Chapter 100: Under the Lemon Tree, Wearing a Mask of Pain, Discovering the Salt Field!
Lin Ye was walking on the road, feeling very fortunate that it was a cloudy day today.
Otherwise, with the sun beating down and having to travel, it would have been too unbearable.
As he walked, Lin Ye made a big discovery.
Lin Ye saw a lemon tree growing ahead.
The tree was quite large, with many green lemons growing on its canopy.
With the Plant Encyclopedia, Lin Ye was quite certain it was a lemon.
He knocked one down with an ox horn and then broke it open with his hand.
He stuck out his tongue and licked it gently.
After taking a lick, Lin Ye froze.
The Beast-eared Girls standing beside Lin Ye looked at him with confusion. Seeing Lin Ye freeze after eating a wild fruit, they thought he had been poisoned.
Just as they were about to check on him, they saw Lin Ye with a gentle and warm smile on his face, holding the broken fruit and saying to them, “You all try it too, this fruit is very delicious.”
As Lin Ye spoke, he handed the lemon to Xing.
Xing looked at Lin Ye’s gentle smile, stuck out her tongue, and licked it gently.
Then, her entire body froze. Xing looked at Lin Ye in confusion, watching Lin Ye’s facial muscles twitch.
That gentle smile was about to break.
Xing immediately understood what was going on. Her eyes darted around, and a smile appeared at the corner of her mouth, only to be quickly retracted by the sourness.
Then, with a blank expression, she handed it to Susu, without saying a word, just nodding at Susu to indicate that the fruit was indeed delicious.
Then, she quickly turned her head, facing away from them and towards Lin Ye, unable to hold back any longer, and put on a mask of pain.
After finally recovering, Xing gave Lin Ye a strange look. Lin Ye was trying hard to suppress his laughter, his eyes twitching wildly.
Susu took the lemon, not thinking much of it, and took a big lick.
Then she felt terrible, looking at Xing and Lin Ye in front of her with a look of confusion.
Lin Ye shook his head slightly at Susu, then gestured with his eyes, signaling Susu to hold back, and passed it to the people behind her.
Susu immediately got the hint, wiped the sour drool from the corner of her mouth, and with a smile, handed it to Shi behind her.
Thus, the Beast-eared Girls passed it down one by one until finally, the twin Raccoon-eared Girls tasted it and trembled from the sourness.
They were also unable to speak, just looking at the people in front of them with confused eyes.
As a result, everyone who had tasted the fruit before was now unable to bear the sourness. All of them wore masks of pain and trembled all over. “Hahahaha!!!”
Lin Ye, while enduring the intense sourness, was also laughing heartily.
Lin Ye had originally only intended to trick one or two.
But he didn’t expect the Beast-eared Girls to understand so quickly.
In the end, everyone tasted it.
After the few of them recovered, they all looked at Lin Ye with confused expressions. The twin Raccoon-eared Girls, with their hands on their hips and pouting, angrily said to Lin Ye in unison, “Ye, you’re bad! This fruit is not delicious at all, and you all ganged up to trick us!” The other Beast-eared Girls also cried out in unison after hearing this, “I was tricked by Ye too! It was Ye who told me not to say anything!” Susu said aggrievedly to the twin Raccoon-eared Girls.
Lin Ye’s eyes were almost watering from laughter. He finally stopped, panting, and said, “I’m not tricking you. This fruit is called lemon, and it’s really a good thing.”
“When you eat barbecue, squeeze some lemon on it, and the barbecue will become very delicious.” Lin Ye didn’t mention that lemons are rich in vitamins or anything, as the Beast-eared Girls wouldn’t understand.
It was enough to tell them that the lemon would be delicious with barbecue.
As expected, after Lin Ye said this, these Beast-eared Girls all looked at the lemons on the tree with drool.
But Lin Ye spoke again at this moment.
“Let these lemons stay here for now. Let’s go find the salt first. We’ll come back in a few days to dig up this lemon tree and plant it in the tribe.” When Lin Ye said this, the Beast-eared Girls remembered what they had come out for this time, so they all nodded and continued on their way.
After walking for a long time, they crossed a small hill, and a salt field about ten meters wide appeared before Lin Ye.
The moment Lin Ye saw the salt field, his face broke into a happy smile.
Then Lin Ye quickly walked up and reached the edge of the salt field. “Ye, is this the… salt you were looking for?” the Deer-horned Girl Xiao Rou asked softly from the side.
Lin Ye turned around with a smile, nodded vigorously, and replied.
“That’s right, this is it. This is salt. Quickly, fill the wooden buckets you brought.”
Hearing Lin Ye’s answer, Xiao Rou also showed a happy smile and started filling the buckets.
Lin Ye looked at the terrain of the salt field and guessed that it might have originally been a saltwater lake, which later dried up to form this salt field.
Lin Ye bent down and picked up a salt block the size of a ping pong ball, observing it carefully.
Lin Ye discovered that the salt field was composed of rock salt.
Moreover, because there was no pollution in this world, there were no excess impurities in this rock salt.
As long as he returned to the tribe and performed simple filtration and refining, Lin Ye would be able to make this rock salt into edible salt that could be consumed with peace of mind.
Lin Ye looked at the entire salt field. With this reserve, the tribe could eat it for a hundred years and still have plenty left.
One wooden bucket was filled in no time.
To get back to the tribe before dark, Lin Ye and the Beast-eared Girls immediately began their return journey without stopping.
Walking on the road, Susu leaned over and asked curiously. “Ye, what do you want these stones called salt for? I just licked one, and it’s so bitter.” Hearing Susu’s words, Lin Ye couldn’t help but darken his expression.
He complained powerlessly in his heart, “You should stay away from Sakura in the future. You’ve already been infected by her foolishness!” After Lin Ye’s inner complaint, he thought for a moment and replied, “Why did you lick it? Of course, it tastes bitter now.”
“This thing is very important, and it’s also for eating, but it needs to be processed before it can be eaten. After processing, it becomes salty.” After Lin Ye finished speaking, the others also gathered around.
Xing walked beside Lin Ye and asked.
“This thing is important? What happens if you don’t eat it?”
The other Beast-eared Girls also looked at Lin Ye with confusion, waiting for an answer.
Lin Ye looked at the rock salt in the bucket and then said to the Beast-eared Girls.
“Do you all feel weak today? Have you noticed that everyone in the tribe has a pale complexion, and some even feel nauseous?” Lin Ye asked the Beast-eared Girls. After thinking for a moment, they all nodded at Lin Ye.
Shi, being the most observant, spoke first.
“When we woke up this morning, everyone seemed to be lacking energy, and several people even vomited. What was going on?” Lin Ye nodded and continued, “That’s because everyone is lacking salt.”
“Actually, the barbecue everyone eats every day contains a small amount of salt.”
“The beast blood we drink every time has even more salt. You only know that you’ll be weak if you don’t drink beast blood, but you don’t know that it’s because of the large amount of salt in beast blood.” “It’s been so hot these past few days, and everyone sweats a lot, so the salt in their bodies is lost with the sweat. When the salt in their bodies is insufficient, it will be like today.” “If everyone doesn’t eat salt, it will become more serious, and they might even fall unconscious.” Lin Ye explained as much as possible in language that the Beast-eared Girls could understand.
After hearing Lin Ye’s explanation, the Beast-eared Girls’ expressions became serious.
Xing looked at Lin Ye and asked with concern.
“Then what should we do? Lin Ye, do you have any way to save everyone?”
Lin Ye looked at the worried Xing and smiled helplessly, then said, “Aren’t we out to find salt today? Haven’t we found it now?”
“When we get back, I’ll process this salt and put it in potatoes. Everyone will be fine after eating them.”
“Oh, right. Salt, like chili peppers, is delicious with barbecue and potatoes, but it’s very unpleasant to eat alone.” As soon as they heard the word “eat,” the Beast-eared Girls’ eyes lit up as if by reflex.
