Chapter 314: Flower Girl

Aya beside her opened her mouth, but in the end she scratched her head and squeezed next to Wu Yue: "Yue, the mushrooms I brought home yesterday, some have already gone bad."

She said this, lowering her head a little embarrassed.

The Snow Tiger Tribe chief and the shaman Xuehu Wu both furrowed their brows at the words: "It goes bad after just one day?"

Food with too short a shelf life can only be gathered and eaten immediately; its importance is even less than that of wild vegetables.

Wu Yue nodded: "Maybe it's because you stored them improperly; the ones at my place are still fine."

Having said that, she turned her head to the chief and the shaman and said: "I have a method to turn mushrooms into dried mushrooms; these dried mushrooms can be stored until next year."

After Wu Yue's words fell, the cave instantly fell into silence; the Snow Tiger Tribe chief looked at her in disbelief: "You say... can be stored until next year?"

Wu Yue nodded solemnly: "I wouldn't lie about this; it really can be stored until next year."

Many wild vegetables and fruits can also be made into dried vegetables or dried fruit; although their storage time isn't as long as dried mushrooms, they're fine for getting through winter.

Xuehu Wu wiped his face, his eyes toward Wu Yue full of brightness.

If his divination ability weren't truly pathetic, he would want to ask the Beast God whether Wu Yue was a messenger he sent down.

Suddenly, the Snow Tiger Tribe chief beside her seemed to think of something and abruptly lifted his head to look at her: "Yue, I have an important matter to ask you."

He stared fixedly at Wu Yue, his gaze utterly solemn, making Wu Yue also feel nervous.

She straightened her back, nodded solemnly: "Please ask."

The shaman Xuehu Wu beside them watched the two of them, really wanting to laugh in his heart, but as a shaman he had to keep his dignity, so he could only lightly cough twice to hold it in.

The Snow Tiger Tribe chief pursed his lips, his two large fists repeatedly clenching and unclenching, looking quite nervous.

Wu Yue couldn't help but feel a chill down her back?

Could it be that my beauty has conquered this middle‑aged handsome beastman, and he wants to confess to me?

Have me become his concubine?

Don't ask why she thought that; it's really common here for people to take second wives and second husbands—if you have the ability, it's no big deal.

What she didn't know was that Aya beside her felt the same way.

Her father's anxious, nervous appearance like this had only shown up when facing A Mu.

She looked at Wu Yue with a somewhat complex expression, having finally found a good friend, wondering if she'd become her little A Mu by tomorrow.

"The last time the beastman warriors brought back a piece of very salty meat, saying you made it with salt, and it can be stored for a long time."

"But we didn't believe it, so we scraped the salt off the meat and ate it straight away."

Having said that, he nervously looked at Wu Yue: "Is that meat made with salt really able to be stored for a long time?"

Wu Yue and Aya hearing this instantly relaxed—just not having to become a concubine was fine.

But another doubt in her heart was also resolved at the same time.

Back when we were in the earthen cave, to avoid being discovered by the Black Wolf Tribe, everyone ate salt‑cured salty meat.

And the storage life of that salty meat was plain for all to see.

For the beastfolk, meat is their staple food.

But meat is also a food that cannot be stored for long, so before each winter they try to eat as much as possible to store fat, getting through the winter by consuming it.

She had thought that a method for long‑term meat storage would cause a stir in the tribe, but after returning to the tribe she heard no one mention salty meat at all, and she was quite surprised for a while.

But unexpectedly, the salty meat brought back by the beastman warriors was eaten outright by the tribespeople; they didn't believe this corpse‑salting meat could be stored for long, and even thought the method of salting meat with salt was a waste.

It wasted both meat and precious salt, after all, aside from a few beastman warriors, most of the tribe's members didn't know that the Snow Tiger Tribe already had plenty of salt.

Wu Yue gave a wry smile: "I thought the tribe's people just hadn't told you and the shaman about the salty meat, but it turns out it's like this."

She nodded and said: "Salty meat can indeed be stored for a long time; we start hunting before winter, cure the meat with salt, and it's fine to eat after winter."

Seeing their shocked expressions, Wu Yue continued: "As long as we have enough salt and game, our Snow Tiger Tribe will no longer have to worry about food in winter."

Will no longer have to worry about food!

That statement is simply huge!

But it left the few people in the cave shocked and heart‑sore.

This is a problem that has troubled the Snow Tiger Tribe for countless generations, yet it was solved this year by a young female who almost became a slave of the tribe.

"Curing salty meat is simple, but it also takes some skill—I can teach this to the tribespeople.

but I hope the task of curing salty meat will be entrusted to trustworthy tribespeople.

Having said that, she raised her head, but was startled by several pairs of blood‑red eyes in front of her and plopped down onto the grass nest behind her.

Clutching her violently pounding heart, Wu Yue felt she had something to say, but didn't know whether she should say it.

Damn it, in that instant when she lifted her head, she thought she had crossed over again into some apocalyptic survival world, with everyone around being red‑eyed zombies.

"Yue!" Aya let out a cry and lunged into Wu Yue's embrace, gripping her arms and squeezing her till it hurt.

"Damn damn damn! Aya you bastard, do you think I'm some hunk like you? Give me a break—I'm about to be torn apart by your hold!"

Wu Yue let out an exaggerated, tragic scream that successfully drove Aya away, then, like a flower girl caught by the imperial troops, she clutched her arms and fled to a safe spot.

Seeing Wu Yue looking at her guardedly, Aya scratched her head embarrassedly: "Heh heh, well… I was just too excited—we'll have food to eat this winter, heh heh… hahaha… ahahaha."

Wu Yue: "…"

Xuehu Wu: "…"

Snow Tiger Tribe chief: "…"

This guy's probably gone crazy, huh?

Now all the salt crystals in that earthen cave have been hauled back; we'll keep this under wraps, and before winter I and the shaman will find absolutely trustworthy beastman warriors and females to make the salty meat.

The tribe's people all thought the salt crystals in that cave were gone.

But only Wu Yue knows what those salt crystals really are.

As the shed surface material of salt‑crystal beasts, as long as the salt‑crystal beasts have salt‑crystal ore to eat, not much time will pass before those crystals appear again in that cave.

Last time she specifically had Tongzi scout the salt‑crystal ore in that cave, and that vein of salt‑crystal ore extends far beyond the Polar Forest.