Chapter 64

The cave still had some salt left, and the sub-beastmen, who had been idle for a while, gathered to get back to work. They planned to make soap and cure the meat that the hunting team had brought back last night—there were leftovers they wanted to save.

In the morning, everyone gathered by the river, chatting about their desire to preserve the meat.

“Are we still going to smoke the meat?” one of them asked.

“Last year, there wasn’t this much salt at this time, and we still managed to preserve the meat,” another replied.

“It seems like back then, the weather wasn’t hot enough to spoil it,” someone chimed in.

“I still have over half a jar of salt left in my cave. I want to cure the meat too. They’re out hunting, and I’ve got potatoes, dudu fruit, and meat to eat. At least I can eat well for a few days,” Zhuo Yan added.

“I was thinking the same thing, Zhuo Yan! We want to cure the meat—should we go to the big cave to get the smoking racks? We could ask the elder for help,” one of them suggested.

“Actually, that might be a bit of a hassle…” Zhuo Yan said, sensing the group’s excitement.

As everyone began to chatter, Zhuo Yan understood their concerns and spoke up, “If we’re curing the meat individually, smoking it can be a bit tricky. After all, it involves chopping down trees. Yesterday, my cave received forty pounds of meat, and we still have half left. I want to store it too; we can make salted meat and skip the smoking part.”

“Salted meat?” they echoed.

“Exactly! It’s just like making smoked meat, except we don’t smoke it. Isn’t that right?”

“Yes! So how do we do it?” they urged, eager to learn.

Zhuo Yan grinned and explained, “Right! First, you take salt and the leaves from the fruit trees and stir-fry them together. Don’t wash the meat; instead, cut it into strips about the width of your arm. Then, carefully rub the fried salt all over the meat. Once that’s done, place it in a pot to marinate for three days. After that, it’s the same old trick—boil some water, blanch the meat, and hang it up at the cave entrance to dry.”

“Before last year’s snow season, it was too cold to dry anything, but now that the temperature has risen, we can hang the meat out in the sun for three to five days without any issues. When it’s time to eat, just give it a quick roast on the outside, wash it with warm water, slice it up, and it can be stir-fried with potatoes or even stewed with dudu fruit!”

Everyone listened, intrigued by how simple it sounded. After all, last year the sub-beastmen had made smoked meat together, so when Zhuo Yan explained, they nodded in agreement.

Zhuo Yan continued, “If anyone is worried about the meat going bad, you can all head back to your caves and start curing it. We can make the soap this afternoon.”

“Is that possible?”

“Of course! The soap can wait.” Zhuo Yan reassured them. He thought it’d be best to cure his own meat too. “I’ll cure my meat as well.”

Upon hearing this, everyone quickly changed their minds. After all, food was the most important thing!

The sub-beastmen left the soap-making tools under the shed and returned to their caves to start curing the meat. Each family had a similar amount—some with just over ten pounds and others with twenty to thirty pounds of meat. It was a quick process to fry the salt and rub it onto the meat. Zhuo Yan reminded the returning sub-beastmen to inform anyone they met on the way about what they were doing.

“Got it, thanks!”

“Zhuo Yan, we’ll head out now. See you this afternoon!”

“See you later!”

Qiao asked Zhuo Yan if she could bring her meat to cure together, and he readily agreed, “Sure! It’s really simple.”

Xiao Xian’s eyes sparkled with excitement.

“Zhuo Yan, can you rub in some Sichuan pepper—wait, I mean, the prickly ash? Is that what we’re doing?”

“Definitely!” Zhuo Yan replied, eager to add some flavor.

As soon as he said this, Xiao Xian dashed off, calling back, “Zhuo Yan, I’m going home to get my meat! I’ll be back soon!”

“Take your time! I’ll start frying the salt,” Zhuo Yan shouted after him, glancing at the others. “Are you all joining us?”

Aman and Shitou initially didn’t mind, feeling a bit too lazy to make the trip back. But with Qiao and Xiao Xian heading home, they exchanged looks and decided to go as well.

Zhuo Yan started frying spices at home, mixing together his prickly ash, dried fragrant leaves, and salt in a small earthen pot. Just as he finished, Qiao and the others arrived with their pots. Qiao brought about ten pounds of meat, while Xiao Xian had the most at over thirty pounds, carrying it in a woven basket.

Shi Tou and Aman also had around ten pounds each.

Together, they seasoned the meat, ensuring every crevice was covered. Those with less meat brought their pots, and after Zhuo Yan approved their efforts, they stored the meat in their own pots to be picked up after making soap in the afternoon.

Xiao Xian carried a full half-basket, wrapped in animal skin, and the thought of that spicy meat made him drool. Zhuo Yan suggested, “How about I fry some for lunch?”

“No, no! We’re having roasted potatoes for lunch. I told my parents how delicious your roasted meat is. My second brother said the same, but they’ve never had spicy roasted meat before. They’re going to love this!” Xiao Xian beamed with excitement.

Zhuo Yan smiled; Xiao Xian truly loved that spicy flavor.

As the morning went by, Zhuo Yan felt like it was still around ten o’clock. Everyone had risen early, as no one in the tribe was lazy when the chief arranged group activities; they were all up by six.

When Zhuo Yan and the others arrived at the river with their potatoes, sure enough, everyone had gathered.

Time to get to work making soap!

His friends had helped him make it last year and mostly remembered the process. If anyone forgot a step, Zhuo Yan would remind them, and they quickly got back into the groove. This time, they didn’t worry about appearances. Shi Tou led a group to make molds, creating long rectangular shapes that they would later dry and cut into thick squares.

They divided tasks—rendering fat, mixing lye with wood ash, and boiling bubble leaves for filtering. The final step was crucial, requiring the right temperature. Zhuo Yan and Qiao kept a close eye, waiting for the lye to mix with the bubble leaf extract before gradually pouring in the fat, stirring clockwise while maintaining a low flame.

The liquid in the large stone pot slowly thickened.

“It’s time to pour it into the molds,” Zhuo Yan announced. “Be careful not to burn yourselves.”

The sub-beastmen laughed happily; they thought Zhuo Yan was warning them about spilling. They weren’t worried about the heat, but they still used the animal skin to hold the pot as they started pouring the mixture into the molds.

On the flat ground by the river, they filled rows of wooden molds with the soap mixture.

“Once it dries, we can cut it into pieces,” Zhuo Yan observed, noting the quantity. Each cave would likely get five or six pieces—not the size of modern laundry soap, as Shi Tou had made the molds conveniently large, prioritizing ease of use.

These soaps were even larger and thicker than the ones used for washing clothes today.

“Now everyone knows how to do this! Whenever there’s fatty meat, we can make our own soap. The fat can also be rendered into oil for cooking,” Zhuo Yan explained.

Everyone took notes and learned how to make soap.

Zhuo Yan was doing great work.

“When will this be dry?” someone asked.

“At least until tomorrow,” Zhuo Yan replied. “We made thirty-four bars in total, one for each cave, with an extra for the chief to distribute. You can take them back now and wait until tomorrow to cut them, or just leave them under the shed until we can cut them together.”

“Sounds good!”

They decided to come back tomorrow for cutting since it wasn’t urgent, and they requested Zhuo Yan do the cutting.

“Sure!” Zhuo Yan thought, realizing he’d have to keep an eye on things with A-Yin tonight.

It wasn’t too late in the day when Qiao and the others went to his home to collect the cured meat, each returning to their own caves.

A-Yin, who had been out patrolling, was back now, carrying home pots, bowls, and utensils, running back and forth to fetch water. Zhuo Yan chuckled as he watched A-Yin bustling about. “I didn’t do anything all day. Aren’t you tired?”

“I’m not tired! I ran quite far today,” A-Yin said to his brother. “Turns out our territory is huge!”

Besides the area where the tribe lived near the riverside and forests, the broader territory included their usual hunting grounds and some remote places with nothing but stones, which the tribe’s beastmen had explored with the younger ones.

“Brother, I even chewed on a lot of grass, and it was really tough.”

Zhuo Yan immediately cupped A-Yin’s face, worried that A-Yin might have eaten the wrong kind of grass and poisoned himself. But as soon as he did, A-Yin blinked and grinned, leaning in to give him a quick peck on the lips.

“…” After a moment of shock, Zhuo Yan’s cheeks flushed slightly. “Looks like you’re fine.”

A-Yin beamed back. “I’m all good, brother.”

Zhuo Yan pulled away, only for A-Yin to take his turn, cradling Zhuo Yan’s face and planting another kiss. Zhuo Yan thought to himself, Well, this is nice.

“Are you hungry?” Zhuo Yan asked.

“Nope, not hungry, brother.” A-Yin replied. He had devoured nearly twenty pounds of meat the day before, so he wasn’t hungry at all. However, he was quite thirsty and went to pour some water, filling a cup for Zhuo Yan as well.

Zhuo Yan felt too lazy to cook, so they decided to have roasted Dudu fruit for dinner. The method was simple: make a small slit in the Dudu fruit shell to allow gas to escape while roasting, otherwise it would pop and crackle like fireworks. He tossed the whole shell into the hearth, and once roasted and cooled, he carefully opened it. The flesh of the Dudu fruit had the texture of roasted rice cakes, only softer.

Best of all, there were no dishes to wash afterward—so convenient!

By the time Zhuo Yan finished his meal, night had fallen. His pet tooth pig finally returned, covered in scratches and blood, as if it had been in a tussle. It rubbed against Zhuo Yan’s leg, but A-Yin was watching closely, standing half a step away. The tooth pig froze for a moment before flopping to the ground to scratch its back.

“Who bullied you?” Zhuo Yan asked, concerned.

A-Yin sniffed at the pig and said, “I don’t smell any other beasts—just the tooth pig’s scent.”

“Did another tooth pig scratch you?” Zhuo Yan looked at the pig’s rear, which was dotted with blood and bite marks. The tooth pig grunted softly; it wasn’t bleeding too much, and the wounds had started to scab over.

“Brother, it must have gone looking for a mate and got into a fight. It couldn’t handle it and ran back.”

Zhuo Yan couldn’t help but feel a bit amused. “Well, it deserves it, then.”

“Such matters depend on mutual consent,” Zhuo Yan explained. But in the animal kingdom, strength was key. Spring had arrived, and the tooth pigs were in heat, seeking out mates. If one got too bold, it could end up on the receiving end of a beating from another male tooth pig.

After pondering for a moment, Zhuo Yan casually suggested, “What if I castrate it?”

He recalled that cutting a pig’s testes helped them grow fatter and made the meat less pungent. But after raising this tooth pig for over a year and surviving a snowy season together, Zhuo Yan had developed a bond with it. He decided against eating it, but thought it might be wise to make the tooth pig more docile to avoid constant escapades that could lead to trouble with other tooth pigs.

“Castrate it? Brother, where would you cut it?” A-Yin asked, his eyes widening.

Zhuo Yan explained vaguely, noticing a flicker of hesitation cross A-Yin’s face.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“Brother, you’re not going to castrate me, are you?”

Zhuo Yan: “What are you thinking?! You’re not a tooth pig!”

“We’re family! What are you even talking about?”

In the next breath, A-Yin proudly turned to the tooth pig, saying, “I’m not like you. Go ahead, brother, do it.”

“Well, it’s not a decision to make so quickly. What if I mess it up and it’s gone?” Zhuo Yan mused; he had just been joking around.

After their evening routine, they retired to their cave for sleep.

Lying together under the covers, A-Yin said, “Brother, I saw a male deer and a female deer mating while I was hunting.”

“???” Zhuo Yan was baffled as to why they were discussing this.

It was indeed spring, not just for the animals but also for the awkward topics between him and A-Yin.

A-Yin, with his strikingly handsome face, spoke candidly, “Brother, I need to use my snow season.”

Zhuo Yan’s face flushed red as he finally grasped what A-Yin meant. “I’m not doing that! And that’s not what I meant by ‘cutting’!”

“What do you mean?” A-Yin asked, curious.

Under the covers, Zhuo Yan reached out, and A-Yin’s strikingly handsome face brightened with excitement, feeling a ticklish sensation. Until Zhuo Yan said, “Here.”

A-Yin’s ears turned red. Zhuo Yan couldn’t help but chuckle to himself, thinking, Oh, you naive prehistoric beast, trying to flirt with me about this!

Why were they still discussing the tooth pig? A-Yin knew very well that he wasn’t a tooth pig, yet he kept bringing it up. Now, lying together, A-Yin wanted to inquire further.

This was young love, the kind of head-in-the-clouds feeling amplified by the spring atmosphere, and it made them want to talk about such things. Zhuo Yan understood completely because he felt the same.

Seeing A-Yin’s bashful face, Zhuo Yan couldn’t help but smirk.

But the next moment, his smile faded.

“Brother,” A-Yin said.

“I feel it,” Zhuo Yan admitted, pulling his hand away.

A-Yin clung to Zhuo Yan, feeling a bit needy, wanting to lick his brother. Zhuo Yan felt a bit shy too, because he wanted to as well.

…

In the end, Zhuo Yan’s fluffy tail re-emerged.

This spring, the air in the tribe buzzed with excitement and sweetness. Food was abundant, there was enough salt, and the orc and sub-orc community had plenty of leisure time—after finishing the soap, they had nothing else to do.

Everyone basked in the sun, cuddled with their partners, or chatted by the river. Even at night, orcs and sub-orcs gathered near the flowing water. Zhuo Yan and A-Yin discovered they too liked to spend time there.

As they approached the transition from spring to summer—though locals refused to acknowledge it as summer, insisting the hottest time was summer—Zhuo Yan felt this was early summer.

The potato fields on both sides of the river were lush and green, ready to be harvested in just over half a month.

Outside Zhuo Yan’s home, a small slope had been planted primarily to harvest vegetable seeds. He wasn’t sure how to gather seeds from jagged and broad-leafed vegetables but knew how to do it with cabbages, so he followed that method.

He sent A-Yin into the forest to fetch fresh vegetables, removing the outer leaves, and planting the hearts with the roots in the soil. It was a lengthy process, but if they grew and flowered, they would certainly yield seeds.

Finally, the tooth pig at home had calmed down.

Just to clarify, after Zhuo Yan joked about castrating it, the next day, he and A-Yin slept in late, and when they opened the door, the tooth pig was nowhere to be seen.

It took four or five days for the tooth pig to return, and it was visibly hurt and much thinner. Although it had come back, it avoided Zhuo Yan, looking warily at him, unlike before when it had been scared of A-Yin.

Zhuo Yan: … It’s not like I actually want to castrate you!

Half a month had passed, and the serrated greens and fat-leaved vegetables had sprouted new hearts. Zhuo Yan felt confident about collecting the seeds; following the growth pattern of cabbage seeds, he figured he’d be able to harvest them before the rainy season. This meant that by autumn, they could enjoy fresh vegetables!

Great! His menu was now enriched with two new dishes.

Shi Tou and the others had been keeping tabs on his progress. Upon hearing the good news, Qiao expressed envy, saying he wished he had planted them alongside Zhuo Yan.

“It’s okay! Once I harvest the seeds, I’ll share some with you,” Zhuo Yan promised. His little vegetable patch, dedicated solely to seed collection, was spacious enough for all his friends.

With that assurance, Qiao and the others said they’d handle the work in the garden from now on.

“Don’t worry; if there’s any heavy lifting, I’ll definitely call you,” Zhuo Yan replied, chuckling. The workload wasn’t too demanding—he and A-Yin had finished their chores just as dusk fell, allowing the plants to grow freely afterward.

Just ten days after Zhuo Yan made that promise, the vegetables in his garden began to sprout side branches, and the little yellow flowers were tilting in all directions. Zhuo Yan decided to call his friends over for some extra help with the seed collection.

“Let’s stake the little wooden sticks in the ground to help these flowers grow upright. We’ll gather the branched flowers together, making it easier to collect the seeds later. If we don’t, as they grow, they’ll droop and drop seeds all over the ground!”

Zhuo Yan demonstrated how to place the sticks, and everyone quickly got to work.

Other sub-beastmen from the tribe noticed the activity at Zhuo Yan’s entrance. Though they hadn’t been invited, they were curious. When Zhuo Yan and his friends were by the river, someone asked what they were doing.

“I’m collecting some vegetable seeds. It’s my first attempt, so I’m not sure if it’ll work out.”

“Vegetable seeds? What kind of vegetables?”

Ah Hui’s mother, filled with excitement, chimed in, “Is it the serrated greens and fat-leaved vegetables? Ah Hui brought some back for me in spring, saying Zhuo Yan thought they were delicious!”

“I use them to make soup with salted meat. It’s not too salty. He even brought me some green mushrooms, saying they don’t give off weird flavors if you cook them for too long…”

“Ever since Ah Hui started playing with A-Yin, he’s been bringing vegetables and green mushrooms back home.”

“In the past, he never cared about what the sub-beastmen liked to eat. Now, though, I can see he’s grown thoughtful. I’m hoping that before the snow season or by next year, he’ll have a partner among the sub-beastmen!”

Previously, Zhuo Yan would have thought that Ah Hui’s mother was overly concerned about her son’s romantic prospects, almost like a prehistoric matchmaking service. But now, listening to her, he felt only one thought: Ah Hui, you’re not a child anymore! Stop living in your parents’ den and eating with them. It’s time to find a partner and build your own life!

“Actually, I named those two types of vegetables myself. You’ve definitely seen them before! Let me take you to see…” Zhuo Yan led them up the gentle slope.

When they arrived, everyone recognized the wild greens right away.

“Can we eat these?” “I’ve never had them before.” “I’ve tried them, and they tasted a bit bitter, not great.” “These big leaves feel a bit slimy.” “Ah Hui’s mother, are they delicious when cooked? How do you prepare them?”

Everyone chimed in with questions, but Ah Hui’s mother had long forgotten the taste. Still, she knew they could be good. She looked at Zhuo Yan for confirmation.

“Vegetables definitely taste different from meat. Some people like them, some don’t, but these two are much better cooked than grass. I just call them vegetables,” Zhuo Yan explained.

“You can make soup, sauté them in oil, or blanch them in hot water and then toss them with some salt…”

Seeing everyone eager to try, he added, “Since this is my first time collecting vegetable seeds, I wasn’t sure if it would work out, so I didn’t mention it earlier. But if you all like these, once I finish this batch, I’ll teach you how to prepare them!”

“There’s an even easier way. The beastmen at home can go look in the forest. If they see a lot of flowers, they can observe them. Once the flowers fade, seeds will be there.”

“However, most seeds in the forest drop to the ground, so you’ll have to be diligent and gather them carefully.”

Upon hearing this, some were excited to explore the forest, while others decided to wait for Zhuo Yan’s guidance. Regardless, they all noted down the names of the wild vegetables. The sub-beastmen still enjoyed eating foods beyond meat, such as berries, potatoes, and dudu fruits.

In the following ten days, several beastmen indeed ventured into the forest with their partners to look for wild vegetables, but the greens hadn’t bloomed yet, and after a few days, they lost interest.

A few days before the potato harvest, there was another long-distance hunt, and they returned with a bounty of meat.

The chieftain said, “Zhuo Yan, it’s tough work. Please help everyone turn the meat into salted meat. In the days to come, some beastmen will head to the mammoth grounds to fetch salt mud while others will stay behind to patrol and help the sub-beastmen with the potatoes…”

“Got it, Chief!”

This time, they hunted reindeer and rhinoceros, and everyone received a generous share—about thirty to forty pounds each. Zhuo Yan gathered everyone to start making salted meat; the hot weather made it easier.

He changed out of his little skirt and into summer clothing. Working in the kiln was too hot. With an abundance of meat, they collectively worked together. The beastmen who had made smoked meat last year set up the hanging rods, and the sub-beastmen began curing the meat.

An uncle brought out half a basket of salt from the main den.

They fried the salt, applied it, cured the meat, and hung it out to dry. It took five whole days, but with the high temperatures, the meat would be ready to collect in just three days.

This year’s salt-gathering team was set to depart, and A-Yin was among them.

During these days, Zhuo Yan’s skin had tanned to a wheat color from all the work, but no matter how much A-Yin toiled under the sun, his skin remained cool and pale. Standing side by side, Zhuo Yan felt a contrast, though he wasn’t that dark—just a light tan.

“Early to go, early to return. Safety first,” Zhuo Yan reminded.

A-Yin looked up with a bright smile, and Zhuo Yan couldn’t help but chuckle as he cupped A-Yin’s face in his hands. A-Yin beamed with joy; in his beast form, his tail would spin like a propeller, as Zhuo Yan had initiated their first kiss by holding his face—making A-Yin feel this was their special signal for affection.

It wasn’t really… dark at all, almost like an open secret.

As the two kissed, the heat of the day turned their faces a rosy red.

“Brother, I’m leaving now.”

“Okay.”

Zhuo Yan had work to do—the potatoes in the field were finally ripe, and this time, they had produced an astonishing yield! Growing like weeds, these crops flourished in the nutrient-rich soil, and he could practically gather them by the basketful without much effort.

The tribal chief led the way for the harvest.

Fortunately, half of the warriors stayed back at the village; their strength was invaluable as they began digging up the potatoes. Before long, piles were stacking up like small mountains, with the uncle directing operations. Each hole yielded a basket full of potatoes, and once the first round was finished, they would start on the second.

The uncle joked, “If anyone runs out of potatoes by the end, just remember that the first ones to go are those from my household come autumn!”

There were so many potatoes this time that nobody cared to argue with him about it. Zhuo Yan noticed that the final tally was predominantly from the uncle’s and the chief’s families, followed by the larger cave and some elder warriors’ homes.

Unlike the modern-day respect for the elderly, the tribe prioritized giving food to the strong and able-bodied first—young warriors and sub-beastmen got the lion’s share. If there were any leftovers, the tribe would distribute them to the pups, leaving the elders for last.

The elders seemed to approve of this arrangement.

Surprisingly, the two elder members from last year were still alive and working alongside the younger warriors, defying expectations of their demise in the harsh winter.

“This year, there will be so many little ones in the tribe.”

“Indeed.”

“The leopard clan is thriving!”

Uncle Shi and Aunt Man both had large bellies, ready to give birth.

In just three days, they harvested a whopping six baskets of potatoes from Zhuo Yan’s household alone! They would certainly last two or three months—if they didn’t sprout or rot first.

However, the dry climate and cool cave living kept spoilage to a minimum.

The salted meat drying by the river was also ready to be gathered. The sub-beastmen teamed up, carrying their food back home, chattering excitedly: “The last time I felt this secure was when we carried back the smoked meat!” “Right! No worries about going hungry, just about the potatoes spoiling.” “Let’s eat them quickly, then!” “I never thought we’d worry about having too much food!”

“…It’s just wonderful!”

Zhuo Yan collected some of the spoiled potatoes that others had discarded. After asking the uncle, who said no one wanted them, he took them home to feed the pigs and chickens. The bountiful harvest had put the uncle in a good mood, and he smiled, saying, “I know you’re raising those little critters; go ahead and take them.”

Zhuo Yan was the first sub-beastman in the tribe to raise pets.

Although there were those who were curious about his pets before, Zhuo Yan had always told them that if food ran low, they’d eat the animals. Yet, his pet, the toothy pig, had survived since last year, plump and healthy, and Zhuo Yan had never considered slaughtering it.

Now the whole tribe talked about Zhuo Yan’s quirky passion for collecting things.

His biggest catch was, of course, his partner, A-Yin. But there were also various grasses and mushrooms, and even the chickens and the toothy pig. Everyone in the tribe recognized Zhuo Yan’s pets, and even the mischievous little sub-beastmen had been warned by their parents not to touch Zhuo Yan’s animals.

So, despite their lack of understanding about his pet-keeping, the tribe respected his choice and made sure not to interfere. As a result, the chickens and toothy pig roamed freely around the village, safe and sound, always returning to their cave without harm.

Zhuo Yan was quite impressive; he had taught them how to cultivate potatoes, make salt, soap, and smoked meats. They were willing to accommodate Zhuo Yan’s peculiar habit of keeping pets.

Now, he had his potatoes piled together while the ones for the toothy pig were left by the door.

Zhuo Yan hardly had time to rest. The large wooden barrels for drying salt were carried by the warriors to the riverside. These barrels had been used for drying before, and after a year, they were free of mold and moss, ready to be washed and dried in the sunlight.

They were preparing for the salt-harvesting team’s return.

That evening, the fifteen-member salt-harvesting team returned safely, each beastman carrying two large bundles of clay. Upon their return, the chief instructed everyone to follow Zhuo Yan’s lead for drying the salt, while the second team prepared to depart.

Everyone listened closely to the plan.

As they began to disperse, the chief called Zhuo Yan over, affirming, “The wolf clan and the tiger clan are coming, and we’ll be drying salt then.”

Zhuo Yan misunderstood, thinking it was a secret, but the chief’s expression said otherwise.

“If we keep it a secret for one or two years, that’s fine, but eventually, the wolf clan and the tiger clan will grow curious and come to investigate, and it will lead to conflict and bloodshed,” the chief said.

Indeed, it was hard to keep it under wraps.

“We trade salt peacefully with them; if they want to do it themselves, they can. Once our tribe is strong enough, we won’t fear anyone.”

Instead of hiding and provoking the other two clans into sneaky tactics, it was better to be open about it. The mammoth salt mines were right there, unmovable, and they had a strategic position. If the clans wanted to take salt, it was better to offer them some labor fees for a greater quantity of white salt.

All three parties would benefit amicably.

With this strategy, the leopard clan would have an abundance of food and furs. After a few years of rest and recuperation, their population would thrive. In short, everyone would prosper together.

“I understand, Chief. If they do come, we will host them well.”

The chief nodded, visibly pleased.

As the second salt-harvesting team set off, the wolf clan arrived, laden with furs, dried fruits, and bone knives. Previously, they would head towards the feathered clans at this time of year, but now they were on their way to the leopard clan.

Meanwhile, the tiger clan, located far to the northeast, had already set off three days prior.

All were heading toward the leopard clan.