for two days in vain?"
Jiang Xuan smiled and said: "It's not in vain."
"I have a way to remove the toxic substances in these salt ores and turn them into salt that we can eat."
"Really?" Hope ignited in Chi Shao's eyes again. Salt is too important and precious to the tribe.
"Of course it's true."
"Great!"
Jiang Xuandao: "First dig some salt ore, crush it, and then take it back to the tribe in an animal skin bag."
"Okay!"
The three people immediately dug up the salt ore with stone knives. They only chose the reddish semi-crystalline salt ore because it has a higher salt content.
Semi-crystalline salt ore is easier to crush. After crushing, it is easier to put into animal skin bags and easier to carry.
Each of them brought an animal skin bag. When the three animal skin bags were filled, they embarked on the return journey with excitement.
If these salt ores can really be refined into edible salt, then the salt shortage crisis of the Vine Tribe will be truly solved!