The Primitive Adventures of a Chipmunk 7

Chapter 7

After deciding to move to the riverside, the next few days passed in a very regular and stable manner.

The gathering team led by the beastman Lang searched for food without fail, still mainly focusing on chestnuts and purslane. They were lucky. On the third day of their outings, they found a large chestnut forest. The number of chestnuts they brought back each day increased, and they no longer went hungry.

The small team led by the beastman Yong was disbanded and reorganized. Five people became six, all of them strong beastmen—except for Hua Shi’an. They temporarily gave up searching for food and went to the riverside every day with stones and wooden sticks, burying their heads in hollowing out tree hollows.

Hua Shi’an was purely there for show. The beastmen wouldn’t let him do any work, but Chief Mu insisted that he follow along, saying that if he had any better ideas, he could tell the beastmen so they could make timely adjustments.

It was just hollowing out a tree hollow; what ideas could he possibly have? With nothing to do, Hua Shi’an wandered around the vicinity every day, picking some mushrooms and weaving some containers with vines and Formosan sugar palm leaf sheaths.

It was another bright and sunny day. After parting ways with the beastmen under the giant redwood tree, Hua Shi’an carried two small, self-made coir bags and continued his jungle exploration journey.

To prevent getting lost, he had been walking along the river these past few days. The first two days, he had only found a small amount of ferns and wood ear fungus upstream. Today, he planned to change direction and check out the downstream area.

The rainy season was almost over, and the sun had been out for several days in a row. The withered branches and fallen leaves scattered in the jungle were gradually drying out. The mushrooms, ferns, wood ear fungus, and the wild vegetables that the tribe couldn’t finish were also being dried outside the tree hollow.

Although they couldn’t eat them now, they could be cooked once they had fire and pots.

The mysterious and vast primeval forest was home to a rich variety of vegetation. Hua Shi’an walked very slowly, rummaging through the thickets and digging through the piles of fallen leaves. In a short while, he had harvested a handful of dandelions and three porcini mushrooms with thick stems and plump caps.

There were more edible plants downstream, but unfortunately, they were still the same mushrooms, wild vegetables, and berries. He still hadn’t seen the grains or more delicious wild fruits that Hua Shi’an longed for.

After picking some more blueberries on a slope, filling both coir bags to the brim, Hua Shi’an realized he had unknowingly walked quite far. He slung the coir bags over his shoulder and turned back.

The wind picked up, and the silent forest was awakened by a strong gust. The branches and leaves of the giant trees swayed with the wind, and the withered yellow leaves fell like snowflakes in winter. The low-lying weeds and bushes on the ground danced with the wind, flowing like a stream, and a dense “rustling” sound filled the mountain forest.

The temperature was just right, and the wind wasn’t cold. Hua Shi’an couldn’t help but lift his chin, getting up close and personal with nature, feeling the fresh, earthy smell in the air, and the faint, almost imperceptible scent of bamboo—

Wait, what was that?

Hua Shi’an sniffed hard, and his eyes instantly lit up.

This light and pure scent was definitely the smell of bamboo!

If he could smell it, it must not be far. Hua Shi’an ran against the wind, hurrying in the direction of the loudest rustling sound.

About five minutes later, after wading through a thicket half a person’s height, Hua Shi’an stood on a slope and looked down. A lush, verdant bamboo forest, like a sea of green, appeared before his eyes.

The slender and tall green bamboos were surrounded by giant trees. The lush branches and leaves of the trees blocked most of the sunlight, but they still grew vigorously, finding gaps to grow from bamboo shoots that broke through the earth into green bamboos that rivaled the giant trees in height.

Wasn’t this a case of getting a pillow just when you’re sleepy? The tree hollows were almost finished. Hua Shi’an had gone in to try one out; everything was good, except that it was a bit drafty. Just as he was thinking about finding materials to make a door, he had stumbled upon a bamboo forest.

It wasn’t just bamboo doors; there were so many utensils that could be made from bamboo.

Back baskets, vegetable baskets, fish traps… he couldn’t even count them on one hand. Hua Shi’an vaguely remembered that in the eyes of those wilderness survival challengers, it was affectionately called—the wilderness hardware store.

He didn’t have any tools, or else Hua Shi’an would have cut down a few bamboo stalks and carried them back. But since he was already here, it would be a disservice to the gust of wind just now if he didn’t look for some bamboo shoots.

The bamboo was of the Moso variety, the largest type of bamboo.

It usually produced shoots from March to May. It was now early autumn, so the probability of finding shoots was…

As expected, Hua Shi’an rummaged through the sky-blotting bamboo forest, almost turning the entire place upside down, but he didn’t even see a shadow of a bamboo shoot.

“Hah, I knew it. I’ll have to come back in winter to look for winter bamboo shoots.”

Hua Shi’an let out a hot breath, adjusted the vine on his shoulder, and prepared to head back.

Before he could take a step, he heard a “plop,” like a stone falling into water, followed by a splashing sound from not far behind him.

Hua Shi’an was stunned for a moment. Where did the water come from?

In his search for bamboo, he had gone deep into the forest and was now a certain distance from the river, basically unable to hear the sound of flowing water. That sound just now…

Confirming that he hadn’t misheard, Hua Shi’an hesitated for two seconds before taking a few steps forward.

At the end of the bamboo forest was another gentle slope. Hua Shi’an came to the edge of the slope, craned his neck, and looked down. Good heavens, it was like a quarry, a large area of bare rock.

Amidst the chaotic pile of rocks grew a chestnut tree, the only patch of green in the area. And at the foot of the chestnut tree, two or three bathtub-sized puddles shimmered.

Describing them as puddles didn’t seem quite right, as the water was flowing. The overflowing water trickled down, converging into a very… very miniature stream in the cracks of the rocks, the kind that would dry up if the sun was a little stronger.

It was a strange sight. The puddles weren’t large, but they held a lot of water. It was unclear whether it was rainwater accumulated over this period or groundwater seeping from underground.

Looking at the culprit of the strange noise—a chestnut floating on the water—Hua Shi’an, in the spirit of not missing anything he passed by, stepped on the gravel and walked down the slope.

The tree’s canopy hung over the puddles, and the chestnuts blown down by the wind all fell into the water. Hua Shi’an walked over slowly, bent down to look into the puddle, and suddenly, a bright light flashed in his eyes.

It was like a mirror reflecting sunlight, the light was particularly dazzling. Squinting was useless. He quickly moved a few steps to the side, using his body to block the slanting sunlight, which brought some relief.

Rubbing his eyes, Hua Shi’an avoided the sunlight and looked at the puddle again. This time he saw clearly. It wasn’t the water that was reflecting, and it certainly wasn’t a mirror—white, dazzling crystals were attached to the rocks around the puddle, like brilliant diamonds, shining brightly in the sun.

This was…

Hua Shi’an’s heart skipped a beat, and a storm raged in his mind.

As if anxious to confirm something, he reached into the water and eagerly scraped a layer of crystals from the rock with his fingernail. Without any hesitation, Hua Shi’an raised his index finger to his chin and gently licked it with the tip of his tongue.

Salty, incredibly salty!

He hadn’t guessed wrong. Salt, this was salt crystal!

“What? Salt?”

In the dark tree hollow, an old man’s cry of alarm rang out. The beastmen who were busy cracking chestnuts dropped their stones and swarmed over, surrounding Hua Shi’an.

“Where’s the salt?”

“An found salt?”

“There’s salt in the Giant Tree Forest too?”

…

The beastmen all spoke at once, and the quiet tree hollow instantly became a chaotic mess.

Hua Shi’an tried to speak several times but couldn’t get a word in. Seeing this, Chief Mu waved his hand and shouted to maintain order, “Quiet, be quiet. What’s the rush? Let An speak slowly.”

He said that to the tribe members, but the next second, Chief Mu turned to Hua Shi’an and eagerly asked, “Did you really find salt rock? Did you taste it? Is it salty? What does it look like? Did you bring any back?”

There were too many questions to answer in a few words. Hua Shi’an simply squatted down and opened the heavy coir bag at his feet.

Thinking the salt was in the coir bag, the beastmen craned their necks and held their breath in anticipation. However, when Hua Shi’an reached in and pulled something out, it was… huh? A handful of wild vegetables, the same purslane they ate every day.

The purslane had clearly been washed, with water droplets still clinging to the leaves and dripping down. But no matter how the beastmen looked, it was still just wild vegetables! Identical to the purslane they ate every day.

Chief Mu looked puzzled. “This…”

“Taste it,” Hua Shi’an said, holding out the purslane to Chief Mu.

If anyone else had held out wild vegetables and claimed it was salt, Chief Mu would have definitely slapped them. But the person saying this was An, the only one who had ever met a stranger.

Taking the fresh purslane, Chief Mu bit off a tender leaf dotted with water. Without even chewing, he suddenly froze, his eyes wide as saucers.

Seeing him speechless, the onlookers were so anxious they were scratching their heads, eagerly asking, “Well, Chief, is it salt?”

“Are you stupid? This is clearly purslane. How could it be salt?” another beastman mocked him.

“It’s salt, it’s really salt!”

Having come to his senses, Chief Mu threw his arms up and shouted. He then stuffed the rest of the vegetables into his mouth and, while chewing, said to the tribe members, “The vegetable is a vegetable, but it tastes salty. Quick, you all try it!”

The onlookers were like hungry wolves pouncing on their prey, clearing the vegetables from Hua Shi’an’s hand in minutes.

Taking a bite of the purslane, the long-lost salty taste exploded in their mouths. The beastmen were stunned. Some cried, some laughed, and cheers and howls rose and fell. For a moment, the tree hollow was like a pot of boiling water.

After the excitement, reason returned. Chief Mu couldn’t stop smiling. He even forgot the distinction between sub-beasts and tightly gripped Hua Shi’an’s wrist. “An, you are truly a benefactor to the tribe.”

“We’ve been looking for salt rock all this time. Just yesterday, I was discussing with Yong, we were thinking of having him take a few beastmen back to the Clear Sky Forest to get salt rock once the tribe is settled. I never thought you’d find salt today.”

“But what’s going on?” Chief Mu smacked his lips, savoring the salty taste in his mouth, and continued to ask, “The wild vegetable is clearly the purslane we eat every day, and the taste is the same. How did it get a salty taste? Did you crush the salt rock and sprinkle it in?”

It felt so good not to be doubted after they had all tasted it themselves. Hua Shi’an smiled and explained softly, “What I found wasn’t salt rock, but a salt spring. It’s a pool of water smaller than a tree hollow. The water probably comes from underground. It’s very, very salty. I soaked the purslane in it, that’s why it tastes salty.”

“A salt spring? The salt is in the water?” the beastman Yong asked in shock.

Having lived for half his life, he had never heard of salt in water. Chief Mu stared at Hua Shi’an with wide eyes. “The water is salty? How can spring water be salty? We’ve drunk spring water before, it had no taste!”

This was too complicated to explain. Should he start with groundwater leaching? After a moment’s hesitation, Hua Shi’an glossed over it with one sentence, “Maybe the water dissolved the salt rock underground, so it became salty water. That’s not important. What’s important is that we’ll have salt to eat from now on.”

Chief Mu laughed heartily and patted the back of Hua Shi’an’s hand twice. “You’re right. We have salt, we have salt to eat! Tomorrow, let’s not rush to pick chestnuts. We’ll go to the place An mentioned first and get some saltwater back.”

“Okay!”

“That’s great! The sky has cleared, and we have salt. We can make a fire and cook wild vegetables!”

“Don’t say any more, I’m getting hungry.”

“Hahaha…”

The tree hollow was as noisy as a marketplace, with everyone immersed in the joy of finding salt. Just then, the beastman Yong said with a straight face, “Tomorrow won’t work.”

Chief Mu was stunned. “W-Why?”

“Because…” The beastman had also learned to build suspense, drawing out the last word and chuckling in a low voice, “The tree hollows are all finished. We’re moving tomorrow.”