Chapter 626: The Land Bestowed by Heaven (2)

Zhu was not very convinced; why, of all times, did such a suitable place appear for him right now? It was too coincidental. However, he knew Yinyang better than anyone, and he knew himself better than anyone. To be favored by the gods of Heaven? It was simply nonsense.

But since Yinyang had said so, and the tribespeople were very excited, and he had already made his word public—that wherever they stopped on the third day, that was the land where they would stay—he could no longer turn back.

Thus, Zhu gave the order directly: "Let us head there; let us see if that is the land where we will survive in the future!"

"Awoo! Awoo! Awoo!" The tribespeople cheered and began to advance at their fastest speed. Zhu also began to stride forward with large steps, while at the same time, he carefully observed along the way: was this place truly suitable for them to live?

But once they saw those wooden houses, all their other thoughts completely vanished. Yinyang first led Zhu to tour the first house, and Zhu was so shocked he was speechless; he immediately prepared to occupy one for himself—who else but the Tribal Chief?

Because Yinyang and the others had already figured out how to use the latches, these people, as if showing off their own possessions, excitedly opened those doors one by one, and then the tribespeople swarmed in, all wanting to go inside and take a look.

But their tribe numbered just over ten thousand, while there were only twenty or so houses here, and they were not very large, so how many people could actually go in and see? Most were just standing on tiptoe outside, anxious.

After Zhu finished touring all the houses one by one and discovered that it had indeed been a long time since anyone had lived there, he felt that this was truly a good place, as if it had been prepared specifically for them.

They even discovered many hearths that had already been built, and pottery with colors of their own, all intact and in considerable numbers; they could pick them up and use them right now.

But this brought another doubt to Zhu: why was there no one living here anymore?

Judging by the things left behind and the houses built, the tribe that once lived here was definitely a very powerful tribe. Of course, their technology was just relatively good; in terms of population, it should have been about one or two thousand people, because the houses could not accommodate more.

There were no other places found nearby that looked like they were for setting up Tents, so all of them must have lived inside these houses. But why did they suddenly leave? Did they abandon this dwelling because they were attacked by a more powerful enemy while out?

Zhu was not blinded by the pleasant surprise here; instead, he immediately sensed that something was wrong. So, he took some Soldiers with him, wanting to look around to see why the people here had disappeared. Furthermore, could this place really support a tribe?

For them, as long as there was a large enough forest, a close enough water source, and a sufficiently excellent dwelling that could provide shelter, then this place was suitable for their survival. Now, this place already met two of those conditions.

As for the dwelling, he had never seen a better place than this; the thick wood could withstand even a giant bear. The forest was very close to their dwelling and stretched on continuously; food would certainly not be lacking. Now, he just needed to see if there was water nearby.

What surprised Zhu was that he did not walk very far before he actually discovered a water source. Although the volume of water was pitifully small, it was still trickling, and the water channel had clearly been maintained by someone; natural water channels did not look like this.

He squatted down and cupped some in his hands to drink; the water was a bit salty, but it was not bitter, nor was it foul. This meant the water was completely drinkable, and water with a salty taste could also replace a great deal of salt consumption.

In fact, they had had no salt to eat throughout their journey, relying entirely on the salty water they found along the way. If they were lucky, they could boil the particularly salty water to extract some salt.

Just this little bit of water ignited Zhu's confidence. He hoped more than anyone that this was a place where their tribe could stop and live. Although this water was a bit small, as long as they traced it back to find the source, they could still increase the volume.

He walked a bit further away because he discovered that in one direction, there were no trees at all, and the land was very flat. In this era, this was very unreasonable, unless it had been cleared by people, just like the forest they had already seen.

However, as Zhu walked forward, what he saw was completely different from what he had imagined, because in front of him was a vast expanse of white, as if Snow piled on the ground had not melted. But the current temperature was still warm, and besides, he had not seen a single flake of Snow fall recently.

As long as there was no one, Zhu was not afraid, so he walked straight toward that white area. It was not until white gradually appeared under his feet that Zhu stopped, because he discovered that what was on the ground was definitely not Snow.

He was a bit curious, but looking at the things under his feet, he felt a sense of familiarity. After squatting down, he used his hand, which was trembling with excitement, to pick up a bit of the white powder and put it into his mouth. After just a slight taste, he ignored the grimace caused by the bitterness and shouted happily: "Salt, it is salt!"

The other Soldiers followed suit, disregarding their rank. Some even scooped up a chunk and licked it with their tongues, but the bitter-salty taste transmitted by their tongues made them all shout happily, though their expressions were still painful; after all, licking salt directly was not a comfortable thing.

Zhu and the other Soldiers gradually recovered from the ecstasy of discovering salt, and then, looking at the boundless white before them, they immediately decided that their tribe would stop here; from now on, this would be their territory.

No matter what happened to the original people here, Zhu had already made up his mind: their tribe would guard this place with their lives. Because just this amount of salt was enough for their tribe to live comfortably. Of course, the premise was to find a place to trade with other tribes; otherwise, this salt could only be eaten by themselves.

With this major discovery, Zhu did not want to look at anything else; this was already enough. As for food, they still had to rely on the hunters of their tribe. They already had a place to live, although only a portion could move in, and the rest of the people would have to set up Tents to live in the surroundings.

But everything obtained without effort, plus the inexhaustible sea of salt, caused Zhu's authority to reach an unprecedented height.