Chapter 36: The Salt is Hitting the Bottom

The family sat around the table, and Lu Yu picked up a piece of meat and put it into his mouth; the meat was firm and very chewy.

"Is this beef?" he couldn't help but ask aloud.

"Yes, it's beef," Lu Guohao explained. "That calf this morning was eaten by the wolf pack quite a bit, and there was less than a hundred catties left. Our family got a larger share, about four or five catties, and it's all here."

As for the meat that had been eaten by the wolves, they planned to make blood sausage with the wolves' internal organs later, which could also be considered a unique flavor.

"We also got several dozen catties of wolf meat, plus the Giant-Horned Rhino meat you brought back yesterday; it probably adds up to over a hundred catties." Mother smiled until her eyes narrowed into slits.

In all the years past, there had never been a time like today where the family had so much food stored; just this meat alone would be enough for the family to eat for a month without any problems.

"I see." Lu Yu secretly breathed a sigh of relief; it seemed there was no need to worry about food in the short term. However, hunting still couldn't stop; one couldn't just sit and eat through all the supplies.

The moment he swallowed the beef, a notification appeared in his mind: "Potential Point +0.2." "As expected of beef, one piece is worth two pieces of rabbit meat."

He thought to himself, then picked up a second piece and savored it carefully.

Lu Guohao and his wife also began to use their chopsticks. As they ate, Mother suddenly said, "Guohao, the rice at home is almost gone, and the salt is about to hit the bottom. Look, should we take some meat to Zhou Family Fort to trade for some?"

Lu Guohao stopped his chopsticks and nodded, saying, "It is time to go trade for some."

Lu Yu's ears twitched, and the relevant memories surfaced accordingly.

This Zhou Family Fort, like Li Family Fort, was a relatively large Zhai with one or two thousand people.

It was said that the Fort Master had some connections with Qingping City a hundred kilometers away and could obtain precious daily necessities, such as rice, flour, grain, oil, cigarettes, tea, and even medicine and weapons.

There were also firearms and ammunition, but the prices were exorbitant. Small surrounding Zhais could use gold and silver jewelry or Fierce Beast Meat to trade for needed items; it was said that some individual Zhais would even trade women and children.

Of course, outsiders could not enter at will; a trading area was specifically designated in front of the fort. If one wanted to set up a stall, they had to pay a stall fee, and Zhou Family Fort would guarantee the safety of the trade.

Precisely because of this, Zhou Family Fort was more famous in this area than Li Family Fort.

"Dad, is Zhou Family Fort far?" Lu Yu asked curiously.

"A bit far," Lu Guohao thought for a moment. "About 15 kilometers, 30 li round trip. If you want to go, it's best to set off at three or four in the morning. If there are delays on the road, it will be dangerous if we can't get back before dark."

Mother listened in silence, but there was no other way; they could make do with meat if there was no rice, but it would be a big problem if there was no salt.

"Wouldn't that be very dangerous?" Lu Yu was somewhat worried.

"In this world, where is there anything that isn't dangerous?" Lu Guohao said with a bitter smile. "Even if food is plentiful, staying in the Zhai isn't safe. But it's alright; we've been there a few times before, and apart from a few accidents, most of the time as long as you don't cause trouble, there won't be any problems."

"I'll go with you guys when the time comes," Lu Yu said after thinking about it.

"This... there's no need for that, is there?" Lu Guohao said hesitantly. "We're just going to trade for some things, not hunting; it's not as dangerous as you think. Besides, we have experience and won't have any accidents."

"That's right, Xiao Yu," Mother also chimed in.

"Dad, I mainly want to go and see for myself," Lu Yu explained with a smile. He knew clearly in his heart that human nature is unpredictable, and no one could say for sure what might happen.

In the past, people from the Zhai used gold and silver jewelry to trade for things; the quantity was small and discreet, making it hard to attract attention.

This time it was different; they were going to use game to trade. Several dozen catties of beast meat—according to his father, one catty of ordinary Fierce Beast Meat could trade for two or three catties of rice, which meant over a hundred catties of rice. For ten people, that would be several hundred catties; it would be hard not to be noticed.

Under these circumstances, if he were present, he could help if they really encountered danger.

Furthermore, after rice and wheat mutated, they could no longer produce ears of grain. Although there were substitutes, the price of seeds was high, and small Zhais could not afford them.

Moreover, planting outside the city was fine during the day, but it would definitely attract Fierce Beasts at night, making cultivation extremely difficult.

Goods are valued for their scarcity, and coupled with people manipulating things, this was why prices remained high. He truly wanted to go and see the world outside.

"This... alright then. Wait until we've saved up more game in a couple of days, and you can go with us." Lu Guohao felt that what Lu Yu said made sense, and he also understood that if Lu Yu wanted to lead everyone to survive, he would have to come into contact with these things sooner or later.

"Then you must pay attention to safety," Mother began to worry again.

"Don't worry, Mom, didn't Dad say there wouldn't be any danger?" Lu Yu comforted her with a smile.

"That's right, don't worry, nothing will happen; it's not the first time we've gone," Lu Guohao also followed up to comfort her.

For some reason, thinking that Lu Yu was also going, Lu Guohao suddenly felt that this trip might not be as simple as that, but they had to go regardless.

After a whirlwind of eating, the full basin of meat was eaten clean by the family of four.

Lu Yu had eaten about two catties of meat by himself, and his stomach was round and full. Having been here for a few days, it was finally a full meal, which was truly rare.

Not only that, his Potential Points had risen from 6 to 28; that should be enough to strengthen his body twice.

"There are still two or three days left; it would be best to reach Body Tempering Third Layer. If that's really not possible, Body Tempering Second Layer will do," he calculated to himself.

Upon reaching Body Tempering Third Layer, he would be able to use a bow with a draw weight of two hundred catties, and the effective range would likely be over two hundred meters, approaching three hundred meters.

Whether encountering a Fierce Beast or being followed by someone, having such a Strong Bow would greatly increase the probability of the team retreating unscathed, and he might even be able to venture into the "Weixian Qu" that Zhao Shu and the others talked about.

If it were Body Tempering Second Layer, he could only use a bow with a draw weight of one hundred catties, but an effective range of 200 meters was also not bad, which was enough to deal with ordinary people and some Intermediate-level Fierce Beasts.

Besides this, it would be best to raise the level of 【Basic Archery】 by one more level.

The level 3 mounted archery trait didn't have a one-hundred-percent hit rate yet; raising it to level 4 would make it foolproof. In short, he hoped everything would be safe, but he also had to be prepared to deal with emergencies.

"Dad, I'm going to find Wang Shu to practice martial arts."

"Huh?" Lu Guohao was stunned, and when he looked up again, Lu Yu had already disappeared.

"This child..." He shook his head with a bitter smile.

"He's also quite hardworking," Mother said, her face full of heartache.

"Yes," Lu Guohao sighed. It was no exaggeration to say that the entire Zhai now relied on Lu Yu's Archery to get by, and he himself was no exception.

Lu Yu walked on the dirt road, looking at his attribute panel. His Strength attribute was 18.51, still a bit short of 20.

He had originally planned to strengthen his attributes when his stamina was exhausted, but looking at the situation, should he strengthen it once first?

Once his Strength reached 20 points, he would be able to normally use a bow with a draw weight of one hundred catties; using this bow to practice Arrow Technique, his proficiency should be able to rise faster.